Good and bad

So the good news is that the Hawks just won and are now on to round three against the winner of the Americans/Chiefs series (tied 2-2, don't know who won tonight).

The bad news is I'm really frustrated. I spent a good portion of the day looking for clear plastic tumblers with lids and straws. Apparently no one in town has them so now I'm going to have to order them off the Internet or abandon this project I have in my head.

On the plus side, while searching all over town for the tumblers, I found some beer steins and made another little thing to go with the card and beer for the neighbor. I used the Harrington font and a flourish I found on Miss Vickie's Cutting Crazy blog a while ago to make the cutting pattern. Cut it out on contact paper and then used my etching cream. The only problem is that it's really difficult to get a good picture of a clear, etched glass.

I've finished one for the hubby too, but that one's a little busy right now. I'll try to get a picture of it when it's not in use.

Thanks card and covered notebook

I just couldn't find much crafting mojo today even though I had most of the day free to do whatever I want after buying the hubby the NASCAR 2011 game. I love that he spent hours today just designing his own car! It's so cute. So I trolled the blogs, checking out what others had done. Then I finally forced myself to work on my need to do list and, rather than doing laundry, chose to make a thank you card for the neighbor. He was kind enough to weld the muffler from the chipper so that Matt could chip up the branches he pruned from the fruit trees out back. So we bought a six pack of the beer the neighbor likes for the next neighborhood "safety break" and I said I would make a card to go with so we could take him his little thank you. I finally turned out this one. I played with some We Are Memory Keepers foil I bought yesterday while checking out what was new at the local scrap booking store. I gave it an aged look with some distress ink, used the same ink on the mat, added some texture to the background and a little Stickles around the edges and called that good. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the inside. The paper is plain black on the outside, but has this delightful shimmer on the inside.

So then I puttered around for a while with no direction watching thriller and horror movies on Netflix (but no good ones) until I came across this little book I found at Craft Warehouse (for all of $1 I think). I am so happy with the little notebook I did a few weeks ago and am so in love with that paper (thankfully I have a whole pack of it that I bought at the CKC last month) that I decided to finish it off in much the same way. It's a quick project, but I'm really happy with everything except the corners on the back. If you look really closely, you'll see that I made an error on my angles and cut them wrong for mitering. Oh well, I still like it.

Alaska or bust

No, we're not going back even though we did love our cruise there last year. Rather, tomorrow is the last day on the job for my former boss but now peer who is leaving us to move to Alaska. So I made a card with the 50 States cartridge that I've had for oh so long but never really put to use until now. Now I just have to figure out what to say inside.

It's funny, I didn't really like her as a boss. I felt like she didn't give her employees the respect they earned and treated very well trained professionals like scribes. In fact, she's the reason I'm in the position I am now. Even though I loved the job I had, I couldn't stand the fact that I wasn't being challenged mentally anymore. In fact, I felt like I was losing some ground working for her. I was no longer pushing myself to better, more, faster, etc. Instead, it was just rote work. So when the opportunity to manage a section I had worked in before came open, I applied and took the promotion. Now instead of working for her, I work with her on the management team. It took some time for us both to adjust. The funny thing is now we've worked as peers for three years, we've actually settled into a fairly good working relationship to the extent that we have to work together. While we didn't always see eye to eye and we have very different styles, I was comfortable with where we had landed in our working relationship.

Now things are going to change. I was asked if I wanted her job. I thought about it. To many people's surprise, I realized I didn't want it. Sure it would be a challenge. I would have to learn a whole new set of laws that I've only scratched the surface of and I would have to push myself to bring unity to a team of people who have been struggling to find a team spirit. Both of those things are challenges that would normally seem right up my alley.

But it would also mean leaving the team I manage now. Over the last three years, we've all come together quite nicely. We've been through huge upheavals and things are just starting to settle into a lovely new "normal." We are just starting to see the real fruits of the hard work we've put in and, honestly, there's still a lot more I'd like to accomplish here. In the grand scheme of things, I think I'm better off staying where I am. I think my team is better with me staying. It's clear there's going to have to be some reorganization and changes with her departure, but, at least for now, I don't want to think about that anymore.

I think I just want to take tomorrow and say goodbye and thank you. While it may have been rocky and there may have been times when she brought me to tears in frustration, in the end, she pushed me to look at things differently. She pushed me into taking a step I probably never would have tried otherwise and I'm oh so happy now that I did.

Catnip Calamity

So I finally finished a big project I've been working on. I actually thought about not finishing it, but I knew that it would "haunt" me if I didn't. So now it's done and I can move on. But of course I have a headache tonight and don't feel all that good. It's this stupid Spring weather. Could it just stay sunny or stay rainy? Why does it have to keep fluctuating back and forth, driving my sinuses crazy?

So tonight I just cleaned up my craft room. I don't know about all of you out there but I am a messy crafter. I pretty much have to clean my room after every project. Now honestly, it doesn't take that long. I cleaned it up during the commercials of one episode of Glee (yes I am a Gleek), so that should tell you, it's a pretty simple task. Now I am ready to embark on some new projects and I have a few in mind, but they will have to wait for another day.

