Dreaming of White Christmases and decked halls...

Christmas is indeed just around the corner, with barely 10 days left until the holiday is upon us I've been busy trying to get all of my shopping done! Next year I will try not to wait until the last minute...try being the operative word. For those far away (and one special person very close by) I've done my shopping online...the rest I'm doing right here in town.

Decorating the tree was very fun! My sister-in-law went for a red-white-black-and silver theme this year and the ornaments are very pretty and almost vintage style. The tree is tall and beautiful if I do say so myself. A touch that I had not previously thought of myself was my sister-in-law's idea of hanging large ornaments from the ceiling and they look absolutely wonderful! We were able to procure six large ornaments in a package from Costco and used only 5 along the crease of the ceiling. There is truly nothing I love better than Christmas decorations!

So, I've yet to do my Christmas baking and also have to get some cards written out but all in good time! :-) Most of the cards I need to send are local so I'm not so worried. Christmas Eve promises to be a fun day! I'm going to be having a mini movie marathon with my dear friend and hope to be able to bring him some baked goods for the occasion. We will no doubt be watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, California Raisins Christmas Special and more. On Christmas Day in the evening we'll watch It's a Wonderful Life and one other film which I cannot remember at present. I am eager to see how well received my gifts are to their recipients. For the following Christmas I hope to be better prepared.

I think I will begin my Christmas shopping for next year in June or thereabouts. At the very least for my nieces and nephew to whom I want to be able to give several gifts next year. I do hope that I will be better off financially by then. At any rate, I suppose it is the thought that counts when giving gifts. I hope to have another post for you all tomorrow. Enjoy your week and I will greet you again soon!

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials on a Wednesday....

I had a very busy day yesterday and was not able to get a tutorial going but better late than never I say! Since I am not the only one who does 'Tuesday Tutorials' I thought it would be fun to google the term and see what comes up. Here are the top three:

1. Indie Fixx by Jen Wallace- I really love the layout and her posts! This 'Tuesday Tutorial' about printables is just adorable: http://indiefixx.com/category/tuesday-tutorial/
2. Melly & Me: Fun Fabulous Design by Rosalie Quinlan and Melanie Hurlston- These sisters have a 'Tips & Tricks: Tuesday Tutorial' series that has some excellent tips of all kinds! Great sewing trips, beautiful design!
3. Ali Edwards has some great scrapbooking tutorials for their 'Tuesday Tutorial' series and they are very informative. 

I really enjoy seeing what others are doing and with Christmas not far off getting ideas and sharing them is a plus! Here are a few of my Christmas tutorial favorites from around the web:

Button Wreath Tutorial by One Crafty Mumma...

cinnamon scented sachets by homemade by jill...

Paper Christmas wreath from the red thread Christmas Tutorials...

I can't wait to share my own tutorials for Christmas with you guys soon! It's going to be awesome! Have a great Wednesday!

Cheers!

***Note***: Crafting photo from Hoopla Now.

Music Thursday: The Birthday List...

If you're like me then you love music and love creating playlists that have some kind of meaning or significance. So, yesterday I had this wonderful idea to compile a list of all the #1 pop hits of August 12th for every year beginning on the year of my birth, 1981, and ending this year. Here is the list:

Aug. 12, 1981: Jessie’s Girl- Rick Springfield

Aug. 12, 1982: Eye of the Tiger- Survivor

Aug. 12, 1983: Every Breath You Take- The Police

Aug. 12, 1984: Ghostbusters- Ray Parker, Jr.

Aug. 12, 1985: Shout- Tears for Fears

Aug. 12, 1986: Glory of Love- Peter Cetera

Aug. 12, 1987: I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For- U2

Aug. 12, 1988: Roll With It- Steve Winwood

Aug. 12, 1989: Right Here Waiting- Richard Marx

Aug. 12, 1990: Vision of Love- Mariah Carey

Aug. 12, 1991: (Everything I Do)I Do It For You- Bryan Adams

Aug. 12, 1992: This Used to Be My Playground- Madonna

Aug. 12, 1993: I Can’t Help Falling In Love- UB40

Aug. 12, 1994: Stay- Lisa Loeb

Aug. 12, 1995: Waterfalls- TLC

Aug. 12, 1996: Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)- Los Del Rio

Aug. 12, 1997: I’ll Be Missing You- Puff Daddy/Faith Evans/ 112

Aug. 12, 1998: The Boy is Mine- Brandy and Monica

Aug. 12, 1999: Genie in a Bottle- Christina Aguilera

Aug. 12, 2000: Incomplete- Sisqo

Aug. 12, 2001: Bootyliscious- Destiny’s Child

Aug. 12, 2002: Hot in Herre- Nelly

Aug. 12, 2003: Crazy In Love- Beyonce ft. Jay-Z

Aug. 12, 2004: Slow Motion- Juvenile ft. Soulja Slim

Aug. 12, 2005: We Belong Together- Mariah Crey

Aug. 12, 2006: Promiscuous- Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland

Aug. 12, 2007: Big Girls Don’t Cry- Fergie

Aug. 12, 2008: Leavin’- Jesse McCartney

Aug. 12, 2009: Waking Up in Vegas- Katy Perry

Aug. 12, 2010: Love the Way You Lie- Eminem and Rihanna

So, those of you born on August 12th between those years can use this list to make your own! I think compiling a list for good friends and family makes a great birthday gift! What do you think?

Cheers!

Tuesday Tutorials: Making a hand-made fall themed postcard...

I adore autumn! It's my favorite season. So when I heard about the fall themed postcard swap I was all over it! The task was to create a handmade postcard with an autumn theme and I thought I would share how I made mine with you. So here we go!

You will need the following:

• Mat stack of your choice (I used the 'Once Upon a Time' mat stack from Die Cuts with a View)
• Brown Crayola Marker, basic colors collection
• Autumn Leaf stickers (for texture and relief)
• Autumn themed stickers

For some card making inspiration I used the following magazine:

Card Maker magazine...

And here are the steps:

1. Make a rough sketch of how you want your postcard to look, I drew it in my notebook.
2. Choose your card stock mat according to your theme, I really liked the light backdrop this particular mat created for the embellishments I used.
3. Choose your stickers according to the theme you've decided to use (I used these photo stickers my father had given me as a gift).
4. Begin placing your leaf accent stickers where you have sketched them on your mat.

     5.  Choose something to write, a message according to your theme (I used a simple message from the 

          Card Maker magazine).

     6.  Place embellishment stickers on mat according to your layout.

     7.  Continue to embellish postcard and write message you chose to use on there as well using a brown

          Marker or another autumnal color.

     8.  Finish placing embellishments and write personal message on the opposite side of your postcard.

And here you have the finished product:

Enjoy! Cheers!

***Note***: In my second steps collage a few photos were labeled incorrectly, sorry for the inconvenience but you get the general idea! 

Days in Cheney....

I just finished posting to my newest Spanish language blog, El recetario de Nadia, and decided to do a little blog surfing and found another blog from a fellow Washingtonian called Fresh Fruit. I love the images on there and think you should really check Becca's photography out. I love blog surfing because I always end up finding something interesting and there is one blog I found a while back that I love and want to share with you: A Day in the Country. The blogger is the owner of an organic blueberry farm called Missing Goat and I really want to visit the farm one of these days! So, if anyone wants to join me on a trip to South Surrey in the future by all means let me know!

Well, other than those wonderful links I want to share with you this photo I found on facebook, author unknown:

Conscious Shopping Wednesday: My new local loves...

I love to shop locally as most of you know so today when I went out for a walk I went to good old Ben Franklin and bought a couple of things for a postcard exchange I am going to participate in. The host is the Wonderful World of Postcards group on facebook. I bought some really great embellishments and a mat stack that will be the perfect size. For some inspiration I got some magazines and am super happy to get started!

I've been shopping here and made a few purchases at our local grocery store and have stayed pretty local of late. Made some cookies yesterday as well! More to come later...

Monday Musings: New things happening...

I finally have a moment to write to you all once again! I have missed blogging and was craving the right moment to do so. I have much news to share with you all! First, I just had my 29th birthday last week on August 12th which was really fun! I am really excited about this last year of my second decade on earth, beginning the third decade seems like a really exciting time for me! Here is a collage with some of my favorite photos from the actual day of my birthday:

I really enjoyed the day! It was very fun and full of love! Beyond having a new year added onto my life I also got a new look! The day before my birthday I was treated to a day at the beauty salon by my friend Mireya. Here are the results:

So, the other news is that in a week and a half I will be boarding a plane once again headed to Spokane, WA this time. Lord, it only took me about a half a year to get there which had been my original plan but I am glad it is finally coming to fruition and that I got to spend time here in Venezuela. Anyway, thought I would share with you just a bit of what's been going on in my life these days. Tomorrow I will write again!

Cheers!

PS: If you want to know more about my move and all that jazz visit the Notes section of the blog's page on facebook!