Saturday, July 28, 2012

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 13


You thought I was done with the 12 challenges, right?  Nope, not at all!  There was one more live challenge that was explained during the Ustream.  A sketch was posted on the PBD blog, but it didn't have to be followed.  The main part of the challenge was to go into your junk drawer to find things to use in the project.  The other option was to go in your purse, which I had to do because we don't have junk drawers.  At this point, we don't really have much junk since we just moved in a little over 2 months ago!  Since we're in a teeny-tiny studio apartment, every drawer is being used (or will be used) for something important.  That meant it was time to dig into my purse!


Well, that proved to be a bit difficult too because I JUST cleaned out my bag when I switched from my crossbody bag to my huge Mickey "bowling-ish" bag.  BUT I did find plenty of gift cards and their paper/cardboard holders!  I picked 3 that might be easily figured out based on the parts I cut out - Macy's, B&N (nook!), and Bed Bath & Beyond (we have have been there so many times in the last year!).


I DID follow the sketch, so I cut the gift card holders down into squares and matted them.  The sentiment was taken from "Simply Everything."  I thought it was funny because all those gift cards were from students!  I know; it doesn't make THAT much sense, but it's late, and I have literally been crafting since 9 in the morning!  Just know that it all makes sense in my mind!



PHEW!  Now I am officially done!  I have never made that many different projects in one day before!  The time constraints were really challenging, but it really made me move faster and not dwell on one project.  I think I'll sleep well tonight ...

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 12

Rushing to finish!  Please don't mind the poor coloring!  SCROLL DOWN for better examples of my work!  My inspiration is our Disney pitcher.  I liked the squares that held each character with only two tones of the same color.


All of my Disney character stamps are still at my parents' house, so I chose animals instead that can KIND OF be from Disney movies, haha.  Howard helped me bridge the gap.  The crocodile is from Peter Pan, the lion is from The Lion King, the dog is from Lady and the Tramp, and the monkey is from Tarzan!  Make sense?  Sure it does, right?  Haha.


The sentiment is taken from "Our Kids" once again because Disney stuff really reminds me of having an active imagination!  I had to heat emboss the white one last time!  Sorry it's so poorly colored!  I was trying to find the right colors, and my Copics and Bic Mark-Its are not all in the right place since I brought them from my parents' house!


Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 11

The eleventh challenge was a single layer card.  I used a stamp from We R Memory Keepers, and I used the technique of masking to get a ton of different crayons.  No layers at all!


The sentiment is from "Our Kids," so I did actually use a stamp set twice.  I just think it worked to have "You're Unique" on a card with different colored crayons on it.


See, no layers!  No pop dots or anything!  It's actually really "simple" not to have layers, and I actually like the look of them.  It takes a bit to get used to stamping and working directly on the card!

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 10

Challenge 10 was to make a project with an animal or animal print.  The Recollections animal print paper pad was one that I didn't get at Michaels just because I'm not that big of a fan of animal print.  I do have a bunch already in other variety pads, but I wasn't brave enough to work with them just yet!  I kept it simple by sticking with the animals!


This card reminds me of the kid my mom paras.  He is a HUGE fan of horses, so ever since the last school year, we kind of look at everything horse and think about him!  It's also funny that Howard is also a fan of horses, haha.  He used to watch this show as a kid called Luno.  He still sometimes refers to it, and just now as I asked him what the name of the show was, he had to sing part of it.  Silly.


The horse is cut from Create a Critter.  I didn't have the right color for its ... snout (um, is that what it's called?) so I just cut it out in white and used Copics to find the right shade.  I thought it'd be funny to have the horse say "Hay there," which is a sentiment from Pink by Design's "Country Living."  I used an EK Success punch to get the speech bubble.  Silly me had to ask Howard, "Just checking; horses eat hay, right?"  Haha, I just got thrown off for a second because of an episode of Gilmore Girls with Kirk's skincare line called "Hay There."

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 9

Almost at the end of the line!  The ninth challenge was to use buttons.  I had an idea to use buttons of all sorts of colors, but it didn't turn out the way I imagined it.  I switched over after spending some time on the other card and just made more of a clean and simple card with the yellow buttons as the centers of the flowers.


The flowers are from a set I bought a while ago from Autumn Leaves.  It's so old that I could barely pull the stamp off the plastic sheet!  I wasn't storing them with my other stamps, so I had forgotten that I had that set.  I liked the "sketch-like" look of the flowers.  I think it works to have some that stamp that way as opposed to always having the crisp, sharp edges.


