A Card-filled Sunday

I was able to return the Martha Stewart circle cutter that, contrary to what it said on the packaging, did not cut perfect circles...for me. Sigh.

I wasn't able to get myself out of bed this morning in time for spin class, but I did go to the gym after I returned the circle cutter. I did 30 minutes on the ArcTrainer while watching a rerun of Real Housewives of OC. I could definitely feel my legs burning by the end, so I was happy to get a good workout in...even if I didn't make it to spin.

Random thing from today: When I was working on cards this afternoon, I could hear someone wailing outside. This girl was bawling her eyes out, and I could hear her from across the street and above the music that was playing. She was sitting on my neighbor's steps, and my heart stopped for a moment because I was worried that something had happened across the street. I tried to get a closer look from my window to see if it was one of the kids and debated on whether I should go see if I could help out. The girl got up and started walking down the street, and I realized that it wasn't one of the neighbor's kids. The girl proceeded to take out her cell phone and yell at her mom. Yep, she was talking/crying loud enough that I could hear her as she turned the corner and went up the path behind the house. o_0

As the title of the blog post suggests, it was a busy afternoon. Here's what I came up with. I broke out the K.I. Memories stamp set and used it in all 3 of today's cards. The tiled flower one is my favorite. I can't wait to send it off to a friend. :)
Card Specs (flower, hi):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Punches: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Stamps: K.I. Memories- Mixed Up Alpha (sentiment), K.I. Memories-Blooms (flower)

Card Specs (flower tiles):
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black; Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Citrus, Lime Pastel, Orchid Pastel, Blue Lagoon
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), K.I. Memories-Blooms (flowers)

Card Specs (butterfly):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear and white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Punches: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), K.I. Memories-Blooms (flowers)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom and Grow

Valiant effort, Team USA. Valiant effort. I'm off to catch the Olympic Closing ceremonies. Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

Martha Stewart: Fail

Crafty Review: For anyone that's curious about the Martha Stewart circle cutter, don't bother (in my opinion). I saw a video of it online and thought it'd be worth a try. I've been looking for a circle cutter, since I don't have a die cutting machine or a wide variety of circle paper punches. I own a Martha Stewart cupcake punch and I LOVE it, so needless to say, I had high expectations for this tool. Unfortunately, the little bugger didn't cut clean circles for me! I tried moving the cutter slowly. I tried taping down the paper that I was cutting. I tried putting the tool away for a little bit and trying again after 10 minutes. Mmmnope. No luck. Martha Stewart: fail. :( I'll be making a trip back to A.C. Moore tomorrow to return it. The search continues...suggestions are welcome!

I had intentions of going to the mall at noon today, but then I found this card challenge online (Our Crafty Lounge Design Team Sketch Challenge #2) and wanted to get started right away. I ended up going to the mall an hour later. Heh. I realized later on tonight that you had to use Our Crafty Lounge stamps in order to participate. Oops. Yeah, totally didn't do that. It really does help to read the rules, doesn't it? I had fun making the card anyway. I've been dying to find an excuse to use the pretty butterfly that came with one of my birthday gifts (thanks, Meg!). I made the origami flower card tonight because I felt like I hadn't been listing many new things in my Etsy shop recently.Card Specs (butterfly):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Citrus
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch
Stamps: K.I. Memories- Logo Daisy Doodle (flower), Fiskars- Kids Birthday (sentiment)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom and Grow (green leaf paper)
Embellishment: K&Company-Berry Sweet brads (butterfly)

I went to Barnes and Noble after going to the mall this afternoon and was taking a look at the most recent Stamper's Sampler- Take Ten. I thought to myself, "That'd be so cool if I could get one of my cards published." ::light bulb goes on:: I added "Get a card published" to my goal list this year. :)

Poppy Seed Challenge #1

Happy Friday, folks! I found this card challenge today over at Lisa Johnson's (Papertrey Ink) blog and wanted give it a try. This is my first card challenge ever, so I was excited to get started. This was a great opportunity to use supplies that I hadn't before, i.e. the mat stack that Meg gave me for my birthday (hello, glitter!) and the flower border stamp from Fiskars. I dunno what's up with the white specks in the clear embossed section. After 2 tries, I just gave up and used what I had because I felt I was just wasting the cardstock. Don't look too hard, okay?

