Monday, January 28, 2013

SOG Boss

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Good evening to you folks!!

I've got another one of my Boss' Day cards to show ya! This time, my "boss" is from Some Odd Girl. Again, I know that she is not your typical manager with the bow in the hair and the bare legs. But she does look a bit like my boss so I ended up using her.

The card came together very quickly as I used these stickers. Love when things work out that way!!

Sorry to be so quick!! Talk to you soon and thanks for visiting!!

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Hugs,

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Red, White, and Brown.

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Hi everyone!

It's Sunday and you know what that means? It's time for another Christmas Card Challenges. Week # 9 is all about red, brown, and white!

Sorry I've been kinda MIA. I am quite busy with things around the house, work, the kids, the hubbs and scrapbooking! Yup! Scrapbooking! I'll show more of that during another post.

Anyway, I colored up this image from Some Odd Girl. Got to use some washi tape and scrounge through my scraps for these papers. Hope you get to visit the blog for more inspiration!








Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sketch time for CCC!



Hiya folks!

I hope you are all having a great weekend. Can you believe that Christmas was just last month? It seems like everyone has returned to their usual routine and that the Holidays were so long ago!

What sure has kept me still in the spirit of things is the tree that is still in my living room. *GASP* you probably said! Yes, it's true... it's still there. The ornaments have been put away and the tree taken apart. But I haven't put any of the boxes away... or at least the tree in the boxes. Tee hee!

Anyway, I am one of the lucky few in this world (elves, ornament makers, etc) who have a "Holiday job" all year long. That is, as part of the Design Team over at Christmas Card Challenges, I will be making Christmas cards in the summer!!

A little challenge like this one should be the key to motivation...here's a sketch!


I tweaked it a little and rotated it, and I didn't do the circle, I stuck with a square.

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Hope you get to visit the other design team for some inspiration! Stamp image Sweet November Harmony is from All That Scraps and drawn by Amy Young.

See you later!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

My Assistant Nurse Manager.

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Hi all,

I was looking at some pictures of my cards when I noticed a couple didn't yet have the watermark I usually put on. I figured I had yet to post those.... am praying you haven't seen them before :).

This is one I made for my assistant manager. I know she looks super young, but I think she is super cute. And she reminds me of my ANM because of her long hair and personality. My ANM may be young but I think she's doing a great job. To me, you have to be a wonderful listener, know your resources, and be open to looking at solutions together. That's what makes good management.

Anyway, my ANM also did stamping so I stayed clear from TGF and SOG, which she has already seen and worked with :). This stamp is from Saturated Canary. I really love the hexagons paper behind her (I'm really bad at writing supplies down) and how her socks turned out!

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See ya later, alligators!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A Harry Potter - themed Baby shower.

*Warning: Long post and lots of pictures ahead! But very fun though, if I do say so myself, LOL*

As I had just posted about my son's Woodland-themed party (see part 1 and part 2), I thought I'd keep the ball rolling and talk about my sister's Harry Potter-themed baby shower.

I could not and would never take credit for thinking this up or even executing it, but since my sister, Kristine, does not have a blog, she has given me permission to post pics and write about them.

We were both surprised when our other sis, Kate (the middle one), wanted an HP-themed party. And of course, it was her baby shower, of all things! I'd understand if it was a graduation party or anything school-related....but a shower??

I thought she was joking as it is really Kristine who is Harry Potter's biggest fan (you don't know how many times I've gotten reprimanded when I mentioned that Twilight was getting as big as HP. Tin, if you're reading this, I'm ducking!!). Kristine even said her wedding will be HP-themed! She wants to go to Harry Potter land for her 30th birthday! Hee hee - I want to make that latter wish for her come true!

Anyway, Kate is also a HP fanatic and thought it'd be fun! It was her shower so her choice. Her friends (who haven't read the books) were quite dumbfounded when asked if it was a Halloween party as well. We told them, no, and to just show up as if it's a regular baby shower. I'm not sure they quite got the theme or decor but they seemed to have fun.

So, here's my genius crafter sis Kristine at her best... I think she did a fantastic job! And I was able to help, too, with a place called Etsy. So, here it is, Kate's Harry Potter baby shower....

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Paint sample chips as bricks.... 9 3/4... It took her multiple visits to the local Home Depot. :) These were on the front door.

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When you enter, you'll notice the different colored streamers representing the four houses - Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. She doesn't have to spend lots of money, but she always has the best ideas!

Then hanging from these are graphic images she designed and printed out. Baby versions of Harry, Hermoine, and Ron!

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My sis loves collecting old quirky things, so her collection of these regal books and figurines were perfect in the decor.

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I mean, white candlesticks plus candles in the shapes of a dog and horse equal Hogwarts!!! My sis is super cool!

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We folded up construction paper into the the four banners. She found this old mirror and we altered it too. My parents' formal curtains added a good backdrop. And did you notice the sorting hat (my sis' collection).

Above the dessert table, is a Quidditch Tournament :). A Quaffle and two Bludgers (both Chinese lanterns) and a Golden Stitch (not quite sure how she made that one).

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We used my kids as props too....errrr, that doesn't sound too good. How about mascots? LOL.

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Mini-Harry Potter with the argyle vest, forehead mark, and crooked glasses. And my oldest has many expressions...this one is perfect!

