Tuesday, December 25, 2007

A Merry Christmas to you


I hope and pray everyone has a very Merry Christmas. With lots of love & blessings :) Mine definitely have been wonderful.
I made this PEACE banner at the beginning of the month. This entire month, I think I've been striving for PEACE. In my life, love & family. Lot's to think about and be thankful for. Mostly for peace in my heart. I'm grateful for all the blessings God has poured out on my life this year. So this banner represents that most to me right now.
(A closer look)

(I'm all about the details! *LOVE*)


I also made these little cuties to hang around the dinner table with some of the FiggyPudding line (BasicGrey). And to add some more fun to the table, I couldn't help but also make these little guys too. Gotta use up the Christmas paper right?! Hehee. I think the paper cutting was more a form of therapy for me after a half day at work. I woke up all excited about it, that I just wanted to make Christmas decorations all day! No worries though, I made it to work and was very productive :)

And he was a huge fan of the little birdies, he just kept looking at them all HAPPY ;) Such a cutie patootie! From my family to yours, FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Giving Me



Have you ever made something and given it away as a gift.
I made a Baby Girl banner for a friend of mine recently. I don't usually give away scrapbook stuff that I make. I'm a little too embarrassed to give anything I make to anyone besides my family. My poor familia! HA! I think they sometimes would rather settle for a gift card or something store bought. hehee. Oh but my excuse is that I make things from my heart. Often times, I end up loving the gift and it's hard to actually give it away!!! That's kind of sad. I do give the present away, eventually ;)



Well, my friend Sonia told me a few months ago she was pregnant with a baby girl! I was so delighted, mostly because of God's provision for her and her family. They had been praying for another beautiful baby. And yes, the Lord has proven himself faithful! So excited for her, I rushed and made this banner/booklet. After I finished it, I think it took about a day. SO exhausting!!! I hung it up in my room and just took it all in. My first banner. My first gift I was planning to GIVE. I kept asking myself why I had done a banner etc., and really had no reason other than it seemed like a great idea at the time. So now, months passed...and then finally came the time to give it away. Oh my goodness, I was so embarrassed!!! I didn't want to give it away. I loved it, yes, but would she?! I was wondering if maybe I should run out and buy her an album instead, and I did go to the store and found one. But I didn't buy it. I couldn't. I bought a BEAUTIFUL damask box for it instead. Oh my, that box is so gorgeous! I hugged it and didn't let it go all around the store!



So finally, I gave it to my friend. I added envelopes on the back of each letter, so she could put her baby stuff in it. And the box is perfect enough to hold the entire banner as a booklet & other cute baby things. Still a little nervous that I actually GAVE it away. But, my dear friend was gracious and really enjoyed the gift. It made me feel very happy inside, that a little bit of me will now be happy in their home. :) I can't wait to see her baby girl! She's special to me, for sure.



This is the end result :)

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

It's been a while :)


To kick this wonderful post off I'm adding some past layouts that I haven't yet shown :) It's a special treat for you. I love that around this time of year, we start thinking about things we are thankful for. Well, I'm super thankful for traveling- no matter how much I dislike planes. Just get me there and I'm happy :) For this layout, I had a chance to take Norma to Santa Barbara to celebrate her birthday. Yah for both of us! It was not only beautiful, it was peaceful. Amen to that! So this is me kickin' back and relaxin'.


This is a picture of us, before I dropped my digital camera and it died :( Very thankful for this shot, it seems classic. The wind in our hair, the large black sunglasses and very happy smiles. It definitely describes the trip I think. I was so happy not to fly or drive to SB but to take the train. Norma had been wanting to do that for a while, so we did. It took forever but we had nothing to hurry up and do. So nice.


Another trip I took was to Colorado for a staff retreat. (Thanks Sara for taking this picture!) I'm thankful for the beauty that surrounded me there. So gorgeous. I loved it. More for the personal and reflective time. I had fun getting to know my co-workers and seeing them in this different element. We biked to the next town together- that was crazy! But we did it. I hope we do something like this but maybe in Hawaii?! HA! I can dream.


Speaking of dreaming... doesn't he look so cute all happy and dreamy? I think so. That's just best Auntie talk though :)
Baby Gilbert Barron came into our lives about a month ago now. He is soooooo adorable! I like that he's quiet. I love quiet babies. Maybe that's just a stage though, still cute. My sister Cindy and her husband Gilbert's first baby. Congrats guys!!! I've already had the "blessing" of changing him. Man do I NOT miss that. EWWWW! hehee. Still, when you see that cute little dimple smile, it's all worth it.