The sentiment is from Pink by Design's set called "Our Kids."  Even though there are a lot of encouraging sentiments for kids and students, they really work for all sorts of occasions too.  If you take a look at the stamp sheet, you'll see that there are a TON of options!  Now that's what I like in a set!

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 8

Moving on to the eighth challenge!  That was to have a project with ribbons or bows.  I love having ribbon on the card, but I usually just wrap it around and tape it to the back of my layer. I am not good with bows at all!  It's always difficult for me to tie them, and then they never lie correctly.  I was still determined to put a bow on this card though.


The frog was cut from the Cricut Lite Playtime cartridge that came with my Cricut Expression from Walmart.  I didn't really like the images of the children on it, but then when I looked carefully, they did have some cute images on it as well, including this frog!  I thought it looked a little bland so I added white faux stitching to the lily pad.  Also, any time there's a layer for black for the eyes, I never cut the whole thing out.  I hate wasting that much paper, so I usually cut everything out and glue a small piece  of black over the holes that were cut out.




The sentiment is from Pink by Design, of course.  And so far I'm still sticking to the "don't-use-the-same-set-twice" thing!  This is from "Be Mine."

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 7

Yup, still moving along with these challenges!  The seventh challenge was to make anything with a tag.  I decided to make a card with a little pocket on the front for a tag.  So far I don't think I've used a stamp set twice, so I was looking through the collection I have to find one I hadn't used yet, so I chose my coffee sets that I won from Tana, a fellow PBD crafter!  Although I myself don't drink coffee, pretty much EVERYONE in my life does, so I was ecstatic to get these sets.  They're called "Perk Up" and "Make It a Venti."


I used a Martha Stewart punch called "Stars" to give the pocket a little extra something.  If you noticed, I used the same purple cardstock and same patterned paper as my last project because I had it out on my small portable table behind me.  I am totally making a mess of the apartment!  Thankfully, Howard has been nothing but supportive, even making breakfast and lunch for me!  


You can also see that I'm getting pretty attached to embossing with white powder.  I just think it looks great to put a sentiment on colored cardstock.  These coffee stamps with the mugs and cups on it really are so much fun.  I remember making a mini album type deal for my cousin when we thanked her for leading our church group in our annual coffeehouse.  I can't wait to find more occasions for these 2 sets.    

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 6

The sixth challenge was a sketch challenge.  Typically, I'm not that big of a fan of sketch challenges, especially when there are so many elements that are part of it.  But I just have to remind myself that you don't have to follow sketches exactly.  I always feel as if I have to!  Since I did a card instead of a layout, I cut back on some of the pieces since I was only using a 5.5x4.25 base instead of a 12x12.


Since I had used blues and greens on other cards, I wanted to make this one with girly colors, so I found a purple and pink patterned paper in a new paper pad I bought recently from Michaels (Recollections is my favorite for all the variety and the great price!).  From there, I used a Martha Stewart scallop dot paper punch.  I knew I wanted to do 3 rectangles with parts of flowers on them, but the one flower I actually liked was too big!  Then I thought that I'd stamp it across all 3 pieces at once like a triptych (haha, Howard and I were talking about that like, yesterday or something because I had gone to see the cloisters in Manhattan during a high school trip for Romance Philology).


I chose the sentiment from "Friends to the End," which was the stamp of the month for October 2011.  I haven't yet chosen to do SOTM because I try to watch what I spend and only buy stamps once in a while nowadays.  The 2-year anniversary is definitely a good reason to though!



The funny thing is that the entire time I was making it, I kept saying to Howard, "I don't like sketch challenges!" and when I finished I actually said, "Hmm, I actually like it!"  

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 5

The fifth challenge stumped me for a bit, so I decided to Google image search "ombre cards" just to get a better idea of what to do.  I had actually done something like it already with my shoe card as I used 3 different shades of blue!  I decided to use the same colors since I had scraps of the paper already.  I looked at my punch box and found a tiny star punch.  Man, the little ones that you get for $1 are really difficult to use!  But at least they punch out nicely!


Once I had the stars punched out (I punched out way more than I needed), I realized that I was going to come across an issue with spacing!  It was bothering me as I tried to figure out just how much room to leave in between the stars.  I even had to ask Howard if he could figure the math out for me.  I just played around with it for a while until I had something that kinda worked, haha.  


