50/50

bullwinkle's

2012-02-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

i bought christopher's kids a package deal at bullwinkle's family fun center for christmas and they redeemed it on sunday. pretty fun time minus tears when his youngest didn't win the stuffed animal she spent all her tokens on or when one used up their rides and pouted for more. i am pretty hardcore when it comes to not babying kids and i was all about telling them that in the future i wouldn't buy them gifts that would make them cry.

in the end, elizabeth begged to come here for her birthday so i know she had a good time in spite of her mini attitude. william seemed to handle it well and really enjoyed himself so i think 11 is a good age to come to a fun park.!

Love Is In The Air

2012-02-05T18:01:00.001-08:00

saturday i met up with adora and victoria for a crafty day. i was very productive making 10 valentine cards. used the tree wood embossing plate for the background and the sizzix die cut for the words for this simple yet pretty card. i hope my loved ones like them!

Full Weekend

2012-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

and by full I mean full house! last friday we had christopher's kids for the weekend and on saturday my sister calls asking to spend the night because they have been without power for 2 days. i said come on up. it just means there will be NINE people in our 2 bedroom apt! (my sister, mom, skylar and seth) insert Lord Jesus, please restore their power!

it was all good though. had a good visit. christopher took the kids to the park and we went shopping at REI. Linda got those barefoot running shoes (not those funny toe kind) super comfy she says, but i was eyeing the merrell moab waterproof hiking boot. i have an upcoming beach hike to think about :)

sunday, my mom stayed home with seth and linda dropped us off at the movie theater to catch a matinee of E.T. Linda was excited to go to Glazer's camera store for the first time while i was excited to see E.T. again. the folks at SIFF did a really good job preparing for the family friendly movie. before it started they invited all the kids down for a Scream Contest with candy as the prize. they had to watch Gert (drew barrymore) scream as she sees E.T. for the first time and mimick it. May i just say here that Christopher's youngest Megan won the contest! can i get a woot woot! it was so funny. i wish i would have recorded it. her face was hilarious as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

i leave you with some adorable photos of seth. everybody wanted to hold him.

2012 CHA

2012-01-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

so i have been surfing the web and it's that time again for new product to start appearing soon. anything catch your eye? i am such a big fan of heidi swapp that i always look forward to what she is up to. i also like the new studio calico stuff and jenni bowlin punches. i was happy to see that some of the papers heidi is putting out are some of the papers we got in her online class mouse paper give. (so i don't have to buy those cuz i already own them!) just hit the print button and voila!

i also like the ruffle paper by Dear Lizzy and can't wait to see it in person.

ipad pics

2012-01-18T14:09:00.000-08:00

here are some pics from my sister using her ipad.

so much fun to run and jump on christopher's back. thankfully i am not on the bottom!

they come and go so fast

2012-01-09T13:00:00.001-08:00

linda and skylar at hyak creek
skylar at the skate park

linda, skylar and elizabeth

first kid weekend for january 2012, we had my nephew skylar stay the night with us so we could play at greenlake skate park and sled at hyak creek in snoqualmie pass. thats 4 kiddos! linda and seth visited on saturday then linda came back on sunday to go sledding with us. thank goodness for grandmas who love to babysit! so freaking adorable!!!!

Mouse Paper: Give

2012-01-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

I totally made Christmas easy this year when I signed up for Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague's class Mouse Paper: Give. The frames went to my crafty girlfriends and the magnetic bookmarks went into stockings.

Happy New Year 2012 and Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2012-01-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

Today is my mom's 64th birthday and to celebrate i met up with linda, mom, skylar and seth at bellevue square mall for lunch at p.f. chang's and shopping.

i used my sony cybershot i got for christmas to take some photos for the day. thankfully my mom was willing. usually it's a big No!

i used this really cool setting on my camera that will automatically smooth your skin. I.Love.It!

christmas images

2011-12-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

My first Christmas tree.

Christopher knitted Seth these cute red booties.

Christopher also knitted Skylar this super warm hat.

Christopher and Skylar rocking the new acoustic guitars.

Gifts to Give

2011-12-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

Coming down to the last days! I finished 2 albums for christopher's mom and dad (used one of the albums from mouse paper give class), sent my christmas cards out and got together with the girl friends over the weekend for a craft day gift exchange.

Road Trip

2011-12-06T22:26:00.001-08:00

Had the kids last weekend so we took off for Wenatchee to see their grandma and grandpa for a thanksgiving dinner. While we were there we headed up to Mission Ridge for a day of sledding. And of course on the way home we stopped off at Snoqualmie Pass for more sledding. It was such a beautiful day too. Sunny with bluest of blue skies.

