Tim Tam Temptation

We haven't given away a prize for a while, so I think we should do that today. But first, a Five Dollar Diet update.

Lindsay and I were strong all through CHA. We did not order cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory...... although others did. We did not eat any junk at Disneyland...... even as I watched my sister-in-law eating a chocolate-covered, frozen banana. We didn't even eat any of the Tim Tams that Cheryl from Aussie Scrap Source brought for us all the way from Australia (and that is saying something!). The $5 donation jar has only collected the one time donation from Lindsay's slipped profanity.

(Lindsay and I with our Tim Tams. This is the only photo I had, so please don't tease Lindsay too much for being caught in the middle of saying something! Oh and for those who don't know, Tim Tams are these super-yummy, chocolate-covered cookies.)

Eric and Lindsay both say that I am getting skinnier. I am starting to believe them since my pants are looser and I'm fitting into some that didn't fit before. I don't know what I weigh because Lindsay and I agreed not to weigh ourselves until April 1. But, Eric thinks I'm looking so great that he has decided to join us. It's nearly killing him!!! He has been "clean" for two days. GO ERIC!

How are your healthy efforts going? Let us know and you could win:
One package of Tim Tams
A Super Sweet Chemistry Paper Crafting Kit
A Scrumptios Snorkel Sampling
A Tasty Scarlet Blackboard Album

Now to hold you over until we find out the winner, feast your eyes on these fun projects by design team member Yukari.

Meet Eric..... The Man Behind the Camera

Now that we have established that I am not married to Lindsay, I thought I would introduce you to the man I am married to, Eric.

Here are 25 random things about him, by him:
1. The first record I ever bought was Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA.
2. I need to have my desk or work area organized before I can start working.
3. I am a huge procrastinator.
4. I don’t like change. That’s why I am on my 5th pair of Black Chuck Taylors.
5. I did not enjoy reading until I was 18 when I read the book My Name Is Asher Lev.
6. I am 6.6 although I always tell everyone I am 6.5
7. I like to shop from J Crew because they sell tall clothing.
8. The one thing I really want to own is an Eames Lounge Chair.
9. I knew, when I was 14, that I wanted to be an art director in Advertising.
10. When I was an art director I worked on accounts like Intel, Iomega and Extensis.
11. When I go to the movies, I love watching the previews almost as much as the movie.
12. I started listening to Elvis Costello when I was 12. My older sister had sent me home a mixed tape of his music and I’ve been hooked ever since.
13. I think vacuuming is relaxing.
14. I have 3 older sisters and 4 younger brothers.
15. My favorite foods are sweet potatoes in the winter time and Pesto and Mozzerella in the summertime.
16. I love typography.
17. My favorite color is blue.
18. I am a compulsive doodler. Without thinking I have doodled on my kids homework assignments, bills, insurance papers...
19. I don’t like crowds.
20. Unlike Lindsay or Julie I do not need or want to be the center of attention.
21. I cannot sing. It has been confirmed by several people.
22. My favorite radio show is This American Life. You can usually find it on a public radio station or you can download their podcast. Make sure to donate when they ask for your help.
23. I have four fabulous kids.
24. I work with my best friend everyday.
25. I’ve loved being part of building up Cosmo Cricket and can’t wait to see what happens next.

So, what do you think? Did I make a good catch? I think so and wanted to capture it in this fun album I made out of our new spinner cards. Since they are only a $1.49 retail, it's not too expensive to use them as pages...... or at least covers, although any one of these pages would be cute on a layout as well!

We're Back

Good morning! We had a safe trip back and after sleeping most of the day yesterday, I feel almost like my old self again.

I wanted to post this project by Natasja Verbeek, because Lindsay showed it in a video and gave credit to a fictitious person named Martina...... although he did get the country right. I absolutely love this project. I emailed the photos of my son, Jack, over to Holland where Natasja made this book. She bound it with ribbon for the show and it was a big hit! I'm not sure what she used as the pages, but you could used chipboard, bookboard, old game boards, old book covers, etc.

Many of you want to know which line sold the best. Well, I would tell you if I knew, but it is too close to call. To be honest, we cannot, at this point, even rule out Lil' Men and Everafter. Even when the orders are entered, Lindsay and I will continue the debate until the lines are dead...... and I mean dead, dead, dead. We are still arguing over whether Halfway Cafe will ever be able to sell more than Dutch Girl. I picked Dutch Girl which was number one, but now there is a chance Halfway Cafe could be picked up by another account giving Lindsay his bragging rights two years later.

If You Think You Can, You Can

Apparently Lindsay and I think we can. The collection jar at Cosmo Cricket is empty....... those poor charities. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, read this entry.)

It has taken it's toll...... at least on me. I had a dream Saturday night. I was at a party and someone offered me a treat. It looked like a Reese's Peanut Butter cup, but it was white chocolate on the outside and had gooey milk chocolate on the inside (I think this was inspired by a bag of candy Lindsay's wife gave my husband...... it's a conspiracy I tell you). Anyway, in my dream I temporarily forgot our challenge and I took the candy....... opened it...... scooped the gooey chocolate off the wrapper and put it in my mouth. As soon as I had done this, I see Lindsay coming over to talk to me. Suddenly I remember the challenge and realize he is going to find me with chocolate in my mouth. I swallow quickly. Put my head down and try to get away. I remember being so worried he would be able to smell chocolate on my breath. It turned into one of those panic dreams where you have to get away or it will be bad.


