More is More

Yes, we actually went to Club 33 last night!  

We saw it as once in a lifetime opportunity.  We were invited by friends Dave and Dana who had a cancellation in a party of 10 they were going with.  One of the guys in the party had the tickets through a corporate membership and they had been to dinner there before.  Three of the couples (including us) were Club 33 newbies.  Boy were we wide eyed and in awe!

This door is next to the Blue Bayou Restaurant.  You put a key card in a slot and push an intercom button.  Once they confirmed our reservation a hostess came and escorted us in.  We then had the choice of walking up a staircase or going up the glass elevator two at a time.  Of course Curt and I wanted to go in the old elevator!  There are two dining rooms once you get upstairs – the main dining room and the trophy room where we sat.  The Trophy Room is smaller and was originally designed to be Walt Disney’s private entertaining space.  The Pirates of the Caribbean ride is just on the other side of the wall of this room and we got to peek through a door onto a balcony and into the ride.

I must say that the service at Club 33 was the best service I have ever had in any restaurant!  Our waiter Louis told us that he has worked at Disneyland for 17 years and over 15 of those years have been at Club 33 AND he’s low man in seniority on the wait staff there.  Wow!  We were able to get up and walk around to look at things any time throughout dinner which lasted about 3 1/2 hours.  The funny thing was that any time you left your seat, when you returned you would find your napkin re-folded and sitting on the table in a little tent fold shape.  One of the girls in our group mentioned that she felt really bad that she kept getting up and Louis had to keep re-folding her napkin, so the next time she left the table, he came and did a super fancy fold for her which totally cracked me up.

The food was certainly yummy.  I had a New York Strip and Curt had Duck.  Several people in our party had a 5 course pre-fixe menu with a wine pairing.  I don’t drink much and certainly couldn’t appreciate a wine pairing.  Instead I got a non-alcoholic Pirate Punch with light up Tink!  🙂 Oh and I wasn’t the only one at the table to get one of these.  You can’t tell in the photo, but Tink lit up a bright green!  For dessert we had a creme brulee (because all the chocolate options seemed to have fruit associated with them – blech!).

I have to share something funny – the bathroom freaked me out slightly.  It was beautiful, but when I went in the stall the toilet looked almost like a big wicker chair/throne type thing.  The first stall I went in had the lid down and it literally looked like a chair.  I was so confused!  I went to the next stall where the lid was up.  *phew*  I’ve never seen such a thing!  LOL!

There were several souvineers with the “33” logo available for purchase, but we decided we didn’t need any of those (espeically after we paid the dinner tab – yikes!).  We did get a few little freebies though.  Little matchbook like notepads came along with chocolates at the end of the meal.  And when the waiter brought the credit cards slips for everyone to sign he brought each couple a Club 33 pen for us to keep.  I’m a total pen freak so this would be my first choice souvineer anyway!  He told us that up until about 10 years ago the matchbooks would be embossed with each person’s name, but it was such a tedious task that they finally stopped doing it.  I asked if they still had the embosser because I’d be more than happy to do mine myself!  LOL!

  I also took a couple of logo paper hand towels from the bathroom.  We kept joking all night about the things we were going to take to sell on ebay so Louis told us the hot tip was to take the hand towels – that they sell well.  Too funny!

Here’s a picture of us with our friends Dave and Dana.  Curt has been friends with Dave since Jr. High and I’ve been friends with Dana since first grade.  We fixed them up on a blind date (a classic pay it forward if you know our story) about 8 years ago.  The funny thing is that it was my Mom’s idea. I don’t think it would have ever occured to me to put them together.

Speaking of blind dates – if you are following my Blind Date Saga from March 11 – 20 years ago today it is Tuesday – 10 days after our blind date – and HALLELUJAH Curt called!  Apparantly Bill waited till the very end of the work day and as he was leaving he threw out a casual “hey you should really call Jami”.  Curt hadn’t been at all sure that I liked him so he had been hesitant to call.  Not sure how that happened – I thought I was clear with my signals, but I guess not.  I worked evenings at Arthur Murray so he called me at work that evening and asked me out for the upcoming Saturday night.  Let me tell you, for this date I planned to get a new outfit and put in a little more effort!  WooHoo!!  So check back with me on the 25th for our Second First Date!

