Friday, September 28, 2007

Butterflies


Butterflies
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Man, totally swamped around work and life... Need a good breather for sure.

I'm so upset that next week is the much anticipated World Card Making Day and I'm not going to be in town for it. I'll, however, will be in NYC. I know, poor me, right?! ;P

Well, I did find one stamp store up in NYC proper. I'm not about to drive anywhere... are you kidding me, you're in the City, nobody drives. Haha....

I'm thinking I'll probably stop by Kate's Paperie, which is like a Paper Source equivalent, but less stamps. And go to the museum for the neat paper stuff. If any of you have any suggestions in NYC, please let me know.

And you wouldn't believe it, when I come back, it's audit time. So, not sure how productive or how good my work can be at that time. Oy to the vey.

I like this card.... I never appreciated my wheels but this one is so cool, I've been playing w/ it alot more. I have the entire set just need to sit down and play. Ahh time, that's a luxuary to me. Anyway, I like that the ink I got from SU matches the ink pad I got from Paper Salon. So, I was just messin' around, and this came up.

I guess for the butterfly antennas, I can snip it a lot closer, but I didn't trust my hands... You know how that is. It is 3D if you get to see it. This card is really part of my swap I have here locally. Way overdue as usual... eeek.

Supplies:
All stamps by SU
Cardstock by SU
Patterned Paper by Memory Box

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Bday wishes


Bday wishes
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Sorry for being such a slacker... work has totally slammed yesterday. Here's the irony, I was sent to Atlanta to cover the Atlanta office. While I was there, I think I did more stuff for Houston than the location I was at. Then, I came home, guess what? Yes, I was doing more Atlanta stuff than I was my own office. Go figure that.

By the time I got home I was totally fried. Good thing I got me some kitty time. There's a mysterious cat around my complex. We've adopted it as the complex mascot. Very friendly cat, will have to see about taking a pic and posting it here. Anyway, petting her is very soothing.

At any rate, needed a quick quick quick card... so this is what I got. Not too impressed (w/ myself) on the stems... it started at a good place. But I still love my circles. *sigh* Try again next round right? I'll post another one that I 'love'. You'll see. :)

Supplies:
Cardstock by SU
Stamp by Hero Arts
Patterned Papers by Memory Box
3 D embellishment by Target

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Enjoy fall


Enjoy fall
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Well, here's another one for Fall... I am hoping by me blogging about Fall, I'll get that weather sooner rather than later. Silly I know.

You don't understand, being in Texas, you get the hottest of them all when it comes to summer, and winter, while we don't get to complain we also don't have a significant Spring or Fall. We basically got Hot or Cool. Yep, you read right, cool, not cold... I think out of the years in Texas, there were one Xmas day that got 1 inch of snow. We really thought someone was playing a joke on us, until we realized it's real snow.

Otherwise, according to the DH, the last time it snowed was 1973, that was before I was born. Then, for me, the one year that got closed was 10th grade Thanksgiving. That's about that.

My thing is, I love sweater, and Fall is the perfect way to start my sweater-wearing, cozy-snuggling time. So, hurry up and get here already.

I'm going back to Houston today, can't wait to sleep in my own bed...

Supplies:
Card & Stamp by Stampin' Up
Patterned paper by DCWV
Background Stamp by Hero Arts
Ribbon by American Craft
Brad by Bo Bunny

Monday, September 24, 2007

Fall is here, but not here...


Pumpkin Patch
Originally uploaded by Patty_kins
Well, from what I heard Fall is apparently everywhere but the South. I'm blogging from Atlanta, obviously did not make any cards, since I am travelling. But started to see alot of Fall themed cards, thought I'd share mine.

It's so sad, I'm watching the Today's show and people are in long sleeves, and I'm still in short sleeves. I walked to work today because my office is literally catty corner from the hotel. So, easy trek. But no fall weather in Atlanta either.

I am such a pack rat that I don't throw out anything. Any bits and pieces no matter how small, I keep. Altho, after having some classes w/ ,my quilting/sewing teacher. She makes me throw away things where I'm still comfortable that they're small pieces. Otherwise, I'd feel wasteful.

Anyway, this card is all bits and pieces I've gotten throughout the times... It's funny because I don't even remember where or what card would I've used those papers, but I did at some point.

Supplies:
Autumn Stamp by Hero Arts
Pumpkin by Art Gone Wild
Maroon paper by DCWV
stripe paper by Memory Box
Ribbon by Joann's Essentials

Friday, September 21, 2007

Fridge...



