Mission Creativity

'Tis The Season: December 2-10

2011-12-23T15:19:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 2nd: Kelley & I spent our lunch talking about the start of the December album. Here she is playing with my Elle's Studio Tis the Season kit that I bought to help supplement my album. Aren't the numbers too cute?

I met Jessica, Bryce, Jamie, and Salad for dinner at one of my favorite local crepe restaurants. We grabbed dinner before heading to the theater to see Breaking Dawn. We waited a few weeks after it was released because of our hectic schedules.

I laughed during some moments I'm sure that weren't meant to be laugh out loud funny. I was entertained by the movie and really enjoyed the wedding sequence. I've become quite familiar with them lately-I photographed quite a few this past year!

Saturday, December 3rd: Scrap date with Kristi! She & I haven't been able to get together to scrapbook in a really long time. I have a habit of working a lot and packing my weekends with a lot of fun! It was so great to see my recently engaged friends and play catch up.

I found a really fun pack of Michael Jackson pins at Michael's this week. I had to buy them since one of the buttons says "I <3 MJ!"

This button inspired a mini photo shoot with each member of Kristi's family. I'd say we got a little side tracked from our December Daily albums but these photos were so worth it! Jarid's shirt and the couch match the button perfectly!

The photo collection wouldn't be complete without me wearing it.

We kept our December tradition going with the Pillsbury sugar cookies too. It wouldn't be Christmas without these guys.

Sunday, December 4th: I've started working at Christmas by the Cove with the holidays quickly approaching. Its great because it gets me in the spirit and I get to shop while I work. I picked up these cute Shiny Bright glass blown ornaments by Christopher Radko. They come in two sizes so naturally I bought both!

Leo & Tiffany have the cutest interactive advent calendar apps on their phones and its so cute to watch them open each day together. Then I get to play with it after!

I bought a vintage shiny bright from our collection at the store. They are so pretty piled together that it took a lot of will power to just buy one.

Monday, December 5th: My parents brought a tree home and I helped light it. My lighting theory is that there can't be enough lights on a tree! My general rule that Leo taught me: 1 strand of lights per foot there is tree. This works really well!

I also love lighting trees with a hooded sweatshirt. I keep the lights in the hood so the lights don't get tangled.

Our family tree all lit up:

Tuesday, December 6th: I've kept a Trader Joe's chocolate advent calendar in my car to make my commute more festive. Each morning I open a new window and try to guess what the shape is supposed to be.

My company had a special barista making gingerbread lattes and a beautiful holiday spread. I didn't wait in line for a latte but I did grab a few croissants and chocolate filled pastries. It was so fun to walk in and see first thing in the morning!

Wednesday, December 7th: I busied myself in the darkroom in preparation for the photography final. I remembered why cutting mat board is so difficult...math and razor blades. I was so involved with that project that I only remembered to take photos as I was leaving campus. This is the view of the library:

And a loading dock that I pass by:

Thursday, December 8th: Thursday was my comp day since I was scheduled to work the following Saturday. I desperately wanted to sleep in but it just didn't happen. I relaxed and updated my resume for a new position within my department. One of my packages arrived with a few of my holiday projects. I loved the presentation!

Lisa organized a girls craft night at her place. We all made food and had too many left overs. Emily brought this deliciously sweet fruit tart:

I brought my scrap supply to work on my December album from last year. Lisa worked on a beautiful ribbon wreath while Emily worked on a felt wreath.

Friday, December 9th: Ansgar took me ice skating to the Yerba Buena Gardens ice rink in San Francisco. It was such a different experience going skating with a ice hockey player. We both had our own ice skates and had so much fun racing around on the ice.

We decided we need to skate more frequently. It was so convenient that he knew one of the employees working that night!

I had forgotten how much I love to photograph the city at night. It made me wish I had my DSLR with me to capture the beauty of Yerba Buena Gardens. I love the patterns on the sidewalk with the church in the background.

This is one of my most favorite colorful views, taken from the Yerba Buena Gardens bridge:

On the way back, we met up with some friends at Lucky 13 in San Francisco. It was a really cute place with a foosball table, chalk boards, and a modern day photo booth. I was thrilled to check it out since I fell in love with Lucky 13 in Alameda.

Saturday, December 10th: We attended a jam fest/ holiday party in one of the coolest venues I've ever been to. I love to scout locations so when I find a new one that I love, I get very excited! One of Ansgar's friends found Salle Pianos and rented it out for our holiday evening of music. Brian took clips from his favorite holiday movies and edited them together for projection onto one of the white walls.

The decor was beautiful; Antique pianos, lits candelabras, gold gilded mirrors and an exquisite chandelier.

Instruments littered the floor along with music stands and other audio equipment. It was a perfect night to chat with great music playing the entire evening. I met a lot of talented people and talked about photography and the environment (my job title always sparks that conversation).

I was so giddy when I walked into Salle Pianos with my DSLR. It was a magical experience and I hope I find myself there again very soon!

On the First Day of December

2011-12-02T00:12:00.000-08:00

I learned how to make a starter for making bread! I took a bread workshop at La Victoria Bakery in the Mission District in San Francisco tonight.

We used yeast, organic flour, and water to make the starter. Mike from Sour Flour was an inspiring person to learn from. He made me want to take up a profession in baking. We took advantage of this class through Groupon.

We learned about the 5 factors that will affect the starter: time, temperature, hydration, ratio and food.

The biggest thing I noticed is that we assume you need to really beat your dough when kneading-and that's not the case at all. Its more like massaging the dough, giving it a break to rise, and then repeating. It was a very relaxing process.

Its a good thing I didn't eat too much before hand. We got to eat some of the bread we made and then compared it with bread that was made with the same starter but had risen for two days. The older dough was more flavorful since the yeast had a chance to grow.

I'd highly recommend taking a class like this! Bring some water since it gets hot in the kitchen.

The Impossible Project

2011-11-25T00:05:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a laid back Thanksgiving holiday. I spent my day goofing off at the beach with my mom and then traveling around to celebrate with loved ones. Luckily for me, I didn't have a long commute.

This summer I decided to stop at a garage sale down the street and found a Polaroid SX-70 presto camera for $1. I was talking with my photo friend Eric about how I wish I could test the camera to see if it was still in working condition. He told me about The Impossible Project and that I could still get film for my camera! For those of you still dreaming of shooting with your Polaroid, check out the instant film they make.

For Halloween I dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I decided I wanted to be Belle from the beginning of the movie where she is wearing her blue peasant dress. I didn't have much luck locating this costume in a costume store.

I found this dress on sale in the juniors department at Macy's. I picked up dish towels at TJMAXX and some white gross grain ribbon. My mom helped me use her iron on adhesive to create an apron for the outfit. The book and basket were borrowed and I already had the shoes. The whole costume cost me less then $20. I was a very happy camper. I had a lot of fun "making" my own costume this year for Halloween!

I took over 3,200 photos on my trip in Kauai. I'm narrowing them down to my top 150-200 photos and post a few of my favorites here. I have some fun stories to share and a lot of catching up around here. I'm very excited about the holiday season kicking off. Happy Black Friday!

Greetings from Kauai!

2011-10-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

I've been on the island of Kauai for two nights. I had the pleasure of spending two weeks here in 2003. The weather is wonderful and the nature is stunning. Yesterday I went swimming at Haena Beach and stumbled upon a school of sea turtles. The best part was that it was completely unplanned and not many people were around! I will be relaxing in Hawaii for 9 days and I'm enjoying every moment of it.

Since I love making lists I thought I'd share my hopes for this adventure:

Catch a wave
Kayak down the Wailua River
Visit glass beach
Jump into Queens Bath
Swim with the fish (sea turtles too)
Take a helicopter ride
Read on the beach
Shower outside
Nap
Hike on the Na Pali Coast
Get lost on purpose
Make a new friend
Journal daily
Eat something new
Eat where the locals eat
Get shave ice
Try night photography on the island (not much light pollution at night).
Pass the camera so I get photos of me too!

I took 400+ photos in just a matter of 3 hours yesterday! I will be posting photos when I return so keep your eyes peeled. The fruit is amazing here!

Puerto Rico

2011-06-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Traveling to Puerto Rico in March was such an adventure! My friend Terra had a destination wedding. I ran through the airport like a crazy tourist in search of a postcard and stamp so I could continue on my tradition. Any time I have a layover I send my parents a postcard from the airport I'm stopped in.

I arrived to the Fort San Cristobal just before they closed. The timing was perfect because the sun was setting and the lighting was gorgeous! Below is a photo I took of one of the hallways.

I walked along the path towards the other fort, Fort San Felipe del Morro. I had a travel book with a mini map so I wasn't completely lost-until I tried meeting up with Terra's fiancee Kevin. This is a view looking back towards Fort San Cristobal.

Isn't this side street beautiful?

After getting directions, I connected with Kevin and his family. I felt like part of the family within moments of meeting them all. Terra joined us and took me back to their apartment. I was thrilled to see it since they were renting from a local. She is beautiful.

Terra sent me a photo from her bedroom a few days before I left on my trip. I admired the lighting and the contrast of the dark wood against the light linens.

I enjoyed how open the apartment was. I had fun playing with the echo from the rooms upstairs.

Nightlife in San Juan is beautiful!

The El Yunque Rainforest was lush and humid. The hike on La Mina Trail was picturesque and heavenly. I especially liked looking up at the canopy.

I feel that this photo sums up everything I dreamt my trip would look like:

Our guide took us to a lookout point and to another waterfall for photo opportunities. One of the Italian tourists convinced me to climb up a bunch of rocks to pose for a photo.

I joined my new friends John & Samera for lunch and a stroll along Luquillo Beach.

The 3 of us said goodbye to the rest of our group and another guide picked us up for the evening excursion. After signing a waiver, an attractive local helped me into a life jacket and then trained the large group how to properly row a double kayak in the ocean. I was told I would be paired with one of the young guides and I was oh so happy!

There were several groups kayaking into Laguna Grande the bioluminescent bay of Fajardo. I was paired with the leader of our group who entertained me with a Spanish lesson and some Puerto Rican slang thrown in. I got a little spooked when we were the first going through the channel that was completely covered with a mangrove canopy. When we arrived at the bay I was completely speechless.

That night, it was clear, quiet, and there was a full moon. Once all the kayaks arrived we were shown the special feature of the bay.

The bio-luminescent microscopic algae lit up the water as my hands dipped quickly into the water. I was surprised when one of the guides tapped the kayak and shrimp lit up. The dinoflagellates convert chemical energy into light and emit tiny blue flashes when the water is disturbed.

Sadly, I don’t have any photos from my excursion because I did not have the proper water housing for underwater photography. Photos that people did capture at bio luminescent bay can be seen here.

On Friday, my friend Sally met me at Fort San Felipe del Morro. I showed Sally some tips on photography while we walked around the fort and enjoyed the sun.

The great thing about making friends along the way when traveling on your own: great company and photos of you on your trip!

Sally and I grabbed some local food at a restaurant nearby. Mashed plantains are the best!

The Cathedral de San Juan was a beautiful location to have the ceremony.

They made great use of the brightly painted buildings. Terra was a beautiful bride.

