My Annual Stamp Party

I had my annual Stampin Up stamp party yesterday.

I was very pleased with the turn out. 15 out of 19 friends that RSVPed showed up.  4 of them had to cancel at the last minute for various reasons.  All of us had a great time working on the projects that my friends prepped for us.

My friend Donna was originally the only demo that was going to come to my party, but she asked me if her friend Pat can come to help since my workshop will be such a big one.  It went even smoother than usual with both of them there.

The party started off with brief instructions on how to make the projects and with a raffle.

Then were were off to make our projects.  I usually have 16-20 friends attend my party and it continues to amaze me how we are able to finish our projects in a timely manner and how there isn't a huge traffic jam with all of us trying to make our projects.

While everyone was hard at work creating, I nicely interupted them to take a picture with them.

After making our projects it came an evening most challenging part of the evening... looking through the catalogs to determine what to order. :)  It a bit overwhelming trying to figure out what to order when there is so much stuff that you like.  Well, that is at least how I often feel.  Before leaving I had each guests take a custard or two to take home.

I surprised both of the demonstrators with a little gift.  I made them each a flower and attached it to a "to go" box.

I truly appreciate them for all the hard work, time, and energy that they put into making my party such a success. This my gift from them for being a hostess.

Thanks for sticking around to look my long post.

Tea Swap For This Month

It was indeed another fun month particpating in the tea swap.  The optional theme was making a card with red, pink, or white.  This is what I made for Sandy

and this is what she made for me.

It was a special treat being paired up with Sandy.  Her creations are definitely very creative.  Thanks again Sandy for being such a fun swap partner.  Have a blessed and crafty day!

So Excited... Another Award

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope that everyone had a good weekend.  I sure did.  As I shared with you yesterday, I started it off by going to the expo yesterday.  Saturday, was a relaxing day which I was very grateful for since I needed some time to recover from all the fun that I had on Friday. I felt very tired and had a huge headache for most of the day.  After taking a nap at in the middle of the day, I felt a lot better.  At that point I worked on paper work for work so that I could spend the day with my family after church yesterday at Disneyland.  ( Going there with our annual passes was definitely a magical way to end our weekend.) I felt like a little kid bribing myself to do my work.  LOL!  After finishing my paper work I checked out some blogs and found out that a super cool friend that I met in blogland gave me this award.

Thank you so much Shirl for this award.  I feel so honored to be chosen as one of the people to win this award.   Shirl, I thank the Lord for you and your friendship and appreciate you for taking time to comment regularly on my blog.  Your friendship and comments mean more than you know and have definitely encouraged me in my crafting.  Be sure to check out Shirl's creative blog.  I listed it below.  You
will definitely be inspired.

 Here are the terms under which this 'Green Blend Award" are to be given. 

1.) This award is for any co-blogging friend who has helped your blog in any and all ways. 

2.) This award is for any co-blogging friend who has cheered you along in your blog building, craft advancing career.
3.) This award is for any co-blogging friend who always stops by and is kind to you. you can count on them to always be one of the great comments at the end of your posts. 

4.) This award is to be given to 3 to 5 Blends whom you feel meet the listed requirements. 

5.) Create a post with the terms of use and publish your Blends of Choice.

6.) Blend of choice may copy the award from your blog and proudly post it on theirs. 

7.) Blend of choice may continue the kindness by issuing this award to keep the circle forever growing. 

So many of you have been such an inspiration to me and very deserving of this award.  Since I am not able to list all of you to pass this award to, all of you are receiving it as an honorary award.  However to follow the terms of this award, I am passing it to the following 3 awesome fellow crafting sisters in blogland that have consistently taken time to comment on my blog:

1. Shirl- http://creationbyshirl.blogspot.com/
2. Karen- http://haveascraphappyday.blogspot.com/
3. Georgiana-http://carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com/

Have a blessed week filled with many opportunities to use your creative projects to make a difference in the lives of all the people you give them to.

The Scrapbook Expo

On Friday, I went to the Scrapbook Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center.

I have not been to s craft convention this big in a long time so it was I was very excited to go.  A friend (Roberta) and I carpooled there.  Were were there from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm.  It was a long, but very fun day.  I waited in line when we got there for about 10 minutes to get my tickets for the classes  that I registered for  as well as a booklet with information about the different exhibits.

My friend got to go in early since she had an 8:00 class.  Before going to wait in line to go the exhibits I picked up my free gifts.

I had to wait another hour in a line to go shopping at the exhibits.  I thought that the time was going to go by really slow, but it was not too bad. I had a good time talking to different people in line while different people from the exhibits passed out coupons.  They throw a huge beach ball around once in awhile for us to play with to entertain us.  When it was time to walk in every was super excited.  We were even videoed when we walk in.  I wonder if we were on TV that evening.  LOL! My friend's class was over when we got to go shopping so we did some shopping together before going to our Copic Marker class.  Each person in the class got 3 makers of their choice for coloring hair, vinyl stickers,  and a Greeting Farm stamp for free. Here is my friend and I with our packets.

In the class we learned about the basics of using the markers and learned to color hair and skin.  We also got to peel and stick a vinyl sticker and put it on paper that has been burnished with fine glitter.  It was super fun coloring top of the burnished fine glitter.

The outcome is awesome!  What do you think.  As soon as the class was over I had my next class which was a party favor making class.  The class was fun, but a bit overwhelming since we had only an hour to make several projects.

One of the decorations we made was a star.  Here I am with part of the store that I was working on.
After this class I met my friend Roberta in the exhibit area and went shopping for about 2 hours.

I only visited the exhibits that sold rubber stamps and dies.  I not only had a blast shopping, but had a great time watching demos and taking pictures of awesome samples of cards and 3D items.  Can you believe it?  I took over 300 pictures.  By the end of the day I had to start deleting pictures so I can take more pictures because my chip was full. As we were visiting different exhibits we ran into several friends that we have taken classes with.  It was fun to chat with them and take a break a little break.

After shopping for about 2 hours we sat down for a snack.  For some reason I was not very hungry.  I think all the excitement of everything that I was seeing was much more important than my stomach.  LOL!  After the snack break, my friend did some more shopping while I went to a flower making class.  The class was awesome.  This is what I learned out to make.  (A friend that I bumped into while shopping signed up for the class too.)

Out of the 3 classes that I signed up for, the flower one was the one that I was looking forward to the most. I was tired when I took the class so was having a harder time processing and comprehending the instructions.  Everyone is the class was.  At the class we got a coupon for 10% off to go shopping at the exhibit where they sale the stamps of the flowers that made along with the dies that cut them.  We also got go pick out a stamp set worth $14.99 of our choice for free.  That was super cool, but was definitely hard to do.  After going to the exhibit to claim my free stamp set and purchase a few of them, we left the convention center to have dinner before going home.  We stopped for dinner to try to avoid the traffic.  Unfortunately we still hit traffic. In case you are interested... here what I purchased.

I had very little problem with deciding if I should purchase the above items, but I was debating back and forth about whether I should get this bag or not.  

The entire bag including the handle is double padded.  Plus the insides have a special laminate on it.  That's why it is on the pricey side.  I had a hard time because of it's price.  The man at the exhibit was nice enough to put it on hold for me while I thought about what I should do.  I asked for it to be put on hold because it was the last bag in that pattern left.  I told him that I would come back in a half an hour.  I think I took about an hour to decide what to do.  I even called my hubby to discuss with him what he thinks I should do.  He told me if I really like it to go ahead and get it.  He knows that if I don't that I would probably be talking about it all day yesterday and end up coming back to purchase it.  (Thankfully the bag was still there even though I waited more than half an hour to come back.) After talking to him I decided to buy the bag I had a hard time deciding which pattern of to get.  What helped me decide was hanging two different bags made out of different material on the rack and asking myself if two people walked by with the bags which one I would think is cuter.  I think I did well in picking the right bag to purchase.  What do you think.  :) Oops!  I just realized that I forgot to take a picture of my the petal punch that I purchase.  Anyways, I am very proud of myself because I only spent $50 over my limit.  LOL!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Valentine's Day Cards and RAK

I know that Valentine's Day has passed, but I've been a little slow in posting things as usual.  For Valentine's Day, I received several very creative projects and fun RAK.  I received these cards-
one from Cary,

one from Nancy,

and one from Miyuki.

I received a RAK and a card from Gail

and from Grace.

I appreciate my friends for blessing me with their creative cards and gifts throughout the year.  It's always lots of fun to surprised with some thing creative especially in the mail.

Valentine's Day Secret Pal Gift Exchange

I think I am feelin' a bit tired still from all the fun that I had with my family during our 4 day weekend.  I think I am getting too old to have so much fun all at once.  LOL!  :)  Well, last week at work we had our annual Valentine's Day Secret Pal gift exchange.  We were asked to give a specific person on staff a gift each day last week.  By the end of the week what we surprised the person with is supposed to total no more than $20.  I asked one of the good friends of my secret pal what she likes.  I always like to surprise who I am paired up with items that that they like rather than some thing randomly.  This is what I surprised her with.

I asked my hubby to write her a message on the first day.  For the second day I gave her a frame that I decorated with bling and a bow.

She likes puppies so I got a stuffed a very cute one.

On the last day I gave her decorated heart container with chocolate inside.  I also made her a gift card holder in a favorite two colors.  I got her a gift card to one of her favorite restaurants.  I put the gift card holder in the heart container. On the last day after she received my last gift she told me that she figured out who I was by the second day by my handwriting.  I thought that she would not be able to figure it out since I wrote all her messages in handwriting.  I usually "print."  She said that she could still tell that the messages were from me.  I need to do better to disguise my writing or have someone else write the messages for me next year.  My secret pal was one of my good friends.  I knew by the items that the person gave to me that he/she knows me pretty well, but I was not sure who the person was.  This is what she showered me with.

It is always enjoy participating in the the Valentine's Day Secret Pal gift exchange at work.  It was so much fun anticipating what my secret pal would surprise me with.

Some Super Yummy Blog Candy

When you have a chance be sure to check out this blog http://candyscraftcorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/400-follower-giveaway.html for some super yummy candy

and some awesome ideas.  Have a fun and crafty evening!

My Four Day Weekend

When I woke up today I was a bit sad know that my four day weekend is over.  It went by just too fast.  I guess with all the fun that my family and I had together the time just whizzed by.  I hope that all of you had a good weekend whether it was a long one or a regular two day one.  Our fun started off with going to Disneyland with our annual passes after my son got out of school.  Even though we have gone there so many times we still manage to have lots of fun.  Our energy seems to be wearing out a lot faster after each visit.  The highlight of this visit was taking a picture with Daisy Duck (This was only our 2nd time taking a picture with her.), Mickey and Minnie together, and with Mr. Persy (The penguin from Mary Poppins.) My hubby and were also really happy to get to take a picture with Rafiki.

and to sit on the new remodeled "Pirate of the "Caribbean" ride.  On Saturday, we had a very relaxing day and ended it with celebrating Chinese New Year with my side of the family.  Here is a picture of my sisters and I.

We had a delicious 10 course meal together (Here is some of it.),

enjoying each others company, and enjoyed giving each other treats and red packages.

On Sunday after church we went to church we ran errands and relaxed for the rest of the day.  We ate dinner at a local steak house.  We ordered their famous fish and chips and fried chicken dinner.  On the last day of our long weekend, we slept in and went to the Long Beach Aquarium.  We had the best time having the chance to pet the jellyfish, sharks, and stingrays.  Here I am trying to reach for a stingray.

We were also amazed all all the colors of the fish (from red to purple to polka and stripes)

the sea urchins, and the cool looking jelly fish.

We feel so lucky to be able to see so many sea creatures. God's handy works are indeed awesome! Before going home we went out to a Hawaiian restaurant.  Our meals were very ono, but our favorite was the pupu platter (aka as the appetizer).

We were a bit disappointed that they ran out of pineapple cake and haupia (coconut) cheesecake.  We did however order a manju ( sweet potato pastry) "to go."  Before leaving my hubby purchased a beautiful lei that I am hoping to wear for my Hawaiian b-day celebration in April.  :)

Yes, I am planning my waredrobe for it already.  :)  BTW, if any of you in blogland  knows of anyone that knows how to make these leis, please let me know. I did not do much crafting all weekend.    The only thing I worked on were the tags for our Chinese New Year treats.

Here is a close up of it.

I dry embossed the tag on the background.  Then I embossed the dragon and the little girl.  I popped the little girl up so that she looks more realistic. Before gluing the dragon and the girl onto the tag, I colored them with chalk.  (I have not used my chalks for awhile so it was lots of fun coloring with them.) Thanks for sticking around to read this long post.  It's time to eat dinner and start working on some of my swaps.  Happy crafting/stamping!