The Vow – Better Me Epiphany

 

Today me and one of my favorites went and saw "The Vow". It was pretty good and I wanted to share what it made me think about (besides the fact that I'm single and can't fall in love to begin with let alone lose my memory and someone try all over again!) If you have seen any of the commercials then you know the movie is about a couple who are in love, have a car accident and the wife loses her memory of ever being in love. The part of the movie that made me think was when the wife couldn't remember who she had been in the past 5 years but remembered before that... And she seemed to be an entirely different person. It made me think about how we all progress as time goes by. If most of us think back we can remember ourselves thinking and acting differently than we do now. It's a normal part of life... We mature and act differently (sometimes better and sometimes worse). But what struck me was I don't think many of us can look back and say we actively became who we are right now.... At least for me some parts of my life and who I am is not on purpose.

I had the idea of waking up tomorrow and not recognizing my life and not knowing who I am.  What would the people around me tell me my world was like?  The wife in the movie had her husband, her friends, and even her parents trying to piece that life together for her and in some points the life they were telling her she lived didn't add up. After a while and a plot twist she had to separate herself from it all and then decide or discover on her own what that life was and who she was. So it made me think about my own life. Will one day I wake up and not recognize myself or my life? Hopefully not.... But if I or anyone is not careful we can end up there. Not because of a car accident or amnesia but because we did not actively decide for ourselves who we are and what our lives would look like.  It was a huge reminder to me that we create our world with each decision and thought. We can't let circumstances, convenience, friends, family, or anything else do that for us or we will end up where the wife was in the movie. If we take responsibility for ourselves and our lives and actively shape it into what we want then we will never wake up like she did. The Vow was a great reminder of that.

Better Me Epiphany: My life is in my hands. I will not wake up a stranger in my own home. I will create my life I want and take ownership of the outcome.

Paper Smooches Challenge 2!

Hey Yall!! So I did not win the last Paper Smooches Challenge… but I did order a new set of their stamps called “Fall for You”. I LOVE this stamp set. Well the wonderful people at Paper Smooches are having another challenge!!  Here is the inspiration pic!

 

 

So I made this card!

 

I used the apple from the “Fall for You” set and stamped the apple on a piece of white die-cut/embossed paper. I colored the leaf with Copic Marker ( I’m still experimenting with them). I paper pieced the apple and stem with pink polka-dotted (like the walls) and wood grain paper. Then I paper pieced the “meat” of the apple on white card stock that I colored with Copic markers. Then I used the small heart stamp in the set as little heart apple seeds! Then i put that over some die-cut/embossed pink and green Brocade paper (like the brocade bed spread). I outlined that with some faux stitching. Then i put it all on a Kraft cardstock base and stamped the “I love you to my core” on the bottom. Then I filled in the little hearts with Copic markers.

So here is my entry!!  Wish me luck yall!!

Copic Markers

So I have seen quite a few YouTube videos with people using copic markers to color in their stamped images... So I decided to give it a try! Here is my first go round! Tell me what you think

CREATE ~ Valentine’s Card

Hey Y’all!!  So I have been really excited about this whole card making thing! I have kind of gone crazy buying craft supplies lately! I am stopping myself… no more… for a week! Ha!  Anyways I wanted to share my latest card! Tell me what you think!

 

Here is the cover!

 

And here is the inside

Here’s another

Here is the inside with a matching envelope

What do you think?

CREATE ~ Here We Go!

Hey Y’all!  I’m starting this New Year out with some creativity!!  I had today off ~ tomorrow is the big day back to BOTH jobs. I’m excited about going back to work…. it’s just been so long!! ha!  Back to the point!  Today I decided to see what I can do in the card making department. Here is what I came up with

A simple leaf card with a blank inside that I stamped myself. I even did the envelop too for a little coordination! ( I need to get a camera ~ my phone gets the job done but it doesn’t capture the color very well!)

 

My best friend saw that one and asked me to make one to accompany some baby gifts. A friend of ours had a little baby boy. Here’s what I came up with

I was excited about how it came out!

 

So I’m putting my creative juices to good this year. What about you?  What have you decided to CREATE?

CREATE ~ New Horizons!

So I have had tons of time over this break and have been feeling very crafty! I think it’s fun to make something of your own. So here is what I made!

