Now THAT was hot! - FWF #26

Hello, everybody! Hope everyone enjoyed a good Father's Day last Sunday with the family...we didn't have a lot of time (Mika had three softball games that day) but we were able to give DaddyDude his cards and presents before we left the house...at 5:30 am...!

I thought this would be a great sketch to make a masculine card... but I found it a little stark afterwards, so I added some fun hearts with pop dots...

This All About Dad kit (Stamp of the Week) is great, because there are FOUR stamps! All are great sentiments.The hearts are from a Unity kit, but for the life of me, I cannot remember which one (this is what happens when you keep a stash of miscellaneous Unity stamped items on your craft desk - it's very handy, but if your collection is as large as mine, good luck remembering which one it came from!).

We just returned from Scottsdale last Friday,where it was really VERY hot.  How hot...? Well, there's an idea - this is a screenshot of DaddyDude's phone on our last night there (at 9:17 pm).

It was very relaxing, though, and the girls enjoyed playing at the pool on most days. They also went ice skating (can you believe there's an ice rink there?!) while DaddyDude roasted on the golf course (scored an 83, not bad for not having played golf in three years!).

Gosh, I just love having a good camera! Marika kept asking her father to flip her in the air and asking me, "Did you get that?! Did you get that?!"  Yes, honey, I did...!

We also finally took our first family photo in two years. I am getting really tempted to get one of those selfie sticks - is that a bad idea?

Unfortunately, on our drive back, we saw the effects of a semi-local fire. This is the Lake Fire (south of Big Bear Lake), burning after about 48 hours (June 17) - and as seen at least 60 miles away (in Indio) from the fire itself. Today is June 26 and the fire is still only 19% contained and almost 30,000 acres have burned.

But wait! I have another Unity project! Marika was invited to yet ANOTHER party (a "Teen Beach 2 Movie/Pool party" today) and since I didn't want her to go empty-handed, we tried out a new doggy biscuit recipe (the mom has 3 huskies and a Chihuahua - and the grandma has a German shepherd). Our dog, Bo, watched dutifully from the second I opened the peanut butter jar, to make sure I did everything correctly...(and yes, he loved the treats!)

This tag was based on a Viva La Verve sketch (June 2015, Week 3) and I used Unity's Thanks stamp and their Puppy Ruff Itty-Bitty. Gotta love how the googly eyes add some fun character to the puppy!

I made a simpler tag version for Max, since he's an only fur baby...

And because I don't want to take the chance of risking food allergies, I always include a list of ingredients/recipe on the back so the owner can decide whether to feed them to their dog...

Last but not least... my recipe of the week. At long last, I decided to make some stuffed mushrooms. I love to eat them at restaurants, but never understood why they were so pricey. And now, I know - they're very labor intensive! I spent a long time making a dozen and DaddyDude and I polished them off in 5 minutes! Yes, they were very good. Although I didn't have any ground Italian sausage, so I cut up some hot links instead. I also had tons of stuffing left but you know what? It was AWESOME to eat for breakfast the next morning, topped with my homemade salsa. Who knew? So, I'll have to try this recipe again, but do the full amount, instead of halving it. Yum yum!

Thanks for bearing with the long post  - don't forget to shop Unity for their first "buy one get one free" sale! There is also free shipping over $20 and you get free stamps for orders over $35!

It's All Relative - FWF #32

Hi, folks - time for another episode of "Friends with Flair" with other fans of Unity Stamp Co! I don't know about you, but this week a particular song has been running through my head, "It's the most wonderful time... of the year!" Yes, the kids are back in school!

 

The younger kid began fourth grade while the bigger kid began middle school - or sixth grade, here in SoCal. I think I was more nervous about her going to junior high than she was!!! Of course I love my kids, it's just SO MUCH EASIER to run errands without them!

 

Today, I have a couple of cards to show you...both based off sketches...

 

The first is from Viva La Verve...

 

And here's what I came up with, using a fabulous FREE kit (You Do This) that came with my August 2014 SMAK kit. It's a great kit, so I hope they'll offer it in the store later for everyone else. For this card, I chose the sentiment to be, "You Amaze Me".

 

The second card is based on a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #149. I liked how simple it was, and yet so versatile.

 

So, I chose to make a masculine card for my honeybunny. Does anyone else think of the movie, "Jerry Maguire" when they hear this sentiment?

 

 

I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely summer! Ours was filled with lots of softball, but we were able to take a week off and go to Scottsdale, Arizona. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - how insane are we to head off to ARIZONA in AUGUST, right? Well, it really wasn't much hotter there than it was here in southerm California, so... *shrug*... not a big deal (hence the title for this post). We had a great time! Here we are at the Grand Canyon... I liked this vista the best because you can actually see the Colorado River in the background...

