Tuesday Trigger: Comfy Cozy

Well, I did not get very far today. I didn't even get past my own airport this morning, and therefore, am not in Prince Edward Island as I had planned/hoped. Here's how my day went. Just scroll down if you're looking for today's card.

5 AM: Woke up
6 AM-ish: Arrived at Reagan National Airport and found out my ticket had be voided. HUH? What the (*beep*)?! Fortunately the lady at the ticket counter was able to book me another ticket.
Between 7 and 9 AM: Found out that the flight to Ottawa was delayed 10 minutes (ok, fine) but then canceled due to a plane mechanical problem (crap). The airline was able to book me on a flight to Montreal that will leave DCA around 1:15 PM (ok, fine).
9 - 11 AM-ish: Waiting. Bored. Skimmed through 2 issues of Martha Stewart Living. Drooled over the recipes and food photography. Witnessed someone getting a ticket by police and a K9 sniffing dog. Interesting stuff.
11:30 AM-ish: My boss's boss's name and my name are called up to the counter (uh oh). Apparently, the flight to Montreal was further delayed, which would have prevented us from making our connecting flight. Our only option was to fly to Nova Scotia today and then fly out to Prince Edward Island tomorrow morning. If we chose this option, by the time we would get to the event, the day would have been well underway. My boss's boss made some phone calls and decided that it wasn't worth it to hike all the way up to Canada for half the event. I'm glad that he was with me so that I could just follow his lead.
1:30 PM: Ended up back at home. The end.

I'm crossing my fingers that everyone else that was supposed to be there was able to make it. At least I have my trip to Nova Scotia coming up in March. Hopefully, it'll work better the second time around!

Update on my recent "blast from the past" story: I saw the guy from high school again at spin class, and he took the bike behind me. Again, I debated if I should say anything, but it ended up not mattering because he said hi first. Ah, so he remembered who I was. We made some small talk...he's moving to the West Coast next week and I wished him good luck.

This is one brave birdie. I dunno many cats that would be so tolerant.

Ok, enough yammering. Let's talk about cards. a) I was chosen as one of the Trigger Targets from last week's challenge. Woot! b) Here's my take on this week's Tuesday Trigger challenge. I saw the pillows and they reminded me of a paper punch that I had. I dug through my paper stash to find some papers that matched the colors found in the inspiration photo (red, blue, yellow), punched them out, and adhered them with the foam adhesive. I drew in the lines to define the space and then added some gems for some dimension.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Wild Honey, Broken China, Tattered Rose
Paper: American Crafts- Dear Lizzy (pink floral), American Crafts- Letterbox (yellow)
Stamp: The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)
Punch: Family Treasures
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Off on Another Adventure!

Sorry, no card tonight, folks. I'm leaving for a work trip tomorrow, to a far away land called...

Canada.

Prince Edward Island to be exact. I dunno much about this place except that it's going to be cold cold cold. I'm glad that my boss and my boss's boss will be there to experience it with me (and to make sure I don't get lost).

I was packing some stuff after dinner and I mumbled something about having to change currency when I get to the airport. My mom left the table and rummaged around to find some extra Canadian money leftover from the last time we were all there...like 10+ years ago!

I hope to be able to take some pretty pictures tomorrow afternoon before meeting up with the group. Night!

Cards Magazine Challenge

I cranked out another 4.85 miles around the neighborhood this afternoon. I didn't even get through my first mile and I was already thinking that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to 4.85. It just goes to show that running is also a mental activity. With about a month left until the 8K race, I WILL be ready for it!

This week's Cards Magazine challenge is cards using border punches. I looked at some of my kraft cardstock and figured that if I used a scalloped border punch on the scraps and layered them, it could look like the shingles of a roof. I also had some flower punch outs that I was going to use for another card, but didn't. So then I punched 4 flowers, layered them, stuck a brad through all 4 layers, and crumpled them up a little. I thought the card needed some more elements for it to look like a scene so I added an "upper crest" grass border and a sun.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green, Charcoal. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Wild Honey, Vintage Photo
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (flower stems), Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch, Marvy Uchida (sun), Carla Craft sakura punch
Paper: American Crafts- City Park (pink, blue), American Crafts (pink), Die Cuts with a View (ledger paper)
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection

Song of the day: "Don't You Wanna Stay" - Jason Aldean (ft. Kelly Clarkson). I heard it on the drive home last night from dinner.

Deals and Dinner

I felt like a ping-pong ball and a gopher today. A ping-pong ball because I was bouncing from store to store, looking for good crafty deals all afternoon. And a gopher because I had to dig, dig, dig through the messy aisles to find good stuff. The hard work paid off because I was triumphant today! Let me count the ways:

• From Michaels: large music score stamp (originally $10+) and it was on clearance AND I had a 40% off coupon. $4.45
  
• From Tuesday Morning: 1 pack, 25 sheets of 12x12 inch red cardstock. $2.99
• From Joann's: 1 pack, 50 sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch green cardstock (originally $3.99). 50% off sale + 40% off coupon. $1.20
• From TJMaxx: 1 pack, 180 sheets of Die Cuts with a View paper- Stack 7. $5.99

I bought 2 $1 stamps and some "fat quarter" fabric today (for my fabric flower pins) from Joann's, but they were not on sale. Oh, and the funny thing today was that I used competitor coupons today and they still worked! It doesn't hurt to try.

When I came home from my errands this morning, I made some more blueberry muffin tops. They went buh-byE very quickly when I made them on Tuesday.

Earlier tonight, I went to Arlington to have a dinner pow-wow with my friends Meg and Robyn. The last time the three of us had hung out was at the National Zoo in early December. We went to a Thai place, and I got my go-to order of chicken pad thai. We also shared dessert: sticky rice + mango and banana bread pudding. Yum!