The reception was held at Hotel El Covento. The entrance into the reception was decorated very elegantly. Terra had the cutest table place cards: suckers that were shaped like X’s and O’s.

I think it greatly benefited Terra that she is a wedding photographer. The decorations and details were magical. Walking into the reception was quite the experience.

It was one of the lightest, fluffiest cakes. I went back for seconds, not caring if anyone noticed. I doubt this is shocking to Terra.

The night blew by so quickly with the wonderful food, music, and dancing. Terra’s day was perfect!

Only having a short time left, I opted to go to a nearby beach. I hadn’t planned on going to the beach so I was in shorts instead of a swimsuit. That didn’t stop me for looking for sea glass in water up to my waist! Check out flickr for more photos.

After Dark: Alice in Wonderland

2011-02-12T23:59:00.000-08:00

The Exploratorium is a really fun museum geared towards learning how things function from a scientific perspective. After Dark is an adult event held after hours on the first Thursday of each month. February's theme was Surreal.

The Alice in Wonderland Tea Party was first come first serve so we staked out our territory for the 9pm tea party. Jessica quickly made friends and snagged a mask at the beginning of the night.

The actors and actresses were in character the entire night. As soon as we were seated and had our tea poured, we were instructed to crawl under the table and switch seats with the person sitting directly across from us. A lion was walked on top of the table and passed out roses. I happily accepted a bunch of tiny red roses in exchanged for passage.

Tea was poured on the table, candles were swapped out for highlighters, and teacups found their way onto the candles. The Queen of Hearts ran around screeching at the top of her lungs "off with her head."

My favorite part of the evening was when Jessica declared that she wanted the crown the lion was carrying in his mouth. He was being chased around by a man in all white, wearing a unicorn horn. While the lion was cornered by the unicorn, I ran up and stole the crown out of his mouth. We ran away and got chased around before I finally handed the crown over to Jessica.

We played with our silhouettes on a glass lit screen. I ate my red rose as if it were a ball of fire.

I can't remember how the beetles fit into the surreal theme but Jessica really wanted to touch them-but only if I did. She realized that wasn't happening so she went ahead and held the little sucker anyway.

We can't wait to go back and see the shenanigans planned for March!

Photo Scavenger Hunt

2011-02-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

I had a wild weekend in San Francisco with some wonderfully fun people. We met at Buena Vista Park to begin Kristi's birthday festivities. We were surprised with a beautiful bag of goodies: sidewalk chalk, plastic tools for props, silly string, bags of candy, a dunny for a mascot, a pinwheel, play-dough, a disposable camera and a list of things that we needed to find and photograph for our scavenger hunt through the Haight.

There were four groups with 3-4 people in each group. Here is Marissa posing in front of a mural that is purple (two challenges in one photo).

We had to meet a new friend, find out their name, birthday, occupation, and then get a photo of them with our mascot. We decided to jump in the photo just for fun. I loved how Finn's mom was dressed for her first visit to Haight Street! Jenna was so hungry that she kept on eating during the photo.

We were challenged to find a sign and act it out. Jenna is trying to "rent" Marissa for a little companionship.

There were two different challenges involving silly string. One was have a silly string fight. The other was chase another team and photograph the silly string chase. Kristi got caught in the crossfire.

I gravitate toward any location that has a photo booth. I was ecstatic when Jenna & Marissa told me they had found one in Wasteland, a second hand clothing store. We spent far too much of our scavenger hunt time in the booth but it was totally worth it. We have 6 strips to scan and share later on!

The girls used pink play-dough and fashioned mustaches for one of the photos. This is my favorite from the day:

Haight is a playground for tourists, locals, and people just looking for a good time. We had so much fun with the interactive signs.

We started to get concerned when we hadn't found a super hero towards the end of the hunt. In a desperate act, I asked an unsuspecting person to throw a blanket around himself to fashion a cape. It did not take much persuasion from his friends to get him to take off his shirt and show a little super hero muscle for the photo.

Each group left love notes on random cars. It was really funny when we walked by the car at the end of the hunt and saw the note still there.

We had so much fun writing with sidewalk chalk. Here is Kristi taking a photo of all the things her friends love about her:

A beautiful mural backdrop for two girls about to take flight:

We went to Mel's diner for dinner. Kristi opened a bunch of collectible toys that the group purchased from her favorite store, Kid Robot. The staff at Mel's was so sweet. They brought her a slice of chocolate cake and a Mel's t-shirt.

It was a wonderful way to celebrate Kristi's birthday. We had so much fun getting creative with the challenges. I am very inspired and am sure I will be doing something similar for my next birthday. To see more photos we took with my digital camera, check out my flickr set for the day. Click here to see the photos we took with the disposable camera for the photo scavenger hunt. They are definitely worth a look!

San Francisco Vintage Paper Fair

2011-01-23T22:08:00.000-08:00

Kelly & I both enjoy scrapbooking and paper, so we went to the San Francisco Fair Grounds to check out the Vintage Paper Fair on a Sunday afternoon.

We spent hours looking through all kinds of sheet music, playing cards, postcards, and checks. It was really fun to see vintage bottle caps, marbles, and other collectibles too.

Postcards were organized by category and location. I was amused that one of the booths had drawings on the dividers. The "Indian" divider had a drawing of an arrow. It makes perfect sense that the "gun" divider had a drawing that looked like a hair dryer.

The paper fair attracted a wide variety of people. It was fun to see all the different booths and the collectors that ran them.

We had a great time looking through old ephemera and I look forward to May when the paper fair returns to San Francisco.

Eureka!

2011-01-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

I love gelato.

I took up making gelato because I couldn't find Riso or Rice pudding flavor anywhere in California. Rick Steves suggested going to Vivoli gelateria in Firenze (Florence, Italy) to taste Riso gelato. Ever since I tried that free sample I've had Riso on the mind. Searching high and low for the past two yeas has been an experience.

Tonight while out with my friends I had that wonderful Eureka moment in a cute place called Holy Gelato ! It is an eclectic place that offers a very wide variety of merchandise. From humorous cards, lunch pails, and ceramic mugs to relaxing teas, jewelry, free trade clothing and deliciously odd flavors of gelato-this is definitely my new favorite place!

The staff is knowledgeable, extremely friendly and doesn't scrimp on the servings. The employee explained that the Jerry Rice pudding is a seasonal flavor that they offer only during winter. I was thrilled we had a craving for gelato during this cold spell.

Kudos to the gelato shop for having non dairy gelato! Doesn't it look delish?

After sampling the goat cheese flavor, I chose Charlie Brown's Nightmare and Jerry Rice Pudding. I couldn't help buying myself a pint of the Riso gelato to go. I had a fabulous night and look forward to going back to 9th Avenue in San Francisco to try more flavors.

Broad Street Firehouse

2011-01-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

This holiday season my family and I had the pleasure of visiting the Broad Street Firehouse in San Francisco. My grandfather, Charles MacCarthy, served as a firefighter at the firehouse. My Mom found out that the house was being sold and contacted the friendly owners. Marilyn & Robert purchased the firehouse once a new firehouse was built a block away. They have lived happily in the firehouse for over 33 years! You can read more about the history here.

Mom & Jenna in front of Engine #33:

Marilyn & Robert have made a lifestyle with their 1950's Mack firetruck. They offer tours through San Francisco: for information, check out their website.

The firehouse is decorated with all kinds of fire paraphernalia. This is a view on the way to the Captain's quarters. Check out the stained glass hanging in the window-Mom bought it!

Marilyn & Robert dress in themed attire for the San Francisco tour. We were so lucky to catch them right after they returned from their day. The wall behind them is dedicated to artwork of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is my favorite photo from the night! Jenna found out that Marilyn was a childhood actress and tap dancer. We loved the dance studio she set up in their bedroom on the second floor of the firehouse.

They were preparing for an estate sale and we had so much fun looking through their extensive collections. We had fun looking at all of her photos in her scrap album.

The kitchen was Jenna's favorite part of the firehouse. It had a home like feeling. As expected, it was firefighter themed. Of course, they have a candy drawer for the kids that visit!

Just when I thought the tour of the firehouse was over, Marilyn & Robert took us down to the basement. How cool is the chalkboard on the broiler?

Overall it was a wonderful family outing and the experience made me feel closer to my grandfather. And to top it off, we have two new friends that we'll remember for a life time. If you would like to see more photos, check out my flickr set.

New Years Tradition

2011-01-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

Spending New Years Day at the beach has become a tradition for my mom and I. The rolling waves, colorful rocks and white sand were picturesque today. We met a friend at Moss Beach and spent a few hours taking photos while searching for glass. It was an overcast day with an occasional misting.

Low tide always makes for an exciting experience.

This part of the beach reminds me of Devil's Golf Course at Death Valley: looking south towards Mavericks.

The water was a beautiful color today and it was fun being a professional beach bum. The best way to start out a new decade!

In 2009, I chose the word simplify as my One Little Word. Instead of trying to keep up with a new years resolution I found myself reciting this word and trying to keep it alive through out the whole year. I took a year off but I am ready to play again. I chose a word that I find myself saying frequently.

My word for 2011 is balance.

I struggle with balancing my hectic schedule. My work life, family life, friends, and personal time. I want to find a happy balance and maintain it in a healthy manner. Since I started dancing recently I have noticed that my balance is not as strong as it can be. I want to improve that too. If you would like to learn more about One Little Word, take a look at Ali Edward's blog. She's always an inspiration!

I hope that I can balance my time and blog more frequently. I really enjoy this space as a place to share my photos, creativity and document what is happening right now. Here's to 2011!

Photo Final

2010-12-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

I went shooting in San Francisco after the Thanksgiving holiday with my mom. I shot a whole roll of 35mm Illford XP2 in the same lighting. What a difference that makes when it comes to printing (or editing) batches of photos. Considering how I usually shoot, I will have roughly 2-3 different types of lighting on one roll of film. Printing went by so quickly that I was able to get 3 decent prints in one night. Typically that would take me 2 nights of classes to accomplish. At the final I got some wonderful compliments. My classmate Doug said my printing had improved noticeably!

This semester I got wonderful feedback from my classmates and professor so I wasn't as nervous. My final was this past Wednesday and things went well. Check out my flickr to see more.

The Darkroom

2010-10-20T22:55:00.000-07:00

Taking a semester off from Black & White photography was a difficult thing for me this past spring. Color Photography caught my interest again and so I shot loads of color film. I enjoy color but I find that it distracts your eyes from the lighting. The best kind of photo remains strong, even when you de-saturate the color from it.

Being back in the dark room printing in black & white made me realize that is my happy spot. I enjoy the smell of fixer, the sound of the water, the low light, and watching a photo develop right in front of my eyes. It slows the photographer down. Especially when you spend 8 minutes fixing a photo so it will last a hundred years.

We had our midterm tonight. I spent the past several Wednesday's preparing to show some of my strongest pieces. I will admit, I always get nervous when it comes time to put my work out there for critique. My classmates have a potluck and that makes it easier. Tonight was a wonderful class for me and I'm very happy with my final prints. Hope you enjoy!