Well, last night we came home after a dance lesson, my mom rushed out to tell us that the fridge is broken. Gee, great. We have no idea how long it's been out and what's it's problem. She said she cleaned up a puddle of water. That's just the worst, I tell you.

So, after some preliminary looking and poking around, we've decided that it could've been out since early morning because some stuff there were frozen hard is now, not. Oy to the vey, I tell you. So, we bought a big o' slab of dry ice to keep things cold. In the meantime, the maintainence guy had already stopped by, fiddled w/ it, and it's 'fixed'.

This morning, I was drinking my water from my Brita filter, it tasted like tonic. I thought, am I getting sick? Then, this morning, eating some pre-cut fruit. It tasted like it's about to go bad. I was a tad sad. Then, wouldn't you know it, I looked it up online, and really duh on me. Dry ice is essentially frozen C02, so, when it 'melts' it releases CO2, no wonder my water tasted fizzy. Geesh.

Needless to say, no card from last night, but this one is from the previous batch. It's from the Apple Cider collection... I'm totally digging it. :) Did I tell you how much I love new stamps? Trust me, I'm itching to buy more, but going on 2 trips in 2 the span of two weeks, need to save some cashola for that purpose.

Supplies:
All SU
Paper: Apple Cider
Stamps: True Friend

Thursday, September 20, 2007

A friend like U!



Hello hello! Sorry for being perky, but just a good enough mood. We're gearing up for an audit at work, and of course I have to take a couple of business trips right beforehand which makes the stress level rise. Everyone wants some prep time, ya know. But that's no bother to me today... don't know why, but I'm taking it and run with it.

So, told you guys I got my order, and this is one of those products. Now, I CASEd/card lifted from someone. I do apologize, I don't remember where. As a matter of fact I think I've only saw that card once but something about it appealed to me. It was eye-pleasing for one, and the ribbons though hidden, also made the card. And when I was sitting down, it somehow came back to me. If you know who it belongs to, let me know so I can give the prop to the right person.

Anyway, we went skating last night, the DH was being a big baby because he's been sick w/ a head cold. He claimed he got it from me, but when I was sick I was just down for 1 day. He's been down for at least 3. Men...

So, while he's sick, he still want to go skating. So, we did. It was fun, but he wore himself out very quickly. So, imagine we won't do that when he's sick ever again. Silly boy! What would they do without us?

Supplies:
All by SU
Paper: Apple Cider
Stamps: True Friend & Carte Postale

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

New stamps...



My order got here since Thursday and between skating, dancing, and life, I didn't have any time to play. So, last night I finally got some 'alone' time w/ my stamps and paper. Let me tell you, I feel bad for abandoning DH to his own demise but I needed some play time.

Let me tell you, sometimes having alot of a good thing can be overwhelming. I wanted to play w/ all of my new stamps but they don't necessary all go together at once, you know what I mean. But, I managed to get productive too.

What was so cool is that I happen to catch the new Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader: Making the Team 2. You know, it's fascinating to see these girls tryout and how they are judge, how they dance, ability to learn and all that goes before the team is form and what you see on gamedays. That's just fascinating to me. I'm not usually a sucker for reality shows, but this one and Coyote Ugly was fasinating too on CMT because of the movie (I think). Otherwise, I don't usually watch CMT. However, I think they are the only 'music' tv station that still play music videos, unlike MTV & VH1. Go figure.

Alright, let's talk stamps. This is a set that is from the Simply Card Set. Now I know it's silly, I'm paying significantly more for a small 6 stamps set, but it also came w/ the cards, brads, 3 stampin' spot, precut cardstock, and ribbon. So, I feel ok w/ that. Plus, it's purrrty... that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;)

Supplies:
Card by DCWV
Ribbon by Making Memories
Stamps by SU Simply Delight
Cardstock by SU

Monday, September 17, 2007

I'm exhausted



This weekend we had a dance workshop in town, so needless to say, no much of stamping was done despite the fact that I got my new stamps in *squee*. Truth be told, I wish I took the workshop, because everyone was saying how good of teachers they were. You can check them out, here . Frankly, I think their dancing is more towards competition, and I'm not a competitive dancer, so thought it won't work for me. But I do want to learn about their teaching style, since I've been teaching Swing for over 7 years, needed some new perspective. And after talking to them I do think there are things I can 'steal'. :P

That's how it is w/ dancing (and skating too), you think you've invented some new moves because it's new to you, chances are someone out there had already done it, whether you know it or not. And for Swing dancing which was invented back in the 30s, there are no 'new moves'. There are new moves combination, a better way or a refined way to do moves, but nothing new to speak of. The only 'new' moves is perhaps taken from another dance and make it 'Swing'. But, it's not necessary new.

