...rest in peace 2011...

Well this year has been interesting to say the least. I'm usually up for even years, but not odd years. I'm not superstitious but I much rather enjoy the even numbered years. I graduated in high school in 1994, college in 1998, should have graduated in college again in 2000 (but I needed to step out of that degree) and the last degree was supposed to finish up in 2008, I was a month too late. Either way, I'm excited for the new year! New things to come, new outlooks on life, and this year is an even year!!

I've had my iPad for over a year now, and enjoyed using it as my source of jumping on the internet or playing games on the plane while I traveled more than 300 days the previous year (I quit that job in May of this past year, so not nearly as many days traveled this year). I finally saw to it to download both the Kindle an the Nook app this year. I've downloaded a ton of free books and even bought one book a few months back. I recently learned of being able to "check out" ebooks from your library for free through the kindle app! So. Excited.

Whatever you do tonight, be safe, enjoy and remember, we get a do over every day, but tonight, we get to start a whole new year! It's like walking into the classroom the first day and the teacher tells everyone "You all have an A+ average right now!" Such a great feeling to know you can drop all of your worries and see to it that God helps you start a better and more fresh year!

Bring on 2012!!!!

...etsy shop...

Well I haven't put anything up yet, but I'm in the process of searching through all of my photos to find the really good ones, then I'm playing around with them.  Once they've been corrected and overlaid with texture, I'll be posting photos that you can buy, hand signed (some numbered) by me! :) 

Here's a peek at my very first photo in a floating frame.  But Shhhh  this is my Aunt Judy's Christmas present this year!! 

***AMK Photography***

     So I've dabbled in photography off and on for, well forever. I really enjoy it. I enjoy the happy faces, and even watching the few minutes of meltdowns when the kids aren't doing exactly what the parents want. Over the past five years, I've taken pictures here and there for a little cash. I don't charge a lot, especially for what you receive, and if I had my choice, I'd do it a lot more often than what I'm doing it now! Over time, I'm surely getting better. This past weekend, I decided to photograph my friend Frances' kids out at her grandfather's house. He has the perfect house up on a big hill, with lots of trees that shade and a wonderful yard of soft grass that as an adult kid, Icould run around in for hours!!

     The day was beautiful and the kids were full of energy! Although I think Frances was expecting that I, as a photographer, would want a calm and collected photo shoot, I was well prepared for what I KNEW was going to be a great shoot with lots of energy, a few meltdowns and a lot of happy accidents. Many of these pictures will become Christmas presents, but I wanted to share just a few with you. I don't quite have the camera equipement for the super quick shots, so some of the photos aren't perfect, but I considered them imperfectly perfect photos! I really was able to capture their sweet sweet personalities!

Take a look!

Let me know if you'd like to do a photoshoot!  I'd love to meet your children, small and grown, and capture some memories for you!

...Tote Bag...

To This....

So my awesome sister Angela bought me a brand new Janome sewing machine for my birthday!!  Props to the sister!  Well tonight I officially started my first project without the help of anyone (minus some awesome directions over the phone about straps...)

First up, if you know me, right now, although I don't wear it often, because I don't own a lot, I'm in LOVE with grey and yellow together!  So this weekend while I was hanging out with the boyfriend and his son, we bought the material.  I said "we" because my sweet sweet boyfriend bought the material.  Can I just say how much I love that boy!!??  His son and him together in a fabric store are a hoot, let me know and I'll rent them out to you!  They had all the girls entertained as Stephen picked out good fabrics and Austin would come back with even better ones. Mind you Stephen was seriously picking out stuff...he's a picky man. Austin was just being a jokester and making us bought laugh.  It was defintiely a fun time at the fabric store. 

Anyway.... I decided to do my own pattern.  I have a tote that I decorated for Vacation Bible School this year, so I took those measurements and I'm going to wing it!  Yep, first big girl project and I am WINGING IT!  Go me!! 

So it went from this...  

To This....

It's nothing fancy...and I may still add some trimwork to the top, but I completed it in just under 3 hours. Not too bad for my first, no pattern, make up the "ruffle" as I go kind of bag!!!

...siblings...

I can't imagine a world without sisters and brothers.  I feel for the child that has no siblings or no close relatives that act like siblings.  I've grown up with two older sisters and two younger brothers and one younger girl cousin.  To say I've grown up with a few siblings would be an understatement.  No, we're not the Duggars, but there are a few of us. 