Right Now

2010-10-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

10 Things I like right now...

1. Lemonade with mint leaves
2. Gelato
3. Driving with my windows down
4. Dresses
5. Reading before bed
6. Blasting music during my commute
7. Watching Arrested Development
8. Running on the beach
9. Dreaming about where to travel next
10. Stretching

What are you into right now?

Go Giants!

2010-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Giants made it to the play offs and I was lucky enough to go to the first game with some friends. We took the train into San Francisco, grabbed some snacks, and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Here is the view from the pier behind the ballpark:

Can you believe how amazing the seats were? We had first row seats. I haven't sat in the bleachers in a long time and the atmosphere was incredibly energetic! We talked to so many people and gave out high fives to everyone. It was the best game I have EVER gone to.

I love this photo of the four of us. The usher and people in our section were very friendly and took lots of photos for me.

The characters sitting in our section photo bombed us a couple of times. :) I laughed so hard at some of the surprise memories captured.

We saw several people we knew at the game and had a few visitors since our seats were so great. The best part was that our team won! After that we headed to Tres Agaves to celebrate with a bunch of fans. We made a lot of friends, including on the train ride home. What a night!

26 Things

2010-10-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Before 27...

Here is my list of things that I'd like to do or try before I hit 27!

1. Make home made gelato
2. Learn Spanish
3. Sew something
4. Finish a mini album
5. Take self portraits
6. Bake more
7. Exercise
8. Pay off my car
9. Take a road trip
10. Visit Michelle in Canada :D
11. Go on a tour of Alcatraz
12. Find a different photo booth location
13. Enter in a photo contest
14. Get photo website together
15. Eat healthier
16. Spend lots of time on the beach
17. Sleep
18. Read my library books
19. Get a massage (maybe several)
20. See the Pixar Art show in Oakland
21. Save for my dream camera (currently Nikon D700)
22. Make a new friend
23. Visit the De Young Museum
24. Avoid buying any external/internal hard drives
25. Go on an adventure
26. Be more spontaneous

Tunes Tuesday

2010-10-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

Music has always been a big part of my life and I've been collecting it more now than ever. This song by Far East Movement has been stuck in my head for at LEAST two weeks. The lyrics are silly and the video is entertaining.

I am thrilled that Invented by Jimmy Eat World is finally out! They released their newest album last week and shared the whole album on their website before hand. I adore their single, My Best Theory, but my favorite is Movielike (probably because I like to make movies?). The whole album is filled with great songs and can be played all the way through. Check it out!

I've been listening to Sean Paul's Imperial Blaze & The Trinity while running on the beach. Sean Paul's music is perfect motivation for exercise. I especially enjoy looking up the lyrics since his Jamaican accent is hard to decipher. My two favorite songs are Evening Ride and So Fine.

I have love the exposure of the free single of the week that iTunes offers. Here are a few songs/artists that are musts for me: I Am Not a Robot by Mariana & the Diamonds, American Slang by The Gaslight Anthem, 1977 by Ana Tijoux, and Bien o Mal by Juliete Venegas. I am enjoying a lot of Latin music lately. Check out the Bien o Mal music video, but be warned that its a weird one...

If you have a minute, check out this video. Watch it a few times and it will get funnier. Jenna is convinced that Darwin Deez is her soul mate. What music are you listening to right now?

21+5

2010-09-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I celebrated my 26th birthday. I am so very privileged that it was my first birthday that I had to work. And even more privileged that I have amazing co-workers who went to lunch with me and surprised me with ice cream cup cakes and a hand made card in the afternoon.

Its crazy how much facebook has changed things in the past couple of years. My inbox exploded with birthday wishes and I had a lot of laughs over the unique and silly ways that people express themselves. I think my favorites were "Happy Michelle Day," and "HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (insert Gus Gus voice from Cinderella please.)"

My family and I went to High Tide restaurant (owned by the same family who owns The Crepevine) in Pacifica and then we had a few people over for dessert. It was a great day and a wonderful way to end the night.

Mileage Check

2010-08-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

I'll be celebrating 26 years in less than a month. I'll be the first to admit that I had forgotten about the list. Let's take a look to see what I still have to do!

25 Things Before 26

1. Travel yep!
2. brush up on my Spanish
3. design something cool yep!
4. learn to cook one meal
5. wear my glasses more yep!
6. continue to do less yep!
7. exercise heck yeah!
8. take a bookbinding class
9. save money yep!
10. take more pictures yep!
11. use my large format camera
12. finish sewing my portfolio
13. make glass beads
14. do more night photography yep!
15. sew something pretty
16. enter in a photo contest
17. simplify yep!
18. read yep!
19. give up soda sorta (cut back drastically)
20. go to the beach more often heck yeah!
21. get a website up with my portfolio
22. find a great gelataria on the peninsula yep!
23. be more carefree heck yeah!
24. eat lots of fruit yep!
25. buy a used car yep!

I still have about 35% of my list to blow through in the next 2.5 weeks. I think I can do it! Mostly ;) Have a great night.

Senator Barbara Boxer visits SolarCity!

2010-07-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

Monday was a very exciting day for us at SolarCity. Senator Barbara Boxer visited our Foster City warehouse. I was asked to help take photos and I was thrilled! Here is a photo before the Senator arrived:

There was a demonstration of an installation of a photovoltaic panel:

Senator Boxer spoke about energy efficiency in California and growing job opportunities that clean energy companies have created (SolarCity included).

I was really excited for my co-workers/friends got to share the stage with her. There was a lot of energy in the warehouse!

The best part was getting a group photo after the campaign speech. This was the main photo that was requested and I got it! I had so much fun taking photos at work.

Check out a brief article here.

Computer problems

2010-06-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

I'm still here but I'm battling a dying graphics card. I will be back to my regular blogging schedule once I have the computer problems worked out. Hope you are enjoying this beautiful month of June!

Weekend recap

2010-05-25T07:39:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was pretty spontaneous. Here's what I did:

Grabbed cupcakes from Safeway for a quick surprise birthday celebration.
Hung out with co-workers/new friends.
Got my credit approved.
Bought a car.

Learned some funny things that my cousin and I have in common.
Went to a bar in Alameda
Had the most impromptu photo booth fun.

Took photos in a bathroom that had colorful graffiti.

Enjoyed burgers at Jeffrey's diner for lunch.

Met Eric in Palo Alto for dinner.

I have come out from under my research rock now that I have purchased my car. YAY! Hope your weekend was wonderful!

Sarah & Dave at The Carneros Inn

2010-05-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Shooting at The Carneros Inn in Napa was such a treat. Working with Sarah & Dave was so special. I am always touched when people welcome me into their special day. I was Terra Tabbytosavit's second shooter and learned a lot from this talented photographer!

I spent the afternoon photographing the groomsmen as they prepared for the wedding. Here is a photo of the groom Dave, with his future nephew:

Putting on the cuff links:

Grandma and all her adorable grandchildren.

A special moment between group photos:

The bride & groom before the ceremony:

I'm excited to be shooting another wedding with Terra today. :D

Week in the Life: Saturday & Sunday

2010-05-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

I've been a busy bee and want to share the last of my photos from the last two days of my Week in the Life project.

Saturday morning started out with pancakes.

I ran some errands, returning a shirt to the mall. Dan & I met Jarid & Kristi at BART. As we were taking MUNI downtown, we saw a guy shoe shining with hand sanitizer!

We played tourist at Pier 39. Our favorite store is The Candy Baron. Gotta have our salt water taffy visit. I spied some cute seagull poop for sale. ;)

We let Jarid go wild and he was so fun to watch.

Musee Mechanique is now added to our stop whenever we are remotely close to it. I adore that place!

I spent my time sitting in this booth with a different combination of friends. The most we fit in there was 3 people. Next time my goal is to get a 4th in! Photo by Dan Corcoran.

Here are my photo booth strips from the day:

While strolling through Fisherman's Wharf we passed the break dancers (with the commentator), the silver/gold guys, and the bushman. The bushman is always a crowd favorite. He started out hanging out in a trashcan with a branch and grew to multiple branches in front of a trash can. The bushman is very obvious because there are large groups of people hanging around bursting into laughter every few minutes when he jumps out and frightens an unsuspecting stranger. And even better, he got Kristi! It was oh-so funny when she screamed!

One guy trying to exit the BART stall was so high, he kept trying to exit from the entrance stall. When he finally got through we were asked by a very drunk woman where the bus was that could take her to the next BART stop. Now that was a circular conversation!

I had a lazy rest of Saturday evening watching tv at Dan's house.

Sunday I started my day early at work. It was so warm outside I decided to wash my car on my lunch break. I'm not sure why I always get my car washed when its so hot outside. Those things can get quite uncomfortable.

The red spin wipers have always caught my interest.

Stopping at Trader Joe's has become a recent habit of mine. I enjoy their pesto pasta salad very much! I try to run errands on my break so I tend to eat at my desk if its quiet.

I had a productive afternoon making listing packets. I just love the space behind my desk. It's great for spreading out all my scrapbook stuff too. ;)

These colorful stickers make my life so much easier. Gotta love them!

I spent the evening doing laundry and relaxing. I didn't take any photos of that since I was completely exhausted from all the photo taking this week.

Week in the Life: Thursday & Friday

2010-04-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Thursday I woke, laid out my clothes for the day on my bed and then headed for the shower. Ever since Jessica introduced me to this cami, I've been wearing them under everything.

Crystal Springs Reservoir is one of the prettiest commutes a person could have! There is a scene in The Wedding Planner where they drive by this beautiful landscape.

Thursday I spent my lunch with my new co-worker, returning something at Target and then buying a few more pairs of nylons. I think going to Target more than once a week is just a very bad habit! Morgan bought a plant for Christine & Kari. He told me that he wanted to buy one for me but they didn't have any guliable plants at Home Depot. :D

I came home to find the porch painted a happy yellow. It's taken a few days to get used to but I really like the color and the beautiful glass all over too.

I spent a few minutes at home checking e-mail and changing. Then I met up with some friends at Lina Mar beach. We were going to grab some Taco Bell, but ended up having an impromptu photo shoot first. Thanks to Dan, this moment was captured:

I wish I had used fill flash on this shot. It is one of my faves from the beach that night.

This is my absolute favorite!!! Kristi & I goofing off for Dan and the camera.

Jenna joined us at Taco Bell and told us silly stories. Then we met up with some more friends at the local bowling alley. Apparently its super cheap after 9pm on Thursday!

Trying to get a little artsy with the colorful bowling balls and point of view. It's so funny, I really can't handle anything heavier than an 8 lb ball.

Jason managed to spell Kristi's name with a y and he ran out of space so my name read "Michell." I had so much fun. I even got two spares! I beat my usual score of 70 with an 89.

It was hard to leave, but I had to go to work Friday, so we said our goodbyes.

Friday morning was consumed with getting up early to start moving my small department to our new building. It didn't take me long to pack since I've only been there two weeks. I was very excited to have regularly sized desk. Don't you love all of the plants on top of our fancy cubicles? I'll have to snap a photo of my desk on Monday, since this is my view sitting at my desk.

A bunch of my coworkersand I piled into the car to go to lunch together. I love that Christine got stuck in the middle of the backseat. They are always talking about how small she is!

