Twenty Five Years Later

Kenny and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and I swear it feels like the ceremony was yesterday.  I remember how my Maid of Honor, Karen and I spent the night with my sister Caroline the night before and that Karen was more nervous than I was to walk down the aisle.  I remember that the weather forecast said wet and windy and YES, it was very windy, but it did not rain at all.  Thank goodness my hair was very short back then.  I remember how handsome my baby Tony looked in his tuxedo and how cool dad looked with his dark hair and mustache - still a youngster.  I remember the camera flashes as Kenny and I walked down the aisle after the ceremony and how my grandma Weatherby was one of the first people to congratulate us as we walked out of the church.  I remember how fun it was to ride in the limo with both Karen, and Mike, our Best Man.  We drank champagne and honked at everyone on our way to the reception hall.  I remember all the drama with Sharon and her ex-boyfriend at the time.  I remember how a woman I didn't know, was so drunk in the bathroom that she asked if I was the bride - LOL - hello...I'm not wearing a veil and wedding dress for the heck of it!  I remember that we couldn't think of a song for our first dance, but when the DJ started playing, Reason by Earth Wind and Fire, we knew it was the right choice.  Kenny was so handsome in his tuxedo with or without that stupid boutonniere that kept falling off his coat.  My mom kept trying to fix it and eventually gave up.  The chicken mole, enchiladas, rice, beans, etc were so good.  All of my new aunts and cousins really outdid themselves with the homemade Mexican food.  We celebrated all night long with all our friends and family and were so exhausted the next day.  25 years...man...where has the time gone?

Craft Fair Photos

This Holiday Boutique I couldn't sell any paper goods since there was a similar vendor, but I managed to do some sewing and make homemade salsa.  That was the first time I tried to sell salsa and I have to say, I did pretty good.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go and I didn't want to come home with tons of salsa so I didn't make a lot.  Here's a photo of my table:

I Found Photos!

I forgot my baby sis sent me photos of Jori and her stocking stuffers.  I made the snowman tags and sent the tags with the 1x8 bags (LOVE these bags!!!) and they stuffed them with Skittles.  I did mine with m&m's but you just can't go wrong with these bags.

Isn't Jori so cute with the feather in her hair?

Happy Holidays!

The holidays continue and I'm busy, busy, busy.  I need to get better about taking pictures and then downloading them into my computer so I can post here.  After all the Holiday Boutiques I participated in, I ended up with three custom orders.  One for 25 tea bag holders (of course I didn't take a photo of these); one for 24 candy strips (my niece Jori is a lucky girl) and one for two "stylish and hip" aprons.  Again, I forgot to take a photo of the aprons.  I have more fabric so I'm hoping to make more.  Once you see them, you'll love them.  My friend's daughter is a teacher and wanted an apron to wear while walking around her classroom.  The daughter is 25-26 years old and didn't want to old fashion kitchen aprons that I was already selling so I came up with these hip ones.  I'll ask my friend to take a photo and try to post later or I'll end up making my own.  Always have to be cute and stylish...right?

All Star Diaper Cake Photo

I forgot to mention, that I was planning on putting the wipes in a separate bag then realized the lid matched the color theme.  So I decided to include it in the "cake"

Now imagine how cute it was all wrapped up in clear cellophane and a teal ribbon...  Love It!

Diaper Cake

We were invited to a baby shower for a good friend's niece and after looking up the baby register, I noticed there wasn't really a theme for the baby, just a lot of boy themed items.  So, I took that as a license to be creative...  At first I grabbed my supplies for baby boy, which pretty much meant a lot of baby blue.  At first I went with baby blue, brown and yellow theme and was going to decorate the diaper cake with generic baby items a boat or two, something like that.  I don't know what possessed me, but I completely changed my mind and grabbed some bright blue and teal colored paper and thought "All Star".  So grabbing some coordinating paper, my new Stampin' Up! pennant punch and some purchased stuffed football, baseball and basketball, I created my diaper cake.  When we arrived at the shower, we were thrilled to see that the color theme of the shower was Bright Blue and Teal!  What were the odds of that?!?  So, since this is the way I roll, I moved things around on the food table and plopped the diaper cake there as if it was party of the decorations.  HA HA HA  It looked so good!  Here are some photos that Carly took before we left for the shower.  I wish we would have taken some at the shower..

A Few More

More...

More Photos

I'm having a hard time posting more than two photos.  Maybe the files are too large???

Here are more photos...

Craft Faire Samples

Here are some photos of some of our items for sale:

Season for Holiday Boutiques

I've been so busy making items for Holiday Boutiques.  Here are some photos of our set ups.  Today was the final one and I'm so happy!