Just a few of us... Chris, Angela and Alicia

My oldest sister Tiffany has a heart of gold, she loves gardening and baking, and man can she bake!  She's an excellent cook too!  Between my dad and her mom, she got a double whammy of genes in the cooking field. 

My older sister Angela is super smart, very giving, sweet as pie and very caring when it comes to others.  She showcases God's love to everyone around her and is going to be an excellent mother! 

My older little brother Christopher is hard working, great with vehicles and can make just about anything grow in a garden.  He loves animals and has a huge heart.

My baby brother Jason enjoys his work and works hard daily to do everything from his regular job to his side business, he's loyal and a great man of God.

My cousin Lisa is a really good mother to her two boys, has grown into a really great woman. She loves animals of any sort would take care of you in a heartbeat, even if it meant giving you the shirt off of her back. 

As we've gotten older we've grown up, but we've also moved away from each other, some more than others.  Although I saw my entire sibling group this weekend, minus my oldest sister, I still hate that we're all so far away from each other.  I somehow wish we all still lived within walking distance of each other.  However, it makes the time we do have with each other super special. This weekend was one of those special weekends.  My older sister and I spent Thursday night with my cousin, having dinner, doing homework with her oldest and just hanging out.  Friday was spent just her and I at the beach and running around before picking up my brother in law and Saturday was spent with our entire family, both brothers included to celebrate in the new baby that my sister will soon give birth too.  I'm so excited to watch her growing belly, even if it will be over Skype, and I'm over the moon that I hope in early December when I fly to see them, that I will be able to meet my new niece! 

Everyone says it, but I know it's true that I have the best brother's and sisters in the whole world!

Love you guys!

...Oh life...

It's amazing how quickly life can change, one day my father is holding me in his arms as a small child, the next, I'm in my 30's and I'm getting the call I never want to receive again.!

My father went into Shands in May of this year with a massive heart attack.  It was a very scary time for all of us.  My newly pregnant sister flew in and all of us kids gathered at the hospital.  He had to take precautions and was sent home to rest for 6-8 weeks.  He quickly learned that his stubbornness didn't help matters and finally was able to get an O2 tank to breath on every night. 

Go forward to July 6th, and he had his heart surgery.  They expected a triple bypass, a correction of his aortic valve and a correction to an aneurysm.  However, they ended up doing a quintuple bypass.. yes you heard me right, a five way bypass as well as everything else.  It's those first few days I could do without, as they've been the hardest and the most up and down.  Many people love him and have been praying for him.  He's finally starting to do really well.  He's breathing on his own and will even get to eat real food tonight!  It's something that I had just handed over to God, and continue to.  If it's my father's time, then that's God's call not mine.  It's a hard pill to swallow, I can just begin to imagine what Moses went through when he was willing to sacrifice his own child.  Because of his trust in the Lord, God gave him back his child and rewarded him for his trust.  I know God can still take my Daddy at any time.  I know and trust when that time does come, Jesus will hold me in His own hands because only He will be able to comfort me through that. 

Life is an intersting thing.  It's something that sometimes takes a massive heart attack to wake you up.  I surely hope if he walks out of that hospital in a few weeks that the alarming factor of how serious his condition is will shake him just enough to want to cling on to God more.

...Kung Fu Panda T Shirt...

So I've been hearing about "freezer paper stencil" for quite awhile.  I've even sent the "how to" along to a few friends, which have tackled this project long before me.  Since I DO have a Silhouette SD I decided to try my hand at it.  It was my nephew's birthday this past Friday and he turned the big SEVEN!  He is in LOVE with Kung Fu Panda and anything having to do with it.  He talks about it non stop and keeps begging to go see the newest Kung Fu Panda 2 movie.  While I can't take him to the movie, because Aunt Licia is broke as a joke, I can induldge him in his very own Gator style Kung Fu Panda shirt. 

I checked out a few pictures online and finally came up with one that I worked into Inkscape to create the best cutout picture around.  The lines weren't too intricate and yet, you could still tell it was Kung Fu Panda.  It took just one round, of "printing" it out onto my freezer paper and I was ready.  I had already washed and dried the t-shirt as directed any time you are going to paint onto a shirt.  I placed the freezer paper stencil where I wanted it, taking care to press a little longer around the edges (sorry I don't have pictures for all of this), put in the eye pieces that the Silhouette SD had cut out and I was ready.  I got my paint out, and quickly realized one coat of the blue paint over the orange shirt was plenty!!

Right after I painted it, I gave it a good ten minutes and started peeling away the freezer paper to reveal the little surprise I had been waiting to find.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out since it was my first!