Not too bad for a first try at a card challenge, right? :)

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: StazOn in Mustard
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Stamps: Clear Art Stamps, Clearly Defined- Happy Spring (sentiment), Fiskars- Just Between Friends (flowers)
Paper: Die Cuts With A View
Ribbon: Spool O' Ribbon

Here's a happy birthday shout out to my beta tester (aka my sister)...she turns 23 today!

2200 Shop Hearts

I went to spin class tonight and one of the girls was like, "I really didn't want to come tonight." I told her, "But you're here, right? That's good." To be honest, I had similar thoughts earlier tonight, but I figured, I just need to get to the gym. Once I'm at the gym, then I think "I might as well go work out." The spin instructor said something like "90% of your effort is just showing up. The rest is easy." Yeah, I guess so. Until you tell me to crank up the bike's resistance as high as it'll go and tell me to sprint for 20 seconds.

My aunt sent me a slideshow the other day that had a bunch of sayings...like little reminders. This one made me smile: "What other people think of you is none of your business." I dunno if I agree with it entirely, but I think if the words "other people" were replaced by "strangers or people who aren't important to you", then we're good.

My Etsy shop hit another milestone today: 2200 shop hearts! ::happy dance:: Hopefully that correlates to more sales. Ha ha.

I didn't make a card tonight...not really in the crafty mood. However, I will share the birthday card that I made for my sister (her birthday's tomorrow), but ended up making another one to send her. The card is inspired by CardPatterns Sketch #43. I wanted it to be simple, but with all the colors, I don't think it's that simple anymore. It'll find a good home somewhere though.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment)
Punches: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Paper: Die Cuts With A View and Recollections
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Hooray for Friday and the upcoming weekend! :)

No More Snow, Please?

Snow's in the forecast again. ::wail:: We're under some sort of winter weather advisory. I don't think it'll be a big deal, but the Executive Director thought it was a big enough deal to postpone a field trip to Delaware on FRIDAY. I've been plowing through my work this week so that I wouldn't feel guilty going on this field trip, but oh well. Better safe than sorry.

I kinda wish there was spin class tonight. I've been eating too much candy today. Darn you, CVS, for having good candy on sale. I just couldn't resist. Valentine's Day and Easter are not good holidays to have back-to-back because there's always good candy/chocolate around. I just can't get enough of those Starburst Gummies.

On to today's card. I had no idea what kind I wanted to make tonight. I dug through the stamps from my crafty loot purchase last month and came across some egg clear stamps that I hadn't used yet. I already had an Easter stamp on my desk. Bingo. I initially was going to put the popped out eggs on the left side of the card, but I felt that there would still be too much white space in the left area. Thinkthinkthinkthink (Winnie the Pooh style. You know, when he taps his hand on his head and furrows his brow?) I looked around my desk for some ideas. I saw the origami butterfly that I made a while back and hadn't found a use for it yet. With some stitching lines, I thought the butterfly filled up that space nicely.

I guess my crafty lesson from today is to use stamps/supplies that I hadn't before during the times I'm stumped on what to make.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black, Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Lagoon, Lavender, Yellow Citrus, Orchid Pastel
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment, eggs)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom and Grow
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch

Song of the day: "Live Like You Were Dying"- Kris Allen.

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Ahhh, today WAS better! Maybe a "case of the Tuesdays" doesn't exist after all. It was rather busy at the office today. I was an email mah-chine! I was really looking forward to going to spin class tonight because it's been a week since I've been to the gym. Birthday celebrations kinda got in the way, heh. However, I'm back on track now. Well, it's Day 1 of getting back on track.