And this is Coco and me :) While we were in the waiting room to visit with Cindy & Gilbert and their cutie patootie. I was a little bored and I had my camera, so I was paparazzing Coco. Hehee. That was fun. What was even better was finally meeting my little nephew for the first time. SOOOOO Soft. Sooooo small! I had this fear I'd drop him. It's been so long since I held a baby. Whew. Nothing bad happened. Baby G is all well and happy. And so are we. Off to finish some creative work :) Have a great & super blessed day!

Monday, November 12, 2007

On Vacation...


and I'm finally able to blog :) I LOVE vacation time. It seems like I've been holding my breath for this moment. Now I'm finally able to rest and relax. Although it seems like I'm always on blog break! HA! But I do feel like blogging, so I will update and not just with words, but with pictures too! Woohoo! ;) my fav. kind of blogging.


I received my package from BasicGrey and I got the Figgy Pudding paper collection so I made this little banner. It's actually supposed to be the "origami style ornament" paper to this collection, but my origami skills are seriously lacking. No joke. Apparently I have no talent at it (or following instructions-jk) so I cut the paper up and used the gold/silver string that came in the package.


The banner made my heart happy so I made 2. One for Mario (Feliz Navidad) and one for me (Blessings) How [ delightful ] :) I sure hope he likes it for Christmas. During the process of making this little gift, it gave me a chance to pray over his life and his family. It was perfect, I need more time to STOP. And reflect.


I was also thinking about my creative process. As of late, it's been tough. Having a job that requires creativity non-stop. Day in and day out. My creative juices tend to check out. Then I panic. I freeze. I question. I loose focus. It happens every year, at least once. So I went back to my artistic get-your-hands-dirty-with-wet-paint-I'm-lovin'-the-creative-moment style I used to employ in art class. I realized I'm not fond of following instructions when I'm trying to be creative :) It's a good thing. For sure. And that's okay. It's O K A Y. I am letting that control freak in me g o---> f a r a w a y. g'bye >)
Note to self: start drawing & painting again-or you'll seriously regret it.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

* Excited *

Really I am..... I just have fallen off the face of the earth but a lot has happened...
1- Ordered my new Canon 40D! Comes in Thursday and I am so very excited about it.
2- Feeling Inspired. I should be updating this blog often as I will have lots of pics to share and scrap :)
3- I WON a BG contest and I am totally just blown away by the response. I love Basic Grey!!!!
4- I have a package of $100 worth of free BG product coming my way! I can't get enough! >)
5- Counting my blessings and I know this list can go on forever.

I went and had lunch with Coco, Stephanie & David. So much fun to be around. We enjoyed the cool San Diego evening and some delicious Greek food....mmmmm...yum. Had a great day at work...lots of stuff getting done and stuff getting checked off my to-do list. Love that. Well, not much else, just working on some crafts and enjoying some PI kits that I've stashed around...I'll end with a picture of my scrap page for the Basic Grey Obscure contest. (I'm glad for the process of creating this page, I felt unrestricted, creative, free flowing and excited. Love that feeling. Nothing else matters, not if no one else likes it or if it looks ugly...just create-live it, love it, do it -*Love that*
:)

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Working like a maniac >)



Can I just say, I love Friday's. I know, I know, today is not Friday...sigh...but I still love fridays >)
Either way, just as the title to this post suggests, I AM working like a maniac. Despite a little headache, feeling like a boat and not finding my creative muse, I AM workin', seriously.

Good thing about today: free Starbucks. No, no. I don't mean a dear friend "sponsoring" my Starbucks addiciton. I mean the guy at Starbucks whom I shall call "Buddy" literally purposefully didn't charge me for my drink! I don't know about you, but that there is a sure way into my friendship list ;) jk. Well, no. I'm not. My friendship can't be bought, it can be sweetened with some frapp love though *smile* See. It pays to go to Starbucks every day of the week! They finally remember you and then they start giving you free stuff- so sweet. Totally unexpected-really. I just want to take a moment and thank God for this little but very tasty blessing as well as my little friend "Buddy" at Starbucks- YOU ROCK!. Thanks people, things are looking up.

So yah! For free Starbucks, and it's not even Friday yet!!!! Good times, thankful for work, In-N-Out with Coco, sweet FREE Starbucks and my devotional with the coolest girls :)


Today: Tall. Passion Tea Lemonade, with 2 shots extra Classic Syrup.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

hello hello



oh. my. Where have I been? I've just about fallen off the face of this earth huh? I've been back from Colorado for some time now. Which is by far my biggest surprise of this year :) Happy Happy times! I'll post some more pictures. But wait, I had such a great time with Norma in Santa Barbara! Aw Yeah!!!! Peace and love!!!! People are so laid back, just was perfect and came at a perfect time to rest and relax, even think ;) Sigh....I'll post some more pics from that adventure too! Norma has some mad biking skills for sure-hehee.