This is the first at Arroyo Seco Elementary School in Livermore, CA.  Jori's school.  This was a two hour event.  Not too bad...  Second photo is at St. Matthew's in Ceres, CA.  My good friend, Nora invited us to have a table there.

Birthday Album

Here's some photos of the paperbag album I made this week.  I'm really into making rosettes and the pennant punch from Stampin' Up is awesome too.  I had a page with a short banner, but for some reason didn't take a photo of that one.

Halloween in Wonderland

Here are the photos I promised.  I wish I got the fourth side.

I Need More Time!

Gosh, do you ever feel like that??  I'm feeling it more and more these days.  I finally finished a Halloween project I've been slowing working on for about three years.  I bought a papiermache house from the Thrift Store about three years and knew I was going to alter it at some point.  About a year later, I purchased a line of Halloween in Wonderland paper (don't remember the vendor) and knew it would be perfect for this house.  Two months ago, I finally started the renovation.  It's done, it's resting on my counter at work and it's pretty awesome.  Of course, I didn't take a photo before bringing it to work, BUT I brought my camera today so I'll be sure to post the after photos soon.

Also working on a mini album for a woman who has ordered from me before.  She gave me about a four day notice so I told her I'd try my best.  It's a birthday gift for her BFF.  So far, I like the way it's turning out and I'll post photos before I give it to her (hopefully) tomorrow.

In between all that, I'm building my inventory for a Holiday Mini Mall at my niece, Jori's school. 

Besides all that wonderful crafting time...I need to put in 8 hours of work a day, cook dinner for my family, take care of my son who recently had a medical emergency AND find time to visit my out-of-town parents.  I'm too old for this!

Altered Project

I bought this letter holder from a yard sale for 10 cents.  Although it's not hideous, I did not like the style.  Here's a before and after.

Squash Books

Have you heard of these?  Basically it's a book that you squash everything in to - like photos, notes, mementos, everything!

I made one for my nephew, Richard's birthday.  He travels a lot with his band and they have the coolest photos.  I figured it'll be a great place to put ticket stubs, flyers, photos, any ideas that he comes up with.  I just finished so now I'll take photos before I forget.  Of course, now my daughter, Carly wants me to make her one.  I'm thinking these would make great baby shower gifts.  Hmmm...something to think about :)

Cards/Swaps

Here's a photo of some cards i made for a swap on Splitcoast Stampers.  I get so hooked on the swaps that I rarely find time to do my own stuff.  I used a variety of scraps for the cards.  The first two images are from www.bugaboostamps.com and the moon was cut out with the Cricut and the baby head is a circle.

Busy As Usual

Busy, busy!  School is starting and work has been crazy!  But good crazy!  Carly's 18th 80's themed birthday party was a lot of fun.  All of her friends dressed up and they looked incredible.  I just love her friends.  They always have a good time.

Maui was everything I thought it would be - very relaxing.  I can't wait to scrapbook the photos.  Caroline and I stopped at the Paper Imagerie in Maui and they had a ton of Hawaiian and tropical papers and embellishments.  It was hard not to buy everything, but I had to remind myself and sis that we have the Life's a Beach cartridge and can make our own embellishments.  It helped.  We didn't spend too much.

Luau Banner

For some reason the photos I took at the shower turned out blurry but I got some good ones of the banner.

Tuesday Evening

So, the day is cooling off and I am enjoying the evening on the back porch.  The boys are inside listening to the football news.  I'm reading my fourth book for Summer Reading Marathon.  Carly and I have been competing with Summer Reading Marathon for 12 years now.  One year we both read 21 books.  This year, it's a lot slower.
No photos this time, but I do need to download the photos of the banner for the Bridal Luau and some of the decorations - turned out awesome and the shower was a lot of fun!  The Bride-to-be was all smiles!
Now we're planning an 80's themed birthday party for next month.  I told C that we're not going all out but I always seem to get caught up in the excitement!  I pulled out the old cassettes and most of them still work!  Good Times!

Bridal Shower Luau

I'm helping a friend with her daughter's bridal shower.  Those chose to go with a Luau theme since she's going to Maui for their honeymoon.  That Life's A Beach Cricut cartridge sure is coming in handy!  We decided to go with a Bridal Bar with signature drinks, Blushing Bride Daquiries, Maui Island Ice Tea, Honeymoon Sunrise, and a special named martini after the Groom's last name.  These drinks will be non-alcoholic except a little champagne punch.  Haven't come up with a good name for that one yet.

