Thursday, July 29, 2010

Little Girl Birthday Card

OK, I think I have the cutest cousins....but doesn't everyone?  Any who, my 2nd cousin Layla is turning 1 year old next week, and even though she won't really appreciate this card I know her 5 year old sister Ava and mum & dad really will!!!!!

Layla's Birthday Card

All together now...awwwwwwww :)

Dress attached with jewelery loops

So, the card is made out of folded light pink cardstock to give it some weight so it doesn't fall over.  I then used the same patterned paper I used here on Meagan's card.  I searched through my chipboard embellishments, which I'm totally guilty of not using very often.  They are, for the most part children themed, and since I don't have kids, don't really have a use for them ALL that often?!?!  SO I went with a green & pink motif (obviously) based on the chip board I liked.  I thought the dresses were cute, and decided to "hang" them from a "clothesline".  Sadly this faboosh idea happened AFTER I have already applied the ribbon to the card with glue dots.....


  I pierced the chipboard with my poker (technical term) and inserted the jewelry loops.  Then I pierced a small hole in the ribbon (which was easy) and painstakingly threaded the jewelry loop into the ribbon so it would literally hang.  I did attach the dresses to the card front with adhesive.  I didn't want them rattling around for a 1 year old to pull off the card and swallow!



On the inside I printed an easy to read message, mainly so Ava (who's five) could read it aloud.  Yes, I used purple sharpie!  Then I recycled my heart idea from here to add a little more to the inside of the card.  It was too boring without it.


While I was stamping the hearts I had another great idea.....I could use the heart stamp as a balloon!!!! So if anyone would like to try out a card challenge, it is to make a balloon card using hearts in one way or another!  Looking forward to seeing what you can create!!!!    I will post my heart balloon card next week!!!!



Are you sick of cards yet?

I'm not!!!! I was in Seattle WA (AGAIN) last weeken to watch the Boston Red Sox get whooped play the SEattle Mariners.  The game was not that fun for me, and the other Red Sox fans, but what was fun was going to Michael's and getting craft stuff on sale!!!!!

I bought a fiskars paper punch which was tagged at $8.99 but on my receipt came up as $3.99!!! Bonus. I also bought a stamp or two (duh) and some embellishments.  Only one of my new stamps are used in today's cards.

So I work for a non profit dance organization (my 9-5 when I"m not teaching dance) and have a Board of Directors.  Most of these ladies are 50 years+, but they are sweet gals.  Well 2 of them have their birthdyas this week so I thought I would make them a hand made card each.

Betty Boop's Card
I used a silhouette of a Fosse dancer for the focus of this card-see the punch at the bottom?  That's my new punch!

I found the Fosse silhouette online and printed it on photo paper.  It's actually supposed tobe black (like a shadow), but becuase my printer is running out of black ink it ended up purple....which I actually kind of love!  I then outlined the image in balck sharpie (man I love sharpies) and cut out the image.  I had to touch up some of the outlining becuase of cutting.  Then I punched the bottom and placed black card stock behind. 

Punch Close up!

I free hand printed all the letters front and inside with a black sharpie
Inside!  See the "Fosse" Theme carry through!??!  Originally I didn't have the stars, but thought they were a nice touch.  I later added gold glitter to the stars (no pics)


BG's CARD


 Gorgeous right?!?! That's my new stamp! $3.99!!!

I cut out the yellow paper for the image an dmounted it on black cardstock.  I then stamped the image in black ink.  I then used only the "Happy Birthday" text from another stamp used here  In that layout I only used the cake part, in this one I only used the text.  So versatile.  I inked the letters in red Magic Marker and stamped below the chandelier.  It didn't feel finished....

Blurry closeup 

So I added some glitter to the chandelier becuase it just wasn't fabulous enough!  I REALLY REALLY like the finished product.  This will be an image I use OFTEN (I like to recycle my good ideas!!!!)  Lastly I added some red ribbon to balance out the composition and added dots of glitter to the centre of each rose on the ribbon.

Yes, I know these cards are quite simple, but I like to theme my cards (like Fosse) so the overall feel is very important.  To me it's not just about throwing as much crazy crap on a card as I can, it's about making a personal card for an individual.  I feel that you have to keep the personality of the person in mind while making their card, and that really keeps me on track themetically for cards. 

I would love to see your ideas to improve these designs, or post your card based on A Fosse themed card.

Will post a very cute little girl b-day card later today!!!!!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Not Tabuleh Salad

Well I said I was going to and here is my post about my hybrid Tabuleh-Chickpea Salad.
I posted this recipe for Tabouleh Salad here But since I didn't have any bulghar wheat, I thought I would make the same salad with canned chickpeas.  Boy howdy was it yummy!!!!!  I literally could not get over how delicious it was-SO PERFECT for summer. Easy & fast to make with a refreshing taste!

Here are some pics of me making this yummy salad and what the finished product looks like!
Scraping the mint and parsley into the bowl
GRIND!!!!













Squeezing the Juuuiice (bad "Encino Man" joke)
STIR IT UP!
More happy grinding-I LOVE TO GRIND?!?!
Bon Appetit!!!!! (shown with Teryaki Sesame glazed chicken)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Blog Award

Yay!  I won a Blog Award.....from my sister. Does that make me lame?
I think it might-but maybe more people will check my blog out becuase of it?  A girl can hope.
But whatever I WON A BLOG AWARD!!!



The conditions of this award are:

1 - thank the person

2 - Share 7 things about yourself

(I omitted the 3rd & 4th conditions, since I am new to the bloggy world and they weren't really applicable-sorry to Carol @ the Answer is Chocolate)

So, thank you Jill at Envirocraftiness for bestowing upon me the vesatile blogger award!  Jill's blog is great and it really motivates you (me) to find a use for anything you might have lying around that you THOUGHT you couldn't use.  Check out her blog here  Her homemade recipes for beauty products are my favourite!


7 Things About Me: (harder than it originally looked)


1) I have been taking formal dance lessons in one sense or another for 23 years...and counting

2) I am a nail biter, have been FOR EVER....but have had some success at weaning myself from this habit

3) I have never had a family pet ( I used to joke that my sister Jill was my pet)

4) I own seasons 1-7 of Will & Grace on DVD and watch them when I scrapbook....infact I use lines from the show in my layouts.  One of my favourites is "Will, my love for you is like this scar; ugly but permanent"

5) I am a notorius project starter....and leaver....I have a shoe rack I'm in the middle of staining.....I promise to start finishing

6) I am a show tunes singer.  Name a Broadway musical, I can probably sing AT LEAST one song (minimum one line) from the show! Self proclaimed musical theatre NERD!

7) I love salmon!  In almost any form; sushi, sashimi, candied, smoked, bbq'ed...I also like the colour-actually kinda obsessed with anything salmon/coral right now!

Thanks again Jill!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

More Cards!

OK so I have a bit of an obsession with wooden stamps!  It started out innocently enough, then I found the $1 stamp bin at Michael's.....
  
This is just one of my shoe boxes.  I have this one, another with over sized stamps (on blocks about the size of my hand), then I have a clear stamp box with alphabets and other sets, and the fourth box is ink pads and my stamp cleaner.  I will admit at first I thought a stamp cleaner was over rated-
I WAS WRONG! 

I have used a couple different stamp cleaners.  Currently I'm using rangers Non-Toxic Acid Free Stamp Cleaner (Dabber Top). 
 It's water based and doesn't smell foul-like my last one which was supposed to smell like bubblegum (pictured).  It didn't.  It made me cough, and I'm not really a 'sensitive to smells' person.  It worked well, but I couldn't get over the smell.


Here are a few of my very favourite stamps (mostly from Michael's, but also from Paper Source in Bellevue WA and Impress Rubber Stamp in Bellevue Square Mall Bellevue WA)

Anyways, my stamp obsession leads me to making cards, which is a current favourite craft of mine.  So here are 2 more cards I made last weekend for a couple of friend's b-days.

Anna Banana Card

This card is for my friend Anna.  I just wanted something simple and pretty, plus I wanted to use my new stamp (Bliss) 
Unfortunately the purple dot ring is not quite perfectly centered around the piece of cake.  I'll get over it...... maybe.  The purple dot ring was a last minute stamping addition becuase I felt the original image, just the cake in the box, was too plain. 
I like the way it turned out.

The colour of the cardstock I used is a little deceiving.  It's a pastel yellow base, and the image is stamped on peach card stock with purple card stock in the corners.  I jazzed it up with 2 brass eyelets in the top left corner and bottom right corner which I attached with my Crop-a-Dile (LOVE!) 

Since I'm a messy crafter, I actually damaged the inside of the card (wet ink always ruins my cards!  I don't have a lot of patience)  But I think I saved it with this cool stamped message (pictured right).  I stamped a simple heart multiple times in different ink colours and wrote "Love from Ty & Leslie"; each word in a different heart.  I did a similar quick fix on the back.

Meagan B-Day Card


 

I don't know why these images are sideways.....needless to say I'm new to this whole blogosphere....whatever, turn your head sideways :)   

So usually I don't like to stamp on patterned paper because the stamped image often competes with the pattern.  In this case the pattern was so pale and non obtrusive (stripes) I thought it would work...and it did!!!!! YAY! 

First I stamped the roses at the bottom of the page and then used the same ink colours for the words above.  The right shows a close up of the roses.  I inked the entire stamp in the flower colour, then wiped off the stem and coloured the stem with Mr Sketch markers.  The rose on the right is entirely in Mr Sketch marker. 

I really love this card and I hope Meagan does too!

Items Used:
Mr Sketch Scented Markers
Archival Pigment Ink Pad Pearlescent Chocolate
Archival Pigment Ink Pad Rocket Red Gold
Portafolia Gifted Memories Premium Ink Pad Purplr
Crop-a-Dile Eyelet Setter
Kolette Hall designed for studio g Stamps-"dream"   http://kolettehall.wordpress.com/what-i-do/
Kolette Hall designed for studio g Stamps-"Bliss"
Kolette Hall designed for studio g Stamps-"shine"
Kolette Hall designed for studio g Stamps-"live"
Katie & co designed fo studio g Stamps- rosette with 2 leaves
Kolette Hall  Stamps-"Circle of Love"
Inkadinkado Stamp 96787 "cake slice with candle"

Ranger Non Toxic Acid Free Stamp Cleaner Dabber Top Water Based (pictured) http://www.rangerink.com/

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Organize My Life

So being addicted to Michael's and the fact that I get coupons in the mail, EVERY WEEK, I thought I should finally use said 40% off coupon and buy something 'expensive'.  SO I DID.  I purchased a "Ribbon and Accessories Organizer" from the Craft Storage Collection.

The instructions said it only takes 15 minutes to put together.  Well I'm not "Pregnant....with Power Tools" so it might take longer.  I was hoping it would all come together.
Keep twisting! PS this is my basement/den/craft room/room full of stuff we haven't unpacked.  Luckily I have only lived here for about 6 months.

Half way there.....starting to resemble the picture!

TA DA!  All done.  I especially love the boxes that are in the bottom shelf.  They could have designed it with one long drawer, but it's 2 smaller ones, which is WAY more practical :)
Here it is in all it's glory.  Set up and ready to be used.  I have it precariously sitting on a shallow pony wall above my desk.  It does over hang a bit, but it's fine.  Below is my craft area with all my shoe boxes (still need shelves) and my little slice of crafty heaven.

Blog & Learn

So, the more I blog, the more I learn.  I feel like I may have been a bit overzealous about my blog and trying to be everything to everyone.  So....I"m going to throw out my newly created blog calendar of blogging certain things on certain days EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK!  What was I? Crazy?  Clearly.  I blame my unemployed sister, http://www.envirocraftiness.blogspot.com/ She didn't warn me that since I work I might not be able to keep up.....wow, I guess the name for my blog is SUPER appropriate!
  
So I think I will narrow down my blog to cooking and crafting.  They are two things I love dearly and that I would like to share with other people.  I will probably still talk about dance and teaching when it comes out (word vomit) with a little love for SYTYCD and Glee.

Anywho, thanks for listening.  I know I have a lot more to learn and I'm sure this is not the last evolution of "Try To Keep Up". 

NEW GOALS FOR MY BLOG
Get 25 Followers By December 31 2010  That's 22 weeks-so 1.14 follower per week!
Have a contest called "Name That Blog" So many people have cute names for their blogs.....maybe as I evolve some other, more experienced bloggers can help me with this....maybe there will be a bribe prize?
Get a button "I've been featured on...."  Because I like a lot of other people's projects....so I'll just hijack them feature them ok?

Stove Top Cooking for Summer

So my friend Amy, actually my sister's friend but I have hijacked her a bit, is complaing that a lot of blogs have grilling recipes becuase 'it's too darn hot to cook inside'.....well that's probably true except in the Canadian Prairies, which is where she lives.  They've had ALOT of rain lately (this coming from a girl who lives on the "Wet Coast").  So this delicious (and fast) recipe is for her.

The original recipe is from the America's Test Kitchen Cook Book, I have made a few changes and variations.  I'm one of those 'cooks' who never follows the quantities, so my quantities in this recipe are guidelines for how I like to make it.  For example, I like mushrooms, so I put alot of mushrooms in it.  Likewise if you don't like mushrooms, put something else in.  PS: This cook book is THE BOMB!  It has substitution charts and conversion charts.  It's SO practical, even if you've been cooking a long time.

BUSY MUMS READ THIS PART
this meal literally takes 20 minutes. 
I make it for my fiance before he jets off to play hockey (carbs & protein=good), or if I just have no clue what to make.  It's easy, delicous and has a nice combo of protein, carbs and vegetables for growing bodies.

"Fake It Tuna" Casserole

What You'll Need:
     1 medium onion, finely chopped
     2 cups fresh sliced musrooms
     egg noodles
     1 Cup whipping cream/heavy cream
     2 cups chicken/vegetable broth
     2 cans (170 g can) flaked white tuna (the regular stubby cans)
     1-2 Cups frozen peas (or fresh peas!!!mmmm )
     salt & pepper to taste
     lemon wedges

How To Make It:
In an electric kettle, boil at least 2 cups water for broth.  Once water is boiling make broth in a seperate bowl.  I usually do this step while the mushrooms and onions are cooking

In a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onions until soft.  Transfer to bowl.

Place raw noodles in skillet and pour heavy cream and broth over noodles.  Simmer until noodles are at desired tenderness.  I usually cover the noodles, but be careful not to let it boil over (like I do).  Stir occaisionally.

Stir in tuna and peas and heat.  Add salt and pepper.  Stir in mushroom and onion mixture and heat through.  TA DA!  You're done.  Serve in a bowl (in front of the TV?).  I like to add extra salt and pepper to my individual bowl as well as fresh squeezed lemon (1 wedge's worth of juice).  Lemon and tuna just complement each other nicely.

I wish I had a photo of this recipe.  It really is delicious.  I recently made it with whole wheat rotini noodles and canned crab meat since we didn't have any tuna in the house.  It was great.

This is a No Cook Salad that is DELICIOUS AND WAY TOO EASY.... I had to post it

Tabouleh Salad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabbouleh


What You'll Need
1 cup bulghur wheat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup minced green onions, white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh mint leaves 
1 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley 
1 cucumber, medium-diced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
freshly ground black pepper




How To Make It:
Place the bulghur in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water, and add the lemon juice, olive oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir, then allow to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Add the green onions, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper; mix well. Season, to taste, and serve or cover and refrigerate. The flavor will improve if the tabbouleh sits for a few hours.

I am going to make this tonight I think, but instead of bulghar wheat, I'm going to use chick peas!!!  If I stick to my guns and actually make that for dinner, I will post it tomorrow :)

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Crafting Out!

  A while back I made my soon-to-be mother-in-law a Mother's Day Card and a Birthday Card. Here they are with some info about how I made them and what I used!

Card One
Happy Bird-Day
For the primary image and idea for my card, I started with the birthday cake stamp (lower).  I used Mr Sketch Markers and coloured the cake purple and the tray brown and stamped it on a piece of beige card stock.  Next I inked the bird (orange) also with Mr Sketch markers (orange-duh).  That bird stamp is only half of the actually design.  It actually has a quote under the birds legs...something like "You're tweet/sweet" (I'll look at it when I get home)  I then stamped the bird on top of the cake.  Once the image was dry I free hand wrote the phrase "Happy Bird-day" in purple inky pen.  It seemed un-finished, even though I had accomplished what I wanted.  So I mounted the beige card stock on brown card stock and place an orange gem stone brad at each corner.  For the card itself I used floral motif stamp in Versa Ink on lilac card stock to create a subtle pattern for the mounted stamped image.  Since the brads only pierce the beige and/or brown card stock, the inside of the card remains flat and smooth for your personal message.

Card Two
Happy Mother's Day
For this card I started with the mounting paper that would make the actual/physical card-the dragonfly paper-which is printed on one side and white on the inside making it perfect for cards!  Then I inked an ivy-esque stamp with dark green Mr Sketch marker and stamped it onto white card stock.  I then used a tri-flower stamp (pink/red) inked it in a metallic red ink and stamped it once on the left hand side of the hanging branch, re-inked the stamp and applied it to the right/underside of the hanging branch.  In the white negative space in the lower right corner I free hand wrote "happy mother's day" in black ink.  To balance out the composition I mounted the white yardstick onto pale green and put a brushed silver brad on the upper right corner and lower left corner.  I then attached the stamped image to the card. This way of attaching the brads leaves the inside of the card smooth and flat, all ready for your personal message.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Weekend Wrap Up



Yup, I attended the Mariners vs Yankees ball game this weekend. YAY! Baseball!


We were in a section we had never sat in before-the Wells Fargo Club house thingy.  We paid $5 extra BUT it was like a seperate section with less crowded bathrooms, and less busy food and drink stands.  Our seats were even cushioned.  Very much worth the extra $5!  Unfortunately for us there was quite an opinionated Yankees fan behind us...I"m surprised I still have my hearing!  I don't mind cheering for your favourite team (GO SOX!), but he was irritating loud.  He was yelling saying things like "If seattle hadn't made a couple of those catches it'd be 16-0 right now" -at which I almost turned around and said "are we watching the same game?"or "it's outta here" only for the ball to be caught (by Ichiro) on the warning track (the sand 'border' that warns outfielders that they are close to the wall).  He also gloated about the Yankees pitcher Sabathia's ; that he hadn't walked anyong the whole game, even though the game wasn't over yet.  He had to say something about every play.  Finally towards the end of the game, and numerous comments, a guy one row up and across from me, leaned over and asked Super Annoying Yankees Fan "Was that Sabathia's first walk of the night?" Grudgingly SAYF agreed that yes his super star pitcher had just walked a Mariner...then he continued and said "And he (Sabathia) only has one strike out right?" Well I just about high fived him.  That Yankees fan needed someone to put him in his place.  I agree that theYankees are a dynamite team-they've got some true talent. But if all Yankee fans act like the guy who was sitting behind me, well then it's no wonder people don't like the Yankees!  (oh man, did people boo A-Rod.  I don't believe in booing but I did giggle every time it happened). 


That's one thing I've always appreciated about the ball park, regardless of your team winning or loosing, everyone at the park is there to have fun, and most fans can appreciate a good play, a good pitch, whether it's for his/her team or not.  Not this guy!  Oh well. I was still proud of the Mariners-Ichiro made some amazing plays, granted there were some awful plays too (aka missing catching a pop fly becuase the sun was in their eyes!!!!!)  All in all a great time at the ball park!  I love going to the ball park.  Literally from the time I walked into the park I was smiling! 


Also, Jason Biggs (American Pie) threw out the first pitch.  Ty was pretty psyched about that!


We also visited the Boeing Factory in Everett Washington-pictured left.  I was actually kinda shocked that they even let people go on tours of the factory-no cameras allowed.  I did see a 747 and 777 and a 787 in the process of being built.  One was already getting painted with a FedEx logo.  Very cool.  Tyler thoroughly enjoyed the trip-nerding out!

I"ve had about enough driving and doing to last me a lifetime....well at least 2 weeks, cuz that's when our next ball game is! For the next 2 weeks I"m gonna go to dance class, craft, garden and get stuff done around the house!!!!!  I'll be a right little homebody.  Thanks for reading!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Friday-Current Events

Heat wave!  Vancouver is hot hot hot, and I am loving it.  I have enjoyed my lunch outside every day I was at work this week!  And I'm neither a ghost nor a lobster....more like a golden marshmallow....well I'm getting there.  Note to pasty girls....tan in a tanning bed (not excessively) during April, May and build up a base tan.  It doesn't have to be dark, but just something so that when summer hits, you can spend time outside without ending up a lobster/tomato.  I highly advise it!

It is sad tho, because as we (Tyler & me) drive in to Vancouver (we live in Surrey), we can see the smog over the city from the heat.  It's not awful, we're no LA or T.O. but we have smog.  Only when it gets very hot (like this).  It's kinda gross, because we can see the brown haze as we drive in and the closer and closer we get to the city the less we notice it...because we're in it.  Ew.  Oh well.

I"m headed to Seattle tomorrow (yes 2 stateside weekends in a row) and Tyler and I will be going to the Boeing factory/museum?  Maybe learning about airplanes will help me from being so afraid of flying?  Their rules for the tour seem kinda strict http://www.boeing.com/commercial/tours/index.html

But the real reason we're headed down is because we have tickets to the Seattle Mariners game on Sunday afternoon.  They're playing the Yankees (eek-prepare to be crushed).  Now I am a staunch Red Sox fan, so I cannot technically cheer for the Yankees, but I am excited to see some of the most heralded ball players of this generation (A-Rod, Jeter, Swisher etc)  The problem is it's gonna be SO HOT, and I only own a Red Sox ball cap, which I DEFINITELY cannot wear to the Yankees game....it you be complete murder suicide to do that!  So I may have to buy a Mariners cap?

Looking forward to a romantic (to us) weekend with Tyler.  The past two weeks have been so hectic, it seems like we haven't had  a moment to ourselves!  I love road trips, I love baseball, and I love spending time with Tyler.  He truly is my best friend and we have great adventures together.  Will post pics from the weekend on Monday!  Don't let me forget!


This is us last year at a Red Sox Game! Aren't we cute?

"Is it just me, or do I have no judgement" me on Friday July 8th while commuting to Vancouver, commenting on Tyler's driving skills and his ability to judge velocity and distance when it comes to passing other vehicles