A Wee Bit of Me Wednesdays

{one} what is your favorite breakfast food?I've only had it once, but it was the yummiest and most memorable breakfast item - biscuits and gravy!  I think I definitely belong in the South because I could probably eat that every few days without getting sick of it.  Since I do have to accept the fact that I live in NY, I'm going to say that my favorite breakfast is a sesame bagel with smushed avocado since I can't have cream cheese (lactose intolerant).  In fact, I'm having it tomorrow!  We don't have bagels in the house often, and when we do, we very rarely have an avocado, so this is exciting for me!
{two} how many pairs of shoes do you currently own?I really only wear a few pairs regularly.  For work, I wear my crocs Lily Winter flats, but since it's cold now, I have my Bear Paw boots.  My weekend thing is sneakers, of course, specifically New Balance!  The last thing that I wear often in the warmer weather are my Rampage strappy sandals.  I wear those with my skirts and dresses for church.
{three} city or country?Country.  I would love to live in the middle of nowhere, away from all the hectic craziness of NYC.  I want a porch to sit on and read.  I want to be in a small town where you know everyone around you.  I want to be in a place where you can just go down the road to get fresh veggies!
{four} what is your favorite part of your job?I really love having lunch with my co-workers.  Haha, I know that's not really related to my job, but right now, the kids are starting to get on my last nerve.  They're so babied, and they're so used to being spoon fed that they don't know how to think on their own to try to solve something as simple as a word problem!  That's why having lunch with my colleagues is really so restorative.  It's a way to refuel physically and mentally since we get to talk to adults!
{five} what is your favorite junk food to snack on?I'm a potato chip junkie.  What would be even better is if there were dip that went along with it!  We didn't have it often in the house, so going to someone's house for a party was so much fun.  However, even then, I was afraid to eat a lot because I knew they were bad for me, and I thought I was doing something wrong!
{six} have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper?When I graduated as the salutatorian of my high school, the local paper put my senior photo in it and wrote about what I said in my speech.  That was pretty cool!  They did that for all the high schools in the area.
{seven} do you use post-it notes?I use them pretty much every day.  When we drop off things in the copy bin at school, we have to write our name, number of copies, page #s  or special instructions, and date of use on a post-it and slap it on the paper.  I also use it in my room for reminders.  Technically though, we're not using Post-its.  We use the Staples brand!
{eight} do you have freckles?Yes, but I thankfully don't have as many as my mom and brother!
{nine} is it okay for men to wear pink?I'm fine with men wearing pink.  I think at this point, most guys can pull off a light shade or pale pink.  The hot pinks or bright pinks can only be worn by some men!
{ten} when was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?I don't remember the last time I wrote a letter, but I do write cards.  I recently wrote about 35 thank you cards to students for Christmas gifts.  That was definitely something that hurt my hand after a while!  I like to make things personal, so that's why it took longer than just writing "Thanks for the gift!"

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesdays

{one} ice: crushed or cubed?I'm not that big on ice because extra cold stuff can upset my stomach.  However, if I had to choose, I'd say cubed because then I don't have to worry about random chunks falling into my mouth trying to choke me!
{two} what is your worst traffic pet peeve?People who drive right up behind my "butt" really annoy me!  It doesn't make me go any faster, and you can easily go around me.  Why do you have to be so close?  What happens if I slam on my brakes?  How fast is your reaction time?  Stop making me look in my rear view mirror!!!  I don't speed, so if you want to speed, get into the other lane!!!  Let me have my right lane with my safe driving speed!
{three} what room in your house best represents your personality?I only have room in my house right now, and that's my own room.  It's cluttered and messy, but it's also very organized.  I need everything to be in the right place, or I won't put it away at all.  It showcases my perfectionism along with my laziness!  Haha.
{four} do you save old birthday cards?If someone took the time to write something personal in the card, I have it.  I do the same for the cards I get from students around Christmas and at the end of the year.  If the kids took the time to write even a sentence that was more than just "Merry Christmas," I keep it.  I tell my students all the time that that's what I want, but they keep thinking I want stuff!  Then their parents write the generic "Dear Miss Ninja" and "Sincerely So-and-So."
{five} when was the last time you went on a picnic?I don't remember the last time I've been on a picnic.  It sounds very relaxing and fun, but in reality, I'm not that big on the outdoors!  I think it'd be fun to get one of those lunches to go when at Animal Kingdom in 2 weeks and have a picnic somewhere in the park!
{six} do you regularly check your horoscope?Nope.  I don't believe in it.
{seven} when you’re home, what do you wear on your feet?Nothing!  I don't like wearing socks even though they do help me stay warm.  I'm more of a slippers and booties kind of girl because they don't create that much restriction.
{eight} what’s your favorite gambling game?I don't gamble.
{nine} have you ever written (or started writing) a book?I actually did try writing a story once.  I got a good 2 pages out, but then I was afraid that it wasn't unique.  I think writing a book is extremely difficult.  I don't really have many ideas, so that's why I'd rather write essays and articles and such.
{ten} what is your favorite musical?I've seen a lot of musicals, but Wicked was the one that I enjoyed the most because I was excited to see Idina Menzel, who was the original Elphaba.  I think I have a personal connection to it as well because I had to sing "Popular" in my church's coffeehouse because I was cast as the popular girl!

