A Chatty Chatty Day

How can I be so exhausted? All I did today was eat and chat with people all day...well, with the exception of spin class this morning, but that was only a small portion of my day. I had a fun time catching up with my MPH friends for brunch (see yummy stuff we ate below: fruit/yogurt, spinach salad, waffles, bacon, veggies/hummus. I brought my chocolate chip sour cream muffins). I came home, checked email, and then headed back out to see Robyn and Meg for dinner. Whew, busy busy!

Fall-To Layout #138

So, did any of you wake up super early to watch the Royal Wedding this morning? I didn't, but I woke up just in time to see the couple ride the horse-drawn carriage through the crowd-filled streets. Kate looked so elegant in her dress. Wow, what a classy lady. I think my favorite parts have to be when the couple finished walking out of the church and you can start to hear to crowd getting louder and when the couple was driving in the convertible "JUST WED" on the license plate with balloons and other trinkets tied to the car. I liked how the wedding have a nod to the past as well as had a modern touch to it too. Best of luck to them! :)

The fox was out again last night. I dunno what the reason is behind the howling. Maybe it's a boy fox and he's lonely. Can someone find him a girlfriend so he won't be sad? Thanks. Sincerely, The Neighborhood.

Dad and I met with the realtor after work today. She was such a nice lady. I really liked her. I liked that she explained everything at a pace and with words that I could understand. Oh boy. This is starting to look very real, but I'm okay with that.

I was going to go for a masculine card this evening by following Fall-To Layout #138, but then received the following advice.

[22:07] me: how do you make this masculine??
[22:08] sister: it has flowers, i don't think you can
[22:10] me: not even if they are masculine colored flowers?
[22:11] sister: masculine colored flowers... hah
[22:11] sister: don't force it

Ooook. I decided to go with a blue, yellow, brown color scheme so I guess it could go either way, to give to a male or female. I really refrained from putting gems in the center of the flowers, and instead went with Glossy Accents. I still get the dimension without going over the top with girliness.Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Blackbird, Chestnut Roan. StazOn in Azure.
Punch: Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, Fiskars Square squeeze punch
Stamp: Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment), K&Company- AB Lotus Floral Stamps, K.I. Memories-Blooms
Paper: American Crafts- Merrymint
Other: Glossy Accents

It'll be a very friend-filled day tomorrow: brunch with the MPH girls and then dinner with the W&L girls. :)

Learning From Others

I finally got my lazy butt to the gym tonight for spin class. The last time I went was ::groan:: last week. Oops. At least I ran a few times in between! There must be something in the food that Mom brought home from Taiwan. I want to eat all of it and then when I do, I go into a food coma and suddenly napping is a wonderful idea.

For tonight's card, I wanted to take some techniques that I learned from fellow card makers. First, I did the embossed lines using the groove in my Fiskars trimmer. I saw this technique used in Kristina Werner's Make A Card Monday, April 18, 2011. Then, from Britta Swiderski, I learned that by using a square punch, you can create even banner ends. Well, provided that you line everything up properly, but it sure beats trying to cut them. The card didn't exactly come out the way I had planned, but I think it worked out just fine. The embossed lines were supposed to be on all four sides, but that set didn't turn out straight, so I cut them off. Then when I stamped the dots, the ones at the bottom got wonky so I cut them off too and added a punched border. Ta da!

Card Specs:
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Warm Honey. Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Blackbird, Maroon.
Punch: Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, Fiskars Square squeeze punch
Stamp: American Crafts- Boutonniere (flower), Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment), Hero Arts- Cling Dots
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Pearl
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

Food, Shopping and Lemons

Waiting, waiting...tapping fingers...Inbox (1)...ah, email!

Yes, this was a very important email that I had been waiting for all afternoon.

It was the email letting staff know that there was meeting leftovers in the kitchen! Whoo hoo! I even had my empty takeout container that I used for lunch washed out and ready to go. So I walked across the street and got a nice helping of Middle Eastern food. I was thinking that I'd have something leftover for dinner, but it was too good to pass up so I pretty much had a mini feast when I got back to my desk. Mwah ha ha.