Its was Rico's (the temp) last day, so 9 or 10 of us hung out at the local Chipotle. I like the design of the water cups at Chipotle and how they say "H20 agua." I got a burrito in a bowl and asked for the tortilla on the side. :) Juice Squeeze is my replacement to soda these days. My favorite is Key Lime but my Trader Joe's doesn't carry that flavor.

The afternoon was rather hectic at work. I had a meeting that went long and then I ran around getting things processed before everyone left for their weekend. I met up with a few people from work at El Torrito for Happy Hour. We sat outside, which was nice until the sun went down and the wind picked up. The strawberry margarita I ordered was just a little too cold for that. It was nice meeting more people outside of my department and getting to know others better.

I drove home after the normal commute hour, which made the drive so very serene. This is my current favorite shirt!

I spent the rest of Friday night looking through photos from this week. After some editing, I joined Dan and played with Luigi for a bit. I watched a dark comedy, Away We Go. I was curious about it because John Krasinski from The Office is in it and the DVD artwork caught my eye. It's quite random and very quirky. I found myself laughing during some very awkward scenes. And I was excited that I recognized some of the soundtrack from Michelle's blog!

Week in the Life: Wednesday

2010-04-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

This week has flown by pretty quickly for me. I've been staying up late to look through my photos. So here goes!

My sweet co-worker Morgan brought in starfruit for lunch yesterday. I've never seen it or tried it before. It made for some great shots but I wasn't as impressed with the flavor. It reminded me a little of tomatoes.

I'm cursed that Target is less than 2 miles from my new job. I've been there 3 times in the past two days. Its way too easy to run errands on my lunch!

I bought dixie cups and kraft ribbon to make myself a telephone. My real phone isn't functioning since we're moving. I decided to take things into my own hands!

I've been accessorizing more lately. I adore these beautiful earrings that my mom gave me a while back.

I wore one of my favorite bracelets too! I love driving home to Pacifica. Its always so pretty and relaxing.

I spent the evening goofing off with Jenna & Eric. Then I went to Dan's house and he made me a delicious omelet. After dinner I ironed some shirts while listening to New Moon on audio book. Then I watched some of Doctor No before heading home and blogging.

Week in the Life: Tuesday

2010-04-21T23:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning I woke early to find that it was raining.

We had an indoor picnic with my coworkers (we moved the makeshift table for the photo). I tried Specialty's for the first time. I'm in love with their Caprese sandwich!

Drove home in the rain:

And then Dan picked me up from my house for a date!

He took me to a restaurant (new to us) that he found on Clement Street called Giorgio's.

I fell in love with the atmosphere immediately. I loved the ceiling and had such fun looking at the Italian Pizza knick knacks. I enjoyed their delicious pesto pasta and we'll definitely be going back there again!

Week in the Life: Monday

2010-04-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

I'm joining Ali Edwards and trying to follow along with her project Week in the Life. I did my best to photograph today but I managed to forget my camera during lunch. A bunch of us ate outside at the lunch table and enjoyed the sun. I also picked up some prints at Costco for tonight's photo critique.

I'm in my second week at my new position and have spent quite a bit of time getting trained by Christine. I love my view of the orange files and her cute shoes each day!

I snapped a photo of myself on the way to class tonight. I make good use of waiting at stop lights. ;) I'm also thinking its time for a hair cut.

We have new & colorful signs in the parking lot that are clearly marked! Sometimes its the small things in life that make us happy.

There was a photo critique tonight in my Color Photography class. I'm an advanced student so I am able to pick the projects I want to work on. I really love my classmates and their honest opinions.

I got some great feedback on ways to narrow down my photos and on choosing the strongest photos possible. I am very inspired and can't wait to set up some new photo sessions. I am also excited for my new friend Patty. She wants to get into photographing models and I've offered to model for her first shoot. Just to help her get comfortable with directing.

This one is just for fun before bed! Photo by Bev Jacquemet.

Going Green

2010-04-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

I've gone green. I started working for SolarCity on Monday, and I'm excited to be learning about making decisions to make our environment a better place. Or as some might say, I'm becoming a hippie. ;) Sorry for the lack of photos right now. Internet has been really touchy tonight. I'll be back later in the week.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

Hope you are having a great time if you are celebrating Easter. I'm enjoying my chocolate bunny while I share some eggs that we dyed yesterday. I have so much fun playing with Hambly silk screen rub ons. We used the mustaches & frames this time. Don't you just love super vibrant colored eggs?

I'll leave you with these cute cupcakes that were at the party yesterday. Hoppy Easter!

Everything Scrapp'n

2010-03-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hey! I have a few creations to share that I made using product that you can find at Everything Scrapp'n. Heather had an incredible sale at the end of January and I went a little crazy over Cosmo Cricket's line The Boyfriend.

We celebrated a co-worker's birthday on Thursday and I found the cute camera journal block very fitting since we're all photographers at my company. Here is a fun card I made for the occasion:
Products used: Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend Drivers Ed pp, Tube Socks pp, Homework pp, Ready-Set-Chip chipboard, Elements journaling block pp, Jenni Bowlin Reverse black alpha stickers, TwoGirlzStuff Licorice scallop label, & Staz On Ink-Timber brown.

The chipboard shapes create great depth and are fun to layer.Last year I spent a lot of time at the beach. I plan to again but I want to remember my experiences at each beach. Dan, Lisa, Sarah, and I met up at Ocean Beach in San Francisco to search for sea treasures. It was lightly raining but that didn't stop us. We had a great time hanging out and we even saw full sand dollars!
Products used: Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend Study Hall pp, Tube Socks pp, Art Appreciation pp, Ready-Set-Chip chipboard, Elements journaling block pp, stickers, Studio Calico diecut stickers, American Crafts fabric thickers Dolce-white, Doodlebug Designs loopy lou alpha stickers- Lily white, CatslifePress date stamp, & Staz On Ink-Timber brown.

The elements journaling sheet is great to layer. Not only do I use them for journaling, I double them up as sub titles and embellishments as well!
Teresa has a great challenge for the month of March. Please check out the details here. I had fun with my layout loosely based on the March challenge.

Hope you have a relaxing Sunday! Please check out the rest of the DT's work too. Ilene is the next stop. :D

The Catwalk!

2010-03-24T08:10:00.001-07:00

Amy Tangerine totally made my day this morning by picking my scrapbook pages for the catwalk over at SIStv! Congrats to Melissa and her super cute layout for making it with me. Weeeeeee! Off to work. :)

Spring is here!

2010-03-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy that this past week we had glorious weather. I've been able to bring out my tank tops and enjoy the sun during my lunch breaks. I love seeing all of the blossoms on the trees on my walk.
My friends know that I don't go shopping for clothing very often. I asked for a gift card to Express for Christmas so I could find some cute, well fitting jeans. And I did just that!
I fell in love with them so much that I got a second pair. Great jeans are so hard to find. I went a little wild at our local H&M store in San Francisco and bought several dress shirts, a cute jacket, dress, and two pencil skirts. I can't find pictures of them from their website so I'll just have to snap a few photos when I'm wearing them. ;)

Right now I want to:

Scrapbook like a whirlwind. Catch up on my unfinished mini albums. Finish reading two books I'm 1/2 through. Spring clean. Collect my favorite photos for a portfolio review. Post them to flickr and facebook. Take lots of photos with a few different cameras. Film & Digital. Find a car. Blog more. Go for a run daily. Back up all my data. Go to the beach. List inspired by Michelle Clement.

Chosen!

2010-03-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

We got the phone call this evening that the Pacifica Garden Club has selected our garden to be in their annual Pacifica Garden Club Tour that is held in May! Our whole family is very excited. Congrats to my Mom, the proud gardener!The potting shed where all the magic happens:
I will share my documentation through out this coming spring. Photos shown above were taken last May.

Everything Scrapp'n March Blog Hop!

2010-03-13T23:24:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to share that we have Ilene as a Guest DT this month, so please welcome her! If you are coming here by way of Jana, then you are almost done! If not, please start the hop at Everything Scrappn's blog. If you leave a comment with each member, you will be entered in a chance to win a surprise pick of 3 stickles! I can't get enough of those. :)
I have been over winter and this cold weather for at least a month now. I'd much rather fast forward to spring/summer so I thought why not scrap with brighter colors? I love the brights in Prima's Tropics line. I enjoy matching my photos to paper so I couldn't help using these photos from Amy's Social Squitten (get together she organizes) from last March. Don't you just love her colorful shirt?Products used: Prima Tropics Turtle Dove pp, Rainy Breeze/Mango Cherries pp, Miss Macaw/Sweet Apple pp, Hambly ATC patchwork limited edition-Lagoon Blue metallic pp, Doodlebug Designs Beetle Black loopy Lou alphas, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Patchwork-ladybug, Maya Road Sheers calendar, American Crafts Flair-Craft Fair DIY, Zva Long flourish rhinestone 2-black, Elle's Studio Chic note tag-brights, Sassafrass Serendipity Happy Place sweet treats sticker, acrylic paint, Staz On Ink-Jet black & Making Memories Distressor.

I enjoy using these Hambly ATC sheets all the time because you get so much use out of them. I have made ATC's with them but they are also great for small journaling tags, embellishments and all sorts of other cool things!
I made this birthday card for someone special celebrating her birthday on Monday. I really like how these thickers are nice and small. They fit perfectly on the card!Products used: Prima Tropics Tree Frog/Waterfall pp, Miss Macaw/Sweet Apple pp, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Delight-black, Sassafrass Serendipity Happy Place sweet treats sticker, Staz On Ink-Jet black, Fiskars Apron lace border punch & black pen.

Prima's line caught my eye because of the gorgeous colors. I got a lot of mileage out of their Miss Macaw/Sweet Apple strip paper and I think that is really important these days. Use up as much of the paper as you can!
Well thanks for stopping by. Please continue on to Suz's blog to complete the blog hop. She'll have her creations up this coming Tuesday since she's dealing with a new home. :) I have lots of photos to edit and share very very soon! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Tv, Movies, & Music

2010-03-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

I spent last weekend blowing through three seasons of The Office while I got over a quick cold. It was fun and I'm now a big fan of the series! I'm on season 6 and just adore the characters. I find myself giggling as I try to fall asleep because of something Dwight did that is just so funny! And to top it off, the actors & actresses in the show also write & direct for it.
I've watched two movies that were filmed in Las Vegas recently. I laughed so hard while watching The Hangover. I am glad I gave it a chance, it was so worth it! Even better, Ed Helms is in it! My Netflix account thought I should watch another Vegas movie. It suggested What Happens In Vegas, and I decided to check it out. Its a cute but silly movie.

I've been listening to a lot of One Republic lately. I love the third song on Waking Up, Secrets. I think the cello is what makes it great. Check out their CD if you haven't!
I'm really loving the free singles of the week from iTunes lately. I'm listening to Shark in the Water by V.V. Brown as I type this up. I like her energy and the beat. Lisa has got me hooked on and the Beach HouseVitamin String Quartet.

Disneyland!

