Vacation, Vacation, Vacation....it has come and gone.

Until next year.....ok...so I might have some mini vacations between  now and then but now (what I like to call) real vacations for more than a year from now....sad face.

The above picture is my grandma....she is my world. I'm so happy that she is still able to travel with us and make it to these wonderful family vacation destinations. She is more able than most younger people I know. 

Some of the ladies lounging in the water....picture perfect. Can you tell where we are? Kind of looks like some of the carribean places that I have been but nope.....it's Florida. 

This little Octopus was adorable...well at least as adorable as an octopus can be right. He/She would not turn over though....so I got the legs from the back view. 

Sunsets are always amazing....

This was our home away from home. All in all I was pleased with the home. Just a few complaints. Wish there was a screened in portion of the porch...the bugs were bad at night. The AC didn't seem to be working right and when I called the owners that acted as if it was no big deal (set on 72 and it never got below 79 during the day...not right...right?).

I know this isn't that crafty...but I promise...I will be back soon with a card to share that I'm making for my shoebox sister on the cricut message boards. 

Sister's Shower was a hit

These babies were a huge hit. I always try to do things last minute so I ran out of time to make wrappers for every cupcake but I think it looks nice with just the cupcakes on the stand done with the wrappers and the table cupcakes in just plain wrappers. What do you think?

I couldn't help but post two pictures of the cupcakes, mainly because the first one was dark and you can't really see how bright these colors really are. The wrappers are made with the Life's A Party cartridge. I read up on these to figure out how to cut them. Lots of places you will find that you need to use the fit to length at 8 inches...I have a gypsy so I made them a width of 8 inches and arranged them to get the to get the most per 12x12 sheet of paper that I could (I was only able to fit four of these puppies on one sheet). I liked the decorations so much I saved the table cloths. Aside from liking them I also spent money on them so I try to save were I can for the next party.

Diaper cakes...I made one a long time ago and love making them. They are an easy decoration that the mommy to be can not only use to decorate the babies room with but also use the diapers when it comes time. The Zebra on top is actually a toy to hook on the babies stroller or car seat. My little cousin helped me get this together while I was busy getting the food in the serving dishes and out on the tables (I told you, I'm last minute...lol). 

Another helpful cousin decoration...she decided that the entrance needed to be indicated. I hosted the shower at a church and when you walk in the front door there are two directions that you could go...she wanted to make sure everyone came the correct direction (so sweet). 

I'm particularly proud of the color coordination of this event. Everything was black and white (zebra print) or hot pink and green. again, super proud of myself for this event. 

The gift table. You can't see it but there's lots of stuff under the table (in the floor). I guess I forgot to take a picture but we decorated a chair for the mommy to sit in...super cute we made a bow for the top and had little streamers coming off the bottom.

My little prego sister holding up two adorable hats. You know that cousin that I keep talking about that helped finish up some finally decorations.....well, she made these hats. My family is very creative. Well, at least I like to think we are. Aren't these hats adorable? 

One final decoration to talk about....the sign...not a great picture but it says LILYANA (the babies name). I used Hannah Montana rock star font. I love this font...my sister and I both love stars so I thought this would be cute, and she took it home to put in her room. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my sister's shower story. Hope to post something a little earlier next time. 

Mini can designs

I love the cricut community. The boards are an amazing place to meet amazing people who love their cricut and anything crafty. I was in a swap recently called mini mini mini paint can swap. Each person was paired up with a partner. The partners were to decorate a paint can and fill it with goodies for their partner. I've had this gal as a partner in two different swaps this one I knew she was my partner the other swap she was a secret. I didn't know she was designing for me.

Here's the one that I made...no comparison to what she made me. I love the colors and the design I just think she out did me. I had to lift the pictures she posted on message board of my can to her...in my rush to get it mailed out to her I forgot to take pics.

Now here's the one she made for me, this beautiful can was designed by Heart2hand (her message board name). She is so creative. She had made the stick pin and the flower you can see near the right side of this picture and the little black flower near the bottom left hand corner. 

The below darling little charm that was hanging from the paint can handle....she made it as well. I love it. I never really realized how much I love red. I knew I liked it and it was the color of my "girls" dresses in my wedding but she makes me love it. 

If you love what this amazing lady can do please visit her blog and check out all of the other amazing things that she does! Trust me...you'll love the inspiration that you get just by looking at some of the things that she does. I've never tried my hand at these handmade charms but you better believe after getting this one I'm going to get my feet wet and give it a try.

http://heart2handshighlights.blogspot.com/

Graduation....long time coming

Graduation...oh my...what a wonderful accomplishment. I started college straight out of high school but after four years complete (five year degree was supposed to be the plan) I had to put my education on hold...life happened. I wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. Science and Math....I was/am good with anything that has to do with numbers. A marriage and two children later I decided to go back to school but I had to change my major. Business, the next best thing I guess....I wouldn't be working with kids but I could certainly work with numbers. By completely changing my major I added an extra year and a half to my already completed four years. It took a time span of ten years (from start to finish....my first four years my break of four and a half years and then my final year and a half of school)...I'm proud. It took a long time but I never gave up on that part of my educational goal. 