I blowed dried it a little just to set the paint and then as directed, I ironed the insde of the shirt as well as the outside over top of a hand towel to "set" the paint.  Here is a picture of the finished product hanging before the birthday boy was able to open it.

And here he is with it on.  An Aunt's best compliment...when you ask him if he likes the shirt and that you'd like to take a picture of him in it....he rips off the shirt he's wearing, throws on the new one and then smiles REALLY big!! :) I love that kid...and he loved his present! :)

I've already told my sister that I'll be experimenting with baby onesie's when they find out if they are having a boy or a girl!! YAY!  Can't wait! 

...qr codes...

So if you're into your smart phone, then you've noticed the latest craze...

QR codes.  Those little square zig zag's of black and white squares that resemble a UPC symbol.  You can attach them to anything!!  I wanted to play around, so I created one just for this blog ...

Go ahead, I dare you, break out your QR Scanner Application and scan it.  Yep, You're going straight to my blog again...cool huh!!?? 

And the best part is, you can create a QR code for *just* about anything!!  Now I'm not saying the older people going for yard sale's would understand them, but I think it'd be pretty interesting to put out a sign on Saturday morning with just a QR code and see how many people show up telling you they were directed to your yard sale because of the code!!

...mother's day 2011...

Ok so she'd probably shoot me if she saw this picture, she was making a silly face, but she's my momma, nonetheless and I love her!  I'm not gonna get all gushy on here, but I will say that she's been the most wonderful example of a Christian woman.  ** Shhhh ** I strive to become just like her  ...even if I am "looking at my future" ....  She means the world  to me!

I decided for the woman that has everything, rather than buy something, I would instead , make her something that she'd use. So I broke out the Silhouette Machine, looked up some great projects that I've seen online and this is what transpired.




Post It Note Holder with my mom's Favorite Color Combinations



Matching Pen!

 

And small gift bags with Chocolate goodies inside for Mom and Mimi!

I used my Silhouette Machine to print and cut everything out, and let me tell you, if you're thinking about a personal cutting machine, you should really check the Silhouette machine's out! I have used this thing for a number of projects and can't wait to make more things with it!







...love song...

i . love .  tesla . period .



...my daddy...

Daddy and I circa 1977

So Monday morning at 7:45am, while I was enjoying my much needed "sleeping in time" before having to fly to Maine in the afternoon, I was awakened by a phone call from my baby brother.  After another phone call from my mother, I realized I was half asleep and didn't catch the "Dad just had a major heart attack and we're not sure if he's going to make it through the night" statement that Jason said.  By 8:10am, I had showered quickly, grabbed two t-shirts, my toiletries and my phone charger and was on my way sobbing as I drove to Gainesville. 

I don't think anyone ever wants to get that kind of a call.  It was heart breaking and very difficult.  He made it through the first 24 hours, the ones that the doctors told us on Friday they were "surprised to see him live through", and I can't imagine that it has anything to do with just pure luck but by all the gracious friends and family that were very concerned and praying for him.  God is a gracious one!  He pulled my father through something the doctors didn't expect! 

It has been an extremely long week.  Many hours were spent inside that hospital, every day, but this afternoon, on the Cardiac ICU floor.  Let me tell you, the CICU floor has the BEST nurses up there, they made my father smile and laugh and he listened to them! I should probably repeat that part...HE LISTENED TO THEM!  He heard from friends he had known through AGH who had sleep apnea and a nurse who had a bypass surgery previously.  They gave him advice and after sitting in a bed for 6 days straight, a lot of the information has started to sink in.  Even when I kept telling him to uncross his legs (not good for circulation for him) he would immediately uncross them. 

I'm still emotionally spent and physically exhausted.  I know until I see him come out on the other side of that bypass surgery that when he does go in, I'll be nervous again.  I mean who wouldn't be!!?? 

I'm thankful for all of the prayers, the great doctors,especially Dr. Gupta, and the amazing nurses and of course God. Without these, he would not be with us today.

It will be extremely difficult to not see any family tomorrow as Easter comes, and especially not to see my father as he'll spend it in the hospital.  But he is alive, and I am grateful for that!

Please continue to pray for him, pray for a softening of his heart as the weeks go on as he will not have much more to do but to cook a little dinner and really listen to what God would tell him.  I love him so and hope he opens his heart to hear more!

...three nails...

So as I mentioned in a previous post, I was putting together my new desk. It consisted of an L desk along with a hutch.  I'm in love with it (as much as I can be considering I really wanted the $800 Pottery Barn one), and it works great. After nearly 3 day's of putting it together with "no drills" as instructed (because you may drill too far, or break the particle board from the pressure) that the palms of my hands were in terrible pain!

