Happy Birthday to my BFF!

Ok I'm kinda hoping my best friend doesnt randomly come along and decide to read this post. Tomorrow is her birthday and I made her an extra special card. I'm broke as a joke right now since we're in the process of buying a house any and all money we've earned is going towards closing costs, moving... etc... *Wish us luck*

Anywho, so I felt really bad about not being able to spoil her on her birthday so I made her a b-day card and will have to make it up to her after we close escrow on the house. I altered Megan and swapped bodies from the Pretty Hat Set. Ever since I saw Amy alter her first Anya, I was hooked. While I haven't altered an anya yet, I'm slowly working my way there. I liked the way this card came out. It was simple, cute and special enough for my best friend :)

Farm Fresh Friday - Sketch 6

Time for another Farm Fresh Friday! I need to post more regularly during the week, so my posting doesn't just happen to be for every farm fresh friday ;) My weeks are so busy between work, home, Snail Mail Creations and checking out the progress of our new house, that I haven't been able to capture everything. I'm going to make an effort to work on that this week because my days are busy and life is constantly going. It would be nice to document more.

This is my submission for this weeks challenge. I ended up altering Annika again. For some reason I just love her face and hair. I love the versitility with TGF stamps to swap heads, bodies, accessories, pets etc...

Ok gotta jet....See ya later with a sneak peek for a birthday card I made for my BFF! ;) xoxo

Happy (early) Birthday to Me!

I dont know if anyone truly knows just how much I LOVE Hello Kitty! Ok so maybe that's a lie, but most people who know me pretty well know I dont just love hello kitty, they know I'm downright obsessed lol ~ Always have been... always will..... nuff said. :)

My birthday is coming up again in about 2 weeks. Meh! I hate Birthdays and getting older. Last year Kevin really outdid himself with birthday surprises that he'll probably never be able to live down for the rest of his life. #1 he proposed and #2 he also got me a puppy... talk about shocker! So now its basically impossible to top my last birthday with any sort of huge surprise. But this guy ceases to amaze me, and this year he did pretty damn good too! He got me an early birthday present and I'm really excited about it too! He got me the Sizzix Hello Kitty Big Shot. He knows how much I love HK, plus he knows how much I love crafting, scrapbooking and my obsession with The Greeting Farm and making fun & cute cards.

I've seen so many people making some of the most amazing cards, so of course I want to make some awesome cards too! My newest thing I've been dying to get are some spellbinders nestabilities to expand the possibilities for my cardmaking etc.... With my new Hello Kitty Big Shot, I can finally make some new shapes other than just circles or scalloped circles and add more flair to my cards. I feel so outta the loop on whats new and cool with the crafting machines. I need to find some more crafty friends, take a scrapbooking class again or go hang out at Archivers and try to make some friends by hanging out all day or something? lol I need to find a Scrapbook Expo too!

Next on my Wish List:

I dont know if anyone can tell, or how obvious it is... but ALL of my cards have been made with bare minimum craft supplies since we just moved and we're planning to move again in a few months once our house is built. I'm slowly getting more and more supplies together and then once our house is finished I'm gonna have my very own kick ass craft studio to work in :) Yee-Haw! Gotta get that Texas talk in there :) hahah Ok maybe not so funny, but I amuse myself :)~
Thanks for stopping by... it's the weekend folks so I'll be making more Greeting Farm Cards. My BFF's Birthday is coming up so I've gotta make her a card! :)

TGIF!

Dream Big!

" Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the Life you have imagined."

- Henry David Thoreau

xoxo,

Farm Fresh Friday - Forever Friends

It's another Farm Fresh Friday Folks! I've been busy with the new job, so crafting has taken a temporary backseat until I can get used to my new 8-5 work schedule again. I was out of work for 6 months so getting back into the swing of things again has left me exhausted during the week, my only "me" time is on the weekends. So as soon as Saturday hit, I was catching up on blogs and hitting the craft table to get organized again :)

Here's my FFF Challenge - Sketch #5

This was my first time attempting to alter my TGF stamps. I swapped the heads on Annika and Megan. I also used Reeta's Kitty, and the Terrier in the Pretty Hat set. My Anya and Greeting Farm Collection of stamps is almost complete. I have an insane goal to own every stamp Marie has ever made lol! Anywho back to more stamping fun! see ya next time!

xoxo,

I Wanna be just like Amy Chellenge

Over at Club Anya, They there was a new challange I couldn't pass up! It's the "I wanna be just like Amy!" Contest. Amy always creates the cutest and most creative cards I've ever seen. She's one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to card making and I think she may be the queen of altering Anya too!

