New Cards

Hi-ya! Here are a few of the cards that I've been working on this week. Some are same-old, same-old, some are a new style Let me know what ya think!

Playing with chocolate brown and Hawaiian shores colors together.

Hawaiian Shores & Royal Velvet

Leafy Vines die! "It's a RAINBOW!" - For Mom

New damask designed patterned paper run through the sewing machine for a quilt-like look.

Without the stitching. 

Simple.

The patterned paper on this is left-overs from Misty's Birthday Calendar. I covered the binder with this and coordinating yellow satin ribbon at the seams. Looked amazing. 

The picture here was the inspiration for Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop this past week. While I didn't finish my card in time to enter it into the blog hop itself, I still really liked the card that I came up with. I used both the colors & the window as inspiration for my design. I have orange, white, kraft, aqua and light green. Whaddya think?

This and That

Welcome to summertime in the NW. It lasted about 3 days, and now we're back into Fall. Maybe next year summer will last a full week?

Blerg.

This past weekend, temperatures broke 80 degrees, which we haven't seen in these parts since last August or September. Really. Saturday I spent the day hunched over doing some much needed yard work. I weeded my garden along the street, moved some poorly-situated plants from last year, and bought 8 bags of bark mulch. What a difference that makes! Wow, it looks and smells fantastic out there, now!

I attempted some vinca (periwinkle) removal, but when the roots started coming up with 8+ inches of bark and soil attached, I decided that I would tackle this project bit by bit.

On Sunday Clint and I went to Duthie Hill Park for some mountain biking. Being sore from the previous days' workload, I wasn't super into it. I wanted to go for a road ride, but changed my mind to appease my darling husband. I struggled. I was tired, achy, and it was bloody hot outside! I sweat, and it never evaporated. I just kept sweating and sweating. It felt good, but it was really gross.

After a rocky (literally and emotionally) run on Step it Up, we parked ourselves in the clearing to play around a bit. I rode the skinnies (successfully, I might add) and played around on the drops. I landed, perfectly, the 2nd drop, twice! OK, so Clint rides off all 5 like they're nothing, but for me, landing the 2nd was a big step! I mean, it's like 10 inches! (That's what he said...?)

So now we're back into the work week and life is moving on. Today we have the appliance repair man fixing our dryer. After almost 2 hours tumbling the other night, we opened the door to find a lump of wet clothes flopping around. Poop. After checking the venting, we decided it wasn't something we could fix. In comes the repair man, who found $10.33 and 10C Canadian, and $220 later, our dryer works like new. Great! Now I can start wearing good clothes to work again. :-)

I have been making cards here and there lately, but with Bear's needs, and working until 4:00 instead of 3:30 lately, I'm not finding the time that I wish I had for this. I have Fridays off now, which is nice. I made several cards last Friday, most of which I like, too. But yesterday I wanted to participate in Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop, but didn't have enough time to complete my card and get it posted to participate and possible be a random winner. Bummer. But my card will be super cute when it's done!

We started eating according to the Paleo Blueprint a couple of weeks ago. The basic idea behind this lifestyle is that if we eat the way people ate 10,000 years ago, then our bodies will be better equipped to process the foods instead of storing it for fat. According to this guy's book, agriculture developed much faster than the human body, so that today, agriculture, and therefore the way that people eat, has outpaced evolution, which is partly why people these days are so fat, respectively. By taking our diets back 10,000 years, we are eating only what our bodies can handle, and what our bodies need. No grains, no corn, no starches. Just hunting-gathering types of sustenance. So if it can be hunted or gathered, I can eat it. I can gather cupcakes, right? I mean...

So lots of meat, fish, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, berries. We try to eat little that has been processed, like hot dogs. Sure, they're beef, but not exactly in its purest form, you know? So far I've lost 8 lbs, but our cheat day of burger & fries & 2 beers but me up a few, so net loss is only 5. But we're getting there. This feels like a lifestyle change that has some longevity for us. Mush easier than Atkins, mostly because of the fruit. And hey, if it comes straight from the Earth, chances are it's pretty good for you.

A new (temporary) member of our family

Last Friday we picked up our new family member, who will be living with us for about 2 months.

Meet Bear. Bear is a chow (but I think he must be a mix). Bear is from China, but moved to Atlanta last year. Bear's family has sadly learned that Atlanta is too darn hot for chows in the summertime, so they put him in his crate, took him to Delta air cargo services, and sent him 3,000 to us in Puget Sound (where it is about 30 degrees cooler than it is in Altanta). Dad and I picked him up from the airport last Friday and took him home to live with Clint and me.