My Latest Obsession: Mod-Podge Gloss

I recently posted a question about adhesive for Martha Stewart glitter on the Cricut Message Board.  With some suggestions from other members, I used my Zig 2-Way Glue pen, and it worked!  I then asked about sealing the glitter in because I didn't like the flaking of it after it dried.  I don't want to touch a project and get it all over my fingers!  Many people suggested using Diamond Glaze, so I went to AC Moore to search for it last Saturday.  Unfortunately (and fortunately!), I couldn't find it.

While searching the aisles with Howard, I found Mod Podge.  I know one of my colleagues uses it as a sealer for her kids' projects since they're in PreK, and they use oddly shaped materials that can't fit in the laminating machine.  I purchased the Gloss one after reading the back and seeing that it's a sealer.  I used a 50% coupon so only paid about $4.25 for a 16 oz bottle (as opposed to the 2 oz bottle of Diamond Glaze, which would've cost $3ish with the coupon).

I finally tried it the other day and had to experiment with it a bit.  I mixed the Mod Podge with the glitter, but it didn't come out right (someone said it worked with Diamond Glaze).  Plus, I didn't like the glitter waste since I didn't know how much I would be using.  I then tried just using a layer of it and applying the glitter on top, but of course, glitter continued to flake.  So I did more experimenting and applied a layer of the Mod Podge on TOP of the glitter and waited for it to dry overnight.  I was so excited to see what it looked like the next day!  How did it work?  WONDERFULLY!

Here are my first official projects using the Mod Podge!

I wanted to make the turtle from Create a Critter, but I ended up making two since I figured I was loading those papers on the mat anyway.  Plus, I wasn't sure if I wanted to glitter the spots or the shell.  I thought it'd be fun to use the same critter and make two different looking cards!  Seems like a fun challenge to keep in mind for all future cards.

Here I'm glittering the two different parts for the two different turtles.  These pieces won't go on the same critter.  I used one of the sponge brushes to apply a thin layer of the MP on the cardstock before liberally sprinkling the glitter on top.  You can also see that it's resting on top of a page of a Spanish Ikea catalog!  I picked it up since they didn't have any in English (I didn't realize it!), and after finally getting an English one, I was going to recycle this one.  However, I decided to use the pages for the glitter!  I think it actually works better than computer paper.  The glitter shakes off easily (or maybe it's because I can't see everything cling to it since it's a darker picture!).

The green here is Peridot.  Martha Stewart glitter is so pretty because there are different colors mixed to make that one color.  It's not just one shade.  So so so pretty!

The blue I used was Turquoise.  I didn't put glue and glitter on the bottom portion since it was going to be covered by the bottom of the shell.  

While I waited for it to dry, I set up the layers and bases for the 2 cards.  It took a while because I was playing around with colors and sizes.  I'm not used to layering and using my Cutterpede paper trimmer just yet!  Practice makes perfect, right?  I was, however, very excited to use RIBBON!  I also dug out my stamp blocks and ink pads and whatnot so I could stamp on sentiments.  The words are the Studio G stamps from the $1  section of AC Moore.  Love it!

The big container of MP wanted in on a picture too.  It was saying, "Hey, this is all possible because of me!"

After the first layer of MP with glitter on top dried, I took a regular paint brush from my junior high art class (an ox hair one ... I thought it was funny that I never noticed it was ox hair!) and applied another layer of MP on top to seal the glitter.  It goes on white because it looks just like a thick Elmer's Glue.  I was hoping it wouldn't dull it like some people said.  I went to sleep really eager to check it out the next morning!

