13 Years of Blessings From Above

Today marks being married for 13 years.  My hubby and I are grateful to the years that God has given us together and treasure all the memories that He has given to us as a couple and as a family with our two kids. As part of our celebrating, we spent the day together at the Los Angeles Science Center.  It was lots of fun looking at the different exhibits and getting to "play" in them.  Here is one of the fun hands on exhibits that we went to- the infera red camera.

We also purchased tickets to the special exhibition of Cleopatra.

It was very interesting looking at all the artifacts that they have found on the ocean floor

and learning about her life.  What a tragic life she had.  One of the facts that we learned is that no one really knows how she looks for sure because one of the generals that is envious of her destroyed all the photos of her as soon as she committed suicide.  After spending the afternoon at the museum we took a stroll in a rose garden across the street from it.  Then we headed home to get ready for dinner at Roy's. Inside our menus was a special message from Roy and his staff.

 It was funny the waiter that we had last year when we celebrated our anniversary there was our waiter this evening.  We mentioned that to him. To say "thanks" to us he gave us a complimentary appetizer- lobster dumplings.  Benson ordered Roy's Trio (which is 3 types of fish)

and I ordered seared ahi.

For dessert the chef surprised us with a banana fudge cake.

As a gift from Roy and his staff, they gave us a frame with the above picture in it.  It was indeed a very memorable day celebrating our anniversary.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Stay tune for a crafty post soon.

Cards and Other Crafty Creations From Friends

I have been having a lazy week in terms of crafting.  I haven't done any crafting all week.  I have however enjoyed looking at all the crafting that all of you in blogland have been doing.  I have been having more fun looking at what other people make. It has also been lots of fun receiving card from different friends.  Three friends and I swap cards each month to help each others MOJO to keep flowing.  Here are some awesome cards and/or projects from Cary,

Gail,

and Grace.

I always appreciate the time that they put into what they make and admire them for their creativity.  I hope that their creations inspire you as much as they have inspired me. 

This Month's Tea Swap

Happy Monday everyone!  I am a bit tired today.  After a busy week last week and a busy weekend I think my body needs some time to recover.  Of course all of it has been a fun kind of busy.  :)  Well today I would like to share my about this months tea swap.  It has been fun participating in a tea swap every month.  I love seeing what the person I am paired up with decides to make for me based on the optional theme and color that we are given. I also always enjoy the tea bags that are included with my cards.  Some of the teas that I have received I have never tried until receiving them in the swap.    This month's optional theme was "summer" and to use the colors blue, green, and yellow.  When I think of "summer" many things come to mind.  One of them is flip flops.  I made a card similar to this one.  I took a picture of the card that I made, but for some reason I can't find the folder on my laptop where I downloaded it.

This is what  Josephine sent to me.  (So sorry about the quality of the picture.  At least you can still get an idea of how the card looks.)

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope that everyone is having a fun and crafty summer so far.  

Sushi For Lunch With a Friend

I am happy to have the summer off, but I miss seeing the kids on my caseload and my co-workers.  I took a co-worker and friend out to lunch today for her belated b-day.  Iris loves Snoopy so I made her a  card with him and Woodstock on it.

Because both of us love sushi that is what we ate for lunch.  Check out what we ordered. The plate is the ono rainbow roll that we ordered.

The bottom rolls are named after the owner's daughter.  I know that because the owner's son is in my class.
 

We had an awesome time together and enjoyed the ono sushi.

Secret Sister Swap for June

For the Secret Sister swap last month I was asked to surprise Miyuiki a creation from my heart.  I know that she loves Hello Kitty so I thought it would be fun to surprise her with  a card with Hello Kitty on it and with a RAK with her on it.  I have been on a roll with making "summer" themed card so I made Miyuki a card with Hello Kitty going surfing.

I had lots of fun making the card since I love "summer" themed cards and of course I love Hello Kitty.  :)  Kathy was my Secret Sister for last month.  Yes, I was lucky enough to have her as my Secret Sister and my Anything Goes swap partner.  This is what the super cute card that she made for me along with the RAK that sent to me.  

Thanks again Kathy for being such a fun swap partner for both swaps.  

Birthday Cards

It's always fun surprising friends with a card that you made from you heart for their b-day.  I always try to incorporate what they like into the cards that I made for them.  Here is one of the b-day cards I made recently.

This friend likes handmade flowers so that is what I made to put on her card.  For the flower I created it using one of the Stampin Up border punches and twirled it around on a circular piece of card stock.  Here is a second b-day card that I made recently.

One of the favorite colors that this particular friend likes is red. I quilled a red flower for her with lots of red in the background.  I know she likes the color purple too, but unfortunately I did not have any purple qulling strips so I could not make any flowers in that color.  The card is made by cutting two scallops on the Circle Scallop Bigz die.  I put a brad to hold the two scallops together.  Here is how the card looks open.  

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Any Goes Swap for June

It's been a busy summer for my family and I, but we are enjoying our time together, with family, and friends.  Even though I have not crafted as much as I would like, I am still grateful for the times I can craft and relax.  Today I would like to share with you what I made and received for last month's "Anything Goes" swap.  The theme to follow was "summer."  Kathy and I were paired up for the swap.   I had a fun making this flip card for her.  I used some of my stamps from Taj.  Here is the front of the card.

Here is the back.

Kathy made this fabulous card and sent me a nice RAK.

Thanks Kathy for being such a fun swap partner. I thought it was extra fun being paired up with Kathy since we have met each other previously.  It's a little more fun receiving "happy mail" from someone that you know.