And was in a food coma for the rest of the afternoon. But it was worth it. :D

Tonight was 31 cent scoop night at Baskin Robbins, did you go? I didn't, but then again, I've had enough food for today. :/

I went to New York & Company to pick up a present for a friend's upcoming birthday and of course, I couldn't resist buying some fabulous earrings for myself and a cute purse that was 50% off. Hello, impulse buying. This was great timing because my red purse that I carry everything in is starting to show wear. I mean, it had been for a while, but I was in denial and didn't want to entertain the thought of parting with it. I had my hands on some clearance nail polish at Ulta, but quickly dropped them and ran out of the store before I felt the urge to buy them. Whew, that was close!

Here's my card for today. I wanted to use a Studio G stamp set that had yet to see any ink. I stamped the images and added the rhinestones, but something still seemed to be missing up at the top, so I put a little patterned paper there and added some faux stitching. I'm a little uncomfortable with the white space on the upper portion of the card, but I knew that if I started putting stuff up there, the card would be too overwhelming. Better stop when the card's in a good enough place.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Blackbird
Stamps: Studio G (all)
Paper: American Crafts- A La Carte
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Tuesday Trigger: Polka Dotted Hullabaloo

Yep. Just as I suspected.

I was demoted back to #2 now that Mom's home from her 3 week vacation. Thanks, Ginger. I'm really feeling the love here.

Moving on.

I saw one of the girls that I went to the leadership conference with at the elevator today. "We should do lunch soon!" Yep, we should!

Here's my take on this week's Tuesday Trigger: Polka Dotted Hullabaloo. I decided to incorporate the dots and color scheme as much as possible. I didn't want to go too overboard with the dots, so I just have a strip at the bottom. A trick with using StazOn ink on clear stamps is to prime the stamp first with Versamark and then stamp on the StazOn ink pad. The sticky Versamark will hold onto the ink more and prevent it from pooling too much.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Charcoal, Warm Red, Blue Iris. StazOn in Dove Gray
Stamps: Martha Stewart- Patterns (dots), K&Company- AB Lotus Floral Stamps (leaves), Inkadinkado (sentiment, flower), Studio G (hummingbirds)
Paper: American Crafts Specialty Paper in Pearl (blue)
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Pearl
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

P.S. My sister passed her thesis defense. Yay! :)

Robot Good Luck Card

Today, I bit the bullet, called the mortgage loan officer that my real estate agent recommended, and filled out a pre-loan application. Good thing I had my docs ready! Whew.

Tonight's adventure was taking my computer semi-apart to clean it. The fan was getting really loud and I was worried that the dust was just out of control in there. I think I got some of it out, but I had to stop in my excavation because one of the panels wasn't coming out and I didn't want to break anything. Maybe my sister or cousin can be persuaded with cookies or cupcakes to clean this thing out for real. My dark blue manicure didn't hold up very well. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted.

Here's the card that I made for my sister. She's presenting on her Master's thesis tomorrow. The card arrived in the mail today, so it's safe to share the card tonight. This was an opportunity to use my new robot stamps. I used some scraps to paper piece color into the image...he's a cute little guy.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue, Blackbird, Warm Red. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China.
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment), Recollections- Robots (everything else)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: Die Cuts with a View- Stack 7
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large

CPS #215

This morning started out really weird (and early). I was woken up around 5 AM by some shrieking outside. I thought it was a hurt animal that had gotten hit accidentally by a car. When I peeked out the window, the animal that was making the noise seemed to be doing just fine, sitting in the middle of the street. I went downstairs to take a closer look. The animal had perky ears like a cat but it was too big to be a cat. I did some quick research online and found out that it was a fox. o_O Huh? Ooook. It ran off, but I could hear the shrieking again up the street and then later, down the street. This continued for about an hour. I hope it found its way back to the woods. The neighborhood, or at least I, need sleep. This was a very Over the Hedge moment.

I spent most of the day in bed, reading my book (and finishing it). Yes yes, the weather was really nice outside, however, I wasn't feeling 100%. I think it must have been a combination of a non-restful night and the temperature change. :P

Here's my take on CPS #215. I wanted to use a Martha Stewart stamp set that I haven't used in a while. I think the theme of the stamp is more boyish with the cars and airplanes, but with some rhinestones, I think anything can be made girly. Beep beep!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue, Blackbird, Warm Red, Warm Green
Stamps: Martha Stewart- Toy Transportation (car), American Crafts- Dear Lizzy- Warbler (cloud), K.I. Memories- Garden (sun, grass), Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment)
Paper: Recollections- Blue Argyle
Punch: EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8
Sticker: EK Success- Animals
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots)
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb