079. Greetings

I was much more enthusiastic about starting today's entry earlier but then realized I was still pretty frustrated/ aggravated by the attitudes of some people today. Then that set my mind off on a tangent that left me pretty angry for the remainder of the afternoon. The good news is I learned a few bits and pieces of good news throughout the day!

The kids had fun with the Cricut, I only made a handful of mistakes, lol. A lot of their stuff and memorabilia went home with them today. The FMIL and I are still signed up for the workshop that I've still very excited about. I'm having a hard time choosing what to order, but I can always ask questions and opinions when the time comes. Right now that's one of the biggest things I have to look forward to. After that, I have to really focus on my exam assessment and then... I think the next thing I have to prepare for is my trip back to Florida! Hooray! I'm trying to keep enthusiastic about it. Sigh. Let's just get to some good stuff already! Lol.

First off, my baby brother was accepted into a college! Hooray! I'm so excited for him and proud. We're starting to reconnect and I was getting him to chat online with me and our cousin. At one point we were discussing prom and he pretty much said "A lot has changed with how kids do prom since you've done it!" Excuse me? Since when did I become old? Prom and the things that kids do surrounding it has been the same since it's conception, thank you very much. That, and no terrible pun intended, lol. My cousin noticed and thought it was hilarious how I started putting in phrases like "back in my day" and "whipper-snappers." I enjoy using really dated sayings, even if they were before my time. My brother doesn't go totally teenager with things like "You don't understand anything I'm going through!" on me, but he does get caught up in it from time to time and I find it funny now that I've outgrown enough of it. I'm still quite protective and I do really want him not to make the same mistakes I did, but I know I can't live my life again through/ for him. Good lesson to learn before having kids, aye? It was good to catch up with the younger folk today. I hope to make a healthy habit of it.

Hm, more good news... in the Cricut world it was the beloved 'Hello Thursday'! They also have a 'Green Wednesday' where they launch a sale on select cartridges. Anywho, 'Hello Thursday' is about introducting new product! They have been giving us a sneak peek for a couple of weeks now and the only themes I could identify were feline, power tools, rocker, monster, and cutesy- girly. Well, here is what ended up being introduced today! Click on the pics to learn more about each!

Toy Story! Not picture of the cartridge, obviously, 

but it's just in time for this movie!

What are the odds? *eye roll* Still super cute.

Wall Décor and More. Fairly stylized images and phrases.

Tammy from the Creative Critters Cricut Club blog

(Say that five times fast! Sorry, I had to say that. :P)

has posted all the images from this cart that she cut out in vinyl!

"Freshly Picked" I feel resembles carts like "In My Garden,"

but they just keep getting better and better.

It includes a really cute feature of cutting out seed packets too. : )

 

"Cindy Loo" reminds me of Cindy Lou Who from

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Lol.

Really sweet and cute images on this card,

complete with 3-D objects like a crown, I believe.

And the one that I'm most excited about:

*Drumroll*

"Mini Monsters"! 

Ahh!!! Lol.

Just when I thought my life was complete with "Create a Critter" and merely enhanced by the "Robotz" from the last "Hello Thursday," this oh-so-cute cartridge is released! Well, previewed. The "Toy Story" cart is estimated to be released on July, while the rest are scheduled to be released some time during June. I am too in love. Provocraft is jam packing these things with more and more features and images that are really in style but classy and adding 3-D cuts more and more often. I have yet to do one, but I will one of these days! /shakesfist. Lol. I highly encourage you to check out the images that are currently out for these releases. The day they come out, I believe is when they post the digital version of the handbook that comes with the cartridge. The handbook tells you how to use the cart and shows you all the images you can cut. 

"Mini Monsters" has definitely made it to my must-have list, which isn't all that long in all honesty, lol. So many things going on! Yay, I'm all excited and more cheery again. Hooray! Lol. My soul does hurt just a little over not instantly having my top two must-haves of the moment, but I'll give it time and search around for a super good deal. Thanks to The Pink Stamper, I have found out about the great companies of Custom Crops and Hallmark Scrapbook which seem to have great deals on cartridges (among many other various crafting goodies) the moment they come out! Why pay the full $80-90 when you can snag it at any time for $32-45? No need to hound the print ads and then miss out on the best deal because you wanted to hold out just in case there's a better deal around the corner. Nah, if I want- I want it and don't want to play games. Anywho, great resources are fun. :D

So that's what I'm currently obsessing over and that's helping me get through my day today. I hope you enjoy! Until tomorrow, <3!

060. Oh Happy Day!

Buckle up! Today is a hefty read!

*sings the song from Sister Act* Oh happy day (oh happy day), Oh happy day (oh happy day)... Lol. Happy National Scrapbooking Day! Can you guess what I've been up to today? Well, aside of wanting to crawl back into bed after only sleeping 5 hours, I have been working on paper crafting (currently translated into card-making) and checking out the festivities throughout the internet in honor of this fun day. Also took a mini field trip to the local JoAnn's store. I'm still a bad influence with my impulse shopping and oozing of information and enthusiasm for all things crafty. I must say, I think I behaved rather well today. I wanted to try out a new aspect of paper craft and was torn between further exploring stamping, delving into paper punches, or trying something new with brad/ eyelet embellishing or ribbons.

I know I'm never going to go completely nuts with ribbon or punches, it's not too much my thing even after watching YouTube videos that detailed tours of different craft rooms. Some people have borderline obscene amounts of ribbon. I understand it but holy cow! Think of the selection of ribbons at your local craft or hobby store and imagine it in someone's office space. Yeah, I'm actually not exaggerating, you can find those videos online yourself!

I haven't spent a significant amount of time daydreaming about what I would have in my dream craft room or anything... :D The SO has already promised that down the line, he'd custom build me my own space- especially the storage. I've done some research (surprise, surprise) into how much those white MDF cubicle things cost and wow. That is pretty hefty. I know avid crafters are pretty good bargain hunters but I'm a tad too impulsive and impatient more often than not. He took a look at some of the designs and pictures I pulled up of ideas and wholeheartedly agreed that we'd probably be able to build anything my heart desired in terms of storage for (at most) a quarter of what companies are charging. I can't wait, lol.

I'm by far not the neatest person on the planet (whomever started that ridiculous rumor that girls were neater than guys was completely insane) but I do like to organize things. Granted, I'm much more comfortable with organizing other people's things but I think that's because I'd rather figure out someone else's pre-existing system and run with it and make it better, than to utilize my own. Mine kind of consists of dumping everything out in a large open space, painstakingly sorting it all out, and then carefully putting it all away tetris-style. Lol. It's very, very tedious and easily discouraging. Once everything has it's place, however, I'm a lot better at not just throwing things in drawers or piling it up somewhere. Anywho, if the SO and I continue to work out and we earn our very own home down the road, it has been agreed that I will get my own little nook with customized furniture to I can organize and craft to my heart's content and not be a nuisance all over the house or in his personal space, lol. Good deal, eh?

Back to my original thought of the field trip today, I got a few tiny spools of ribbon for a dollar each, just to try that out. I decided to hold off on starting what would end up being a monster obsession with embellishments and I decided to keep saving some money for when I can get further involved with Stampin' Up. They have paper, punches, embellishments, and coordinating ribbon on top of high-quality stamping products. I'd rather save up for a few really nice and beloved pieces than to instantly satisfy the desire (not need, as much as I may feel it is sometimes,XD) to get into more stamping now.

I also got a pair of new silver opapque markers because mine have run it's course after about... I want to say 2.5 years. It's my way of adding a little sparkle/ sheen to the tiny cuts I'm making with my Cricut lately. I also got a simplistic border punch (my first!) to add a nice touch to my cards. It's a scallop with tiny diamonds at the peaks. I'm pretty into doing my research about the products and then starting off my collection/ investment (got to use fancy wording to minimize any financial guilt, lol) with the basics that I feel are pretty versatile. However, I already totally know what things I'd splurge on that are not as nearly as versatile pieces as well. XD

And last but not least, the mono-adhesive that I have been using (it's not the best, but it has worked and been fairly easy to use) was in fact a pack of refill spools for an actual roller-handle-do-hickey. Lol. I was wondering why they would bother making a wheel to hold the used tape but make me manually wind it every five to ten seconds. It's because the holder is supposed to do it for me! /facepalm and /headdesk. I think my life just got 2% easier with this revelation! Maybe I won't break or screw up the tape 30% of the time. I like to make up percentages that have no criteria or relative scale to one another. Ha ha! So, let's get to the eye candy already!

Because of all the festivities today, I tried to keep working with my old cutting mat, but thanks to a certain awkward gawky cat, it was covered in dusty filth. I tried, but gave in and decided to switch to a brand spankin' new mat! Here are side by side comparison pictures, also including a lit shot so you can be reminded of the damage I did to my original mat when I tried to re-tacky it.

Here is a card that I started working on yesterday that I (like I said I would) added some sentiments and decor to. I actually touched other cartridges today!

Here are a few more that I made today, mostly inspired by the National Scrapbook Day challenges/ celebrations over at MyPinkStamper.com.

On unrelated (to crafting) notes-

Yesterday the package I was expecting actually arrived! I'm very happy with the service that 1-800-Flowers provided. I was inspired to use them after seeing the CEO's appear on the show, 'Undercover Boss'. 

It was a Gardenia Bonsai for the SO's mom for a birthday/ Mother's Day present. 

This is the plate of ribs that the SO ordered when we went to one of our favorite local haunts. 

The bonsai came with a bag of rocks and potted. S/he is already three years old and about to bloom! I think the FMIL (future mother-in-law, lol) counted about 40 buds! How amazing is that? She absolutely loved it and we all can't wait for it to bloom like crazy- always sneaking sniffs when we walk by it.

Each slab of ribs were about the size of my face. He finished half and saved the rest to satisfy his craving for ribs later. That's a baked potato next to it for comparison. When he was cutting into it, it somehow splatter across my arm and shirt even though I was sitting next to him. None of us could figure out how that happened. Sitting next to the SO/ being near him is such a hazard. As if I wasn't already a big enough hazard to myself. XD I should remember to tell the hummingbird story here some day. 

I do believe enough is enough today. :) Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow! <3

055. Hm? What Now?

Well... whatever plans I thought I had for myself today after finishing up at school were completely annihilated by the fact that I laid down to rest and ended up passing out and napping for most of the evening. :D Yay me! I knew that I was tired, but wow, not that much! Lol. I guess the body/ heart wants what the body/heart wants! I thought I caught up enough over the weekend to survive the week, but I was sadly mistaken.

This means that the pictures I took today will be apart of tomorrow's post! We're trying to plan some Mother's Day/ birthday things around the household this week, so wish us luck! We give it right back, I guarantee it. :P I've had a few more custom orders come in through the shop so that is going to definitely keep me busy this week, if not everything else, lol.

I'm also trying to save up and get into Stampin' Up! After watching all the goodies from My Pink Stamper (who personally responded to my email about her site! I feel so cool in such a geeky way! Lol!) and her past life as a demonstrator, I decided to try to get in contact with some of my local (and current) demonstrators. They seem to have great products in variety and quality, plus it could help me get to know more people, learn tons of new techniques, and continue to be inspired by others if I find the right guide for me! I'm super excited. It seems to be a similar deal with getting involved with Avon, Tupperware, or those lingerie lines- throw parties, be contacted by local people and go through catalogs, earn rewards for the work you put in, and have some extra income in the household! Maybe that is an aspect I could get into a few years down the road, right now I'm content with exploring and buying. :P

Ha ha, what a subtly cheeky post this has been! I'll keep it short and think of something more interesting to write tomorrow. Maybe. Until then! <3

053. Coughy Crafting

My throat's not getting much better today. :( I'm not completely sick but it feels like I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Lol, I initially typed 'surly'. What a fun word. Anywho, I took it easy today in hopes that resting up while I could would help me get better sooner. I feel like I tried to make that sentence rhyme somehow and that it went horribly wrong, ha ha.

We started off today running errands that weren't my idea! Whoa, lol. I updated and re-refined my Etsy shop for the millionth time. One of these days I may be completely satisfied. :P I also decided to just sit and do some research into color trends and what-nots to try to inspire myself and keep from getting bored of using the same palettes and combinations that I know I like but also get tired of (just like everyone else does) seeing it over and over again. I haven't done a very good job at using spring colors because I guess I am just enamored with rich, bold, and bright jewel tones! I love 'em, but I really need to cut that out because it's keeping me in a colorful rut, lol.

So, for more inspiration (but more to keep me in a creative mood) I also started my own mini marathon of  watching My Pink Stamper videos! That's a link to Robyn's collection of videos via her blog, she also has a YouTube channel and Facebook fanpage. I love her style, it's pretty similar to my own and she is just awesome in a million ways. I watched another one of her live streams last night actually. The chat of 500 people drives me a little bonkers though. Yes, it's fast but I'm vaguely used to that, however! There are just some really selfish and downright annoying people that spam it during the broadcast. I know that happens pretty much in any large chat room, it's really been a while since I've been in those situations (I learned my lesson pretty early on). Last time I watched a live broadcast, I was so psyched and even joined in on the chat and realized it was pretty futile because I just ended up wanted to yell back at a certain dozen or so of people who kept asking irrelevant questions and demanding answers.

Funny how a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. Also, it's pretty funny how the older I get- the more things my mother is/ was right about. :P Lol. I pretty much always knew she was, regardless if I understood how, I guess it just really hits home once those situations come up. Anyways, I re-learned my lesson and decided to block that half of the screen with another window so as to not be terribly tempted to log on and blast inconsiderate people to kingdom come (I guess blasting them is a whole "two wrongs don't make a right- but three lefts do" deal, lol). It was much more relaxing for me and I got to enjoy all the goofing off that was involved. She's the one who introduced me to the Waterfall Card Technique that I've fallen in love with.

I made a few recently and I still cannot get enough of it. So, when I got the opportunity and honor to make a few bracelets for a friend's friend, I jumped at the chance to include a little something extra in the package: a handmade card!

The message is "Never Give Up Hope!" and "We Support You!" And I am really grateful to be included in this kind gesture. I'm pretty pleased with how the custom order turned out and I hope they are too when it arrives! Here are a few pictures of that:

Mmk, on another note, upon remembering and reading over my past few lackluster posts, I remembered that I took a picture of the doggie that hasn't been feeling well lately. It was almost-raining and for some reason, he kept standing in the open and getting soaked over time. Finally, he was coaxed into laying down on the patio on a blanket we brought out for him, so here he is:

The poor baby. We've come to the conclusion that he's kind of like a Clydesdale Horse. He has seemed much better since that night though but still swaying a bit on his feet. We're keeping a close eye on him and, of course, spoiling him. :)

On a lighter note, we came together and made a family recipe that is apparently a New Mexican tradition-thing? It's basically a super enchilada and I would post more details but I wasn't really paying attention this time around since I haven't been feeling well, :( sorry, lol. However, I do have pictures!

Mmm. I promise to pay more attention next time. It has fried corn tortillas in a sauce that is tomato sauce based covered in layers of ground beef, lettuce, green onions, sharp cheddar cheese, and another tortilla. Then, all topped off with- um, I guess that's not a sunny side up egg... darn, I'm not very good at this... hold on, lol - over easy/medium egg? Lol, I went to go ask and the answer wasn't conclusive. Anywho, it was fun and yummy. Prior to cooking dinner, homemade guacamole was made so we could munch on tortilla chips as we decided how many layers we wanted for dinner. :P

Bah, I should probably be resting in bed right now, hm? Well, it actually sounds like a good idea this time around so that's all I'll write about today! Until tomorrow, <3!

024. So Excited

Is it bad that even though I have about 20 things on my to-do list today and have only done about 3, that I'm still proud of myself? I just wanted to share that right now.

On a completely different side note, I never thought I'd know some truly evil people in my life, sure plenty of people I strongly dislike, but I do. I can't wait for the day that all their misdeeds come back full force to bite them. Bit vindictive, I know, but I'm okay with that. I've already said how I'm not one to forgive easily or at all, for that matter.

Gonna do my best to tune into My Pink Stamper's Live broadcast tonight! I can't wait! Until later! <3

--- Update ---
Well, it was interesting but the chat log of 200-300 people with their all-caps yelling about nonsense and impatience really ground up my nerves. I got all but 3 things on my to-do list done today! Yay for productivity! Even more got done that wasn't on my list so that's great too. Tomorrow shall bring pictures here! Huzzah!

See you then! <3

017. Be Prepared

Typing that title made me sing "Be Prepared" by Scar from the Lion King in my mind. :)

Well, as much as I try to be, I never seem to be prepared enough for, well, anything! Lol. I've been talking about getting back into crafting to help me through my recent funk and finally started on my new "self-taught" project of card-making. I started to after I got my wonderful Cricut during these past winter holidays by making simple postcards for a few special/ especially missed people in my life. I was really happy how they all turned out. I should be after the thought I put into little details like color schemes and the like! I'll probably post pictures of a few another time.

I bought some sprays last night to try to spruce up my old cutting mat and may have annihilated it instead. Oops! I also realized it would be at least 3 hours before I could use my mat, so no Cricutting tonight! But, that's not going to stop me because I finally got the nerve to try something new! I just finished one card and, as tempted as I am to post pictures of it before mailing it out, I will not! /soul cry.

Instead, I will post other pictures of the going-ons around here before getting back to the grind!

The hot air balloons that I mentioned seeing the other day!

WoW- inspired polymer clay figurines I made a while back. 

A set of totems and a sheeped pig! The SO played mainly a Shaman and Mage. :D

I think I'm so clever sometimes, lol.

Holding my poor Cricut cutting mat up to the light so you can see the damage.

I did, however, get most of the old adhesive off as planned. 

We probably didn't shake the can enough and that's why it began to eat away at my mat. >_< Oops!

Since I can't (aka won't let myself) post the card(s) that I'm making before their respective recipients receive them... I'm going to post the video where I learned the technique! I love Robyn of My Pink Stamper. She's absolutely fun and has a great collection of paper crafts that I deeply envy. Oh, wait. She doesn't want people to post her videos, but I can link her blog: My Pink Stamper! That is a link to all of her videos. I'm making a "Waterfall Card" Video #39! She also has great giveaways all the time, so if you're into this sort of thing start following her blog! All you have to do is leave a comment on the entries she tells you and winners are randomly selected to receive all sorts of great goodies!

Well, I need to get back to crafting before it gets too late. Much love as always! <3