Funny thing from spin class: a girl that takes the bike that's one up and to the left turned around and said "You're always there when I turn around. We always take the same bikes!" Yep, I swear, it's some unspoken rule.

On to today's card. I wanted to make a card with a) scraps and b) a stamp that I hadn't used before. I took some scrap pieces of paper and cut them into strips of different widths. Then I took some leftover white cardstock and put glue on one side. I adhered the strips randomly on the cardstock and took my paper trimmer to cut off the ends to make a clean edged rectangle. Ok, now for the sentiment. I went through my box from my Ebay auction win and picked out the "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much" stamp. I think it's a positive motto to live by, don't you? After I adhered the buttons down with mini glue dots, I thought the card was still missing something. Hmm, what could it be? Ah, yes. It needs a little sparkle. I got some glitter glue and put a few dots of it near the stamped flourish.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Playful Expressions (sentiment)
Buttons: Favorite Findings in Ocean
Paper: Die Cuts With A View
Glitter Glue: Studio G

Song of the day: "Live Like You Were Dying"- Kris Allen. Since we're talking about music, Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" has really been overplayed on the radio lately. I mean, don't get me wrong. I think it's a catchy song, but some of the lyrics are weird. I mean, seriously, who wants to brush their teeth with a bottle of Jack? ::eye roll::

Case of the Mondays

I'm having a case of the Mondays. I didn't sleep well last night, and that's probably because my sleep cycle got mixed up during my afternoon nap. It's gross, muddy, and rainy outside. My work computer freaked out in the middle of a conference call that I was responsible for taking notes for. And to top it off, I've been battling a headache for most of the day. Fortunately, someone out there invented Advil. Whoever you are, can I give you a hug? I'm hoping tomorrow is better. There is no such thing as having a "case of the Tuesdays," right?

I did have some happy customers today: the person that ordered the Lemonade Kisses card and the co-worker that wanted the alpaca card from Saturday's post. I love seeing the expressions on people's faces when they see what I've come up with. It definitely makes me feel good to see my work appreciated. :D I also got an Etsy sale through Twitter, which is really rare for me. Oh, and ANOTHER good thing that happened today was that my cousin arrived from Taiwan. She'll be visiting for a few days. In her suitcase was filled with Taiwanese bakery bread and chocolate from Holland. Suh-WEET!

On to today's card. I dunno why I keep reaching for the lizard stamp. I don't even like real lizards. They kinda creep me out with their beady eyes. I was looking at some card sketches this evening for some inspiration. I found one that incorporated 3 similar elements and shut the window down because I wanted to put my own spin on the sketch. There's a lot going on in the card, but sometimes I just can't do simple. Ok, ok. More often than just sometimes.

Card Specs (lizard):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan and Yellow Citrus
Punches: EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch), Marvy Uchida Jumbo Daisy
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Jungle (lizard), Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom and Grow
Ribbon: Spool O' Ribbon
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Song of the day: "United State of Pop"- DJ Earworm.

Gotta Take the Bad with the Good

Let's get the crummy stuff out of the way first.

Bad things that happened today:

• I decided to try Arby's Mandarin Peach iced tea at lunch today. OMG. SO GROSS. I do not recommend it. I saw the cashier put the iced tea in the drink container and then squirt like 5 pumps of flavored syrup in it. That should have been a sign. I really tried to like it because it was like $2 (I really should have gotten water). Blech.
• Did my taxes with Dad tonight. One word: WAH. Good thing I had leftover birthday cake to drown my sorrows in.
  

Moving on.

Good things that happened today or just things of note that aren't long enough to get their own paragraph:

• Hung out with Suzie this morning and afternoon before she had to go to the train station. During our trip to Michaels, I overheard a woman in the parking lot say the following: "Do I have a reason to go to Michaels? No. Do I go anyway? Yes." Ha ha. I know the feeling!
  