Now I've been a Christian since I was 9 and a half years old (that's what I told my preacher when I went forward that morning), so I've always known that Easter was about Christ, and what He did for us.  So sometimes I'm desensitized to what a HUGE thing this was. I mean yes, we can all say, this man DIED for us!!??  But sometimes it really comes to light in the most unusual way's.  Well, as I was driving a few days after putting my desk together, I noticed how painful it was to grip anything because of using a hand held screwdriver.  And then it hit me...

This pain is not NEARLY the pain that Jesus felt as his hands were NAILED to that cross!  It brought me to tears to think, if I'm in this much pain, just from putting together a couple of pieces of furniture, I can't even begin to imagine Jesus' pain.  It really put into perspective what He gave for me!  Little ole, sinful me!  How awesome is that. 

It's been a couple of weeks now and still, I remember that pain, and then in turn, think of the pain multiplied a million fold as Jesus hung there until He stated to His Father "It is finished."!

Remember that when we celebrate Easter, it's so much more than candy and bunnies, it's Salvation!!  If you want Salvation and don't know how, please ask me, I can definitly tell you!  It's the easiest, and best, free gift avaliable!

...plastic to go cup's with a twist...

So the new fad are those cute little plastic to go cups.  They're great and even include a hard plastic straw!  I've been wanting one for awhile, but I just wasn't feeling the ones with your inital on them, because you're so limited with the exact font that they use; and what if I don't want a font on there? Well I'm pretty much out of luck...

Not so fast!  My tax refund present to myself was a Silhouette!  I've been wanting one for over a year, and if I've waited that long, I should be allowed to purchase it, especially since it was with a small part of my tax refund money. 

I've been eyeing the cute, under $5, to go cup's at Wal-Mart lately.  They have some polka dotted ones (you'd think I'd want that one, but no) and then plain colors.  One of my favorite color combinations is green and brown.  So I was in luck when I went recently and noticed they only had green one's left! I quickly scooped it up, headed to JoAnn's to pick up some Cricut Vinyl rolls in brown and headed home. 

After a few trial and error's with the wrong "transfer paper" (I'm sooo not going to spend $10 to buy the real stuff online), I found a blogger that told me to try contact paper.  I tried that this afternoon, and voila, I have my very own, custom made to go cup.


Isn't it super cute!!?? It's a small bird on a cherry blossom tree. You need to click the image to see how intricate the flower petals look.  the lines are TINY, and yet came out perfectly!  Can we say "Christmas Presents"!!

And in the future, if I want to change it, I can just scrape it off, and print a different vinyl cut out to smooth onto the cup.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE my Silhouette!!

...digital scrapbooking, i'm glad i've found you...

So I'm in love. 
Digital. Scrapbooking.
We.Are.Friends.For.Life.

And although to me it's not fully complete (probably because I'm such a perfectionist, which is also why digital scrapbooking is probably more for me ** batting my eyes**), here is my first page...

...1 dollar items...

Don't ya just love when you've gone window shopping only to find the cutest $1 items ever?

If you're like most women, you love a bargin and the $1 bins at any store have you fighting over that last packet of Justin Beiber stickers...ok maybe not that but it's like a moth to a flame when there is a $1 bin in a store.

Well I'm no exception. I wanted to head out of the house last night because I've been sick all week with the flu and a fever. I guess this week was a great example of why I do enjoy working from home. I didn't have to take any time off! But I also never left the house because I just had no energy.

Well last night I hit up the local craft store and low and behold, I found the $1 bins. **batting eyes** I was so bummed that nothing in it was good... that was until I came across these cute little cards!

The first one, I fell in love with because it has the Thistle on the front.  This is the official flower of Scotland.  I think I left a small piece of my heart in Scotland, because it is there, where I decided to quit my job and return to school full time.  Such a leap, but a great leap of moving, meeting new people, and discovering so much about myself, not to mention compounding my love of art through going to Art School at FSU. 

The second one, I love because first off, orange is becoming a new favorite color, and secondly, the pattern and the brown combination are delicious.  Who wouldn't want to find these cute savory note cards in their mailbox soon? 

So you may not be a crafty person, not everyone is, but there are some great finds in your local craft stores for the "uncrafty" like these cute $1 note cards sets.  Oh and the sets, 8 cards with envelopes, talk about cheap!

Hope you're having a great Friday!

