jd created...this

won't you be my valentine's?

2012-02-14T13:18:00.000-08:00

i've got 3...
my hubby...
and maiya & selene...

made cards for da hubz & maiya...
selene is just a wee bit young for that..
in due time tho, in due time.

i can share one of the cards and the other one just a sneaky peeky...

here's the one for my lil boo, maiya...

(supplies used: cardstock, embossing powder & heating tool: american crafts; border punch: ek success; heart punch: martha stewart; pens: sharpie, uniball; patterned papers: autumn leaves; stamp: michael's; stamp ink: versamark)

i rarely do heat embossing.
but i'm glad i did on this one.
used the metallic purple.
she's gonna love this.
included a gift card from paint a dream.

here's a sneakz of da hubz:

i'll reveal this one a bit laterz after he gets back from alabama next month.
hopefully i remember.

anyway, have a very happy happy lovey dovey valentine's day!

{ 10 months }

2012-02-09T13:21:00.000-08:00

she loves to...
dance,
bounce,
say bab, bab, mamamama,
yell & laugh,
outburst with lots of volume,
suck on strings & tags,
bop her head up & down,
music,
cuddle before she sleeps,
let you know when she wants something,
clap her hands,
copy you when you clap your hands,
try to walk a couple of steps,
try to stand by herself,
be bold & brave.

here she is....

we went for a nice walk this morning too.
of course, she was taking a nap.
i'm glad i went on this walk, just me & her.
had a bad morning with the dog.
she has been a bit disobedient.
and let's just say...
"i'm at my wit's end."
i've tried my best.
i'm glad i went for this walk.
here's a few snapshots....

can u see her taking a nap all snuggled?

a joshua tree, maiya loves these thangz.

size 5, thank you.

a down below shot, so cool.

tall, skinny, peppermint mocha.

dontcha just love the starbx cup?

that be me.

this song makes me think of my hubby.

"like you'll never see me again"

by alicia keys

and to end this post on that note...
here's the video...dedicated to my hubby ( i love you babez)...

7 dayz of daily life

2012-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

i'm a bit late on the bandwagon for week in the life.
but i am doing it and that's what matters.
i'm re-titling mine as: "week in MY life"
i did mine starting last friday thru this past thursday, 1.27-2.2.2012.
i uploaded all my photos to my laptop & to snapfish.
just ordered about 78 photos.
i may not use all of them, who knows.
i used my notepad app on my droid to record the daily goings-on and will upload to word to make any edits.
then i'll cut them out for my album.
i'm still debating whether to do a mini album or use a 12x12 scrapbook album.
i'll let you know my process soon.

but here are some pix i picked from each day...

friday, 1.27, chinese new year:

saturday, 1.28, my readz:

sunday, 1.29, kisses for the lubby dubby:

monday, 1.30, heading over to lancaster to do a lil shopping and to 'getaway':

tuesday, 1.31, hmmm....wonder who's trying to use my laptop??? lol!:

wednesday, 2.1, maiya doing a lil swing dance w/ selene:

thursday, 2.2, texting w/ my hubby while he's in alabama for school:

can hardly wait to get started!

have a happy sunny sunday!
we're off to palmdale to do some shopping for essentials (groceries)!

alwayz for life....

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

wanted to share a layout that i finally completed the other day.
been working on this since winter break as you know.
if you want to know how to create the cool flowers, go to this tutorial.

anyhoo...
here's the scrappy page i made...
it's of me & my sissie...

and for the cool close-ups...

used the cocoa daisy kit "bed & breakfast."
add'l supplies: martha stewart punch, twine, jesse James & Co buttons, sharpie & uniball signo pens, daisyd rub-on stitch.
just had to doodle-stitch on those jillibean letter stickers for the final touch on my LO.
have i already told you that i love, love, love the amy tangerine line by american crafts?
i know have and just wanted to sweetly repeat that.

hoping to get some more scrappy time this weekend.
at least some form.
just a lil secret:
i've actually just finished taking pix for my own version of "week in the life."
my version: "week in MY life."
just need to upload, order.
hmmm...
i think i might just at least start creating the pages.
and once those are done, i'll just add the photos.
i'll share in the later future or whenever i get it finished.
gonna take my time....
la-la-la-la...

hope you have a wonderful weekend.

xoxo.

a lil flower tutorial

2012-01-31T10:37:00.000-08:00

this one is a real simple one...
i had some punched cornflowers sitting around..
and i had one layout that i needed to complete.
i had been working on it while i was on vacay in lacey (wa) during winter break.
finally...

but here's a lil flower tutorial that helped complete this layout...

all you need is patterned paper, cutter, punched shapes, buttons, adhesive, twine.

cut strips, 1/4" x 2 ":

adhere strips by stacking them in a crisscross manner:

adhere your punched shape on top:

add a button (or anything you want):

i made 3 for my layout:

cut some twine to your liking and fold them in half:

adhere the twine to your layout:

then lastly, adhere your completed flower on top of the twine:

and there you have it...
a simple flower.

yey-yah!

i miss being....

2012-01-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

...with my hubby.

he's in alabama for another month for "sos" (leadership school).

i want him to come home now.

i miss:

him helping me with selene.
him helping me with sierra.
him entertaining maiya.
him being silly with me.
him holding me in his arms.
him letting me have some "me time."
him being with us on friday nights.
him coming home for lunch since he works about 5 minutes away.
him asking me if i'm okay.
him sleeping beside me.
him texting me when he's sitting right next to me ( i know how silly huh? but that's us)
him facebooking me when we're just a few feet away from each other.
him, in general.

desert walk with the family

christmas eve 2011 in lacey, wa with our family

i miss you babez.

there is no such thing as a "perfect life"

2012-01-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

yes...
i said it and i admit!
we say it as a phrase, figure of speech, wuteva!
but in reality, things, life, people ....
are NOT perfect.
oh...please!
i know i'm not.
if life were "perfect" then we wouldn't have anything else to talk about, to improve, to live for, etc.
it would be plain boring, dontcha think?
i recently read 2 posts...here and here
and i'm grateful that there are women who feel the same way i do.
and i do have to say before you think i'm being negative...
i am definitely grateful for my life, my family and my true friends, my hobby, my stuff.
whether they be "perfect" or not.

so here are a few things that you don't know about me that makes me "not perfect" and i'm proud of it:

i don't make the bed everyday after i get out of bed in the mornings. i usually do it on fridays and the weekends.
i don't dust all the time because it's not one of my fave chores to do.
i don't wear makeup everyday because sometimes i just dont have time or i just am plain lazy.
i still breakout around my mouth area...blame it on hormones.
i get moody when things are not done or when i've shown or told how to do it.
i get really frustrated and sometimes get a bit upset when the pup (Sierra) doesn't do what she's told especially after repeatedly telling her how to do it.
i really love sierra because she does have some good qualities, but sometimes i wish we got a smaller dog but i'm not even sure that would make a difference.
i wish i could hire a full-time babysitter and especially a dogsitter when i need "me time."
i don't get to scrapbook as often as i would like to because of home life, baby life, dog life.
sometimes i leave dirty dishes in the sink for more than a day, but i at least rinse them off (luckily i have help, my lil boo does them sometimes, well it's one of her chores anyway).
i do cuss when i get upset or when something really pisses me off.
i don't allow the dog in any of the bedrooms or bathrooms (unless she needs a bath) because i really don't like when there's doggie hair on the carpets of those rooms. it makes me work extra hard to clean/vacuum. PLUS, she's always in the way whenever we're doing our daily morning routines (brushing teeth, etc) and "sniffs" me when i halfway dressed, which grosses me out.
i don't trust the dog when she's by herself because i'm afraid she's going to chew something up (she's chewed up 2 of our tv remotes, soap, selene's toys and other things in the house.
sometimes, which is not often, i want to just be lazy and do nothing around the house.
i no longer miss working full-time in the "real world"
although there are things i do like doing like vacuuming...if money were no object, i would hire a full-time housecleaner who do everything from laundry, dusting...etc...everything!
i have the utmost respect for them and actually admire many of them, i have to admit i do get frustrated seeing the same scrapbook designers in the magazines i subscribe to.
i don't like it when people talk soooooo loud in a public area or restaurant to the point where they want the attention on them. we dont want to know your personal business, thank you. not sure why they have to talk so loud????
i consider myself a friendly person, but i have not made many friends where we are currently living. it's been hard making friends in this neighborhood or at least on this street. there are some very snobby housewives here who i have tried smiling at or said hi to and gotten no response back. i have given up on trying so hard to make friends here. but .... i have made one who i'm totally grateful for. she has been so wonderful to me and my family. and i'm especially grateful i have my hubby to talk to about 'stuff'.