Unlike stamping. As long as people are innovative and creative, there is always something new. New combo, new technique, new layout, new flourish, new flowers stamps... the combination thereof is endless. That's maybe why I'm also drawn to stamping... there's always something new. Although, that's also to my detriment, well, mostly to my wallet, really.

Ok, all this blabbing... here's today's card. As much as I don't want to admit, I do have a need for Sympathy cards. This was made w/ my friend in mind. She lost her dog recently, due to old age. And she had gotten the puppy since she was 5 weeks old, so they've been together for over a decade, and the puppy is like her child. So, I made this card... but now she's trying to move on, and trying not to dwell, not sure giving her the card is a good idea or not...

Supplies:
Cardstock by SU
Patterned paper by Paper Source
Stamp by SU

Friday, September 14, 2007

Shiny happy people



This card is just so bright and it just makes me happy to see some bright colors and fun patterns. Does that happy feeling just come to you when you play w/ your paper and stamps? I get a high, it's sick, I know. :P

Well, my demo was saying that not very many people like this set of SU stamp because the bar code made it harder to play with. But, mostly I'm in it for the image. It's nice. We've experiement w/ different ink too. Then you cut and paste the 3 parts to reassemble the image. That's cool, but a tip, don't mix other barcode images because they don't necessary fit right. You'll see if you try. There's a whole left/right thing.

Anyway, I'm just totally obessesed w/ the Chester color combo and the flowers. Now, I will say there are a few choices that are questionable (i.e. the bright red w/ flowers on them, ick) but the rest of the collection aren't bad. There's one that's purple themed, the pink theme (of course), and there's a light blue themed, and a green theme. I'm all for the pink and purple... not much of a blue person, but still fun to play with.

Then, wouldn't you know it, CTMH had a Groovy set that is similar color scheme. That's sooo awesome, because I can mix and match. I like the easy mix and matches... takes less time to think, more time to play. :P Anyway, I'll post some more that collection when I get a chance this weekend.

So far the weekend is packed w/ dancing stuff, so will try to sneak a card in there when possible.

Supplies:
Green paper by CTMH
Patterned Paper by MAMBI Chester
3D embellishment by Soft Spoken Chester
Stamp by SU

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Anniversary



No, not for me... mine is not for another 2 months. But this is for my friend Kristina and her hubby. They've been together going on 20 years and they're still in their 30s. I know it's weird to think that some relationships actually last that long. I'm sure most of us didn't meet our spouse until our late 20s and to have a 20 year stint... well you can do the math.

But, they're a very interesting couple. I met Kristina thru Swing dancing, and she's my music guru. She's almost as good as you hum a verse and she can identify the song. And her husband is a great chef (not as a living but as a hobby). He makes these brisket that is called the 24 hour brisket where he puts coke, coffee, ketchup and some other condiments and the meat is so good that he falls off the bone. I know, weird combo, but I'm all over it.

So, had to make them a card. I was in a hurry to get out the door and so it's a tad yellow and not very good light, but you get the idea, right? ;P The two birds are from 2 different stamps I just linked them together. Hee hee... no one can ever tell, if I didn't tell ya.

Supplies
Cardstock by DCWV
Patterned Paper by Basic Grey
Stamps by Hero Arts
Letterpress by Paper Source

Wednesday, September 12, 2007



This is a Bday card I've done a while back... just needed something easy and ... well easy.

I love SU set, all of a sudden the name of the set just escaped me. Geez, having a blonde moment here... Oy. Anyway, I was going to say that it is cute because I can stamped the entire thing if I want to or just the present inside the circle if I want to. So, I love that set for the reason. (Now it's going to bug me for not remembering the name and of course will remember once I posted this, I'm sure.)

Anyway, when you open it:


I just stamped the Happy Birthday from the Alphabet soup.

You know, I love to play w/ new stamps and can't get enough of them. (Anxiously waiting for my order in the mail.) But I have so much fun playing w/ my old stamps too. It's like getting reaquainted all over again.

Last night the City of Houston decided to work on the water main, so after a dance meeting I made DH ran home so we can fill up pots and pans w/ water. The DH just lolly gagging and just drove me crazy because the memo they sent out was shutting down water at 10p.