 

 

But, most of the time was spent at the pool, just relaxing. Sometimes it's nice to turn the brain off and just read and play. :)

 

One of my favorite things about Scottsdale, though, is that I can listen to the symphony of cicadas, something I really miss from my childhood. I was fortunate enough to spot one and take some pictures! I was so happy some of them turned out really well! I know, I know... most of you people think these insects are downright ugly, but I think they are really cool!

 

Hope you all can enjoy a relaxing weekend and if possible - can get crafty! Thanks for visiting!

Vegas, Baby!

I know, I know... I'm a little bit behind. School is finally out and I've got a few minutes to post about our Vegas trip (Memorial Day weekend).

First of all, you'll notice that the girls (and bears) all look pretty comfortable and happy, don't they? It was pretty amazing (to me) how much more spacious DaddyDude's new truck was. He really enjoyed being able to cram all sorts of stuff in the back (baseball gear, cooler, luggage, etc.) without worrying about whether or not it'd all fit. I don't think a single bear hit the floor the entire trip! That's something!

We stayed at a place called The Orleans - here's the view from the room during the daytime. It's incredible how these places are designed to provide everything you need  - so you don't have much of a reason to leave. Let me tell you... I really enjoyed not having to cook!

The girls insisted on visiting the pool a couple of times, of course. The weather was rather odd the first day - it was extremely windy (Marika actually got blown over!) so our visit to the pool that day was rather short.

And here's the reason we were in Vegas anyway - baseball! All of the high school fields and park fields were extremely well-maintained. They were gorgeous! It's interesting how much money they seem to have to use on public properties... but about the tournament - DaddyDude's team was in the wrong age division (25+, should have been in 35+ - don't ask, there were annoying reasons why that happened) and ended up losing every game (mercied out 2 of the 4 games). Oh, well...

The girls were troopers and didn't complain once about all the waiting and watching. I guess they are pretty well-trained, though... :)

They did manage to get some of their own practicing in, too. Marika loves to wear Mika's old face mask. I'm not really sure why... Mika is slowly getting used to wearing her retainer.

We were fortunate to have enough time on Saturday evening, to visit Caesar's Palace and - on the way back to the shuttle - catch 2 showings of the Bellagio water show. It's always a breathtaking display!

And lo and behold - the rare family photo! Please note that everybody looks happy. :)

We did try to visit Viva Las Vegas Stamps, but they were closed. I mean, their sign said "OPEN" and we were there during their regularly scheduled shop hours, but nobody would answer the door! I was really bummed! I guess it wasn't meant to be...

You Are Love

12x12 MME Happy Go Lucky patterned papers, Lush bling brads, diecuts (29th Street diecut pack), marker (AC precision pen),  rhinestones (Prima)

Time for another CC challenge! This week, it was easy - create a project using a homemade flower. It's been a long time since I crocheted anything, but I have a jar filled with finished flowers, so I found a Becky Fleck sketch I liked (from Page Maps 2) and paired it with a picture of my 3 favorite people in the world. Voila!

Am I the only one with this problem? When I crop sitting down, my view of what is "straight" is skewed (unless I am standing up - something I've gotten out of the habit of doing since my knee surgery). So, I don't realize that things are slanted until I'm viewing my stitched scans! What is up with that?!

I finally ran into one of my soccer teammates that competed in the Vegas tournament last weekend -you know, the one I participated in last year but had to bail out of this year, because of my blown ACL? The team made it all the way to the semi-finals this time... but just couldn't score. The only downside was hearing about how some of my friends were injured - somebody broke their arm (?!) and my goalie buddies (on other teams) were brutalized by one-on-one plays (and yes, that's a risk of playing goalie)... including one friend who texted me a picture of her chest raked with cleat marks (the girl only got a yellow card). Oh, the fun that I missed!!!

My Girl{z}

CC materials - patterned paper (Stella & Rose - "Hazel" and MME Life Stories in red [kraft side]), AC Thickers, black twine (the Twinery), marker (AC precision pen). Non-CC tools: QK  label die, MM heart tag

Another CC challenge! We were supposed to be inspired by a song, so I chose "My Girl" with a rare picture of the girls and me (I hate to be photographed). The layout was based on a Becky Fleck sketch from Page Maps 2.
In other news, I was selected to be the April Guest Designer for Crop Chocolate! My job was to create an Easter- or spring-themed project. I made an Easter bouquet. We were also supposed to highlight a technique, so I chose iris-folding.