Mission Ridge Sledding

Snoqualmie Pass at Hyiak Creek

And She Sews

2011-11-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

christopher and i stopped by ben franklin for some yarn and tins and i mentioned we should get stockings for his kids to hang. when we came upon them they were the cheapest of the cheapest kind for $5 each. i thought to myself i took sewing in 4-H during my elementary school days so i should be able to handle a stocking!

well, it took me all day, but i sewed 5 imperfect stockings for our family, lol. nonetheless, i am quite proud of myself.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

this photo cracks me up! the look on seth's face is sheer terror.

me and seth

my dad and i on thanksgiving

my sister linda and my grandpa

linda and skylar

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. We traveled to the Kitsap Peninsula to hang out with the Wiley Clan (43 strong which is a smaller than usual showing) My uncle has a huge home to accommodate us all (we call it the rock star home because he installed an elevator for my grandma to reach the top and bottom floors) Here are some photos from the day plus some Christmas tags I made for my sister.

photo love

2011-11-15T21:01:00.001-08:00

i used a "seventies" action on this photo of christopher taken on his birthday. one of my favorites!

a good feeling

2011-11-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

since my vacation i have been feeling so rejuvenated. it's a crazy good feeling! i was able to see my adorable new nephew Seth again and spend time with Skylar.

i had a wonderful day of shopping last saturday at the CK-Convention in bellevue. met up with adora and victoria and spent more than i intended. later that night christopher and i went to see collie buddz and gappy ranks at the showbox in Seattle. Effing awesome Show!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXeHVSNITr4

and get this.....i finished my christmas cards (oh yeah, that's my good feeling :)

11.11.11

2011-11-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

On Veteran's Day, Christopher and I drove up to Vancouver, B.C. for a little shopping and sightseeing. Once again when we got to the Canadian border they asked us to go inside, ack! When we pulled the trailer last year to Whistler same thing happened. I think Christopher just looks menacing, lol! After 2 minutes of yada yada yada we were off to Main St. to enjoy the best hamburger at Splitz Grill.

The first time we had a burger there was at Whistler, B.C.

Whatever they put in their secret white sauce rocks my socks!

After lunch we stopped at Urban Source (closed for the holiday) Should have known most of the stores would be closed, but that didn't stop us. We drove up Commercial Drive and then to Yale Town to hit my favorite store, Chintz & Co. I bought a piece of coral that I want to spray paint turquoise. Liberty was closed so we drove up to Stanley Park. It was gorgeous, but SUPER windy. I mean like crazy windy. Apparently the storm from Alaska had finally hit Vancouver and it was cold and windy. The waves were strong.

Looking forward to the scrapbook convention tomorrow and the reggae concert that I bought tickets for Christopher's birthday. Should be a fun day!

p.s. Rebecca, I heard you tried to get in touch with me.

Email me at swiley1646@gmail.com

2 Cards Down

2011-11-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

with the holiday season fast approaching i have been in card making mode. but before i started on my christmas cards my mom asked me to make an anniversary card and a congrats card so would you believe i finally whipped out my sewing machine since moving to my new place.

i even used my Big Shot and die cut the floral image. and the embellishments that say congratulations and happy anniversary i made in photoshop. go digital! oh i was so proud of myself! now if i can just use my stampmaker machine i won't feel so guilty owning it! ack!

Happy Birthday Christopher!

2011-11-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

Celebrated Christopher's birthday today with his 3 kids. I baked him a chocolate cake with white frosting just as he wished then he opened several gifts including tickets to a reggae show he's been wanting to go to, rei gift card, waffle maker and a crock pot (thanks mom!) i think he got a chuckle out of the last two and was a good sport :)

finally got to see Born to Be Wild at Imax about orphaned elephants and orangutangs (sp?) it was so cute! visited EMP again, skate park, kids' park with zip line and red box movies galore.

I love you much and wish you a year with many smiles, warm laughter and prosperity!

Baby Cuteness

2011-10-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

it's been 3 weeks since i have seen seth and i couldn't wait to see him again. had a great visit oohing and ahhing over seth. i brought the pumpkin carving kit and helped skylar and his buddy blake carve pumpkins. they turned out fantastic! i love visiting my family :)

Ice Skates and Ponies

2011-10-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

we had christopher's kids for a fun packed weekend. we started with skateboarding in the rain and the girls definitely did not mind getting wet. then it was off to the ice skating rink.

Christopher placed the highest bid at the United Way auction for this ice skating package and what a good one it was. They all want to go back.

After ice skating we picked up 2 pumpkin carving kits. elizabeth and megan both carved bat

kitty, william carved a grave site, christopher a scary mean face and i did the ghosts. it was so much fun and the accomplishment of seeing them lit was a high. elizabeth made us pumpkin

bread before we went to sleep.

our last day together we went to pony paradise for a halloween festival. they fished for plastic duckies, got face paintings, bobbed for apples, took a covered wagon ride, bounced on bouncy toys, played ping pong (my favorite!), fed a llama and goats, and the finale were the pony rides.

Indian Heaven

2011-10-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

christopher had been itching to get out into the back country so last weekend we headed towards trout lake to cultus creek where we started our trek up to deep lake in the indian heaven wilderness.

my backpack felt really good and the hike up was so doable.

we hiked with christopher's buddy, merritt, who carried a monster pack. found out his wife barbara sent him off with a ton of food!

i was so relieved that we never got wet from the rain. we only had to endure the pitter patter of rain on our tent as we slept thru the night. i was averaging 10-12 hours a sleep a night. oh yeah, super chill weekend.

it was so beautiful up there even though the fog was persistent. did manage to see mt. adams from deep lake late saturday afternoon.

love this shot of christopher's reflection....

as we drove out sunday morning i snapped a photo of the beautiful fall foliage. the colors were amazing! there were amazing red leaves too down the road, but they turned out blurry.

here is a final shot of mt. adams as we were leaving.

you can view all of our photos HERE

Welcome Baby SETH!

2011-10-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

My sister Linda gave birth to Seth on Sunday 10-9-11 at 7:02 a.m. weighing 6 lbs. 14 oz. (18.5 inches)!!!
Not even 7 lbs, but he felt like a solid brick :) Born 2 weeks early and a pure joy.

