July is flying by!

OUCH! Icing the knees

I can't believe that July is almost over! This summer is certainly passing me by - I've been so busy and tired! The tiredness might be due to the fact that I started Crossfit two weeks ago - and I am now in regular classes. This was me, Monday, after my first "real" class. Let's just say I was a little sore.

Since I've been so tired, I've been slacking on the craft-front. I said I was going to do another card challenge - soon, hopefully! I have been getting a lot of awesome inspiration! Like today for instance, its Pep Rally Week for Paper Smooches and the design team is putting out some B-E-A-U-TIFUL cards for their blog hop! (Check it out here) Like this one, made by Teri Anderson:

The colors are just amazing!!!! What a simple, but beautiful card! I love it! Not to mention, they're spoiling us with a prize by simply commenting on the blogs and mentioning the blog hop. (I sure do hope I win! I LOVE Paper Smooches!!!)

In other news, I'm attending a wedding this weekend. I've known the Bride since kindergarten! Should be a fabulous time - can't wait!

Until we meet again!

On to the next one...

I really enjoyed doing the Lawnscaping challenge # 61, but unfortunately I didn't win. But one to the next one! I was also recommended some other challenges that I might try (Retro Sketches and The Fusion Card Challenges).

Congrats to Vidya and her awesome card:

Wow! What a great card!

The next challenge is Lawnscaping Challenge #62 - Paper Piecing! Let's see what I come up with!

Strength...

I had a pretty horrible morning. Hopefully my "breakdown" will be a "breakthrough," and get me past this road block that's been holding me back. So when I came into work this morning, and saw this picture on my motivator's blog, I thought of it as a sign.

Cheers to a better day!

This week is turning...

....out to be a first of many things!

1) I entered my first card challenge (as you can see from the previous post)

2) I started Crossfit yesterday. I attended my trial class, which was also the first day of the beginner's on-ramp class. I must say, I was extremely nervous/excited (maybe a little intimidated too) before class started. But, of course, like many other times, I didn't need to feel all those emotions. The class was great! The coaches were super nice and understanding.

This is the push I have been looking for. I've been getting bored my regular gym and dieting/trying to eat healthy on my own wasn't working as much as I have wanted it to; or at all. I was sick of my clothes not fitting well enough (a comment that a friend made over the weekend was the straw that broke the camel's back). I'm sick of being tired all the time and not having the overall health and energy.

I'm committed now. I'm signing up for this. This is the beginning. This is a new chapter of my life. Yay for the next class on Wednesday!


On another note, I am loving the trendy nautical-inspired theme that's going around! Here are a couple cute nautical-inspired cards I've done recently:

Well I think that's all for today! Cheers!

My first card challenge

So I've been following some awesome blogs to see what else is out there in the card-making world, and I have come across some pretty cool things and techniques. One thing that I have been seeing a lot of is card-making challenges. The host of the challenge will pick some sort of theme, or sketch, or color palette, etc, give you a time limit, a few examples and off you go! Since I'm always looking to try something new, I tried my hand at my first challenge.

Here is the inspiration sketch:

This is my creation for the Lawnscaping sketch challenge:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico
Ink: Ranger "Vintage Photo" distress ink

We'll see how I do!