so there...
there's a few things, i know there's more, but i can't think of all them because i'm "not perfect."
lol.

when i turned 40...

2012-01-26T06:03:00.000-08:00

...last 12/26/2011, that is....
i never got a chance to post these of my lil bday party at falls terrace restaurant in olympia, wa.
celebrated it with my family of course.
i plan on scrapping the 1st one on a layout soon.

while i took the photo, there was a loud-mouth gal talking away on the left-side.
luckily, she's not in the pic and she & her friends weren't there the whole time we were there.
whew!

the house white zinfandel....divinely, smooth, yumm-o...

me, my hubby & our cutie daughter, selene....

my sis jo and bro-in-law, rey...

us & my mom & dad...

the nice view of tumwater falls from where we were sitting...
we had a nice corner...

oh yumm-o...
shrimp cocktail...

their bread was warm and so good...

what i had...
a grilled chicken salad w/ walnuts, berries, blue cheese and a raspberry vinaigertte (sp?)...

my nephew's, rj, burger...

took all the doilies under our water glasses...heehee...

shared a bread pudding dessert w/ my mom...

3 girlz

2012-01-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

well it's time to share a layout i did last week.
this one was "a just in case i make it to the 2nd round" one.
of course as you already know, i didn't quite make it.
but that's ok.
i'm just real happy i got to scrap this page of me and my 2 girlz.
we actually have 3 girlz, but the oldest lives in idaho.

anyway here it is...

and some close-ups...

i used the cocoa daisy kit, tea & cupcakes.
(add'l supplies: jesse james & co buttons, stickles, martha stewart and ek success punches, sharpie pen)
i so love the amy tan pp (gray/white stripes).
this kit also had some sassafras!
yey-yah!
trimmed out some pattern from a studio calico paper in the kit.
i actually miscalculated a bit...
do you see the strips of the simple stories paper behind the studio calico paper & photo?
well, i did a weaving technique of the strips...
and duh..
it got all covered up.
but i still love how this lo turned out.
i've been been to scrap a pic of the 3 us for awhile now.
and now it's done.
final touches: doodling, glitter glue.

hope you like what i did!
thanks for coming by!

whew...my nerves are at ease now

2012-01-21T05:32:00.000-08:00

well all day yesterday i was pretty anxious.
happily anxious that is.
as you know my layout made it to the 1st round on Practical Scrappers.
although i did not make the second round, i'm glad i made it to the 1st.
oh well.
moving on.

for us 1st rounders they had us prepare a 2nd layout just in case we make it to the 2nd.
i'm gonna just give you a quick sneaky peeky of mine for now.
i'll share it next week.
so...
you have to come back.
lol.

here's a peeky:

today is saturday.
my to-do list for today:

mop the floors
do the furminator on Sierra
walk Sierra
maybe do some dusting (one of my not-so fave chorez)
spend time with the girlz
talk or skype/google cam with my hubby
plan out the menu for next week
grocery shopping
order more pix on snapfish (they've got a deal til 1/25, 99 prints for 99 cents)
check my finances online
we'll see what else, since i may get distracted

have a great saturday!

xoxo to all who voted for me!

i want you to VOTE...for me!

2012-01-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

okay...!!!!
it's up!
go to Practical Scrappers to vote for my layout!!!!
my layout is the 8th one in Group 8.
click here to vote ------- > VOTE for Jennifer!

not to repeat myself..
but here's the layout, just in case...

thank you so much to all who have already voted and who will be voting.
your support is much appreciated!
wish me luck to make it to the 2nd round.

have a great weekend!

tomorrow...vote!

2012-01-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

i found out that i will be in "Group 8" for the layout contest on Practical Scrappers!!!
tomorrow morning!!!!

come back tomorrow and i will give ya the proper link up to vote for me!

pretty please????

1st round up

2012-01-16T20:54:00.000-08:00

o mi!
i made it!
made it to the 1st round!
the 1st round at Practical Scrappers.
to make it to the 2nd round, all you scrappy divas need to VOTE!!!!
please VOTE FOR ME!!!!
each day until this friday, they will be showcasing all 1st round finalists by groups...
then you can vote for who should make it to the 2nd round.
so far they are into group 4 and i guess mine will be showing up soon!
so VOTE FOR ME HERE!!!!!
oh pretty please!
i will love you foreva!
mwah!

oh...btw, here's what i submitted...
and you can find the details here as well...

i will let you all know as soon as i can when mine is up for voting.
so stay tuned!
and ya'll come back ya hear!?!?!

{ 9 months }

2012-01-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

a quick post...
she's crying her lungs out right now.
she turned 9 months this past monday....
she's a babbler: da-da-da, ma-ma-ma, bob-bob-bob, nan-nan-nan...
are some of the words she talks out loud.
a lil dance swagga too.
swaying her shoulders side to side along with her cute baby body as she's plotted on her feet holding to furniture.
i think she's got mama'z swagga.
lol.
claps and dances to black eyed peas (and others of course).
claps to:
"say say my playmate,
come out and play with me.
to be my jolly friend,
climb up my apple tree.
slide down my rainbow,
into my cellar door.
and we'll be jolly friends,
forever more, more,
shut the door!"
(well that's what i remember when i was middle-schooler back in clark air base, PI)

bwaaaaahhhhh!!!!
she's calling for me!

have a great fun weekend!

bwaaaaaahhhh!!!!
bwaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!

the taylor dayne song

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

before we head back to cali this afternoon...

here's the 3rd layout that i promised to share with you.
i really love this one.
not only b/c it was fun to do...
but b/c it's about me & my hubby...
and about a song that i've always loved but never used for anyone until he came along in my life...
"i'll always love you" sung by taylor dayne.
do you remember her?

i wrote the title and part of the lyrics as the title of my layout.
and the lyrics = my journaling (around half of the layout).

here it is...

love the balzer designs template behind my title.
just used a sharpie and traced away.
the letter stickers, of course, i doodled away on.
those teal letter stickers by glitz designs are to smoove @5S (excuse my talk)!
love, love amy tangerine's stuff on my layout too!

i've also got to share this video since i used the song...
dedicated to my hubby...
and to all who love this song as much as i do...

i'll always love you babez, for the rest of my days.

xoxo,
j

these peepz are my lovez

2012-01-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

yey-yah!
got some scrapping done!
i did 3 in one day!
wow!
that's a record for me!
but you know what?
i'm gonna share 2 of them for now.
the other one later.

i used the cocoa daisy november 2011 kit "bed & breakfast for all 3.

