More Cards and a Little Bit of Happenings...

You'd think by now I'd be doing more layouts... Nope! Got some more cards done this week. I belong to a card club and hadn't sent the ones from November or December, or the Christmas cards I signed up to do. So... I put a simple gift in pre-made Christmas cards and made the November and December cards, plus all of the previous belated birthday cards (from August on, in my group), and all of the February Birthday cards. I am so caught up now!

Now... I can begin working on more layouts.

I will be printing picks from Walgreens, as they currently have a special of "print 50 for $5.00. Not too bad... They are quick and easy. But if you know me... I have to have them sent to me (instead of 1-hour photo), as I much prefer the matte finish. I can do so much more with it - add chalks, erase around, ink better, etc. Where a gloss picks up fingerprints WAY too easy for my taste and repels a lot of the things I like to do to photos.

So... here's a little bit of what's been goin' on here. I've been "stripping" a day bed. I intend to deep white-wash it to blend with the room, but am still working on it. There is a solvent that is "safe" for the environment (orange gel stuff - YUCK!). Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well. So... here's a little bit of me in my "stripping" clothes! Yeah!

I found some pretty vellum and striped paper on Monday and had to make a card with it. So, here is my "masculine" card. The sentiment is George with the Cricut and is chalked then distress-inked in pond green.

Marissa had a birthday (or two...). She should have had 3 by the time Super Bowl Sunday KickOff hits... We did a cake with Daddy, before he went to work; then... we had some friends over. Marissa wanted a BIG HUGE cookie with M&M's for that... Sunday will be Princess cupcakes (from Hello Cupcake!) with a little adjustments here and there. She will also have a princess-type party with Scene Setters (thank you, Karen!). She'll love it.

I also made this card (today) for the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog. We were supposed to create a card based off a sketch, and here is my take on it. Although the entries had to be posted by yesterday (so much for my anti-procrastination campaign...), I still went ahead and did it, just so I kept up with them. It's a little corny and says, "a little bubbly?"... It's intended for my friend after she gives birth to her (now) overdue daughter #2. The circles are punches, then either reversed inked or inked after dry embossing with the Cuttlebug. The sentiment is stamped in silver then heat embossed with a holographic glitter. Uh... I was a little off in my stamping, as I miscalculated the spacing and so the "l" and "y" of the bubbly is WAY off. But... I still think it looked cute.

I then tried to distress it and can't figure out how all of you get it to look just right without leaving lines or the paper curling up (and ink running!) when you spritz it with water. So... anyone out there? HELP me! (Just leave a comment or e-mail me. I am always looking for tips and tricks. Thanks for everything. I'm tired and gotta go to bed... Toodles for now! lisa

AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

First off... HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!!!

Secondly, I wish all of you all of the best for the new year to come, and all there is afterwards.

Yeah... I know... It's been a while... since last year, in fact! LOL! So, we did the Rose Parade (very cold!) and Rey's birthday, and took down Christmas... I've been working so hard on doing a slide show for the Rose Parade for all of you, that I haven't had much other computer time.

Oh! I know it's not hard... the problem is, there are lots of pics, and my computer keeps freezing, doesn't save it, and I have to start ALL over again! I will now be working on my 6th attempt, and boy is it time-consuming.

Also, I've been exercising. I finally started another blog yesterday called Losing a Little Lisa? so that I can actually track my efforts and journal it without boring you (for those of you who just "don't want to know"). Otherwise, if you do, feel free to click on it. The link is also to the right on the sidebar.

I will still be doing crafty things, too. I've just been doing the usual "New Year" re-organization. I seriously need to get rid of all these boxes! I have to "move" too much stuff to get to what I want, and it takes too much crafting/scrapping time. What a waste.

Anywho... I will try one more time to do the slideshow, probably later today. Otherwise, I may just have to go a different venue (I'm currently trying Smilebox). Blogger has one, which goes into a side bar or gadget spot, but I was trying for a spot within a post. Anyone have any other ideas (I don't want to do PowerPoint, though... haven't done it in years and am really kind of afraid of trying it again... lol!)? Comments are always welcome!

Off to skoot my butt, now! Toodles for now! lisa