One-Layer Wednesday #10

I decided to camp out at home today. There was no way I was going to be able to concentrate at work beyond the pounding in my head. Maybe all that junk TV (read: Real Housewives of NJ) that I watched last night did something to my brain.

I was feeling better tonight after sleeping most of the day (whew!), so I decided to venture to the gym to get a workout in. I might as well watch TV at the gym instead of on my butt at home.

The theme was patriotic cards for Susan Raihala's One-Layer Wednesday card challenge this week. I dug around my stamp stash for some patriotic stamps, but then came up with nothing. No flags, no map of the USA. Meh, ok, not a big deal. That's why I decided to use individual letter stamps to spell out "God Bless America." I used two different sets for some visual interest. I topped of the card with some "fireworks" made of stamping starbursts multiple times in clusters.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue, Warm Red, Yellow Ochre, Olive Green
Stamps: Heidi Grace- Alphas, Reagan's Closet (America), Inkadinkado (God Bless), The Paper Company Studio- Playful Expressions (starbursts)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Cookies, Books, and Flip Flops

I think I made quite a few people at the office happy today with starting their Monday mornings with a snickerdoodle cookie. They were all gone by COB. Well, that's also because I ate the last few myself. Heh. My office roommate was back in the office today after being gone for 3 weeks because of her sister's wedding and Hawaiian vacation with her husband. We traded- two cookies for some chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Suh-weet.

Spin class tonight was a little irritating with these two girls that were sitting in the back, just chatting away. Hey, if you're chatting, you're obviously not working hard enough! Snarl.

Tonight, I finished Emily Giffin's book, Love the One You're With. I wasn't planning to finish it tonight, but rather let it last throughout this week. However, I just HAD to find out what happened in the end. I was expecting something a little more chick-lit-ish when I picked up the book at the library. You know, clumsy protagonist, witty humor, etc. But the book tackled heavier issues like marriage and infidelity. I raced to the end of the book to find out if the main character went with Mr. Got-Away or Mr. 'Til-Death-Do-Us-Part. I spent most of the book not really liking the main character. I thought she was, at times, selfish and insecure, but when I closed the back cover, I acknowledged that those are normal human emotions, and I can't really knock her down for them. Life isn't always sunshine and daisies.

For today's card, I wanted to make a friendship themed card, inspired by a picture that I took during Spring Break 2007 with my friends from college, Meg and Page. We had gone to the Outer Banks, NC and were hanging out at the sand dunes. We had left the shoes behind while we explored the area. Mine are the gray sneakers at the bottom.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Lime Pastel, Yellow Citrus, Tangerine, Warm Green
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Island Lagoon (flip flops), Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment)
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet

Baked Goodies Sunday

I made it to spin class this morning. That's 2 for 2 this weekend, yay! It got really hot in my room in the wee hours of the morning, which woke me up. Well, I'm already awake, I might as well go to the gym. The theme of the music in class today was "crazy" so one of the song's that was played was Britney Spears's "(You Drive Me) Crazy." I felt old thinking that it was an "old school" song. The instructor also played Seal's "Crazy," which is always an energizing song to me.

Next up was a series of errands: Staples (for cardstock and batteries), Petsmart (to check out cute kitties for adoption), grocery store (for ingredients for baked goodies), and gas station. Since I got all of that done before 1 PM, I made it home in time before it got super hot outside. I spent the rest of the afternoon making key lime pie, browsing Etsy, reading my book, and napping. Part 2 of baking happened after dinner...snickerdoodles to bring to the office tomorrow. I decided to change it up from the regular peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

For tonight's card, I wanted to use scraps that were already out. I picked out this dark blue strip of cardstock and some green damask paper. This was originally a landscape card with the fold on the left, but then I decided that I didn't like the way the knot sat vertically, so I just turned the card 90 degrees. Problem solved. I liked how the Blue Iris chalk ink matched very nicely with the blue cardstock. I also liked the handdrawn look of the stamped images; it looks very whimsical. I added the red rhinestone at a finishing touch to give the card some dimension.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Blue Iris
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendly Flowers (all)
Paper: Recollections Basics- Green Damask
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch

CPS #172

Today started out with going to spin class. Yay! Then I ventured off to the mall, library, craft store (came home with nothing, even though I saw many things that I liked. Hooray for self control), mechanic to change my car's oil, and then camped out at home. The 95+ degree weather made it uncomfortable to be outside.

I picked up an Emily Giffin book (Love the One You're With) at the library. This is my first time reading a book of hers, and I'm enjoying it so far.

