Baby Boy

  My husband's cousin and his wife just had their first baby.  I made a quick card (under 10 minutes) for them.

Pasadena Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

  I finished my 2nd half marathon of 2013.  Did I tell you that my husband and I are going to try to do 10 in 2013?!?!  Remember that he signed us up for the Rock 'n' Roll 2013 Tour Pass so that we can do as many as we want in 2013?  Well, you get "extra" medals for finishing more races in the same year.  For example, since this is our 2nd race in 2013, we will also receive and additional medal called the "Encore" medal.  For 3 races, the "Triple Crown".  For 4 races, the "Grand Slam", etc...  When you do 10 races, you receive the "Rock Idol" medal.  Crazy, huh?  However, it IS motivating me to exercise and train.  And remember, I do it all for the bling!
  My goal was to finish the Pasadena run in 3 hours.  Not a great pace if you are a true runner, but remember I couldn't even run ONE mile a year ago.  So I am pretty happy that I am just completing these races...and that I did meet my goal.  My time was 2:58:00.
  The first half of the race, we were making good time and ahead of our pace.  At the 9 mile marker, we were at 2 hours so I thought that I could do the last 4 miles in 1 hour, no problem.  But then I hit a wall and I just didn't want to run anymore.  All I wanted to do was lie down!  We lost a lot of time in the last few miles of the race and I had to really push myself the last half mile to make it within 3 hours.
  My husband is a great coach.  First of all, he stays with me the entire race.  I think that he thinks that if he went ahead like he could, that I would quit and never finish a race.  There may be some truth to that.  ;-)  But seriously, he keeps me going and is so encouraging.

  I'll keep you posted on our upcoming races.  My goal is to finish each race in better time...even if it is only by a few seconds.  Happy running!

Happy Valentine's Day!

  My hubby is a huge reptile lover.  I knew I was really in love (with him) when I actually touched a leopard gecko, jackson chameleon, panther chameleon, and a snake with my bare hands.  The fact that I even know the difference between any of them should be proof enough.  LOL!
  Anyway, I always try to make my hubby a reptile themed card so Valentine's Day is no exception.  It's amazing that Stampendous actually makes a Valentine's Day reptile themed stamp set!!!

     For my birthday last year, my family chipped in and bought me a Sizzix Big Shot.  All you card makers out there know that this machine is a "must have".  I don't know how I lasted so long without one.  Well, now that I DO have a Big Shot, I bought a lot (I told my husband only a few - wink, wink) of die sets at the scrapbook convention the other weekend.  The "flip it" card die and the matching Sizzix Framelits are a few of what I got...isn't it cute???  I have to learn to do video so I can show you how cool it looks when you flip it.
  Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Give your loved ones lots of hugs!!!

  

Running

  For those of you who do not know, I finished my first half marathon last December and my second in January.  It all started because my hubby signed us up for the Rock 'N Roll Marathon Series 2013 Tour Pass.  That means we can run in as many events that we want to for the year...Yayyyy (eyes rolling).

  What you need to understand is that I am NOT a runner!  When I started training last year, I could barely run a mile without huffing and puffing...and it was probably at a 15 minute/mile pace.  LOL!  I am getting a little better, and can run faster and much farther, but am still amazed that I can even finish a half marathon even though still I have to walk a lot of it.

  The reason I am even remotely motivated to run?  The BLING!  See my racing medals...

  Yesterday, I bought new running shoes from A Snail's Pace, a specialty running store.  This is the first time I didn't just go to the outlet mall for any athletic shoes.  At the running store, they make you stand on this gizmo that shows you how your arches look and make you walk and run while they analyze your "gait" (whatever that is).  Anyway, I learned that I need to choose a half size bigger for running shoes.  No wonder my toes would hurt!

  I hope the new shoes make me go faster!  I tried them out this morning on a short run, and they feel very comfortable.  Notice I already put the shoe bling my mother in law bought me for my first half marathon on...aren't they pretty?  ;-)

   

Well, I'd better go and work on some of my cards.  

Pictures

  Anyone have tips on taking better quality pictures to post on my blog?  I just take pictures with my iPad.  When I visit other blogs, the pictures posted are so professional looking.  Any suggestions will help.  Thanks!

Getting started

  Hello friends!  Today is my very first blog post and I am so excited.  Blogging is new to me so please be patient and I hope to get better at it as time goes on.
  The reason I've started this blog is so that I can post some of the rubber stamped creations I design.  Over the past year, rubber stamping/making cards has been my latest hobby (I've put my beaded jewelry making supplies aside for a while).  I've discovered that a lot of my fellow card makers have blogs to share their ideas and so I wanted to do the same.
  I am addicted to rubber stamps made by Denami Designs.  Their stamps are so "flippin'" cute!!!  You will see a lot of their stamps in my cards.  I also love glitter...lots and lots of glitter!  You'll see that I tend to "bling out" most of my cards.
  Attached to today's blog  are some of the cards I've made in 2012.  You'll probably notice that as I have learned more techniques and have gotten the proper supplies, that my card making has gotten better...at least I think so.  ;-)  The thing that I am most excited about is that I can create awesome patterned paper from blank sheets.

  Here is a card and a box to hold cards that I made for my card making partner, Mel, for her birthday.

    This card is something that I've designed and I really liked so I am saving it and haven't given it to anyone yet.  If you ever receive this card from me, you'll know you are special.  LOL!

  I made this card for my Aunt for her birthday.

  Last, are just some miscellaneous cards I used with some cool patterns I made.

  Well, I hope you stick around for more.  There was a scrapbooking convention last weekend where I bought lots of new goodies.  I am anxious to use my new supplies and post new designs soon.