Another Weekend Another Skate Park

2011-10-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

i met up with linda and skylar at the skate barn in renton. this picture only shows half of the warehouse. nice that the kids have a dry and fun place to go during the winter weekends. it's close to Ikea where we headed for a cheap dinner afterwards.

Skate Parks Rule

2011-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Had a super fun kid weekend at Lower Woodland Skate Park. Marshall Reid instructed the kids for 2 hours on how to skate. Great introductory class for beginner skaters.

Woodland Park Zoo

2011-09-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

We had an eventful kid weekend with my nephew Skylar joining us for a sleepover Friday night and a trip to Woodland Park Zoo courtesy of my work picnic. The kids got to enjoy picnic food, a bouncy slide, carousel ride and the whole zoo. What more could you ask for?

After the zoo, Christopher took the girls to the Seattle Center water fountain and I took the boys to Greenlake Skatepark. No complaints only happy children! Ended the night with Gnomeo and Juilet which I didn't stay up for. I was pooped!

3 of 3

2011-09-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Here is the last of the mini albums I made two weekends ago. I painted Elizabeth's album purple and added stickers and tags.

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you are home safe from any travels during Labor Day weekend. We headed to the San Juan Islands on Saturday and camped at Shaw Island County Park. It is the smallest of the San Juan Islands serviced by WA State Ferry. (on saturday we also jumped the ferry to visit friday harbor and made stops along the way to lopez and orcas island)

The population of Shaw Island is Less than 200 with only one tiny general store. It felt like island time there. We had a whole lot of nothing stacking up to do. Nothing including eating, napping, bike riding, hiking, skipping stones and a 12 hour sleep schedule. In bed by 9pm up at 9am! I miss it already :)

On our return trip home we stopped at Deception Pass for a lovely view then made the journey home to hot showers and a super soft bed!

2 of 3

2011-09-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a little bit of Megan's mini album. Different size but pretty much the same as William's. Painted it pink and went to town with stickers.

Mini Album Love

2011-08-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Christopher took the kids back to Wenatchee/Leavenworth to see their grandma and camp at 8 mile campground while I stayed home and made 3 scrapbooks for each of the younger kids. His oldest son Nathan (25 y.o.) flew in from Colorado and stayed with us for 10 days which meant I couldn't come anyway since our vehicle only holds 5 people.

I made 3 very simple chipboard scrapbooks in case the kids lost them I wouldn't feel too sad. But I think they liked them very much. Megan said she wanted to take hers to school which is a good sign.

Here are a couple of pages from William's album. I used a large Maya Road tag album, painted it blue and added stickers and tags. Voila!

Good Day to Skate

2011-08-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Christopher had to work all weekend so I headed south to spend the day with my nephew Skylar. It's just amazing how tall he is getting. Right now he loves to skateboard and learn new tricks. Since he was a baby we have been snapping photos of him left and right so he is definitely not camera shy.

I was so impressed with his skills at 8 years old. His balance is really good and I would love to have a skater friend of mine help improve his skills. The problem is he lives an hour from Seattle making the commute not as friendly.

Resting in the shade after a good ride at the skate park.

Apple Capital of the World

2011-08-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our weekend trip to visit the kids' grandparents in Wenatchee. Our itinerary included mini golf, icicle creek, intertubing on the Wenatchee River and hanging out at grandma's.

This girl is fearless in the icy cold water!

Elizabeth's shoe came off in the creek and started to float down river. Once Christopher realized what happened he dove in the water to save her shoe. Way to go Dad!

weekend recap

2011-08-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

friday night we rented Buitiful. such a crazy good sad movie starring Javier Bardem. the first 5 minutes we don't have a clue what's going on and christopher looks at me like do you really want to give this a go, which we did and they tied back the beginning beautifully to come full circle.

saturday was my craft day with the girlfriends. we met up in renton at adora's home and enjoyed a scrumptious barbeque of steak, chicken applewood sausage, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and 2 salads i didn't even have room to try. we celebrated my birthday and adora's birthday with an abundance of food. (thank you adora!)

i bought a new sizzix die cut (accordion flower) and spent my time making these pretty rosettes.

sunday was a lazy day and we ended up at a barbeque in west seattle to hang out with some of christopher's friends. i was itching to get back home so i could reorganize my craft stuff ( i get like that after craft day) and happily grouped things together for easier flow.

almost forgot i bought another bamboo blind which christopher put up in our balcony. i love my balcony! it totally feels like shangri la. we ended the night playing 2 games of scrabble on the balcony by candle light. good times for sure!

Attn: Seattle Shoppers

2011-08-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

I just noticed Paper Source is coming to University Village! Can I get a Woot! No more having to commute to Bellevue from downtown Seattle. I am so happy. They open Friday the 5th and I love that they are super close to Impress Rubberstamps. Happy Shopping!

happy birthday skylar!

2011-07-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

survived the party at chuck e. cheese. madhouse i say, crazy fun madhouse!

the birthday boy was a master in the ticket blaster. he managed to grab 1400 tickets in the booth alone which was quite impressive. i had no idea he would do that well. tons of tokens were handed out and by the time we left skylar had accumulated over 2000 tickets. lucky kid! (he had the help of grandma and auntie giving him their tickets too)

also survived another kid week with christopher's kids. they visited the seattle public library and checked out a handful of books and movies, played at ravenna park which i highly recommend the little zipline, went to skylar's birthday party, and finally drove down south to visit their grandpa and grandma.

