Our Anniversary

Yesterday was Isaac and I's 3rd wedding anniversary. On the one hand it doesn't seem like it has been 3 years since our wedding but on the other hand it seems like we've always been together. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do anything too exciting because Isaac had to work last night but he was also pretty sick. He hasn't been feeling well all week and it seems to be getting worse. Needless to say, I'm okay with him keeping his distance.

I did get a really great gift yesterday though. I've been wanting a smart phone for years now and just haven't gotten one. There was always some excuse or another or I'd rather do something else with the money but yesterday I actually got one! I feel very important with my big old phone now, lol. Isaac decided that this would be a gift for both of us because he said he'll be stealing my phone a lot. I'm most excited to have this for our trip to New York this weekend. We have to drive up and pick-up Isaac's parent's from his sister's house. So having the internet and being able to work on things on the drive up will be very nice.

So yes, as you may have gathered, my in-laws are visiting with us this weekend. This will be the first time they have ever come to visit us. They live in South Korea and make a yearly trip to the states but they have only been visiting with Isaac's sisters the past three years. Since we were in Hawaii it was too much out of the way. They only have a week to spend here so they couldn't see everyone. I'm a little nervous about them coming into our house though because I know that Isaac's mom will be eagle-eyeing my cleaning skills. When we were in his sister's apartment after her wedding in December his mom was telling her that she should keep her place more clean and that the bathroom was really nasty, etc. Then she actually started cleaning the place. She got down on her hands and knees and started scrubbing the floors! I don't want her doing that here, lol. So I've got some major deep cleaning to do today and tomorrow!

I did finally finish a scrapbook today. I have had this idea for a dinosaur scrapbook for months now but I just haven't gotten it done. Well yesterday I decided to sit down and make it happen. I finished it up this morning. I bound it in my Bind-It-all, which was my first time using it although I bought it months ago, and I think it came out quite well. As soon as a few things on it finish drying I'm going to take some pictures and post it in my etsy shop and of course here on my blog too :)

Finally Done

So I'm finally done with my friend's set of thank you's. 20 total, 6 each of 4 designs. I'm pretty darn happy with the final product. I didn't want to go over the top since I was doing so many but I wanted to make them cute. Mission Accomplished :) Here are pictures of the last two.

Today I've got a long list of this to do. Cleaning up around the house, finishing about 15 tins I've got in pieces, etc. I've got less than 4 weeks until Baltimore's ArtScape so I know I've got to get crackin! My one problem is that while I'm working on one thing my mind is always wondering onto millions of other things that I want to do. I can't stop my mind from thinking about them and what I want each thing to look like and how I'm going to this or that to it. It can get very frustrating. I'm already starting to have a wondering mind when I'm trying to go to sleep. That usually doesn't happen until the week before the show, lol. I guess it's just because the stakes are higher for this one and I have some really big expectations.

I'm doing the festival on Saturday and then I fly out to meet Isaac in Hawaii on Monday. So this show has to provide all my spending money or Angie and I aren't going to do much but go the the beach that week. While this might not be such a bad thing, you know how it is when you go back to some place that you lived for years but haven't been back for a year. You want to go to all your favorite places to eat, you want to visit all your favorite stores, you've got a list a mile long of things you want to do. I'm sure it will be fabulous no matter what we do. Just being back with our best friends is going to be the best part.

Cards, Yay!

It's a rare occassion here on my blog today. I actually have cards to post and share! Yay! These are two of the cards that I made for my friend's Thank You cards set. I made six of each of these cards. I really love the sparley flower card with all the rhinestones. Totally up my alley!

I also wanted to make some with owls since I love this stamp and they're so popular right now. I think this one came out alright. It still feels sort of plain but I'm sure she'll love it. I've got two more that I'll either add to this post later or, more likely, post tomorrow.

Family Photo

Every year I try to get a family photo taken by my cousin. I think it's important since Isaac and I don't really take many pictures together otherwise during the year. If we go on a trip we might take some together but then it's usually just hit holding the camera out in front of our faces and I really do hate those shots. I'd much rather ask some random person to take the picture for us. But that's just me. Anyway, my cousin just sent me the picture and I think it came out pretty good. It was SO windy the day that we we taking them. I thought Napoleon was going to blow away!

I also worked on my flowers yesterday. I took the advice given and I sat outside for probably almost two hours cutting off all the dead from the flowers. That giant pot took forever! I hope that it helps them out. They are also in a place now that doesn't get sun all day long.

On another note, I finally felt like I was creatively able to work on my friend's set of Thank-You cards. I think I first tried to work on the about three weeks ago and just couldn't produce anything good. She's on a trip right now and gets back home tomorrow so I'd like to have them done and on their way to her by then.

Alright, lots of work to do today so I'm off!

Can Anyone Help Me?

I've never been very good at keeping flowers alive. I tried to plant a garden in the backyard of our very first apartment in Hawaii and they all promptly died. When we went home for Memorial Day, I was telling my mom that I really wanted some flowers but I didn't know what to get and I really didn't know how to pot them, etc. So she decided that we should buy the flowers, potting soil, and pots at her house and then pot them before we had to drive back to our house. It's like an eight hour drive. So we did and everything looked okay but since I've gotten them back here I just don't think they're doing very well.
They just seem like they are going to die. I had them in a full sun spot but then they were looking so bad that I thought I'd move them more towards are screen door so they wouldn't have as much sun all day long. They were wilty and turning brown. I didn't know that I had to water them EVERY day so I started doing that since they were a little brown. That helped with the wiltiness but they are still turning brown and they have this weird yellowish color to parts of the stems. My mom said maybe I was over watering them so I should just feel the soil and if it doesn't feel moist then water them. So I've been doing that now but it doesn't seem to be helping. I also potted them in Miracle Grow Potting Mix because I figured I needed all the help I could get.And what the heck is up with the one above's spread-out-ness? It was a hanging pot that we just took out and put in this pot. I realize that it's a viney type flower but I wouldn't have thought noting would grow up or in the middle. Is that normal?
On this particular plant the leaves all got the yellow color and then turned brown on the ends and died. What the heck? I don't understand. Is there anyone out there that can give me a suggestion? I really don't want these flowers to die because then I'll never be allowed to "waste" money on flowers again!

Poni's Parlor

I'm so excited to know that my Pocket Albums have made their way into a gift shop called Poni's Parlor in New Hampshire! I sent my tins out to her last week and she put them out in her shop on Tuesday. She emailed me today to tell me that she has already sold one! Yay! It's so exciting to have my product in another state.

Alexandra's shop is so cute too. I love that she did everything in pink, black, and white. She also found amazing displays to showcase her artists' work. I know that there are several other etsian selling in her shop. The shop is located at 51 Main Street Meredith, NH if you're in the area and want to check it out.
These are my Pocket Albums on the white table.



I have to say that I was very nervous when she contacted me on etsy about renting space in her store. I had read lots of horror stories on etsy about people sending their product and never getting it back. It took me quite awhile to decide just to go for it. She didn't have the store open yet but from the information she did give me I felt like she was legit. I'm so excited to see how my product does in her store!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been so busy this last week! I've had a few custom orders to do, housework, organizing....all those fun things. I've also been working out every day and I've got to tell you that I'm getting pretty tired. I wish I could take a nap today but I have to go fill in at the vet's office because one of the regular employees has a doctor's appointment. So I'll be there for most of the day today. Bah.

I finished this album up yesterday that one of my friend's requested. It's going to be a wedding present for her boyfriend's sister. I hope they like it. I really liked adding the red in with these papers. Super cute.



I also made this SUPER great Korean food the other day. I must say that I'm getting pretty good at it, based on the four things I've cooked now :) Isaac stumbled upon this Korean lady who does cooking podcasts. I love it because I need to see it done. I can't just read a recipe and really know what I need to do. I can do that with baking but not regular cooking. I need to work on a few more dishes before my mother-in-law comes in July. I want to impress her with my skills!

So here is a picture of the dish I made. It is called Sweet and Crispy Chicken. It's double fried and then coated with this really yummy sauce that's totally not bad for you, what with all the corn syrup, brown sugar, soy sauce... :) Very healthy! The recipe called for 1 cup of chopped ginger but I must say that was WAY too much ginger. We ate it okay but it definitely had some overpoweringness to it. I made it a second time and I think I only used about one tablespoon of ginger and that was much better. Next time I'll just keep tasting the sauce as it's cooking and decide if I need to add more ginger or not.