• Suzie and I got new sneakers at DSW. I really needed new ones. The ones I have now are like 3 years old and parts of the bottoms are worn/ripped. I tried on a few pairs and didn't like them and then when I put these new ones on, I was like "Ah. Great fit." I like them because they are grey (white gets dirty easily) and pink (how girly).
• Mom sent Suzie home with 2 containers of food and cake. I think when any guest comes to visit, it's almost guaranteed that she (or he) will be sent home with food.
  
• Got these new Starburst GummiBursts today. They are liquid filled gummies (strawberry, cherry, orange, and lemon). YUM. I definitely recommend them. They make up for that yucky iced tea that I got earlier. I'm almost done with the bag. Oops. Oh wait. Mmmmyep, they are all gone.
  
• Have you guys seen this MasterCard commercial? It's an oldie, but a goodie. The commercial popped in my head recently for some reason, and I love it.
  

The end. Sorry, no card today. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled program tomorrow, hopefully!

Birthday Festivities, Day 2 and 3

This has been one of the best birthdays ever! I celebrated it over 3 DAYS! Friday, after work, my family came over to the house and we had a big dinner (wow, shocker). Dad bought sushi from a local place I like a lot (top left), my aunt made sticky rice (top right), and my mom prepared 2 hot pots- one for the "kids" table and one for the adult table (not pictured). So freakin' good. My cousin picked up a red velvet cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Yeah, I had it on Wednesday, BUT it was so good that I had to have it again, just so that everyone could try the yumminess. Those are some of my cousins in the bottom right picture. Yep, I have a big family.
Today was Day 3 of the festivities...this time with some friends- Meg and Suzie. Hooray for crafty loot! Thanks, Meg! I'm especially excited to use those chipboard embellishments and dive into the DCWV mat stack. Notice the summery theme? I think Meg's ready for warmer weather. I think everyone in MD/DC/VA is too. I dunno what I'm going to do with the beaded embellishments because they look too pretty to use! Suzie made some sweet potato raisin muffins, which were really really good. That's why they are almost all gone. She also arrived with a pretty spring-y plant that smelled good. Hopefully, Mom can find a place for it outside. We attempted to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, but the wait was an hour long. Sorry. I'm hungry NOW. We ended up going to Bertucci's instead. Equally as yummy. Their blood orange margarita was a nice addition to the dinner. We came back to the house to eat more cake (there were a few slices leftover from yesterday so I could share) and continue conversation.
Here's today's card. The background story is that one of my co-workers wanted me to make a card with an alpaca on it. o_0 Ummm, what? Uhhh, sure. I'm up for a challenge. I found a llama model on YouTube, but the video went too quickly and there were no audio directions. BlAH! Then I tried a camel model and thought that I could just fold down the hump. Mmmnope. SIGH. Then I decided to modify a horse origami model and that was the closest that I came to an alpaca. At first, the card only had the origami model on it. Then, I added the ears and tail. And then my beta tester said "The eyes totally make the origami animals great." Oook. So then I stuck an eye on the guy, and this is probably as good as the card's going to get.

So that's the end of my birthday news...there might be more when I get my sister's present in the mail. Niiight for now!

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy birthday to meeee. Yep, #27, but who's counting, right? For it being a birthday, it was a rather low key day. However, there will be more birthday celebrations Friday (with family) and Saturday (with friends). Can't wait to continue the birthday festivities! Stay tuned...

Thanks for all the birthday Facebook wall posts, tweets, texts, phone calls, blog comments, emails, and IMs! I so appreciate the thoughtfulness. :)

Crafty tip: I made a discovery a long time ago that nail polish remover is great for cleaning stamps. I'm not sure if it breaks down any of the rubber or clear stamp material, but I haven't experienced a problem thus far.

