Weird, Crazy Weather and FWF #17

It's hard to believe we're almost one-third of the way through 2014! And yet, here we are, with week #17 of Unity's Friends with Flair Fridays. :) I hope everyone's week has been a good one!

 

The Santa Ana winds have been blowing like crazy this week and to top it all off, we're supposed to hit 98 degrees today. It's just so bizarre, considering California has had a really warm winter while everyone east of the Rockies seems to have had a terribly long and cold winter.

 

Speaking of hot stuff, it was DaddyDude's birthday earlier this week. I didn't want to make an average Joe-Schmo kind of card for him, so I dabbled with a three different Unity kits to make it a bit more amusing...

 

...and based it on Sunday Stamps' Sketch #74.

  

 

I have enough paper to last me for the next 10 years, so I decided to use some old Basic Grey papers and had some more fun with my Stamp-Ma-Jig and Everything Love Kit (and Party All Day Kit - love this one for the mix of birthday sentiments - used this one on the front and inside of the card).

 

And finished with some cute taters on the inside (from Pun Potato, Fry {and Beans}. :)

 

Don't forget to check out Unity's awesome weekend sale. Yeah, yeah, I know - every weekend, it's another great sale. Yes, it is! I have to admit, though... I feel much less guilty about my Unity rubber stamp collection (no small potatoes there) than my paper stash. At least rubber stamps can be used over and over again. :)

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for visiting my blog!

 

Birthday Cards Out the Wazoo..

Hello, hello! It's been a busy week, but I had to make a birthday card for our next door neighbor. She just turned 19. She's a really sweet kid, but she made us all laugh at her party, when she held up a card and commented in confusion, "There's a random guy on here... I have no idea who he is..." When the rest of us saw the photo, we all started laughing - because it was this fellow...

 

Yeah, those of you around MY AGE know who he is... :) and if you hadn't guessed how old I was, you have a pretty good idea now! When pop culture references come up and the younger generation doesn't understand them, it just makes me laugh. I'm getting older! I grew up using a rotary phone and the first cell phone I ever saw was a real clunker in college - and I could not understand why the heck anybody would want one of those things!

 

Anyway... I made five cards (love the Birthday Jubilee sentiment kit by Unity!) and allowed my husband to pick one. Can you guess which one he picked?

Patterned papers (Echo Park - Splash), ink (Memories, Inc.), stamps (Unity Stamp Company)

Patterned papers (Echo Park - Splash), ink (Memories, Inc.), stamps (Unity Stamp Company)



Patterned papers (Echo Park - Splash), ink (Memories, Inc.), stamps (Unity Stamp Company), big staples (Fastenator), little staples (misc)

Patterned papers (Fancy Pants - Love Story), cardstock (Echo Park - Splash, Bazzill, The Paper Co),
ink (Memories, Inc.), stamps (Unity Stamp Co), cupcake die (Quickutz)

Patterned papers (Fancy Pants - Love Story), cardstock (Echo Park - Splash, Bazzill, Crafter's Companion),
ink (Memories, Inc.), stamps (Unity Stamp Co), cupcake die (Quickutz), book label die (Sizzix), brads (Joann's)

Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

 

P.S. He picked card #1 (birthday = cake).



Seize the Birthday - Sketch #16

It's been awhile, but I finally made another birthday card using a sketch from Seize the Birthday. Here is this week's sketch (feminine version)...

 

And here's my take...

 

Patterned paper (My Mind's Eye "All Dolled Up" from the Miss Caroline line), ribbon and doily diecut sticker (MME), Stickles, AC Zing embossing powder (white), Versamark embossing ink, Spectrum Noir markers, Unity stamps, Scrappin' Supplies adhesive runner

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)

Seize the Birthday - Sketch #11

It's time to play "Seize the Birthday" again!

 

 

 

Patterned paper: Echo Park; cardstock (Echo Park, Carte Bella, Fancy Pants), flowers (Sassafras Lass), ink (Tim Holtz distress ink - walnut stain), stamp sentiment (Unity Stamp Co)

I turned the sketch around 180-degrees - it changes the look quite a bit, doesn't it? But, I liked it!