For today's card, I tackle CPS's card challenge #172. Paper from last night's crafty session was still out so that's why the paper might look familiar to you. I started with a white vertical panel with polka dots, but then I switched it with a green one because otherwise, there would be too much white. A few of the dots didn't transfer to the cardstock as well as I would hope. Solution? You guessed it...cover it up. Fortunately, the sketch allowed for that too, so that's what's behind the bow. The bow took me only one try, whoo hoo!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal, Olive Pastel
Stamps: Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), Martha Stewart- Patterns (polka dots)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch), EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan

Fall-To Layout 96

Overheard at the office. Intense game of tic-tac-toe at the office. Coworker vs. contractor's daughter (age 7-8?).
Girl: Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater.
Guy: I like pumpkin.
Girl: That's because you are a cheater!

The same little girl walk across the hall, comes in my office and sits down.
Girl: How old are you?
me: 27.
Girl inspects my hair and looks back at my face.
me: What? Do you see white hairs?
Girl: Yes. At first I thought it was just the light.
Kids just say the darnest things these days, don't they?

(Later on, this afternoon...)

me: Do I really have a lot of white hairs?
Girl inspects my hair and nods.
Girl: Did you know that if you pluck a white hair out, two will grow in its place?
me: Where did you hear THAT from?
Girl: Full House.

Yes, because Full House is a reliable go-to source.

The kid is cute, don't get me wrong. She really does brighten my day up when she hangs out at the office. :)

I'm glad that clean&simple's card challenge (Fall-To Layout 96) tonight had a big panel in the front. It gave me an excuse to use some of the American Crafts paper that I bought on clearance. When I went through the paper pack, I was specifically looking for a pattern that didn't have a lot of white because the card base was already white. I found this dark paper with touches of olive, robin's egg blue, and white. I also liked how the pattern included a butterfly, so that way it wasn't all floral. Notice how the inks match with the paper? Score!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal, Olive Pastel
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendly Flowers (hello), Fiskars- Petals from Scratch (Friend)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan

Song of the day: "Not Afraid"- Eminem.

Pleated Ribbon

I ran across this pleated ribbon tutorial over at Pretty Pink Posh, and I wanted to try it out for today's card. It's definitely a different take on how to use ribbon. I can see myself using it to make a bold focal point in future cards, as an alternative to the traditional bows and knots. I think the key is to have a very strong adhesive to ensure that the pleats stay put. The Tombo Adhesive tape runner just wasn't cutting it, so I had to use a dab of Beacon's 3-in-1 craft glue to secure each pleat to the black cardstock. In retrospect, I should have used a different color of ribbon since the cardstock base was white, but I think this is a good first try.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre
Stamps: Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Brad: K&Company- Wild Saffron

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!

Did anyone catch the USA vs. Algeria World Cup game today? Watching the replay of the goal is awesome! Go USA! :)

For today's card, I wanted to incorporate some paper weaving, but not so much that it covered the entire card. Originally, the card had a layered Prima flower where the brad is, but then I realized that the flower would have totally covered up the paper weaving part of the card, so that's how I ended up with the gems instead. I thought there were too many straight lines, so that's why I added the light blue piece that I used the border punch on. I liked how bright that orange chalk ink turned out. I'm usually not an orange person, but I thought it'd be appropriate since orange is one of the colors in the paper.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Tangerine
Stamps: Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment)
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Brad: K&Company- Wild Saffron

Tuesday Trigger 6-22-10

Anna's 1-hour spin class was tough yesterday, so I decided to take a break today (ok, ok, it was also because I took a nap after work). After class last night, I asked her if she was teaching tomorrow night, as indicated on the special events calendar in the front lobby. She was a little confused when I asked her because it turns out that she wasn't teaching tomorrow! Good thing I checked with her. Otherwise, I'd be hurrying over tomorrow night expecting a spin class and then being sadly disappointed. I promptly informed Cute Gym Front Desk Guy that the calender needed to be corrected.

I wandered over to Moxie Fab World today to see what their Tuesday Trigger would be. It was an adorable black/red/yellow hibiscus halter top! I used the same color scheme and flowers in today's card. The criss-cross pattern was the toughest part for me because I had to stamp two bars of it. The first time, the lines just didn't match up and then on the second try (on the flip side of the same piece of cardstock), the part where the first and second bar touch was more pronounced than the rest of the image. Solution: cover most of it up! It saves having to use another piece of cardstock that way. I was happy to have a red brad in my crafty stash. Its presence makes the card less flat and was a nice finishing touch. :)

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Citrus, Lipstick Red. StazOn in Jet Black
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Surf's Up (hibiscuses), Fiskars- Girlfriends (sentiment), Fiskars- Borders-A-Plenty (scalloped border), Martha Stewart- Patterns (criss-cross pattern)
Paper: Die Cuts With a View (yellow stripe)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Brad: K&Company- Wild Saffron

Multi-Tasking

I tried pitifully to get out of bed this morning for spin class and of course, failed. I wasn't feeling too bad about it because I'll be able to get two Anna classes in this week as opposed to just one class on Monday night.

I'm knocking out two birds with one stone today by using this card for two different card challenges: clean&simple's Fall-To Layout 95 and Kristina Werner's Readers’ Choice Color Inspiration Challenge #4. When I thought I finished the card, I thought it was still missing something. Hmmm, what could it be? Ah-ha! Rhinestones. I promptly adhered them on the flip flops and called it a day.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red, Prussian Blue
Stamps: Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), Fiskars- Flip 'N Flop (flip flops)
Paper: Die Cuts With a View (yellow stripes), My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow (orange polka dots)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch), EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)

Alice in Wonderland

After a good spin class this morning, I cooked up a storm in the kitchen: tuna noodle casserole and green bean casserole. Yum. :)

I hung out with my friend Meg tonight. We got dinner at Chopt and watched Alice in Wonderland (the one with Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter). The movie was...interesting. I turned the subtitles on because the characters spoke very quickly, I had a tough time keeping up with them. And then I realized that the reason why I had no idea what they were saying was because they were using made up words! The special effects were pretty cool. It must have been an awesome cinematic experience to see it in 3D in the theaters.

For today's card, I had intentions of following a sketch, but then when I finished the card, I realized that I placed the sentiment in the wrong place. Whoops. I'll try again tomorrow, I suppose. I was glad that I found a use for an origami flower that had been sitting on my desk for a while.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamps: Fiskars- Petals From Scratch (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Brad: Making Memories- Fresh Anthology
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet

Rough Start, Happy Ending

Ooook, so today didn't start off on the best note ever, but it did end on a good note. Lemme explain.

#1- Woke up late. I pressed the snooze button on the phone way too many times that it just gave up on me.

#2- When I was walking to my car this morning, I saw this random piece of lettuce on the ground. HUH? Weird. Whatever. Then I get closer to the driver's side door. There's this smear of yellow on the driver's side window! o_0 Are you serious? I have no time for this! At first I thought someone had egged my car last night, but I didn't find out until I was wiping it off that it was cheese! At this point, if I were a cartoon, there would be thunderstorms above my head and weird symbols indicating all sorts of colorful and creative profanity. The window was greasy. There were bits of meat everywhere. When I walked back to the house to discard the dirty paper towels, I saw a burger wrapper and part of a bun. Yep. I have concluded that a cheeseburger was thrown at my car.

While I was cleaning up my car as best I could, my cousin was on his way to work and saw that I was scrubbing my car. I explained what had happened and apparently in a very loud voice because another cousin that's staying at the house for a little bit heard the entire story from the guest room. Hopefully the whole neighborhood didn't hear my tirade.

Well, the car's as clean as it's going to get at the moment. Let's move onto the better part of my day, mkay? So, I've been craving key lime pie for a while and because homemade is the way to go, I did some recipe research. This is what I came up with. Ready? BTW, this was the original recipe, but I modified it based on the reviews. Modified version is below.

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Combine 2 cans (1 can =14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk, 4 egg yolks, 3/4 cup of lime juice, some zest from a fresh lime.
• Pour "batter" in 9 inch premade pie crust. Bake in oven for 19 minutes. Stop baking when you can see little pin holes at the top of the pie.
  
• Cool pie to room temperature (or shove in freezer, if you are impatient like me) to desired consistency.
  
• Eat super delicious pie. :D It's just the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. Pure awesomeness.
  

The end. Tune in tomorrow for cards.

Office Computer Raffle

This afternoon was an event that all my coworkers (and myself) had been waiting for all week: the office computer raffle. Staff can put in one of their business cards into the bowl for a chance to win one of the laptops that's retiring (aka too old to use for work). There were 14 laptops up for grabs, which was encouraging. But, alas, I didn't win. However, a girl whose first day was TODAY won a laptop (she scribbled her name on the back of another coworker's card). Seriously??? AND, a person who won two computer raffles ago won another laptop this time! Ugh. Oh well. They won the laptops, fair and square. I'll stop being a grouch about it.

grumble grumble grumble

Ok, now I'm done.

I wandered over to the Making Memories blog today and remembered that I had a Making Memories paper pad that I bought on clearance I had yet to crack open and use! I made sure to use some for today's card and card challenge (Card Positioning Systems #171). I also used this opportunity to use these metal letter stickers that I got in the package that my Prima flowers Ebay auction win came in. How random, but I'm thankful nonetheless. I like that this card uses a little orange...I'm not usually an orange person, so it's nice to step out of my comfort zone. Look, no ink! Shocking.

Card Specs:
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Brad: Making Memories- Fresh Anthology, Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Other: Me & My Big Ideas- Chipboard Elements, Ellen Starfish Icons (leaf)
Flower: Prima
Stickers: Sticko- Metal Stickers (copper)

One-Layer Wednesday #9

So remember when I said on Monday that Anna was teaching 2 classes this week. Yeah, so I went to the gym today with shades of the White Rabbit's "I'm late, I'm late, no time to say hello, goodbye, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late." I bounded up the stairs to the spin studio (dramatic pause) only to find it completely empty. HUH? What gives? I went back downstairs to look at the calendar. Oh, Anna's extra class is NEXT Wednesday. Oops. I figured I'd get a workout in anyway since I was already at the gym.

The One-Layer Wednesday this week (#9) focused on flourishes. I decided to use flourishes as the petals of a flower that's the focus of a birthday card. The style of it looks very similar to a card that I made on this day. The sentiment stamp was on one line, but in order to make it fit on this card, I had to cut it. Meh, I can always piece the stamp back together, and no one would know the difference! :)

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rouge, Chestnut Roan, Warm Green
Stamps: Fiskars- Birthday (sentiment), Autumn Leaves- Build-a-Flower (stem, leaves), Inkadinkado (flourishes, flower center)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Unnecessary Worry

I was bracing myself as I was walking from my car to the gym. I was expecting that Janice the spin instructor would call me out for not being in her class last week. I had a legitimate excuse- I was out of town for work! When I walked into the spin studio, it turns out that my worrying was unnecessary because there was a substitute. I liked her...I wouldn't mind if she subbed again.

For tonight's card, I wanted to use the large background stamp that came in the Asian Inspired set from Fiskars. Ideally, I would use the Fiskars stamp press to transfer the ink to the cardstock, but since I don't own one of those, I decide to improvise by putting the stamp on my working surface, ink it up, and press the cardstock over it. Ok, I admit that it didn't leave a perfect impression and after 2 tries, I decided to go in a different direction. Instead of covering the whole front of the card with the background stamp, I decided to use my paper trimmer and cut a chunk out that looked ok. I was going to stick the stamped floral/butterfly piece on as-is, but something about it didn't look right. Hmmm, what could it be? Ah-ha! It needed rounded corners. Much better. :) I'm in love with that K&Company paper!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral, Blackberry
Stamps: Fiskars- Asian Inspired (cherry blossoms), Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), Studio G (butterflies)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace Border punch
Paper: K&Company Citronella Scribble Flowers
Foam Adhesive: EK Success

Song of the day: "If We Ever Meet Again"- Timbaland feat. Katy Perry.

A Lesson in Scale

Nothing like a good spin class to tackle lethargy. The gym is doing some sort of promotion this week, and I saw on the calendar that Anna is scheduled to teach another class on Wednesday night. I hope I didn't misread it because it'd be awesome to take 2 Anna classes in one week.

I had this card idea brewing in my head throughout the day. I knew I wanted to use flowers and a napping kitty stamp that I had sitting on my desk. I think the card turned out cute, but if I ever did a similar card, I'd be more aware of the scale. Notice how the cat is smaller than the flowers. I'm telling myself that it's a kitten, so that's why it's smaller compared to the flowers. Or maybe the flowers are like sunflowers- super tall. I think it's kinda ironic that today's card had issues with scale because I JUST recently read a blog post about the importance of scale. I guess the lesson didn't really sink until after I finished the card. Oops. Oh, P.S., this card only took me 1 try. Whoo hoo! And check it out, it's one layer! I was going to add some butterflies, but decided to stop because then there'd be way too much going on.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral, Charcoal, Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (flowers, stems, leaves), Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), Hanko Designs (cat)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Song of the day: "If We Ever Meet Again"- Timbaland feat. Katy Perry.

