Florida 2012 (#4)

We left Miami at 9am on the 4th day and headed up to Orlando where we were going to spend the rest of our vacation (because you can't go to Florida and NOT go to Disney World, right?).  I highlighted our route, but it is a bit hard to see with all the other lines on the map.

We made one stop to eat breakfast and go to Target to pick up snacks and laundry detergent for the Disney World Resort (Saratoga Springs) condo.  My husband's co-worker graciously let us use 3 nights of her time share!!

We got to the Resort at 2:15 pm. After cleaning up, my daughter and I jumped on the Ferry to Downtown Disney to walk around and have dinner.  In true Floridian weather, it poured on us, but I love the rain and don't mind walking in it :)

While we were browsing around, the boys drove about an hour west (in some scary rain...what is crappier than driving in the rain?  driving in the rain on a road you don't know!).  They caught a Tampa Bay Ray's game (in St. Petersburg). {I guess it is now like watching a San Francisco 49er game in Santa Clara.}

There was a "hall of fame" type area that they enjoyed.  They actually liked this stadium better than the brand new Marlins' stadium we were at a few days before!

This was our AMAZING home away from home

Unfortunately, we were not able to enjoy it to it's fullest extent since we had planned a jam packed vacation.  It would have been perfect to set up my scrapbooking since there was a large kitchen table (and kitchen that I would not have used even if we had more time there! ahahaha)  The kids had one "wing" with their own bathroom and we had our own master sweet with tub...it came in handy the 5th day when we had to soak our feet after walking and walking and walking the whole day.

Thank you for looking.  I have been reminded of our vacation as I am finishing up on the journaling...it is like we just came back all over again :)

Florida 2012 (#3)

The Day 3 section of my Florida SMASH Book is out of order...I am normally a chronological scrapbooker and it was so hard for me to place photos out of order, but it made more sense to do so for Day 3.

Day 3 in Florida was Memorial Day.  Our plan was to spend the day in South Beach/Miami Beach so we left our hotel at 7am thinking we would hit traffic (we did not).

We first found a breakfast spot and after fueling our tummy's walked around the area--it was 8am, so the stores were mostly closed.

My daughter loves the Jersey Shore...so we had to find some of the places Snooki and her friends caused havoc when they spent Season 2 down there.

The place they lived...the place they worked...and one of the places they clubbed at (which was shut down when we were there).  After lunch, we went back to the gelato place and she had to have  a scoop and bought a shirt. (I HAD to use the Bottled pages of the SMASH book for Jersey Shore...how could I not? ha ha ha)

Our choices for breakfast were limited...but the eggs were fine...(here is where it goes all wonky!)  We ate lunch at 1:30 pm--6 hours later...not right after we ate breakfast ha ha ha :D

We also seen the Dash boutique...it hadn't opened for the day yet.  We seen a tow truck from Tremont Towing...South Beach Tow which my husband and kids watch.

Back to our lunch...we ate at Ocean's Ten which apparently the Jersey Shore cast also visited on the show.  OMG--worst service.  The Yelp reviews are either way bad or good.  I guess if you to there to club then it is fine.  We were there at 1:30 pm and the waitress had to hold our credit card before we got our food--their policy...um, we have 2 children with us...we aren't clubbing...we aren't going to stiff you!  Then they charged for a glass of water...not bottled...just plain "filtered" tap water!  Then they automatically charged 18% service fee...fine, but did I mention our waitress sucked?  Well she did!  And the food...not very good at all and overpriced.  Oh well...

Some of our beach photos...Remember I said we wanted to beat the crowds?  We were there from 8:30am-1:00pm and it never got very crowded...I think South Beach is on and popping in the evening when all the young adults are partying :)

We got back to the hotel before 3pm and decided to check out Hollywood, Fl because the guide book said it was "a virtual carnival of young hipsters, big families, and sunburned French Canadian..."  It was NOT...unless by young hipsters they meant young hoodlums and by French Canadian they meant Freaky Characters!  Normally, my husband can hang in the shadiest parts of town (he went into New Orlean's 9th ward with a couple of friends and a stranger they met at a bar!) but even he was not comfortable with us being in Hollywood, FL.  We left as soon as possible and I only took one photo of a sign...actually I think I sent my husband over to take the picture.  (Ok, I just looked at all the trip advisor reviews, etc. and they are all positive...maybe it was because we got there late in the day...I don't know, but it did not look very friendly.)

The best part of the trip to Hollywood was the drive there when we were stuck in traffic (how is that the best part?)...Not only did we laugh as we witnessed a ton of people illegally exiting the freeway, but we seen these two young adults in front of us lip-syncing and doing some hand/arm gestures.  My son knew what they were doing and showed us the Harvard Baseball Team YouTube video lip syncing and "dancing" to Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe.  We then joined the couple in front of us...and they laughed and gave us air high fives.  That song then became our anthem the rest of the trip :)

Even now when we hear that song it makes us smile thinking of our vacation.

If you got through this post--thank you! 

Thank you for looking!

Florida 2012 (#2)

Day 2 in Miami was the day we went to check out the new Marlin's stadium and watch our Giants beat them.

Before we headed over to the stadium, we found The Original Pancake House which we all liked.  We really try to find places to eat that we can't find around where we live...sometimes we succeed at doing that and other times we have to settle for places we can eat any ol' time. (Later, we found out there are a couple of the same chain in our area, but when we tried them at home, they were not as good. :/ )

I was happy that the page in the Smashbook (above) actually matched what I was scrapbooking.  The curved building in the Smashbook had similar features to the actual stadium.

The photo on the top left is one of my favorites because of this...

Five years earlier, we were in Scottsdale, Az watching the Giants at Spring Training and I captured this photo above...I had them recreate the bottom photo...Yes, my husband is wearing the same jersey (but new same colored shorts! ha ha ha)--it is awesome to see how my kids have grown in 5 years!

Another element that I love on this page is that I used paper from an actually baseball score book to write my journaling on.

The next page is just photos of the inside of the stadium--the colors on the Smashbook matched the Marlin colors (kinda!).

That day, Melky Cabrera scored all 3 runs which I was able to take photos of...it looks like the same run scored, but it wasn't :)

After the game, we went back to the hotel then took the free Metromover to the Bayside outdoor mall.  We walked around, but didn't buy anything other than flimsy towels for the beach the next day.

Dinner was at Bubba Gump which we've eaten at before, but we don't eat it too often.

For the smaller photos (like above), I used my PoGo--I am not sure how they will stand the test of time though.

Thank you for looking!

Workspace Wednesday (Color Shine)

Back in March 2013, I wrote a post on how I made my own Gold mist.  At the time, I thought I would save some money and make my own--but that was short lived.

I had bought some Mini Mister spray bottles to make my own colors...but it didn't work out too well.  The acrylic paint was too thick and would just clog the sprayer.  So I bought the Primrose and later the Teal.  

That was my arsenal for over a year.  

Then last month, I had seen the trio pack (gold, teal, and citron) at Michaels and wanted to buy the mini bottles, but since I already had teal, I figured could just buy the Gold by itself for cheaper (and more came in the bottle!).  So I went that route.

Then I seen someone on Instagram post they had scored some color shine on clearance at Joann's...so I had to find them!  I was able to pick up the Chartreuse and Bronzer on clearance.

And then last week, Michaels had Heidi Swapp 40% off (plus an additional 20% app coupon!) so I picked up the White and Citron.

Yes, I have bought them all with a coupon or on sale...so that is a plus, but I know I tend to buy things because it is the thing to do and I don't really use them.

I don't know why I do this, but I do know sometimes I tend to have a "missing out" syndrome.  I have been a lot better than I used to be, but my craft room shows my hoarding tendencies unfortunately.

I will note, this past weekend, I did use the pink, teal, and gold in my planner to decorate the September title page.

My next challenge to myself is to use my stuff!  

Florida 2012 (#1)

In 2012, we surprised the kids (and ourselves) with a trip to Florida.  I planned this trip 3 weeks before we left for a week.  Who does that?  I do that...I do that more often than you would think is possible. :)  *just a note...we live in California--so a last minute trip across the country is a tad bit crazy.

Prior to leaving, I packed a bag with a SMASH book, pens, scraps of paper, my Polaroid PoGo, and adhesive.  I totally thought I was going to scrapbook while vacationing...I was so wrong ha ha ha...it only added to the weight of my carry-on. :/

I actually "finished" the book in March 2013, but I never journaled inside...so that is the part I am currently working on.

Here is the cover...I tried to capture the things we did...caught a Marlin's game (against our beloved Giants), went to DisneyWorld and Universal Orlando...We also went to the beach and the boys went to a Tampa Bay Ray's game. (I just realized I forgot to add those last two elements to my cover!  I may go back now...we will see.)

This was my first SMASH book and the concept is great, but I didn't really care for it...it doesn't really allow too much extras to be placed inside.  (I suppose it is more for thoughts and doodlings than to use instead of a Scrapbook like I used it for.)

Luckily, most of the pages just worked out right for each of my layouts...but when it didn't, I would just add paper over it...adding to the bulkiness of the book.

Here is the inside of the front cover...I like keeping and adding our plane tickets...I don't know why.

The first layout is our itinerary for the week.  I actually completed this before we left...I'll pat myself on the back--hahaha. 

The printable cards are from Cathy Zielske.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the post that she shared these with the world.

A funny (but not so funny) story...our plane from San Jose to Los Angeles was on the tiniest plane I have ever been on...and since I booked the flight so late, we were in the back of the plane and not seated next to each other.  There were 2 seats on one side of the plane and 1 seat on the other side of the plane...so tiny!!  Anyway, we were right above the landing gear.  As we were descending, the landing gear (of course) was opening up, but the noise scared me...I almost jumped out of my seat!  I thought we were going down!!!  I might have let out a little "Ah!"--hahaha...I'm sure my seat mate wasn't thrilled to be seated next to me. :D

Our first stop in Florida was in Miami...we got in early enough to drive to our hotel downtown, check out the pool, and walk to grab a bite to eat.

It was the first time we had all eaten Columbian food--it was ok, but it was no Mexican food.  

I usually opt for the cheapest (but clean) hotels.  The Hampton Inn did not disappoint.  My daughter was the only one to get into the pool, but she wasn't thrilled...it was so hot outside and in the pool that it just felt like a hot tub...she said it wasn't refreshing at all.  

Well that was day 1 of our trip.  Thank you for looking!

Made It Monday (first and last in a series--haha)

I was trying to think up new ideas for my blog which would prompt me to blog more often and I thought about "Made It Mondays".

Then I thought about it some more and I was like 'everything I post on my blog I have made'...so it didn't really make much sense after all--Unless I only want to blog on Mondays :D  

But since today is Monday and I actually made something today...I will call this post Made It Monday :D

So what did I make?  A Stamp!!!!

Back in December, I took a trip to a craft faire with Liz and Jossie and we met the nicest stamp maker.  I bought her book and at the time I didn't know I would actually want to try my hands at making stamps.  

Over the past 8 months, I have been collecting stamp making material.  

First I bought some material from Hobby Lobby (the blue Speedball--it comes in different colors depending on the "ease" of the material) along with a linoleum cutter.  (You can buy a starter set on Amazon or from Stampin' Up, but I didn't want to wait or pay for shipping.)  Then I was given some Eraser Stamp material by Liz from Daiso.  And because I didn't have enough material to learn on, I bought the grey 3 pack of material from Stampin' Up.

One of my problems was figuring out what to make.  Today I finally bit the bullet and decided to make an "Aloha" stamp since I don't have any Hawaiian stamps (at least I don't think I do--ha ha ha!).

It tells you to use tracing paper, but I didn't have any, so I just used a post-it and wrote Aloha.  Then I went over it a couple of times to make it a bit thicker and darker.

After, I placed the Post-it (backwards) over the blue part and rubbed my pencil over the back to transfer the pencil onto the blue.

Then using the #5 blade (or craft knife), I cut the part I wasn't going to use.

Using the different size blades, I cut around the image.  

I like the Daiso one because it is easy to see if you have cut enough.  It does take a little bit to realize you don't have to press too hard.  It also takes a lot of patience and lighting.

"Not aloha, 'hello', aloha, 'goodbye'." 
~50 First Dates (one of my favorite movies ever...I love this quote!)

You do have to embrace that it won't be "perfect", but that is what makes it unique!

Thank you for looking!

Disneyland 2001 Redo Album Series (#8 & Final!)

Yay!!!!  I am finally finished redoing our 2001 Disneyland trip!

It felt great taking this Post-it off my "To-Do" board.

 Here was the before layout of the kids getting autographs from the characters.

And the after...again a little plain, but I think I was at the point were I just wanted to be done.

All the papers are from the Simple Stories Say Cheese line.

I do have to say that waiting in line getting character's autographs is one of the biggest wastes of time at Disneyland.  But the kids enjoy it and we did do it again the following time we were there in 2003.  At 6 and 4 1/2 they were a bit young to get on all the rides anyway, so I don't think we missed out on much.

I also wanted to share the binding of the album.  In order to know which album it is, I put this cute Mickey charm with the year on it.

Thank you for looking!

Workspace Wednesdays (#4)--Roller Stamps

Back in December 2012, I wrote about my roller date stamps collection.  At that time, I had 9 stamps (and added 2 more shortly after) and stored them in these glass square vases.

But like most of my supplies, this had doubled to 22 (currently) and they no longer fit in the vases.

I found a basket at Michaels in turquoise (my favorite) and they are still easy to reach for on my workspace.

But with 22 stamps, it is hard to remember or search for phrases, so last year, I started to stamp each phrase on an index card and labeling which color handle (and brand) it belongs to.  I also try to remember to write which year the stamps starts.

About a month or so ago, Studio Calico (via Nicole Reaves) posted a picture on Instagram that was similar...I was like hey, I have been doing that too!  Great minds think alike--hahaha.

Even though my current storage works, I would really like an antique stamp holder.

Like this one that Layle Koncar posted.  

If I don't find one, I know that Ranger Inks sells a similar one, but it won't be antique! ha ha ha

Thank you for looking!!

Disneyland 2001 Album Redo Series (#7)

At the Expo Crop, I was on a mission to finish our 2001 Disneyland album.

For the first 4 hours, I worked on this layout...yes, I am a slow scrapbooker, plus it takes time to catch up with friends :)  The pattern papers are from the Simple Stories Say Cheese line.  The two Project Life cards are from the Midnight Edition.

Here is the before page

After shopping and eating lunch, I worked on the following layout for a couple of hours.  When we were at Disneyland in 2001, I was not yet scrapbooking, but I did find that I saved the tickets!  I used paper from an older CTMH line and some way old Creative Imaginations paper.

And before

(don't you love my cutting around the photo?)

Then before I left for the day, I wanted to get one last layout done.  This one was super simple.  The background paper is from an old CTMH set.

Before

I might go back and add to the last layout, but for now they are done...I have only 1 more page to complete--whoo hoo!!

Thank you for looking :)

Scrapbook Expo~August 2014

This past Friday, I attended the Santa Clara Scrapbook Expo.  I was so excited to take the day off and scrapbook all day.  

My table included Jossie and Renee and we knew the table next to us where Joann and 3 of her friends sat.  

This is the 4th Expo Crop I've gone to and I normally don't get much done, but this time I had a goal of getting my 2001 Disneyland trip complete and I knew I only had 4 2-page layouts to go...so that was my goal.  I got 3 of 4 of the layouts complete!!!  I was so happy :)  (I'll share the layouts in a separate post.)

I got there about 8 am when the crop section opened.  I was able to get a layout complete before I went shopping.

I was actually good and didn't buy way too much like I normally do.  (It helped that there weren't very many vendors there.)

 Queen & Co. had $1 washi tape and I can't resist washi...especially at a dollar!

I was really looking for cheap Thicker because I am obsessed now.  Scrap-Mart had 4 for $10...my first go through of the bin I had about 12 in my hand...so I whittled it down to 8...then I realized that was $20!  So I only bought 4.  I was needing a frame for the layout I was working on, so it was perfect that I found these Crate Paper ones.

A few of the vendors had bins and bins of cheap paper...(and tons of people crowding around them searching)

But before I got there, I swore to myself I was not going to buy any paper... and I almost left without buying any, but before the floor closed, we went back in and I left with 1 sheet of the Simple Stories Say Cheese sheet.  

I was totally happy that I only spent $25...not too bad.  I actually spent more on food for the entire day! (well unless you add in the price of admission ($8) and the crop ($35)--hahaha.)

With the cost of the crop, we were able to pick a kit worth $20...I got the Teresa Collins Hello My Name Is kit.

And all the Expos give out a bag (not pictured), a pen, gluestick, and a pack of Canon paper.  The stickers were handed out later that night.

This was the first time I stayed until the grand prize was given out at the expo.  I and all the girls I was with thought they were calling out the number to claim either a Cricut Explore, Canon printer, a Cuttlebug, or Spellbinders.  They called my number!!!  I was shocked and yelled "that's my number!", but then when I got up there it was just the first number called to pick some of the other prizes--it was not the grand prize they were announcing about all night.  I picked this Tab punch.

I already had a tab punch (a bit different from this one) and since Jossie was talking about needing one, I gave it to her.  I would probably wouldn't ever even use it.

I ended up leaving after my 3rd layout was complete about 10:20pm!!!  I couldn't believe how fast the time went and how long I stayed.

I had a total blast with the girls.  The theme of the crop was Carnival, so Jossie and I took a picture with clown noses and bows in our hair.  Fun times!  Can't wait for the next one!