Valentines Day Fun

Back in California, I was sad to leave a really great community of friends. I made such strong friendships there, I have a great circle of close girlfriends who were (and still are) always there for me. So for Valentines Day this year, I wanted to send my single girlfriends back home a little something to show them that I was thinking about them for Valentines Day. I came across the perfect little Valentines Day gift idea for them at Amanda's blog. Paper Valentines Day Fortune Cookies! I was so excited when I saw it, that as I was reading it, I started designing my Fortune Cookie paper patterns right then. So please go check out her blog to see how I made my ones below.









For the fortunes to put inside, I looked up encouraging quotes online, and also some Bible verses that really make my day. And I printed the fortunes on label stock, so they can stick them somewhere where they can see them every day. I can't wait to send them!!!
Thanks for posting the instructions, Amanda!

Creative Outlet

Did I ever tell you that I love Scrapbooking? But I also hate it. Scrapbooking and I have a Love-Hate relationship.

When I am "in the zone" (you know what I mean, that creative mode when you think everything you touch turns to gold), I can sit for hours and hours at a time creating layouts and pages that I am really happy with. That's when I love Scrapbooking.

But then there's the times where I have something that I want to scrap, when I have a story in my head that I want to tell (scrapbooking is like journalling to me) - but my creativity isn't there. Everything I do looks unacceptable. That's when I despise scrapbooking! I really get frustrated when I am in a creative funk!

I love to give scrapbooks as presents. It takes a lot of time to make them, but the joy on the face of the person who I give it to is definitely worth it. When it's a gift, I am more motivated and excited, and I am usually happy with what I do; but it's when I am scrapbooking for myself that I seem to get these creative/non-creative mood swings. I am wanting to document a few things for myself in scrapbooks - the wedding, our recent move to Houston, but I just haven't had that spark I need to make it perfect.

Here are some pics of the scrapbook that I made to document my move from Australia to California. The pages were so filled with embellishments that the book wouldn't close, so I had to make a box so that everything would keep together. This is one of my favorites.

Here is the front of the box that the pages are tied into. I used ring-binder rings and ribbon to keep all the pages nicely hinged inside:


The whole book is about how unexpected things in life can be, but how beautiful the unexpected can turn out to be.


This page was all about how I never imagined that I would go from living in a beach town in Queensland, Australia, to a big city like Los Angeles:


This page was all about the changes that I went through, and how I was scared, but excited at the same time:


This was the theme of my whole scrapbook summed up quite nicely by God:


Here are some little details:





Anyway, I am really anxious to get on with more. Scrapbooks are so special to me.

National Blueberry Pancake Day & Something Nice on the side.

Today is National Blueberry Pancake Day!

In observance of this very important day, I got up at 6am to make my hubby a Blueberry Pancake Breakfast.
To be honest with you, I had never made pancakes from scratch (shhh!). In the past I always used store-bought pancake mixes, but since today is a special day, I thought I would make them from scratch. I found a recipe online but tweaked it a little, instead of milk - I used vanilla soy, and then also added some vanilla coffee creamer, and I used a tablespoon less sugar than the recipe called for since I had added in vanilla creamer (which tends to be really sweet on it's own).



All day yesterday was imagining the perfect pancakes I would make today. Of course I imagined Martha-Stewart-worthy disks of pure goodness. But today revealed the truth. While the pancakes tasted great, they didn't look as picture-perfect as I would have hoped.



So if you haven't had blueberry pancakes for breakfast today, it's not too late to celebrate with us! Have them for lunch or dinner, or dessert tonight. Happy Blueberry Pancake Day!

And in addition to making yourself some pancakes (here's the Something Nice on the side I am referring to in this post's title), go check out Melissa's site Operation Nice. It's a lovely site all about making the world a little brighter. I found a story that I thought was DEFINITELY a world-brightener and sent it to her, and she mentioned it on her site today. Thanks, Melissa!

And if you haven't yet, only if you like my textile, please remember to vote for my fabric design "Field Ornate" (see below post if you haven't seen what it looks like)!

Books & Fabric

I have always adored Children's Books.

I see them on bookshelves at people's houses, and on display in shiny windows, and always find myself looking through them. They are like mini works of art (well, at least the good ones are). The simplicity of the story, paired with darling illustrations - they really are a treasure. When I see a really, really beautiful one - I buy it. I can't resist. I don't have children of my own yet, but who says that "Children's Books" need to be just for children?

This is one of my current favorites. It's about a boy who eats books. I love the cute mixed-media illustrations, and the story itself is precious.


Isn't the back cover adorable? I love the little bite taken out of it!







So that covers the 'book' part of my post title. Now here's the 'fabric' part.

My fabric design is one of six finalists in a contest on Spoonflower. If you like my design (it's called Field Ornate), then please vote for me!
Here's the site to vote at.

This is what my design looks like:


I hope you are all well! Talk to you soon!

Pretty Mess

OK, so the mess itself isn't pretty. I personally think that the bits and pieces contained in the mess are pretty, but the pile and haphazardness of it is what makes it an eyesore. Poor Brian has had to put up with my mess on this table for months - but it's that time of year!



This is the mess of card-making. It comes out every year just after Thanksgiving for the Christmas Cards, and it stays out until January (I have birthdays all through December and January). Then it makes other appearances throughout the year as other birthdays and events pop up. The only time it hibernates between the months of November through January are when guests come - so pretty much that's the only time this table is actually used to eat at.

Amongst the mess today is the birthday card that I am making for my friend Janet. It's a lot of fun creating cards for her, because she is really into handmade items herself, so she appreciates the work that can go into these things. Here's the card:




This is the outside of the card:



Here's the inside:



And this is the part of the card that is making me get holes in my fingers! I am not the best at stitching!


Anyway, this will be in the post along with her present soon. Brian thought this would be the end of the table-hogging, but I just remembered some other birthdays coming up!

Friends

In addition to seeing my family again, Christmas this year meant a lot to me because I spent it with friends. Friendships are such a vital part of my life. And God has really blessed me with great ones. My thankfulness for my friendships dwarfs a lot of the other things that I am appreciative of.

The day after Christmas, Brian and I planned a small get-together to catch up with some friends. A huge chunk of our friends were out of town visiting family, but we had a nice group of about 25 people. It was sooo great to see all their faces again. I saw them all in October at the wedding, but it was nice to be around them all again.

My friend Cheryllyne came later on in the evening, and when I opened the door and saw her there, we both hugged each other for the longest time and balled our eyes out. Cher is one of my best friends in the whole world. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her standing there at the door.

The people that came have been our friends from all over - some from the high desert, some from Pasadena, one from back in my college days, and we have different stories with each of them. Some are married now, some are recently single now, and some don't have a clue what they are now. I love them all. We have such a diverse group of friends - so many different backgrounds and cultures. I am pretty blown away by the significance of having friends. Friends make life so much richer.