They had bag pipes play us into the arena. When one thinks of bag pipes they don't really think..."oh how pretty" but it was...it sounded amazing. With the back drop meaning every work....YOU DID IT....yes, we finally did. This school was full of the non-traditional student. By that I meant we were no longer in our early twenties, most of us had a family and a full-time job to juggle with the stress of papers and finals....and we did it, despite the odds. 

I was trying to find my family up in the balcony area but these bright lights kept me from doing so. Little did I know I was looking right at them. In this picture I'm multitasking...I'm trying to shield my eyes from the light to find my family and hold my cap on. My "poofy" hair didn't want to let it stay on. At one point it did eventually fall off...ssssoooo glad it wasn't when I was walking across the stage.

I'm not in this picture...the hand(blur) in the bottom right hand corner is blocking where I would have been. I wanted to share this because I'm proud of all the people that graduated that day....even though I knew none of them...they deserved it, I know they worked just as hard as I did.

My mother-in-law was my photographer for the day...she captured this photo...I'm not sure what it is and I don't recall seeing it while I was there but I though it looked neat so I wanted to share. 

The stage...before we entered...trees in on the screen behind the chair. Trying to figure out what trees symbolize for the creator of this back drop. What are they supposed to mean to all the graduates that will be sitting in their seats waiting to cross this stage to receive their "diploma" (piece of paper telling you if you completed all your requirements and submitting the diploma application you would receive it in 6-8 weeks). 

Well...no creations today but I'll be back with more soon...I'm think scrapbook page for graduation...what do you think?



Crusin' and loving the tropical destinations!

I've been going thru old photos trying to figure out how I would like to scrap them and I came across some photos from our 2nd Disney cruise. My husband and I took our first cruise in 2004 for our honeymoon and from that point fwd. we fell in love with crusin'. We wanted to share that joy with our son and any future children we had. Our son got to go on his very first cruise when he was just five years old and he loved every minute of it. I decide to make the layout simple so the pictures are the focal point. I used an oldie but goodie, it's a classic.. George and Basic Shapes. I got the inspiration from a layout I seen a long time ago, I just can't recall where I had seen it.

I do apologize for the picture quality, I couldn't get my camera to work so I used my phone. Typically it takes pretty good photos but it is making a liar out of me tonight. In these particular photos we were on Disney's Island called Castaway Cay and a few from the ships pool. The ship on the right hand page is a mock up of Pirates of the Caribbean and made the best photo spot. I'm big on double layouts and being able to include as many pictures as possible. I'm a picture fool. I love taking them, editing them and creating lasting memories. Most of the time I'm not in them due to always being on the "taking" end.

My son, he does so well in front of the camera or he did so well in front of the camera when he was younger. Now he is "too cool" to pose for mom and he never smiles when I want him to anymore. I don't recall what brand of paper I used as most of it is in stacks without the original packaging. I just love the bright blue and green togther and the patterned page makes the picture of my son pop.

Here's my family....the little dark haired boy is my life (my son) the tall guy next to him is my best friend (my husband). The blondie boy is my nephew, standing next to him is my sister and to the left of her my brother. I travel with my family....I love it, family is so important to me. I left the blue spot open for journaling...I have to dig thru the dust in my head to think back to that day. My advice....do not procrastinate in scrapbooking your memories. I have and I have trouble remembering sounds, sights, smells....you know all the stuff you want to remember and jot down in the journal box.

Well I do hope you enjoyed my cute but simple layout today. I will try to be back soon to post more.

No. 2 pick for my sister's baby shower

My sister couldn't just pick one type of invitation (I made three different samples) and she picked the onesie that I posted yesterday but she also thought the duck was adorable as well. So here is the second half of the invitations.

You can't see it very well but I took a vote on the duck's beak...should I just leave it matte black or should I glossy accent it up. I love that stuff! I had 4 voters and three of them like the glossy accent. They say it matches the eye. Below is an open view...again I will be printed on another paper to put inside with all the detailed information for the shower. This is a time that I could really use that imagine (I don't have one, sad face). I'm holding out for the anniversary addition that will have the capability to use both types of cartridges....I think that is going to be awesome! 

Again, I only used one cartridge for this invitation...New Arrival again. I used the gypsy to format the duck image into a "card". This one is a little bigger than the A2 size envelope so I have to go on the hunt for another type of envie for these guys.

Hope anyone reading enjoyed my post and I look fwd. to posting more often. I may not be able to post everyday but at least a few times a week. That is my goal for now. I would like to post everyday but I don't believe there are enough hours in the day with a full-time job, two children and a husband. LOL! The day should be longer, don't you think?

My sister is having a baby...

My sister is having a baby in July and being the great sister that I am I'm throwing the shower for her. I'm finally feeling better (months later) so I figure this is the perfect time to start creating. I can't just go and buy invitations so I had to make my own. I wanted to give her options so I made a couple samples. She has decided to do half and half....little cute girl onesies and a hot pink duck (I'll show this one later). I didn't want to make them too time consuming so this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy.

I wanted to include a side view with the invitation open so you could get the idea of what it would look like to the reader. I'll be typing the location, date and all the other info on a peice of paper to put on the inside of the "card".

I only used one cartridge to make this invitation...New Arrival (oldie but goodie). I used my gypsy to alter the image and make it a card. I look fwd. to posting more often and sharing my creations with anyone who might be interested in looking.