2010-02-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Where have I been this past week? I've been spending my evenings watching the Olympics instead of editing photos. I've found myself baking cupcakes, making Jello, and pancakes in the kitchen lately too. Weird things are going on! ;)

I'm ready to share my trip to Disneyland from 4 weeks ago. And boy did I have fun!

I got the sweetest call from Nathalie when I arrived in Anaheim. We had plans to get a drink but we were both totally starving. We walked to Downtown Disney and had dinner in a fun restaurant, Ralph Brannan's Jazz Kitchen. I laughed so hard and really enjoyed her company. I was completely surprised that she wasn't falling asleep at the table with jet lag. We did take a few photos while walking to and from dinner. To learn how to take night photos, check out my post here.
Saturday night, after Dan & Zena arrived, we headed out to Downtown Disney. This is definitely a great place that is within walking distance to find night life and a decent meal. I think Zena was most impressed with the Lego Store and its crazy cool designs.

One of the girls at the convention told me to check out the Storyteller's Cafe, so that's just what we did! It was really cute and we got some tasty drinks. Zena got a changing LED acrylic ice cube in her drink and she was thrilled!

I loved the silhouettes all over the place and couldn't help but think of how much my mom would love all of the copper!
I took lots more photos of the lit up trees on our way back to the hotel. I love this one because of the shadows on the sidewalk.
We woke up pretty early on Sunday morning due to Disneyland excitement. Zena hadn't been since 1971-ish. We scarfed down some mediocre hotel breakfast before walking around the corner and down the street to the happiest place on earth!

We started out in Tommorrowland to grab fast passes at Space Mountain, then head over to Star Tours. I was dying to take Zena on Indiana Jones so we went there next. I love to scream on that ride. Or laugh really hard depending on my mood. :)

For a change in pace, we went on the Jungle Cruise. I love riding it with Jenna because we laugh so hard at the corniest parts ever. We did manage to get one of the really good guy who ad libs and surprised us with some extra fun stuff. Instead of making shooting arrow sounds as we passed by the natives, he made automatic machinery noises! The little things in life make me silliest. Speaking of silly, we loved the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride! It was easy to convince Zena that she had to go on it. Both she and Dan were hooked. It was my goal to get a photo with Pocahontas and I was thrilled to walk right by her in Frontierland. I was definitely the tallest person taking a photo with her. She had a rehearsed monologue about "being honored to take a photograph with a princess with such a beautiful smile." And yes, she posed me for the photo! Photo by Dan Corcoran.
Dan snapped a photo of me in Toon Town. My sister and I have a photo of us doing a similar pose from way back in the day!I could help taking a photo of the sign in front of the camera shop!
Sunday was definitely Disneyland boot camp. I ran us all over the theme park for nearly twelve hours! We stayed for the firework show and enjoyed ice cream too. Isn't Main Street beautiful? Monday night we revisited Downtown Disney and chose to have dinner at the Italian restaurant Naples. I was thoroughly exhausted from CHA that day, so the mood lighting and comfy booth had me oh so close to napping right there in the restaurant. The talented balloon girl kept us entertained while designing (for kids) surfing penguins and monkey's holding onto bananas. My favorite part was my lemoncello martini. Have I mentioned how much I love sugar? YUM!

We hopped on a plane on Tuesday and were back to the San Francisco Bay area. Dan's already asking when we are going again. I certainly wouldn't mind visiting again!

Check my flickr account for more photos from my trip to Disneyland!

Top Ten Favorites: New Releases for Winter CHA

2010-02-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! I worked most of it, but I celebrated all weekend long! I've put together a list of my top ten favorite company releases for Winter CHA. I snatched the photos from the company websites, blogs, or The Scrap Review. What are your favorites?

American Crafts: Dear Lizzy is awesome! Her ribbon is so gorgeous. And of course those thickers too! Nikki Rikki font, and flair are sweet, as well as the Botanique felt flowers are lovely. Lots of people at this booth!
Crate Paper: I like their new stuff and think anyone could make their product look good. Brook, Pink Plum and Bliss all excite me. I think their chipboard accents are fun.
The Girls Paperie (by Advantus) Didn't see in person but these photos look great.
Hambly: I'm digging all their doilies (rub ons, stickers, transparencies, and paper). Cupcakes are hot and the hearts are sweet. I saw some cool stuff done with the peacock feathers.

I haven't heard of Lily Bee even though they've been around for a year. I love the brights in this sneak.
Maya Road: Has tons of cute stuff! Must haves: Kraft tags, envelopes; Mini scalloped triangle chipboard set, ruffled edge trim, medallion flowers, Maya Resist ( great for glimmer mist techniques), canvas banner, wavy layer album, felt badges, banner stamps, and coaster album.
Pebbles: Pleasantly surprised by their new stuff (thanks to American Crafts). Treehouse & Twitterpatted both look super fab! Rub ons and stickers are very cute!
Sassafrass: WOW. Love all the lines! Cherry Delicious is my favorite and then Nerdy Bird next. The border stickers & alphas are great.

I gotta get some Studio Calico Anthology paper too!
Tattered Angels: Chalkboard Glimmer Mist is the new & exciting thing! I can't wait to get my hands on this stuff! Glaze is thicker than Glam. Glam is closer to the consistency of the mist. Heidi's texture stamps look fun. I loved her examples that she did at CHA using the Rockin Renaissance Crepe Ribbon. Their Chip Tiles look like fun as well.

Everything Scrapp'n February Blog hop

2010-02-13T01:36:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast this year is flying by! It's time for our February Blog hop with the Everything Scrapp'n design team. Start here! I used the Pink Paislee Cupid line!

I decided to make Artist Trading Card sized valentine's this year. They really get my mojo following and allow me to experiment before I create a scrapbook page. Products used: Pink Paislee Cupid love potion pp, Cupid Impression Stamps, Cupid Press Ons, My Little Shoebox mini alpha stickers-black, American Crafts Brown embossing powder, Staz On Ink-Jet Black.

Close up of embossing:
I love how cool Hambly rub ons look with glimmer mist!Products used: Pink Paislee Cupid Hearts Bloom pp, Cupid Press Ons, Hambly Elegant label rub ons-white, Cupid Impression Stamps, Cupid brads, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-red passion, Staz On Ink-Jet Black.

I love the layered rub on look:
I recently printed some of my most favorite photos from this year. I think I'll have to scrap more photos from this night since there are so many great ones! I was watching Juno when I was working on this, which is where my title came from. Photos on the left side are taken by Kristi Lewis.Products used: Pink Paislee Cupid love potion pp, Cupid Hearts Bloom pp, Cupid Bullseye pp, Cupid Impression stamps, Cupid Postcards pp, Cupid Borderline Sticker, Expressions Alphabet sticker-chocolate, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Patchwork-ladybug, Hambly lace border rub ons, American Crafts clear embossing powder, Maya Road chipboard mini cupcake, Jenni Bowlin Apothecary stickers-brown, Fiskars Border Apron lace punch, Martha Stewart scallop dot punch, Staz On Ink-timber brown.

I had fun embossing xoxo across the maya road chipboard cupcake. Then I painted over it and when that was dry I added some distress stickles. The bottom part has some glimmer mist on it too!Please head over to Theresa's blog next and don't forgot to leave comments at each for a chance to win a grab bag of 5 yards of ribbon! We're having a great sale this weekend too... February 13th - 15th, Happy Valentine's Day! 45% off your entire order, Code: Valentines

Winter CHA 2010

2010-02-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

I've got photos to share from my time spent at the Craft & Hobby Association Convention! Suzy West of My Little Shoebox was so kind to have me join in the fun. A big thanks to Helen, Suzy, and the talented Design Team!

Day One: The Setup

I was expecting an early morning wake up, followed by lots of hard labor. I was very lucky to start at 10am. With eight women, we were able to set up in just a few hours of work, with lots of goofiness thrown in for good measure. Pattie & I were given curtain duty due to our height. I now boast curtain hanging capabilities in my resume. ;) I have not been to CHA from the Exhibitor side and it was a different experience.

Helen had our lunch brought to us and it was delish! The spread included several types of salads, chicken, beef, and pizza. I assumed we would have to fend for ourselves and consume the grotesque convention food. We were happy to avoid it on Saturday.

The ladies working on the displays:

Pattie Beltrain, Erin Yamabe, and I at the finished booth (Photo by Suzy West):Erin & Helen (owner& designer of MLS) at the end of a very productive day:

We did roam around on our lunch break to see what the other creative companies were doing. It was really different to see everyone setting up before hand.

Once we finished up, I rushed over to the CHA Craft SuperShow. Dan & Zena had arrived at this point so I walked quickly through the 6 rows of products. I did get a few glimpses of the new American Crafts stuff at one booth. I was completely shocked to see they already had it for sale. I picked up my very first Maya Mist-sunflower yellow and my very coveted Fiskars Apron lace border punch. I have been looking for that one for months!

Day Two: CHA!
I met Kelly and some of the talented ladies from Scrap Gal on Monday morning. It was so great to see Chez. Unfortunately, I didn't spent much time hanging out with them. Kelly & I broke off from the group to do the make & take rounds.

Kelly is so awesome, she knew that Hambly's make n take was #1 on my list. Allison had a big group of people around her making beautiful altered bangles. I layered the white & then the turquoise Doily rub ons. To seal it, they supplied Diamond Glaze from Judi Kins. While they were drying, we looked around their beautiful booth.

I'm in love with their new releases and can't wait to get them!
Layouts by Dina Wakley:
Don't you just adore all of the doilies? Some great examples using their product:
One of my highlights of the day was when Rose & the rest of Hambly realized that I almost didn't get to come, they asked why I didn't call them! The Hambly family is the sweetest. I adore the calendar I got:
We waited in line for kits at Teresa Collins & My Little Bicycle as well. After that, we stopped by the myStamp Box booth to visit Nathalie and see the new designs. Photo by Kelly Feldman.Nathalie showing some beautiful artwork she created:
I met the owner Bettina and she has started this sweet idea called The Creative Sisterhood of the Traveling Stamp Box. The idea is to pass along the stamps to another person once you have used them on a project of your own. Nathalie gave me the cute No Place Like Home stamp set for me to pass along. Keep your eyes open for that in the coming month or so!We ran into Suzy as we were walking a round and she told us that we had to check out this new company, Punky Sprouts. Their stuff seems pretty cool. They do mixed albums with acrylic, chipboard, and canvas pages. I hope they do well since its such a fun idea!

One of the lines I was most excited about to see this release was Dear Lizzy that Elizabeth Kartchner designed for American Crafts. Although I don't have a kid, I think this product line can be rocked in many other ways. I was super excited to meet Amy Tan(gerine). Photo by Kelly Feldman.
They even had a pink bike at the booth (propped up against the wall behind them).
I worked at the My Little Shoebox booth in the afternoon with so many great people.We took a lot of photo and had great quick convos between customers. Robyn Weatherspoon is such a ray of sunshine. She made me giggle constantly. Photo by Heather Brown.
I felt like I had known Heather Brown for years after just meeting her for a few hours. She is the sweetest and has the cutest kids to scrapbook! Photo by Robyn Weatherspoon.

