Sweet Saturday

Posted on | July 31, 2010 | 4 Comments

I’m not sure if I’ll get sick of it after awhile but right now I am loving the UK rain. It’s not violent like in Missouri — I don’t have to ask hubby every other minute if it’s tornadic outside — but just the usual soft sound of rain. It’s lovely and it actually reminds me of the time in Indonesia. I’m not a fan of heat and the rain always bring coolness. Also it’s so dusty where I was from and the rain calms those dust down a bit. On weekends I’d just sit around and read and that activity was my favorite thing to do back in those days.

Today it was lounge around day for us. We had friend over last night for dinner, our first time since we’ve been here, we went straight to bed after they left and today, after cleaning up we just watched movies and while I worked on some projects.

Here’s one I did today. Hubby got a new color printer so I was able to print out some digital paper from Sweet Shoppe. This particular one was printed of a Zoe Pearns kit: Alphabet Soup for Boys. I know it says for boys but I think this thing is perfect for anybody. Love the cute cute images!! I printed in draft mode for the pattern paper while the swirl was in normal mode and gave the pattern paper a more soft feeling while saving some ink.

I hope you’re enjoying your weekend!! We know we are!

Materials:

Cardstock for card base: SU
Digital paper printed on card stock printer paper from WalMart
Ink: SU
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Vintage Label and WPlus9 Hooked on You sentiment
Accessories: Pom-poms
Tools: Nestabilities and Sizzix

Sweet Oreos

Posted on | July 30, 2010 | 5 Comments

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! Kind of weird, even though I don’t work now I still look forward to Fridays. I think it’s because I know we’ll all be home the next day and also that it’s just another day until market day!! Granted there’s market day everyday around us the big more fun ones are always on Saturdays.

I can’t wait until next week either. There are a lot of things to share, new projects using Clear and Simple Stamps and WPlus9 (AWESOME sets you’ll want to have!!) and some personal news – no we’re not having another one!!

Page details:

I got this color combo from the Color Combo Challenge on Ning, #153. At first I wanted to do a card but after digging around I found some perfect matching colors. I’ve been into simple, scattered, kind of fun layouts lately and this is just another one. I am into the ink spots too. They just add more visual to a simple page.The star of the page is Jovie and she loves the dirtiest cookies ever created. When it’s warm I’d remove her clothing before I give her and Oreo but on colder days it’d be laundry soon after. I don’t do laundry all in a day so there’s always something to start. So it’s no big deal. I love her smiles when she’s enjoying her cookie. I only give her one, a half at a time.

For the ink I used a Stampin’ Up! ink blowing tool. I’ve had it for a looooong time now but rarely use it. You stick an SU marker through it and push hard on the blower. The butterflies were recycled from a K&Co packaging, a Serendipity Embossed Sticker package, that the blue sticker came in. The yellow’s so rich and really, who’s going to look at my page from the side? Who cares what it looks like under the butterfly… if it’s got a bit of text here and there. The packaging is nice and firm, thick card stock, and makes the butterfly wings bend so nicely.

The rest of the stuff I used are American Craft alpha and vinyl stickers, Making Memory strip of paper from their travel line two years ago. Then a tiny bit of October Afternoon pattern paper with a flower from Prima and a rhinestone adhered to it. The small alpha’s from KaiserCraft. Oh, and some pom-poms. You can’t see it on the picture but the page was sprayed with some Marshmallow Tattered Angels mist. I think I finally figured out a good way to not get blotches on my work. I’ll have to try a color mist to confirm though.

Then there’s the little tear. This was actually an accident. I was scrapbooking on the floor and the foot of my chair got on top of this part and tore the paper. So I had to make it a bit more attractive and feel like it’s part of the page. Under the tear I adhered another piece of the October Afternoon paper.

I’ve been using a lot of old products lately. I have tons of new stuff but I really want to use up my old stash. I’ll probably never be able to catch up because I continue to shamelessly hoard but I also want to remind myself that just cause I’m using old stuff it doesn’t mean my page will look outdated in terms of design or what’s in right now in paper crafting. I can still use old material and combine it with new techniques or even old ones, and make it look like it’s a layout from 2010. If you’re new to this hobby or don’t have a lot of money to buy all sorts of things keep in mind that you can use just a little bit of this and that, they don’t have to be new either, and place them properly and you’ll have a page you’ll love to keep for a long time. I love this page I did, oldies but goodies for sure!!

Ok, have a great Friday!! We’ll see if I’ll show up tomorrow but for sure Sunday to share a super cute Clear and Simple card. Tata!!