Seize the Birthday - Sketch #10

Hello! Time for another Seize the Birthday masculine challenge! Here's the sketch...

And here's my take on it...

Patterned paper (Authentique "Fresh"), cardstock (Echo Park), twine (The Twinery), ink (Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink), Stickles, dragon stamp (Dustin Pike), birthday sentiment (Unity Stamp Co), markers (Spectrum Noir), white cardstock (Crafter's Companion)

The "stamp" is actually a free digi from Dustin Pike's Doodle Dragon Studios. You can find it here. I thank my CC friends for introducing me to digital stamps - I love that you can re-size them and print them onto anything! But, I'm still a scaredy-cat when it comes to coloring - I really need to spend some time on Youtube watching tutorials...

Hope you all have a grand day!

Seize the Birthday - Sketch #9

I really liked Seize the Birthday Sketch #9 - and since I just received my latest shipment of Unity Stamps, I thought it was the perfect time to try out one of their newest releases in the Wit & Wisdom line.

 

Patterned paper (Carte Bella "Paris Girl"), cardstock (Bazzill), white embossing powder (AZ Zing!), Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink, Making Memories pewter brads, Making Memories celery ribbon, adhesive (Snake Tape), Versamark embossing ink, Fiskars border punches

Of course, this will be submitted to Unity Stamp's "Friends with Flair", the weekly Friday blog postings of inspiration. This stamp looks really cool when white embossed against a black background, doesn't it?

Happy Friday, everybody! Thanks for visiting my blog and hope you all enjoy a lovely weekend! :)

It Sucks to Get Old - Color Inspiration Challenge

At the very last minute, I am squeezing in an entry for Seize the Birthday Challenge #8 (masculine birthday card). Above is their sketch and below is my take on it...

 

Patterned papers: Echo Park (Happy Days "Little Flowers"), cardstock (EP Wintertime "Pine Green" and Little Boy "Strawberry"), Tim Holtz distress inks (walnut stain, festive berries, tumbled glass),  rub-ons (AC Celebration), stamps (Unity Stamp Co) and markers (Spectrum Noir)

I'm also submitting this for my CC Weekly Challenge #52 (make a celebration card) and for Unity Stamp Co's Monthly Inspiration challenge (for their color challenge) for February. Here's Unity's inspiration below...

I've never used this color combination before... it was... interesting... but what I did learn this week was - having the right kind of cardstock really does matter for the coloring. I finally picked up a packet of 80 lb cardstock (Crafter's Companion) at my LSS and tried it out. Wonderful! I was so much happier with the results. Yes, I'm still being primitive and doing simple coloring... I'll have to get up the guts to start trying to shade next... :)

3 Challenges in One!

One of my New Year's resolutions was to do more weekly challenges. This week, I figured out how to do 3 challenges with one project!



 

 

Patterned paper (Carta Bella Paris Girl), cardstock (Bazzill, Carta Bella), TH walnut stain distress ink, Stickles, twine (MME), MM tag rim, Prima flowers, ink (Memory inc.), stamps (Unity), dies (Tim Holtz), embossing folder (Lifestyle Crafts) 

 

1. Cropchocolate.com's Weekly Challenge #46 - use pink, some flowers, and some bling

2. Seize the Birthday Sketch #3 (see below) - feminine version (next week is masculine!)

 

 

3. Unity Stamp Company - Friends with Flair! This one is totally new to me - I just started building up my Unity collection last month and LOVE their stuff! It looks like every Friday, people upload their creation and there's a random drawing for a prize. Sounds good to me!!!



Pinterest and recipes

I admit it - I'm still in love with Pinterest! Not only can you find some really interesting things, but for a list-maker like myself, I love that I can "pin" it and easily find it later. Voila! An instant way for me to keep track of recipes I want to try!

This past weekend, I made some cioppino - we'e always wanted to make it but the "shove" finally came when I found a convenient package of mixed seafood at Fresh & Easy. LOVE that store! It turnd out "okay"for a first-time dish, since I had to modify things a lot, due to the availability of ingredients in the house and the fact that the F&E package came with a broth. In a nutshell, it was tasty but too salty - and no, it probably didn't help matters that the family came to the dinner table LATE, so things probably cooked longer than they should have... *sigh*...