And the end of a long, but wonderful day (photo by Norma):

I ran around the last 15 minutes of the show to see Cosmo Cricket, Maya Road, and Tattered Angels. Nathalie told me she would be teaching but I was disappointed to find that she wasn't, that Heidi Swapp was there. I was about to keep looking for Nat when I saw her sitting next to Heidi. I spent my remaining time watching Nathalie demo and have a great understanding of more cool things that you can go with the Glimmer Mist line. I'm super excited about their chalkboard release!

Since I was there with an exhibitor and I was traveling light, I didn't pick up a whole lot of free stuff. Here is a picture of the stuff I did grab while at the show:Kristi has some great photos from when she went to the show on Sunday. Be sure to check out many more details and examples here. I'll be back later this week with my top faves and pictures from Disneyland!

Cherry Pie

2010-01-28T00:52:00.000-08:00

I've returned from Winter 2010 CHA in Anaheim and I have a few new creations to share! This month at Everything Scrapp'n, the design team is working with Nikki Sivils' My Sweet Cherry Pie line. Suz's January challenge is to scrap with the phrase "Show the Love" in mind. You may focus on a relationship you share with some one or their relationship with some one else.

The cherry paper reminded me of my friend Jenny. She is always wearing cherry patterned clothing and I have several photos of her in them. I wanted to document photos I took of her from last January. I'm always goofing off when we have a photo shoot. It makes it easier to get a natural smile out of her. I usually say give me some love or show me some attitude. The crazy things photographers do to get the shot! I used a sketch that Kristi posted (during our first online crop) as a jumping off point.Products used: White cardstock, Nikki Sivils My Sweet Cherry Pie Cherry Luck pp, Cherry Sweet pp, Cherry Tree pp, Cherry Cutie Cut-Ups pp, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Delight-black, Prima Text/Computer pebbles, Jenni Bowlin Pearl flowers-cream cheese, American Crafts Chit Chat accents puffy shape stickers, Hambly Doilies rub on-limited edition red, Hambly Elegant Labels rub on-white, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist-Meadow Green, Making Memories Magnetic Date stamp, Fiskars Border Punch-Apron lace, Staz On-timber brown, gesso.

I have had these cute little text pebbles for a while and waited for just the right project to use them. You will certainly find Jenny & I giggling during our photo shoots. Jenny's birthday is coming up at the end of February so here is a simple card I made with some of the left overs:Products used: White cardstock, Nikki Sivils My Sweet Cherry Pie Cherry Luck pp, Cherry Tree pp, Hambly Doilies rub on-limited edition red, Heidi Swapp Circle bling frame, Fiskars Border Punch-Apron lace, Marvy Uchida circle punch, A Muse Art Stamps Happy Birthday Bold, Staz On-timber brown.

I cut out the strips of paper from the Cherry Overload paper and then used my hole punch to center the cherries & horse shoe. I really like how versatile the paper is. And another fun card:Products used: White cardstock, Nikki Sivils My Sweet Cherry Pie Cherry Luck pp, Cherry Brownie pp, Cherry Cutie Cut-Ups pp, Heidi Swapp Circle bling frame, Marvy Uchida circle punch, Staz On-timber brown.

The rest of the design team has some inspiration for you so please check out their blogs too. Make sure you visit each of them and leave them some love.

Jana
Teresa
Tracy
Suz

The prize is a $20 gift certificate to the store. Enter your layout by loading your creation in the gallery of our online forum and then link it back to the store blog post by 11:59 PM eastern time on Sunday, February 7th

TV, Movies, Music & Haiti

2010-01-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've taken to watching the first season of True Blood (thank you Netflix) and I've found that its not such a great idea to watch it right before bed. I find it pretty graphically intense. Not a relaxing, before bed kind of show. I do love Sookie's character and am super curious about what kind of freak Sam is.
I'm watching Steve Carell's version of The Office from the beginning as well. Too many people quote from it and I've only seen about half a dozen episodes ever. The pilot is really painfully awkward to watch but I've got past it and finished the first season. I love Dwight's character and how often Jim plays pranks on him.
Vampire Diaries returned from its two month Hiatus this Thursday and I must say that it doesn't stay true to the books very much at all. I admit I prefer the TV shows plot so much more.

I've been watching far too many movies. The movie All About Steve is sweet but really not worth your time unless you plan to fold your laundry in front of it. Sandra Bullock's character is pretty entertaining as you watch her grow from a thirty something stuck in the mind of a teenager into a mature thirty something who has a chance at someday acting her age. I adored both Meryl Streep & Amy Adams in Julie & Julia. It was really well done and I loved that Amy Adams' character blogged!

Dan gave me the new Lady Gaga Fame Monster CD for Christmas and I'm just realizing how catchy Bad Romance really is. I've always admired Regina Specktor's catchy tunes but haven't had the pleasure of owning her music. I love her blunt lyrics!I wish I was on a search and rescue team so I could go help in Haiti with the relief efforts. Since I don't do well with bloody people in movies, I'm donating to the Red Cross. If you can cut out something like a few trips to your local Taco Bell and donate $10, please do so!

source

I'm heading out to the airport in just a few hours, so the next update will be about CHA & Anaheim!

Guess Whose Going to CHA?

2010-01-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yep! I am leaving on Friday afternoon for Anaheim! I was so kindly invited to help out with Suzy West's My Little Shoebox and I cannot wait to see the new crafty products & meet up some great people. Can you tell I'm excited to do this?:And while I'm there I plan on doing a lot of this:
Photo by Eva Cosgrove. I love this shot!

Even better, Dan & Zena are flying in on Saturday for some quality time in Disneyland. I hear a bunch of people will be there. So if you are going let me know and let's try to meet up. I'll take lots of photos in hopes for lots of blog updates too.

Hornblower Cruise

2010-01-17T23:35:00.000-08:00

My work celebrated their 2 year anniversary back in May. Things were so hectic with employees on vacation and the overall busy season with our customers that we finally (late November) celebrated with a company wide Hornblower cruise in the San Francisco Bay. The brunch cruise left from Pier 3 at 11:30am.
We found it funny that Dan & Max were so well coordinated.
Brunch was great, but we had most fun goofing off and acting like tourists. I think we looked more like paparazzi than anything else.
Eva kindly took a photo of Dan & I as we passed by the interesting side of Alcatraz. Isn't hard to believe that I've never been to Alcatraz? I think I'll make it happen this coming summer for sure!
Dan was kind enough to capture the crew (minus Josh: traveling through Paris, oh darn) on our best behavior.
We took some goofier shots but I think the above photo looks much more professional. I'm so glad that Lisa organized this special day!

Sketch Challenge!

2010-01-16T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've got a challenge up at the Everything Scrapp'n online crop right now. I hope you can play along. I can be such a slow scrapper and they really allow you to get the mojo flowing. I found this sketch on Page Maps and its by Becky Fleck. I picked this sketch since I love to scrap multiple pictures per page and love to layer.

You have until the end of our crop to post your projects (at Monday 6PM EST) at the forum. The prize is a $5 Gift Certificate to Everything Scrapp'n's online store. Winner will be drawn out of a hat.
Here is my take:
Hope to see you there!

Online Crop 3pm PST!

2010-01-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

The Everything Scrapp'n Online Crop starts today at 3pm and runs through Monday! I won't be there right at the start since I'll be working but you can bet I plan to be there after work and then lots on Saturday & Sunday. I hope you are prepared to get inspired and create a lot of fun projects. For the crop schedule, please look here.

Don't forget to sign up with NING. The crop is going on right here. I'll be posting some projects too. Hope you'll stop in for some games, prizes and fun!

January Everything Scrapp'n Blog Hop

2010-01-13T23:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first Everything Scrapp'n blog hop of 2010! Please stop by each Design team member's blog and leave comments for a chance to win a gift certificate for $15 to the Everything Scrapp'n store.

We are having our first ever online crop this coming weekend. It begins on Friday January 15th and goes all the way through to Monday, January 18th. All you have to do is sign up with Ning and we will challenge you, inspire you, and play along with you all weekend long!

I'm steadily working through my December Daily album and have two more pages to share. I know it's already January, but its better that I work on it in January instead of through June (like last year). I wanted to document some of my favorite holiday songs from this year. Having over 200 songs on my play list, I had to narrow it down to my top 15 most played songs. I did a screen capture of my play list in iTunes and then printed it to size in Photoshop.Products used: Bazzil Kraft cardstock, Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Woodland, Green Doilies, Take Note Journaling Transparencies, American Crafts Fabric Thickers Delight-white, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Peppermint Stick, Staz On Ink-timber brown, and Studio G Clear stamps.

At the end of each semester, instead of having a traditional final, my professor has his students bring photos matted for presentation, along with food to munch on. This year was especially great because of all the cute holiday snacks. Here another page for my December Daily:Products used: Jenni Bowlin Classic Die Cut Label pp-ledger, Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Green Doilies, Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co border sticker, Tim Holtz Grungeboard Elements-plain, Prima Text/Computer pebbles, Pink Paislee Enchanting Sticker book alphas, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Green Meadow, Making Memories Magnetic Stamp date, Clear stamp, and Staz On Ink-timber brown.

Thanks for stopping by. Remember to leave comment before checking out Jana's blog.

Save the Date cards

2010-01-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

I have received a few requests to design some handmade Save the Dates so I made some simple cards. My personal favorite with those cute circles:I love the scalloped edge:
You can never go wrong with Hambly!
Ditto!
I like them even better in the stack.
I've been hearing wonderful things about Avatar. I can't wait to go see it. I'm even more thrilled that Kyle worked on it and has his name in the credits. Congrats Kyle, you've made it!

I'm off to hang out with some friends and catch up.

Postcards from Paris

2010-01-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Hope you had a great time celebrating during the holiday season. These past few weeks flew by faster than the rest of the year for me.

And with that, I have two new pages to share! I blogged over at the Everything Scrapp'n blog too. I decided to look over the past year and document some of the things I did in 2009. The Postcards from Paris line is perfectly feminine. Here is my take on Suz's recent challenge:Products used: Websters Pages Postcards from Paris Romantique Chic pp, La Boutique de Jardin pp, La Jardin Whimsy threads, Hambly Old Lace overlay-brown, Hambly Vintage banner rub on-brown, Hambly Chandelier clear stickers, American Crafts Foam Thickers Daydream-chestnut, On A Whimsy journaling book (page), Jenni Bowlin Apothecary stickers-brown, Staz on Ink-brown, brown embroidery floss, Hero Arts lower case alpha stamps, & Making Memories Passport clear stamps.

The font on these thickers is so fun and youthful. I might just have to buy them in every color. They are definitely a must have!I had plans to make a few birthday cards since I have friends with special days coming up. Suddenly I got really inspired to make a 6x12 and just went with the flow. I scrapped a polaroid taken (by Suzy West) back in April of this year with a bunch of scrapbooking friends.
Products used: Websters Pages Postcards from Paris La Boutique de Jardin pp, Tim Holtz word key, American Crafts Craft fair DIY flair, Hambly DIY rub on-white, Jenni Bowlin Apothecary stickers-brown, Martha Stewart border punch scallop dot & Acrylic paint-white.