So far, the cats are not thrilled to have Bear in their house. Hops, the territorial terror (how do you like that tongue twister?), has likely hissed himself hoarse (or that one?) over the weekend. Hops puffs out his tail, arches his back, and makes the fur on his backbone stand up like a mohawk whenever the dog gets too close. But if the closeness is on Hops' terms, he's OK. Hops can approach Bear, but not vice-versa.

Barley, the scardey-cat, surprised us all with her bravery and boldness toward Bear. She doesn't seem to notice that he's there. She gives him a wide berth, but otherwise, doesn't seem to be bothered much. She learned very quickly, however, not to get too close to Bear when he's eating. That bark will likely be forever marked in her mind.

Bear is a friendly dog. He doesn't do much other than follow me around and lie on my feet where ever I am. We took him to Mom & Dad's on Sunday to meet them and see the other Golden Girls (Mom & Dad's Golden Retreiver Riccia and Grandma's Golden Retreiver Mandy). Looking down on the 3 dogs, their fur is all about the same color & texture, although Bear's is much longer and poofier. The 3 of them played and ran together, and Bear really seemed to have fun. It was nice to see him acting like a dog; full of energy.

We took him for a tromp in the woods, which he seemed to enjoy. He did NOT enjoy getting his furry paws washed off with the hose water afterward. At home, he mopes around a bit. I'm not sure if it's jet lag, the cats harrassing him, or missing his people, but he seems blue. Every day he gets better, though, so I think it's wearing off. Today Clint is taking him for a jog after work, and I think Bear will like that.

My new Titus El Guapo & Clint's new toy!

Wahoo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmkcwK6RuPs

Make it Monday #16 - Sympathy Cards

Hi there! Long time, no blog!

I decided to participate in this week's Make it Monday challenge because between working extra hours and making about 200 wedding invitations for my best friend, I was still struggling with extra hours in my day! Right. OK, note to self: sarcasm is most effective when spoken.

At any rate, this week's but was..."Sympathy cards are nobody's favorite to make. But with care and kindness, they can touch deeply the recipients with the thought put into making them. Follow Dawn McVey's lead and learn some helpful tips when it comes to making your own."

The tips to follow were to keep things classic and simple, not too much frills or whimsy. It's OK to use bold colors, and you can never go wrong with flowers. 

So, here's my take.

And because everybody loves a crazy cat lady, here's a picture of Barley sitting in the cubby where my Cuttlebug lives. Appropriate, no?

And because everybody loves photos of people they don't know, here's Clint and me after our ride @ Duthie Hill last Sunday. This was my first ride on my new Tutis El Guapo. Loads of fun! If I ride enough, maybe that spare ring around my middle will dissipate!?!?

*Disclaimer: this photo was taken post ride, hence the muddy legs and face. Please do not assume that this is what I typically look like. Although, with all the riding I do, I do typically look like this. But only when riding. 

Way 2 Go!

Good morning! Just popping in to show you a cute little card I made for my brother yesterday. I used my new Alpha Blocks set from PTI, and I LOVE it! The coordinating die makes it super easy to make these little windows where you can stamp your image. This photo was scanned, so you can't see that the letters are actually stamped on the INside of the card. The die cut is a window frame, so when you open the dard, you can still see the "WAY 2 GO" sentinemt.

The leaf patter is from Turning A New Leaf. They have a coordinating die to cut this out, but sadly, I do not yet own it. Maybe soon...

And yet another dude card, too!

On and Off again...

I just can't seem to get used to this thing called consistency. In every area of my life, I struggle with it. Blog posting? Sporadic. Going to the gym? Hit and miss. Card making? Comes in waves. But I suppose if you average things out over the course of a year, I'd be OK. And who carers anyway? I like my life the way it is.

Last weekend, when we had some sunshine (not warmth, but the clouds did momentarily part), I took advantage of the natural light to photograph all of the cards that I have in my possession. I do this to document when I've done so I can refer back in the future. As I send cards, sell cards, give them away, I want a reminder of the styles, colors, techniques & layouts that I have previously done. I can't remember them all, and sometimes when I get "crafter's block," looking through previous cards helps jump start the creative process all over again. Plus, this gives me a reason to post them here and fish for read all the nice compliments. ;-)

Some of these may be duplicates of previous posts, but here are some of my favorites from this year to date.