1st one up is of my lil baby boo, maiya, tha "poser"

i just love the amy tangerine line from american crafts.
i'm so happy they got some of her style into their style.
finally!
she is one of my fave scrapperz!

cut out the 'frames' from one of her papers & adhered all over the place.
overlapped the black letter stickers and doodled on them to give 'em my style.
and for the final touch, i doodled borders on the cardstock.
i tend to doodle things out since i don't own a sewing machine.
(if i did, then i'd be sewing like crazy on my layouts!)

the photos are of my daughter, maiya, at the park spending time with her cousins during the summer 2011.
she's so beautiful and growing so fast!

and the 2nd layout...
my hubby and my stepdaughter, when we were all at universal studios for her birthday...

tore pieces out of the green pp to expose more of the background pp.
cut out patterns from a cosmo cricket pp.
used a doily that i swooped up from the falls terrace restaurant in olympia we had eaten at for my 40th birthday.
i don't usually really dig doilies very much, but this was an exception and i think it went well matting the photo.
and the final touch for this one: doodling of course!
doodled on & around the letter stickers and all around the layout.
can you tell i love to doodle?
heehee.

i'll have to mail these out to cali as i don't want to squeeze these into my suitcase.
afterall, i packed for 3!
tomorrow, mailing it out!

one and a half days til we fly back home!
i don't want to..
but then again i want to.
i'll miss my family
but i do miss my hubby and our doggie, sierra.

home is where the heart is.
i'm glad i have 2.

my favez in 2-0-1-1

2011-12-31T09:35:00.000-08:00

to end the year...
here are my favez...

b/c of the green & one of my fave photos...

b/c i love everything about this one...

b/c of the fun colors & design & one of my other fave photos...

b/c of the stamped background...

b/c hambly is one of my favez & this is my 1st layout of our selene...

b/c of the design & it's our 1st family portrait layout...

b/c it's not very often i do one of myself & love the colors & design...

b/c of the old skewl photo & this was a fun one to do...

b/c it's on canvas & i love this photo of my hubby & our selene...

and some fave cards of the year...

all b/c of the colors, use of my fave embellie, circles...

hoping in 2012 i'll scrap more.
this past year didn't do so much b/c of baby and other family life happenings.
maybe this coming year i'll join a design team if i can.
i'll be better at posting my work on my galleries too.
and maybe i'll send out my work to publications.
we'll see how next year goes, scrappy-wise.

i know for 2012 i will be:

organizing my scrap room better
scrapping more
learn how to use photoshop
going to some scrap event
practice my excel skillz using my new book i go from xmas
keeping in touch more with my really good friends
most importantly, spending even more time with family

there's more, but i can't think of 'em at this moment.

here's to the past year and the new one coming!

happy new year 2012!

bokeh, red velvet, & a lil boo

2011-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

i love the bokeh technique.
i guess i had been doing it for quite sometime but didn't realize it.
didn't realize it was called "bokeh" to be quite honest.
hey at least i'm telling the truth and not acting like i know everything.

here's some i'd like to share:

xmas day bokeh...

sissie bokeh (that's my sis Jo!)...

apple bokeh...

fruit bokeh (at my good friend's, Anh's place)...

eggroll & pork noodle bowl bokeh...

anh made this for me while i came to visit.
i hadn't had REAL vietnamese food in soooooo long!
and it...was...yumm-o!
gained a pound or 2 with almost 2 bowls of it.
it was worth it.

and i have to share this...
this was one of the best red velvet cakes i've ever had.
a very small slice of it.
and can you believe it was made for kfc (by cafe valley)????
well it was and it was divinely yumm-o!

i did not feel guilty either!

and my lil boo, maiya, is coming home tomorrow morning...

i can hardly wait!

yey-yah!

i haven't had a chance to scrap anything lately with the busy holidays.
i brought a scrapbook kit along with me here in lacey.
but i just haven't had a chance to use it.
i don't have any glue, so gotta buy some sometime soon.
i'm getting scrappy withdrawals.
hoping to share something someday before we go back to cali.
we'll see.

tgif!
have a fun one!

a lil circle of friends

2011-12-28T14:03:00.000-08:00

...really good friends...
these galz are my besties for life and i love them so much..
jo (my sis), risa, and claire.

i was able to spend yesterday with them.
it was really nice to catch up and laugh.

thank you so much for your friendship, support, and love.

with claire (clarita!)...

with jo & risa...

with risa...

xoxo,
j

B....I....G........4-0!!!!

2011-12-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

go shawty it's yo birthday!

yey-yah!

per Starbx....

2011-12-24T05:18:00.000-08:00

currently spending this wonderful time of the year with family here in lacey, wa...

just wanted to say from our familia to yours...

happy holidays!
hope you have a fun and safe one.

love,
j, j, a, m, s, s

decked out

2011-12-20T18:31:00.000-08:00

last xmas we really didn't do any xmas decor just b/c my hubby was deployed.
this xmas is different b/c he's home with us.
so...
we put up the tree and decked the living and dining area a bit.

wanna see?

warning: photo heavy...heehee..

the living room...

the dining room...

3 more days til we head to WA to celebrate the holidays with family.
can hardly wait!
yey-yah!

gonna also be visiting a few friends that i haven't seen in a year or so.
yey-yah!

holidays are acomin'!

t...g...i...f!!!!!!!

2011-12-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

a quickie post b/c my lil one is in her walker jeep crying her lungs out...
but hey that's one of the only ways i can have her in one spot while i'm doing a task...

a birthday card for my sis-in-law.
it was yesterday and gave her a quick call to say, "happy birthday!"

here's the card...

some of the deetz...

used an old amm kit for this one.
i don't usually do banners...
but decided to do one for this one b/c it just seemed to "fit."
punches, tone-on-tone.
my fave techz.

well gotta jet b/c lil one is getting impatient & wants my attention.

have a wonderful weekend!

be merry

2011-12-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

a quick post because my 8 month old is in a very needy mood.

finally finished and mailed all the xmas cards to everyone we love & care about.
over 40 of them.
all done by my hands.
and maiya helped me seal all the envelopes.
such beautiful santa's helper.

i used tags from 7gypsies that had been stored away (for a LONG time).
then used some patterned papers from different amm & cocoa daisy kits.
crate paper, october afternoon, lily bee, my mind's eye pp's.
fiskars border punch and an inkadinkado stamp.
and there you go.

and for the final reveal....

be merry...

xoxo,
j

{ 8 months }

2011-12-09T11:09:00.001-08:00

yey-yah!
she turned 8 months today.
and she's already hairstylin'.
check out the 2nd photo...
heehee...

she is now a full-time, fast-time crawler.
and has promoted to holding onto things to stand up.
i think she's gonna be an early walker.
o my!

working on a birthday card today.
and trying to finish off the xmas cards to get them mailed out next monday.

will share soon.

14 more days til travel time.
can hardly wait!

weeeehhhhh!!!

have a great weekend!

and here's sierra...

2011-12-05T21:44:00.001-08:00

introducing a new family member of ours....

we found her at the antelope valley animal adoption center just yesterday, 12.4.2011.
she's a german shephard mix.
a lil over a year old.
and she's a healthy girl.
so far her temperment is pretty good.
she's a pretty good dog.
very smart.

i'm so happy she's a part of our family.
and she will be for a very long time.