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My youngest is dressed in a little suit, quite made famous by my favorite show. I think its color and loose threads make it fit for this party too. Kristine found that headband somewhere. :) Haha.

And finally, folks, what I helped with. I made this diaper cake and wanted some HP themed additions.

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The owl hat topper was bought from Kyoko. The spoons had "Muggle Born" and "Accio Pears" engraved on them - these were bought from C. Pease. Right in the center is a Gryffindor-inspired floral headband made by Ashley Lee. The wooden eyeglasses and thunderbolt are teethers made by Dustin and Amanda Cowell. The burgundy bib on the right is from Adrienne Miller. And the Muggle Born onesie on the left is from Susannah O' Brien.

Here are more detailed shots:

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And, I wouldn't have thought this was all possible had I not seen this online at Etsy:

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If you could not yet tell, my sister was going to have a GIRL! That made it even harder trying to fit in Harry Potter, don't ya think? But one of the first things I found when I put in a search at Etsy was this adorable onesie with bloomer made to look like a Hogwart's Gryffindor student by Marissa!

Let me tell you folks! I love shopping at Etsy for party planning! I recommend these sellers mentioned completely. They are great to work with and their craftmanship are wonderful.

Anyway, the best part is yet to come.. the dessert table.

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Kate's best friend and I were in charge of the cake. She ordered it at the local bakeshop and told them to make it HP-themed. Good thing the good peeps at Vienna bakery knew what they were doing. They put in a scene from a Quidditch tournament and gave us that flying HP. It was way more than what we expected.

The potion bottles, scarves, broom sticks, and books were cupcake toppers bought from Rosy Salazar. Again, another Etsy seller I recommend.

The other desserts were...

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Hedgwig's cupcakes. Get it?

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Chocolate wands and caramel covered apples.

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Bertie Bott's every flavor beans and lemon drops.

But, darn, we forgot about Butter Beer!!!!

So just goes to show you...if you really love a story and if you have great Etsy sellers and sisters with creative minds, any theme is possible!

I ended up really loving this shower!!

Toot-a-loo and thanks for visiting!



Monday, January 14, 2013

Lately.

During the past few months, I've been getting busy adding to my skills and certifications. I've recently taken this class a couple of months ago and learned so much!


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Above is an example of how I used to color before the class and how I colored after.

It's not perfect but I've definitely learned more about light source and adding depth and contours to my coloring. I've noticed the difference from my previous projects and even now, I assess the images before I start with the copics.

I also obtained...


I would definitely recommend both!

Woot Woot!!!! *pats myself on the back for getting a couple of my goals done*

Talk to you later!



Sunday, January 13, 2013

Silhoutte.

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Hello, and welcome to another challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges! Week # 7 is to work with silhouettes!

So for the past 5-6 days, the flu (or a different but very similar strain) has been kicking my butt! I had gotten the flu shot because of my job, and also to protect my kiddies and myself, but I still got this virus. Bleh...I'm feeling a wee bit better but still not 100%.

Anyway, this challenge did the same to me. Kicked my bottom, too. It got me stumped for a while because I didn't own any stamps with just silhouettes, as I love to color. But I remember I had these beautiful cards bought from Kelly Purkey so I used one of them. I had a hard time letting go. If you're like me, you tend to hoard the papers/ embellies you love best too!! :)

Ok, folks, I think I'm going to lay down (wuss). Loving the CAS (clean and simple) style this week as I hardly ever do that.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Wood Land Party, part 2 of 2.

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Hi everyone,

I had to divide my post on Oliver's Woodland Party into two because it was getting really, REALLY lengthy and pic-heavy. Here's the rest of the details.

The beautiful cake was bought by my other sis. I had eyed the toppers on Etsy so I told her to just have the bakers put lettering on the cake and I'll take care of the decorations.

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These oh-so-cute forest critters were sold to me by Irma Niekum on Etsy. I just love them!

And on the food items, I decorated them with these toppers sold by Glocho on Etsy. They are all so adorable as well! I have been very lucky at Etsy with these sellers and I'd recommend all of them (pls see other sellers on part 1 of this party).

Anyway, my sole intention of putting these cupcake toppers on the food is to decorate them to encompass the woodsy theme. I realized later that I may have unintentionally grossed some people out -- for example, putting the racoon on the beef dish made it seem like I was serving racoon!! LMAO!

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Critters in the moss/alien forest!

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Beaver in the bark-like crackers dessert!

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I'm sorry, this is chicken and not owl. :)

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The celebrant's onesie was designed by Simply Sublime Baby from Etsy. I didn't get a good pic of the front but that's a fox and squirrel and a skunk. Really very graphic and cute!

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The back view also had a cool detail!

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All drooly and before his first haircut!

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Big bro in the bouncer closest to the woodland theme.

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A pic of me and my SIL in front of the banner that JoBoogie made! Thanks, hon!

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And a family picture. (I look so tired but the party was so worth it!).

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Lastly, I wanted to show what else we had. It's called a "Pabitin," and it's a game from my childhood. My mom had gone to the Philippines earlier last year and got it. We tied games and prizes to the squares. A main rope was tired in the center and harnessed to a tree so that one could control the frame to go up and down. Kids reach and jump and grab their prizes. :).

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Thanks for visiting! I wonder what theme I'll come up with this year. I'm thinking of doing a combined party for the two of them since their bdays are only a month and few days apart!