Favorite Number: 7

Posted on | July 28, 2010 | 8 Comments

Seven has always been my favorite number. I don’t know if it’s because I was born on the seventh but whatever it is I have a thing for this number. Today’s our seventh wedding anniversary. Two kids and two countries later we’re still silly over each other. It’s a great feeling and whether you’re married or not, I want to let you know that it really is worth it to be with somebody you’re heads over heels with. If it wasn’t for the military I wouldn’t care less if we’re married or not. It’s not the piece of paper that’s important to me but the quality of the relationship. It’s important that I’m with somebody who not only makes me happy but also help me grow as a person. I need somebody who can feed my soul, the always needing to learn soul. I believe it’s why I’m here in this world, to learn. As different as we are he completes me and it’s a great feeling!

As for my little project… Miss M saw this cute keychain when we were browsing Saddle Market in Camden Town over the weekend. It wasn’t a kitty chain but it was a fabric chain with button eyes and other accessories… I forgot. I told her that I have a lot of fabric and I could just make her one. So I did and here it is. I did some hand stitching. Been wanting to stitch in a while and so glad I did cause I just love the kitty face as a result of the stitching. Super easy too and actually kind of relaxing! Now, if you’re wondering why the cat’s only half stitched on the side… well, I sewed the kitty face and left a hole on the side to flip it over and then stuff it. Well, came to find out the hole I made was too small for the face to flip so I had to cut the thread out some. I couldn’t sew it nice after so I just stitched it closed. M doesn’t mind it because her clever momma told her that the kitty is now like her. M’s got stitches on her right forehead, got them when she was three. I personally think the side stitching made this more attractive but hey, it’s just me.

If you’re interested in making this, here’s the face template. I tried to hand draw it but it just never came out right and so I did it on the computer. M’s keychain was about 2.5″ tall.

Here’s the girl admiring her momma’s present and this is the reason I love making her stuff. She LOVES whatever I make her!

Ok, that’s all folks! I’ll share most stuff later!!

Celebrate Today

Posted on | July 27, 2010 | 8 Comments

Today was a great day… actually this week should be a great week because:

I have everybody here with me, no school for M and off work for hubby
I got a lot of projects done
I got invited to do something super fun — still a secret {::SMILES}
We did all the dishes (BIG deal for me!!)
We had a yummy salmon dinner, no head!

Here’s one project I did today. I used 2S4Y’s sketch for this card. I was going through some die-cuts and found this butterfly. I think I prefer it a bit bigger but it’s pretty cute. The designer paper I used came from the DigiChick. Which speaking off… not about the DigiChick but my printer… I am not very happy with Canon. I have a printer which is for sale in the U.S. and the UK BUT the ink has two different chip models and of course I can only buy my ink in the U.S. Since today’s printers uses a chip on the ink cartridges, even though the ink cartridges are the same exact ones, the printer will not register the new cartridges unless they carry the right code… which is stored in the chip. So so lame!! So I thought of removing the chip from my old ink cartridge and gluing it on the new one but then I read that these ink chips also tells the printer that it’s full, half full or empty. So even if I did swap my printer will think that I have an empty ink cartridge. GRR!! I’ve been wanting to print some new papers from the store but I’m just going to have to be content with old leftovers until I get my shipment in from Newegg. GRR!!

The printer is not going to make my week any less fun… it’s just frustrating. Oh, how about the base? They don’t carry Cannon inks. They carry everything else under the sun but no Cannons. GRR GRR GRR!!!

Beautiful (Busy) London

Posted on | July 26, 2010 | 7 Comments

We went to London over the weekend and had the best time!! Not only was the sight-seeing great the company and food, to me at least, was just awesome. Not only did I get to see a dear friend from eight years ago, we used to work at Micron in Boise, ID, but I also got to meet up with my number one best friend.

We left Sunday early in the morning. At first we thought of catching a train from Cambridge to King Cross for £40 (family price) but then we found that we could drive to a tube station outside of London, pay £1/day for parking, and not be tied to a schedule. Granted the train has open end tickets they are more expensive. With our U.S. gas (we buy gas on base so it’s a lot cheaper than buying on the economy), £1/day parking, and £2.40/ea tube price (children’s free) it was a sweet deal. Just FYI on ground transport in the UK… before you board you want to get what they call an oyster card and/or a travelcard. If you’re visiting London or coming to the area to live I recommend visiting the links I shared to learn about the two cards! Driving is possible to London but it can be very expensive and nerve wreaking if you’re clueless and new. One of hubby’s coworker drove to London and came back with £400-ish of fines. It was between parking, driving on a bus lane, and not paying the congestion zone fee (there’s no fee though on weekends/bank holidays).