CC Materials:

EP Grab-bag (utilized Summer Days, Springtime, Splash, and Playground)

Eggcellent stamps by Jillibean

American Crafts buttons (pastel)

QK License Plate 4x8 alphabet

MME Lime Twist twine

Tools used: QK flower die, tissue paper, glass cup (Crate & Barrel), wooden bbq skewers, chocolate eggs (yum!), lots of glue dots

Here's a close-up... love those Jillibean Easter stamps! A video tutorial is on the blog post. And below... here is an example of Here's another example of an iris-folded card (another CC challenge of being inspired by a sunset).

CC materials used - patterned papers (EP Grab Bag (all from the Splash collection, though, I believe) and MME Lush collection (sun rays)), Liquid pearls (silver), and Tim Holtz Distress Ink (broken china)

March Crop Chocolate Challenge - Travel

The March Challenge for Crop Chocolate's Chocolatiers was to create something with a travel theme (I combined this with Sketchmania #33 - by the way, if you love sketches, you should become a follower!). I was really enthusiastic about this because: (1) I'd bought a ton of Making Memories travel products last year and (2) I'd yet to scrap a single thing from the 1995 European tour I took with my dad.

There's a fair bit of nostalgia involved here, since my father passed away about 8 years ago. We only took two father/daughter trips together in my life and both took place during the first part of 1995, just before I started graduate school. I had just graduated from college and was experiencing - probably for the first time since I'd started kindergarten - a serious break from my studies.

In January 1995, Dad and I went on a 3-week group tour of Europe. We went to England, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Of all those countries, I think I loved Italy the best - the food was amazing and the history that's there... WOW! And, ever since I was three or so, I remember my mother telling me about the leaning Tower of Pisa (from when SHE had visited Europe back in the early 1960's). It was great to finally see it in person!

Patterned papers (Making Memories Passport Kit), diecut paper (Making Memories), kraft and cardstock papers (Bazzill), journaling tag (Making Memories Passport), ribbons (Making Memories Passport), chipboard title (Making Memories Passport alphabet map stickers), alphabet stickers (Making Memories alphabet stamp stickers - travel), diecut letters (Quickutz License Plate 4x8 alphabet), ink (Colorbox cateye chalk ink), staples (Swingline), tools (Fiskars scalloped border punch)

WOW, was it HOT!

If you thought southern California was hot, you ought to visit Arizona! We spent all of last week in Scottsdale, where the daily high was over 100. That was at least 10-15 degrees warmed than back home! We learned to tolerate it and spent almost all of our time by the pool.

R-E-L-A-X-I-N-G...

Perhaps the best part of the trip was the girls learning how to swim! By the end of the week, both girls were able to swim at least 15-20 feet by themselves. Mika learned how to take breaths in between but Marika refused to learn - so she learned how to hold her breath instead. Hey, whatever works, I guess!

This is "Goggle Girl". =) Neither girl will "look" in the water without their trusty goggles on.

Daddy Dude also participated in a cannonball contest at the pool. We are very pleased to report that he won a free marguerita as one of the top 5. =) I also got to show off my entomology smarts by capturing a tortured blue mud dauber and earning the awe of some terrified pool staff... =)

All in all, it was a very good vacation - we did a lot of relaxing! I spent the first 36 frantically scrapping for a Cropchocolate.com Chocolatier crop and managed to finish 5 challenges (out of 10 challenges). Did I win anything? Well, kind of. There was ONE challenge without a cash prize (credit at cropchocolate.com) and wouldn't you know it? I won THAT one (for my Iao Needle layout)! Once a month, they'll be featuring a Chocolatier on the CC blog and I'll be the FIRST. I was so pleased that I'd won and then I started to feel some panic. Such attention! What will I do?! *gulp*

Spring Break - Part 2

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post - it's been a very busy 3 weeks! Last week, we were vacationing at Lake Arrowhead. The weather was good (though we had been hoping for snow when we booked the trip) and it was nice to be close to home anyway, since we drove down the hill a couple of times for Mika's softball games.

There was SOME snow... which told us how much snow they'd gotten the last time. I think the last snowfall was about 3 weeks ago and it was a HUGE storm. So, the fact that anything was left behind... well... it must have been a doozie!

I mentioned "restful", didn't I? One of the most attractive qualities of this resort was the indoor pool. I'll have you know, though, that it wasn't THAT heated. The girls had a great time playing in there, hanging onto some noodles or their innertubes. They really need to take swim lessons and we have repeatedly tried to teach them, but they are not interested. At any rate, I need to drive over to the gym this week to make the arrangements...