Here's today's card. I wanted to make it simple to follow the theme from Tuesday's card. I love the Jungle set of stamps because they are so freakin' cute! I used the elephant one last Friday and the lizard last Sunday. The buttons were added at the last minute to give the card some dimension.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Pumpkin and Jet Black, Colorbox chalk ink in Lime Pastel
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Jungle (tiger), Fiskars- Kids birthday (grass), Saavy Stamps (sentiment)
Buttons: Favorite Findings in Ocean

Pre-Birthday Fun

Umm...yeah. No card tonight. I'm too stuffed. I think the only energy that I have left will be used for digesting. My cousin took me out to the Cheesecake Factory for a pre-birthday dinner (my 27th birthday is tomorrow). Yum, as usual! I had the Cobb salad, the Georgia Peach (drink), and I decided to take home a slice of the red velvet cheesecake. I wish I could have taken a picture of the drink. It was really pretty with the orange and raspberry color swirled. Instead, here's a picture of my half eaten cake. Check out that cream cheese frosting/cheesecake goodness. Don't drool over the computer screen, mkay?

Hello, Office. I've Missed You.

Today was my first day back in the office since February 4th, almost 2 weeks ago! The Feds had a 2 hour delay, but so did most of the schools. I didn't want to be caught up in traffic, so I left the house maybe 30 minutes later than I usually do. On the way to the office, I saw a car that had crashed into a snow drift, front bumper all mashed up. Yikes, what an awful way to start the day. At least the police were there to assist. Work today was crazy busy with a few conference calls and processing paperwork. Thank goodness it's a short week to help us ease back into the office.

I went to spin class tonight (wow, shocker). It wasn't as tough as yesterday's, thankfully. I'm glad for a much needed break tomorrow. Tonight was my 5th day in a row going to spin.

For today's card, I wanted to go for a simple card and also try a new technique: masking. I cut 1/2 inch strips of paper and used removable adhesive to attach the strips to the four sides of the card. Then I took the flower stamp and stamped it 3 times, each time with a different color. Then I stamped the sentiment and then finished the card off with drawing some straight lines to define the space. This card took about 3 times to get right. I had problems with the ink bleeding through and not completely cleaning the stamp off. Third time's the charm, right? :)

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Cherry Pink, Mustard, Royal Purple, and Jet Black
Stamps: SEI- Moravia (flower), Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment)
Marker: Sharpie Ultra Fine Point in Black

Happy Presidents Day

Ahhh, gotta love federal holidays. :) It's going to be weird going to the office tomorrow since I haven't been there in over a week due to the snowy weather. It'll be nice to get back to "normal."

Today, my goal was to make an origami flower Easter card to post in my Etsy shop (left) and also make a card with scraps and supplies that I hadn't used before (right). I planned to use the green/yellow part of the card for another project, but it didn't work out so I put it aside to use later on. The supplies that I hadn't used before were the bunny and sentiment stamps and the ribbon. The bunny image is supposed to be 4 bunnies, but they wouldn't all fit at the top of the card, so I cut out the guy on the right and added him towards the sentiment with some foam adhesive. I was tempted to use some buttons in that middle pink panel but decided that it might be overdoing it.
Card Specs (bunny):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Studio G (bunnies and sentiment)
Punch: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Ribbon: From Michaels
Paper: KI Memories- Celebrate Life
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

I went to spin class this evening, and man, I felt like I wasn't going to make it. It took forever to get through the class! I overheard one of the ladies in the class say something similar in the locker room afterwards, so I don't feel as bad saying that it was a tough class to get through. On a side note, I have no idea what happened to "cute gym front desk guy." He hasn't been there in a while. I hope he didn't quit!

Ok, time for Jack Bauer and 24. Later, peeps!

Happy Lunar New Year + Happy Valentine's Day

Whew, that was a GREAT dinner last night! My aunt and uncle hosted about 20 people for the Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. Since y'all couldn't be there, I took some pictures of my favorite items on the menu so you can enjoy the food visually. My aunt cooked up this new bean salad (yum), bought sticky rice stuffed duck from a local restaurant (this needs to be special ordered a few days in advance because it's so popular), and of course, desserts (DESSERTS!- as said by Lilo from "Lilo and Stitch"). My favorite was Aunt Irene's chocolate cake. :) Funny line from last night: "We have a dog. She's part basset hound, part beagle, so we call her a bagel."

On the way home, the road was blocked by construction equipment, the kind with the big shovels. Ah, snow removal knights to the rescue. The sides of the streets were piled up with snow, eliminating 1 or 2 lanes. The machines scooped up the snow and piled it up even higher. It was pretty impressive to see the men maneuver the machines so well. When we saw them, it was about 11 PM, and they were probably working throughout the night, probably haven't seen their families very much the last few days, and probably are a little sleep deprived. I know that many citizens have complained that the plows have yet to come to their neighborhoods (as heard on the radio), but the plows that have come through our neighborhood have been prompt considering the circumstances, and for that, we are thankful. The machines came back this morning with dump trucks to haul away the snow. I wonder where it all goes. Meg mentioned something about an old parking lot behind a hospital in DC, but I'd think it's near full by now!This morning started out with a 1 hour spin class. I was determined to go because of all the food that I ate last night. Heh. Then after a shower and some food, I went to the local craft stores in search of my sister's birthday presents and of course, maybe some stuff for myself. :D I had some money to spend because my uncle gave me a red envelope (it's a Lunar New Year thing). I'm not going to share what I got for my sister since I know she reads this blog, but I will tell you what I got for myself. I justified getting the following because I had many coupons or the item was on sale:

• Long acrylic block for clear border stamps- the ones I had at home aren't long enough and the stamps hang off the edge (used a 40% off coupon for this).
• A Colorbox chalk ink queue in Primary Elements (original price $9.99, clearance $5.00)
• Clear rhinestones (I actually used all mine up...need to refill. On sale, 30% off)

My goal tonight was to make a masculine thank you card. My first attempt was the card on the left, but my beta tester wasn't a fan. So I decided to take a different direction and create the card on the right. That's the one that I'm going to use. I'll find some other use for the original card. I dunno what was up with my stamping skills tonight. I was having trouble getting a nice image or getting my corner punch to cut cleanly. Oh well. If at first you don't succeed, roll your eyes and try again (and again and again).

Card Specs (dots):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Lagoon, StazOn in Jet Black
Stamps: Fiskars- Thank You (dots and sentiment)
Punch: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch
Buttons: Favorite Findings in Ocean

Card Specs (lizard):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Lagoon and Chestnut Roan, StazOn in Olive Green
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Jungle (lizard and vine), Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment)
Punch: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch

Random thing: Have you guys seen this website? Super funny. Clients from Hell.

Song of the day: "Haven't Met You Yet"- Michael Bublé. What an appropriate Valentine's Day song for this single girl :) Hope you all had a good weekend!

Happy Lunar New Year's Eve

Today started out with a 45 minute spin class. It was a great class because a) I sweated through my t-shirt which is usually a sign of thorough workout and b) the instructor played music that I liked: "Haven't Met You Yet" (2x!), "Cowboy Casanova," and "I'm a Believer." I saw one of the girls that usually goes to spinning on the elliptical when I went downstairs after class. She had lost power for 5 days during the recent snowstorms. Yikes! I'm planning to go back tomorrow morning for the Super Spin class. I'm going to my uncle's house tonight for Lunar New Year dinner, and I foresee eating a lot of good food. Food report with pictures tomorrow, promise.

The color combo for today was rather Mardi Gras, but I didn't really realize it until the card was about halfway done. I wanted to make a "hello" card without actually saying hello. Instead I went with "yo yo yo" and shortened it to "yo^3." Hmm, kinda nerdy, right? I'm getting better at my bow tying, yay! I really have to credit Dawn McVey's video for being super helpful.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Olive Green and Mustard
Stamps: KI Memories- Modern Alpha (yo), All Night Media (3)
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch, Carla Craft cherry blossom punches
Ribbon: "Eyelet" from Michaels
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Snow Recovery = Massive Traffic

I finally managed to get out of the house today, score! I decided to go to spin class, but the usual 10-minute trip to the gym turned out to be about 45 minutes because of the traffic. The snow on the side of the street narrowed all the lanes, and with the delayed opening of government offices, the streets were definitely jammed pack. People's patience seemed to be running low judging by how many cars were cutting each other off and a massive traffic accident that I saw on the way home from the gym. Oh well. I got a spin workout in, and I plan to go back tomorrow morning.