Hope you are having a great weekend.  We have another dinner out with friends tonight and poor Curt has an awful cold. I’ve got to run change my clothes and get going.  Thanks for stopping by!

-Jami

This month’s DDA Gallery Reunion is being hosted by Holly.  Her challenge to us was to take a card from the very first page of our SCS gallery and CASE it making 3 subtle changes to improve it.  I started my gallery on SCS in July of 2004 with 17 uploads of things I had made over the past year.  So I had to go back and look at my stamping from 5 years ago!  Wow!  I chose this card which I was ever so proud of at the time.  I had designed it for my very first shoebox swap with a small group of SU Demo friends.

Um…..yeah…what can I say?  The angel was stamped onto a metal edged vellum tag and colored on the back with SU markers.  This was back in the day when we didn’t use designer paper on our cards.  Colors here were Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana and the long-since-retired Marvelous Magenta.  I decided to take the challenge fairly literally and keep the card as close to the origonal as possible without being embarrassed.

The colors aren’t great in this photo – sorry about that – I’m in a hurry and just can’t mess with the photo any more at the moment.  Look – I still have this 2003 SU set!  I used Pink Pirouette and So Saffron with a little bit of Purely Pomegranate.  The name of the SU dp escapes me at the moment but I think it’s retired.  Bling is all from Taylored Expressions. Image was stamped on shimmer white and colored with Copics.  The buttons match much better IRL – I promise!

So what do you think?  Better?  LOL!

To see all the entries for this challenge click here.

I’ve got to run. I got to go for tea with a girlfriend today and we got a last minute invite to join a group at Club 33 at Disneyland tonight fro dinner.  Club 33 is an exclusive members only and this might be our only chance to ever go.  So we’re off!  Have a great weekend.

-Jami

Happy Friday – Happy Spring – Happy Cupcake Day!

I really enjoyed this week’s sketch for the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge (TECC60) and even though cupcakes aren’t required I do have one for you today.  🙂

This is the big cupcake from the SU set Crazy for Cupcakes.  I simply omitted the birthday candle.  This was the perfect chance to try out my Baby Pink Flower Soft.  I had been wanting to do a Flower Soft cupcake ever since I got the stuff!  And I sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds glitter over the FS – so it’s fluffy AND sparkly!  The jewel-like sprinkles are Adorn It Clear Jewel Droplets.  I love those things!

I’ve seen a number of white on white cards that have inspired me recently (this one by Denise especially made me smile!) and it was so fun to play with this idea.  I just ran my white panels through the Cuttlebug with various embossing folders.  This Pretty in Pink and White along with just a touch of Green Galore really says Spring to me!  Isn’t it sweet?

Now let’s see what the rest of the Cupcake Crew has cooked up this week:

Be sure to check out Taylor’s blog for her sample and all the deets to play the challenge along with us.  While you’re there be sure to also follow the link to the Baker’s (Half) Dozen who are showcasing brand new Key Ingredients Kit samples today!

I have a busy day ahead of good fun stuff, but I hope to be back here at some point to also play in this months Dirty Dozen Alumni Challenge.  It’s a good one!  The birds had to go to bed last night before I could finish my card for it though so now I need to find a little time to get it done and posted.

For those of you looking for a Blind Date Saga Update (start with post on 3/11 if you are wondering what I’m talking about) – 20 years ago today – it’s Monday and I’m back at work.  Although I’m still hopeful that Curt may call, I am now saying all those things that you say so as not to be too disapointed….things like “no big deal”, “his loss”, “wasn’t meant to be”, “oh well I didn’t really want to go on that date in the first place”, etc.  What’s a girl to do?