Well, I woke up and was thrilled that it worked out wonderfully!  I quickly glued on the remaining pieces to put the cards together.

First turtle card!  Just to let you know, I tried using the Zig pen to glue on the green shell to the turquoise part, but it wouldn't stick.  I had to use my ATG gun to make it stick.

I know it's basic, but I really like it because it's different from the other cards I've made, and it actually came out clean and simple!  Oh, I also used Robyn's (aka mypinkstamper) "cheater method" for the ribbon, which means it's just taped to the back of the layer.

Here's the second turtle card.  Since the shell part was glittered, I didn't want it competing with the background layer, so that's why I only put the contrasting pink on one side and left the other side white.  I was hoping all the blue would tie together though.

I learned this ribbon technique from Robyn as well.  I used the "cheater method" to affix a blue piece of ribbon to the pink, and then I took another piece of ribbon to actually tie the bow.  It would've been too difficult to just tie one piece of ribbon with a bow around that piece of cardstock.

So YAY!  I absolutely love that the Mod Podge worked!  I could look at it (and TOUCH IT) all day!

(Plus, it's the first card I made without using the Cuttlebug!)

A Wee Bit of Me Wednesdays

I saw this on Lindsey/lageorgepaperie's blog and decided to do it as well!  I haven't really posted here lately, and I actually haven't been crafting much lately.  I think I'm just feeling a little too under the weather even though I'm not sick-sick.  Well, here we go!


{one} what was your favorite sitcom growing up?
Full House!  My brother and I religiously watched it on Tuesday nights.  It's funny because we didn't know whether or not a new episode was going to be on air, so when there wasn't an episode, we were really upset because we were waiting an entire week!  This is obviously way before we could track episodes online and such.  That was the time of the printed TV Guide that I could never understand as a kid.
{two} what song always makes you happy when you hear it?"Jesus Saves" by Jeremy Camp.  When I hear it on Star99.1 in the morning, it puts me in such a good mood inside.  When it's on the radio in the afternoon as I'm going home, I can "bop" a bit more as I drive!
{three} do you still have your wisdom teeth?
Nope, I had all 4 removed because they were growing in crooked and would've messed up all the work accomplished by the braces.  Of course, you can't really tell at this point that I had braces, but that's a whole other story.  Anyway, they were impacted, so I had to be put to sleep so they could cut the gums to get them out.  I had already had 4 other teeth removed because I apparently have a small mouth, but I just got 21 shots at that point.  I think this was the first time I had any type of anesthesia.
{four} what is your go to way to relax?Nowadays, I craft on my Cricut or even just go on the Cricut message board to relax.  I tend to craft more on the nights when I have work the next day.  Lately, however, it's just been way too tiring to do much of anything!
{five} do you play any instruments?
I took piano lessons for 6 years, but I quit after that.  That was the amount that I had to finish according to my mom!  I think she was hoping I'd stick with it, but I couldn't.  I loved playing.  I just hated practicing and having lessons!  I also played the flute from 4th grade through junior high and then up to my junior year of high school.  I quit marching/concert band when I was a senior because our band teacher left.  I was supposed to be section leader of the flutes when I was a senior.  I would've gotten the extra braid on my marching band uniform too, but alas, it wouldn't have been the same without my band teacher.
{six} nude beaches: yes or no?
Ew!  I think that's gross.
{seven} do you chew your pens/pencils?
Nope.  I don't feel the need to chew anything (ex. gum, my hair, pen caps).  I wish my students felt the same way because I sometimes have to pick up writing utensils from the floor, and only after picking it up do I realize that I just touched a whole bunch of teeth marks!  Yuck! 
{eight} can you change the oil in your car?
Um, I haven't even put gas in the car before.  Of course, it's not entirely my car anyway.
{nine} can you curl your tongue?
Curl it like a taco?  Yup!  It's strange that this is something that people want to do because I guess I didn't think it was a big deal seeing as I could do it.  I can also flip my tongue upside down but only if I turn to the left.  Going to the right just doesn't work, and I guess that's what people feel as they try to curl their tongues! 
{ten} can you knit or crochet?
I've always wanted to knit because it seems like a really fun thing to do with your hands while you're like, watching a movie or something.  You know, being productive at the same time!  I felt the urge to learn once again since I've been watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix, and there's an episode when Izzie and Meredith swear off men and decide to knit instead.  Hehe, I'm not swearing off men, but I thought the knitting part looked cool!