Yeah, so I'm definitely going for a run tomorrow. I'm going to try for 5 miles again!

I was very excited to use the background stamp that I purchased today. I was also determined to use scraps. The only piece I used that wasn't a scrap was the white card base. Everything else was from a piece that I had cut from before. I'm not big on the vintage, but seeing as I used a lot of darker colors and an ink called "antique linen," I think my attempt at vintage-y came out pretty good!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Maroon, Charcoal. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen.
Stamps: Inkadinkado (sentiment, bird), Stampendous (music score)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Paper: American Crafts- City Park (brown)
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Song of the day: "Paralyzer"- Finger Eleven. I heard it at spin this morning.

Fall-To Layout #127

I am happy to report that the dental appointment went very smoothly this morning. I was in and out of there in about 30 minutes. It really does pay off to floss and brush regularly!

My boss let me work from home today. Hooray for not having to drive across town and saving on gas. I stopped by a Marshalls on the way home from the dentist and even though I saw some American Crafts paper packs, I told myself that I didn't NEED them and prompted walked out of the store. Similarly, tonight, I went searching for my sister's birthday present and some crafty stuff for me (Michaels, Tuesday Morning, TJMaxx, Ross, and A.C.Moore) and ended up with 2 things for my sister and a box of Milk Duds for me. I even had 2 alphabet stamp sets in my hand in the Tuesday Morning checkout line, but ultimately, I walked back to the aisle and returned them to their rightful spots. Check out that self-control. Boo-yah.

The Big Boss sends out birthday cards to staff. I got mine today because my birthday is next week. He wrote a note below his signature: "Sorry, I couldn't make the card myself :)" Ha ha.

I came across this talk from Brene Brown on the most recent episode of Paperclipping Roundtable. I liked her message about the power of vulnerability, especially how she ended the talk: "Because when we work from a place I believe that says, 'I'm enough,' then we stop screaming and start listening, we're kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we're kinder and gentler to ourselves."

Here's my take on this weeks Fall-To Layout (#127). I decided to do a little paper piecing with this lion stamp. I stamped the lion on the white cardstock and then again on scrap yellow cardstock. I cut out the body and head from the scrap and adhere them to the white cardstock. The paper on the left side is from an assorted pack that I bought right when I was getting into cardmaking, but hadn't used in over a year. I thought it'd be a good time to bring back an oldie.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Jungle (lion), Savvy Stamps (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Carla Craft sakura punch
Thread: DMC- Ecru
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Deperate Times

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Let me explain by setting the scene from earlier today when I was in search of a snack.

I wander across the hall.

me to administrative assistant: "Where's that Snickers bar you offered me yesterday?"
AA: "Tina, that was yesterday. I already ate it. You TOLD me that you didn't want it, remember?"
me: "I know, but I'm hungry. What else you got?"
AA: "Crackerjack...and Pop Tarts." ::notices my expression when he mentioned the PopTarts:: "Do you want a Pop Tart?"
me: (pauses) "Ok." ::tears into the box and wrapper:: munch munch munch.

I wouldn't normally eat a Pop Tart, but I was that hungry. It held me through the rest of the day (1 hour). And for anyone that thinks I'm a mooch, I am. BUT I do bring cookies to the office from time to time, so doesn't this mean that we're even?

I went to Marshalls this afternoon, and while their scrapbook selection was very minimal, I did find 2 great deals: 4 x 6 inch acrylic block (originally $3, I got it for $1) and a Martha Stewart clear stamp set ($2.99). Mwah ha ha ha. And for any of you that have been following my blog, the 1-month moratorium of buying new craft supplies ended on Wednesday. I survived a whole month of not buying new crafty things, and guess what? It wasn't that hard. Try it sometime!

And, of course, I used one of the stamps from the set that I bought today. These toy transportation stamps would be great for masculine cards.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Prussian Blue, Ice Blue, Chestnut Roan, Blue Iris. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Wild Honey
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Surf's Up (wave), Martha Stewart- Toy Transportation (sailboat), Fiskars- Baby (sentiment), Inkadinkado (bird)
Paper: Die Cuts With a View (yellow stars), American Crafts- City Park (pale blue), American Crafts Specialty Paper in Pearl (dark blue)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Marvy Uchida (sun)
Brad: Making Memories- Fresh Anthology
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

I checked the mailbox this morning before I heading to work and saw that I got a letter from Suzie and the current issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. My mood instantly lifted. Behold, the power of snail mail.

Dental appointment tomorrow morning. Oh, joy of joys.

Tuesday Trigger: Decadently Yours

In the fridge last night, I found a container of blueberries, and I suddenly got the craving for blueberry muffins. So with some coaxing from my sister via IM, I baked some and had fresh muffins in less than 30 minutes. Woot. You'll notice that I didn't use any muffin cups. Meh, they aren't necessary. I basically used a ice cream scoop to make the ~15 muffin tops. When I was watching NCIS this evening (which was a great episode, by the way), I bit into a muffin and some of the berry juice ended up on my shirt. Graceful I am not. Sigh. It was a good muffin though!

This week's Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger focuses on truffles, which is totally appropriate since Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. I decided to make my own paper truffles out of scrap brown cardstock and decorate them with either rhinestones or embossing powder for some added texture. Nom nom nom.
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Personal Stamp Exchange- Black, Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Paper: American Crafts- City Park (brown), Dear Lizzy (pink)
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Die: Cuttlebug- Flowers (flowers)
Stickers: American Crafts Chipboard Thickers in Darling (white)
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb