Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas with their loved ones today!

Paper: Sugar Plum Dreams Mini Kit

Scrapbooking Fun!

My hubby's family is creating a family book, and after two seasons and one move, we realized we never submitted our pages to them! Thankfully, it hasn't gone to print yet, so I spent last week making some quick pages for us. To make things faster, I looked for scrapbooking kits and templates online; and there are links to their respective credits plus free downloads (I always love saving money) below each image. I didn't think I was a scrapbooker--we have tons of photos that just sit in our computers, external hard drives and CDs--but maybe when I get some time, I'll start scrapbooking--or at least make some photo books!

[Stock.XCHNG Cloudy Sky l Stock.XCHNG Paper l Free Digital Scrapbooking Border Contact Sheet l Free Digital Scrapbooking "Rock Star" Mini Kit]



[eScrappers Filmstrip]



[Free Digital Scrapbooking "Friends & Family" Mini Kit l Free Digital Scrapbooking Heart Felt Shapes l Free Digital Scrapbooking Border Contact Sheet]

[Free Digital Scrapbooking "Rock Star" Mini Kit l Free Digital Scrapbooking Polaroid Border 2]

Cute Desktop Wallpapers

I was browsing online the other day for scrapbook ideas for a family project when I came across Shabby Princess's blog. She posts the cutest monthly desktop calendar wallpapers I've ever seen! I love 'em because I get to place photos of my family and jot down some important appointments that I don't want to miss.

My desktop wallpaper now:
You can download it for free here.

My First Diaper Bag

I've been wanting a new diaper bag for a long time now, but I didn't want to splurge on an expensive bag as well as couldn't find any cute prints at the baby stores. So I decided that I would make my own bag instead! Which to be honest, I had no clue on what to do before this project. I've sewn many things before, such as the nursing curtain, but they were always hand sewn or an easy straight sew with the sewing machine. Thank goodness for my friend, Becky, who's a sewing queen and taught me how to do it! We decided to make a craft day--or 4 days, should I say--since we have little ones who love to distract us from our project.

I've been wanting a messenger-style diaper bag, and I found a pattern at A Mingled Yarn--I'm pretty sure I fell in love with the damask print. Once we got to the fabric store, though, I found this really cute print that I decided to make my bag with. After hours of figuring out the layout and sewing the bag together (seriously, I'm not sure why I always have to choose the most complicated items and hope that I have enough of it), I finally have my finished product!

We made a few changes with the pattern, though. We used velcro instead of metallic snaps, opted not to topstitch at all (well, at least I did), used cotton instead of vinyl lining for the interior, sewed the strap inside the bag; and after using my bag for two weeks, I decided to remove the velcro from the front exterior pockets. It's just not needed since the flap is over them.

I wish I took pictures of Becky's bag--hers turned out really cute, too. It's a burgundy and ivory flowery patterned bag. I can't wait 'til our next sewing project--I want to make a diaper clutch :)

Here are photos of my bag!

Close up of the front of the bag

Back of the bag

Left side (It's actually a wonderful coincidence that the sides of the bag ended up matching my strap!)

Right side

Front exterior with pockets

Interior of the bag--it's actually more orange than the picture shows--it matches the orange on the strap

It feels really good to be sporting around a bag I've made! :) Thanks, Becky, for all the help! And A Mingled Yarn for sharing your pattern!

Happy Mother's Day to Supermoms Everywhere!

Happy Mother's Day to all you awesome mothers!

I received this email from my MIL today, and I wanted to share this great poem with all of you fabulous moms. Hope you're having a wonderful day!


Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom...
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.

Twilight Series

Okay, I must admit, I'm one of the million people that have become addicted to reading the Twilight series. Not because I'm in love of the plot or the characters, and I actually can't explain why I've decided to read all four books. The only time I enjoy reading the book is when the storyline is between Bella and Jacob, and the rest of the time I am completely irritated with the continuing saga. My hubby asks me why I put myself in these situations, really, it's because I kept hoping that the story would have my happy ending--Bella waking up from her trance of being in love with Edward and realizing that Jacob is the one for her.

One thing I must compliment Stephanie Meyer on is being able to mask 5/7 of poor romance with 2/7 of decent adventure at the end. At first, I thought it was because I'm not in this stage in life, but I dislike the characters and the books stress on superficial beauty, wealth, and power.

I rambled enough about my disdain for this series. I brought it up only because I started wondering why such a long time passed since my last blog entry, and it's because I'm such a book worm--no matter what book it is. If you're thinking about reading these books, stop. Really, don't read them. You'll save yourself a lot of personal annoyance from reading these books. Just get the short version from watching the movies (Twilight the book was better than the movie, though, as is usually the case). I'm sure they're going to capitalize on these books by filming Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

Class of 2009, Please Stand Up

Congratulations to my cousin Ryan on graduating high school!

My mom, auntie Lyn, and cousin JP traveled to Manila, Philippines yesterday to celebrate his achievement. He graduates tomorrow, March 19th, but since the Philippines is 13 hours ahead, they're celebrating it today!

It still boggles my mind that they graduate high school at the age of 16 in the Philippines and entering college next Fall. Well, I guess it shouldn't since my hubby did the same thing here in the United States (but that's because he's a genius who skipped two grades--go figure).

Wish I could be there...if I wasn't working and Tristan wasn't sick...but I'm there in spirit! My auntie asked me to make candy wrappers for his graduation party. His school colors were green, yellow, and red, and for the wrapper, I decided to stick with the green and yellow (and I was glad to know these were a few of his favorite colors, too!) and gave it a chalkboard theme. I hope they enjoyed it!

Juicy Couture

I logged onto Nordstrom today to check if I had a balance, and I became distracted with their front page advertisements. A cute green bag caught my eye, and I just had to click on it to find out more! It's Juicy Couture's Key & Shell - China C Satchel. I'm actually not a big fan of JC, but I've been looking for a bag this color and style all season. It's a leather bag, and it has a removable shoulder strap.

And I love how Nordstom always makes suggestions of other items that I may like, because I then found the Marion D Hobo bag in the same color! If U were to choose a bag, it would definitely be this one, only because it fits my style better--it's sophisticated, classic, and a great color--what more could I ask for?

What I really should be looking for is a mommy bag that I can't tell is a mommy bag...

Neglection

I've been quiet on here lately! I must admit, it's been hard for me to focus on my designs, and I've been neglecting my Etsy boutique practically since I first opened it. When we first moved to the Rock, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to work because I only interviewed with one company--a nonprofit organization.

I thought perhaps this would be the perfect time for me to start a business if I wanted to. I started thinking about things that I'd love to do, and my list kept going back and forth between event planning, graphic designing (since my announcement, invitation, and favors were a hit by the people who received them), and starting a website. Since I was receiving requests from family and friends for candy bar favor labels, I figured that I would start off with that venture, and see where it takes me. So I quickly decided to come up with a name and created a store to see if I could attract some business. And, to be honest, keeping up with an Etsy store is more work than it looks! It's nothing like selling items on Ebay, Amazon, Half, and Craigslist, where I've resold numerous things from books to an outdoor kennel. Perhaps because it now became my product rather than reselling someone else's product, and I took my time thinking about my policies, pricing, etc.

After I set up shop on Etsy, I received an offer to be the Marketing & Communications Director with the nonprofit I interviewed with! I was so excited! And I happily accepted the position! Unfortunately, I'm a one-person department, and there are tons of projects that I've been working on. Most of the time, I'll bring work home (it's a bad habit, I know). Coupled with being a mom to a baby who's had an ear infection for the last two months and a wife to pilot who's constantly training, my favorite hobby at the moment is sleep. So, for now, Etsy is on the backburner; but I still work on designs when requested!

Well Said!

I LOVE Mama Manifesto, and I especially love receiving their Mama Memo every Sunday where I relate with many of their postings and get inspired by their creativity. When I opened my Memo today, the first blog is called "Where Does the Time Go?" and I completely related! Check it out. If you have kids, you'll completely agree, and if you have friends with kids, you understand!

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

My friend got engaged this past holiday season and is excitedly planning her wedding for next year. To my amusement, she places random wedding facts on her profile practically each day.

She wanted to ask her beloved ones to be part of her bridal party in a special way, and I was honored to help her do it! She concludes each of her special poems with "Will you be my bridesmaid/maid of honor/man of honor?" At her request, I used colors of expresso, burgundy, and champagne on the candy wrappers.

I've been waiting for awhile to share this post with ya'll as I waited for her to ask everyone, and I'm so happy that I can finally share them! :)


*Photos taken by Kristina Reyes

Dove Cards

Christmas season may be officially over, but I wanted to share some cards that I designed. We had to mail presents to family members that couldn't share the holidays with us, and I didn't feel like buying Christmas cards. I have tons of blank cards at home, so I decided to create a simple design--that wasn't too Christmasy since the presents would reach them late. I designed the card with a dove and the word "peace." Voila!

Happy New Year!

It's been quiet here lately, and it's because we've been visiting our families out of town for the holidays. Surf in California and snow in Utah--what more could you ask for? Not to get sick on the plane ride back home, that is. Tristan and I have been battling a cold ever since we got back home on New Year's. It's just been a lot of liquids and sleep for us.

I'm so excited! While I was home, I got another candy wrapper order for a high school graduation! =) And, today, I reconnected with an old friend and am working on something special for her, too! Yay!

I hope 2009 brings everyone health, wealth, and happiness!