"hi! my name is sierra!"

where did we get the name?
we actually had to work at it and come to an agreement.
we came up with koda, koa, shelby, athena, tisa, etc.
but we just couldn't get a good grasp on a name.
then i said to my hubby...
"what about one of your fave beers?"
(because he loves beer).
he looked at me and said..."sierra!"
and me and maiya both agreed.

sierra...welcome home.

at this time, on this date

2011-12-02T07:18:00.000-08:00

o my!
gotta share this one...finally!

here's the layout i've been wanting to post for awhile...
i used some american crafts pp and cardstock and letter stickers from my stash.
i've been wanting to use this pp for a long time but just couldn't figure out when and with what...
also used scraps and scraps from some cocoa daisy kits.
crate paper, echo park, jillibean soup, october afternoon, sassafras, etc.
did some tone-on-tone layering of some border punches and doodling.
spray inked here and there too.
also used a ribbon holder as a template for those yellow painted circles you see there.
so fun.

the photo was taken during my and my hubby'z trip in seattle for our 1st yr wedding anniversary.
that was back on 3/13/2010.
the picture was taken exactly at 1:36 p.m., thus the title.

okay, okay...
here it is with the lil dittiez...

a nice way to end the week.

tomorrow nite is date nite while our wonderful neighbors watch the girlz.
it's been too long since we've had one.
dinner & a movie.
can hardly wait!

have a great weekend!

happy birthday to K

2011-11-28T08:52:00.001-08:00

today is a special niece's birthday.
she turned 11 today.
and we sent this one to her last week...

i used a cocoa daisy kit "cherry soda"
and used martha stewart punch, hero arts stamp, stickles, uniball signo and ek success pens from my stash.
a nice, simple and quick card.
loved how it turned out.

here are the close-ups...

lastly, i'd like to give a lil peeky sneakz to a page layout i completed over a week ago...
ya know...
the one i told you about here????

more to come later on this week.
make sure you come back and check it out.
okay?
okay!

lataz!!!!

happy gobble gobble

2011-11-24T16:31:00.001-08:00

from our family to yours...
have a wonderful, happy thanksgiving!

i am most grateful for the love of my family.
we are so blessed to have each other.

what are you grateful for?

xoxo,
jd

an ode to sea-town

2011-11-17T13:43:00.001-08:00

i use to live in seattle...
close to the downtown area.
went and graduated from seattle university.
use to work for the city of seattle for about 8 years.
went clubbin' quite a few weekends.

what i did not do is take pictures.
i wasn't into taking pix back then.
i did not explore it as much as i should have.
and now that is something i totally regret.
but i have at least been around the downtown area, pike place...
many restos too.
i just never took photos of these events, happenings.

but what i am grateful for is that i got engaged at the top of space needle.
that we had our 1st year wedding anniversary there too.
i've gone and explored with my family there too before we moved to CA.

i miss seattle.
next time we go there...
i want to:

take more pix
eat at THe Confectional for some cheesecake
walk around the downtown area and Pike Place Market
take more pix
have some good dimsum
walk by the waterfront
take more pix.

i did manage to take a few pix of sea-town before we moved to sunny CA...

aaaahhhh, i love seattle.
i love WA state.

oh, btw...i started a scrapbook page layout.
i started in just this past veteran's day weekend.
using one of these photos.
can you guess which one?

aaaahhhh...the suspense.
stay tuned.

"whuzzamin!" she says...

2011-11-11T06:26:00.001-08:00

my 10 yr old daughter, maiya, loves to come up with the most unique words.
like "whuzzamin"
in the maiya dictionary it's defined as "awesome."

so from there, that's how we came up with the title for this LO.
used the cocoa daisy kit, "printer's drawer."
i used some embossing powder and my nifty heat embossing tool by american crafts.
embossed it on cardstock, then punched some shapes, adhered with foam adhesives.
then doodled around those punched shapes to make them pop more.
also added a few buttons on them too.
lot's of doodling around the chipboard letters and around the LO.

it took me 2 1/2 weeks total really to finish this one.
i had finished it in 1.5 hours.
but for some reason something was missing and i couldn't say it was finished.
so i just put it down, took a break.... a LONG break.
added the burlap string and staples one day.
took another LONG break.
then a couple of days ago, added the punched starburst shapes and buttons on the right side of the pix.
and voila!
it is completo!!!!

and without further ado...

and the dittiez...

these 2 pix of her was on her 1st day of 4th grade.
i was going to just scrap 1 of them.
but i loved both of them so much, decided to do 2.
love the different lighting in each of them.

well...it's time for a nice long weekend.
have a good one.

and happy veteran's day!
especially to my loving and hard-working hubby!

xoxo,
j

{ 7 months }

2011-11-10T05:39:00.001-08:00

selene turned 7 months yesterday (11.9.2011)...
she is crawling big time and all over the place...
has become an expert screamer, laugher, growler...
expertise in letting you know when she doesn't like peaches by holding her mouth shut...
a binky extraordinaire, at times...
and just an all-time lovable lubby dubby lil thang...

go go go lil girl!

xoxo

what's to eat?

2011-11-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

some yummiez to share...

enchiladas...

a new fave snack, mint oreos w/ nonfat milk (it's 1/2 healthy...lol)...

homemade pesto on herbed chicken tortellini....

hubby made us some homemade fries with lots of ground pepper in ketchup, grilled some hotdogs and onions...

homemade baked apples...

snack time: pita bread w/ a spread of garlic hummus...

the very last spoonful from the tub vanilla ice cream, just for yours truly...

lunch at panera, half a sierra turkey sandwich, french onion soup...

dinner at domingo's, one of our fave mexican restos; i had the soft taco beef asada...

an after-workout treat, lowfat cottage cheese, a lil honey & strawberries...

a nice appetizer at the yard house, sweet potato fries with a maple-bacon dip...

then i had the grilled korean bbq tacos at the yard house (it was yumm-o, but the portions were definitely not big enough for my hubby)...

i've got to do more posts like this, huh?

maybe i will.

pizza, fries, a beer & a strawberry lemonade

2011-11-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

i was going thru some photos, trying to organize.
came across these that i never posted.
we try to eat at a different resto once in awhile to change it up.
my hubby heard about this one from some co-workers.
BeX Bar & Grill.
one night we drove by and decided to eat there.
we had their bbq chicken pizza and their garlic-parmesan fries.
i had a strawberry lemonade and he had a beer.
everything was oh so yumm-o!

love the decor too.

it was just me, my hubz and our youngest chickadee, selene.
(maiya was with her dad in WA and ashley was back home in idaho).

we've eaten there 2x now.
the 2nd time with maiya.
there will be a 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. times as well.
that was da shiznit!

happy friday!

silly...silly us

2011-11-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

just sharing a few photos i had taken with my droid app awhile back...

i set the app to rotate each tone everytime i take a pic.
right now it's on the "toycam" setting.
i love this app.
i change it up a bit once in awhile b/c i get bored easily.

one last one to share...
this one is of a framed photo of me and my sis.
she gave this to me during labor day weekend while we were visiting.
it's displayed in our living room on one of the end tables.
(the vase behind is from my hubby, he brought it back from one of his deployments).
love it so much.

i love the soft vignet.

happy hump day!

nyc

2011-10-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

me & my lil boo went to the mall yesterday.
we bought her a cute lil shirt from sears.
had some see's candies: 2 key lime pies and 2 walnut squares...yumm-o!
went and did lots of window shopping at various stores.
it was kinda fun especially with my lil boo.
our last stop was at one of my favez...
new york & company.
they've quite improved their yummy clothes as years gone by.
i remember them from seattle, but they closed them all down in seattle.
but here in CA...
yey-yah!
they're open!

here's a few beauties that caught my eye (taken with my droid; love how they have that lil haziness to them)...
well they caught my lil boo'z 1st who knows my taste...

this one was my fave.

love the graphics of this sign.
might use on a scrap page someday.
or have i already?
hmmm....

my 2nd fave outfit

me & my lil boo in front the huge mirror with signage on it.

if i were still working...
i'd wear all these lovelies.

maybe i still can even at home.
hmmmm....
lol.

this one's for my mama

2011-10-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

i've been meaning to post this card...
blame it on laziness and forgetfulness...
doesn't everybody get that way?
you're lying if you say no!
lol.

i used a ribbon, a sassfras pp, and tag from a cocoa daisy kit.
did some punching and tone-on-tone too.
and of course i always, always deck out the inside too.

here it is...

i had made a little boo boo with the stamp in the kit on the front of the card.
i was hoping to stamp it on heavy, but it just was not working.
but...
then again..
i made it work as a subtle accent behind the tag.
oh well.
mistakes happen and then they end up working out.
teehee.

i'm hoping to share a layout soon.
not quite done with it.
i thought i was but everytime i looked at....
it didn't feel "complete."
so right now it's just sleeping on my craft table.
i needed to let it sleep and get some rest from my hands.
i'll be waking it up soon though!
stay tuned.

#2 of 2

2011-10-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

today is our 2nd anniversary of our 2nd wedding ceremony.
yes we got married 2x.
1st in a civil ceremony on 3/15/2009.
then on 10/24/2009 (after my hubby got back from 6-month deployment).

here's some photos from our 2nd ceremony that i never got to post....

usually WA state is pretty cloudy and rainy around this time...

but something just said, "hey this day...this day is gonna be sunny with the bluest skies."

photos taken by lowell mooney.

a friend of mine helped decorate the reception area.
yes.... those are carnations!
i don't care what anyone says!
carnations are beautiful!
so there!
i created all the tags, layouts for the wedding.
that was fun to do!
i would do all over again.
even the wedding.
it was one of the most fun days of my life.

happy anniversary babez.
xoxo

....and she sits

2011-10-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

selene started sitting, by herself, with no help from us, yesterday (10/21/2011).
yey-yah!

this one was taken by my lovely lil baby boo, maiya:

next step...

crawling.

coming soon.

this was on "love 9.4.2011"

2011-10-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

i love taking photobooth pix with my family at the mall.
this is when we do get a chance to.
and we did during the labor day weekend while we were visiting family.
it was just the 3 of us, me, my hubby, and selene.
finally did a layout on it too.
used the cocoa daisy "farmer's market" kit for this one.

and of course the lovely dittiez....

this was a fun 1 to do.
love the cocoa daisy stamp.
stamped it randomly on the american crafts pp.
then filled a few of them with prima crystals and punched circles.
i love circles!
so used my circle punches and adhered them in straight lines along the page with the crystals.
the final touch was the doodling around the punched borders.
love that sharpie pen/marker combo!

did this LO just for the fun of it and to document this time together.
i'll be doing more "fun of it" LO's in the future.
no more deadlines for design teams for awhile.
just doing it for fun, fun, fun.

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhh!

{ 6 months }

2011-10-14T13:42:00.000-07:00

she turned 6 months this past april 9th.
she is now over 14 lbs and over 25 inches long.
and is as healthy and happy as can be!
of course she has her little times when she's a bit cranky b/c she's tired...
but for the most part...
she laughs, smiles, yells, bubbles.
heehee...

love you lubby dubby!

a galore of....

2011-10-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

some stuff i have been meaning to share.
oh...
yes it took me awhile...
better late than never, i say.

some scrappy-card-lovin'....

birthday cards....(for last month)...

for my sis jo:

for my bro-in-law, rey:

and for my hubby, jesse:

for my nephew, rj:

and lastly, for our neighbor's newborn:

i used mostly kits from cocoa daisy for the 1st four cards.
and used an echo park packet i got awhile back from michelle quinn of amm for an rak i did for her.
the rest i used my nifty punches that i always turn to.
and a sharpie pen/marker and my uniball signo pens.
my fave toolz to use in my stuff.

hoping to share a layout soon...
well as soon as i start it...
and as soon as i finish it.
heehee.
i promise i will.
wink.

well off to do some house cleaning with my lil boo.
she's such a wonderful helper.

a sassy goodbye....

2011-10-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

i am sad to say that sassy lil' sketches will be closing its doors this month.
it was an enjoyable scrappy journey.
thank you katie & cherie for the opportunity to design for you.

to say goodbye to SLS, we are doing a sassy send off all this month.

here's mine...

and the sassy deetz:

i used the cocoa daisy kit "printer's drawer."
just love love love it!

after being a sassy gal, i'm not sure what i'll be doing scrappy-wise...
well at least i mean if i'll join another design team or not.
i think for sure i'll be taking a break from being on one.
focus on doing some scrap pages i've been meaning to do, without any deadlines.
i do have some cards to share.
i've been bad lately posting.
just been busy with family life.
but i'll share it soon.

to all sassy followers, thank you so much for stopping by and checking my stuff out.
hopefully, you'll keep coming by even after sassy closes.
will you?
i hope so.
- wink -

until another post...

xoxo

10

2011-09-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

she turned 10 today....

for a pre-celeb of her birthday, we went to Universal Studios.
she had sooo much fun.
her fave was the Simpson ride.
and it was mine too.

we'll be going back sometime in the future to ride 2 others we didn't get a chance to.
plus we want to go at night.

i made a cute card for her too.
i used the an older kit by amm.

here it is...

and a few close ups...

happy birthday my lil baby boo!
we love you.

practice makes perfect...or at least close to it

2011-09-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

what a milestone!
this lil one is starting to practice her sitting skills.
check it out....

she'z gotz da smoove baby'z skill!

yey-yah!

{ 5 months }

2011-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

selene is 5 months today!

she is rolling both ways, touching and sucking her toes, and starting to grab stuff.
uh-oh.
lol.

we love you so much lubby dubby!

just this past labor day weekend...

2011-09-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

we got back from WA this past monday.
i miss everyone soooo much!
we had a lot of fun!
even it was just from early friday a.m. to early monday a.m.

just wanted to share some photos of this past weekend...

friday...

we had some lunch, inspection day of our rental properties...
then a nice jog/walk around rainier vista park with my hubby and selene.
it was such a beautiful, sunny day.
we then had dinner at my parents too.

saturday...

my hubby & I walked by heritage park and then saw a nice festival going on nearby.
so we took a walk and explored the vendors.
headed over to the farmer's market, then to mercato's for a drink.
mercato's is where we had our civil ceremony reception.
(used the Polandroid app for these pix....so cool!):

it was nice just chillin' there.

then that night we had dinner at my sis's place.

sunday...

brunch w/ the family at IHOP.

walked around Tumwater Falls.
hung out at the Capitol Mall.
pizza dinner at Inferno's.
then some strawberrry shortcake at my parents'.

monday....

headed home.

i miss WA.

i miss my family.

so so random...