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

-Jami

I was issued a little challenge by a friend who’s working on a project.  She asked me to create a masculine 3×3 card using the color Artichoke.  Here’s what I came up with.   Base is Artichoke edged with white craft ink  and then layered with Riding Hood Red, Black and Mellow Moss.  The Moss panel was stamped collage style with images from a couple of sets, but mostly the new set in the upcoming Occasions Mini Sense of Time.  Floral rub-on is SU and the bird rub-on is Maya Road.  Ribbon is black velvet for a feeling of richness.  Little red pearls are Kaiser Craft.  I didn’t have quite the shade I wanted so I colored white ones with a Copic marker.  Sentiment (also from Sense of Time)was embossed with black craft ink and clear embossing powder, then punched with my SU 1 3/4″ circle, sponged and popped up on foam tape.  The idea of this seemed intimidating at first, but I really ended up having fun creating it.

For those of you here for a Blind Date Saga installment (start at my post on 3/11 if you don’t know what I’m talking about) – 20 years ago today – it’s Sunday and the weekend is coming to an end.  No call.  *sigh*  I did what I swore I wouldn’t do – I sat home on Saturday night just hoping.  I swore I would not be pathetic like that any more, but gosh I really liked this guy!  I have spoken to Marcia, and Bill is still not wanting to get involved although he did say that it seems Curt is interested and did like me.  I implore (that sounds much better than “beg”, doesn’t it?) Bill to say something to Curt to encourage him to call me!  This is no time to step away Bill!  Seriously – see it through!

More to come.  Thanks for stopping by.

-Jami

I just got some of the newer floral sets from Our Craft Lounge and I’ve been dying to play with them along with some Flower Soft.  When I first saw the Color Challenge at SCS this morning I thought it sounded a litte crazy (Riding Hood Red, Summer Sun, Kraft, and optional Basic Black), but I know I have to trust my friend Jenn on these things so I decided to play along!  And she was right – it worked out pretty well.

This is one of those maddening cards that looks so much better in person.  I am actually super happy with it, but I am not liking this photo at all.  ugh!

Card base is Kraft cardstock stamped with SU Boho Blossoms BG in white craft ink.  Summer sun piece was cut with a circle nestie and then embossed with the CB D’Vine Swirls folder.  Image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on TE Choice Snow White cardstock and colored with copics.  Sunny yellow and sweet pea Flower Soft were added and the crystal effects was added over the roses.  The vase was covered with a spica glitter pen.  Embellishments are Kaiser Craft Chino pearls and Black rhinestones.  Ribbon is SU Riding Hood Red tafetta.

If you are following my Blind Date Story (start on March 11th post if you missed the beginning) – 20 years ago tonight – it’s now Friday night and my prospects for a date this weekend are not looking good.  Against my better judgement I have decided not to make plans for Saturday night, *just in case* he calls.  *sigh*  So what do you think?  Will I get a last minute date?  Stay tuned romance fans!  *wink*

Thanks for stopping by.

-Jami

Somehow I just never got around to sharing the cards we made in my February classes.  In both classes we made two cards that were simplified versions of cards I had previously posted.  Plus in my Friday night class we made a Crimped Envelope Pocket Card which I promptly gave away before I had photographed it – D’oh!  (I keep thinking I’ll re-make it so I can post it, but that hasn’t happened yet.)   In my Wednesday afternoon class, instead of that pocket card we made this simple paper-pieced cupcake card with Crazy for Cupcakes and Raspberry Tart dp.  Paper-piecing is one of my favorite techniques and it’s so easy!

Big News at Taylored Expressions today!  If you love Taylor’s fantastic Key Ingredients Kits be sure to check out her new subscription service!  Get all the info here.   If you’ve never tried one of the KI kits, you might want to hop over to the store and check out the current Easter KI.  It’s super Springy and will work well with lots of different stamps you might have all season long and into the Summer as well!

