Friday, April 26, 2013

Thank heavens for EBay!



Patterned paper (Authentique [Fresh]), Tim Holtz Festive Berries Distress Ink, button and bling (Basic Grey), ribbon (MME Laundry Line & Stella/Rose), stamp (Unity Stamp Co), markers (Spectrum Noir)


This week, cropchocolate's challenge #59 was to use buttons, ribbon, and an image on a project. Since I usually couple my CC challenge with Unity Stamp Company's "Friends with Flair" on Fridays, I thought it was perfect time to make a card for DaddyDude - because today is the anniversary of our first date.

Yeah, yeah... I know a lot of you may think that this is overkill and too corny. But to us, this date is very special - and we've been celebrating it for 22 years now. What did we do? Of all things... we went to a screening of Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation on our college campus. I don't know how many of you have ever been to one of these shows but it's very... different. I would NOT recommend this for a first date! I suppose, however, that is what helped to make it so memorable. :) I am also kind of surprised that it is still alive and well!

And what does EBay have to do with all of this? I've been on the hunt for all things having to do with Unity Stamp Co. I saw this lovely stamp image on EBay (wood-mounted and everything!) and absolutely HAD to have it. Does anybody have any idea how old this stamp is? Is it vintage? ;)

So anyway... happy anniversary (of sorts) to my dear husband! I love you! He still surprises me (usually in a good way!), which I find shocking & endearing, all at the same time.

For all of you Friends With Flair folks - I wish you all a lovely weekend filled with sunshine and fun! Thanks for visiting!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Another Milestone Achieved!

 
Look! It's an incredibly rare family picture!
 
 
This morning, the entire family participated in the "Run Through Redlands" - a day where people willingly torture their bodies and minds to run the 5K, 10K, or the half-marathon. DaddyDude (very) reluctantly agreed to participate, only because I fretted that somebody might steal Marika along the way. So, Mika, Marika, and DaddyDude ran the 5K with Mika's soccer team. The order of finish was pretty shocking...


Yes, folks, this is little girl - who just turned eight years old last month - was the first of the three to cross the finish line (edited later to add: Marika was the first of the family to finish the 5K)! I was so proud of her! Last year, she ran it in 41:08 (that's 41 minutes and 8 seconds) and this year... she finished in 30:18! Astounding! What a huge improvement! She finished in the top 25.4% of all 5K runners and actually placed 6th out of all 59 girls her age (7-9 years old). She was devastated to learn she had missed earning a medal by one place. But look out next year! :)

Perhaps what was second most astounding was - she beat her big sister by 5 minutes! Mika came in next and beat her last year's time, but only by 1 minute, 37 seconds. Not as impressive as her little sister, but she did finish in the top 41.5% of all 5K runners.

THEN, I was shocked when DaddyDude was last to finish. I had been really worried that he'd fallen or stumbled and rendered his knees (both are bad) useless. So, I was pretty relieved when he finally showed up in one piece. :) In his defense, he didn't want to do the run (he really hates running), so it was really a show of love for Marika that he actually did it. He'll never do it again, because both girls left him in the dust (his words).

And what did I do? I ran my first ever 10K race. Now, granted, I usually run 6 miles a day, 6 times a week, but that's on a very flat course (actually, I run in circles within the neighborhood, so I'm near houses in the event I'm ever attacked, someone is bound to hear my blood-curdling screams). So, the week before the big race, I ran the actual 10K course three times. A big part of running (I learned this from cross-country in high school) is psychological - and there's nothing worse than having NO IDEA how much further you have to go. I'm so glad I did, because every time I ran the course, I got a little bit faster. Today, I trimmed off another 3 minutes off my time from two days earlier and finished the course in 50 minutes and 25 seconds.

My goal had been to break 54 minutes (but my dream goal was to break 50 minutes, something I thought was totally impossible, because this course has a couple of significant uphill stretches), so I was satisfied (on a totally flat course, I could probably have finished it in 48 minutes, to give you an idea of how running uphill really slows things down). However, I was absolutely delighted to discover - after I got home and checked my email - that my time was fast enough to earn me a second place finish for all women in my age-group (n = 52).

I was elated. For those of you who know me well, you KNOW that I love to play soccer and that 18 months ago, some bozo shoved me during a game and completely tore my ACL. I had surgery almost 16 months ago and couldn't run for the first 6 months. Today, I have a sense of achievement - that "I'm back!" and that even though my knee still feels wonky and weird most of the time, it's NOT stopping me. And last but not least - WOW, what a good feeling to know IT CAN PAY OFF when you work at something, little by little, day by day.

I may be getting older, but I'm going to fight it every step of the way!

Friday, April 19, 2013

It's Already Friday Again?

