CPS #174

This afternoon, I met up with one of my graduate school friends, Jessie, at Panera. It was so nice to catch up with her. We always have good conversations. She's off to Orlando on Saturday to Disney World and Universal Studios (hello? Harry Potter!!). Lucky duck :)

Today was the last TH night spin class that the gym was offering for the summer. I decided to go since I hadn't been to spin since last Friday ::hangs head in shame:: The after-work naps just totally get me sometimes. The instructor that was teaching last week wasn't there, but instead it was Janice (Tuesday night's instructor). She totally called me out for not coming to class recently. Oooops. ::whispers:: They knowwwww. I'm gonna try to make it to Anna's class tomorrow morning (taking my second Annual Meeting comp day tomorrow).

I went over to Card Positioning Systems (#174) for inspiration tonight. I also decided to use the blue/red/yellow paper because it was laying around my scrap pile. I thought the yellow cardstock matched the yellow in the scrap piece nicely. I was going to do a tone-on-tone effect with the butterfly, but the Mustard ink wasn't showing up as boldly as I would like it to so I cut another piece of yellow cardstock and stamped the butterfly again in red. I though the yellow piece needed some color, so I picked up the Mustard inkpad again and ran it over the edges several times. Even though that color didn't work for the butterfly, it worked nicely for the edges. I decided to add that apron lace border punch piece because all straight lines around that blue piece was going to be boring. And of course, I finished up the card by rounding some corners and adding some rhinestones.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red. StazOn in Mustard
Stamps: Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment), Inkadinkado (butterfly)
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: Die Cuts With a View- Citrus
Button: Favorite Findings in Ocean

Sales, Hooray!

I sold 5 cards in one order today in my Etsy shop, yay! I was thinking that sales were kinda slow this summer, but maybe this is a sign that things are turning around. ::fingers crossed::

Tonight, I decided to make a card without a sentiment. I didn't plan it that way when I started making the card, but I wasn't sure where I wanted it and I also remembered a piece of advice that I got from the Etsy forums- to offer cards that had no sentiment on the front so that they could be used for any occasion. So I omitted the sentiment, but added some rhinestones for some visual interest and extra dimension...and sparkle! :)

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Rose Coral, Yellow Ochre, Warm Green
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (flowers, stems, leaves, flower pot)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan

Song of the day: "One Tribe" - Black Eyed Peas.

Tuesday Trigger 7-6-10

Ok ok. I confess. I stayed up wayyy past my bedtime last night to finish Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. Hmmm, I dunno. I thought the author did a good job keeping the reader interested, but the ending left me wanting something more WHOA, not meh. I read through 500+ pages, I want a good ending...know what I mean?

Pleasant surprise at the office: Whoo hoo, the IT guys hooked me up with a new hands-free phone device for my work phone. I have at least 3-4 conference calls a week, and since I have an office roommate, sometimes I feel bad using the speakerphone when she's in the office. Occasionally, I just move to a different office to take the call or just take the call in my office, hoping my roommate will use her headphones if it gets too loud. I've recently had a problem with people not being able to hear me on the speakerphone even when I'm unmuted, but with this new hands-free device, all my phone related problems are now resolved. What a great way to start the work week! :)

I went to Moxie Fab World to check out their Tuesday Trigger, while my sister was picking out paper for today's card. I told her that the stamps were going to be enough for this card, which she picked out just before. I thought the picture was intriguing with the contrast of black and splashes of color. My sister picked out small stamps that I stamped in clusters in Charcoal ink, similar to the dark images in the picture. I tried to mimic the splashes of color with the larger floral stamp, popping up some while stamping some directly onto the white cardstock. I originally had clear rhinestones, but I thought the black ones would stand out more and also tie back to charcoal background. The finished card looks kinda modern artsy, don't you think?
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Lagoon, Lipstick Red, Yellow Ochre, Pink Pastel, Charcoal
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), Basic Grey- Medallion (all other stamps)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Movie and Book Reviews

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July yesterday! I went with Meg and my sister to go see Toy Story 3, and I thought it was a great movie! Most of the time, I don't think sequels go over so well, but this one was great! The end was really touching, to the extent that I teared up a little bit. I was pleasantly surprised that Totoro made an appearance in the movie. His toothy grin was spot on.