Before I get today's card, check out these pictures that I took of Ginger this morning. Mom was airing out the guest bedroom and Ginger, being the opportunistic cat that she is, decided to take a quick nap on the bed...on the pillow! Mom will definitely have to wash that pillow case unless she'd like our next guest to breathe in a bunch of orange fur. *cough, hack*
I made my sister's birthday card tonight, but I'll have to blog about it after her birthday later this month. Don't want to spoil the surprise. I did make another card to share with y'all tonight though, so no worries. I decided to use some blank cards that I bought a while ago (maybe 2 Christmases ago?). I think it was a Christmas themed pack, but there were patterns in there that could have other uses, i.e. this glitter and floral patterned card base. I've been wanting to use the elephant stamp for a while because it's so stinkin' cute! Getting a good image was tough...I think it's because it's a larger stamp, but I think this is good for now.

P.S. Dear Mom. You're probably not going to get those fabric scissors back. They are awesome for cutting ribbon. Luv, Me.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Ink It Up! in Watermelon
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Jungle (elephant), Playful Expressions (sentiment)
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Card base: Die Cuts with a View
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Son of Snowmageddon: The Recovery

I was SO happy to see the sun this morning when I woke up. It definitely helped melt some of the snow. I got quite a workout in today by chipping away at the ice on the driveway and near my car. I contemplated going to spin class tonight, but since the roads aren't really clear, I thought it'd be best to drive during daylight hours for the time being. My goal is to go to tomorrow morning's Super Spin class. Even though the Feds are on a delayed schedule tomorrow, the Executive Director emailed us tonight to say that the office was closed tomorrow since getting to work might still be dangerous for some people. I'll still be able to monitor my email from home like I have been all week. No problemo.

Today's card is this one with more gender neutral colors (as requested by a buyer). At some point, I need to invest in a longer acrylic block that is big enough to handle clear border stamps. I used the largest one that I have and the stamp kinda hangs off the edge which makes it a little difficult to get a good resulting image. I think it turned out okay for this card, although it did take a few tries to get the dots just right.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, StazOn in Cactus Green
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), Martha Stewart (polka dots)
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch, EK Success (rubber ducky)
Paper: Die Cuts with a View
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Song of the day: "Haven't Met You Yet"- Michael Bublé.

I'm going to go turn my brain in to mush now...by watching Real Housewives of Orange County. Laters!

Son of Snowmageddon in Full Force

OMG, I dunno if today's snow storm was worse than the one on Saturday. That storm was bad because of the snow accumulation, but today's storm was a double whammy. We got several inches of snow tacked onto the snow that fell during the previous weekend AND the wind was whooshing around like crazy! It made me nervous to watch the Rock Creek Park trees sway back and forth in the distance. The wind was so bad that the county put a stop to the plows because of the dangerous driving conditions. The Feds are closed again tomorrow for the fourth day in a row, which means more cardmaking time for me! :)

Anyhoo, picture time. The picture with Ginger needs a caption that says "Stoopid hoomin." Ha ha. She left the room shortly after. Shocker. Check out how much snow is on top of my cousin's tea house. It's insane! Here's what I worked on today. Easter is coming up, so I moved my Etsy Valentine's Day related items to the Clearance section to make way for Easter goodies, i.e. the origami rabbit Easter card. A custom order came through tonight and this is what the buyer requested: "I was hoping for a card that has a glass of lemonade on the front maybe with a lemon wedge and then across the bottom is says "Lemonade Kisses" with small lips next to it." The finished product is on the right, based on this card sketch.
It's been quite a productive day today. As much as I am a homebody, I'm going to be really happy to be able to go to the gym or something tomorrow or Friday.