My goodness, how time flies - our days are so busy right now, as both girls are playing soccer and softball. Somebody always needs to be somewhere, it seems! I wish I had more time for crafting, but I did get a few more thank you cards done for my friend. As a timesaver (and to rationalize spending some fun time on Pinterest!), I used some Mojo Monday card sketches for inspiration... :)

 
Patterned paper (Fancy Pants), cardstock (The Paper Co), ink (Memories Inc), stamp (Unity Stamp Company)
 
 
Patterned paper (Fancy Pants), cardstock (The Paper Co), ink (Memories Inc), stamp (Unity Stamp Company), glitter (Stickles - icicles) 
 
 
Patterned papers (Authentique "Loyal"), Tim Holtz Festive Berries & Walnut Stain distress inks, twine (Jillibean soup), pewter brads (MM), stamp (Unity Stamp CO), Bazzill cardstock
 
The card above was submitted for CC's Weekly Challenge #58 - to use a frame on a project. I liked the light look of the twine frame. :)

I really need to organize my stamps better, because I know I have many more "thank you" stamps, but I didn't have much time to dig. Fortunately, I had recently purchased Dutch Mustard Soup from Unity Stamp Co, so that was easier to find. :)

 
Patterned papers (Authentique "Loyal"), cardstock (Bazzill), inks (Memories, Inc & Tim Holtz Walnut Stain distress ink), stamp (Unity Stamp Co)

Thursday, April 18, 2013

This is kind of exciting...

The owner of CC & Instructagram emailed me today, to let me know that one of the cards from my last Design Team project was mentioned here. You can see the iG to my project here.

I'm a little bit tickled, I have to admit... :)

Friday, April 12, 2013

Friends With Flair Friday!

I love Friends with Flair Fridays! It's always fun to dig out my Unity Stamps and play for a bit. :)
 
 
Patterned paper (Echo Park), kraft paper (Carte Bella), inks (Tim Holtz distress inks - Festive Berries, Pine Needles, Walnut Stain), bling (Making Memories Gems), Stickles (Icicles), stamps (Unity Stamp Co)
 
This week, I am trying to get together a few simple thank you cards to send to a fellow crafter who needs a bunch in a hurry for a family member. I just received Crazy for Daisies last week and thought it would be a great set to use for Cropchocolate's weekly challenge (to use bright colors & only one neutral color).
 
Also this week, my April Design Team project for Cropchocolate.com was featured on the Crop - I made a series of Japanese-paper quilted cards. Some were made with washi tape (Doodlebug), while others were made out of scrapbooking paper. You Unity fans will, of course, recognize most of the sentiments (all but the bottom right - but hey, I'm still working on collecting Unity Christmas stamps! Give me more time!). For full details on the tutorial, check this post.
 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by! :) 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

April CC Design Team Project - "You Are Fabulous" (Washi Dress Card)

Back in December, my DT project featured individual Japanese paper quilted hearts (http://blog.cropchocolate.com/2012/12/i-am-woman-with-quilted-hearts-by-miwa.html). For this month, I wanted to go a step further and create pictures from multiple “puffy” pieces of paper and foam-covered chipboard but with a twist. I used washi tape, which is one of the hot trends right now. Three cheers for washi tape! It’s fun and fantastic stuff! I had just received my shipment of Doodlebug washi tape from cropchocolate.com only days earlier so it was perfect timing to have some fun! Working with washi tape is very easy, because it is thin and soft.  

To begin with, you’ll need a template. Since paper quilting can be time-consuming, it’s probably wise to pick a pattern that has a distinctive shape and is comprised of a few major pieces. You can find many images here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101680080518051516235/mVInNE# or you can surf the internet or Pinterest for more patterns and templates. I’ve included links in this tutorial, if you want to duplicate the cards I’ve made.

Now to the fun part! Here is what you’ll need to make a quilted dress made from washi tape:

CC items - Bubblegum washi tape (Doodlebug), Ladybug washi tape (Doodlebug), cardstock (Carte Bella & Bazzill), silver glitter cardstock (Fancy Pants), rhinestone (Teresa Collins Everyday Moments), Tim Holtz distress ink (walnut stain), adhesive (Snake Tape)

 Non-CC items - Template (you can pick one for regular quilting or paper-piecing), thin packaging foam, chipboard, tacky glue, sentiment stamp (Unity Stamp Co)


 
Step 1 Making the puffy” parts (insert picture entitled “Step 1 Washi Dress)
I couldn’t find a dress pattern that I liked, so I drew my own. Before you begin any cutting or gluing, make sure your template is the right size for your card if it’s too big or too small, simply use your printer/copier to shrink/enlarge the proportions.
Glue your template to some chipboard and cut the pattern out. Next, using your template as a size guide, layer and glue together three pieces of thin packaging foam (adjust as necessary, depending on what material you end up using I always save packaging material to upcycle). Cut the chipboard template along the lines and glue each piece individually to the foam layers. Trim foam away. Carefully arrange your pieces to form the desire design.
 