Last night I made a very small mock journal… even bound it myself! Here is how it turned out

Here’s another shot

I wish my phone camera captured to color a little better!

My Nephew saw it and wanted one of his own so I made him a sketchbook. Here is how it turned out

So I’m kind of excited about it! It has me wanting to perfect this a little better and maybe open up an ETSY shop!  

I would love to hear what Y’all think!

CREATE ~ Holiday Pigs

Merry Day after Christmas Y’all!  I had an awesome Christmas with the family!!   We opened gifts, had Christmas Breakfast ( at lunchtime!), played cards ( a family tradition), and had Christmas dinner. It was really great.

Me and Melia decided to make pigs in a blanket last night as a little snack… but we decided to add a little twist to it. We call them Holiday Pigs!!

We started out by Melia making her “A little bit of this, a little bit of that barbeque sauce”. She took a little bit ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, liquid smoke, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. I don’t know the measurements to tell you… because she doesn’t either. You just have to work at it til it gets just right! then you just add the little smokies in with the sauce and let them cook and soak up that good sauce for a while. Here’s a pic! ( I got Melia a camera for Christmas and we put it to good use last night!!  It caught the steam in the picture.. I thought that was really cool)

Then we took a can of crescent rolls and ripped the crescent rolls into pieces. We pinched just a little bit of crushed pineapple onto each one

Then you add the smokies on and roll them up

Add them all together and bake them in the oven by the crescent roll directions.

And the finished product is a great and scrumptious twist on the classic pigs in a blanket!! the sweetness of the pineapple with the sauce and the smokie and the crescent.. MMMMM!  I want to go make some more!!

So this was my little moment to CREATE something new. What about you?  Any new recipe’s you’ve made?

 

P.S.  Remember the Tell Me What You See Challenge! You can check it out Here

CREATE ~ Christmas

 

Hey Y’all! I am spending the day recovering and relaxing and decided to do my Christmas wrapping. I was traversing through blogger world a while back and saw gifts wrapped in simple packages. I wanted to do that on my own so here goes. I bought a few rolls of Brown shipping paper from K-mart ($2.75 a roll)  then i got out a stamp that I bought recently.

I got some red ink and stamped it on the brown paper

I like the design!!  This is the one my Mom did

We ended up using raffia instead of ribbon

So we tied bows in the packages and I used those tags from my wish list… remember?  They came from my friend StampGirl

This is what the finished ones looked like!

 

It was a little more work than just wrapping presents… but not many people can say that they made their own wrapping paper!!  the options are limitless… but I was obviously a little confined today!

 

Everyday is an opportunity to get out creative juices flowing. We create our lives with each moment and we I think it’s important to fill our lives up with ourselves as well. This is my latest creation…what’s yours?

CREATE ~ Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving was Awesome! My parents and sister came and we had a nice relaxing holiday just enjoying each other… and some good food!

I get very excited about these big holiday get-to-gethers….. especially when I get to host. It makes me want everything to be pretty. So I got a little crafty and came up with this for my table.

I thought it turned out really great!!

The runner was some upholstery fabric that I got at a thrift store 2 years ago. I loved it and finally found a good use for it!!

The napkins are hand stamped. When I went to New York, I found some hand carved Indian stamps that I have been itching to use.


I just used some fabric ink and stamped the edges of some napkins I got from TJ Maxx



Then I ironed over them, I read somewhere that helps to seal the ink so your dinner guests don’t end up with orange ink smeared all over their faces.


The end result were these!!


The centerpiece was a candle globe from my mantelpiece with corn husk garland around it.
I just bought some corn husks for tamales from the Hispanic section at wal-mart


I riped a husk into smaller strips and then folded them over like this


Then I found some wire Christmas ornament hangers and poked one through the pieces


Then you wrap the sides around to hold it in place


Now you are supposed to make a million of these and attach them to twine and hang them but me and my sis just decided to make a centerpiece out of them. So we got out the handy hot glue gun and went to work. It was simple but really pretty I thought.


Then I just brought out my everyday dishes, place cards I made for last thanksgiving, me and Melia added some finishing touches and voila!!


So this was my Thanksgiving creation!!! What have you created lately?