Bind It All and more

Friday night was Golf tournament night for Paradise Valley Spas. Both my mom and Dan work there so I was their guest. I brought Dan's flash since I knew people would ask me to take photos. Here are a few fun shots from the night.

My mom is wearing the purple jacket. :)



If you want to see a great musical, check out the movie Guys & Dolls! I had the pleasure of shopping with Kristi and picked up this exciting new toy, the bind-it-all. I've been drooling over it for a while and got it with a coupon for the retreat! Kelly and I are scrapping tonight. Woohoo!
Some other stuff I picked up during some quality Kristi time.

And just a little peek of something I've worked on for the past few nights... I am quite pleased with how it turned out and should be able to post real photos in a few days. Wish me luck on all my dt submissions. Everything is due tomorrow! Have a wonderful weekend.

Eva and her lovelies

Thanks for all of the compliments! I'm so happy everyone enjoys my posts.

Tuesday was East Bay day. Dan & I had fun test driving out my grandma's new car. It is oh so pretty! I do agree with my dad that its a little smaller than I am used to. Then we visited Dan's father's family in Danville and got everything figured out for our Washington D.C. trip.

I have been editing lots of photos and getting them printed so I will be completely prepared for the scrapbooking retreat in 6 days. I can't wait to meet some of you! I still have a lot to do before Thursday! While we were waiting for my photos, Dan & I enjoyed a quite dinner at the Elephant Bar. Their menu is so great that I can get something different every time I go there and love it!

I had the pleasure of hanging out with my beautiful friend Eva and her adorable children Josiah and Elizabeth. Josiah has grown so much since I last saw him. He can hold his head up now and he is "talking" a lot!

We celebrated my birthday yesterday since they were in Disneyland during it. We had a delicious lunch at BJ's Brewery. Elizabeth was so cute. She kept insisting that we needed a birthday cake. I think she was ok with substituting for the Chocolate Chip Pizookie.


Then I took Elizabeth to the play area while Eva and Josiah got some shopping done.

These past couple days I've been scrapping several projects at once. I'll try to post sneak peeks during the weekend. My creative mess from last night:

Lots of photos...

Thanks for all of the incredibly sweet comments on the photos. I really appreciate your notes. They make me smile. :) Saturday afternoon this amazing surprise arrived at my door. Thanks Lizee for such an amazing birthday present. That card is gorgeous and it made my day!


And if that wasn't enough, my Hambly order arrived. I got so much stuff I just had to bring it with me so I could stare at these beauties!


Saturday evening I went to a birthday celebration/dance party for three family friends and had a wonderful time. Here is Anders, one of the birthday boys, dancing with young Johannes. These two were so incredibly funny to watch on the dance floor!


And here is Tom, another birthday boy, dancing with Gerd. I plan to get a pro account with flickr so I can post photos from all the different events I photograph.


The dessert table made it worth while and I didn't even know they would have such an yummy spread! Many of these are traditional Scandinavian desserts.


I modeled for Gino and a few students from a local community college yesterday. Here is my favorite photo that Gino took. You can see the rest of the shots from Wednesday's shoot here.


This bag caught my eye in Trader Joe's and I just had to have it. I'm really going through a bright colors phase. I used to collage a lot and really enjoyed it. And for those of you who shop at TJ's, it was inexpensive. Only $1.99!


A little something I did while enjoying the nice weather this afternoon. Sorry, but sneak peeks are all you get for now. :)

Don't you just LOVE garage sales?

Leo and my mom both love to go to garage sales. Which means I get calls when they find something neat. One day not that long ago my mom was walking during her lunch break and found an enlarger for the darkroom on the street. Of course I made her bring it home! I dream of having my own personal dark room some day. Leo surprised me with a great find as well. He found a really cool Animation book for 50 cents!


Yesterday I saw the movie Finding Neverland. That movie was certainly eye candy. The art director did an amazing job and the special effects were beautiful. I'm quite surprised I didn't hear more about how wonderful the story was. If you haven't seen it, add it to your must see list!

Wednesday I modeled for a fellow photographer, Mr. Gino De Grandis. This was the longest shoot I've done and it was incredibly windy. I think that there will be some fantastic shots coming this way soon. Here is a photo that I was sent to hold me over until I see the rest.


Weather forecasters keep saying its going to rain and I get so excited since we're having a drought. I just love the clouds we've been getting lately! I am so happy I live in such a beautiful place.

