I saw so many great new stamps at CHA that I wanted to share with you some of my favorites. I am a sucker for a good stamp set! :)
TECHNIQUE TUESDAY
Visiting Technique Tuesday’s booth was super-fun because not only did I get to see the latest and greatest stamps coming out, I also got to meet my friend Linda Barber in person.
I also had the pleasure of meeting Ali Edwards at the Technique Tuesday booth. 
On to the stamps! Technique Tuesday featured some of the stamps from their Studio A (Ali Edwards) monthly stamp subscription program.
There was also another display with many of the Ali Edwards stamps that are new and being released as we speak. I loved them all and wished I could have brought them home with me! :)
Love the graphic look of some of these new sets being released!
The Banner Up set is super cute. I can see myself using these on cards and layouts a lot!
I’m in love with all the stamp sets from the new Happyville line. I love the graphic look of them and how versatile they are.
Another favorite is the Fun Flair set by Ali Edwards. These circles will be perfect to use with a 1” punch!
I love any set with Ali Edwards’ handwriting. And this Noted set with tabs is so awesome. I can see using this for Project Life or mini books!
LAWN FAWN
Lawn Fawn is one of my favorite stamp companies. I love their high-quality and super-cute stamps. When I first got back into paper-crafting in 2011, they were the first stamps that I started purchasing.
One of the coolest things happening is that Lawn Fawn now has thin steel dies called Lawn Cuts that match their stamps!
Being able to die cut shapes that match the stamps is so very cool and appealing to me! 
Love this set of alphabet dies that match the Quinn’s ABCs stamp set!
Just love the jar and the fruits in Summertime Charm. The fortune cookie and take out box in Good Fortune are so cute and I love the sentiments that go into the curved banner.
So Much To Say set with big sentiments. Home Sweet Home and Happy Easter.
Critters On The Savanna, Mother’s Day, and Summertime Charm.
Year Three, a small birthday set celebrating Lawn Fawn’s third birthday in March. Riley’s ABCs, and Sharp Backdrops round out the new stamps.
Here are some of my other favorite stamps from CHA.
American Crafts Amy Tangerine calendar stamp.
Amy Tangerine Yes Please clear stamp set.
Cosmo Cricket Sweet Disposition cling stamps.
Elle’s Studio Daily Detail and Hello Sweetheart stamp sets.
Simple Stories Sn@p stamp sets Daily and Snapshot.
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favorite new stamps from winter CHA! What are your favorites and must-haves?
Thursday, January 31, 2013
CHA Favorites | Stamps
Monday, January 28, 2013
Evalicious Stamps + Video Tutorial
I love to stamp. There’s just something about inking up a stamp and pressing it down to paper that I really enjoy. When I found out that I made the Evalicious Design Team, I was so excited that I get to work with the awesome stamps!
Evalicious stamps are deeply etched red rubber stamps. They come with cling mount so you can use the stamps with your acrylic blocks. I love wood-mounted rubber stamps for their crisp impression, but they take a lot of room to store. I love clear stamps because they are easy to store. The Evalicious cling mounted rubber stamps are the perfect combination of BOTH! Many of the Evalicious stamps are PERFECT for Project Life, so I will be using them a lot in my album. :)
Here I stuck my unmounted red rubber stamps onto the sticky cling mount foam sheets and trimmed them. Unless you purchase full sheets from Evalicious, your order will come pre-mounted and trimmed. All you would need to do is peel off the backing and stick them to your acrylic block to start stamping!
You get very crisp images when you stamp with these cling mount rubber stamps.
I have something extra cool to show you. I made custom cutting files for my Silhouette so that they match my Evalicious stamps!
I recorded a video tutorial to show you how you can do it too, with your own Evalicious stamps (or any stamps). This is on the Evalicious blog today, but you can also view it below. (Big huge thank you to my awesome husband Todd for writing and recording the bumper music for my video! He’s the BEST!)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Dinner At Q’ero Peruvian
After a few months off, we recently continued our food exploration with our friends Dejah and Roby. Last time we went to Sushi Ota and it was fantastic. We thought it was time to try out a new food experience together again, so we headed to Q’ero Peruvian Restaurant in Encinitas on Saturday, 1/19. We’ve never had Peruvian food before, so we were very excited to give it a try.
Todd and Roby were all smiles, even before the food came out.
Q’ero was a small restaurant, so we made reservations. That was a good thing because the place was packed!
