groppi girl blogs

These race reports are so late but I still wanted to write them.

The journey to 42.4 miles in one weekend began with Disney’s Up and Away 5K through Epcot. It was early. We set the alarm for just before 5 am. It was in the high 30’s, which was warm for the trip. We headed over to the parking lot of Epcot and wait for the start. Not only were Jill and I up to run, but Kenny, his mom and dad, his aunt and uncle and our friend Chris with his son Andrew.

They were going to walk, so we headed up to the earlier corrals and waited for the start.

The start was so entertaining - they had all the characters and put on a cute show!!! Soon after, we started to countdown and we were off!!

The first mile was through the parking lot. It’s not the most scenic mile, but it does enter a backstage area that’s pretty cool to look at. You come into the park through the backstage area at Mexico and run around the World Showcase, which has always been a favorite of mine, running or not.

You head back to Spaceship Earth for the last mile. It was fun because all the Christmas decorations were still up and they had the big Epcot Christmas tree all lit up.

The finish is always so fun. Every Disney course is filled with people cheering in the stands.

They didn’t get the best shot but I like it. Almost like I was too fast but they caught me last minute.

You get these really cute, albeit cheesy rubber, medallions.

The whole race warmed up the legs to prepare them for Goofy. Only 39.3 miles to go!

I am laughing at myself as I write this. My husband and I recently watch the movie, My Best Friend’s Girl with Dane Cook. We saw him New Year’s Eve at the TD Garden. After the show, we decided to watch some of his movies that we hadn’t seen. The soundtrack had 99 Red Balloons, which was one of my favorite songs when I was little. I downloaded a version of it onto my iPod and added it to the training mix. So, after my run the other day, I decided I need to get a birthday card for a friend done. I found a piece of the American Crafts “cloud” paper and instantly though that I should do something with balloons.

I didn’t want to do all red balloon because of the color scheme I had in mind but I think it turned out really cute. I used Papertrey Ink Everyday Button Bits, Background Basics: Text Style, Dark Chocolate and Spring Moss cardstock.

The ribbon is an American Craft spool I had in the stash.  I thought I would use Text Style a bunch more when I bought it. It’s seen use but I’m going to try to incorporate it into a few more cards. I’ve been trying to resist buying anything new lately. I’ve been doing pretty good. I need to order adhesive but I am trying to keep from hitting “Place Order” on the PTI cart I have filled up. Thank goodness several of the items I want are out of stock.

I’ve been meaning to post these. Really, I have. It’s tough when people who are your intended recipients may read the blog. You don’t want to spoil the fun early. So, now that I know all the packages have at least reached their destination via the USPS Track & Confirm, I can share!!! I apologize for the lousy photos.

I made this card for all the pink mailboxes that I sent out. The pink mailbox had me hunting for the perfect paper. I managed to find these two patterned papers at AC Moore. For the stamping portion, I used Papertrey Ink Fancy Flourishes and Handwritten Notes. The paper is Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate and so is the twill ribbon. The pink felt heart was cut with a Cuttlebug die that I used in my NEW Cuttlebug (I broke my old one…more on that later.)

I used all sorts of leftover Thickers from the stash for each monogram. The ribbon is Martha Stewart Crafts. I used a Creative Memories heart punch to use on the flag. I didn’t cover the border with ribbon because I thought the pink mailbox was so cute just popping out. I filled them with all little treats.

For the packaging, I used Papertrey Ink Small Glassine bags. They turned out really nice. I even stamped some of them. I used ribbon and buttons from the stash, which was very satisfying. Ok, now back to the Cuttlebug. I was taking it out of it’s cabinet the other day, when klutzy me lost my grip. I managed to drop it right on the handle, which proceeded to break clean off. There was just no way to salvage it. But I ponied up the dough for a new one and was back in business. Having the 50% coupon at Michael’s didn’t hurt either.

Last Christmas post!!! This was one of the cards that I mass produced for Christmas. It was fun and easy. I really loved the Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy stitched ribbon although I did have to resort to an AC Moore twill because I ran out and didn’t have time to order more.

I used Red Stickles on the tree to add a little bling. The Ripe Avocado is such a nice colors. I really loved teaming it with all sorts of colors this past holiday season.

The button and twine are from Papertrey Ink too. It’s going to be difficult to top this year’s cards next year.

When any holiday comes around, I have grand ambitions. This Christmas was no different. I tried keeping to my budget this year. I ended up making notepads with the paper pads available from Papertrey Ink. They were fun to make and they didn’t break the budget. The color combination was to compliment the Christmas card.

I put the pads in a cellophane treat bag with Walmart with a pen I purchased from Staples. I used Papertrey buttons for the front. I think the hardest part of the project was finding the right sized buttons for the project in the little bag they come in.

I created my own sentiments in Adobe Creative Suite. I like the concept of Papertrey Ink’s Take Note stamp set but not the actual sentiments included. I just printed out about a dozen per page and cut them out with a Nestabilities circle die. If I had the right sized circle punch, I would have used it to make it go a little faster.