You'll never guess who I met today!

Emily Falconbridge and Maria Grace Abuzman! I went to the Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley today after visiting my grandma and they just happened to be shopping in the store. I couldn't believe me eyes. Funny enough, the first thing I noticed was that Maria had an awesome camera, and then I realized who she was. I knew it was Emily right away with her adorable girls! They were the sweetest people ever. This is enough proof why everyone should always carry a camera every where they go! I was so excited that I called up Misty for the first time ever and she was so fun to chat with!
Me with Emily

Maria & I

My small purchase for the day. They didn't have the new Hambly yet. I'm most excited to try out those Stickles that I've been hearing so much about!


I had so much fun visiting my grandma today. She bought a 2005 Volvo S40 this weekend and my mom forgot her camera. I had to document her excitement! I think this car is oh-so-pretty!


I shot a wedding on Saturday and it went beautifully. I had a wonderful experience and met a lot of really fun people. I'm so happy that the couple found each other. After I finished with the video camera I took a few shots for fun. Aren't those cakes just beautiful?

More facts about me

I got tagged by Cathy so here goes:

1. I was in a commercial for Tanforan, a local shopping center, when I was 3.

2. Dan says I am like film developer. I can handle 68*-72* but anything above or below that I can't handle.

3. I donated 12" of my hair in April 2006 to Locks of Love. I'm waiting for my hair to grow out to donate again.

4. My friend Mike recently told me I have the metabolism of a gerbil and that I need to carry a block of cheese with me wherever I go.

5. When I was 8, I told my mom I wanted to be in a beauty pageant. I didn't explain that I just wanted to have a crown. I didn't win, but I did get a crown that year for Christmas.

6. The first two years of my life I had green eyes like my mom. I really got my Dad's genes because they turned brown.

Another photo that makes me jaw drop... by Sosij

What Scrapbook item are you?

I took this quiz and found out I am a pair of scissors. Not the most exciting thing I was hoping for but they are essential to lots of other things in life as well. What item are you?

Friday I had the pleasure of attending a wedding rehearsal to prepare for where I will be recording the event. Its on a private ranch of 90 acres! I am really excited about documenting this wedding later today. Here is where the ceremony will take place:

Another great mail week

I got my hand stamped journal tag swap back and it was so fun going through all of the unique styles everyone has. Love them and look forward to incorporating them into my own style. I also got my order from B&H which was a scallop blade for my paper trimmer, and two different kinds of photo paper (one for the darkroom and one for my new printer). And finally, I got my small order from scrapbookexpress. They had the Maya Road tabbed chipboard albums that I wanted from the Red Velvet Art Kit and a really cool film canister (for film movies) along with some Scenic Route pp that I've been admiring.

My friend Mike from the air force came to visit all the way from Florida. We had a quiet lunch and then did a little shopping since his bag got misplaced by the airport .


And, I have a little sneak peek of something I worked on recently. I'll be showing sneak peeks for the rest of the month since I can't share until then.


Last night was wonderful. I went with Dan to meet his mom Zena to go to a heritage dance practice. It was great seeing a lot of friendly people that we hadn't seen in a while. After we went to Baskin Robbins and I ate Lime Daiquiri Ice (love it)! Tonight we decided to take it easy and grab dinner at one of my favorite childhood places to eat-Fresh Choice. Dessert is still my favorite thing there!

I got tagged

I'll play along. Here are 6 interesting facts about me:

1. I need to let loose when I ink, chalk, or paint something.

2. I suddenly started to like the color pink about two months ago!

3. I think its weird when someone has a longer second toe then their big toe.

4. I love it when something random happens in life.

5. I get my inspiration from shopping bags, ads, and hang tags from clothing.

6. I took a design class in college and loved it, probably as much as photography!

Aja
Jenni
Lizee
Marie
Misty
UC

And eye candy that inspires me. By Jeneyepher on flickr:

a quick one

Beautiful flowers I got from Dan and my boss Leo:


The clothes portion of my presents... The t-shirt with a photo is specially designed by my sister. She is on the right and Tiffany is on the left. Altered with a sharpie marker. So silly and creative. I plan to color in the shoes with sharpies too.

And, my most sought after stamps arrived yesterday!