I've been busy making a banner, tissue pom poms, drink tags, and cut outs for the centerpieces.  I'm having a blast!  I love this kind of stuff and the Luau theme is so much fun to work with.

I'll post photos later.

Graduation Gifts

Graduation is over and I finally had a chance to download some photos of the cookie/cake pop bouquets I made for Carly's friends.  They turned out so cute.  I didn't want to go out and buy containers for all them so I recycled some empty spaghetti sauce jars that my sis gave me over a year ago.  I came across by accident on the internet where someone poured acrylic paint and swirled it around a glass vase to add color.  I thought this would be perfect for these "vases".  So I used what little red paint I had left and slowly swirled it around 4 jars to make them.  The tags were made with some patterned paper and cricut cut outs.  Easy!

Hope you like...

Upcoming Events

I love being busy but sometimes it's just ridiculous!  LOL

Here's my calendar so far:
June 2nd:  C's graduation
June 3-5:  Apricot Fiesta (our town celebration)
June 11:  C's graduation party
June 18:  Joe & Amanda's wedding
June 19:  Father's Day
June 25:  Scrapbooking All Day Crop (woo hoo!) & Dwayne's Birthday - don't forget to send card
June 30:  Secret Pal Reveal at work
July 4:  Hmmm...4th of July
July 9:  Serina's Baby Shower
July 31:  Volunteer (or Attend) the Think and Die Thinking Music Festival

Luckily, I've already made the baby blanket for the upcoming baby shower.  Graduation was full of projects, which I will post later.  I'm not making anything for the wedding (at least not preplanned - that can always change) and only cards for Father's Day and D's 15th birthday.

Somewhere in there is our puppy, Gracie's 1st birthday.

My Coworker's Son's Blog

Hey there, I'm busy as usual making things.  Instead of posting some photos.  I wanted to share a blog that my friend/coworker's son has.  He is making a trek "North" from the Bay Area to Seattle choosing to live homeless in order to collect donations for Japan and also to help him find the meaning of life.  She sent the link to me and I read the first post not sure what to expect, but I have to tell you, it's addicting.  He's an incredible writer that's truly writing from the heart and his experiences.  He's on Day 8.  I seriously see a movie or book deal after he's done. 

Here's the link:  http://worldinstrides.blogspot.com/

If nothing else, pray for his safety.  I know his mother would appreciate it.

Rag Quilt

I sewed a rag quilt for the first time for my cousin's baby shower.  I had some left over squares so I made a cute tote bag to go with it.  She's having a boy!  I can't wait to see her reaction when she opens it.  Cute, huh?

Cupcake Toppers

Are you like me?  I get hooked on an idea and then that's all I want to do.  I made these cupcake toppers for a little girls birthday and now all I want to do is make cupcake toppers.  My daughter is graduating next Thursday and I plan on making some for her graduation party.  I was thinking pinwheels.  I'll do my best to take a photo and post.

Card Candy Swap

I have been participating in a lot of swaps and here's my newest creations... This is for really BIG card candy.  The guitars are shaker boxes and they are about 7" tall.  The tropical drink has layers of paper and inking and they are about 5" tall.

Wow! I guess I forgot...

I have been so busy with stuff, I guess I forgot about my resolution and this blog.  I've been crafting as much as ever and of course, forgot to take photos of most of my stuff, but I do have some to add.

Diaper Cake - I've always wanted to do one of these so I made a small cake for a coworker.  I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and it was so fun and easy to make.

New Contacts

I forgot to mention that I did meet some new people in town and was asked to make some give-aways for one person and some journals on consignment for a new boutique that's opening up in town.


The salon owner was really nice so I'm planning on making cards and asking if I can display some at her salon on consignment as well.

I'm trying to remember a quote I read a while ago that was something like "to get something you never had, you have to do something you've never done".  Well, I'm pushing myself to get out there and at least ask.  The worst that can happen is someone says no.

These are photos of the very small Valentine's Boutique one of the salons in town hosted.  And when I say small, I mean small.  Unfortunately there were less than 20 people who came in.  I was able to sell most of my candy, but the kids were glad when I came home with chocolate.

First Day of February

I have to get into the habit of posting on the blog.  It'll take time.  Right now I'm working on lots of swaps for Split Coast Stampers.  I just finished some birthday card candy and I really love the colors.  I'll download photos this evening.

Candlestick Wedding

so here are photos of the wedding paperbag album that I was talking about earlier.  I wasn't sure if it's ok to post photos so that's why you'll see random white products covering faces.

I absolutely love how this turned out.  I'm mailing it off to the newlyweds this week.