OMG, he just drives me crazy taking his sweet time. Then next thing you know we started to go thru the entire routine from Austin Powers where Dr. Evil was telling his son Scott the whole Zip.com thing. Too funny.

Luckily this morning when I got up for work there's running water. Otherwise I was going to have to boil water and just go from there. Whew!

Supplies:
Card by Colorbox
Stamps by SU
Scallopped bubble sticker by Amuse
Happy Birthday scallop by Rubber Soul

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

publish/design teams

I know, two posts one day... man... Actually, I'm procrastinating so that's why. :P

I wanted to post a link to Jen's about not being discouraged about being published. She basically said sometimes her heart isn't even in it and remind us that remember why we craft in the first place. Because it's fun, for me it's therapuetic, and it's to make ourselves and the receiver of the cards happy. Worth a read.

But, if you want some directions to get on a design team or published, here's a link to Scrap Scene. They have some tips and links to help you get on a team.

Bottom line, and this is my sour grape line to myself too: I do this for fun, and as long as I'm satisfy with the work, it's ok if someone doesn't. Art is in the eye of the beholder.

2 scrap cards

There are times that I do scrap cards because they're fast and quick. Not that stamping isn't, but some things come together faster than stamping some times.



This is a card for a friend w/ a baby boy. Like I said before, I know nothing about little boys, but a baby card is just need to be cute, right? So, this will be nice, cute, and easy. The intention of the sheeps are really like they're jumping over the moon or like how we count sheeps to go to bed... One of those. Hee hee...



This is the 2nd scrap card. This is really a bday card, I love dandelions and being in the city you don't get alot of that. (Now I'm talking like I live in NY or something, which I'm not.) Anyway, there's something romantic about them, despite the fact that they are really weeds. Go figure, right?!

Supplies:
Baby boy card:
Card by DCWV
Patterned paper by MAMBI Chester
Embellishment by Soft Spoken Chester
Ribbon by SU
Sheep by Great Impressions

Dandelion card:
All by Pebbles Inc.
Brown cardstock by SU

Monday, September 10, 2007



Oy to the vey, I've been sick all weekend... started w/ a scratchy throat and then it went down hill from there. Needless to say, didn't get much stamping done, but here's something I worked on last week.

I needed a Just Because card, and it's difficult when someone is into cheerful colors when you're not in the mood to be. But, I think this turn out pretty colorful, all in all.

I got these chipboard for free when I worked for Lil Davis at the Arlington convention. Don't know if you guys have ever tried it, but whenever you go to a show/convention, each of the vendor often times will need extra hands to help make sure people are directed in traffic, restock, or just being helpful.

I actually was reading Lil Davis' blog and they sent out a plea for help, figured I'm there anyways, might as well help them out. In the past, my friends told me that they'd get products in return for their help. But, I didn't expected to get paid. So, I got paid as well as some products. That was cool. It basically helped cover my entry fee and some stuff I purchased. And the products I got was just bonus because a, I was going to get them anyway, b, instead of paying retail they charged like $1 or $2 for them; and c, I got them for free for working. So, that rawked for me.

Anyway, as great as that sounded, I may not do it again. Some ladies were awfully rude just because I was 'working' for them. I am not exactly on the payroll but I am helping. They were just treating me quite unfriendly because they expect that I give them what they wanted. Well, that's hard to do if I don't know the inventory nor do I really work for the company. The other thing is that people often time take their pullie and/or stroller (with the kid still in them) with them, and take up alot of room and basically the set up was to get you in a one-way traffic kinda style. That way, it forces you to look at everything before you get to check out. In between, however, I have to restock, and between the pullie/stroller, and they think that I'm rude trying to swim upstream. Basically, it's hard to restock when the traffic is mean.

Now, that is not to deter you from helping or volunteering, just that no one had told me that would happen. I'd figured that we're all crafters, should have the minimal respect for each other, if not as human beings. Being rude wasn't part of the game plan, so to speak. But, if you get a chance to do it, I highly encourage it, because it has a good payoff. And, the next time the vendor remembers you and you get a better set up than before.

Supplies:
Card by SU
Flower stamp by SU
Flower chipboard by Lil Davis
Enjoy your day by Hero Arts

Friday, September 7, 2007

Bugs



I am truly not a bug person... talking about a city girl. I wouldn't last a day out in the woods. I don't know how many Gilmore Girls fan out there, but as I paraphrase... 'Get Nature off of me!'