On the scrapbooking side, I've pretty much kept up on my goal of scrapping at least 12 pages a month, I know- seems a liitle bit, but truly, it's so hard for me to get it done. Anyway, I finished up some layouts for the Design Team and am so happy about that!!! Whew! I'll be sure to post some pics of those as soon as I get them back.
I unfortunately broke my digital camera while in SB and now I have no camera :( Oh well, on to a new BETTER camera!!!! Yeah!!! I say that like its so easy huh? Well, I'm seriously looking into purchasing my first PRO camera! :) I am so excited, a little nervous about spending $ of course...but all in all, I think it's for the best.
Well, nothing much other than planning to start celebrating some birthdays around here! Yeah! I love LOVE love celebrating people I love.

Speaking of which, I actually missed blogging to myself >)
I should do this more often, huh? ;)

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Update: Hello from Colorado :)



Good morning to you. I'm sorry for not updating yesterday, here's the scoop:(with very cool pictures)
Day 2 (Tuesday) in our trip to Colorado was very exciting. I went to 2 sessions- 1: Just for Women and 2:Spiritual Leadership. Man, I can truly say my eyes are wide open to the reality of stress, and pressure that comes with being a leader. Both speakers (a lady and a guy) talked about the ups and the downs of this position. They were so encouraging to those in the very low parts of their ministry. It was refreshing to hear that there is hope, always hope in Christ. No other. I definitely pray with more sincerity for Pastors like my Dad, etc. whom I see on a daily basis give and give and give of themselves to God's people. Praise God for them. I love you Dad!

We went to lunch afterwards-love the fellowship :)
We didn't eat here, somehow, the cheese curd didn't sound at all appetizing. But check out this very cool sign I spotted:
AMEN to that!!! Very cool.

This picture settles my love for powerlines running across a big beautiful sky. I don't know why...I did this all the time in my photography classes in college. So weird I know. Well, looked up while hiking and this is what I saw. So pretty.


Then I stopped by and dipped my feet in this little creek:

I wore my rocket dogs and man, that hurt. But anyway, very much worth the beauty all around. See:

I even had some time to hug a tree. My favorite Colorado tree: the Quivering Aspen. These little leaves on this cute tree are so energetic. AKA: little clapper trees (just something I named them :) hehee. Alright. I'm crazy. For God's beauty that is.
Mentally, who knows ;)

Ended the day with some more fellowship with Midway family watching Sense and Sensibility. Left talking like a very poetic Ms. Austin...it was funny at least. And that there was my Tuesday. I hold on to God's promise that his hand is over me and he is true to his word. I have alot to be thankful for...Rejoice!
This is the day that the Lord has made!

Monday, July 9, 2007

Colorado: Amazingly Beautiful

And I feel completely inspired. This place looks so much like a movie set. You don't know for sure if it's real- but it definitely is! Praise God!

So surprising. Don't know for sure why? I know God is amazing. I believe it. I hear it. Well, it's easier to SEE it in Colorado. I'm here for a staff conference and I am so grateful to have this opportunity to come & visit. Talk about a change! Those who know me, know why :) hehee. Well, your prayers worked. I stayed in to have some R&R with my Creator. And can I tell you, he was speaking so loudly! First off look at my little "study" area:
WOW! Can you believe it!
Alright, so while I was doing the study for this week, I was inspired also by Chris Tomlin's new CD "See the Morning" And this song:So beautiful...love these lyrics: "Let Your Mercy Rain"
God, You have done great things
You give grace to the weak
And bless the broken hearted
With a song of praise to sing

You reached down and lifted us up
You came running, looking for us
And now there's nothing
And no one beyond Your love, Your love

You're the overflow
You're the fountain of my heart
So let Your mercy rain, let Your mercy rain on us

You're the faithful One
When the world's falling apart
So let Your mercy rain, let Your mercy rain on us

AMEN

There are these trees, I like to call them clappers because they sound just like they are applauding the Lords greatness. That's all you hear as the wind passes through them. So beautiful, kind of like a roaring stadium. I don't miss the palm trees. I do miss and love my family, but I grow stronger through their prayers and love. I know I needed this break to refocus. It reminds me so much of my time at Big Bear. (Norma, you know :) I'm just taking time to listen, learn scripture, and live it. Slowly but surely...one day at a time. Not wanting to come back down the mountain the same. Thankful, so very thankful for this moment of peace.