I really like the La Boutique de Jardin paper. The Whimsy threads came backed with the same paper so I made use of it as well.
What did you do last year? What are your goals for this new year or new decade? I hope to see you playing along with the DT and this super fun challenge! I'll be back with lots of catch up photos and this week.

50% off Sale!

2009-12-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hope all of you that celebrate had a very Merry Christmas. I enjoyed the holiday but I'm still dealing with this nagging cold. I wanted to let you know that Everything Scrapp'n is having a 1 Day Sale. Everything is 50% off! Just enter the code halfprice at check out.

December Everything Scrapp'n Blog Hop! December Daily: Days Six & Seven

2009-12-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks for playing along in the Everything Scrapp'n December blog hop! This time around, Heather is generously offering up a gift certificate to the ES store. Please start at the store's Blog and leave a comment on each of the blogs. The winner will be picked randomly from one of them.

Here's the line up:
ES Store
Michelle (Me)
Suz
Teresa
Jana

In keeping with working on my December Daily, I worked more with Pink Paislee's Mistletoe line. I just love the vintage vibe and whimsical trees. December 6th I opened the office to find a newly flocked live tree. I was so excited to be greeted by such a wonderful smell.Supplies: Kraft cardstock, Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co. Naughty or Nice pp, Joyeux Noel pp, borderline stickers, press ons, Hambly Stitches rub ons-off white, American Crafts Thickers Lullaby-white, Studio G "Be Merry Be Bright" clear stamp, Scenic Route Days of the Week clear stamp, Making Memories Metallic colored staples, Staz On Ink-jet black.

The Naughty or Nice paper can be found in the store, in the Mistletoe & Co section. I love that the papers are double sided and I found myself using two sheets of each paper for that reason. Its a great value! Monday night my father brought home our Christmas tree. I did take a photo but decided that it would be fun to mix up the book a bit by subbing it for this beautiful patch. I saw Ali use it for Day 11 of her own album and love the texture. I collect patches everywhere I travel so it seems fitting to include a patch this year.Supplies: Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co. Naughty or Nice pp, Joyeux Noel pp, Postcards pp, Impressions stamps, patches, American Crafts Foil Thickers-silver, & EK Success Postage punch.

Three designs comes in the pack and they have a somewhat sticky back. I did add a little adhesive anyway. I really like that they include some french too. :D Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to stop by Suz's blog next. I'll have Days 4 & 5 posted up on Tuesday. 10 more days of shopping!

12/12/09 Help Portrait

2009-12-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

I found out about the Help Portrait concept through David Hobby's Strobist blog. I think the concept is really cool and I hope to organize something local in my hometown next year. I encourage any photographers that have Saturday off to check out your local forum and see how you can assist.

I am trying my best to help out in San Francisco on Saturday but I'm still looking for a fellow photographer to join me because of the safety of the location. Hope you can join in next year if not this year and Happy Thursday!

Italia 2010 Calendar & Contest

2009-12-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

I designed a 2010 calendar of Italy and they are finally here. I've listed it in my etsy store so be sure to get your order in before December 15th for a guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas. These limited editions are not going to last. Check it out at my etsy store.Here is a look at each photo found inside the calendar:

I took the photos are while traveling through Venice (Venezia), Rome (Roma), & Padua (Padova). Locations are listed beneath each photo in Italian. Here are a few examples of the inside of the calendar:

I really enjoy making theses calendars and hope that I can continue. Please let your friends know about my calendars through your twitter, facebook, blogs, and e-mail.

November Daily: Week 5 + December Daily: Days Two & Three

2009-12-07T19:30:00.001-08:00

I have two photos from the last week of November to share tonight.

Sunday, November 29, 2009:
Had a normal day at work followed by a fun evening shopping at Target & Christmas shopping at Best Buy with Dan. I picked up lots of Special K with berries (my favorite cereal) and then we had pizza at home with the family.
Monday, November 30, 2009:
I spent the last day of November getting my December Daily together. I decided not to put any numbers on it before hand because I ended up moving them a lot last season.
And now that I have completed sharing photos from my entire month of November, I have two more pages to share from my December Daily album.

I spent the evening of December 2nd printing in the darkroom at Skyline college. I had so much fun chatting with my classmates and professor. I ran out of paper at one point and borrowed some from Sandy. She gave me a sheet she had already exposed (by mistake) and I exposed my image onto it. It came out really dark and messed up but gave us both a good laugh. I also enjoyed documenting the darkroom and the new campus.

Supplies: Hambly 3/4' Graph overlay- white, Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Evergreen pp, Hambly On Edge Border Christmas stickers, Hambly Elegant label rub ons-white, Elle's Studio Snowflake circle embellishment, Studio G winter clear stamp, Making Memories magnetic date stamp, and Staz On Ink-jet black.

I added the journaling text and number two in photoshop and then printed my photos black & white in Lightroom's print program.

I was completely surprised to walk in the kitchen and see endless glass in Christmas colors all over the back window sill and counter. My mom is working on a project and she's very excited about it. It made me so excited for her. And it has changed drastically since I took this photo. I might have to capture it when its closer to completion. I used a typewriter to journal and I just realized this page is missing the #3!Supplies: Making Memories Mistletoe Snowflake pp, Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses Evergreen pp, Hambly Doilies rub ons-red (mine are limited edition transparencies), TwoGirlzStuff Candy apple long scallop sticker, Maya Road December calendar sheer, Catslife Press merry stamp, Scenic Route Days of the Week clear stamp, Studio G Holiday words clear stamp, Martha Stewart Border punch-scallop dot, Tattered Angels Glimmer mist-marshmallow, & Staz on Ink-jet black & timber brown.

And here is a snapshot of my latest page in my December album:

Tomorrow I'll be posting something that arrived on Saturday that I am very excited to announce.

December Daily: Day One

2009-12-02T17:40:00.001-08:00

I had so much fun making a December Daily album last year that it is a new tradition that I plan to continue. I'm working with an American Crafts red cloth 8x8 album this year. You can see Ali's flickr group here.Supplies: Hambly 3/4' Graph overlay- white, Hambly On Edge Border Christmas stickers on, Hambly Elegant label rub ons-white, American Crafts Mini marks Frost phrases rub ons, American Crafts Thickers Vinyl Vera-white, Scenic Route Days of the week clear stamp, and Staz On Ink-jet black.

Yesterday afternoon Lisa grabbed a bunch of lens boxes and constructed a Christmas tree. I lit it with some funky bright lights (photo taken with a Nikon D300s & Nikon 60mm macro lens) and then printed with my Epson 1800 on matte photo paper. Here its is in the album:

I've decided that in order to keep up with this album (unlike I did last year), I must keep things simple. I'll be sharing each page as I complete it. Thanks for stopping by!

November Daily Photos Week 4

2009-11-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

The last week of November went by the quickest. Here is a quick review of last week in photos:

Sunday, November 22, 2009:
I took the day off for BorrowLenses anniversary celebration. We took a 2 hour horn blower cruise in the San Francisco Bay. We had brunch and got to take lots of pictures while going under the Golden Gate Bridge and going around Alcatraz (closest I have ever been). Photo by Eva:
Monday, November 23, 2009:
After work I met up with Kristi, Jarid, Jason, Crystal, and Dan for dinner at BJ's brewery. First photo is by Dan.Tuesday, November 24, 2009:
I made a birthday card for my boss Max during my lunch break. I love getting crafty at work. I get to create and it relieves stress. A big plus: I talked with Allison Kreft Abad (of Hambly) on the phone too.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009:
I settled in for some more paper crafting when I got home on Wednesday. I started working on gift card holders and catching up on Vampire Diaries.
Thursday, November 26, 2009:
I slept in! I had a chance to begin the third book in the Vampire Diaries series and spend time with Jenna. Then I drove down the coast with my parents to Princeton where Mavericks Surf contest takes place. We scoured the waves for sea glass. I found beautiful shells but not much glass. It was a windy and beautiful day. We went to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner.Friday, November 27, 2009:
I spent most of the day scrapping and blogging. I did take a break in the evening to meet up with Dan's friends that were visiting from southern California. It was my first time to meet Mary & Mike even though they are both from Pacifica. We ate at the Olive garden and then played a very long but fun round of Apples to Apples.
Saturday, November 28, 2009:
It felt like a very weird Sunday. I worked most of the day at the Christmas store. Then I edited photos for a couple of hours. Drove in a car full of family to my Aunt & Uncle's to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. I was really happy to see the other side of my family and it felt like Thanksgiving Part II.
I can't believe its December 1st on Tuesday. I'm trying to finish up my December Daily foundation along with several other holiday projects. Hope you have a great beginning to December!

Gift Card holders

2009-11-28T05:00:00.000-08:00

We are approaching the holidays fast and the Everything Scrapp'n Design Team is sharing some ideas for DIY gift wrap using Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co line. Post a link in a comment on the Everything Scrapp'n blog post by December 6th for a chance to win a prize. I made 4 different types of gift card holders after researching online.

This design is inspired by a gift wallet seen on Martha Stewart's website.
Products used: Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co. Naughty or Nice pp, Postcards pp, borderline stickers, Impressions stamps, & Staz On Ink-jet black.
This was probably the easiest of the gift card holders to make.

Cut two sheets of double sided paper down to 7 3/4" x 3".
Trim one down so it measures 7 1/2"x 2 1/2". That will be the inside pocket.
Round corners of outside wallet & bottom corners of inside pocket.
Fold both in half and then glue around edges of inside pocket. Be sure to leave enough space to you can fit a gift card or some cash.

I have some cute manila mailers that I love the shape of that inspired this guy. I found a template that helped me realize the design here.
Products used: Mistletoe & Co Postcards pp, Press ons, Impressions stamps, Stickles-baby blue, burgundy, & Staz On Ink-jet black.
I used an Artist Trading Card envelope as my template. The printout is not to scale so I did some simple math and then used a ruler to draw out my own template.

Measure out the bottom tab 1" long, the top tab 1 1/4" long, the left tab 2", the right tab 1 1/2" and the length of the body 3 3/4" long and the width of the body 2 1/2".
Cut corners out and round so your template looks like the above.
For a little extra special look, cut a half circle out of the top edge of both left and right tabs when then are folded over properly. The gift card will slide out more easily.
Use your choice of adhesive and go to town.

As I was searching around, I found a really unique kids gift card holder and I loved the rounded edges and shape. Dan helped me adjust it a bit to make it work with the cut punch outs.

I adore these press ons and how well they coordinate with all the papers.
Products used: Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co Santa's Workshop pp, punch outs, Cat'slife press handmade stamp, Staz On Ink-jet black.The template that I linked for this is pretty close to the accurate size. I printed it out, Dan cut it out and I found it was a little short in the width, so the gift card wouldn't fit. When making the template above, I traced the print out and then made it 1/4" wider. This just needs to be played with a bit before you get it looking like the final product.

Pink Paislee's punch outs are great for journaling, embellishments, layering, and many more cool crafty things. I love them and have to get them every time now.
This is my own simple creation. I had some left over scraps and came up with this:Products used: Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co Naughty or Nice pp, Santa's Workshop pp, punch outs, Stickles-burgundy, Mini ric rac-baby blue, Staz On Ink-Jet Black.
The how to is simple.