Here are some pictures…

First stop: Camden Town! I read about a great dim sum place here, Yum Cha, and wanted to try it out. My friend lives near this area too so it wasn’t too inconvenient I thought for him to meet us here. Food: tasted good, price reasonable, service ok. If I weren’t American I’d probably service is average but I’m still used to the friendly waiter/waitresses working for tips who’d always smile no matter what and refill your water without asking. Anyhow… the dim sum was nice but if you’re a huge fan of pork buns Chinatown was better and cheaper! Camden Town itself was PACKED!! There was no parade passing by, this was just the street that day. There are many different market places on this road and good gosh, you’ll never go hungry when roaming this road. There are food EVERYWHERE!! Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, you name it!!

There are a few different markets in Camden Town and we decided to check one out: Stables Market. It was just conveniently located in front of the dim sum restaurant and wow, this place was very well decorated. There are horses everywhere! If you really want to see what this place has to offer you can spend a good few hours just roaming through the maze of shops. I loved a lot of the clothing stores and one day I want to stop by here again just to try some out and maybe get one or two. M was also interested in a lot of little trinkets and hubby… he bought the hat he’s wearing.

After Camden we all, my friend included, took the tube down to Leicester Square station. I wanted to check out Chinatown and then walk to Trafalgar Square. I have no photo of Chinatown but this was basically what it was: restaurant, restaurant, restaurant, and more restaurants. There were a few shops here and there, groceries, massages, Chinese remedies, etc. but for the most part it was Chinese restaurants all in a pretty row. How can one choose? The next stop is Leicester Square itself. If you’re interested in going to the movies/show, this square is the place to be. From new movies to £1.5o theatre you can find here.

A few steps away was Trafalgar Square. The below is a photo from Trafalgar Square, it’s the front of the National Gallery of London. It was a glorious day to visit London… great blue skies that day!!

From the square we walked towards the river and passed the Minister’s house with guards on horses. It looked like something was going to happen but we didn’t hang around to find out. We walked passed the Prime Minister’s house on Downing Street and the London Eye and then this big guy: Ben.

We moved on and just across the road was the river, the famous Thames River. My other friend lives on a house boat on the other side, by London Bridge, so we hopped on to a boat and rode over to the other side. On the boat we passed Cleopatra’s Needle, the Aquarium, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the so intimidating Tower of London and got off at Tower Bridge.

While we were eating, we had dinner with my friend and her family at Brown’s, a boat needed to pass and the bridge was raised. Isn’t that neat? Besides seeing the bridge raise it was just great to be sitting there with friends I haven’t seen in ages. My girl friend from Micron is such a wonderful person. The last time I saw her little girl she was 3 or 4 and now she’s such the young lady. Then there’s the little one, just a year younger than M, and she’s adorable. What a great family she now has and I am so happy for her. We plan on meeting again and maybe a museum visit next time!

Oh, at Brown’s I ordered the dish of the day: Tilapia and they gave me a whole fish! The last time I was served a fish with the head on it still was in Indonesia. I loved it!!! My dish was really good too. The portions were small for the price I thought but it was right next to the river. The best part though was: all the kid’s meals and dessert were free!! Man, if we knew we’d all have gotten kids’ meals, HA!! We had four adults and three kids so it was a nice surprise!!

Here’s a few of the bridge after dark:

I took these shots on our way to the London Bridge tube. Another FYI… if you want to park and tube it figure out where you’re going that day and park on the line that you’ll be entering and hopefully returning from. I planned my trip so that we’d only be on the Central Line. The whole day we didn’t do any switching and at the end of the day we just sat in the Tube until we got to our stop. Traveling with children this was very convenient.

It was a FABULOUS day. The weather got chilly in the evening but we all had light sweaters and it was enough. We’re light travelers in general. For this trip we just had a MacLaren stroller (super light umbrella stroller), a few diapers, a small container of wipes, a set of clothes for Jovie, a London guidebook, a smart phone, a GPS, a bottle and bottle cleaner, a bottle of water and that’s it. If you look at the photo below you’ll see my diaper bag hanging on Jovie’s stroller. I got it from Pottery Barn Kids for $10!! I really don’t think you need to bring your whole kids’ closets on day trips. Also, if you’re traveling with a baby, places that sell coffee are great places to get a cup of warm milk. On me I had my small camera, Crumpler Four Million, bag with my Nikon D300 and two lenses. I hope hubby’s reading this… but for next time, I’d like to be hauling a Ketti handbag camera bag {::SMILES}.

That’s that. The above photo is my past and present. I am one lucky gal!! I know from a previous post about my ex-husband that I’m not the only person who has this type of relationship but I also know that what I have is not very common, especially since we don’t have kids together. I’m not selfish in this department though. Hubby and I decided that his best friend who married hubby’s ex-girlfriend (he was dating her before he met me) are the folks who will be caring for our kids if we both pass away. His ex and I are friends. See, just cause they’re the exes it doesn’t mean you can’t get along. It was all in the past and what happened happened for a reason. The best part… we learned and grew from the experiences!! Cheers!!