...I'll take a two hour delay any day for this...

Can I just say that I would GLADLY take a two hour delay in flight plans for this any day of the week.  I love the shuttle launches, and by far, my favorites are always night time launches (especially when there is no moon) as it lights up the sky for miles here in Florida.  To know that the shuttle launches will be ending soon is really sad.  However, this video, with the included pilot humor, is just a great piece of footage that showcases how great it is to be at the "right place at the wrong time"! 

...photoshop...

So if you know me, you know I love computers and graphics and patterns and the idea of playing around in programs just to self teach anything I can get my hands on. I've done it with photography as well as working in Photoshop and Illustrator, in the past. I love all digital programs!

Well I finally got everything back up and running on my new computer, thanks to my traveling points, my Wacom tablet has been brushed off, and I await the arrival of some parts that are much needed for my pen (although I can use it now, I just don't have as much function). I'm working on a website logo for when I start to sell things...

I'm one of these people that refuses to be up and running if I'm not at 100%. So when I'm finished, I'll let you know what it looks like. Until now, I'll give you a sneak peak at my drawing. But please, be kind. I haven't worked on a tablet in two years!!

...friendly competition...

So one of my really good guy friends and I were talking the other night.  I was telling him how I've lost ten pounds so far from my diet change and exercise at the gym.  He complained how he still had a ton to lose and thne a lightbulb.  He said "Why not make a Biggest Loser's Bet?".  Oh boy!  Men lose weight so quickly compared to women.  I hesitated, we talked about it and I let him know that I had no money to bet on, nor was I doing any favors like cleaning his apartment --* I know how messy he is!*--  We decided on a really great beer for him, and a really nice margarita for me.  We'll meet up half way between here and Jacksonville, Lake City to be exact, and we'll have dinner.  Who ever wins, buys the other person their drink.  It's simple, fun, and not too expensive for my budget, and since he grew up in Lake City, I hope we hit a really great place to eat! 

We both have simliar weight goals, so we've actually said who ever reaches that number first??  Not sure how that will work, however, I do know that if I just look remotely good in a bikini, I won't mind if I lose!  That's $10 down, and many pounds shed right??

Have you ever competed with a guy before?

..baby gifts are complete...

I'm so excited, my dear friend Christie let me peruse through her house yesterday and take up a good length of time to finish up the baby gift's. She has a sewing machine, and I don't. *sad* After 3 hours and after I had taken out the stitching for the third time, yes third, on the burp cloth, creating a brown bobbin and stitching the crap out of it, I finally got the hang of the burp cloth's. The second one took a mere 20 minutes! Next up were the Pacifier or Toy Holders. Not realize where the back stitch was on the machine, I tried my hardest on the first one, then the second one came and went. The snap set was a different story altogether. Those "picture directions" on the back of the package need a magnifying glass! Seriously, I ruined 4 or 5 snap sets just banging the crap out of the wrong pieces together *hehe oops* When I finally got the hang of that, I realized they had very little room to open the snap set's on the Pacifier/Toy holder, making it very difficult to open. I have to redo these. Here is a picture of both sets. I'm so tickled and can't wait to give these gifts away! 

Tag Blanket/Burp Cloth/Pacifier/Toy Holder



Tag Blanket/Burp Cloth/Pacifier/Toy Holder

 And I'm a "theme" girl when I give gifts...notice everything matches thus far? Well the card's and gift wrapping will be the same way.  I like for the entire gift to be a work of art. I hope when I get married and have my own children some day I can still do the same thing.  Debbie Downers will say it can't be done, but I didn't get these idea's on my own, nope, they are from stay at home mom's that do have the time! 

...tasty cakes bakery...

What girls doesn't love sweets and jewelry??   Well my girlfriend Ashley has combined them both into an unbelievably cute and super inexpensive product!  She has an amazing line up of adjustable rings, necklaces, bracelets and even hair accesories featuring your favorite sweet's! 
Everything from Strawberry doughnuts with chocolate drizzeled on top ...

To the very tempting Lemon Tart ...

To a great piece of cake  ...

To  one of my very favorites, strawberry's and whipped cream...

And as if that isn't enough... check out just a few of the many other possibilities below ...

You can find her at her Etsy store :   http://www.etsy.com/shop/AshleyxCupcake
And even on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/AshleyxCupcake#!/pages/TastyCakesBakery/198370316844851?v=info

If you're looking for something custom made, send her a message! She welcomes the idea of a custom order!!

And if you buy something, tell her Ally sent ya! 

Enjoy!