so thankful...

with Thanksgiving coming up, i thought i would share some of the people and things i'm thankful for... God has blessed me in so many ways, and i can't be thankful enough! so here goes a completely UN-COMPREHENSIVE list in no particular order:

• music! i really really love listening to music. i think it can change a mood right away. currently i'm totally digging Christmas music (and have been for at least a month), but the current favorite i just bought on iTunes is "Pennies from Heaven." hehe, so fun!
• my family--love them so much. my parents are awesome and supportive, and my brothers are super sweet and they never fail to make me smile. Peter and Joey still live close to me, and getting to see them brightens my day. AND! everyone will be together for this Christmas. Cecelia is coming from D.C., Lincoln will be jetting in from PA, and my grandma and my aunt are coming from NY. who knows when the next time me and my siblings will all be together like that again. it hasn't even happened yet, but i'm already thankful it's going to! :D
• Christmas! i love celebrating the birth of Jesus, and i love everything that it entails. i'm a fan of traditions, but i'm so totally excited to decorate in my own place in just my style. since i have a pink living room and bedroom, i'm thinking of going with a sweet and girly tree and decorations (aka pink and green!)--of course i'll be making some handmade decorations, and i'll have to share them with you :D
  

this one i found HERE was sooo pretty!

friends. this includes so many people. the ones that care about how i'm feeling and how it's been going, the ones who pray for me, the ones i get to meet up with and we don't skip a beat even though it's been ages since we got together, my sister, my daily best friend, my co-teacher, my crafty buddies... they help me in so many ways. i only hope that i'm half as reliable or steadfast as they are. i just seem SO lucky. actually, BLESSED.

sandwich grills. addicted and about ready to give them as Christmas gifts to everyone i know. they make grilled perfection every single time no matter what the contents! *LE SIGH*

scrapbook retreats--i counted up the actual 'completed pages' and even though not all of them are 12x12, i still had a record productive weekend: i completed 82 pages!!!! w00t w00t! :D

bursts of ingenuity when teaching or planning for school--it helps so much! i love doing something that makes students think!

coupons and sales. these make me so happy. good deals MUST be endorphin boosters, would you agree?

diet coke. helplessly addicted.

laughing--i am so thankful for laughter.

water polo with all its challenges and physical demands. i think what others say is 'insane' actually keeps me 'sane.' oh, the irony.

and YOU, my precious blog readers... you are a constant source of encouragement that i feed off of. i am blown away by your support. i love reading your comments!

oh, and you thought i wasn't going to share a card? hehe--nope, i've got one here:

i used tons of Sassafras papers that made me think 'vintage' so i de-hoarded a length of vintage lace trim and then inked up the edges, and finally i added a fun swirl stamp i picked up from Impress a year ago. i also added a few BG felt stickers--they're perfectly wonderful texture-wise on this acetate card. oh, and i used an EK border punch for the inside edges. fun stuff in sort of fall colors--what do you think?

so, what are you thankful for? i'd love to hear what has blessed you lately :D thanks for stopping by!

yes, Virginia

there is a Santa Claus. [famous line from Miracle on 34th St. you know this, yes?]

so i don't know how many of you knew about the deal that Macy's was putting on for "National Believe Day" on Friday, but they had this promotion. anyone named Virginia could go in to Macy's and get a free $10 gift card. yeah, simple, right? well, only if your name is Virginia.

and mine is! :D

GASP > i know some of you may be surprised to know that although i go by Ginny here on the blog (which is an honest-to-goodness nickname) my real name is Virginia. well... it is. it's a nice name--somewhat rare, and very unique. so i decided to get the gift card--i mean, who could it hurt?

so there's a good story for the day, right? can't get much better than that ;D i bought something already with the free money, but i can't share, because there's a chance that the person might be reading this blog post, and i don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone :D

also up on the agenda are some more banners. i really need to enter some cards for challenges, but still have my craft space covered with things for this project... we'll see if i can fit it in sometime.

i'm sorry about how out of order these pictures are... Blogger doesn't want to cooperate with me for some reason... again, i'm going with the pink, green scheme for these Christmas banners.

here i am... not looking my best, but still, it's me.

lots of goodies loaded up over here.

and oh.my.goodness... i have to tell you about how thrilled i am that i got to go to a concert tonight! i went with Paulina, her sisters, and my brothers to the TobyMac "Winter Wonder Slam Concert!"



i got to see this awesome performer... if you haven't heard about him before, he's one of the most popular Christian artists out there, and i absolutely love his sound--hip-hop/ rock/ r&b/ rap mix--> hard to describe, but just plain awesome.

he's getting older (as far as the concert circuit and for doing what he does on stage), but i am still totally in awe of his energy tonight. my ears are totally blasted out! :D

and to make things even better... he came down to the floor seats (which btw, i had AWESOME 6th row seats thanks to Paulina, best concert buddy EVA!) and he sang this close to us...and THEN... OHMYWORD... still can't believe it... he WALKED DOWN MY ROW. he got up on the chairs along the aisle that my brothers were standing on, and at this point i am basically hyperventillating... and he comes down, he's walking along the chairs, he's passing me while he sings, and i touched his arm as he went by.

(okay, side note: i know i totally sound like a groupie here, but seriously, i LOVE TobyMac... like a TON. and this had to have been the greatest concert experience EVER. ohmyword. so call me groupie, or whatever, but it ROCKED!!!)

and i could not believe that it had happened... still amazed. i came home with the brothers, and i know that i'll be a little hard of hearing for a while yet, and that my eyes will still be hazy from the fog machine, and that i'll remember this always.

thanks for checking in--hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

no matter what... & ABC's

a while ago i made this Fathers Day card for my dad. we were having a family picnic on Father's Day, and i wasn't able to take a picture of it, so here i am posting this WAAAY later than planned. i really like the color scheme for this "masculine" card, even though some parts of it could be considered girly. American Crafts, DoodleFactory, and Bazzill were my main products used.

**i know i haven't been posting regularly lately, but i've been super busy with the 1st week of school and teaching and coaching, etc... i'm definitely not used to this pace yet, and am still settling in. thanks for bearing with me!**

here you see i made a belly band for this card... i used my Cricut to cut out the "Happy Father's Day" that fits perfectly behind my band. i did a lot of distressing and sanding around edges of everything, to give it a more guy feel.

here's how the card opens at first: "no matter..." i wrote a bunch of funny little things my Dad does, like shrinking clothes in the laundry, and not delivering phone messages. i love him all the same, though :D

and here's the full card opened completely. overall, there are quite a few layers on this card, and it was a good thing i had thought of a way to close it up, otherwise it would be spilling out, hehe!

also, i picked these barn and castle stamps for the inside of the card because my Dad has been dreaming up the house/ barn he's going to build at our property for years... he's actually tossed around the idea of building a castle type house, but my Mom wasn't really going for it. anyway, whatever they both finally decide, i'll be happy for them, because i know they'll love it. i got these stamps from DoodleFactory, and they were sooo perfect for layering and this card for my Dad :D

do you see how the windows are popped out, and i even had these barn doors open on the top layer! hehe, i felt so clever when i made this card... everything is just so cute :D (oooh, and did you see that windmill detail with the brad in the center? neat, huh?)

and here you can see the mega-layering on the castle. i stamped it 3 times--the first on the panel, then twice on gray card stock. i popped out some turrets and shaded everything in to give it even more depth. ahh, don't you just love this? it makes me think of knights, and princesses, etc :D too fun!

i got to use some fun velvet letters from Making Memories as well as some alphas from Basic Grey (on the belly band and on the inside). it added another kind of texture to the card which was really nice.

here you can see how i cut out the tags with my Cricut again and made a pocket to hold all the special little notes on why i loved my Dad so much. i used a circle punch out of the front of the half envelope and stuck these tags in with AC ribbon too.

he really liked this card, and actually showed it off at the picnic we were at... so glad he liked it. now he's got in in his office along with some other cards i've made for him over the years. so funny to see what you made before and compare it to your style/ sense now.

Anyway, in other news, I’ve been tagged by Celia @ The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia to participate in a fun meme, and since she’s my sister, and it looks like fun, I think I’ll play along. Plus, don’t you want to know more about me? :D

RULES

1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Share your ABC’s
3. Tag three people at the end by linking to their blogs
4. Let the three tagged people know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website
5. Do not tag the same person repeatedly but try to tag different people, so there is a big network of bloggers doing this tag

Available or married? Available! But totally willing to change that ;D

Best Friend? Cecelia, my sister. *grin*

Cake or Pie? Cake. For sure, ah, I love chocolate, and spice, and carrot… and doesn’t cheesecake technically count as cake?

Drink of choice? Water, or Diet Coke with a lemon OR lime. Either works.

Essential item for every day use? Gum, or my car. I practically live in my car… I drive about 45 minutes to school, and 45 minutes back every day. I spend so much time in my car, and everything in it is essential (like the chap stick, the comfy seats, the CDs, the speed at which it goes…)

Favorite color? Red, black, pink, and blue. My second favorite color is orange, green, and yellow. I also look really good in purple.

Google? Yes. Frequently. The maps are better than MapQuest, and well, it’s Google.

Hometown? Seattle, Washington.

Indulgences? Pretty patterns… especially on paper. Although I’ve been known to covet some items from Ikea catalogs every now and then. I also love movies, FOOD, and traveling.

January or February? February. Valentine’s Day, and it’s not right after the holidays when you don’t want to go back to school…

Kids and their names? I want them someday, and have ideas regarding names, but currently, no children… unless you count my “kids” at school… which I don’t really want to do.

Life would not be complete without? God, family, friends.

Marriage date? Not married, yet ;)

Number of siblings? I’m the second born of 5. One older sister, three younger brothers. My sister Cecelia is only 16 months older than me at 25, and my brother Peter is 16 months younger than me. Then there's Lincoln and Joey. My mom was brave, and had 5 kids within 6 years… I L-O-V-E my siblings.

Oranges or apples? Apples for sure! Fuji are my favorite!

Phobias and fears? I hate heights, but more than that, I hate the edges that usually accompany them.

Quote for the day? “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” --Dory, from Finding Nemo

Reason to smile? Hmm, FAMILY, pretty paper, good music, yummy food, FRIENDS, and finding money in pockets when you didn’t expect it.

Season? I think Winter’s great… I LOVE Christmas--definitely my favorite part of the year. But I absolutely cannot knock having the summer vacation (even though this summer wasn’t much “vacation”) as a teacher.

Tag 3 people?
Heidi at Van Laar Designs
Dad at The Garden Handyman
Amy at Tsuruta Designs
…not sure if they’ll actually do this, but who knows? I always like to hear about real people and their lives.

Unknown fact about me? I went to the National Championships in college for water polo (3 out of 4 years!).

Vegetable you hate? Lima beans, cooked spinach, beets, and sometimes I really hate eggplant. It’s the texture.

Worst habit? Staying up way too late. Especially on school nights.

X-rays you’ve had? Dental, fingers, toes, ankle, etc…

Your fave food? I like pizza, but if I had to live off of one food (made in a variety of ways) for the rest of my life, it would be POTATOES! Mashed potatoes, hash browns, French fries, potato salad, baked potatoes, home fries, tater tots, jojos, steak fries… I love it all.

Zodiac sign? Dunno, my birthday is May 1st.

thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend :D

a little bit of Ecuador and a lot of cards...

oh my goodness. i had a wonderful time in Ecuador! i spent 2 weeks working with my church group doing some short term missions, and i got to spend the majority of my time working with 8-10 year old Ecuadorian kids. my group was the best, and i got really attached to a few of the cuties... here are just a FEW of the pictures i took (and i literally mean, a few. i had a total of 650 + all the videos i took.)

this is me with Joselin at our first VBS (we went to 2 locations a day for a week. that meant i told stories for 2 very different groups of kids [in numbers and dispositions] and did skits twice a day as well. fun stuff!)

here i am with Daniel... who could resist that little face? he was something of a trouble maker, but i really loved being around him and his smiles. he loved giving me hugs and showing me his coloring. too adorable. wish i could give him a hug right now just thinking about it.

anyway, i made a WHOLE bunch of cards today after i went to see the movie Julie & Julia with my friend Paulina (totally recommend it for EVERY blogger out there... so hilarious and TRUE!) we were cracking up the whole entire time, and totally felt a connection with the Julie and her blogging obsession :D we also had some lovely lunch (with my sister, Cecelia, as well) at The Cheesecake Factory. can you tell i was spoiled today? i was going to come home and nap because i'm still getting over a sickness from Ecuador, but was coughing too much and just decided to make some cards for 365 cards. i'll be posting more later, but here's what i have:

Day 177 - Monogram Monday

i stamped the background on the white CS, and actually embossed a bit too. the rest is Basic Grey and some rub-ons :D

Day 178 - Back to School

oooh, October Afternoon papers are lovely, eh? i used a DCWV panel for the "A+" part. plus, the pom poms make the grade, eh? :D

Day 179 - Checkerboard Background

here i used some more DCWV Indian Summer paper. i paired it up with my Martha Stewart punch, AC ribbon, random button, and some Bazzill CS. i distressed the edges of the purple panel to add some interest.

thanks for looking :D

i'm leaving, on a jet plane...

i'm going to Ecuador!

i was just looking through pictures on Flickr, and Ecuador is simply stunning. i'm sure i'll be seeing some of the same beauty, and taking pictures too! (...just not of that quality)

i'll be leaving on Tuesday, August 11th, and i'll be traveling with my youngest brother Joey, and a missions team from my church. we're going to Quito (the capital), and Otavalo to teach some conferences, reach children through Vacation Bible Adventures, and fellowship with the local church bodies down there.

i am so excited! i've been to South America before (last summer, actually--Brazil, with my sister, Cecelia), and i had an absolute blast. i'm looking forward to going again, and actually understanding a little more of the language. i picked up the main ideas in conversation while i was in Brazil (they speak Portugeuse), but i've taken several years of Spanish (although i'm rusty), so i think i'll understand a lot more when i go down this time :D

fortunately our whole trip will not just be missions--we're going to spend one or two days seeing some sights and hiking around. i'm so excited to be ministering with such a great team of people (hey guys--you're awesome!), and also to try something new.

well, wish me luck, i'm off to do laundry so i can pack :D hehe, yes, i know, i should be *finished* packing by now. well, i'm a procrastinator!

hope you have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for looking...

jump for joy! *Use It! & 365 cards*

woohoo! last night i was jumping for joy because my youngest brother, Joey, got baptized and joined our church! it was big deal because he's older (19) and hadn't been baptized, and also because my parents joined the church a while ago, but when the kids in a family turn a certain age (18+), they have to decide whether or not they want to join the church. so Joey did both last night, and my Dad had the privilege of baptizing Joey, which was really sweet... he hadn't gotten to do that with any of the rest of us.

so i made this card for him in honor of his baptism. i thought the cute K&Co cutout was perfect for the occasion, and didn't make the card too girly. (yes, i realize i put pom poms and buttons, and a twine bow on there, but still!) this card came together pretty quickly after i got over my OCD tendencies to get the polka-dot background "just right." (i stamped a dot background then threw it out cause it wasn't perfect, then i decided to get it "close enough"... btw, the stamp comes from DeNami Design, and the heart comes from Stamps by Judith.) i used the sketch (day #120 - super sketchy sunday) over at 365 cards, and i'm really excited to continue checking in on the creations and challenges every day :D how handy, right?

our church, Trinity Baptist Church in Renton, WA has really neat traditions during the summer. we have a Sunday evening service with a Berry Feast, and one with an Ice Cream Feed. last night was the Berry Feast, and it was AMAZING! i love berries... raspberries have to be one of my favorite fruits. it was perfect to have a celebration after all the baptisms and testimonies we heard all day (there were a total of 16 baptisms throughout the day, and at LEAST 12 testimonies to join the church). i personally enjoyed the crisps--the blackberry crisps, the strawberry & rhubarb crisp, and most of all: FRESH RASPBERRIES :D

okay, enough talk about food... it's about lunch time so i think i'm going to scrounge something up. hope you enjoy, and thanks for looking!

**Added**

i'm submitting this card to Use It! Challenge blog because the challenge fits perfectly this week! this week Kay Sibley came up with the guidelines:

1. Use something inspired by nature. that little frog is sooo cute, don't you think?

2. Use polka dots. this was the first time i'd added a polka dot background with a stamp on my own :D

3. Use your favorite embellishment. buttons, buttons, buttons!

4. Mail your creation to someone special. i gave it to my brother, Joey :D

so there we go! first submission to Use It!**

day 119 - seeing a silhouette

this is the first time i've done a card for the 365 cards blog, and i think i'll participate again! it was a fun experience, and i love the fact that the cards aren't too complicated (hence why you can finish one and post every day if you so choose).

i made this card with a grandmother in mind. not mine, although mine would probably like it, but for a friend that wanted a thank you card for a birthday present he recieved form his grandmother. i love this rose stamp, and i thought it would make a really nice and clean silhouette.

thanks for looking! i'm off to bed to get some rest--my youngest brother joey is getting baptized tomorrow! i'm really excited for him, but he's a little nervous about sharing his testimony (but don't tell him i told you (: he'll be fine, i know).

bday card for joey

here's the bday card that i made for Joey's 19th bday... he really liked all the pull-outs and extra "touches." hope you enjoy!

each pull out had a different reason why i love Joey... he's such a sweet brother :D

hope you enjoy, TFL!

my memorial day weekend

wow, it's started! a long weekend!

i went to breakfast with my brothers, washed dishes, finished a book, went shopping and bought a book, a cd, and a dvd, and went on an hour long walk with my brothers and dog Cookie.

the walk resulted in some hilarity. i told my brothers we'd be going to the beach to take some "goofy" pictures, but what we actually ended up with was so much more...

and i'll let you see for yourself. i hope you enjoy it as much as i did. i know it's a bit long, but i think it's totally worth watching :D




(or you can check over here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKMYqIntftU)

2sketches4you, Kazan's #26

i loved Kazan's sketch this week, as well as the new Design Team's work. you totally need to check it out if you haven't already!

this sketch gave me a chance to use some scraps, try a new technique, and also to put one of my pretty butterflies to use!

so for this card, i borrowed the leftovers of the polka-dot ribbon from this set of cards. there was just enough to make this cute little bow :D

then, i had seen Kristina Werner's technique of masking an area, and then stamping around it. well, i didn't have any vinyl decals or anything like that, but i did recently get a Cricut, and in trying out some new things, had some extra flower outlines and shapes. so i took the border i cut with Cricut and placed some of the flowers in random order over the top. then i used an ink pad (yellow, to coordinate with my patterned paper) to go over the images... just dabbing it lightly all over until i had the color i wanted. anyway, the result was pretty sweet, no? (and i can totally see myself doing this as an easy complement for other projects that need something "special.")

and after all that, i was looking for some embellies for the flower, and didn't just want to use buttons. well, the other day at Michael's, i picked up a pack of butterfly picks (i think you add them to floral arrangements, etc) and thought that the yellow one would go perfectly in the center here. so i tried it, and YES! it looks good :D i love how the butterfly is pre-colored and glittered so it takes so much prep time out of making a card like this.

all in all, very pleased with my card. i think i'll be trying some new things pretty soon, especially with the upcoming stamp show that i'll be going to with my friend Paulina. she's actually working at it with her family, who owns DeNami Design, but i know that when i get there, all the concentration will go down hill :) i can't wait to see the FORTY-FIVE vendors that are scheduled to be at this event... it will be slightly overwhelming, i think. i'll have to set a budget limit before i leave the house, or who knows?!

also, in other exciting news: my brother Peter is graduating from college this weekend! my whole family has been praying frenetically about whether or not he'll graduate because he needed two B's or better in his history classes, but that had been a struggle for him. PRAISE THE LORD that he passed his finals (with flying colors) and got the grades he needed. i'm so proud of you Pete! my mom'll be at the ceremony, along with my 2nd youngest brother Lincoln, and my older sister, Cecelia. should be a great celebration. i'll post some pictures of that when they get home... and maybe i'll tell you about how i was commencement speaker at college :D

OH! and it's Joey's birthday this saturday... he'll be 19 years old! i can't believe it. he's grown up and matured so much lately. everything goes by so fast nowadays. it seems like i gauge a lot of what happens/ happened in my life by how old Joey is/ was. like when we got our dog, Cookie, Joey was just turning 8. we went to Disneyland around the time Joey was 6... it all goes by the baby, i guess :D

well, i think that's about it for now. i'm going to say goodbye to my mom before she flies off to PA to congratulate my brother (and i'll have to send a card with her for him... better get to making it!). hope you enjoyed looking, and if you read this far... thanks for sticking it out :D

XOXO

(oh, and if you haven't checked out my Dad's blog on gardening, or Cecelia's on everyday life, then you need to check it out, or just look at the previous post here. my family is so funny. i'm including myself, OF COURSE!)

2sketches4you, kazan's #25

kazan's sketch #25 over at 2sketches4you was the perfect starting point for me this week. when i saw the sketch on monday, i was like: i don't have any stars! what do i do? but then i recalled how i was going to get the most fabulous bday present from my family--a Cricut Expression!! can you say WOW?! :D i knew about a month ago that i'd receive the awesome gift, and the anticipation was just about killing me ...so since today was my bday, tonight was my night for creating a card for kazan's sketch. i already am in love with the Cricut--it's addicting, don't you think?

well, here's my card, in fun colors (of course!) and i just have to say, that i feel so blessed by absolutely EVERYONE in my life--family, friends--God is good!

i was surprised by a friend (Tabi, mentioned here) with a ridiculous display of affection [i think] in the form of 10 helium balloons, a bouquet of daisies, about 15 boxes of candy, a 2 L bottle of rootbeer, a HUGE card, and a box of pizza!

(you can see the cricut all wrapped up and the balloons from Tabi to the left)

all in front of my 6th period class of course. so i shared some candy with the kids, and took some pizza to my fellow teachers :D AWESOME PRESENT, TABI! <3

my grandmother, Nana, also had flowers delivered to my school, and the bouquet was gorgeous :) i can't believe how spoiled i am--now my house if full of color.

and my sister, Cecelia, totally outdid herself. not only did she shop AHEAD for my bday (scrapbook supplies), but she also bought be a subscription to Creating Keepsakes! she knew i'd asked for one via this blog post ...chalk a point up for the blog-o. *yikes* i'm so excited to get that subscription ...seriously i was smiling for ages after i heard the news. then Cecelia also made me tear up--she dedicated a post on her blog to me--if you wanna know a teeny bit (well, more than that) about me, then check it out HERE.

my brother Joey is so thoughtgful (i've said it before, i'll say it again) and he custom made me a sheet metal lunch box--i'll be taking pictures soon, because honestly, my description wouldn't do it justice. such an amazing piece of work, Joey!

aside from all that, i can't forget to mention all the lovely friends wishing me a felicitous day (even "Mark" called me!) ...and how could i not enjoy myself with such joyful encouragings? :) even the weather was divine... 75 and not a cloud. you can't beat that combined with a fabulous dinner at a fancy italian restaurant :D

now i am all psyched about spending a night crafting with Paulina and Helene (maybe Shawna) tomorrow... YAY, can't wait. seriously, this weekend has been amazing already.

thanks so much for stopping by and for your lovely comments. take care! :D