2011-09-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

yey-yah!

it's that time again for a Sassy Lil' Sketches layout reveal...

here's September's sketch:

for my take, i did one of my "so, so random as of...." layouts.
these 2 photos were of me when i was preggo with my daughter, selene.
i have to say...i had that "glow."
i used the cocoa daisy kit "siren's call" for this one.
in addition, i used my nifty circle, starburst, and star punches by martha stewart, ek success and fiskars.
i love those punches.
also used the notebook border punch by ek success.
a few paint splatters and smudges, that too!
and the final touch were some glitter glue dots using stickles.

without further ado...

here's mine:

and for my deetz:

journaling:

1. working out HARD to get rid of the baby fats
2. a SAHM for 1 year and 2 months
3. my 10 yr old says I'm the most creative person she knows!
4. i don't drink it all the time, but i <3 cherry coke.
5. i miss my family in WA state.

hope you check out our other fab-o-lous SLS DT galz too!
hope you also join in on the fun and post your take on SLS.
and if you do, you could win a lil sumthin sumthin from our sponsors:

Authentique Paper
www.authentiquepaper.com

xoxo

life as i know it

2011-08-28T11:08:00.000-07:00

last monday was the 1st day of school for my lil boo, maiya.
this whole week was crazy for her too...already.
lots of paperwork for me to read and sign.
she had to gather more supplies.
she had to gather art supplies for a personal board she did this past friday.
but all in all, she had a great school week.
i was just tired and pooped out.
but i did manage to get a couple of great shots of maiya on her 1st day.

these are definitely going down as some of my fave photos of her.
i love how the sun is shining on her beautiful face in the 1st one.
in the 2nd, i love how the sun shines on the side.
too cute.

selene started touching her toes mid-august, 8/19/2011, to be exact.

she also rolled from her back to her tummy this past week, on 8/25/2011, a thursday, to be exact.
she also started sucking her toes this past week, 8/26/2011, to be exact.
whoa!
she's done a lot too this past week and month!
she is growing too fast!
but that's a good thing too.
because i can't wait til she can start sitting, then crawling, then walking!
i'm sooooo excited!

hmmmm....
look who got a hold of my camera while i got my haircut?

my hubz...
the GOOF-BALL.
heehee.
one of the many reasons why i love him so much.

as for myself..
i've got a goal to lose the baby fats of 20 lbs by the end of January 2012.
5 lbs per month.
i finally started working out again this past week.
did a walk/jog on the treadmill twice.
a workout to an old episode of gilad.
strength workout with the medicine ball.
and definitely some simple but effective pilates abs.
that's my goal and i'm sticking to it!

and on scrappy note...
here's a sneaky peeky of what's coming up on 9.1.2011 on Sassy Lil' Sketches:

loved how it turned out!
and you will too.
stay tuned!

august is about birthdays

2011-08-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

2 special birthdays this month,
and 2 special cards too.
one for my niece, yanni,
and another for my nephew,sergio.

here they are:

yanni'z:

serg'z:

for yanni'z, i used a previous kit from amm.
used one of my newest butterfly & cornflower punches from martha stewart.
i love her!
also combined 2 border punches together, ek success and fiskars.
a new discovery on my part on using my border punches a little further.
combinations are always a good thang.

for sergio'z, guess what i used for the purple & white circles?
i cut them out of a "similac baby formula" envelope.
clever huh?
i love that polka dot pp by american crafts.
i've had it in my stash for quite sometime and had used it once before on a layout awhile back.
anchored those punched shapes with some dimensional foam adhesive.
love the colors of this card, yellow & purple.
yellow & purple for the la lakers, who are one of his fave b-ballin' teamz.
he'll enjoy this one.
heehee.

happy birthday you 2 cutie'z!
as from the song by black eyed peas:
hugz & kisses, hugz & kisses, x & o'z, x & o'z.

{ 4 months } & she's back!

2011-08-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

selene turned 4 months a week ago.
she is a little over 12 lbs, w/c i'm surprised b/c she seems more than that.
22.7" long now.
healthy as can be.
we went to her 4 month check-up appointment last tuesday.
all is good.
dr had suggested to wait til she's ready to eat rice cereal.
no real point of having in her stomach when there's no nutritional value.
i don't feel so bad now.
i'm going to wait, dr's orders.

and some other great news...
my other lil boo, maiya, is back home with us!
yey-yah!
school is starting next monday.
she's excited!
but for now, it's still vacay time and we're trying our best to take full advantage of it.

here's selene and maiya during last week's appointment:

time is flying by!!!!!

i've got some more posting to do.
i've been so out of it since we left for florida and came back home.
sorry about that.
got some cards and a layout to post soon.
hopefully i can also show off some florida pix too.
until then...
have a great day!

xoxo
much love.

Sassy Lil" Sketches Reveal

2011-07-31T03:40:00.000-07:00

hey everyone!

it's time for the august reveal for Sassy Lil' Sketches.

here's the sketch:

and my take on this fun sketch...

and for the deetz...

i used the cocoa daisy "urban loft" kit for this one.
paint splatters, doodling, and of course some tone-on-tone starburst punched shapes.
this was definitely a fun lo and i love how it turned out.
i've never used a grid design until now.
will definitely be using this type of design in future lo's.

make sure you check out our sassy ladiez creations using this fun sketch.
sharing is caring.
plus you could win a prize by our sponsor:

Apron Strings Designs

have a good one!

happy 40th

2011-07-25T11:01:00.000-07:00

happy anniversary mom & dad!
40 beautiful, wonderful years of love & marriage.

i sent this card to them to celebrate these past years...

and of course the deetz...

supplies: a million memories april kit; additional: martha stewart, ek success, aleene's, inkadinkado, recollections by michael's

i love those acrylic stamps i got from michael's last weekend.
simple and straightforward sentiment and heart shape.
yumm-o!

i so admire that my parents have been together for so many years.
i want me and my hubby to be like that.
i love my hubby so much.
he is one of my best friends.
one of my loves ( my others are our daughters and of course scrapbooking!).
he is a wonderful man altogether.
i have a feeling we will be together for a very long time.
40 years like my parents?
hmmmmm...i think so!

happy 40th mommy & daddy!

xoxo

i'm on the Sassy Lil Sketches Design Team!!!!

2011-07-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

hey everyone!

here's my exciting news that i've been holding off telling you!

yes, i know, i know...
i said i would take a break.
but the break was short-lived!

i made it!

i made it on the Sassy Lil Sketches Design Team!!!! <<<<----- click on this link for the announcement!

i'm soooooo excited!

make sure you come by Sassy Lil Sketches to join in on the fun and show off your creative juices!
become a member and drop off your layout and/or card in our gallery.
we wanna see watcha can do!
hey, you might even win a prize!
or just do it for the fun of it!

and here's what i submitted that got me the gig:

this one was based on the SLS sketch march 7, 2011...

and some close-ups:

and for my 2nd submission, freestyled this one...

and for the deetz for this one...

see you there!

{ 3 months }

2011-07-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

this lil one turned 3 months about a week ago (on july 9th).
this was also the day we all went to universal studios.
she was so good the whole day and night while we were there.

she is such a good baby.
and a cutie one too!

i love her so much.

i'm on cloud 9, i tell ya!

2011-07-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

yes.
i'm on cloud 9 today with some great news.
great news i tell ya!
but...
i have to hold off on telling all what that is.

hmmmm....

all i can say is that i'm excited...
and
elated!

and maybe just a lil hint here and there...

come back on july 20th and i'll let you know what i'm so on cloud 9 about!
okay?

okay!

oh so much fun!

2011-07-14T20:34:00.000-07:00

hmmm...
haven't been posting for a week now.
we've just been having too much fun.
but tomorrow my sis and her family will be leaving for sacramento.
bummer!
now i have to adjust back to life of being just me and selene at home while the hubby works.
it's gonna be too quiet!
and i'm not going to like that!
no i'm not!
but...
i am grateful they spent most of their time here with us.
we did a lot of stuff while they were here.

let's re-cap shall we...