With the cioppino, I made a new salmon dish: Miso Salmon with Orange and Fennel. I didn't have any fennel, so I substitute it with dried basil and fresh cilantro. It was quite tasty! The creator of this recipe is Jaden Hair, owner of the www.steamykitchen.com blog - she is GOOD!

The girls had a fun weekend - one of Mika's teammates had a birthday party with a water slide. For some reason, they all decided it was better to bounce down it. There's Marika, bopping along...

And on Sunday, Mika's all star team had yet another tournament but a "friendly" one. They won both games decisively with scores of 13-4 and 12-6. These are the same two teams they'll play this coming week at our local tournament. Mika is still batting over 0.500 and whacked one out to outfield this past outing. Maybe if we get some meat onto her skinny little arms, she can hit it farther...

Happy Birthday Cupcake Card

Weekly challenge #22 at Cropchocoalte.com this week was to use dark contrasting colors with pastels - and a little bit of bling. I saw a cupcake card in Card Sketches for Paper Crafters and decided to make a card for Mika's teammate - the cupcake is hand-drawn and outlined with Silver Stickles. All cardstock is Bazzill.

Riley's Skate Party

It was a long and busy weekend! Mika had a softball game Saturday (another loss, but at least she hit two singles, going 2-for-2 at the plate) and her All Star practices began on Sunday - oh, and did I mention that it was almost 100-degrees outside? Whew!





We ended the weekend by going to the birthday party of a friend of theirs (a fellow All Star player). As you may have guessed from the picture, it was a skate party. COOL!

How awesome is this cake? I LOVE it! The mom said she had found a picture of a similar cake on Pinterest and had somebody make it.I tell you, if you're crafty and haven't checked out Pinterest, you really should!

Patterned papers (MME Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky), ribbon and rhinestones (MME Lush - Fuschia), flowers (Prima), gold thread (Coats & Clark), staple

And last but not least, since we decided to give money as a gift (don't worry, we gave her more than $2, but we had to stop at the bank before we went to the party!), I decided to make a special card for her - one that had a pull-out section containing the cash and personalized notes from the girls. I used a template from that new card sketch book of mine (Card Sketches for Papercrafters) - and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Summer is Coming!

We were finally able to celebrate Daddy Dude's birthday the following Saturday. The girls really wanted a balloon animal - here's what they got! Lucky for us, we took a picture, because Marika was devastated a couple of days later, when the ear of her bear came undone and he started to look peculiar. :)

Softball is starting to wind down. Marika usually plays pitcher, but she got to play first base a couple of times. Here she is, making a nice catch at the base. The only position she hasn't played yet has been catcher - I think we'll have to request it, just to get some pictures!

Mika only has a couple of games left. Her team just clinched first place and it's been a great season - the girls have learned how to work really well as a team and the improvement in each girl has been quite noticeable. Her coach is applying for the position of the All Stars coach at their level - if he gets it, he's already said he would like Mika to be on the team. We're thrilled about this, because she'll get to play softball for two months of the summer! We don't mind that she'll continue to have practices twice a week and a tournament every weekend - she enjoys playing and she's quite good at it. Practice makes perfect! Here she is, working on her sliding technique - what better reason to rip the knees on your pants? ;)

Summer is coming! Instead of heading to the park with her good buddy Brock, Marika was invited to try out their Slip & Slide. I think this is the first time she's ever been on one and well... she hasn't quite mastered the sliding part yet. She just couldn't relax enough to slide on her belly and into the little pool at the end. Maybe the next time!

Later that evening, because the girls didn't have softball practice and our awesome next-door neighbor offered us free tickets, we went to a 66ers game. This was especially nice because we never managed to make it to a game all last season. And just look at our seats - we were just behind third base and right next to the dugout. We were a bit on edge all the time (in case a ball came flying by) but what a great view! The bullpen was also directly to our left and we were fortunate enough to see the pitchers warming up.

Our next-door neighbor was able to get us free tickets because it was a special day at the ballpark for their high school. I have to say, their mascots are adorable! A famous alum was on hand to throw the first pitch - Shareece Wright (second from the right).