Then, last night, I had to close myself in my office while my husband made chocolate chip cookies with my kids. But, while I was there I started this journal of my "Health Nut" experience. It is fun to do, has me motivated to keep my goal and will be fun to look back on. I thought I'd share it in hopes of inspiring the rest of you hopefuls into documenting your progress toward better things! If you think you can, you can!!

PS: The prize drawing below is still open. The winner will be announced tomorrow morning...... but maybe even more exciting...... you'll get to meet Larry the Temp.

PPS: I asked Eric to photograph these for me. He thought it would be funny to use a fork to hold the journal open. Ha ha ha.

Japanese Friends & Class Instructions

Here are some of the friends we met in Japan. There were many others including Rei who gave us a lovely gift and Yoko who made this album using photos and entries from our blog.

Sorry about the poor photos. It's very overcast today, and I don't have enough light to shoot these. But, don't you just love this album! I will treasure it. So many great memories! I especially love that she took stills from the videos and placed them in as film strips.

On another note, here are the instructions for the classes I taught in Japan. I wasn't sure how to save these for the blog. Hopefully they work for you (click on them for the full size sheet). If they don't, email us and we'll send them to you. You are free to use these for yourself or for classes or anything else you have in mind. We just ask that you credit Cosmo Cricket. Enjoy!

Two Winners

Good morning everyone (I can't say ladies anymore since we had our first male comment...... Hi Jon!), anyway talk about a hard choice. Everyone had fabulous ideas and I can't wait to try some of them myself...... and to see what you do with fabric whether you're one of the winners or not!

OK, so to the matter at hand. I said I would pick my favorites and the first is lynzei who said, "I'd make yo-yos, ruched flowers, die cuts, little stuffed creatures, backgrounds for name frames, oh and I'd need to fashion a nifty retro apron to wear while I make all my pretty projects. I'd craft and sing, "I feel pretty, oh so pretty..."

I just had to pick this entry because I love the ideas and I love the song! Actually, this was the theme movie for Cosmo Cricket heading up to CHA winter. I sent it to everyone in the office.


For the second pick, I choose Shari who said, "I'm so excited to see another line of Fabric from Cosmo Cricket!!! Sewing was my first love before stamps and paper! I love working on projects that combine the three. This fabric would be great for fabric postcards!" I picked her because I would love to see fabric postcards!

Other ideas that I thought were fabulous included running it through a die-cutting machine, using it to reinforce the spines of paper albums and printing on it.... of course!

I continue to play with it myself. Look at my album so far!

And that's not the best part! Eric and I went to the local Kmart Photo Booth (they have doubled the price to $2!) and got these super fun photos that I plan to use. Don't they just crack you up! I highly recommend this. Even at double the price it is a fun and inexpensive date!


Finally, if you are one of the lucky winners, email your address to kristen@cosmocricket.com and we'll send you your prize! But, if you're not one of the winners, don't worry because tomorrow you'll have a chance to see a sneak peek of our newest line and maybe even win some of it!!

What's A Scrapbooker Like You Want With Fabric Like This?

So, you think you would like to win a bundle of Hey Sugar Fat Quarters do you? We'll we think we would like to give a couple away. Here's what to do. Tell us how you would use your fabric to enhance your paper crafting projects by posting a comment on this entry.

That's right, whether you're a card maker, scrapbooker, altered works artist, etc. We are looking for fun, creative ideas on how to incorporate fabric into the world of paper crafting. We will choose our two favorites on Monday, so put those thinking caps on.

Here is a little experiment I tried late last night. I took some really thick, stiff interfacing that I had purchased earlier at my local fabric shop. I fused it to some Hey Sugar fabric, cut it out to match our Jack's Blackboard Album, decorated it up and will use it as the cover of a fun little album about Eric and me falling in love.......... that's why it says censored........ we have a very passionate relationship. :)


Oh, and don't you like my little additions to the blog. I thought it was about time I spruced it up a bit (I'm not technically savvy, so it's a bit of a challenge for me). You'll notice on the side bar, I added our followers with a link for you to become one. You can also subscribe to the blog (although I have no idea how these things work). Oh, and I added links to our design team member's blogs because they always have fun things going on too!

Have a great day!

Gingerbread House

It did snow, so I feel justified in posting a Christmas project. I didn't have any holiday photos on hand, but I plan to add them! I used the Oh Joy papers of course, including the ornament covers and strip tease sheet. I also used the Buck Naked Chipboard Ornaments and the green velvet ribbon from Mr. Campy.

Scrapfest!

I have been soooooo busy the last couple of weeks preparing for Scrapfest. If you are going to be there, stop by and visit us at our make and take booth where you can make a Mr. Campy or Jack's World project....... with Blackboard!! If you're not going to be there, enjoy these instructions to one of the classes we are teaching (it's even cuter with photos). (Click on the images to view them bigger.)

And That's Not All...

Introducing five new project kits. These kits come packaged with everything you need to make fabulous projects, including the instructions. Perfect for classes and/or quick gifts with price points for everyone!