I spent most of today plowing through Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, which I picked up at the library the other day. I think the short chapters were a smart way to lure the reader in. I kept thinking "Ok, just one more chapter. What? That's it? Ok, how about another one?" I imagine that I'll finish it up in another day or two. I am a little nervous to get to the end because the reviews of the book aren't really that great, but I can't seem to put the book down! I do find it interesting that the story is set in Washington, D.C. and because I am near the city, I recognize many of the references. I even remember seeing the Masonic Temple when I went to Alexandria a few months ago.

Awww, 4-day weekend is overrrr...back to work tomorrow!

Jelly Bean Review

I picked up a package of Jelly Belly Ice Cream Parlor Mix jelly beans from Safeway today. The fact that they were on sale was a good incentive. I tried them out when I got home and found that, sadly, they were kinda meh. I think I was expecting them to be as awesome as the ice cream flavors, but they just didn't taste the same. I think my favorite out of the 5 flavors was the mint chocolate chip one. I found that Candy Blog did a review of them a while back. I should have read the review before buying because then I would have saved $3. :P

Because my sister is home for the July 4th holiday, I had her pick out some elements for the card today. She selected some floral stamps, a sentiment, and paper from Chloe's Closet. I picked a pale coral ink so that the color wouldn't be competing with the bright green of the ribbon and paper. To add some dimension, I popped up some of the flowers and added rhinestones for a finishing sparkly touch.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Rose Coral
Stamps: Fiskars- Asian Inspired (flowers), Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Fall-To Layout 97

I decided to take one of my comp days from working the Annual Meeting in early June. Even without my cell phone alarm, I woke up just in time to make it to spin class this morning. I peeked at my cell phone to see what time it was and OH CRAP. 8:55 AM?! I was shooting to leave the house at 9:00. Scrambling ensued. If it was another instructor, I wouldn't have been so gung-ho about going, but Anna was teaching so I knew that I'd get a good workout in.

After a shower, I zipped along to the mall to make it to a 11:45 showing of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Because I got there right at 11:45, I was afraid that I'd be climbing over Twihards to find a good seat, but much to my surprise, there were maybe 10-15 people (!). I also noticed that the theater had gone through a reconstruction since the last time I'd been there. Cushy seats, hardwood floor, leg room. Niiice. I must confess that I hadn't finished the book before I saw the movie, but I enjoyed watching it. I liked how there was more action with the wolves as compared to New Moon, or just more action, period. FYI, not that you really care, but I'm on Team Jacob. I don't really see the appeal of the undead or Robert Pattinson.

True to Friday tradition, I wandered to clean&simple stamping for their card sketch (#97). I didn't want to use flowers because that's what was used in the example card. thinkthinkthink. I dug in my toolbox for some embellishments and came out with beachy ones. I really wanted to add some texture to the blue cardstock, so I heat embossed some clear waves on it. When I finished the card, I was thinking that I had a slight problem with scale and the flip flops being much smaller compared to the starfish. But then I made it work by thinking that the flip flops were toddler size and the starfish was just plain big.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Spring Break (sentiment, wave)
Foam adhesive: EK Success
Other: Me & My Big Ideas- Chipboard Elements, Ellen Starfish Icons (flower, starfish), Sandylion Essentials- Sandals

CPS #173

It's been forever since I've been to a TH night spin class, but I went tonight because I felt like I needed to get a spin class in due to skipping the TU night one. The guy that usually teaches this class has moved to a different gym. He was cool, and I always felt that I got a good workout in afterwards. I was willing to give the lady tonight a chance. She was nice and friendly, but I wasn't really feeling her music. I didn't think it was energizing enough. She also announced that because of low attendance, the gym will not be holding the TH night spin class for the rest of the summer, starting next week. :/ I hope she didn't think it was because of her. I guess people thought that 7 PM was a little later than they'd like class to be.

Did anyone watch the first episode of the new Real World: New Orleans? Wow, that Ryan kid needs to take a chill pill. Starting all that drama with his new roommates on the FIRST NIGHT is not the best way to make a good first impression. It makes for great television though!

Oh, come on! Like you don't want junk TV...

For today's card, I tackled Card Positioning System's sketch #173. Instead of doing six individual items on the right, I decided to squish them into one element by doing the pleated ribbon technique. I was better prepared this time with stronger double stick tape and glue as a back up. I felt that the card needed some more visual interest, so I added the rhinestones for the centers of some of the flowers. I like how the card has lots of curves: the rounded pleats of the ribbon, the rounded corners of the left panel and the rounded corner of the card.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red
Stamps: Fiskars- Petals from Scratch (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan