Pink

For the current CAS-ual Fridays' challenge, I had fun using my new washi tape and choosing just the right shade of pink card stock. (It is a retired color from Stampin' Up!) I do not own a pink ink pad, and my markers were not the right match. I turned to my trusty Versa Mark ink pad for some tone-on-tone pink. It was one of my first stamping purchases, and I have been using this ink pad for almost four years. The zig-zag stamp is from Hero Arts and the sentiment stamp is from Papertrey Ink.



If you have any suggestions on pink ink pads, please share them in the comments. It would be a good addition to my craft stash. Thanks to my husband, son, parents, and brother, I received fun craft supplies for my birthday. Yay!

This flat card will be a good addition to my Heroes Card Drive donation.

Heroes Card Drive

Yesterday I enjoyed making about a dozen cards for the Heroes Card Drive. I mostly used scraps and things that I had already stamped. I save most of my "extras," so this is a good way to use those items in new ways. I will continue to work on cards for the new few weeks and then send them off.


Part of the time, I shared the table with Alex for some "art time." I could not decided which one of us was messier, but I did take over the entire table after he went to bed.


Today I realized that one of my cards fits into the current Lawnscaping Challenge. I used one of my favorite Lawn Fawn papers for the card base and added some new washi tape. I printed and punch sentiment a long time ago and had saved it. The heart was punched from some Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock for a splash of color.

October Afternoon & Vellum

My newest card was inspired by two challenges. Susanne's June In Good Company Challenge is to use supplies from October Afternoon. I had been hoarding saving the County Fair: Cotton Candy patterned paper for a while now. I knew that this paper would make a great focal point for a card.


The current CAS-ual Friday Challenge is to use acetate or vellum on a project. I still have the package of vellum that I bought years ago, so it was fun to use it again. I punched out some shapes from the vellum and ended up using vellum for the bottom layer of the flower.



The funny thing was that I made this card while sitting on my bedroom floor. I keep a box for misting, which I turned over to use as a small table. It was just enough space to make a simple card.

Weekend Photos

We enjoyed the summer picnic at Alex's school on Friday afternoon. Alex told me that he was being a Transformer when I snapped this photo.



Alex made a mess all weekend. Toys were everywhere, but he had fun playing.



We headed to the mall on Saturday to "beat the heat" and do some shoe shopping. (It was hot by Bay Area standards, not San Antonio standards.) Alex and I grabbed a table while John got us some lunch.



Alex got some Spider Man shoes that light up. I am trying to keep Alex from wearing these out before our vacation. Between bike riding and the sandbox, he is really hard on shoes. I have heard from my mom that I was the same way as a kid...

Alex made the necklace at school on Friday and has been wearing it since then.

We had a nice weekend with lots of family time.

May Craft Spending

I've had less time and energy for crafting and shopping with my new job. This means that I was actually under my target amount of $40 for my May craft spending! I spent $16.24 at Two Peas in a Bucket (online store) for a variety of supplies, including my first roll of washi tape. I am often slow to try new card making and scrapbooking products because I worry that I will just want more of the item... Yes, now I want more washi tape.





In May, I thought about how I spend my crafting dollars after reading Stephanie Medley-Rath's article on Scrapbook Update about Online and Offline Scrapbookers. The article spurred a long thread of comments about shopping online versus at a local scrapbook store even though that was not the entire focus of the article.

I credit a variety of sources with helping me to develop a love of paper crafts. I learned to scrapbook by taking classes at a local store in San Antonio. Unfortunately, that store is no longer in business, but I am not sure of the exact reasons that the store closed. My interest in scrapbooking increased as I discovered a whole industry beyond the local stores including magazines, blogs, and online stores with articles and message boards. I learned to stamp by joining a stamp club offered by a direct seller. Currently, I learn so much from bloggers who share techniques through videos and tutorials. One medium is not better than another, and they have all helped me learn and explore.

I credit online sources for keeping me interested in scrapbooking and stamping during this busy period of my life. I do not have much time to take classes or shop at a local store. I like that I can watch a five or ten minute video on a blog when I have a few free moments. My crafting is often done in the evenings when stores are closing for the day. Without online resources to keep me connected, I may not have gone to find my local scrapbook store after moving.

As a consumer, I will continue to support a variety of business including local stores, online stores, direct sellers, and even the big box stores. I don't like to see the us vs. them mentality develop but would rather each focus on developing their niche or niches. Here is a list of all the places that I like to shop:

Memories Live On (my local store)

Stampin' Up!

Simon Says Stamp

Two Peas in a Bucket

Scrapbook.com

Michaels

Joann's

10 Things

It's June, which is means that it is almost Father's Day and my dad's birthday. Last month I wrote about 10 things that I learned from my mom, so the natural follow up is 10 things that I learned from my dad. In no particular order:

1. How to Drive
I remember lots of driving lessons with my dad, especially...

2. How to pass the Ohio Maneuverability Test
The state of Ohio made us pass a maneuverability test instead of parallel parking. The problem was that I failed that part the first time but passed the road portion of the test. My dad spent countless hours the next week practicing with me in parking lots on our own maneuverability course, and then I passed the test.

3. How to maintain a car and keep it for a long time
My dad is great about keeping up with car maintenance and keeping cars for a long time. My first car is almost 10 years old and still going strong.

4. About Baseball
We went to at least one Cincinnati Reds baseball game each summer and sometimes more games on vacations. As I grew up, the baseball lectures progressed. I was ready for advanced baseball lectures by my teenage years. I still enjoy going to baseball games.

5. About History
Sometimes he could even mix baseball and history.

6. About Politics
My dad has a knack for sharing his political knowledge without pushing his views onto anyone else. Political cartoons and opinion pieces were often marked with a post-it note for me to read. Now he emails links or mails us a particularly good political cartoon.

7. How to keep up with things
My dad is organized and keeps up with things. This rubbed off on me (most of the time...) and I still like marking a paper calendar even though I have electronic ones too.

8. How to avoid too much college debt
As student loan debt grows, my dad helped us (my brother and me) avoid taking on too much debt for our educations. He helped us navigate the financial aid systems at our universities, which was not easy.

9. How to manage money
I am glad that I had an allowance growing up and learned to manage money over the years.

10. How to be there for your family
Over the years, I observed my dad do so much for his parents, for my mom, and for his children. Thank you, Dad!

There are certainly more things that I have learned from my dad over the years, but I have used up my 10 Things list for this month.

You can read more posts about 10 Things on the Tenth of the Month at shimelle.com.

California Academy of Sciences

Yesterday we had an awesome day trip into San Francisco to visit the California Academy of Sciences. We took the scenic route to see the Pacific Ocean and avoid traffic on 19th Street. It was a nice drive in and out of the city.

The admission to the museum is expensive but worth it. The museum is great for all ages and had ample space even on a Saturday afternoon. We saw most of the museum in one day, but that was with a three year old who does not stop to "read" things. He likes to go, go, go!


Alex liked looking the the dinosaur.


John and I wanted to see the Earthquake exhibit. The simulated earthquake was not recommended for kids under age 4, so John and I went separately while the other one watched Alex.


We learned about preparing for an earthquake, and Alex enjoyed all of the interactive exhibits. If there is a button, then he must push it.


John and I grew up with tornado drills, and Alex has already practiced what to do in an earthquake at preschool. His teacher says that all of the kids there want to get under the same table...


Real or fake? At first this alligator did not look real, but then it started to move. It turns out that Claude is an albino alligator. Photos of the flash sensitive animals at the museum are available here on Flickr.




The aquarium section of the museum is fun, and we were able to identify some of the fish. The Emperor Angelfish is my new favorite.








The Rooftop Garden is neat and has great views.


The museum is located in Golden Gate Park, and we still have many more areas to explore in the park.

Adding Some Bling

For the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #55 I needed to add some bling but still keep my card clean and simple. I have been playing with my (new to me) Perfect Peals, which add a nice sheen and sparkle. I water colored the stamped flowers with Distress Markers and then added the Perfect Pearls spray after they were dry and cut out.



Supplies Used:
Stampin' Up! Pale Plum Card Stock (retired)
Distress Markers in Chipped Saphire, Broken China, and Worn Lipstick
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad & Marker
Perfect Pearls Mist in Perfect Pearl
Stamps: Flutter By from Lawn Fawn and Say it All from Hero Arts
Tool: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper (1/4")

Our Creations

Alex did some stamping at school:

Recently, he made this creature on the computer at school. All of the eyes make me laugh.

Here is one of the Mother's Day cards that I made but forgot to post. Time to work on Father's Day cards! How is it June already?!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Pale Plum from Stampin' Up; Sweet Blush & White from Paper Trey Ink
Stamps: Happy Mother's Day & Zig Zag Background from Hero Arts; Flutter By from Lawn Fawn
Distress Markers: Broken China, Chipped Saphire, Worn Lipstick
Distress Ink: Peeled Paint
Ink: Tuxedo Memento Black and Versa Mark

Maker Faire

On May 20th we headed to Maker Faire in San Mateo. We attended a Maker Faire in Austin in 2008 and are excited to be able to attend a bigger event annually in the Bay Area. I do not know exactly what to compare Maker Faire to or how to describe the event to truly do it justice. Here is what the website says, "A two-day, family-friendly festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement." It is worth attending a Maker event in your area: http://makerfaire.com/map.html

I enjoyed the crafty area and just seeing all of the different things that people make.

Here are a couple of videos worth watching:
http://fora.tv/2012/05/20/Adam_Savage_of_MythBusters_Why_We_Make
We caught the end of Adam Savage's talk. (Yes, this is about 40 minutes.)
http://www.tested.com/videos/44497-adam-on-the-role-of-making-in-education/
(Ok, this one is only about 5 minutes.)

Alex had fun looking at the robots and playing with robots. His favorite part was playing at the Lego Jeep. I see lots of Legos in our future!