Over the weekend, we planted all the Spring flowers just in time for last night's frost. Again, stupid Spring weather, pick a temperature already! I cleaned off all the dropped potting soil, dirt, leaves and other stuff that builds up over the winter and was pretty happy with how it looked. So, of course, the furballs had to go investigate or snoopervise as I like to call it. So tonight, I'm checking my e-mail and posting about how happy I am to have won the gift certificate to Paper Zone (whoo hoo! still celebrating that one), when I hear this crash! I leave the craft room and the first thing I notice is that Smoke is cowering in a corner and won't look at me. So at least I know who the naughty kitty was (Notice the mark on his nose? That's not a mar on the photo, it's from "fighting" with Cha-Ching the other day). Now I just have to find out what he did. Fortunately, that didn't take long because I found this mess just outside the back door: Of course Smoke now is willing to come investigate the damage he caused and then Zoey has to come check it out too:

So that's when Matt tells me what happened. Matt was out playing with the fish in the pond when Smoke jumps from the railing onto the pot of catnip that has some how miraculously survived five cats and the winter. Of course, Smoke (the klutz) overestimates the security of the pot sitting on its stand or, perhaps under-estimates his considerable size and weight, and the whole thing comes crashing down. Fortunately I had another pot I decorated a while ago just ready for this such occurrence. To try to give the catnip a fair chance, Matt did some kitty-proofing. Given the fact that Matt's managed to kitty-proof the backyard to somehow keep five furballs within the confines of our fenced backyard, I'm betting on the catnip making it.

Love my Paper Zone!

I'm so excited! I just found out that I won the $20 gift certificate from the Paper Zone. I subscribe to their blog because they share such creative ideas. Plus, I just love that store. I'm almost embarrassed to say how many years I drove by it thinking it was just paper supplies for offices. I was so wrong. I finally ventured in there a year or two ago to discover what great scrapbooking, card making, and yes, stationery, they had. Now I buy all my envelopes there because I can get true invitation size envelopes that I can't hardly find anywhere else and certainly not as nice as these. Right now I'm stuck on these linen ones that are so classy looking. So if you've never been to Paper Zone, go check it out if there's one near you and stop by their blog and check it out too (right now you can see Zoey there!).

Stickles, stickles and more stickles

Cheryl at Cafe Expressions has a great Stickles blog candy. Head over there and check it out! Some lucky winner is going to have some real fun blinging it up!

With a bit more tweaking...

So tonight I decided to finish tweaking last night's layout. I added hand stitching to make the blocks look somewhat quilted together and button to finish off the corners of the central photo. It's shocking how long it takes to do a little hand stitching on the layout, but I'm really pleased with how it looks now. So here are side by side comparisons of last night (left) and the final (right). I probably spent the better part of two hours doing the hand stitching and the finishing the buttons off. Of course, that was with some minor interruptions to turn off the audio because I just couldn't stand to listen to the Winterhawks lose the opening game of the second round of the playoffs and start a new episode of Glee. Oh, and, of course, there were a few feline interruptions. Smoke came looking for a little love and some treats. Tigger took up residence in the spare craft room chair. I was cold this weekend and cuddled up in an afghan my mother-in-law made. I then left it on the spare chair and ever since Tigger's declared it as his own. Even Zoey came in to check things out tonight! She's a good looking girl for a 17-year-old!

Quilter tribute layout

So it seemed appropriate to go with a layout featuring blocks of patterns resembling a quilt for this page since my sister-in-law, Kim, made the gorgeous quilt covering our bed. I'm thinking about doing some hand sewing on the page to create stitches to make the papers look more tied together, but I'm getting tired (spent too much time fighting with the printer that didn't want to print my 4x6s), so I guess I'll leave it for tonight and see what I think tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I don't know what has gotten into Smoke. This normally very independent mancat has suddenly become a cuddler...

Another simple layout

I was a little tired tonight after getting home, working out, making dinner, etc. So I did just a quick layout while I watched another episode of Glee. Now it's off to bed. Boy, this working five days a week is really tiring...I guess I just got to spoiled with my four day work weeks the last month or so.

Charlotte and Grace

I was having trouble with the title for this page. I cut out some letters, but they just didn't look right so I realized the perfect thing was to write the title right on the page. Problem was, I had already constructed the page so I couldn't print them on my printer and my handwriting, well, it's just plain awful. So I broke out my new CriKit pens and found the perfect solution. It's a little nerve-wrecking to simply draw the title on a page that's otherwise put together, but it turned out perfectly.

It was also the first time I have ever stapled on a page too. I don't know why I haven't tried it before because I've had colored staples sitting my drawer for the longest time and it's such an easy technique. I just never thought about it before, but it was on the October 2008 minimaps layout that I scraplifted from and I'm so happy I gave it a try. I had absolutely no feline help on this one at all. It was kitty nap time on the cat post.

New pillow

Last night we went to the casino on the spur of the moment with Mike and Val and had a lovely time (and even won a couple of bucks too, which is rare). So then today, I did a little wine tasting with my sister, my "other" sister, and Darla (I've got to come up with a name for her too). While I'm not a huge fan of reds, I found a few today that I really liked. I honestly thought I wasn't going to get a thing done this weekend since the Friday night outing was a last minute decision and tomorrow is a movie and dinner for my sister's birthday.

But then tonight, despite having a drink or two, I decided it was time to finally make the little pillow for my chair. Ever since I brought the chair home, I had vision of a little pillow sitting in the chair. I found this fabric I really liked at Jo-Ann's that I thought had just the right feel for the room and had this perfect little trim to match. Then yesterday I found the perfect pillow form when running a few errands. It has a zipper in it so I can add more stuffing if the pillow gets a little smooshed (is that even a word?) over time. I decided I wanted to make a slipcover so I could take advantage of the ability to add more stuffing and it would give the chance to change the cover from time to time if I decide I want something new.

So I made a real easy pillow slipcover and put it on the chair. I discovered that it was perfect. I put it behind my back when I sit on the chair and it's just perfect for a little more back support (okay so honestly, I have sucky posture and I need a pillow to remind me to sit properly). But I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Now I'm thinking it's time to finally flip the tables in my room so that I have the one with the harder surface for my work top. Well, maybe not. Maybe I'll just go pop open one of the bottles of wine I bought to day and have a glass and watch Netflix... Yeah, I think I'll do just that.