Bro and Sis

2011-07-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

ok, not really, but when i look at this photo...Skylar and I look like brother and sister. He is getting so big and his 8th birthday is coming up in 2 weeks. I.Love.This.Dude.So.Much.

Take Me Out to the Ball Park

2011-07-20T22:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Christopher's dad drove up for a reunion with his grandkids (hadn't seen them in 4 years) and we headed to a Mariners baseball game.

He spoiled them good and caved to their every desire! I just wish I would have gotten a photo of him with the kids, drats!

5 feet 5 inches

2011-07-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

i should have turned a little for you to see the 5 inch wedge on these sandals, but i am definitely taller in these shoes for sure. i shocked my coworkers when i came to work in a dress and heels. so not me! but it was fun to break out of the keen sandals i wear daily. (ha, i even have a pair sitting on the balcony)
keens and me will always be tight, but sometimes you have to break out of the mold you set yourself in.

No Rest for the Wicked or Myself!

2011-07-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy July! Work has been super busy with vacations that I must cover. I still haven't worked out a summer vacation for myself because I want to save it for October when my new nephew arrives. I can't wait until my sis figures out a name for Skylar's little brother.

Oh, and let me tell you Skylar is now wearing skinny jeans! He's already tall and skinny. It just makes me chuckle every time I see him. I miss baggy skater jeans, lol!

I turned 38 last week and am now an owner of 5 inch wedge sandals! wait til you see them. they go perfectly with my donna morgan jersey dress that i fell in love with at nordstroms. donna morgan i love your jersey dresses!

I will leave you with this pic of elizabeth from our day of sailing several weekends ago. i love her beach hair!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T23:14:00.000-07:00

spent a super chill day on our balcony enjoying the people watching until the big show at 10pm. (hence no make up, ack!)

I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way!

Family Sunday

2011-06-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Third kid Sunday under our belt and let me tell it was doozy. We drove down to my sister's which took an hour with 3 kids in the back seat. I have never experienced the kids fighting in the back seat scenario. I don't have kids and my nephew Skylar is an only child. So this is very new to me.

Once we arrived at my sister's we had an excellent day with Skylar and family. He was all about showing them his fun toys like huge trampoline, sprinkler under trampoline, water gun fight, pogo stick, arcade games in the garage (yes, my sister bought 2 arcade games from a business that went under) mini motorbike, and several scooters! spoiled kid, eh! but Skylar is really good about sharing. He is a mini people pleaser for sure.

When it was time to leave Megan came up to her dad and wanted to know if they could have a sleep over at Skylar's which I took to mean they had a good time here!

Craft Day Productivity

2011-06-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

so last saturday was craft day at my new place and i was super excited to have the girls over. my previous apt. was so small it was hard to make space for everyone.

i even made pad thai, garlic pork, and sweet sticky rice with mangoes. (or directed christopher to make the pad thai and garlic pork)
i like to have a little crafty project prepared and used rory's idea of a birthday card and let the girls go to town with precut embossed papers from my big shot. all in all it was a good craft day.

xoxo,
sandy

More Photos of the New Place

2011-06-21T18:58:00.001-07:00

picked up this sofa at a garage sale

picked up these square ottomans at another garage sale

my ikea shelf over the bed displaying my collection of sabrina ward harrison prints....love!

belongings on my dresser top

another shot of the craft room

i have a little kid area in the craft room for christopher's girls to create with me.

i am really loving our space and so look forward to coming home after a days work.

Father's Day Album

2011-06-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

i have been loving the digital classes at jessica sprague. i continued on with the father's day album by jessica and heidi and made my dad a fast and simple album that was so stress free, woohoo!

Favorite Weekend Photos

2011-06-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

enjoyed a casual fun father's day at the center for wooden boats. Christopher's kids got to sail toy sail boats for an hour then we headed off for a ride on the puffin steam boat.

ended the day with a movie and arts-n-crafts (father's day cards)

here are my 3 fav photos from 6-12-11

More Photos

2011-06-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

i added our day hike photos to flickr which you can see here http://www.flickr.com/photos/39360284@N06/sets/72157626855575705/

and also added photos of our eventful sunday at the water fountain. it was such an emotional day for christopher to get to spend time with his kids. he is still battling in court over an agreed order on the parenting plan, but as it stands things are looking good.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39360284@N06/sets/72157626855525421/

looking forward to another sunday with his kids especially this sunday....father's day!

Dosewallips Trail

2011-06-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Christopher and I woke up at 4:20 am to catch the 5:35am ferry to Kingston. We were meeting our party of 10 at the Hood Canal Bridge for a nice day hike on the Dosewallips trail head. One of the purposes of the hike was to experience the massive amount of rhododendrens throughout the trail. Unfortunately for us, they were not in bloom. We did see a handful of rhodies, but nothing to write home about. We did encounter an enormous amount of rhodie bushes on a loop near the ranger station, but still no blooms.

We did, however, enjoy great company and a beautiful hike in the Olympic National Forest. I saw 3 deer and one elk
. Why do guys like rocks so much? Paul pushed a rock over the ledge to watch it fall into the river and next thing you know all the guys are throwing rocks over the ledge watching them roll down the hill to make a big splash. That's Christopher with the biggest rock!

Happy 8th Birthday!!!

2011-06-06T22:03:00.001-07:00

it's christopher's twin girls birthday and to celebrate 8 i made them a banner birthday card.

Tour of the New Place

2011-06-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

My Craft Space. Managed to fit my desk in the closet. How awesome is that!

The Japanese Tansu Step Chest with my Chinese Altar Table. Two of my favorite pieces that I own.

Another view looking towards the balcony. The step chest acts as a nice divider between the living room and the kitchen.

Our balcony with the start of some plants and grass that will grow to provide some privacy.

Below is Christopher's acoustic guitar with my guitar and his banjo in cases behind.

a pic of christopher at his computer desk in the corner of the living room. we have a pretty decent view of aurora bridge and a little of gas works park. i love my hanging lanterns on the balcony too.

Still to come the bedroom. Christopher hung one of those Ikea suspended shelves at the head of our bed so I could display some Sabrina Ward Harrison prints that make me so happy to look at. I love being surrounded by things that I adore.

On the Agenda

2011-05-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

yesterday, christopher did not want to wait to get his stitches out so we got out a magnifying glass, tweezers, a needle, and small scissors and went to town pulling out his stitches. it took forever because our small scissors were not that sharp.
i would totally recommend going to the doctor for pulling stitches out unless you are super stubborn!

For the Morbidly Curious

2011-05-30T09:48:00.001-07:00

that title was taken from Christopher's blog. here's a shot of his knarly finger!

The Craziness is Over

2011-05-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

we got all the big furniture out by 4pm Saturday, woot! and i didn't even have to help.
my gig was to pack the boxes and move it into the hallway/stairway for loading.
By 6pm Christopher tells me, "don't worry, it's not that bad." i look down and he is dripping blood from his hand. once he returns from the bathroom i ask what are you going to do. He said, "you are going to drive me to the ER."
so off we go, to wait 3 hours at harborview for 8 stitches.
i could go on and on about which moments nearly broke me down.
i will say i on sunday i almost started to cry, but i held back my tears and sucked it up.

it is over now, thank you Jesus! all that's left is cleaning the old place. we are almost unpacked too because that little streak of OCD in me can't live in boxes! :)

and i must say....I Love Our New Place! Sandy has a craft room, woot!

On the Move

2011-05-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

had a wonderful productive weekend. saturday was craft day with the girlfriends in bremerton. victoria, adora and i caught the ferry and enjoyed a massive meal from dg (chicken fajitas, super nachos and homemade ice tea) victoria made flan for dessert that made me wanting more and adora brought an asian salad.
i spent time cutting out embellishments that i have made in photoshop and making more twine banners for upcoming birthday cards.

once i got home i started packing my craft area up for an upcoming move. I.Own.Too.Much.Stuff!
it is crazy how much i have horded over the past 10 years. Kinda Crazy I Say.
Will be nice to organize and downsize my stock for sure.

Project #1 - Mom Album

2011-05-10T20:40:00.001-07:00

this album is really unique because the label side is longer than the inner page allowing us to create ruffles, banner borders, secret pockets and a circle spinner that won't get damaged.

2011-05-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Project #2 - Stationery Set

2011-05-10T20:30:00.001-07:00

so we made this really cool stationery set (vellum tag pocket for postage stamps, printed bo bunny postcards and stationery and pocket for the envelopes)

Already To Go!

2011-05-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Mouse Paper Scissors I am already to go with Mother's Day. Gifts wrapped, cards made and sealed (even made a card for Christopher's mom and got it in the mail, woot!) and lunch planned!

I used Alene's box maker and made the hot pink box with 2 pieces of 8.5 x 11 cardstock. The other one I took a large piece of decorative paper and turned it into a folder by folding and stapling. I am pleased with how they turned out and I didn't have to run to the store for a box. Love it when I pull things from my stash and use what I have on hand.

Mom Day Cards

2011-05-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

so have you made your mother's day card yet? i used a technique from class to make a fast and cute card for my mom. embellish your embellishment with a transparency, pretty cool, eh!

the other one is a free download from rhonna farrer. thank you rhonna! just added patterned paper underneath, pop dots to the ribbon award and a butterfly cut out! voila!

Mouse Paper Mom Part 2

2011-04-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

So I finished my second project and am so pleased with it that I will likely make another for myself to keep! I can't wait to show you what's inside. It's so darn cute :)

Mouse Paper Mom

2011-04-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

So I took the first class "Mouse Paper Scissors" and continued on with Mouse Paper Mom. I absolutely love Heidi's creativity and saves me time not having to come up with ideas.

We are making 2 really cute projects. The first is a mom album with fun components for the inside pages. Once Mother's Day arrives I will show more detailed pages.

Procession of the Species

2011-04-24T11:13:00.002-07:00

"The 17^th Annual Procession of the Species Celebration

Saturday 4:30pm Imagine…Create…Share

Created by the community for the community, the Procession of the Species is a colorful and joyous street pageant using the languages of art, music and dance to inspire cultural appreciation, understanding and protection of the natural world. Come celebrate your element: Earth, Air, Fire or Water. Rain or Shine!"

We headed down to Olympia to see the Procession of the Species parade. It was my first time and it is quite the site. Not your average parade. No advertisement, No motorized anything, All costumes handmade. It was really cool to see what ideas people came up with for their costumes.

Some of my favorites were the jelly fish, squid, seagulls and crows. Oh, and I can't forget the giant razor clam that playfully sticks his head out.

