Mojo Monday #180

Today I decided to do a design challenge through Mojo Monday. Today's design seemed simple enough, with straight edges, circles, scallops, etc. so I thought I'd give it a whirl...Right. Despite looking like a crisp & clean card, this was a plethora of bits and pieces to assemble!

I struggled with this design, just like I struggle with following a recipe. I usually just do whatever comes to mind and make it all work together. But following these guidelines and staying within the confines of the pre-set layout was really challenging and took so much longer than normal to create this card! I had to think about all the parts and pieces, choose colors that would coordinate, think of a picture and sentiment to use...I didn't have any coordinating patterned paper, so I hand-drew the pinstripes. Seriously! This was no walk in the park...But I somehow found a way to make it all work. Here's my take on it, and...another dude card, to boot!

Recipe:

Cardstock: PTI Ocean Tides, Vintage Cream, Smoky Shadow, DCWV Glitter Stack, Open Stock dark teal textured cardstock

Stamps: PTI Enjoy the Ride, SU Apple Blossom

Ink: SU Night of Navy, SU Many Marvelous Markers in Sahara Sand and Not Quite Navy

Accessories: PTI Enjoy the Ride die cut, Marvy 1" circle punch, dimensional squares, vivory 1/4" ribbon.

PTI Blog Hop

Good afternoon! Today I am participating in the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop Challenge, which I have never done before. The challenge is below; let me know your thoughts about my interpretation!

This month we decided to dedicate the Blog Hop to scallops!  We want to see your best use of scallops, of any sort, on a project!  This can include scalloped borders, offset-scallops, stamped scallops,  scalloped mats, scalloped frames, layered scallops, scalloped tags or anything else you can dream up! You can use dies, patterned scissors or even circle punches in a row to achieve your special look. We are looking forward to seeing all of your amazing creations!


And here is my card. I used my scalloped circles die cuts to make this cute little flower. I cut the circles, cut a wedge out, and used adhesive to stick the two straight edges together, giving the flower some dimension. I used 5 layers, and I cut a progressively bigger wedge out of each layer as I neared the center of the flower to give it a blooming effect with the tightest blossom in the center. And no flower is complete without a pearl and glitter center.

I also used the Fillable Frames #5 die (scalloped rectangle) behind the Fillable Frames #10 to give the sentiment bubble an extra pop and make it stand out more. The sentiment is from the Signature Greetings set. All in all, I'd say it passes. What are your thoughts?

Make It Monday Challenge #3: Glitter Strips with Scor Tape; Take 2

OK, so today I added a bit of an extra challenge for me: dude cards. With all the pretty flowers and bows and buttons out there, I feel like the dude community gets left behind. So I wanted to make a card WITH GLITTER that was acceptable for a dude. The result: a card totally unlike anything that is my style. And I like it! It's asymmetrical, has overlapping layers, and circled with straight lines. Whoa, I must not be feeling well...

Anyway, without further ado, I present: Dude Card #1.

And a closer look:

And, just for S&Gs, here's another Dude Card that I made today that has nothing to do with the challenge, but I like it and am proud of it.

Cheers!

Make It Monday Challenge #3: Glitter Strips with Scor Tape

Wow, for this week's challenge, I actually made the card the day before the challenge was introduced. Maybe I should work with PTI! (Wink, wink.)

I was in a yellow mood this Sunday, probably because the sun was shining. And let's face it, that's rare for Seattle in February. So I made this cheery little number with a cute Hero Arts mod flower stamp and a sentiment strip from Calendar Basics. I like the somewhat matte glitter on this card, 'cause there's so much of it around the border, If the glitter were super sparkly, I think my eyes might have bled.

Anyhow, enjoy this week's card! Maybe more to come later...

Rekindled Friendships

With skiing! Wow, I had forgotten how much fun skiing is! As a kid, we used to take day trips up to the mountains for some fun in the snow and I remember having a good time. nothing specific, though.

When I met Clint, he asked if I skied or snowboarded, as he had done some snowboarding in the past and was interested in continuing that in WA. I mentioned that I skied as a kid and would love to go more. Well, we went one time the first winter we met, then nothing...

So this year we made a decision to go, a lot. To date, I have spent 8 days on my skis this year, and can't wait for more! We have been to Steven's Pass, Mt. Baker, and most recently Mission Ridge. MR is where I learned to ski when I was about 8 or 9. I remember nothing about that place, but as soon as I got to the top of the mountain; I remembered the wind. Holy cow! It was a struggle to make it DOWN the steep ice-faced hill that greets you right off the chairlift. And it was STEEP! But the wind was blowing up the hill so hard it was tough to get enough speed to make it down!

OK, well anyway. Let's just say that I'm a fiend. I can't get enough! Our improvement this year is very noticeable. Our first trip out was OK, and Clint & I were about the same skill level. We have improved together, and we're still the same skill level, which makes our trips out even better. We can both just haul ass down the mountain and not have to stop and wait for one another.

I love skiing!

Make it Monday

Hello, again!

For this week's Make-It-Monday challenge, I straight up plagiarized Nichole's card. I have not ever considered using my VersaMarker to get the same outline shadow effect that Nichole gets with her plethora of Copic colors. One VersaMarker: $3.79. Plethora of Copic colors: $Not in my budget.

In this first card, as I made it on Valentine's Day, I used Raspberry Fizz on a red shimmer paper that I had laying around for a pretty look. The sentiment is from Cupcake Collection, and perfect for any occasion. Adhered it to Kraft, added some bling, and viola! (Oh, i should mention just for fun that our power went out mid-way through this card, so it was completed by candlelight. Neat, eh?)

For the second, I opted for a fresh color scheme, that just so happens to be PTIs colors. Oh well. Stick with what works, right? On this second card, I added a strip of the Spring Moss under my vellum strip, as this card is for my Grandma and I wanted to make it easier to read. This sentiment is from Dawn's Signature Greetings set. Love this set! I also used a scallop edge punch for a little extra flair, but I think it gets lost among the detail of my peony (?) image.

Detail of the scalloped border:

Don't you just LOVE how great the VersaMarker looks on Kraft? I do!

Make it Monday

Wow, this is the first time I have participated in any of PapertreyInk.coms challenges. It was neat to see the tutorial for this week and translate into a creation of my own. For this card, I used my go-to sentiment set, Big and Bold Wishes, and paired it with every "hey there," "hello" and "hi" that I could put my hands on. I love the simplicity of this card.

Trying New Things

Last night for dinner I cooked pork. From a recipe! I know, right? Shannon, using a recipe? What's wrong? Well, you see, I don't often use recipes, and as a result, all of my food tastes the same. I use the same ingredients, same combinations of flavors, just change out the meat or color of wine...

So I made "Pan Seared Pork Medallions in Mustard Herb Sauce" from my The essential California Cookbook. The pork in the dish is actually a tenderloin roast. You know those long, thin log looking things? Yeah those. Only cut it into 2" slices and sear those. And let me tell you; it was so tender and delicious!

The recipe was basically a take on one of our family favorites Chicken Dijonaise, only substitute pork for chicken, leeks in place of onions, and whole grain mustard for the dijon. It was like a fancy-pants version of our chicken dish. For the pork recipe, the medallions were braised in butter with salt and white pepper, then set aside. Cook up leeks in the butter, add in chicken stock and white wine, creme fraiche, and mustard. Creme fraiche was $5.69 for an 8 oz. container, whereas 1/2 & 1/2 is, well, a lot less expensive. But the leeks were delicious and so much prettier in the pan than onions are. Leeks retain their green color, seared in hot butter with pork drippings. Beautiful.

So in the end, the dish was really tasty, but I would probably make it substituting 1/2 & 1/2 for the creme fraiche in the future. Just too fancy-pants for me.

Normal Working Hours

So I realize that I don't work "normal" hours. I get to work at 6:00 and leave at 3:30. I am here for a good part of what would be considered "regular" hours, but I just shift it forward by a couple of hours. I like having my afternoons free and getting ahead of the traffic.

And I am consistent. I am here between 6:00 - 3:30 every day that I am supposed to. I get here on time, I work, then I go home and forget about ICON for the day.

I've never owned my own business, but I'm sure it's not easy. One thing I don't understand, though, is owning a business and managing people who work for you while you're at home in the wee hours of the night. Really, why bother showing up at 11:30 and closing yourself in your office until your employees leave, doing who-knows-what, until 10:00 p.m. when you finally decide to respond to the email questions that you received throughout the day. What good does that do me, or our clients? All these requests that came in yesterday will now have to wait.

You wouldn't think it would be that hard to work (at least) most of the same hours as your employees. That just makes good business sense, doesn't it?

Blerg. Vacation in 3 more days.