Friday, July 6, 2007

It's been a while...

and I don't know where to start...other than with some scraps from my journal. I've finally finished an entire scrapbook journal! So excited about that. Definitely a creative boost. My goal recently had been to be more prolific. And so far, so good :)

Hmmm...I'll start with one that's up in the Basic Grey Gallery:

I so love Hillsong United *Kiss Kiss* This page was inspired by them: "My Future Decided". I rock to that pretty much every morning. So I thought I'd share it here and on Basic Grey. Yeah for sharing creatively!
I love checking out online galleries and it's especially fun to see something you've inspired along with everyone else's.

This is inspired scrapping also from Hillsong United: "From the Inside Out"
One of my all time favorite songs. Listen to it in Spanish-ooohh so much Passion!



I've totally been having a fun time with my PI Kit. A very wise investment :) hehee.

Some fun faith scrapping: I LOVE my Small Group. Love it. I jotted down some favorite verses these past few weeks and I thought I'd make a page about God's true promises to us. I took a very wise quote from our Women of Faith study and decided to use it as journaling:



I'd been going crazy with sticking everything on each layout. I calmed it down for these:

Okay, so this is Gabby. AKA, little miss karaoke. She can just sing to herself and be perfectly happy. She doesn't even need an iPOD :) She's talented for sure.

then there's Norma's layout:


I'm so glad she let me take a picture of her. I'm tired of scrapping myself!!! It's such a nice change to scrap people you love.
Speaking of which, check him out:

Yeah that's right. Foochie Woochie :) With love of course. My baby brother.
I managed to scrap all three layouts in one day! Whoo hoo! And best of all....none of the layouts had me in it!!! YEAH!!!

I did this one last night:
I'm missing Cindy. Sorry Cindy. Hugo, Norma, Gabby and I decided to hang out for a day and that was a perfect time to get some much needed shots of family. Good times guys-LOVE YA! So now I'm all caught up via my little blog journal. ta da. sigh...off to sleep now. stay blessed.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Faith Scrapping in progress...

I've been listening to lots of great music that is inspiring some faith scrapping. Some songs I've had on my iPod for a while now and just so happen to love more today than ever before. Lots of Jennifer Knapp, Hillsong United, Jars of Clay and Chris Tomlin. Wow, such a great encouragement. So awesome to call them my brothers and sisters :)

These layouts inspired by Jennifer Knapp songs:


and this one too:


In my Small Group, we've been studying on trusting God with our burdens. I took some of my favorite verses and scrapped them so that I can have a visual reminder of them. This is turning out to be more of a prayer journal than anything. I'm excited about learning the verses when I scrap, I just keep reciting them the entire time I work on the layout. I'm enjoying scrapping and journaling Bible verses-the best of both worlds :) It's definitely a huge embrace just when I need it.

Faith scrapping:

And it all started with this one:
(Found this verse to be perfect for what I feel right now)


So that's the progress now. Anytime I feel insecure, in doubt, or just scared, this helps so much. Being creatively inspired to reach into the Bible, grab a verse and hang onto that promise for dear life. Lots more to come I'm sure, lots and lots more.
Take chances. Live. Trust. And always love.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Summer Colors

Summer is definitely on my mind. I love summer colors. Can I just say I think I got really crazy with my summer layouts. I usually shy away from color. Even in what I wear. Black or grey baby >) Hehee. Lately, it's been less of that and a lot more of color. These layouts were fun, totally goes with how I felt at the time. Surf classes were so cool. Thanks Norma for your inspiration and pictures! PS: I got some great BasicGrey news today so I will post about that later :) Very cool...very cool!



The blue pattern paper is my fav. I wish it was a cool towel design. And I'm sure you can tell that holding that foamie was KILLING ME!!! I think I was telling Norma to hurry it up because that board weighed a ton! Well, after 3 straight hours "surfing" (I really never got up :) Waaaaaay to LAZY. Just chillin' and relaxin' in beautiful SD. PS: Totally jazzed up the color of the water. The water is a really icky green. But doesn't it look pretty now after I fixed it? hehee. I wish.

Not really excited about this one... kind of seems a little crazy huh?
Oh well. I think it shows that I was in a hurry :)

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

My Sweet Karina

Such a dear friend you are to me. Thank you for letting me give you these gifts...I truly enjoyed making them for you both. Turns out, during this time, they are a true testament to God being true to his promises. Things will work out for the best, as long as He is in control. Thank you for reminding me of that-I treasure you both.

(I think you made Chuck blush)

(Always Remember)

I just love how I got to see your friendship grow into this! So romantic.
(So perfect for each other)


Someday, just maybe :) I too will invite you to share in some of these wonderful moments.
Hmmm....have you seen my Prince? :)
love
-debee

Smile Pretty Girl



Who is this little cutie?
My little sister Gabby. Awww... so cute :)
I love it when you smile (like you mean it)
You get your looks from me ...hehee. Ha!
jk-didn't mean to scare you >)
love ya Chicki!