Since our next-door neighbor (back middle in the picture) was a mentor to Shareece, we were able to get a picture with him. So, one day the girls can show this picture to their friends and say they were photographed with an NFL player! Yup, Shareece was drafted last week in the third round to the San Diego Chargers. Some of you may be familiar with his name, as he played with the USC Trojans during his college career. Kirk has been talking about Shareece and Allen Bradford (another famous alum from their school - drafted in the sixth round for the NFL last week to the Buccaneers) for several years, ever since they were in high school. It's been really neat to see their careers develop! We wish them both well and look forward to seeing them on national television soon... :)

Mika was happiest when the cotton candy was finally delivered. Boy, is that girl messy! Marika was inspired to try and eat it without her fingers... she made some pretty interesting faces...

The highlight for Marika's night was getting a baseball. No, she didn't catch it (though the girls brought their gloves), but the left fielder (Justin Bass, #11) was kind enough to give it to her as he caught the third out of an inning and ran into the dugout. She asked, he tossed it into her glove, and a big happy smile was born. She even slept with it next to her on the night table... and she wanted to bring it into school this morning, too!

There's a Birthday in the House!

Making Memories Cosmopolitan Paper Pack (6x6)

Happy Birthday, Daddy Dude! Hope you have a wonderful day! We love you!

Monthly Round-Up

It's hard to believe that the school year is entering the home stretch - the girls only have 6-7 more weeks of school! Here they are on the day of Spring Pictures...

And wow, this is back in February, but the girls had a Father/Daughter dance to attend. I hung out with my good friend Michelle and afterwards, we all went out for frozen yogurt. :)

Marika's class had a field trip to Stater Brothers. I know, I know... you're thinking what a lame idea but it was actually a fun time for all - the staff did a good job of educating the kids on foods, why you should eat healthy, and the different roles each person plays in the store. Of course, giving the kids a chicken strip, a balloon, and a backpack didn't hurt either!

Mom and Fred came to visit last month and were able to watch both girls play softball. Afterwards, they kindly treated us to dinner at a ritzy Japanese restaurant. Yum yum!

The day prior to Grandma's visit, the girls had had a birthday party - for the first time in about 4 years. This was Marika's big wish and so, we made it happen. Conveniently, both girls have good friends that are siblings, so things worked out pretty nicely, as far as the guest list was concerned. I did some research on the internet and found some fun party games - although, I was surprised and dismayed that a lot of crying did ensue. I guess everybody wanted to win!

Of course, the girls wanted two different birthday cakes (one loves vanilla, the other loves chocolate) so we had to order them both. We ended up purchasing a third cake, just to make sure everybody got enough - and all that happened was that I ended up eating birthday cake for the next few days! Good thing I run a lot, right?

The following week, the girls were still on Spring Break and conveniently, Daddy Dude had taken the week off to spend with family. We visited the Cal Science Museum (Michelle was supposed to join us, but regrettably, fell ill) and had a lot of fun, especially Daddy Dude. We are really big on "educational" trips and fortunately, the girls have loved every single science museum they've ever been in. This time, they went into a deep sea journey simulator (I stayed outside, of course), a hurricane simulator (somebody had to take pictures, right?) and Daddy Dude even went onto the high wire bike ride, as well as lending himself to a falling experiment (that picture where he's strapped into a contraption? Completely voluntary on this part!).

The big staycation plan, though, was to visit Legoland. This trip was actually overdue by one year (it was supposed to be the girls' birthday present for last year, in lieu of a birthday party) and we almost couldn't make it, due to the weather. Fortunately, everything worked out.

They had some new displays, including Sonny's favorites here... (although Harry seems a bit small here, doesn't he?).

And of course the girls had tons of fun on the rides! We were really bummed, though, because the new Star Wars mini land was supposed to open the day we were there - but apparently, some hooligans broke into the modeling area during lunchtime the previous week, and destroyed several exhibits. Sooooo... we missed it. Next time!

And what was *my* favorite part? We love these delicious apple fries (with whipped cream!). Thanks to our friend Brian, who introduced us to this treat, we were a few dollars poorer afterwards, but our stomaches were quite pleased... :)