Endorphins and Lanterns

I started out the morning by going to Super Spin class. I muttered "good morning" to CGFDG. He looks at me and says, "You don't look really happy to be here." I said something about being tired and being out of town for a few days and wanting to get back to my spinning routine. The second I said "I'm tired", I immediately regretted it. What a crappy attitude to start the morning. And who the heck cares if you're tired?! No one! Get over it. It was a good class and with the help of some endorphins, I wasn't so frowny the rest of the day. The gym was able to get a spin instructor committed to teach the 8:30 1-hour spin class (it had been different people over the past few months). It was an instructor that at first I wasn't a huge fan of, but now I'm enjoying it. She's British so she starts the class with "I'm British...I don't want to talk about the World Cup." I think she was referring to yesterday's 1-1 tied game, England vs. USA.

I spent some time cleaning my room and getting some clothes together for donation. People in need can get some gently worn clothes and now my closet has room for new clothes. Win-win situation for everyone. I went to run some errands and was proud of myself for not impulsively buying new clothes to fill up the newly organized closet. The only the I came back with was lunch. The afternoon came to a close with a very nice nap with the cat.

For a change, I went into tonight's card making session knowing exactly which stamps I wanted to use. One of the Fiskars stamp sets came with a lantern and I thought it was so cute, so I knew that that was one of the stamps that I wanted to feature in tonight's card. I also like how it could be used for different events too...birthday, graduation, wedding, etc. I foresee using this stamp a lot in the future. It was a little challenging to get the images on the cardstock just right. The card that you see is like take #5 or #6, but I was determined to have an end product that I was satisfied with. Do you notice the little bit of masking that I did with the blue and red lanterns? :)

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral, Charcoal, Prussian Blue, Warm Green, Warm Red
Stamps: Fiskars- Asian Inspired (lantern), Fiskars- Border-A-Plenty (dotted lines), Fiskars- Baby (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Song of the day: "Can't Be Tamed"- Miley Cyrus. I heard it in the car sometime today and realized halfway through the song that I was bopping my head to the beat. I hope no one noticed. Heh.

CPS #170 and OLW #8

Yeah, so, I didn't make it to spin class this morning. Sleep was much too valuable to me. I wasn't feeling too guilty about it because I walked around the National Zoo with Meg and Robyn (friend from undergrad) for about 3 hours (in 90 degree heat and humidity, blech). We saw lions, tigers (no bears), golden lion tamarins, elephants, chinchillas, a panda butt, etc. The tiger was my personal favorite. Many of the animals were sleeping, but I guess that's all you can do in the heat. They also had spiders and bird-eating tarantulas, which, of course, I avoided like they were going to come out of their enclosures and eat me. Robyn informed me that the bird-eating tarantula was as big as her hand. Yep, good thing I avoided it. The lemonade we got was quite refreshing. I thought it was amusing that each of us got a different flavor (lemonade- Robyn, cherry lemonade- me, lime lemonade- Meg).

After the zoo, we escaped into a Starbucks to cool down and pass the time until it was time to get some dinner. We went to a place called Matchbox369. I got a caesar salad with some steak, which was good, but I didn't think the meal was awesome enough for the $12 I paid for it.

I think I'm finally caught up on my usual card challenges (CPS #170 and OLW #8). The theme for the One-Layer Wednesday card (right) was masking a background. I punched a cherry blossom on some leftover cardstock and used the remaining cardstock as a mask for the blossoms that you see in the background. All the stamps that I used for the two cards came from a recent Ebay auction win.

Card Specs (thinking of you):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rouge, Blackberry, Prussian Blue, Rose Coral, Pink Pastel
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Paper: K&Company Citronella Scribble Flowers

Card Specs (love):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral, Chestnut Roan, Olive Pastel
Stamps: Fiskars- Asian Inspired (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Carl Craft sakura punch

Fall-To Layout 94

The communication training was pretty good today. I liked the instructor. She was quite engaging and used a lot of humor to keep the day interesting. She gave a few tips that I thought were helpful...maybe you will too.

• The power seat at the table is where the worst view is for the person you want to influence. For example, say you were going to an important lunch with your boss about a possible promotion. You don't want to sit near a nice, scenic view because he or she is more likely to pay attention to the view than you. Instead, somehow position your boss so that he or she the kitchen or bathroom, where you are sitting. Make sense?
• You can't manage time, but you can manage choices.
• There is no such thing as job security, but there is such a thing as skill security. I think her point there was that you can always be learning new skills.
• Don't have more than 4 important points in a presentation. Your audience probably won't remember anything beyond that.