After the parade ended, we headed to a restaurant for barbeque and got in just in time. The line after us was crazy long!!! We ended the day by driving to Cabela's to use a Christmas gift card and then to my sister's to hang out with my family.

Gray Wolf Trail

2011-04-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Christopher and I got up at 6 am to catch the ferry to Kingston for the drive up to Sequim. There was a little drizzle on the way up, but Sequim is known for being in the rain shadow and having beautiful weather year round. As we drove on Hwy 101, a bald eagle flew right over our car worthy of a knuckle bump.

Once we got to the trail we started our 8.4 mile roundtrip trek. It was a great hike to get these old legs back in shape. We found 3 separate campgrounds each one getting better further in. At the third site we stopped for snacks and another bald eagle flew right past us going up river. It was an awesome site worthy of another knuckle bump.

birthday card for dad

2011-04-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

my dad's 64th birthday is coming up and i made him this card that looks like grungy metal. he's a well driller so i think he'll appreciate it versus butterflies and flowers! also added some techniques i learned from mouse paper scissors :)

Happy Birthday Dad! Love you!

show and tell

2011-04-07T18:18:00.001-07:00

i forgot to show what i made during my craft day with the girl friends back in march. i just finished my classes at mouse paper scissors and i was on the band wagon making these little paper yo yo's and banners.

Photoshop Skills

2011-04-06T10:18:00.001-07:00

slowly but surely i am building my photoshop skills. today i downloaded ali edwards' free thankful thought overlay. i am thankful that i can do this on my own and not be dependent on other people to do it for me!

GONE

2011-03-31T11:48:00.001-07:00

e.t.a...the papers have been shipped!

my gracious friend, victoria, has downsized her craft room and gave away a lot of her supplies. i grabbed way more 12x12 paper than i can use and would like to send these to a caring home.

if you want these papers shipped to you, leave me a comment.

Basic Grey PapersJenni Bowlin, Daisy D's, Misc.Rusty PickleScrapworks

one more from MPS

2011-03-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

so our last challenge at MPS was to make a card using a digital element and a paper crafting element.

i used the digital brush banner and crafted paper yo yo's for this birthday card.

Mirror Mirror

2011-03-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

For our last project in Mouse Paper Scissors, we decoupaged a mirror with quotes we made in Photoshop Elements and added a printed tag, flag banners and rosette. It's totally a one-of-a-kind Heidi Swapp project.

03.24.11

2011-03-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

jessica shared some more love on her website http://www.jessicasprague.com/ and my second little book is on there. so sad this is the last week of mouse paper scissors. we have made so many cute projects and learned so much in photoshop. will seriously miss it!

had the pleasure last night of seeing State Radio play at the Showbox. Christopher and I enjoyed hearing our favorite songs although they didn't play Right Me Up, it was still a good show. Can never go wrong seeing the John Butler Trio or State Radio.

i almost forgot

2011-03-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

i made another book from our 10 happy little things project. i love all the dimension on this
book! this one is called Little Things I Love About You

Another One

2011-03-22T12:52:00.002-07:00

I got another layout posted on jessica's mouse paper lovely blog. pretty cool!
http://www.mousepaperlovely.com/?p=1028

Bonus Assignment

2011-03-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

for our bonus assignment we made this clean looking 12x12 layout. i have totally turned into a hybrid scrapper!!!!

then i made another one in pink of my sister. it says she is an amazing mother.

Week 3 - MPS

2011-03-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

when i saw what we were making this week i shrieked with happiness. i have seen many people use flag banners and lollies/rosettes, but i always stayed away from it whether i was just too lazy or didn't want trendy projects. well, i am happy to report that i love the look and may be incorporating it into my future projects.it makes me so happy for sure!

Mouse Paper Lovely Blog

2011-03-16T12:44:00.000-07:00

i just noticed my 2 christmas cards made it onto jessica sprague's mouse paper lovely blog. pretty cool to see that! these were the same type of card we did for our thank you cards except i changed the papers up to christmas and went to town embellishing them.
http://www.mousepaperlovely.com/?p=918

I Hope You Know Album - MPS

2011-03-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

I am in week 2 of Mouse Paper Scissors and we made a fabulous album titled I Hope You Know. We printed our papers and made our embellishments in PSE and then got to paper scrapping. Such a fun happy album, Don't ya think!

PSE Love!

2011-03-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

i have been such a good student at Mouse Paper Scissors! everyday i learn a little more in photoshop elements and i feel empowered. here is a little share of the hybrid cards we have made. the paper is one sheet of paper that we printed on both sides and the ornate letter and thanks banner are embellishments we made digitally as well. once we finished that we added some inking, sanding, ribbon and flower.

this will definitely be a go to card for me.

Mouse Paper Scissors

2011-02-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

i signed up for my first online class about 2 months ago and class has finally started. i am taking jessica sprague and heidi swapp's mouse paper scissors class. super excited! here's what came in the mail
today we received 3 printable cards that will be perfect when i need a quick card. i love waking up wondering what's next on the agenda :)

View From Rattlesnake Ledge

2011-02-21T20:08:00.000-08:00

headed east on I-90 past north bend to hike rattlesnake trail head. very crowded on the trail, but well worth the view. couldn't have asked for a more beautiful sunny day. can't wait to get back out again so my legs will be ready for the beach hike in march. rattlesnake trail head is family friendly and only 3.8 miles roundtrip.