Yes, I am that bad... no bugs, no pets (allergic), I can do flowers and fruit, but other than that... no picnics, no alot of outdoor stuff. Sad, I know, but since I grew up that way, tend not to miss much of that either.

Anyway, today's card is Bug related, but I couldn't resist, this is just too cute. This image is from Eclectic Paperie. I bought some stamps and they included some images for me to play with. So, heck yeah, I'm gonna. Plus, the little hedgehog is too cute to resist...

Supplies:
Patterned Paper & Butterflies by Target
Image by Penny Black

Thursday, September 6, 2007

2 days in Paris



Don't know if anybody got a chance to see '2 days in Paris', it's done by Julie Delpy. She's the girl that's in Before Sunrise w/ Ethan Hawke. But, she's also very talented on her own merit. She wrote, directed, and acted in this film. And it's a comedy. It totally clear up any romantic notion about her as a person, she's very sarcastic and very sharp in her humor. She was teamed up w/ Adam Goldberg, and he's clearly the victim than the funny man he's known for. Basically, anything romantic about this film, the main character, the location ~ Paris, the relationship on display, has nothing truely romantic about them, more like comedy of errors.

Anyway, I've never been to the real Paris before, so I don't know how true of an image this is. But I think it's pretty darn close. When I bought this stamp set at the convention, it was sold by the husband of the owner (at Crafty Secret). So, when I went to check out, he asked if I've ever been to Paris. I said no, he said, this imagine is the exact replica of it. I asked, really? He said, he has no idea either. What a funny guy!

I actually had this set for a month or two already, but I just haven't been struck by my French muse to play w/ it. I'm not a French-nophite or anything, but there is something romantic and nice about that, even though it's just a stamp.

This card is one of those I've stamped and set aside thing. I did the stamping of the background over a year ago... and then this seems fitting w/ the tower and a hello.

Supplies:
Diamond Background & French Script by Hero Arts
Eiffle Tower, Bonjour, Postmark by Crafty Secrets
Ink by Paper Salon

Wednesday, September 5, 2007



Gosh, sorry to post so late in the day... it's been weird, there are days I post in the morning and Google Reader doesn't show up until late in the afternoon. Go figure.

Anyway, this is one of the neater girls that I like. I had the inside that said something like, Life is too Short to have a fake diamond and cheap wine. LOL :P I'd say boy is that true or what... hahaha...

Truly, I'm a lightweight, so good wine is really lost on me. BUT! All girls can appreciate diamonds. Maybe I will use that stamp w/ the Bling Bling girl. Hmm... have to give that a try.

Don't know if you guys noticed or not, but this month is National Stamping Month. If you go to Close To My Heart website, they're giving out stamps daily and you can enter for their sweepstakes. If you want some mini tutorials, they have one per day. Kinda neat to see what other people are doing. I can always use a good short cut. ;P

Supplies:
Backgroup stamp by Paper Source
Patterned Paper by DCWV
Girl stamp by Inky Antics

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Loooong weekend




I love long weekends, I think all weekends should be 3 days long. I mean, think about it, you have time to run errands, take care of business, and count in the fact that some businesses closes on Sundays. By the time you catch a movie, talk to friends over lunch, you have one true day of rest. I'm all for it. :P

Anyway, I did work on some cards, more scrap cards than stamp cards, but hey, it's all the same ~ fun for me. :)

These two cards I made to go along w/ a gift cards I had for my 2 DJs at the Sunday night dance. This past Sunday is our 'free' dance at HSDS. Since no one took charge of it, I stepped up and said I'll teach the class, except forgot that I was in charge of the DJs that night too. Seeing that it's a holiday weekend and we can get our top notch to show up and do a shift I was super excited. So, I wanted to give them both a gift card as a thank you.

Since they're both book lovers, a bookstore gift card cannot go wrong. On the flip side, I was dying to make a card, so I said, the heck w/ it, make the cards anyway.

The blue one, it's actually leftover paper from the Box I made back in July. I had already put the layers down already at the time. It didn't speak to me then, so I set it aside. And now, it seems perfect for a Thank You Card. Does that happen to you? Where you get all inspired to do a card and then half way you're stuck? I must've set aside alot of cards that is waiting for them to speak to me.

Anyway, the brown one is actually left over cuts from another card. I just love that teal blue. It's so nice.

Hope you guys had a good weekend too!

Supplies:
Blue Card
Card by SU
Patterned Paper by Autumn Leaves
Thank You stamp by Sassfras Lass


Brown Card
Card by SU
Patterned Paper by Pickles Inc.
Stamp by Stampendous