In true Friday night tradition, I stopped by clean&simple for their Fall-To Layout sketch challenge (#94). I used this as another opportunity to use some of my new stamps. I really like this Fiskars set because it comes with 27 stamps! Yes, 27 stamps in one set! I think it's very versatile because there are several different types of flowers, stems, leaves, vases you can mix and match. The possibilities are endless!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Citrus, Warm Green, Rouge
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch), EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Paper: K&Company Citronella Scribble Flowers
Other: Brown Ultra Fine Point Sharpie

Fall-To Layout 93

I cannot believe that I was actually functional at the office today. I felt like a total zombie, walking around half-awake. The leadership at work was nice enough to give 2 comp days for working this past weekend at the Annual Meeting. I'll be at a communication training tomorrow, but it would have been nice to be at the office tomorrow because the Executive Director is allowing the World Cup to be shown on the big screen in the large conference room. I'm sure there will be a big crowd in there with snacks and laptops to "work". The boss must have been feeling generous since there was a lot of positive feedback about the Annual Meeting.

After work, I went to the post office to mail off orders that came in while I was out. The lady behind me was one of the postal workers at the desk who retired. The ladies currently at the desk were happy to see her. I didn't recognize her since she wasn't wearing her uniform. I asked her "So, you don't get to do your own postage?" "No, that's not one of the perks of retirement," she answered. Ha ha.

Today, I finished a book that I was reading while I was in Cincinnati- Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. I really enjoy reading the Shopaholic series written by the same author, so I figured that this book would be good too. I picked it up at the library on a whim before my trip. I also picked up Eclipse (Twilight), but I figured that Twenties Girl would be a less embarrassing choice to bring to a work meeting. Anyway, I enjoyed the book. There were definitely some LOL moments.

Hello, crafty goodies. How I've missed you so. Right before I left for Cincinnati, I won an Ebay auction for some Fiskars stamps. They arrived while I was away, so this is the first opportunity I've had to try them out. I was also behind on my clean&simple stamping challenge (#93) since I was away from home last Friday, so I figured I'd work on that too with my new goodies.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Citrus, Warm Green, Amber Clay, Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Fiskars- Petals from Scratch (flowers, leaves, stem, sentiment), Fiskars- Borders-A-Plenty (leaf border)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Paper: Die Cuts With A View- Citrus (floral)

Cincinnati, Day 6

A day that starts with cake for breakfast is usually a pretty good one. Our President's 50th birthday was yesterday, and I ate some of the leftover cake that was brought down to the registration table. It was a rich chocolate cake. Yum.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend Dr. Richard Besser's talk this morning. I heard it was a good one though! I was helping the meeting coordinator close down the registration room, box our materials up, and print out a bunch of FedEx labels. I didn't end up going to the cupcake place either. I was busy, and the chocolate cake was so good that I didn't think I needed to over do it with the sweets so early in the morning.

After the meeting, I had about 5 hours until my flight, so I went to lunch with one of my co-workers at this place called Cadillac Ranch, where we both got salads. It was nice to have some vegetables since most of my diet in Cincinnati was ice cream and chicken. After lunch, we hung out at the hotel for a while until it was time to head to the airport. We were going to be on the same flight along with some other co-workers, so it was kinda funny to see us all clump together at the gate.

I can't believe that I'm going to be at the office tomorrow. That's going to feel a little weird after being away for a few days. My first Annual Meeting has come to a close, and it turned out much better than I thought it would. I enjoyed meeting members that I haven't met in person before but have communicated with via phone and email. I really liked that I was even able to work/talk to co-workers that I don't normally work with or talk to. Onward to Omaha in 2011!

No crafty business for tonight, but I'll start the routine back up tomorrow. :)

Cincinnati, Day 5

Today is the last full day of our Annual Meeting. It's a little crazy to me that I'll be back in the office on Thursday. The past few days have been a blur. This morning started off with a roundtable where we had about 35 people attend, which far exceeded my expectations. I am hopeful that people will be emailing me over the summer for more information and interest to participate in my project more in the Fall.

For lunch, we had chicken, risotto, mushrooms, and green beans. I really liked the risotto, but the chicken was a little dry. There was also some apple spice cake, but I just didn't have any more room. Oh well. I made it up by having ice cream for dinner for the third time during this trip. This time the flavor of choice was strawberry chip. I can't decide which one was my favorite- the blackberry white chocolate chip or the strawberry chip. Both were so yummy. Tomorrow, my goal is to stop by the cupcake shop that's near the front entrance of the hotel. I hope they have something red velvet. That would totally complete my trip here.