I finally opened my Bahama Blue Memento ink pad to stamp the sentiment from "Simply Everything."  In hindsight, I think it might've looked nicer if I used a non-blue color?  Not sure.  I admit that this didn't come out as nice as I had it planned, but once I finished it, I thought of a different method to try an ombre card like this in the future.  I'll have to give it a go ... you know, when I'm not under time crunches with these challenges!  :)

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 4

Chugging along to the fourth challenge!  This was to use a a silhouette shape.  I've done a card with a silhouette before for a wedding because the Sweethearts cartridge has really nice ones.  But I decided to try another route and use "A Child's Year" because to be honest, I've never even touched that cartridge before! I purchased it for $10 a while ago when Michaels had that huge sale.  I flipped through the handbook pages and saw the umbrella cut and knew which sentiment to use!


What's great about silhouette cuts is that there aren't any layers to glue on, so these cards can be pretty easy to make.  They also look great on patterned paper since the image is just black.  I had plans to stamp the sentiment from "Spring Has Sprung" at the bottom of the page, but I cut the image too big.  Then I thought about using my white embossing powder again since I love how it turned out earlier.  Thankfully, the sentiment fit on the umbrella itself!


I just added silver wire-ish ribbon on the sides to give it a little extra something.  I was surprised to find that the roll was almost finished but then again, it was actually a roll from when my mom did craft projects!  I started thinking about how I used to go to Creativity and Fabric Bonanza with her all the time when those were the craft stores we had before Michaels and AC Moore.  Guess I technically got the bug from her!

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 3

Pink by Design's third challenge was to use wet or dry embossing on the card.  I had already used wet embossing for the white words on my door sign so my materials and tools were all out, but I thought I'd do dry embossing on this one since my Cuttlebug hadn't been used in so long!


I cut out the layer for my card in white, but then I decided to glue on strips of blue cardstock so that I could have some variety in color.  I think I'll try this again in the future but attempt a rainbow!  I purposely chose blue for this project because (1) I had the most variety of blue in my scraps and (2) I need to make more boy cards!  I'm always using pinks and purples.  Even when I use green, I usually have pink with it too!


I used the Cuttlebug folder calling "Traffic Jam" for my base.  The sneaker came from the Nifty Fifties cartridge even though it looks like a more modern high-top Converse.  No, I didn't remember the name; I had to ask hubby!  I'm "old" in that I already wear New Balance and Crocs, haha.  The sentiment came from Pink by Design's "Big Thoughts" set.  I love just how bold the words are in some sets and just how delicate they are in other sets.  Moving on to the next challenge!

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 2

The theme for Challenge 2 was a favorite holiday!  I'm super excited to be able to celebrate Christmas with my husband this year.  My plan a while back was to get Disney stockings so that we can fill them with fun little gifts instead of having to buy anything major (we're still in save mode as newlyweds!).  The little things would be edible stuff like a bag of almonds for him or Hershey's drops for me and other fun goodies like Lego mini-figurines for him and $1 stamps for me!  With that excitement in my mind, I just had to make a Christmas card.


I used the cute reindeer from the Doodlecharms cartridge and then pulled out my one stack of Christmas paper that I bought last year from Recollections called "Bright and Jolly."  I have to be conscious in using more patterned paper because I'm so used to sticking to solid colors.  Patterned paper can really make a difference, I think!


The sentiment came from Pink by Design's set called "Christmas Wishes."  I adhered that to the bottom corner and then used foam adhesive to pop up the reindeer.  Even though it's only July, it makes me ready for Christmas!

Pink by Design Two Year Anniversary Extravaganza: Challenge 1

In celebration of Pink by Design's two year anniversary, Sarah, Kyle (Mr. Pink!), and the Design Team have planned challenges for the entire day on the hour!  There will be prizes for each challenge, and a free stamp set if every challenge is completed!  I'm hoping I can finish all the challenges.  It's a great way to get myself crafting since otherwise I'd probably just be sleeping all day, haha.

Challenge #1 was a Home Decor project.  Since I just got married, I decided to make a door sign for our new apartment door.  I cut out the letters of our last name in 3 inches using the Mickey Font.  I didn't want to go all out with Disney stuff, so I just used the font.  Then I cut out the shadow as well in pink and green, which were the colors we had for our wedding!


Although we didn't have to use Pink by Design stamps, I was trying to work it in somehow, and I had a brilliant idea (okay, I thought it was brilliant) to use the "Faith" stamp set (one of my all-time favorites) to emboss "Faith," "Hope," "Love," and "Joy" in white on each letter.  I pray that our home (apartment or house, wherever we are in the future as well) will be filled with those things!