1. meeting selene for the 1st time

2. some yummy dinner at domingo's:

3. guitar time with the cousins:

4. skype time, selene meeting auntie kim, kristen & holt for the 1st time:

5. finally taking a photo w/ cousin rj:

6. ashley's bday party:

7. universal studios

8. chillin' in santa monica

9. meeting uncle rene

10. a nice surprise for the boys: west coast customs in corona, ca

11. some yumm-o lunch at the tranquil tea lounge

this place was absolutely fab-o-lous!

12. lunch at pinoy-pinay in cerritos, ca with 2 of our aunties
13. checked out my auntie's new condo
14. visited more family
15. swimming and a bbq for my family last night with us

i've got more photos for #'s 12-15, but i may post them at a later time.
i think that's all for this post!
whew!
long one huh?
but we had so much fun!

looking forward to having more fun in the near future!

family time + a card

2011-07-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

well my sis and her family are here in town for the next 2 weeks!
yey-yah!
i'm so happy they're here.
my bro-in-law and niece and nephews finally met selene for the 1st time.
and they love her much.

they're also in time here for ashley's birthday, w/c is tomorrow.
i secretly made a card for her this a.m.
here it is:

and a bunch of da deetz:

supplies: american crafts, uniball signo, fiskars, marvy uchida, aleene's, therm o web

and a few family photo love:

meeting the rest of the familia:

slip & slidin:

having so much fun!

well i'm off with da hubby on a dirt road bike ride in the desert!

c-ya!

5 - five - cinco - lima

2011-06-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

well this past saturday my lil boo, maiya, went to WA for 6 wks to visit her dad.
she'll also be visiting my family for 5 nights.
i already miss this lil girl.
the night before we went to red robin at her request.
she ordered of course her usual...
banzai burger, no mayo, no pineapple, no cheese.

and before we headed over to red robin...
we finally did a photo shoot of the 5 of us together.
i took so many since i had my camera to shoot continous.
i didn't have a tripod...
so the top of the bbq grill had to do.

the test shots of....

1 & 2 people i love...

3 people i love....

4 people i love...

and the final 5...a complete familia....

i had to crop some of the photos...
because the darn bbq grill top was showing up at the corner of them.
oh well.

i miss maiya.
i miss us 5 all together.

on a scrappy-note...
i made a card for a baby shower.
i wasn't able to attend because that was the day my lil boo left for WA.

here's the quick and simple card:

and for the close-ups:

materials: american crafts, prima, webster's pages, fiskars, marvy uchida, martha stewart, amm kit, stickles by ranger

got my siggy of course.
tone-on-tone, punches, glitter.
and i never ever forget to deck out the inside too.
used an old kit from amm.
been trying to use older kits for cards.
i've got lots and lots of older kits that have been barely used or have leftovers.
a real easy, quicky, and simple card.

hopefully i can get some more scrap time sometime this week.
even if it's just decking out a container.
i've accumulated quite a bit of baby formula containers that i'm thinking of putting to good use for scrap supplies or maybe for something else.
we'll see how that goes!

have a good monday!

chill day

2011-06-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

today is a chill day.
not going anywhere.
just staying home day.
going places costs $$$.
being on a tight budget = chill day.

sharing some project lovez i did for this past father'z day.
these were made for my hubby.
he loved them so much.

an album:

and the deetz:

materials: american crafts, 7gysies, tattered angeles glimmer mists, fiskars, ek success, uniball signo, sassafras, maya road, daisyd, ranger, martha stewart

used my nifty punches, stamping, tearing, distressing, spray misting, doodling, and all that fun stuff that makes this album special.

and now for a canvas layout of my hubby and our youngest chickadee, selene...

used a tim holtz alpha grungeboard as a template.
spray misted it.
then used a gel pen to outline the "S" for selene.
tore the bottom and top edges of the photo, adhered.
then decked out the canvas with scraps, buttons, chipboard that was crackle painted & spray misted.

here's the process:

and what it looks like:

and the intricate lil deetz:

materials: tattered angels glimmer mists, ranger, jesse james & co, basic grey, fiskars gel pens, crate paper, maya road

i rarely get a chance to do altered projects.
gotta do more of them.
don't cha think?
me think so.

and to save the best for last...
some photo love of all 3 of our girlies together.
finally got a few done of the 3 of them.
must not forget to do one or more of the whole family of 5.
must do it before lil boo leaves for WA for the rest of the summer.

so so so pretty.
i love you.

I WON A BLOG AWARD!!!!!

2011-06-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

i'm sooooo excited to share this...

i won my very 1st blog award!!!!
yey-yah!!!!

i am so honored to have received an email from sheila of Scrapbooklayoutsideas.com
thank you sheila and for all who had voted for me!

click here ----------->>>> MY BLOG AWARD!!!!!!

and because this is my fave hip hop group and dedicated to those who voted for me, here's one for you all:

hugs & kisses...hugs & kisses....x & o'z...x & o'z....

final good-bye

2011-06-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

today is the last day for a ScrapTiffany challenge.
i'm sad to say that.
but happy at the same time for moving on.
this last challenge was to do a layout based on a sketch by sophie.

and for the reveal:

materials: crate paper, sassafras, american crafts, janlynn, uniball signo,ek success, fiskars, making memories, october afternoon

used a craft knife to distress the edges of the pp's.
punched scallop & plain circles, adhered the plain on top of the scalloped, then topped with a button entwined with floss.
outlined the title with my zig writer to emphasize it.
and the final touch: doodling of lines & dots w/ my fave white uniball signo pen.

here's the deetz:

thanks tiffany for this great opportunity of showing off my creativity
and most of all for choosing me as one of the final ScrapTiffany DT galz.
it was so much fun!
thank you.

i love this monday

2011-06-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

what you say?
"you love this monday????"
huhhhhh????
yes!
i do!
it's starting out quite good actually.
this past saturday we picked up our daughter ashley from the airport.
she'll be with us for about a month.

i also got some scrappy time in too.
i got to do 2 cards.
a birthday one, a father's day one.

here they are....

for a special boy thousands of miles away...

materials: american crafts, fiskars, ek success, making memories, ranger (stickles), aleene's, therm o web, uniball signo

the deetz on this one:

and for a special dad who is also thousands of miles away:

mateials: cosmo cricket, american crafts, ek success, amm kit, making memories, uniball signo

and of course you gotta check out the close-ups:

i can never do cards without deckin' out the inside of them too.
i love doing tone-on-tone punched shapes on the inside.
it gives it interest, texture w/o being overly decked out on the inside.
for me, that's what makes cardmaking fun.
and of course, i got my siggie on the back with 2 different size butterfly punch shapes attached too.
i also love to doodle with my white uniball signo pen.
i love that pen!
it's one of fave tools to use when scrappin'.
circles are also my scrap fetish, and will always be.
i just think circles add that fun flare to my projects.
heehee.
giggle, giggle.

oh...sheez...this is one card i forgot to post this thank you card that i did awhile back..

materials: my mind's eye, we r memorykeepers, ek success, martha stewart, rubberstampede

and just wanted to share some b&w photo love of this past saturday.
especially w/ ashley first meeting her baby sis selene for the first time.

i gotta take a family photo of all of us 4 together,
especially before my lil baby boo leaves for WA for the rest of the summer.
gotta do it.

have a lovely lovely monday!

