A Fun Time With Friends

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful summer so far.  Mine is always a lot of fun but this summer seems to be the best and most memorable.  My family and I always get together with different friends during the summer, but this year we have been able to see many more friends.  I think that is why this is one of the best summers.  A week ago I got together with my good friend from work, Sandy, to take her out to dinner for her b-day. The card and gift I got for her has the theme "sewing"  since she loves to sew and has been blest with the gift of sewing.  Here is the card that I made for her

and my friend with her gift.

Here is a picture of our the delicious Vietnamese good that we enjoyed.

A few weeks my friend Carol and I had a "crafting play date."  We had fun chatting, coloring with our markers,

and enjoyed some lunch together.  My daughter joined in on the fun and colored some fun images. 
Not only have I been having a blast spending time with friends, my kids having lots of fun with their friends too.  Last week my daughter invited her friend over from church to do some crafting.  They made their own Build a Bears

and bracelets.

Afterwards both of our families enjoyed a nice meal together at a Korean restaurant and went out for dessert (We ordered egg puffs, shaved ice with fresh fruit, and shaved ice with boba, red bean, and taro).

My family and I thank the Lord for the opportunities that He has given us so far this summer to spend time with friends. 

Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty

The optional theme for the tea swap for last month was "Celebrate."  When I found out that I was paired up with Robyn I immediately knew that I wanted to make a card for her with a Disney theme since she is huge Disney fan like I am.  I made a shaker card for her and stamped "wish big" inside the card.  (It was my first attempt at making a shaker card on my own so I was a little nervous.  I ran into a few bumps along the way, but I think all in all it turned out pretty good.) Along with two bags I sent her a little some thing extra- a paper weight from Disneyland.  

Robyn made me this super cute card with Hello Kitty on it along with two yummy tea bags.

Thanks Robyn for being such a wonderful swap partner.  It's always so much fun being paired up with her.  Before I end I have a few more pictures to share with you.  It's of my trip San Diego last weekend with my family and friends visiting from San Francisco.  It was a fun and relaxing trip even though it rained. I am thankful that the rain did not keep us from having lots of fun.  We stay inside for about 2 hours total but for the rest of the time we were having a blast wearing our ponchos.

Besides going to LEGOLAND and to some of our favorite places my daughter and I went to Paper Tales, one of my favorite stamp stores.  It was especially fun going there because my daughter and I met the owner of Avery Elle and got to make a make and take.  The owner is super nice. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a blessed day!

Thank You Cards

Ever since I was little I have written "thank you" cards to family members and friends to thank them for the gift that they have given to me.  Writing "thank you" cards is one of the things my mom taught/trained my sisters and I to do.  I am thankful that she did that.  I always feel special when I receive a "thank you" knowing that the person has taken time to write me a card.  I am sure that when others receive "thank you" cards they feel the same.  Recently I made some "thank you" cards for some kids that gave me gifts.  I made Hello Kitty ones for the girls and Snoopy ones for the boys.

I also made "thank you" cards for my b-day presents.  (Yes, it has taken me awhile to make them and get them mailed.)  I added Stickles to the shaved ice to make it look like the ice.  I colored the shaved ice using various colors for each card.  In this card Mr. Panda happens to be eating a cherry or strawberry flavored shaved ice.

A third "thank you" card that I made was a gift card holder for my kids' teachers. 

As you can see from this post another one of my favorite dies is the "Top Note" die from Stampin Up which is now retired.  To keep with the theme of this post next I am going to share the two pictures that my daughter drew for two of my friends to say "thank you" for what they gave to her. 

I think both of them turned out great!  I encourage my son and daughter to write "thank you" cards to people that have given them a gift.  I hope and pray that this will continue to put this into practice for many years to come.  Thank you for taking time today to come by!

Black and White Cards

It was lots of fun having my good friend Fran as my tea swap partner.  The optional theme of the swap was "Words, it all about the words" and the optional color was black and white.  Prior to making the card for her I was looking online for different ideas.  The card that I made for Fran was inspired by Lorene Yoshimura-Tanigawa, a SU demonstrator.  I had the same exact layout and sentiment as Lorene, but used black and white instead. I thought the saying was perfect for how I feel about Fran.  :)  This is how Fran's card turned out.

Along with the card I sent her some tea cookies, some tea bags, and ribbon.

I always think it is more fun to follow a theme.  Fran in turn made me a super cute card (She told that the words on the background are done on her computer.  What a fab idea.) and coordinating tea bag holder.

She also sent me some delicious coffee and cookies.  

Thanks again Fran for being such a fun and thoughtful tea swap partner.  Before I end this post I would like to share with you some ono pictures of some food and desserts that my family and I recently ordered.  Here is a Korean BBQ burger  (It has lettuce, cucumbers, and picked veggies.) from The Counter.  Check out the size of it.  I only ate half of it and was stuffed.

For dessert we recently enjoyed a strawberry short cake from Disneyland and

shaved ice with red bean, glass jelly, and boba from Phoenix Food Boutique.

Thanks everyone for coming by!  I hope that you will have a fun and crafty day/evening!

More Flip It Cards

Happy first day of July!  I hope that this post is finding you doing well and staying cool.  It seems like it's been super hot everywhere. I am sure all of you out there have favorite dies that you have where you are on a roll each time you use them.  One of my favorites is the "Triple Circle Flip It" die by Stephanie Bernard.  I posted a Hello Kitty flip card that I made awhile ago using the die.  Shortly after making this card I made two other cards using the die. Each of the cards I made are in a theme that two of my friends like.   One of the cards was another Hello Kitty card.  Here is the front of it.

Here is a view of the back of the card.

The second card that made is a card with a "beach/Hawaiian" theme.   Here is the front of it.

Here is view of the back of the card.

The first card that I made using the die I admit was a bit challenging with so many pieces to cut, but after making the first one it was very relaxing to make more cards with the die.  I really like that the die has all the different pieces for you to piece together to make a card.  No measuring is necessary. After writing this post has got me motivated to take out the flip die to make more cards.  Maybe I will experiment with using the other flip dies that I have.  Before I end today's post I wanted to share with you two pictures of my visit to Disneyland over the weekend with my family.  Our trips there are always very fun and relaxing.  With having annual passes we don't feel like we need to rush to get things done.  The first highlight of our time there was getting to see the "Inside Out" float in the Pixar parade. 

That movie is one of my favorites.  The characters in it are so cute!  A second highlight is getting to see a preview of the Ant Man movie.

(Disneyland often has previews of their movies that are coming out.)  The movie looks pretty good.  We can't wait for it to come out in a few weeks.  Two other highlights is the fireworks that they have for their 60th Anniversary and the new electrical parade.  It was out first time watching the fireworks.  It was awesome!  Not only do they have music with the fireworks but they also project different images on the walls of Main Street that coordinate with the music.  It was our second time watching the parade, but we enjoyed it as much as our first time.  This time we did not need to wait 3 hours to get good seats.  We only had to wait 30 minutes this time.    Thanks for coming by to see what I have to share today.