Step 2 “Taping” the dress  (insert picture entitled “Step 2 Washi Dress”)
Cover each piece of your pattern (over the foam side) with washi tape, making sure there is excess over every edge (since it will be folded over). For pieces that are wider than the tape width, simply add another overlapping piece. Trim edges, to make sure when you fold the tape over, it doesn’t go past the opposite edge. Make small cuts along each edge to the template and fold each snipped flap onto the chipboard. Please note: you might have to re-secure the tape just before you glue it to your card face..

 
Step 3 Forming the washi dress (insert picture entitled. “Step 3 Washi Dress”)
Once you have finished covering each piece of your template with the desired color of washi tape, arrange the pieces in the proper order. I found it easiest to glue down the center pieces and work towards the outside. As you can see from the picture, the dress looks nice and puffy like a quilted embellishment!
I finished the card face by stamping a sentiment and matting it with silver glitter paper from Fancy Pants.
Finally, I matted the card face onto some Bazzill and added a piece of bling to the dress. Voila! Your Japanese paper quilted washi dress card is complete!  
 


Here are some other examples of washi tape quilted cards that I made

#1 Star Happy Birthday Card I found the pattern for this design at: https://picasaweb.google.com/101680080518051516235/mVInNE#5118539157737907154
 
CC-items Doodlebug washi tape (Swimming Pool & Grey), Carte Bella white cardstock, Basic Grey marshmallow button, Fancy Pants silver glitter paper, Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink, cardstock (Bazzill), adhesive (Snake Tape)
Non-CC-items thin packaging foam, chipboard, tacky glue, sentiment stamp (Unity Stamp Co)
 
#2 Heart I Love You Card the pattern can be found here: http://piecemealquilts.com/2010/01/16/paper-pieced-heart-blocks/
CC-items: Doodlebug washi tape (Ladybug & Bubblegum), red cardstock (Echo Park), white cardstock (Carte Bella), Tim Holtz distress ink (Festive Berries), rhinestones (Teresa Collins Everyday Moments), silver glitter paper (Fancy Pants), adhesive (Snake Tape)
Non-CC-items: thin packaging foam, chipboard, tacky glue, sentiment stamp (Unity Stamp Co)
Now, as I mentioned in my previous Dec DT blog post, you can do this with scrapbooking paper as well, although it is thicker and a little more difficult to work with.  
#3 Happy Birthday Sailboat Card the pattern can be found here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101680080518051516235/mVInNE#5118537718923861218
CC-items: patterned paper (Authentique “Fresh”), white cardstock (Carte Bella), Tim Holtz distress ink (Walnut Stain), adhesive (Snake Tape)
Non-CC-items: thin packaging foam, chipboard, tacky glue, sentiment stamp (Unity Stamp Co)
 
 
 
#4 Merry Christmas Tree Card you can see the pattern here: https://picasaweb.google.com/101680080518051516235/mVInNE#5118537744693665042

CC-items: patterned paper (Teresa Collins & Echo Park), colored cardstock (Echo Park & Bazzill), white cardstock (Carte Bella), Tim Holtz distress ink (Walnut Stain), adhesive (Snake Tape), silver glitter paper (Fancy Pants), adhesive (Snake Tape)

Non-CC-items: thin packaging foam, chipboard, tacky glue, sentiment stamp (Studio G)

I hope I’ve inspired you to play with your washi tape and try to make a “quilted” picture. I’d love to see your creations!

 

 

Friday, April 5, 2013

Time for Friends with Flair on Friday!


Seize the Birthday this week is challenging us to create a feminine birthday card based on the sketch above. Here's my take on it...

Patterned paper (Echo Park - Springtime), cardstock (Echo Park- Springtime), kraft paper (The Paper Co), markers (Spectrum Noir), stamps (Unity Stamp Co), adhesive (Snake Tape), scalloped die (Spellbinders), circle die (Quickutz)

As many of you know, I have this special fondness for insects. Aren't these bees from Unity just adorable? So, I'm also linking this card up with Unity's Friends with Flair on Friday. :) They are having a spectacular warehouse sale, which you may want to take a look at!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Seize the Birthday - Masculine

 
I'm submitting this at the last minute... but here's my take on this week's masculine birthday card sketch at Seize the Birthday...

 
Patterned paper (Authentique "Fresh"), cardstock (Bazzill), kraft paper (The Paper Company), cardstock stickers (Fancy Pants), ink (Tim Holtz distress ink - walnut stain), stamp sentiment (Unity Stamp Co)