Dejah and I sported black and white stripes. No, we didn’t call each other beforehand! :)
The restaurant had a very dark ambiance, so getting good food photos was a challenge. We ordered several appetizers to share.
This was a big Chicken Saltena. It’s actually a Bolivian tradition. Baked, handmade empanada filled with dice potatoes, peas, raisins, spices, and chicken.
Empanadas De Verduras, which were vegetarian and had lentils, sweet potatoes, and spinach in them.
This was the Ceviche Mixto – morsels of sea bass, calamari, bay shrimp, and Peruvian “choclo” kernels in a lemon, roasted jalapeno-cilantro marinade. It had a kick to it!
I got the Costillas en Jora, which was beef short ribs braised in Chicha de Jora (sacred corn beer), served over mashed aji amarillo potatoes with sauteed Swiss chard.
Dejah got a roasted butternut squash appetizer as her meal.
We also got some Platano Relleno, which were sweet plantain cake filled with black beans, topped with sour cream and scallions.
Roby got the Pernil de Chancho – Kurobuta pork shank prepared confit style with roasted oyster mushrooms, sauteed with shallots and finished in an aji amarillo sauce. I didn’t get a good photo of it.
Todd got the Bistek a la Trujillana – grilled Brandt Ranch skirt steak with a caramelized onion, aji amarillo, and chicha de jora sauce, served over sweet potatoes with sauteed Swiss chard.
A lot of the food was spicier than we had expected, but the flavors were delicious. We had a great time chatting and enjoying the food and each other’s company.
And for dessert, each couple got a Tres Leches Cake. We had heard about this already so it was a no brainer. And it was as delicious as it looked!
Much of the food served at Q’ero was gluten-free, so if you’re looking for GF restaurants, you definitely need to try this one out. We had a great time and the food was really good. Now we have tried Ethiopian, Russian, and Peruvian food. What should be next?
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Project Life | Here We Go
I’ve been doing Project Life on and off since mid-2011. In total, I have two full albums with about a year of memories documented. I’m excited to start a new Project Life album and keep printing out photos and add journaling to my album. I’ve missed it!
Last night I put together my cover page for my 2013 Project Life album.
I love the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson and wanted to use it for my title page. I was going to just print it out onto a 3x4 card, but then this idea of spreading it out across all my photos came to me. I processed all my photos with the same recipe of filters in Rad Lab, so that they have a consistent look. Then I pulled the photos up in Photoshop and typed out the words in big white letters across my photos. I lowered the opacity so that the photos can still be seen underneath the text. Then I printed my photos out. For the middle two slots, I used a thick woodgrain cardstock in chocolate color. The “HELLO” was stamped using Studio Calico’s Stepping Stone alphabet stamps with Brilliance Ink in Galaxy Gold. Then I used some number Thickers for the “2013”. On the left, I used my Silhouette to cut out the framed camera shape with POW glitter paper, and inked and Stickled the wood veneer heart shape.
What will be my process for 2013?
- Take photos on most days with my Canon DSLR, my Canon point-and-shoot, my iPad, or my phone.
- Upload photos to my computer a couple of times a week. Process and tag photos in Lightroom.
- Make any photo collages I want to print in Lightroom.
- Print photos at home using my Canon Pixma MG5320 printer.
- Use paper or printed digital supplies. Whatever I feel like at the time.
- Not worry about missing weeks or having a 2-page spread per week. I don’t want to force it such that it becomes a chore and not enjoyable anymore. I love it for what it is and want to keep doing it whenever I can fit it in.
- Using lots of Evalicious supplies. ♥
- Using digital supplies from One Little Bird and The Lilypad.
- Incorporate other sized layouts into the album if it makes sense and tells stories in a better way.
My tentative plan is something like a one-page per week. I’m going to use other divided page protector configurations if they make more sense. I have a ton I’ve bought and haven’t used, plus my sister gave me a big batch of We R Memory Keepers ones that I can use. I love those because they are sturdy and durable.
One thing I’ve noticed that prevents me from actually getting my pages done is looking at too much inspiration on the internet. I love looking at other people’s pages for inspiration, but there comes a point when you realize there’s too many choices and you get overwhelmed with indecision. I’ve decided to limit myself in the time I spend looking at other people’s pages, so that I can get my pages done, in my own way. I don’t really know what my style is, or if I even have a consistent style. I’m not too worried about it. :)
What are your plans for Project Life, if you are doing it this year?
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