Some Tags and a Tour

Happy Friday!  I hope that all of you had a wonderful week and are ready for the weekend.  Today I would like to share with you two fun things that made using a Stampin Up set that retired awhile back called Enjoy Every Moment. I really had lots of fun making tags with one of the stamps for the set.  The first tag that I made was done using a label.  I decorated the label for some friends that I gave some coffee nut M&Ms to.  (The coffee beans are from a coffee set from Your Next Stamp.) I added a happy face to the "O" that was in the coffee set that I used.

The M&Ms by the way are awesome!  They are actually sold out at all the CVS stores.  I had to call around to see which stores had any left.  There was only on store that had any left.  I asked my hubby to rush over to the store.  He purchased the last 5 bags.  :)  Here are the other two tags that I made using the same stamp.

This time I made a Mickey head using my punches for the "O."  It was sure fun using the stamp from the Enjoy Every Moment set. When I have a chance I would love to think of more fun thing to make using the rest of the stamps from the set.  Before I end this post I wanted to share with you what my family and I did with some friends last weekend.  We went on the annual Sarasha tour. 

I am not a huge fan of Sarasha but I always find it interesting to go on the tour

and to get free samples of products and the food. They had  Saracha chips, ice cream, popcorn, and nuts.  Last year they had Saracha chocolate which I loved.  My favorite this year was the Sarasha popcorn.  Afterwards my family and I had a fun time spending the rest of the day with our friends.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab weekend!

A Fun Time With a Good Friend, Yummy Food, and Fun Gifts

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week.  Mine was a busy one but was full of surprise and gratefulness to God.  A very scary incident happened in my family 6 years ago that God continues to use to bless our lives.  This week God used the incident to remind us of his goodness to us.  If you are interested in more detail please leave me a message with your e-mail address.  :)  Okay now onto some fun crafty stuff.  Today I am going to share with you what my good friend Esther and I surprised each other with this month during our monthly luncheon.  (It is always fun getting together each month.  We have a fun time of fellowship together while we enjoy some yummy food.)   I made a mini Hello Kitty card for her and gave her a some Hello Kitty cupcake toppers and candy and a blender pen.

She gave me this beautiful card from a class that she went to awhile back.  (I appreciate her for willing to give away such a great card from her stash of cards.)

She also gave me a super kawaii pillow with Hello Kitty on it.  I love them both especially because they have are have purple in them.

Both of us had pancakes and an omelet for lunch.  ( I ordered a chocolate chip pancakes and she ordered granola pancakes.  My omelet had cheese, spinach, and bacon.  I am sorry I don't remember what my friend's omelet had in it.) We stopped by for a sorbet bar for some sorbet for dessert. (I am not sure what Esther ordered, but I ordered strawberry sorbet and cumcumber sorbet.)  It hit the spot perfectly.

I just love how they made cute characters for different flavors.  Aren't they cute!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fun and crafty weekend!

In Honor of 9-11

None of us will ever forgot what happened 15 years ago that forever changed our country.  Seeing different posts and videos of that day still brings tears to my eyes and makes my heart ache as if it just happened yesterday.  My prayers go out to all those that lost family members and friends that day.  As a special tribute to that dreadful day each year my family and I bring food and make some thing for our local fire department. My kids each drew a picture and wrote message on the back.  I made an American flag with one of my stamp sets. I wrote a message on the back of the flag. (The part of the flag that usually has the stars I stamped "God Bless You."

My hubby purchased crossiants. (Each person is my family did their part in making this gift special for the firefighters at our local fire department.)

We attached what we made on top of the box.

When we make our delivery to the local fire department my kids always enjoy meeting different firefighters, talking to them, and getting a little tour.  The firefighters are truly our local heroes and we pray for their safety each day.  Before I end this post I just wanted to share that despite all the horrible things that happen in this world we can all find peace in the "hope, faith, and love" that we have because of God.  This is always a great comfort to my family and I.  God reminded me of this this morning as I listened to a song by Allen Jackson.  I hope that God uses this post as an encouragement to all of you.  Thank you for stopping by. God bless you today and always.   

Two Special Fold Cards and Our Mini Vacation

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful September so far.  I am so happy that the weather in SoCal is finally cooling off a bit.  My September has been pretty good so far since my family and I got to go on a mini vacation to San Diego last weekend for Memorial Day weekend.  San Diego is one of our favorite places to visit.  It reminds us a lot of Hawaii just not as humid.  I will share some pictures with you of our trip after I share with you some pictures of the tea swap for July.  The theme was to use a special fold.  This is what I made for Jayne.

Besides sending her two tea bags I surprised her with a RAK. (She likes to cross stitch so I got her a little kit.)

This is the super cool card that Jayne sent to me

along with the fun RAK.

Now onto some fun pictures from SD. Since my family and I were only there for 3 days we did not get to go to all our favorite places. One of the places we went to was Phil's BBQ.  Besides ordering their beef ribs we ordered the new item on their menu- French fries with pieces of ribs, onions, and cheese in it.

It was super yummy.  We had lunch at a new place called Poke and a 1 1/2.  We each ordered a poke bowl, but my hubby ordered a poke burrito.

Besides eating some onolicious food we had a fun and relaxing time at LEGOLAND.  Ninjagoland is the newest attraction there.  It was super fun.

LEGOLAND is fun of amazing pieces made out of zillon legos.

Before heading home we had a memorable time honoring the men and women that have served our country at Mt. Soledad.

Along with a huge cross and an American flag their are plaques that their families have engraved with their pictures, name, and a tribute. I wish it was last weekend again so that we can be in SD again. Have a blessed weekend! Thanks for stopping by! 

Two "Boy" Themed Cards

Happy Wednesday! I hope that all of you are doing well. I am taking it slow today since I have a huge headache.  I hope and pray that it goes away soon. Today I will be sharing with you the cards and RAKs from the July/August Secret Sister Swap.  I had the privilege of having my blogging pal Karen to send a card to.  I was a bit stumped with making a card with the theme "boy."  This theme is always a challenge for me.  As I was thinking about what stamp set a light bulb turned on in my head  to use the "Hanging Loose With Kona" stamp  set that a good friend recently gave to me.  Thankfully as soon as I decided to use the set my Mojo took off and I was able to make a card that for Karen that I was pretty happy with. 

 Here is the card partially open.

Along with the card I sent her a RAK. 

Cindy was my SS.  She sent me this awesome card.  I love all the detail that she put into making it.  The scene that she made me have mixed emotions.  On one hand it brought a smile to my face because it reminds me of all the happy times I have had with family and friends in Hawaii.  I was a bit sad too because it reminded me of how much I wish being there. 

This is the generous and thoughtful RAK that she sent to me.  The hand towel is way too nice to use.  Maybe I will just frame it instead.  :)  (Sorry the die cuts of the "hello" is backwards.)

Thanks again Cindy for everything.  Before I end I wanted to share two pictures from my last visit to Disneyland with my family.  We went last Friday to make 60th Anniversary flat pennies and watch the fireworks.  It was cancelled the last 3 times we wanted to watch it.  We wanted to be sure to see it before it ends on Sept. 5.  While the fireworks are going on music is being played in the background along with projections of different characters onto Small World, Main Street, or at the castle.  We were in front of Small World.

The show is amazing.  It is so sad that it is all coming to an end.  Before we headed home we took a picture in front of the castle.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day and rest of your week. 

Handmade Gifts and Tags and Shopping at Maido

Last week was my first week back to work.  Boy was it tough.  I thank the Lord for giving me the strength to get through.  As a tradition I surprise my friends/co-workers with back to school gifts. Here's the steps that I did to make their gifts.   First I glued on the erasers on the clips with super glue. (I initially hot glued the erasers onto the clips with hot glue but they were very easily taken off.  So instead I glued them on with super glue which was some what of  pain especially when it got on my hand.  The feel of crazy glue on my hand does not feel very comfy.  It will come off in a few days.)

Then I cut the sentence strips into smaller pieces, punched the scallops, and stamped and punched the apple out. Next I wrote names on the apples, glued the punched apple on the scallop, and glued the apples onto the sentence strips.

The final step was putting the clips onto the sentence strips.

The erasers and the sentence strips were purchased from the dollar bin at Le Target.  I got the clips from Daiso.  For principal, VP, and office staff I purchased a box of chocolate that is in the shape of shells.  I stamped and punched out a tag and wrote "Shellabrating UR Awesomeness!" 

It's always fun surprising friends at work with a gift. One of them said that out of all the gifts that I have surprised them with this is her favorite.  This really touched my heart and brightened my day.  Before I end I wanted to share a picture with you of the super cool store called Maido that I went to visit.  They have all my favorite products there pens, pens, and more pens (I think this is the biggest selection of pens I have ever seen in one store.),

rubber stamps, bags, professional markers, books, cards, and stuffed animals.  My newest interest are fountain pens.  It was super cool to get a brief tutorial at the store about them.  I purchased two different types of fountain pens and got different ink cartridges to put inside.  I can't wait to get to use them!  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mail and A Japanese Festival

Today marks the last Friday of my summer break.  :(  What a bittersweet week it has been.  I look forward to seeing everyone at work, but of course do not look forward to doing all the paperwork again.  I wish I had a little more time off.  Every summer seems to go by faster and faster.  As my summer comes to an end I thank the Lord for the fab summer that He has blessed my family and I with with together and spending time with family and friends at fun places and enjoying good food.  This week I received several pieces of "happy mail" to bright up my mood.  I received this super cute card from my friend Cathy all the way from New York along with a Starbucks NY gift card (She remembers that I collect the gift cards from around the world. )

She also sent me these delicious biscottis. (She sent me two dozen.)  She is a very good baker and chef.

In the mail I also received the "Year of the Monkey" monkey from Bear the Bear that I ordered.  Isn't he cute?

Before I end I want to share some pictures with you a festival that my family and I went to last week for Nesei Week.  Even though it was hot we had a fabulous time.  My favorites were taking a picture with Hello Kitty,

meeting a Pop artist that draws Hello Kitty,

seeing Frances Yip (She is the designer of one of my favorite t-shirts. Since she is retiring soon I asked her to autograph one of her stamps,),

seeing the Kubo exhibit (I can't wait to watch the movie.),

and seeing the huge Japanese kites. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a blessed weekend!