Cut paper 8 1/4" x 6'.
Fold in half so it becomes 8 1/4" x 3".
Fold fold in 3 3/4" and then again.
Fold the left over flap over.
Punch hole for ribbon, ink, and add embellishments.
Use double stick tape to add gift card inside.

Before I dug into the Mistletoe & Co line, I was using the Amber Road line. We celebrated two birthdays last week at my work and I had fun making these cards during my lunch break. Pink Paislee makes some great embellishments that work well for a variety of your paper crafting needs. I adore the paper punch outs and the border stickers that the released recently.
Products used: Amber Road Harvest Hayride pp, Bonfire pp, Postcards pp, Borderline stickers, punch outs, Hambly Elegant Labels rub on-black, Pink Paislee press ons alpha-black, Staz On Ink-jet black.
And the back of the card:
Products used: Amber Road Harvest Hayride pp, Autumn Blossom pp, Postcards pp, Fall Festival pp, Expressions cardstock alpha stickers-chocolate, Amber Road Impressions stamps, Staz On Ink-jet black.

I love how many alphas come on this one sheet and its such a great deal too. It was perfect that they come in circles as well since Happy would have made for a tight fit on the card.
If you have any cool links to DIY handmade projects, or gift wrapping projects, please share them! I would love to see more unique ways to decorate and wrap things up for the holidays. Hope your weekend is great.

Here is the order of the blog hop:

Jana
Suz
Teresa
Kimberly

Thankful

2009-11-26T23:21:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope your meals were plentiful and with loved ones. I am thankful for the family photo I took this afternoon. I am also thankful for sleeping in, two days in a row. I have Friday off due to the holiday.

For those of you out shopping, Everything Scrapp'n is having a Thanksgiving/Black Friday sale until Sunday, November 29th. Get some last minute stuff for your handmade holiday and December albums! Just type the word THANKSGIVING into the coupon code section when checking out. I'll be back with some gift wrap ideas on Saturday morning.

November Daily Photos Week 3

2009-11-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

I'm back to share this past week's photos from the November photo challenge.

Sunday, November 15, 2009
I met Econ Eric, a friend of Jenna's, and spent time dancing with the family in the living room. I love impromptu dance parties. I edited some photos and uploaded them to facebook. The tagging box cracks me up.
Monday, November 16, 2009
I was making some birthday cards for my co workers and left this mess on my bed. Its a pretty common sight around here these days. Tuesday, November 17, 2009
I photographed the Millbrae Bart station after work. I desperately needed to print something for my photo class since we only have 2 more classes before finals. I had a blast shooting Black & White film at night. Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Josh from the advertising department offered to do a Starbuck's run. A bunch of us placed our orders on Vin's desk with post its. Thom was writing all kinds of silly requests, so I captured Vin playing with some of the post its.Thursday, November 19, 2009
Kristi picked up pizza and came over to scrap after work. We started working on the foundation of our December Daily albums. Can't wait to work on this more this coming week!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Celebrated Kent's birthday by picking up delicious cupcakes form Mazetti's Bakery here in Pacifica. he had fun playing with his food before eating it.I did go see New Moon on Friday as well. I arranged for Kristi to buy the tickets nearly a month in advance. Kelly, Jenna, Laura, mom, Kristi & I had so much fun. I wasn't a fan of the young screaming girls. Next time I'll go during school hours... I loved that special FX were so much better. It was apparent that the budget was a lot better this time around. You won't be disappointed if you see it.

Saturday, November 21, 2009
I wasn't feeling 100% so Dan & I decided to stay home and make delicious burritos instead of going out to ice skate with some friends. I'm still going to try going ice skating, just a little later on this season. Dan makes the best chicken burritos and I have become expert can opener and bean stirrer. I think I might move up to cutting the meat next. Ick!
This coming week is going to be busy, then I'll get a few days off for the holiday. Hope you and yours have a happy one!

Paramore @ The Warfield

2009-11-18T08:30:00.000-08:00

Dan gave me tickets to see Paramore for my birthday. Their October concert was post-poned due to the lead singer Hayley having laryngitis. We went to the rescheduled concert, last Tuesday, November 10th. My favorite part of the night was right after we arrived. We ran into our friends Natalie & Mark, who are at nearly every concert we go to. Dan hadn't mentioned that they were going so I was quite surprised when we were walking up to our seats and ran into them.
We had fun chatting while waiting for the opening bands to finish playing. We got there a little late due to work and didn't feel like climbing over people to get to our seats in the dark.

I was most surprised that Hayley's hair wasn't orange, but blond. Their stage was beautiful. I had to squint to see what they had positioned in the frames-light bulbs. Sometimes they would light and pulse to the beat of the song.Their set list was perfect. Mostly fast paced songs with a few slower songs. One of my favorite things to do at a concert/event is to look around and see how many people are there. Isn't this incredible? I love that Paramore has so many great fans. Even more, I love how everyone is taking photos.
The Warfield is one of those venues that is absolutely beautiful inside. I cracked up that they mentioned how scary it is outside. San Francisco can be rather educational in that part, especially at night. I have two new songs that I've been listening to on repeat since the concert: Ignorance & Misguided Ghosts. I hadn't really listened to the new CD Brand New Eyes before the concert, but I'm completely in love with it after hearing it live.

Here we are riding BART home after the concert:

November Daily Photos: Week 2

2009-11-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Stace & Rebecca, winners of the blog hop! Chipboard is 15% off until November 21st at the store.

This past week has blown by so fast. I am hoping November will slow down just a bit. Here are my photos from the second week of November:

Sunday, November 8, 2009
I wrote & sent out some thank you notes. I've decided that I want my own personal return address stamp. Now I just have to find a design I like. Any suggestions from etsy?
Monday, November 9, 2009
I got a little nerdy for Kellan Lutz & Ashley Greene of New Moon on Monday evening. They are the actors/tress that play Emmett & Alice. They had a question & answer session at Stonestown. They were expecting tons of people, like last year, but Robert Pattinson didn't come so it was a much smaller crowd. I met a really sweet woman, Yolanda and then my mom joined me later.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I found myself amongst another huge group at The Warfield. Dan took me to see Paramore for my birthday. It was originally going to be a on a Friday night in October, but Hayley, lead singer, came down with laryngitis. Look for a separate post later this week about this.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I was very tired after two nights out in a row. I love that I walk into the kitchen every morning to such beautiful, bright colors. I need to move these into my room and finally decorate with them. Thursday, November 12, 2009
I love that my mom brings home the unusual pumpkins. We didn't carve any this year because they were too cool already.
Dan & I celebrated our 5 year anniversary in San Francisco at Park Chow. It is not a Chinese restaurant. I had spaghetti and Dan had pizza. Its not exactly any type of food really. They have delicious pies though! Friday, November 13, 2009
It was a very long day for me. This is a box that was by the door when I was leaving in the morning. Think of this photo as a place holder for better photos to come. I shot a wedding in Napa (as second shooter). I expect to get my photos tomorrow. Will share more of that later.Saturday, November 14, 2009
Zombie mode. I stayed up until 4am scrapbooking, slept for 5 hours, then worked. When I got off, I drove to Dan's house and found him putting on vinyl protection on his new Acura TL. He got it three weeks ago but I haven't had a spare moment to photograph it. I hope to take it out to the beach soon and get some really nice shots for him.
I tried to take a nap after work but was so tired I couldn't sleep. Don't you hate when that happens? Later, we picked up something cute at REI and had dinner in San Carlos with Zena & Helen. I'm having fun taking photos every day. Won't you join me? Let me know if you are playing along.

November Everything Scrapp'n Blog Hop

2009-11-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's time for the November Everything Scrapp'n Blog hop. Please leave a comment on each blog for a chance to win a prize. Here are the awesome prizes being offered, to participate start here:
I am one of those scrappers that has difficulty keeping interest in scrapping holidays once they are past. I've been watching a lot of vampire movies, tv shows, and Tim Burton films for inspiration while working with Pink Paislee's Twilight line. It really helps that its has my three favorite colors: purple, orange, and green. I made a mini album for our recent visit to a local pumpkin patch.Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Dusk pp, Horizon pp, Sunset pp, Expressions Cardstock alpha stickers-pumpkin, Expressions Glitter Alpha stickers-limeade, Pink Paislee Vintage Moon accents-press ons, Hambly Spooky Halloween rub ons-Black, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Ethan's album.

Photos on right side of page are courtesy of Kristi Lewis.Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Postcards pp, Horizon pp, Sunset pp, Eclipse pp, Amber Road-Impressions stamps, American Crafts Flair-Halloween Boo, 7 gypsies circle stamp, Hambly Spooky Halloween rub ons-Black, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, Stickles-black diamond, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Golden Terracotta, Making Memories staples-black, 7 gypsies arrow photo turn, EK Success Postage stamp paper punch, Staz On-jet black, Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Ethan's album .

Photo on page courtesy of Abe Dieckman.Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Horizon pp, Sunset pp, Postcards pp, Eclipse pp, Expressions Cardstock alpha stickers-pumpkin, Expressions Glitter Alpha stickers-limeade, Pink Paislee Twilight-press ons, Pink Paislee Office Lingo On Schedule stamps, Hambly Spooky Halloween rub ons-Black, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Key Lime Pie, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, EK Success Binding Edge paper punch, Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Ethan's album.

Photo on left courtesy of Kristi Lewis.
Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Sunset pp, Dusk pp, Petaloo Glitter sheets-blac k, Twilight Bella brads, Amber Road-Impressions stamps, Hambly Spooky Halloween rub ons-Black, Queen & Co rhinestones-black, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, EK Success Small Scallop scissors, Sakura Glaze pen-black, Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Ethan's album.

Photo on page courtesy of Abe Dieckman.Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Dusk pp, Horizon pp, Sunset pp, Postcards pp, Eclipse pp, Hambly Overlay Autumn Breeze-Black, American Crafts Flair-Halloween Boo, Hambly Spooky Halloween rub ons-Black, Hambly Elegant labels rub ons-black, Amber Road-Impressions stamps, Hero Arts lower basic alpha stamps, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, Sakura Glaze pen-black, Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Ethan's album.

Photo on page courtesy of Abe Dieckman.
Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Dusk pp, Eclipse pp, Twilight Boarder line stickers, Hambly Spooky Halloween rub ons-Black, Hambly Antinque frames rub ons-black, Prima Say It In Pearls-Mixed white crystals packaging (green), Prima E orange rhinestones, Inkadinkado clear mini stamps Fall corner, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, Cosmo Cricket Blackboard Ethan's album.

I adore the border stickers that Pink Paislee released during Summer CHA. Aren't they adorable?

I love to make Artist Trading Cards and haven't made any for Halloween so I made some using Some the postcard paper.Products used: Pink Paislee Twilight Postcards pp, Hambly Overlay 3/4 graph-black,Twilight Boarder line stickers, Pink Paislee Twilight-press ons, Expressions Glitter Alpha stickers-limeade, Ranger Adirondack paint dabber-black, Staz on Ink-jet black.

I have a never ending love for Hambly and their great overlays!
Please head on over to Kimberly's blog for the next chance to win!