Long Time No See, Michaels!

Just a few weeks ago, Howard had off from work because it was his birthday (um, why don't all jobs give a day off on or around one's birthday?!?).  He had the car so he picked me up from work so that we could pick up a few groceries and stop by Michaels!  My hubs is fabulous because he's so patient with me even in his old age (he's 27 now!).

I had so much fun taking a peek at all the new goodies that they had since I hadn't been there in SO long.  I've been excellent about not spending my money, and I continued to do so that day.  I just took pictures of the cute things I saw like this deer stamp that was with all the $1 Valentine's Day stamps.  It reminded me of two of the girls I follow on DISboards who make something called the "deer face."

The real reason I was there was for the Recollections 8.5x11 paper.  It cuts so beautifully in the Cricut, and I love using it for card bases too.  I don't like spending the full amount on it, of course, so I was able to get it on sale.  With the extra 15% coupon, each pack of 50 sheet Recollections paper was $2.13, which was 13 cents more than the amount I usually spend. That didn't stop me from stocking up and buying 16 packs!  I told myself that I will always stock up when it's on sale so that I will never run out and need to buy it NOT on sale (or have to pause with my crafting).  Once I start crafting, I can eat through my paper really quickly.  I use this way more than I use any 12x12's (I use patterned 12x12 paper often, but it's not cardstock).

There was a huge line at that point, and we didn't want to wait just yet, so we looked at some of the stands and shelves around that area.  Love it when food or objects have faces!  It makes it so cute!  I think that's why I like the Simply Charmed cartridge.

Is it just my Michaels or is the stamp section so sad and pitiful in every store?  If I want new stamps, it's time to head to AC Moore instead.

Howard was taking a look around and fond this cute applique!  If we were planning on having a baby soon, I definitely would have wanted to buy it.  I love penguins, and it's even better with the nerdy glasses!

This is the Recollections version of the Smashbook and Simple Stories.  The little binders were really cute, and I definitely would consider it if I didn't already have scrapbooks that I haven't yet used.

When I was taking these pictures, Howard called me over to where he was.  When he had walked over to a different area, he found a lot more paper packs including a green one!  I was going to get a bunch of light green 12x12's just because I tend to always use it a lot for flowers, trees, and dinosaurs.  I didn't know they made just a green pack!  I was very excited.  They have it for blue and purple too.  I hope they end up doing this for all the colors instead of selling all of them mixed.

Paper wasn't the only thing I purchased.  I also picked up a few spools of the $1 ribbon since I had the extra 15% off too.  I only have plain ribbon, so it'll be interesting to see if I can work these patterned ones into my crafting.  When I see other people's cards, I tell myself to get other ribbon, so let's see if I can do something with it!

Though I didn't really buy anything huge, it was definitely a thrill to be back at Michaels after not having been there in so long.

My Future Sister-in-Law's Bridal Shower!

Last Saturday, my mom and I went to my future sister-in-law's bridal shower! It was thrown by her maid of honor and bridesmaids at Cafe Petisco in the city. Mom and I got there super early closer to 4:15, if I'm remembering correctly, and it didn't start until 5pm. We just didn't want to risk dealing with any potential traffic driving in. 

The restaurant was so small, but it was extremely cozy with its wood tables and candle decorations. It seems like one of those places that people would go to over and over again if they live in the area just because it's their local go to eateries. I had peeked at the menu online earlier and read some reviews on Yelp, so I was eager to try some new things!

When the bridesmaids arrived, they set up one side of the cafe with decorations. They also set up the table with little gems, the games, and the favors, which were the cutest containers filled with hot chocolate mix.

Theresa, the bride-to-be, arrived so we all sat around this long stretch of tables. The food was delicious! It was Mediterranean with the beets, hummus, tzatziki, cauliflower, pita, and foccacia. I was enjoying all the little shared appetizer dishes so much. I would definitely be willing to go back to enjoy all of those things. Mom and I especially loved the beets, which was great because the girls around us didn't so we got to "nom" the whole thing by ourselves!

We had 3 entree choices: a pasta dish, a chicken skewers dish, and a salmon dish. The majority of us ordered the salmon, and it was absolutely delicious! It was moist and tender, and I really enjoyed the pistachio stuff on top with it.  The menu description says the following: "Herb Crusted Salmon Filet with pistachio gremolata, white rice, radicchio, endive & arugula." I'm always thinking about how restaurants sometimes serve dry salmon, but this definitely was not dry at all.

After food, Theresa opened up her gifts. I got the remaining 3 things that were on her registry at Bed Bath & Beyond, so it was kind of an odd combination of 2 cutting boards (when I saw them, I kind of wanted them too but we already have two at home) and a vanity mirror. We took photos individually and as groups.  Here we are, almost sisters but already "twins"! We were both born on September 15th in the same exact year! Isn't that wacky? Plus, we're both teachers as well! 

Of course, I had to make the bridal shower cards for her myself! I don't remember the last time I bought a card or a box of cards from the store. It's so much fun to be able to make things so specific for the recipient. The following card was the one I made for my mom to use. The wedding dress image was cut from the Sweethearts cartridge. Since there were two separate layers for the dress, I decided to use the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls folder to give it some texture. I put the veil over the hanger and then used the smallest adhesive foam squares I have to pop up only that part of the card. The sentiment "LOVE" is from Pink by Design's set entitled "Big Thoughts." I embossed it with white powder. I chose the blue background and dress sash because it's actually almost identical to the blue ribbon that was on the wedding invitation. 