Tomorrow should be interesting. Dr. Richard Besser from ABC News is supposed to speak. And then that'll be the end of my first Annual Meeting experience. As much fun as I've had in Cincinnati, I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night and getting back to my normal routine. And of course, my crafty goodies. And my cat.

Ok, ok.

And my parents too.

Cincinnati, Day 4

Another morning at the registration front desk today. Overheard conversation between some senior people from work: "If we didn't bicker, we wouldn't get along." It's nice to work with people with a sense of humor, especially around 7 AM. I found the end of the day most interesting with the Member Assembly. Many of the meeting participants were really engaged in the discussion, and I appreciated that they were so passionate about the Association and its direction. I also felt energized with the speeches that the Executive Director, past President and President gave. Public health laboratories do serve a great purpose in our community, and it'll be interesting to see what the future brings.

For dinner tonight, I grabbed a roast beef sandwich at Potbelly (second roast beef sandwich for today, heh) and after I inhaled that along with a bag of chips, I decided to go to Graeter's for some ice cream. I went with a scoop of toffee chip, but in a cup this time since getting ice cream in a cone proved to be very messy last time. Calories don't count when you're not at home right? :D

Working a roundtable session tomorrow, which means I get to sleep in until 7 AM tomorrow (as opposed to 6 AM). Hey, I'll take what I can get!

Cincinnati, Day 3

Day 1 at the registration table went really well. I think that it helped that I wasn't the only one there, that there were more senior/experienced people around to answer questions that I didn't know the answers to, and that there was a huge chunk of people who registered yesterday so that there wouldn't be a huge rush this morning.

Miss Iowa was the guest speaker for today's conference. Yes, a beauty pageant queen at a public health event? I know. That confused me too. And before you roll your eyes like I mentally did when I found out she was coming, I found her to be super nice, super smart, and very articulate about her passion for science and inspiring the younger generation to be interested in science too. I thought it was a pretty cool platform to speak on because I'm not sure that the laboratories out there get the attention, funding, or credit that they deserve considering how much work goes on in them. I found Miss Iowa's opening remark to be amusing: "I wanted to be a tooth fairy when I grew up." P.S. Her crown was some serious bling.

After my shift at the registration desk was over, I went back to my room and took a nap. I really needed it, and I was up in time to help my boss set up for her session. A reception with vendors followed and that's basically the end of my day. I have another morning at registration tomorrow, so it's going to be another early night.

No interesting food report today. The ice cream place closed up right when I left the reception. I hope to go back tomorrow. I did eat some more of that yummy potato gnocchi though.

I got this free plush Giant Microbe from one of the vendors today. It's supposed to be 1,000,000x the actual size of the Influenza A H1N1 virus. However, really, it's like a pig's head without ears. I wonder whose job it is to come up with this stuff. Oh, wait. It says on the tag "Giant Microbes by Drew Oliver." Ooook.

Today was the first day that I can remember actually wearing a suit for the whole day and actually, it wasn't that bad. What a nice surprise. :)

Cincinnati, Day 2

Disclaimer: none of my blog entries for the next few days will be anything card related because I'm on travel for work and away from my crafty goodies. Tune in on TH when I'll be back to my regular crafty adventures.

The best feeling ever (no, nothing food related) is feeling like my hard work paid off. The workshop that I made the 40 binders for was this morning. I was able to meet people that I've only been communicating with over the phone and email. Do you ever get the feeling that the image of the person you conjure up in your head of the person you're talking to on the phone doesn't match up with the real-life person? I had that feeling today a few times, but it's very possible that that person thought the same thing about me. Even though I wasn't able to participate in the workshop because of another meeting across the hall, I was able to sneak in during the last hour and hear the evaluation portion of the agenda. Every participant had to comment on what they thought of the day and offer any suggestions for improvement. It was awesome for me to hear the enthusiasm from the participants and know that they plan to take what they've learned from the workshop back to their respective work places. Oh, I also got a comment from one of the speakers about how great the binders looked. Suh-weet! :D

The hotel food was pretty good today. I wish I was able to take pictures of the potato gnocchi that I had at lunch, but I think that would have looked really weird to the meeting participants. There's no way to do that subtly with people around you. After a reception with hors d'oeuvres, I went to Graeter's with a bunch of co-workers and got ice cream for dinner. I got a scoop of blackberry white chocolate chip. OMG, it was so good. It was so good that I didn't care that I was making a huge mess. The ice cream was getting very drippy, very quickly (see picture). The ice cream place was near Fountain Square, where the movie screen on top of one of the buildings was playing Night at the Museum 2. I made a mental note to myself to make sure to block off some time during this trip for some photography.