This was my "attempt" at creating a card like Amy's layout. I've been dying to use my Alice Anya and my Wonderland set, so I thought I would mix them in together. I wish I could have fit more fun Wonderland items on my card, but I only had so much space to work with. Plus I didnt want my card to look too cluttered.... which I'm still wondering if I over-did it???

Anywho, here's my card.. hope you like it :)


xoxo,

The Watering Hole

Kevin and I decided to take a drive out to our home site since it's been a couple weeks or so since we've stopped by or even checked in with the sales office to see how everything is coming along with our house. They originally told us in mid August we'll get to set up a meeting with the builder and around the same time they'll break ground and start building our house. We're almost in mid August so we've been wondering if anything new has been going on in our new neighborhood.

We drove by tonight and were really surprised to see them watering down our lot. This is the first step right before they break ground to build. They'll get it all nice and wet to make it easier to dig deep for plumbing etc and then lay our foundation. As we were hanging out admiring our future home, Blake (Our Home Salesman) drove by since he lives right around the corner from where our new house will be. We got a chance to speak with him for a moment and he let us know we should be setting up an appt with the builder within the next week or 2. Things are moving right along... I can't believe they're already watering down our lot to get ready to start the building process. Once they start, everything will move very fast from here on out.

If you recall, just a few weeks ago things looked like this

Now they look like this

They've just started a new home right next door to us too

While we were there we also met one of our new neighbors. He was driving around checking out the neighborhood and his lot to see if they've started anything on his new house just as Kevin and I had stopped by too. He came over and introduced himself, he was extremely nice and we got to chat a little. He and his wife are newly married and they're around the same age as Kevin and I. They're closing date is within the same month as ours, so I am really looking forward to meeting his wife once we all get moved in. It would exciting if our new neighbors lead to making some new good friends :)

Anywho... that's all the updates on the house for now. Hope you enjoy!

"My favorite things" Challenge

This card resembles my most Favorite Birthday Ever. Last year on my Birthday My fiancee proposed, so it was a very special birthday since it was a complete surprise. I was so nervous the whole time he was down on one knee all I could remember hearing him say was, "Will you be my Wife?"

Challenge rules:

Create a card/layout with photos from your fave bday, or altered item that evokes and/or reminds you of your FAVORITE birthday memory. This can be your favorite present, bday party, etc. but it has to tie into your favorite memory somehow.

Farm Fresh Friday - Fluttery Floral Challenge

I worked on a new Farm Fresh Friday Challenge over at The Greeting Farm. This was the Fluttery Floral challenge. The rules were to use flowers and at least 1 butterfly. This is only my second challenge, and I love how this card turned out!

xoxo,

Birthday Greetings

This Monday I start my brand spankin new job, so I will have very limited crafting time. I've been busy during my last 4 days of freedom to craft as much as I can just to get my crafting fix. My sister's birthday is coming up in a week, so making her a birthday card was on my "to do" list since I hate sending late birthday cards when I'm currently ahead of schedule. I just know once I start working again, I'd probably forget or would run out of time. I am the Queen of Procrastination! lol I used the Susie Surprise stamp from The Greeting Farm for her card. I thought it came out really cute, I'm sure she'll love it.

Farm Frsh Friday's - Believe

Wow, I am so excited! I finally participated in my very first Farm Fresh Friday Challenge over at The Greeting Farm's blog. I've always seen and missed the challenges every time they came up. I finally sat down and completed it in time :)

Here's the layout for the challenge:

Here's my FFF Submission:

Sold!

Finally! Here's our first official picture of the new sold sign. Last month we picked out the lot we wanted in a new and very cute neighborhood in Katy. We then put our deposit down, picked out our upgrades we're adding to the house and picked out our options we can customize in our house that the builder has given us. We just turned in our loan paperwork this week and everything is moving right along. I am so excited and I can't wait till they start to break ground and actually build! We'll be meeting with the contractors in mid -August to discuss the whole build process and to get more details then. :)

The Greeting Farm Fun!

I've recently discovered hidden feelings that I'm lacking creativity. My Etsy Shop has been busy with sales, but it hasn't been fulfilling my creative needs. Crafting has always been my outlet, and with my nomadic lifestyle within the past 5 years, I haven't been able to fully unpack and get back to crafting. I want to explore and expand my creativity, imagination and make new things. I think I have finally solved that problem. I have found a NEW love for stamping. I say it's a NEW love, because as a kid I always had stamps, but lately I've been wanting to take it to a whole other level. I also love to scrapbook, and now I can combine the two. I found the cutest stamps from a company called The Greeting Farm. I've purchased almost their entire inventory, and I am ready to stamp away! ;) I still have lots to learn about techniques, and I have questions on how to do certain things I've seen a some other TGF stampers do, but I am very excited. I've created 2 cards so far. I made one for my Mom and one for my Sister. I dropped them in the mail the other day just to say hello, now that I'm miles away in Texas.

Keep in mind, these are very basic cards. Most of my crafty supplies will remain packed until we move into our new house. I went out and bought some new papers and supplies to help get me started. I used the Panda Friends Set for my Mom's Card, and 2 Different Stamps of Anya from the Miss Anya Collection, and Rain Snow Shine. I colored in the stamps with copic markers and used random papers I bought.

The Anya on the left is supposed to be my sister,and the Anya on the Right with the Sunglasses is me... Cute huh! ;)

Close Up

Guess who turned 1?

Guess who turned 1 today?

That's right, my little Bailey Boo just had her first Birthday. As you can see she's living it up! ;)

Update - Unemployment Blues

Update to my last post....

Not even 2 minutes after I posted my last blog venting about my job situation and how I ran out of my new job and training today, I just got a call about another job!

A huge part of my apprehension for my new job I accepted was due to a call I received last week. I think I had mentioned in my previous post that the same day I accepted my job offer I got a call about another job that sounded more up my alley and more like something I'd want to do. When I got the call I was really busy and was in the middle of trying to take care of "house stuff" and we were putting a deposit down on our house. Thinking back now, I shouldn't have answered my phone. I'm more likely to call someone back if I get a voicemail and can sit down at a later time and talk to someone about a job versus when I'm running around in a hurry trying to get as much stuff done. I told her I would think it over and call her back. Because of the timing of the phone call and being in the middle of trying to take care of things with the house, I never called her back. Instead I just obsessed about it all week feeling like an asshole for not calling her back. Then like an idiot I waited a week before finally calling her because I kept thinking it was too late, or that I waited too long and I was sure the job was taken by now. Also since I didnt call her back the next day, I was really feeling pretty jerky. Not to mention on top of it all, I already accepted the other job and my first day was today - Ugh! - I'm just a mess I tell you!

Anwyays...All week while my intuition was going crazy and red flags were flying up everywhere about this new job I accepted, I still couldn't let this other job go and it was constantly in the back of my mind. Then yesterday in between the stress and the tears about starting my new job, I called the other lady back and left her a voicemail. I appologized for not getting back to her sooner and just wanted to see if the job was still available. Then today after flipping out over this job and running outta there like a bat out of hell, I came home and posted my blog venting since I'm just feeling outta whack right now. Then not even 2 minutes later I just got a call from that lady about the other job I've been thinking about. Yay!!! So now I have an interview tomorrow. She was honest with me and said they were considering another gal for the job too, but told me the other girl hasn't even interviewed yet but they had interest in her by her resume. But then I guess they did about me too. So tomorrow's my interview and we'll see what happens :)


See folks... This is why I listen to my intuition.... it NEVER lets me down! :)

Unemployment Blues

Jobs are like men... You can't live with them.... and you cant live without them!