I got a bunch of photos printed so I'm planning to work like crazy and get lots of layouts done. I'm also applying to a design team so I probably won't be able to share until the call is over. Maybe a sneek peek every once in a while though... Have a great day!

A Red Velvet Art Birthday

Yesterday was an amazing day. I celebrated my 23rd birthday with my family and a few friends that we're willing to go along for a ride. We drove south along the coast to Santa Cruz. I am so lucky to have an amazing group that followed my every whim!

We visited a scrapbook store called Scrap It that none of us had been to before. The owner was such a pleasant woman. I found lots of 7gypsies goodies and a few sale items that I couldn't pass up.


It just so happened that there was a fabric store just a few doors down so we all took a peek in Round Robin Fabrics. We met another lovely woman there who was full of advice. I purchased a few fat quarters and Jessica purchased some beautiful fabric for her next project: a tote bag. It looks like there will be lots more sewing projects in the future for her!


We had lunch in a cute little restaurant on Capitola's waterfront. It just so happened to be the Capitola Art & Wine Festival this weekend. I really enjoyed all the people bustling around and looking at such great artwork. To top it off, I was surrounded by a bunch of happy friends!
Jenna, Kelly, Jessica, and Mom walking at the festival.


Capitola is famous for its brightly painted houses at the shore. I took a few photos but this was my favorite that my mom took:


We wanted to fit in as much as possible, so we piled back into the car and headed to Hart's Fabric's in Santa Cruz. When I walked into the store my mouth dropped at how much fabric, ribbon, and buttons they crammed into the store. We stayed there for 2 hours! Jenna decided that she wanted to make a comforter with designer fabric. She got advice from the sweet employees there and I bought lots of pretty fabrics. I was totally inspired by Rachel and Red Velvet Art this shopping trip.


Then we found 20 minute parking downtown Santa Cruz to race into Bead It. As we were walking there I spotted Urban Outfitters so I zoomed through the bead store and raced back to see Urban Outfitters. I've heard lots of cool stuff about them and I can see why.

After an exhausting day of wonderful shopping, we headed back home to have a last minute get together with lots of dessert. Here is a goofy group form left to right: Jessica, Mom, Kelly, Jenna, Me (lower), Jenny, Dan (lower), and Andrew.


Earlier this week I applied for another production assistant position. I also planned for an upcoming wedding video shoot. If you need to see a light hearted funny movie, check out Accepted.

A relaxing weekend

It has been a while since I've worked on a sewing project. I under estimated how long it was going to take so here is a sneak peek. Thanks for all your wonderful comments!


Sunday night I celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday at my aunt's house in Redwood City. I was pleasantly surprised to see my cousin Dominique came back from LMU for the long weekend.


I watched Funny Face and was so inspired from the opening title sequence. It is aesthetically beautiful. I love that there was a photographer character and a darkroom!

Speaking of a darkroom, I developed my photos from my trip to Bodie and scanned a few.



I went to a BBQ at my Aunt Sandra's house for Memorial Day. It was great to see the family and relax. We had fruit on skewers and wonderful apple pie.I found this lying on my grandma's table today and had to take a picture. Just adore them!


My mom bought my grandma a new shirt. Isn't she adorable modeling it? This is a perfect example of using a wide angle lens up too close. Notice how the lower body looks smaller because I'm shooting down.

And Dan felt that you should all read this: "Weeeeeeeeeeeee... are the Knights who say........... 'NI!' "

Obsessed with fabric

Friday night I lugged all my mom's sewing gear to Dan's house so I could work on a project that I hope to finish tomorrow. Here I am laying on my favorite fabric.


We watched this great movie called The Lookout. I also saw Wild Hogs which was cute, but I probably wouldn't buy it on DVD.

Saturday was great! I took a ton of photos of the Christmas store for the website. Then I picked up Jessica and we had a grand time shopping at Joann's Labor Day sale.

Jessica caught my creative vibe so she decided to make a pillow case. Teaching her how to use a sewing machine was a lot of fun. I'm so proud that Jessica was able to go home with it completed!


Last night Dan and I tried out Netflix's watch it now feature. We've both had an interest in the Darwin Awards ever since our English teacher Mr. Litrell introduced us to the Darwin Awards in class. Can you imagine how excited I was by the thought of a movie called The Darwin Awards? There were a lot of cameos and it was somewhat amusing, but it wasn't what I expected. I did get a kick out of Wilmer Valderrama's character though.