Another nice thing about Lake Arrowhead is their ice rink. Yup, this is the famous place where Michelle Kwan used to train. I hadn't realized there were NO WALLS - this made it much more difficult for the girls to learn how to skate. I think they were the only two flopping onto the ice - most of the other kids were training after their practice session, so they were whizzing around doing spins and turns. Despite this, the girls kept valiantly trying. Mika's pants and butt were totally soaked by the end - but she was a real trooper! I was very proud of her for being so persistent without whining. I don't, however, sense any Olympic future for either of them. =P

We had visited Big Bear lake year and enjoyed the snow activities there, so we headed back there again to go inner tubing. The only problem was... we hadn't realized Marika was going to get carsick on the drive between Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear! Luckily, she made it all the way there (with some tears and crying, the poor thing!) but we found a Walgreens, popped some meds in her, and everything was fine - for the ride home. From now on, I will always carry some Dramamine in my purse! The picture above was taken during a "breathing" break. It was a nice view!

We were very fond of this particular inner tubing location, because they had a Magic Carpet. What's that, you ask? It's a wonderful contraption - think an escalator without the steps - that allows you to save precious energy by carting you and your innertube (and lazy children) back up the slope. This is the last year Mika will be free! We let the kids go down a few times by themselves... it's safe but rather nerve-wracking for me to watch. I guess Marika was way too light to go very fast anyhow. =)

Remember - you can click on the picture to enlarge it!

They had a really cool cotton candy making machine in the lobby, too. I think we'll get a toy version for the girls for Christmas... =)
Since Marika's birthday landed in the middle of our vacation, we wanted to do something fun for her special day. We went to the Fun Park at Lake Arrowhead Village on Wednesday - only to find out they were closed! I felt sooo bad for her. However, she was okay with going a couple of days later - and boy, did they have a blast! When do kids get too old for this kind of stuff? Maybe never... I think Daddy Dude had a lot of fun driving the go karts... vroom vroom!

I, of course, love taking the pictures. The girls had never seen "fun" mirrors before and frankly, I thought these were a hoot! Here's what I call, "the Alice-in-Wonderland" shot... =)

And last but not least, the girls got to feed the ducks on a few occasions. Here, they've circled the girls and Marika's feeling a little bit trapped.

All in all, it was a nice vacation. We were really lucky at the resort, because there were only four other guests there! Everybody else, it appeared, was coming in at the end of the week. We ended up leaving a day early (Mika had a softball game Saturday afternoon) anyhow, since there was little point to driving back up for another 12 hours.

We picked up Daisy yesterday (thanks, Holly!) and Hissamina was still alive. It's nice having a pet you need to feed only once a week!

Greetings from Walt Disney World!

Yes, we survived the plane trip and made it all the way to Orlando in one piece! There was just one bit of misfortune...


And that was the weather! For the duration of our stay, rain is in the forecast for every single day. This is what we looked like today! Cute ponchos but man, we are paying an arm and a leg for them! Everybody has ripped one, except for me. I have no idea what the others are doing but I am sure tomorrow, mine will be ripped to shreds... (so we need to go buy some cheap ones, don't you think???). Despite the inclement weather, we are trying to make the most of it.

We visited Epcot first, on Sunday. The weather started off well... thankfully. They were celebrating their flower festival so the landscaping was amazing. See that silver ball? Marika just loved that Spaceship: Earth ride!

It was wonderful to stand in ONE LINE ONLY and meet 5 Disney characters. The girls have been having lots of fun getting autographs and posing for pictures.

On Monday, we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. The girls were pretty tired (we never had time to recover from the long flight on Saturday) and were increasingly whiny. The rainy weather didn't help any. This is Mika and Daddy Dude's third trip down the white water ride.

The girls favorite part about this park was the Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo show - so thank you, Michelle, for telling us to go see those!

Which brings us back to today - we went to the Magic Kingdom, which was magical, but very rainy. Did you know, it's kind of uncomfortable to carry a child wearing a wet poncho? Despite the weather, the girls were pretty adventurous - I took each child to the Haunted Mansion (where they last about 10 seconds before burying their heads into me) and we all went to Splash Mountain. The girls weren't too thrilled about the water ride - Mika was in tears because she was so scared (she didn't get all that wet - I mean, how could you, if you've been rained on all day?). Mika did agree to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (Marika wanted to, but she was wee bit short), but was totally terrified again. I told her to scream when she was scared - and she did - but she said it did NOT help, because it did not make the roller coaster slow down!

Well, that's it for now. We'll either take it easy tomorrow or hit our 4th theme park. We're looking to expand our 4-day pass to a 5-day or 6-day (because the amount you pay after 4-days is really pretty small) but it will depend on the weather. Daddy Dude wasn't thrilled that we went out today but I thought it was much preferable than sitting in the room watching TV.