Things have been so busy and just kinda crazy lately, I'm just feeling stressed, frustrated and feeling like I've got the unemployment blues. I need a regular 8-9 hr job so I have a regular income coming in. Since moving to Houston I've had oh maybe 5-10 interviews I'm guessing? And I've received 3 job offers, all of which did not feel like the right job for me. Either the schedules were too crazy, or the pay wasn't what I'm looking for. I nicely declined 2 of the positions, and accepted one of the job offers. Later that same day I got a call about another job that sounded more up my alley, but I never called that lady back. Instead I've just been thinking about it all week - Ugh! So this morning was my first day of training at my new job I accepted. I was in tears yesterday and last night because I still can't shake this feeling that this just isn't the right job for me. In past experience, If I dont feel right about a job, or I hate the job before I even start, or I'm just not feeling like this is a good fit for me, I just cant see myself there for any length of time. Also in the past my intuition has never done me wrong, for example - I passed up 2 job offers before I got my kick ass job at Waste Management. If I just took either of the first 2 jobs that came along, I wouldn't have been available to get the job at WM. The first 2 jobs just didnt feel right and my intuition has always been right. When I go against it, bad things happen every single time. When I got laid off at Waste Management in January, I started a new job at a wholesale t-shirt/design company. It seemed ok at first, the pay wasn't quite what I wanted and then I kept getting all these red flags about the job and my intuition was going haywire! The people who interviewed me talked very negatively about their own boss, they seemed like they all hated their jobs and asked me if I was sure I wanted the position. I quickly said yes without really thinking it over just because I wanted to start working again and I almost didn't care where I was working. Then I started the job, and the owner of the company was a total dickhole! He would yell and cuss at his employees and call his customers assholes, idiots, and every other profanity he could think of. He was ex-military, very strict, very much an asshole and everyone that worked there kept warning me about him. I should have listened to my intuition since I was weary about this job and after my first day I was in tears and didn't want to go back. A few days later they let me go anyways, because they wanted someone bi-lingual, but I was sooo glad because by that time I was too chicken shit to quit! I mean right there that tells you that you need to listen to your gut and trust in yourself, and when I go against myself, things just don't work out.

So this morning I went to this new job even after crying about going last night and I was sitting in the room where they do the training. I was filling out my w4 and my new hire paperwork and I was shaking. I still could not get over this feeling like I just wanted to run out of the room and leave. I kept cursing myself that I even walked in there. While I filled out all of my paperwork, the HR lady gave us more info about the sales job and then it just made it even more apparent I really didn't want this type of job. I've been open to looking into different jobs and even interviewing with everyone because sometimes you just never know... but this time, I was just a wreck over feeling "stuck" in this job if I started it. I know myself too well, and if I were to start this job, I'd be miserable every single day, in tears when I'm home, stressed out beyond belief, but I would never quit. I'd just let myself be stuck, and honestly that's not how I want to live my life. So as some of the other new hires in the room were finishing up their paperwork, I was like ok this is it... I need to make a break and just get out of here. I mean there's no sense in wasting their time training me or wasting my time sitting in that room for 8 hours today if I knew I wouldn't want to go back tomorrow or ever again. So I finally just said screw it and went up to the HR lady and gave her my new hire packet that wasn't filled out yet and politely let her know I had changed my mind about the position, and thanked them for their time and flew outta there like a bat outta hell!

I've never felt so relieved, embarrassed, stressed out, and so guilty all at the same time! I know I will find a job that's a right fit for me, but I just need to be patient, and keep applying for more jobs.

Anyways, thanks for listening...

Unbalanced Creativity

There's lots going on this week and I don't know how to feel about any of it. I temporarily closed my etsy shop yesterday because I'm just not feeling very fulfilled with my shop. Don't get me wrong, the sales are good, but I used to "craft" and make physical things I'd sell in my shop like pouches, purses, plush, coasters and other things that challenged my creativity and kept my mind constantly occupied. I always had new ideas of things I wanted to make or ideas of things I wanted to try making. Now days I'm just making and printing paper goods like address labels and note cards, and I'm not using my hands or imagination to make anything to fulfill my creative needs.