Valentine's

2011-02-15T16:23:00.000-08:00

sent this to my sweetie (framed by mysweetsavannah) and enjoyed a dinner of fried pork chops and salad. it was a good day!

delicious

2011-02-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

this scrumptious crate of goodies at olive & cocoa made my mouth water! yummy!

ahoy matey!

2011-02-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

traveled to bellingham on saturday to visit my high school friend, david, who is an avid sailor and boatbuilder. i was completely prepared for the worst case scenario of sailing in rainy miserable weather, but thankfully there was absolutely no rain. although i look pretty darn cool in my snowboard goggles, ha!

christopher in charge of the tiller.

Quote

2011-02-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

"When you find your path, you must not be afraid.

You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes.

Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools

God uses to show us the way."

Paulo Coelho (Brida)

Still Pluggin Along

2011-01-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

i have been meaning to finish this altered wood album i started weeks ago. for now, i am stuck deciding which photos i want to include. i hear most people start the creation process with the photos in mind. me, nah, i make something pretty and figure out how to incorporate the photos.

actually that is not always true, but i am such a bad photo taker. i miss when my sister had the time to do photoshoots of skylar. now she is the super busy career mom. i just hate hauling my camera around.
plus my apt. has such bad lighting that photos come out looking yellowish like the one above. i can only get natural lighting on the weekend.

i will say that i am still gung ho on the steampunk look. it works so well when you want a masculine feel.
saturday is my monthly craft meet with the girlfriends and i am super excited to meet up. oh the joy of crafting!!!!
hope you have a great weekend :)
xoxo,
sandy

oh what a night

2011-01-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

i am not a big sports fan. if there is a sport i like to watch it is tennis. i grew up watching football with my dad routing for the seahawks. some of my faves were jim zorn, steve largent and kurt warner.

so call me a playoff fan, but i was hooting and hollering for the seahawks against the saints on saturday. i remember watching marshawn lynch run for a touchdown and being in complete laughter and hollering mode. it was so spectacular to watch him break that many tackles.

to end our night, i had bought christopher tickets for his birthday to see joe satriani play at the snoqualmie ballroom. it was a small intimate venue and we had a nice view of the stage. the bass player was straight out of the 80's. long rocker frizzy hair down to his butt. thank you joe for playing my favorite song "always with you, always with me." pure bliss!

sunday was a lazy day while christopher visited with his kids. a little cleaning and a lot of naps! here is pic that i found of skylar with his new hat. quite the hat, huh!
xoxo,
sandy

01.03.11

2011-01-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days where everything just felt right. We had planned to go snowshoeing on Saturday, but didn't make it, so we rescheduled for Monday since I had the day off. Woke up on time, packed and headed out to Alpental for a beautiful day trip. The weather was so perfect -cloudless blue skies, no wind and lots of sun. For Christmas, my dad had given us hand and toe warmers in our stockings and I knew I would love these little things. My hands were nice and toasty! Would totally recommend :)

We started on the Snow Lake Trailhead and of course snowshoeing is not snowshoeing to Christopher unless he gets off the beaten trail. We took a detour which felt like skiing down a fluffy slope. After we crossed a little creek, we had to climb up a 7 ft. bank which was hilarious for me in snow shoes. It took about 3 tries and many pushes from Christopher to get me over the top.

Spent 2 hours tramping through the snow and made it back to our truck ready for sustenance. What should we eat? Well, soup sounded good to me, but we ended up going to an asian grocery store to make homemade pad thai for dinner. It was delicious and hit the spot. Naturally, a nap ensued. I wish I had more pictures to share, but the battery started to die midway through.

I had such an enjoyable 4 day weekend. It's going to be hard going back to work, but at least I have some awesome memories to make me smile.

xoxo,

sandy

Happy New Year 2011!!!

2011-01-01T22:27:00.000-08:00

I was completely exhausted come New Year's Day. Went to bed around 4 a.m. and woke up at 1 p.m. We live near the Space Needle so 20 minutes before the firework show we walked up Queen Anne hill and found a nice perch to view the entertainment.

Christopher finished a new hat for himself and it is by far our favorite of the 10 hats he has knitted within the past 2 months. I love when the hatmaker is consumed in productive busy finger work.

I finished up 2 birthday cards that I kept meaning to do, but kept pushing it back. My mom's was made in a hurry and i wish i would have used black ink instead of green ink. My sister's has more of the steampunk feel i was shooting for.

Looking forward to meeting up with the family again for birthday lunches in Seattle tomorrow which most likely will be Vietnamese cuisine.

xoxo,
sandy

The Day After

2010-12-26T16:03:00.001-08:00

Well, I hope you enjoyed Christmas day 2010! We spent the day and evening at my sister's playing with Skylar's new toys (remote helicopter, paper jams guitars and drums, nerf guns, etc.) The kid got a lot of stuff probably too much, but he is an only child and grandchild and nephew and we just can't help it! Christopher and I had the idea of shooting the helicopter down with the nerf guns which was all good and fun until Skylar's dad started yelling at him that he might damage the helicopter. His defense was Auntie and Christopher shot at it too! Oops!