Whoo hoo, reached 101 blog followers tonight! Thanks, peeps! :D

Son of Snowmageddon

We're currently experiencing another bout of snow tonight. Yep, again. Our street is already covered. The county schools have been canceled for the rest of the week. The Feds are closed tomorrow again for third day in a row. Today was spent on two conference calls, typing up the minutes from said conference calls, napping, and shoveling snow with my cousin. He arrived last night from San Diego. Fun times.
Let's talk about something more positive, shall we? Ok? Ok. On to today's cards. The card on the left should look vaguely familiar to those of you who have been following my blog. I used the same diamond shape for this card, but then I cut the cardstock too big for the card (oops). I saved it in my scrap pile because I was pretty sure that I'd use it for something else. I was going to put something in the blank green space on the left and right, but decided to leave it alone because I didn't want the card to look too cluttered. I wanted to do some faux stitching on this card, but I don't own a white gel pen. Time to improvise. I dug through the Ebay stamp lot and found a stitch stamp, used Versamark ink and heat embossed the image with white embossing powder. Ta da! Meh, it works. Kinda. What do you think?

The card on the right was inspired by this blog post from a blog that I stumbled upon tonight. Paper weaving wasn't something that I'd done before for my cards, so I figured I'd try it out tonight. I'm really liking the result! :)

Card Specs (Hummingbird):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamps: Studio G (hummingbird, sentiment), Autumn Leaves- Build-a-Flower (dashed line)
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Paper: Design Originals (patchwork)
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Card Specs (Howdy):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan and Warm Red
Stamps: Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment)
Ribbon: Playful Petals (from Michaels)
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Snowpocalypse #2: The Recovery Continues

Yep, no work today. And guess what? No work tomorrow either. Some of the secondary roads are still not passable, and with the cold temperatures, the snow that melted today will probably freeze overnight. Oh, and there's more. Yep, there's more snow on the way Tuesday/Wednesday, like in the form of a possible 10-20 inches! Goody. Can't wait. I'm kinda ready for Spring, can't you tell? At least I still have electricity at the house. I am VERY thankful for that. Check out the icicles that formed on the side of the house (left). I'm definitely steering clear of that area for a while! Can you spot Ginger in the picture on the right? Her fur color and the pillow cover almost match, almost. Camouflage: Fail.
No card today or "Song of the Day." Maybe tomorrow. Man, I miss going to spin class (no, I'm being serious!). Being cooped up all day is getting old.

Snowpocalypse #2: The Recovery

Today was pretty much a rerun of yesterday: shoveling snow, napping, and making cards. The plows finally made it to our street, yay! The Great Dig continued with trying to rescue my car. With the help of Dad, my uncle and a very nice neighbor, my car can get out now. By the end of that activity, I felt like an archeologist. The next time Indiana Jones needs help in Egypt, sign me up. Snow's kinda like dirt, right?

The county schools decided to close tomorrow AND Tuesday. I think those school kids are running really low on snow days. I think it'll go from "Yay, no school!" to "No school, again?" pretty soon. As for me, the Feds are closed tomorrow which means no work for me. But being the good employee that I am, I need to take care of a conference call since it's not like my laptop or cell phone are buried in the snow.

Snow Pictures

I decided to make some smaller cards (4 inch square, not small enough to be considered "mini"). Sometimes you just don't have enough to say to take up a whole card and then you're left with some unused white space. What a waste, right? I also used some supplies that I haven't reached for in a while- alpha stickers and flower gems.
Card Specs (I Love U):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamps: Heidi Grace- Alphas, Reagan's Closet (letters), KI Memories-Crazy Love (love)
Buttons: Favorite Findings in Pink
Punches: Fiskars Twist & Flip 2-in-1 corner punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch

Card Specs (joy):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamps: KI Memories- logo coloring book flower (flower)
Stickers: American Crafts- Serendipity, Color Set 4 (joy)
Buttons: Favorite Findings in Pink
Punches: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Paper: My Mind's Eye

Song of the day: Toss up between "Cowboy Casanova"- Carrie Underwood and "According to You"- Orianthi.