If you’re here for an update on the Blind Date Story (start here if you missed the beginning and then read my last few posts in order) – well…20 years ago today it’s Thursday…and he still hasn’t called.  I’m getting more and more anxious as the weekend is approaching and I really thought I would have a date lined up.  Considering I had no interest in going out with him in the first place and considering I had come to a place in my life where I had decided not to jump through hoops for a guy anymore….well…this feeling of anticipation was just not expected!  By now I had talked to Marcia a couple of times to try to get some feedback.  Yes, she thought he DID like me and yes she thought he would call!  I think around today would have been the time when I told her to tell Bill to PLEASE encourage Curt to call me.  Bill’s response was “I don’t want to get involved!”  WHAT????  You don’t want to get involved NOW????  Are you kidding me?  I try to just calm down, focus on work (which was always super busy) and be patient for awhile longer.

Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Monday!

-Jami

My monthly Stampin’ Up! Class was last night and we had a full house including two brand new ladies I had never met before.  We had a blast making 3 cards.  🙂 The first card I posted already a couple of days ago – click here if you missed it.  The other two cards both featured the Sale-a-Bration set Polka Dot Punches.  It’s so funny because I really didn’t care much for that set when I saw it in the SAB brochure and I only got it after already getting Botanical Blooms and the dp and the ribbon bundle.  But I decided I wanted to use it in class with the dp and ribbon and bundle and I went looking in the SCS gallery for inspiration.  Whoa!  There were a ton of cute samples!  Now I want to just go and play with this set!  I know blogs have taken over the world, but I hope people will continue to share in the SCS galleries.  There’s just nothing like it for inspiration all in one place!

After looking at a bunch of samples and being inspired by several of them, I created the card below mostly based on this card by stamperjen0.  It so nicley utilized all the elements I wanted to showcase – the stamp set, the designer paper and the ribbon.  It seemed perfectly put together to me -so thanks Jen!

The blue or green strip is just opposite sides of the same dp pattern, so each person had the choice which version of the card to make without any additional work on my part.  This card also allowed the ladies to heat emboss with white craft ink and white embossing powder, which has been a long time favorite combo of mine.  I really think the touch that just *makes* this card is the white flower button from the Button Latte collection.  I just got them and I LOVE them!

Stamps:  Polka Dot Punches (SAB Free)                  Absolutely Fabulous (p 132) Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Bashful Blue, So Saffron,                   Certainly Celery, plus designer paper – Delicate Dots (SAB Free)

 Ink:  Chocolate Chip Classic, Garden Green Classic, Whisper White Craft

 Other:  Whisper White embossing powder and embossing heat gun (p 186), Button Latte (p 176), Five Petal Flower Punch (p 185), Eyelet Border Punch, mini glue dots (p 191), dimensionals (p 191),  Ribbon Bundle (SAB Free)

The next card we made was CASEd from Tracy Harp (LodiChick) – see the original here.  The minute I saw it, I knew we would have to make it in class!  So fun and really super easy!  Tracy is a fellow DD Alum and her stuff always ROCKS!

It was so fun to get out the Cutter Kit to play with for this card.  And these went together very quickly too!

 Stamps: Polka Dot Punches (SAB Free)
Spring Song (p 82)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue
Close to Cocoa
Certainly Celery
designer paper—Delicate Dots (SAB Free)
Ink: Always Artichoke
Close to Cocoa
Sahara Sand
Other: Stamp-a-majig (p 189), sponges (p 190),
Cutter Kit (p 189), mat , dimensionals

Now I need to get everything put away from last night and head out to meet a sweet friend for the afternoon.  I should get home just in time to meet up with our Supper Club for dinner.  Good times!  I hope you have a great weekend.  Thanks for stopping by!

-Jami

PS  If you are following my blind date story (scroll down if you missed it) – 20 years ago today – it’s Tuesday – he hasn’t called – I’m starting to get a bit anxious.  I called Marcia and suggested that maybe Bill could see what the deal is….did Curt like me?  Would he be calling?  Of course at this point I’m hoping for a date for Saturday night.  Oh and did I mention.?…Curt had a new car on order…a red convertible LeBaron which just happened to be my dream car at the time.  I knew he was due to get it sometime this week.  I was fantasizing about a drive down PCH in it.  *sigh*