Crafting and creating has always been an outlet in my life that I love to get lost in. In 2006 I lived in Connecticut with an ex-boyfriend. We bought a 3 bedroom house together and I got my very own craft room. For the first time in my life I had a space all to myself. I spent hours upon hours in my craft room just enjoying every minute of the day that I was creating something, and even when I wasn't creating things, I was thinking of new ideas and all the things I wanted to make. I had laundry lists of things to make, things to try, supplies to get, and it just fulfilled my creative mind. Then the relationship I was in abruptly ended and I moved out of our house and moved on. I ended up moving back home to California and moved back in with my mom in her Apartment. Ever since I moved back to San Diego from Connecticut, I've stopped crafting and creating. I think it was mostly due to the fact that I went from living in a 3 bedroom house with my own craft room to shoving everything I owned into 1 bedroom in my mom's apartment. I'm grateful she had a place for me to stay, but everything from that point changed.I've since moved out of my mom's apartment, but I still haven't had the space to unpack my craft supplies let alone have enough space to sit and create. I'm at the point now where not having an outlet to explore my creativity is hindering my spirit and my life. I just have this constant feeling like something isn't right in my life, when I know for a fact, I'm very blessed and have no reason to complain. I just have these wild desires to craft and create, but the timing isn't right. We just moved to Houston and we're temporarily in an Apartment until we buy a home and escrow closes. The good thing is, we're in the process of getting our new home which will be large enough for me to have my own craft room again, but my creativity has been suppressed for so long it feels like it's killing me. I just want to bust out all of my craft stuff and just make something already!! In the meantime, I just don't feel like keeping my etsy shop open and that saddens me.

Our Future House

Our Future House

Kevin and I put a deposit down on a brand new house last week. It's not built yet, so we'll get to pick out some specifications as to what color brick we want, and we'll also get to pick other details like tile colors for flooring, counter tops, etc at a design center. We're hoping everything goes smoothly so we can get the ball rolling so we can close escrow before the end of November. We'd really like to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit before it expires this year.

This house is 2012 sq Ft. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 Baths, Laundry Room, Formal Dining Room, Kitchen Dining Area, Family Room, and 2 Car Garage and a Backyard. We'll have plenty of room if anyone wants to come visit us! :) *hint hint*

Wish us luck!

My Secret Hobby

Most people dont really know I collect cute salt & pepper shakers. This is one hobby I've purposely keep a secret, otherwise the next thing I know i'd start getting s&p shakers for my birthday or holidays, and that's the last thing I need. (I've had past experience back in the 90's when I told people I loved ladybugs, fairies and tinkerbell lol) I'm pretty picky when it comes to my "collections". I dont collect just any type of s&p shakers, I only like to collect really cute or unique shakers from japan, cupcakes, and some from new places I visit. I was out running some errands a couple weeks ago and stopped in this pharmacy not too far from my house. The pharmacy had a post office inside, games, toys, greeting cards, make up, kitchenware and all sorts of neat little nick knacks. It reminded me of Burns Drugs in La Jolla, so I felt right at home. While I was there I found the cutest little salt and pepper shaker to add to my collection. It almost matches another cupcake shaker I have, only this one is smaller and it's a little more decorative. I thought it was adorable, so I picked it up. The top where the frosting is comes apart from the bottom, so it's stackable. It's just too cute!

Moving to Houston

I've finally unpacked and gotten Kevin and I settled in our Apartment in Houston. Our apartment is really cute, and much larger than our apartment we had back in San Diego. We've got about 200-250 sq ft extra, with new carpet, new appliances, a fireplace, central air conditioning, a pool, and a fitness center, all for $100 more per month in rent!

Our trip was exhausting and Kevin and I both agree we will most likely never make the drive to or from Texas to California ever again unless we give ourselves more time, even then, that’s a stretch. We were utterly exhausted and it was physically painful to be in a car for 10+ hours a day. I took lots of pictures to remember our journey, since I know one day I'll look back and be glad we had the experience of driving cross country for our big move. If we ever do it again, I'd want to ride with Kevin in the same car. It might make things a little more interesting. Overall we made it safe and sound and the pets did really well in the car over the 2 day trip. Bailey was on her best behavior, we didn’t have any accidents and she didn’t whine or make a peep the entire time. She was a trooper! :)

Day 1:

6:00 a.m. - all packed up and ready to go!

Got the dog?.... Check!Got the cat?.... Check!Headed out on the 8 going east!Headed into Imperial ValleySleepy BaileyHeaded towards Yuma, AZWelcome to Arizona!Space Age LodgeDinosaurs hanging out at the Shell StationDriving through miles and miles of catusEnjoying the beautiful scenery in Arizona

Driving though New Mexico.

The clouds are coming down in a funnel - we're headed towards a stormWe're about to drive under a gigantic rainbowThe storm gets darkerWelcome to Texas!

Day 2:

Driving through the dark since 4:00 a.m... the first sign of lightWatching the sun riseSmile! ...( I'm so exhausted!)Stopping to fill up the gas guzzlerKevin in the Penske TruckBailey waking up from sleeping all morningAre we there yet?