I used an EK Success border punch for the black background.  I actually opened my drawer (my punches are the one thing that I actually have organized in the new apartment!) and had Howard choose one!  I didn't want to choose a girly one, so it was easier to have him do it.  He chose that one because it was all about the lines, which he likes because he's all about the architectural/technical/geeky things.  




The last step was to add some pink and green twine, which I had on hand because we used them to tie the chocolate pretzel bags for our wedding favors at the church.  I didn't think I'd enjoy doing this home decor project that much, but I actually did!  It definitely brings some cheer to our door!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Pink by Design Anniversary Party

Come and Join the Pink by Design Team for an awesome event to celebrate TWO YEARS!  There will be giveaways, challenges, and flash sales all day long!


It's definitely worth checking out.  Since I started crafting, I have been a huge fan of Pink by Design.  The stamps are of excellent quality, and there's so much variety!  Not only are the products amazing, the designer Sarah Hamer and her hubby Kyle (we know him as Mr. Pink!) are amazing as well!  In the beginning, I had millions of questions for them, and I got replies back so quickly.  Getting to "hang out" with everyone during the UStreams for the stamp releases is one of the highlights of my month since I don't always get a chance to craft (still dealing with the new apartment!), but I can be with other crafty friends and get inspired.  

I personally can't wait for all the challenges because it'll motivate me to be creative.  As I finish up my bridal shower thank you cards (24 cards mass produced), I'm itching for some variety!  Plus, I'm really eager about the flash sales because I haven't purchased stamps in a LONG time.  I have a bunch on my wishlist that are just one step away from "Add to Cart," so a good sale is what I need.  "Pray" is at the top of my list!  


Hope to see you there!

Friday, July 20, 2012

2 Month Celebration!

Yesterday was 2 months since Howard and I got married!  Instead of going out or ordering in, I made dinner at home.  We plan on going out for dinner or getting delivery/take-out hopefully only once a month so that we save money (this doesn't include the gift cards I've received from students!).  It's actually more fun this way because the food in restaurants doesn't entice us nearly as much as it used to since we can technically make anything we want (you know, other than SUSHI!).  Plus, we've actually started getting super thirsty after eating restaurant food because of the high salt content!  With that being said, every night is still a date night because we get to eat together!  

I decided it was time to wash the Mr. and Mrs. mugs that we got from one of our friends, Lisa, a while back when she went to WDW.  I had kept them in my house for quite some time, purposely saving them for when we actually were Mr. and Mrs.!  I took 'em out of the box and washed 'em so that we could have a delightful drink of Ocean Spray's Cran-Raspberry juice with our dinner.


Haha, you can also see our Disney pitcher in the back along with our Mickey salt and pepper grinders and timer on top of the microwave.  We love the Disney life!

For dinner, I made chicken drumsticks using Lawry's marinade.  I made 7 with the Caribbean Jerk Marinade with Papaya Juice (also has molasses, lime, exotic herbs and spices) and 6 with the Hawaiian Marinade with Tropical Fruit Juices (also includes pineapple, papaya, mango, honey, soy sauce, and ginger).  I've used it before, but this time I knew to use more of the marinade and leave it in the fridge in the bag longer as well.  I popped them in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes, and they came out SO much better than last time.  I really like the Caribbean Jerk one.  It has more of a kick to it.  I can definitely see buying that one again but not the Hawaiian one.


I also cooked romaine lettuce hearts, but that didn't turn out that good because the garlic gave it a slightly sour taste.  Then I had to CHEAT with the mashed potatoes and used frozen ones since the potatoes we had left had already rotted!  Ahhh, the things I'm learning as I cook as a wife!  Thankfully, Howard is very easygoing about everything!  He was the one comforting me last night when I was upset that the dinner didn't happen exactly as planned. 


Despite the few snafus with dinner, we still enjoyed our meal together as we always do!  We even got "gifts" in the shape of DIY monitor stands!  We went to IKEA on Wednesday with my family, and we picked up 2 Ekby Laiva shelves for $1.99 each along with 2 sets of Capita Legs for $10 each.  Following the directions on IKEA hackers, Howard built them for us so that we'd have more room on our shared table!  It was so much cheaper to do it this way because monitor stands cost a TON!  Pictures in the future when the desk is actually tidied!


At night, we relaxed with some TV shows on the computer and some crafting (well, I crafted, and Howard sat next to me at his computer).  Bridal shower thank you cards are almost done!  When they are, I can finally post a craft-related post on my blog!  Yay!  Until then ... :)