Donnie made a most fabulous dinner of ham, potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, corn on the cob, asparagus, and rolls. Stuffed myself pretty good too! We rolled ourselves over to the front room and began the circle of opening gifts. My dad has a tradition of bringing over Christmas stockings for everyone and fills it with useful and cool gadgets. I scored on hand and toe warmers! (totally needed for when i go camping)

My sister, donnie, dad and jannelle got me.....drum roll please.........................................................

the Teresa Collins Stampmaker machine....oh yeah baby!

so excited to make my own stamps! And last but not least, my baby bought me the creme de la creme of sleeping bags...a Big Agnes 15 degree Roxy Petite sleeping bag. Totally needed since I have been borrowing one of his bags. Now I have my own and it's a pretty green!

I am very thankful this year that I was able to bless my family and loved ones with gifts from my heart and they in return have blessed me.
Hope you felt the love too in your homes.
We ended the night watching The Chronicles of Narnia # 2 Prince Caspian.
xoxo,
sandy

12.24.10

2010-12-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

I am so stinking happy today is Friday the 24th. I had an exhausting work week covering people in my dept. who were sick or on vacation. Last night when the clock struck 6 p.m., the Hallelujah chorus rose up and I was all smiles.

Today the plan is to finish 2 birthday cards for my mom and sister who have birthdays on the 1st and 3rd of January. My sister is turning the big 4-0h!

Super excited to head down to my sister's tomorrow for our Christmas gathering. I have all the gifts wrapped and can't wait for the exchange. I love opening gifts :)

Here's 2 cards I sent out for Christmas. Very simple and easy to make and stress free. I chose 2 pics from our Whistler vacation and stamped on one Merry Christmas.

Wishing you a delightful Christmas day!
Sandy

steampunk christmas card

2010-12-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

so this year i did a real simple photo card of myself and christopher that was easy peasy. i decided for my nephew he might not want a photo card since his mother and grandmother were getting said card, so he got a handcrafted steampunk christmas card from moi.

christmas is right around the corner...are you done shopping yet? i have all the gifts wrapped and am enjoying the countdown!

2010-12-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

hey there! thought i forgot about my blog, eh! had a busy last weekend in november. After thanksgiving, christopher and i headed down to portland to celebrate his brother's birthday. Had a good visit minus christopher forgetting his inhaler and the 2 cats at the house nearly killed him. ok, not really but he was weezing so bad. felt bad for him, but not bad enough that we couldn't do a little shopping! I am so in love with Cargo! it is the coolest store ever. Also visited Collage on Alberta St. that was a happening little place.

We drove home Saturday back to my sister's so we could have thanksgiving dinner again with my dad. Talk about being stuffed!

As if we didn't get enough of portland, oregon, we went back on Tuesday for the John Butler Trio concert. Such an awesome show! The crowd had a really good vibe and i could tell the band was feeding off of us and having a good time.

Last weekend I had a productive crafty time finishing my Christmas cards. Yep, they are all done. Just need to mail :) Joy Joy!!!

Have a great day!

Snow Day

2010-11-24T09:37:00.001-08:00

ah, snow snow i love you snow! started to snow here in seattle on monday, got to leave work early monday afternoon, tuesday we were closed and here we are wednesday back at work. there is still snow, but the roads have gotten better.
so excited for thanksgiving tomorrow! headed out to my sister's where there will be lots of family and food.
hope you are having a warm cozy day!
s

happy hands

2010-11-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

i wanted to share some of the hats christopher has knitted within the past couple of weeks. he's been pumping them out for the holiday season. tomorrow, 2 get shipped to china where his son and his girlfriend are teaching english.

i love his busy productive hands!

More Steampunk and Ribbon Rosettes

2010-11-15T21:13:00.000-08:00

i had a fantastic craft day last saturday at adora's home. we ate chicken rice soup, salad, salmon, strawberry bread and grapefruit soda. after the food, we got to business and i whipped out two cards with a steampunk theme and then followed that with 4 paper/ribbon rosettes.
just what i needed to get the mojo going! thanks girls for a wonderfully productive day :)

Roam

2010-11-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

last year, christopher and i went to portland to celebrate his birthday and we stumbled upon a most fantastic store called cargo while strolling thru the pearl district. christopher snapped this shot of me as i was taking photos of their old door / frame fence they made. it captures how freaking happy i was to find a store that was my heart's desire.

happy birthday c!

2010-11-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

i'm a tad early, but that's ok because he's already seen his card. so have you heard of steam punk? it took me awhile to catch on, but once i tried it, i loved the strong masculine look.

One More Resist

2010-11-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

more distress inks

Resist Papers

2010-11-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

this one above i sprayed with glimmer mist and the rest below i used distress inks

I can't help myself...I just love adding colors to these papers! Now i just need to figure out how I will use them.

Live the Life You've Imagined

2010-11-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

i just love the umbrella man stamp by tim holtz. i have used it on several projects and love how it fits here on my inspirational wall hanging. the white damask images are resist images that pop when you add color to them. i love that i have the ability to make it any color i desire. the ruffled ribbon is also from the parisian anthology line. i used the white one and sprayed it with glimmer mist to match my project. customization rocks!

wall hanging

2010-10-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

here's a snippet from a wall hanging i made from the parisian anthology line. the papers are so pretty after you apply color to them. i love watching the resist image magically appear.

more to come....having myself a craft day today :)

Inspire

2010-10-28T09:46:00.001-07:00

10.26.10

2010-10-26T11:13:00.001-07:00

i received my order of parisian anthology and it is love at first sight. the papers are so pretty. i made a little inspiration hanging and a scrapbook layout that needs to get photographed. also been playing with the stamp set. love the cake stand and butterflies. makes me all smiley thinking about them :)
can't wait to share! check back later....