After ice cream, I stopped by Walgreens with two of my co-workers. I wasn't planning to get anything in particular, but when I saw these Mike and Ikes: Lemonade Blends, I HAD to try them. The box was only $1 anyway. They are quite yummy.

Even though it's been a long day (for a Saturday), I felt like it went pretty quickly. Before coming on this trip, I was thinking as long as I made it through today that the rest of the trip would be downhill from here. Hooray, I made it! :)

Cincinnati, Day 1

Finally, after months of prepping and anticipating, the big work meeting is here! The flight to Cincinnati was uneventful except that the person that was sitting next to me across the aisle was snoring. She was snoring before the plane even took off! She must have been really tired. It wasn't a big deal because I slept through most of the 1.5 hour flight anyway. The guy on the other side of her was prepared too. He had some noise cancelling headphones on. Lucky him.

In contrast to other work travel I've been on, this is the first one where I was on the same flight with some of my co-workers. 3 of them, in fact! I appreciated travel buddies.

When I got to the hotel, I checked my email to find that I got another Etsy sale today. Too bad I'm away from all my cards. This takes "a watched pot never boils" to a whole new level.

After roaming around a little bit and ate some dinner from Chik-Fil-A, I was beginning to feel guilty that I scarfed down the Chik-Fil-A, fries, and Coke Zero, so I digested a little and then schlepped off to the hotel gym to run it off, 2 miles total. I gotta keep these eating habits in check since I probably won't be at spin until probably next Saturday. Geeze, that seems so far away from now.

It's going to be an early morning tomorrow...and the day after that...and the day after that...you get the point. I am looking forward to getting this work meeting off to a good start tomorrow. Bring it on.

One-Layer Wednesday #7

While reading some crafty blogs today, I stopped by Jennifer McGuire's blog and saw that she'll be teaching 2 classes in the DC area in August. OMG, I immediately dug out my phone to reserved my spot. I think her work is amazing and her videos are quite informative and inspirational, so I'm suuuper (yes, 3 u's) excited about meeting her in person and taking her classes.

On to today's cards. I went to Simplicity by Lateblossom for her One-Layer Wednesday card challenge, and this week it featured repetition. I took a 3-"flower" stamp and used it in rows of different colors. I did 4 rows and stamped a sentiment and thought about adding more images to the card, but then decided it'd be overkill and stopped while the card still looked clean. Then I decided to make another card with the same stamp set. In retrospect, I should have chosen the colors more carefully because I think the card turned out darker than I would like it to be. I might revisit this card in the future with a brighter feel. P.S. OMG, my fingers are so stained tonight.
Card Specs (best wishes):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green, Blackberry, Yellow Ochre
Stamps: SEI- Moravia (flower, sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Card Specs (i appreciate all that you have done):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue, Charcoal, Deep Green, Creamy Brown, Maroon, Dark Peony
Stamps: SEI- Moravia (flower, leaves), Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Have you noticed that my cards have more rounded corners ever since I got the We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper? One of the best tools ever.

Happy Times at Work

I made some coworkers happy today by bringing in some cookies. They get some cookies. I get cookies without having to eat the entire batch. Everybody wins. Now, who doesn't like a win-win situation?

My abstract got accepted as a poster presentation for a humongo national public health meeting this Fall. I wasn't sure what to expect when I submitted it, so now I'm pleasantly surprised. :D But enough about that. My goal is to make it through June 9 without wigging out. That's when our Annual Meeting is over and I can cross it off my to-do list.

On to today's cards. For the first card, I wanted to use some of the American Crafts paper that I bought on clearance recently. As the card assemblage went along, I decided that I wanted to have a pink, black and white theme, which was perfect because there was black and white paper in the pack. Then I thought that the pink might be too overpowering, so I decided to add a splash of light blue in the flower. With the second card, a discarded card base from this card last week was sitting near the printer and caught my attention. I did a similar overlapping thing with it, but since it's not a one-layer card, I allowed myself to use some cardstock and rhinestones to add some dimension.
Card Specs (celebrate):
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black, Bazzinks! in Petunia
Stamps: Inkadinkado (leaves), The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Flower: Prima
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan

Card Specs (miss you):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackberry, Lavendar
Stamps: Basic Grey- Cup of Tea (teapot), Fiskars- Girlfriend (sentiment, flourishes)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch

Song of the day: "Chances"- Five For Fighting.