I really liked the dress card, but I wasn't as happy about the card I made for her because it seemed too basic. I couldn't figure out what to do to layer it because I cut it so big to ensure the letters would come out right. I do very much like the cut though also from the Sweethearts cartridge. I just think it's adorable how when you're married, your towels live next to each other on the bar, hehe. I added the stitching to it just to give it a little extra something. 

I spent my Saturday morning making the cards, and it was definitely a much needed break from the usual work I do on Saturdays! I should set some crafting time aside tomorrow today or tomorrow since we have a snow day today due to the impending blizzard. Yay for being at home!

PBD Challenge: Sketch

I know I've said it before, but sketches are not for me.  Haha, I get so nervous with them trying to get them to work for me.  But I just have to keep reminding myself that it's okay that I don't follow the sketch exactly. This was the sketch for PBD's latest challenge.

I just quickly put a card together just now because I had busy week of work.  It was the week of parent teacher conferences!  Thankfully, they went well.  I keep in contact with many of the parents throughout the school year via email (so grateful that I don't have to spend time calling parents like I did my first year before I asked if I could email instead!), so it's never a surprise when I speak to parents.  It was tiring nonetheless!  Staying at school all day on Thursday is rather draining.  

I thought I'd put this card together yesterday, but Howard and I were preparing for the bake sale at my church and putting those together.  I'll probably write a separate post about that soon, but the cards made $224 for the mission funds!  Yay!  Since I'm on a crafty high, I figured I'd try out this sketch challenge especially with the encouragement and reminder from Melisa.

I simplified the sketch by only using one piece of patterned paper.  I just had to make a mushy card since a few people mentioned anniversary cards and "I love you" cards at the bake sale today (things I didn't make this year since last year I made too many and people wanted birthday cards instead!).  I especially wanted to make this card because I haven't yet used the "To The Moon" set I purchased a while ago.  It is definitely a great set for me to make cards for my hubs, Mr. LoveandSushi!  I have to say I love the mixing of the fonts in the sentiment.  Lastly, the pink and green were chosen because they're our colors, of course!  If you've been following my blog for a while, that fact is pretty well known!

I'm curious to see what next week's challenge is too!  I just enjoy the PBD challenges so much because normally I craft to mass produce.  These give me a reason to just craft for the sake of crafting!

PBD Challenge: Favorite Pattern

Oh boy, the last time I posted was for the Pink by Design Challenge, and it was after dealing with an illness that landed me a trip to the hospital along with Hurricane Sandy.  Now that I'm posting again for the next challenge, I have another story to tell about a car accident that my whole family was in due to an 18-year old girl smashing into us while we were on our way out to celebrate my mom's birthday.  I don't really want to get into it right now because I'm still dealing with it physically and emotionally.  Praise God that we all walked out of that car relatively unscathed.  A bunch of us got checked out at the hospital.  We have bad pain in our backs and in our necks.  I also have a big bump on my head and a scalp laceration.  But like I said, we may be hurting, but we're all okay and will recover after some time.

Moving on to more positive things!  The current challenge was to create a project using a favorite pattern.  Strangely, my favorite pattern to use when crafting is plaid!  Haha.  The reason for that is because even though I like polka dots, it doesn't always work with all cuts or images because it depends on the size of the dots.  Then I thought about stripes, but they really bother me when it doesn't line up properly with the base of my card.  It's very easy to see what's crooked on paper that's striped!  Then I realized I use plaid often because it's easier to work with AND because it reminds me of my dad and my husband!  Haha, my dad used to (and still does, if I think about it) wear plaid collared shirts all the time when I was a kid.  It was like, the thing to do.  My husband has a few plaid shirts that he wears too.  Any shirt I see though always brings me back to my dad!

I used Create a Critter for the cute apple.  The sentiment "Smile" comes from Pink by Design's set called "Scripted Year" that I use rather often because I just love the font.  I had to pop up the apple a little, of course.

I really like how the green plaid paper looks even though the leaves on the apple are green too.  I am really trying to use more of my patterned paper because I think it really does make a card stand out.  I don't have much else to write about this card since I'm utterly EXHAUSTED.  I like that I was able to craft a bit today though just so that I could distract myself from the millions of thoughts going on in my mind.  I am grateful that we only have 2.5 days of school this week before Thanksgiving break.  We all need some rest!

PBD Challenge: Shades of Autumn

Yes, I have been rather absent from my blog!  It doesn't mean I'm not crafting though.  I have been making cards for my church's bake sale that was postponed to the first Sunday in December due to Hurricane Sandy.  The storms we've had lately and the sickness I've dealt with is a whole other story, but right now, I want to focus on the really quick card I made for Pink by Design's recent challenge, which was a color theme based on this palette.

As pretty as autumnal cards can be, I didn't really think I could make a card with these colors since I don't have paper that matches it.  Just an hour or so ago, however, I decided to take a look because I needed a quick break from my school responsibilities and apartment chores since I'm home today for Veteran's Day.  I ended up finding a floral pattern with colors that definitely reminded me of this fall season (even though it seems like winter what with the Nor'easter we just had!).

I'm trying to go back to the CAS (clean and simple) style that I really like that showcase the pattern paper itself.  I end up pinning a lot of these types of projects on my Pinterest board, but I don't make them often.  I figured this was the perfect opportunity since I didn't want anything competing with those colors.

The PBD sentiment is from the set called "Friends to the End."  I added the rhinestones just to add another element of 3 to the card.  As simple as it is, I like that I was actually able to find a use for the paper!