{ 2 months }

2011-06-09T12:45:00.000-07:00

guess who turned 2 months today?

this lil one, that's who:

as you can tell she is a very happy baby on this day.
well at least before she got her immunization shots.
she had her 2 month checkup today.
she's a lil over 10 lbs and a lil over 21 inches long.
healthy baby.
then...
she had her 3 shots plus an oral one.
she was not very happy with those 3.
not happy at all.
her unhappiness didn't last long thank goodness.

got home and gave her some acteminophen (sp?).
then dang it...
i spilled like half of it all over her, the boppy pillow.
yikes!
accidents happen.
it's all good now.

looking forward to the next month of baby happiness & love.

xoxo

where you at?

2011-06-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

i got to do some freestylin' scrappin'.
no deadlines.
my own thang.
it's been awhile since i've done 1.

i recently came across this photo from a reunion we had back on 8.21.1992 we had in cali.
i had put almost all the reunion photos in an album.
me and my friends were going thru the album...
and this one wasn't exactly in place and fell out.
i said to myself oh! this one i gotta scrap!

so here it is:

and for the close-ups...

in this one, i used some leftover scraps and did a criss-cross pattern and adhered it as an accent.
pretty cool huh?

used punches, border punches, glitter glue, popped up the stars and added buttons and glitter on them, used some leftover die-cut silhouette circles, used the negatives as embellies from the border punches, spray inks, and more scraps.
and voila it all came together!
this was so much fun to do!

here's the rest of the deetz:

materials: sassafras, jillibean soup, my mind's eye, maya road, basic grey, jesse james & co, ek success, fiskars, uniball signo, ranger, aleene's, therm o web, cricut, american crafts

freestylin' has always been my best work.
at least that's my opinion.
you want more you say?
don't worry there will be more of my freestylin' skillz to come!
lol....

my lil one is finally taking a nap on my lil boo'z chest.
but lil boo is getting hungry for breakfast...
so gotta go!

c-ya!

finale's can be happy & sad

2011-06-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

well, i am sad to say that this will be my last month on being on the ScrapTiffany DT.
i was planning to not participate on the DT or any DT for awhile.
i wanted to do freestylin' for now.
but i just got word that ScrapTiffany will no longer be having a design team after this month.
it's sad but life does take a different turn and you just gotta follow it.
but at the same time i'm happy, because it leads to a new chapter in my life.
it was so fun being on the DT.
one of my scrap dreams come true!
it was such an honor to be on the ScrapTiffany DT.
but like i said, i'm taking a break from being on a DT.
just want to do my own thang for now.
i'll still be scrapping, but on my own terms.
i'll prob do some sketch challenges since i haven't had the chance to.
who knows.
but one of these days, i'll go for another DT.
just don't know when.

well, i actually finished my last layout for ScrapTiffany.
here's a sneaky peeky of it:

the final reveal will be on june 15th.
so don't forget to come back and check it out.

tiffany, thank you so much for this past creative year!

xoxo

our lil baby buddha

2011-06-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

just sharing some cutesie tootsie photos of our lil baby buddha with her silly sissie....

i've got more, but they'll be on my facebook.
but these are definitely my favez.
definitely for future scrap pages.
lol.

love you both my baby buddha & lil baby boo *wink*...

XOXO

this lil girl

2011-06-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

the ScrapTiffany challenge is now up....
this time the challenge was to do a layout using our fave manufacturer.
my all time favez are Sassafras & Hambly.
on this LO i used all out Hambly.
used a couple of photos of our lil girlie girl.
the transparencies, rub-ons, and patterned papers were perfect for them.
she was only a few minutes old in the 1st one and 6 dayz old in the 2nd.
isn't she a cutie???

i also used some punches, paint, glitter, and a daisyd rub-on w/c i found in my stash.
anchored the hearts with some foam adhesive.
i love hambly.
just wished amm kit club would put more of it in their kits and even more sassfras.
hmmm...i just gotta do an LO with all Sass in it.
someday.

oopsies....almost forgot to share some detailz lovez:

materials: Hambly, Ranger, Craftsmart, Marvy Uchida, Fiskars, Ek Success, Aleene's, daisyd

anyway, go on over to the ScrapTiffany blog for our other DT members fave manu'z.
who is your fave manu?

so far so good... i think

2011-05-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

i say i think because i'm pretty delirious right now.
i'm very sleep deprived.
my oldest daughter has been saying i look very tired.
and..
i sure am.
having a baby to care of is hard work.
but it's well worth it.
especially when she starts smiling more often and even lets out a little giggle or 2.
aaaahhhh....
i just say to myself:
once she gets older she'll sleep longer at night.
i'm sooooooooo grateful that my 9 yr old loves to help out with our lil 7 week old.
she changes her diaper,
she cuddles with her,
she tries to calm her down,
she feeds & burps her,
she comforts her.
but most of all,
she loves her.
and i think selene is so happy about that.
i know i am.
my hubby is a wonderful daddy too.
he takes over when he sees me stressing out,
he takes care of her,
he does all the baby stuff that she needs, just like my 9 yr old,
and more.
yes, there are times he gets stressed out too,
but hey, doesn't every parent of a cutey baby?
and of course the best of all,
he loves her unconditionally.
i love my hubby and my girls so much.
sometimes it's hard to explain.
i'm so grateful for what life has given to me so far and will keep giving me.
*sigh*

i'm definitely grateful school is out and it's a 4-day weekend holiday for my hubby.
altho' he's still in "work mode" during this time.
but we have managed to do stuff together since friday.
we got to go to a jethawks baseball game.
selene's 1st time at a b-ball game.
maiya's 2nd time (1st at a mariner's game in WA).
that was so much fun!
selene slept pretty much the whole time, all snuggled up in her sweater, blanket, and maiya's blanket.
it was cold and windy, but despite that, i enjoyed myself.

this will definitely be one of my fave photos:

another going down as a fave photo and scrap-worthy:

is this scrap-worthy or what...lol:

yesterday to celebrate maiya getting a science award from school,
we went to the science center in LA:

great job maiya!
it was nice to get away on nice road trip with the family.

today was mostly a chill-chore-day.
laundry, bathroom cleaning, laundry, lunch, taking care of the family especially selene, chillin'.
hubby is gonna cook some beer can chicken tonight, yumm-o!
then watch a rental.
tonight is camp night with maiya.
i get to sleep the whole night too while hubby takes care of selene.
gotta catch up on my zzzzzz'z and spend some time with maiya alone.
i love my hubby for doing that for us.

tomorrow..not sure what we're doing...
but i think we plan on getting away from home again.
we'll see!

oh before i go, here's a sneaky peeky on an upcoming ScrapTiffany challenge:

i can hardly wait to til it's revealed and when i get to post it on here!
stay tuned til june 1st!

have fun on the rest of this holiday weekend and be safe!
peace!

lil foot, a head band, a feather, pottery dreams

2011-05-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

woohoo!
another friday!
this week went so well and quick!
lil one is growing fast big time.

sharing some photo love...

cute foot...

head band love....well sorta....

feathers in the blue sky...(photo taken by my lil boo)...

pottery painting love & a red robin luncheon love w/ lil boo...

definitely will be doing some pottery love again in the future.

now it's time to start another great weekend!

guilty, guilty....guilty

2011-05-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

woohoo!
another ScrapTiffany challenge reveal!
today's theme: guilty pleasures

i love pasta
i love starbucks
i love strawberry lemonade
i love lemon honey tea
i love all other kinds of stuff

check out my take on this fun challenge:

some guilty deetz too:

go check out the ScrapTiffany blog for other guilty pleasures creations from some fab-o-lous DT members!

me & my lil boo (9-yr old) are off to the mall to do some QT together: lunch, painting pottery, and walking around the mall.

see ya!