the thought

it counts.
Sometimes. Well, no. Every time.
except this time.
Such is the case with this pretty gift. All pretty in pink. Fit for a princess named Ellie.

we love ellie because:
- she has imaginary "girlfriends" who she talks too.
- She has an imaginary pet butterfly
- She's the boss
- she loves dolling herself up with barbie makeup and a pink tutu and little plastic high heels. (so cute)
- Her enthusiasm is like no other. it's kinda scary :)
- she wears the cutest little glasses. I love people who wear glasses. xoxo

well last Saturday we celebrated her birthday. mr.handsome and i bought a little pack of cute disney princess nail polish, with a nail filer, and multi heart shaped bracelets ( totally cute!). All inside this cute little box above.

Was it too pretty & cute to open?

oh no.
objective: get the gift inside the box.
she tore into the gift, the box flew one way and the bow flew in the other.
objective successful.

i think i spent like 15 min making the cute little bow & flower. oh well. next time. just get a gift bag :)

She had a HUGE gift that came in a HUGE disney princess gift bag... She saw the gift, tossed it and pulled the gift bag over her little self. all you could see were her cute little legs. hahaa!

sigh* good times.

it was fun to watch her and her little cousins run around so free and happy.
I think I will do just that today in my little studio making stuff :)

luvs,
-d

umbrella ella ella a a a

hahaa.
how catchy is that.
listening to a remix of rhianna on pandora... so appropriate since it's raining here in San Diego today.
yay!


and we have no umbrella.
oh well.

we are still going out to run errands at costco, some grocery shopping, happy mail sending ( to my lil sis in tucson ) and this cutie is on it's way to a new home. cute cute! hope that gives you a little color springish pick me up during this grey weather!

So here we go!
Have a fun saturday and i will puddle jump for ya ;P

i wish i had an umbrella ella ella a a a
-d

crazy lady

definitely sums me up



wanna hear a crazy lady story... starring me?

I'm not kidding. Yesterday I went to the dentist after such a looooong time not going. I can't even remember how long ago it was! But anyhoo....I thougth i was ready to go back into the dentists office, i went in for a deep DEEP deep cleaning. Mr. Handsome had been to the same dentist previously so he explained briefly what they do. How it doesn't really hurt. They do a good job..... so on. I was ready.

so i thought.

now i'm a worrier by nature. i am a list maker. i live life a little stressed. but never have i ever been a super anxious person. i kind of like to think of myself as a person who can accept change and just go with it. But there have been times that i just freak out. The last time i was at a dentist i had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. i went in for prep for the surgery. chatting with the team that was going to do the surgery.

i thought i was fine.
sitting.
waiting.
then they asked if i was cold. i said no. i feel fine. which i did. but no. i was shaking. and i didn't even notice it. until they all looked at each other and at me. shaking.
they quickly jumped into action to put me to sleep with the ever so famous laughing gas.

told me a quick joke. counted to 5
i laughed so hard.
i went to sleep mid laugh.
when i came to after the surgery they were all still laughing at me.
they had never seen anyone go under so fast and so silly like me :) i never made it to 5
proud moment.
no? hahaaa!

so i lived through that. fast forward to yesterday.
wonderful staff. two super sweet ladies who thoroughly explained the procedure. i nodded. sure no problem. turned my ipod on and they went right to work.

i felt myself tense up.
breathe, relax.
tense up moments later.
breathe
relax... thinking to myself.
MYSELF! you better get it together dangit!

i asked for a break.
they nicely obliged.
several large deep breathes later. relaxed. turn music back on. procedure continues.

well, 5 breaks later.... still not done. still not relaxed. still tense.
the final time i asked for a break it was obvious i was not able to take much more.... after 1 hour i was mentally done.
get me out of this chair i will hurt you kind of way.
i want my lollipop lady!

this time bathroom break. and they generously gave me a banana, and orange juice. like a little 5 year old.
ugh.
*blushes*

what the heck is going on!?

i am no chicken.
right?
right. afterall, i was completely numb for the whole thing and had not felt any pain! what was i worried about?!

i just wanted to turn myself off.
trying to find the switch was making me even more anxious.

needless to say, i am now. officially coming to the conclusion that yes, i might just be a little teeny tiny bit crazy.

and i just can't help it.

mr.handsome kindly reminded me while i was crying about the whole ordeal in his arms... that this happens to a lot of people. it's natural to be anxious. especially at the dentists office. and after not going for what seems like forever.

i would like to think that this is not a problem. that i can tough it out next week for my next appointment. but something inside is just not feeling it. so teeny tiny baby steps for me. pray before i go. make my visits shorter. and bring my own orange juice and banana :) hey, snacks are okay at my dentists office! yay for me! hahaaa


oh. they are never going to forget me at that dental office. what a way to go down in the books huh?

oh remember that girl deborah? the one that gets nervous like a scared Chihuahua? hahaaa!

before i left, the two dentist were joking saying next time they see me they would be ready with snacks :P
I'm so thankful that they made the best of me. even if it wasn't at my best.
that takes so much compassion.

i thanked them profusely and promised that i would behave next time.
and that, is a promise i hope to keep.

they said see ya later, and complimented me on my cute boots. hahaa. girls. totally love them.

you have any suggestions on what to do for a better visit next time? i'd love to hear them pretty please.
xoxo

little miss crazy,
-d

flowers & jOy in mini form

today i'm sharing my little flowers and jOy mini :)
Finished this in just a half hour. I tend to take longer gluing stuff down ( *blush*smiles*)

I love how simple and colorful this little mini looks. I tend to shy away from using too much color on my pages, but this was a welcome change.

hope you like the little mini!
there is still just 1 little cutie left in the shop ;)















and this is what it looks like all pretty in a package


sigh*
mini index pics and handmade embellies, oh yes. love.

xoxo
off to the dentist!
yikes!
and then the post office :)
yays!
happy almost friday loves!

xo
-d

fascinating

or something like it. I LOVE the vintage inspired Fascinators i see all the lovelies wearing. I think they look sweet and sophisticated :) Something about them makes my heart skip a beat. I had purchased one from anthro a while back and since then have played around with the idea of making my own. To wear and even put in a shadow box with a few pictures. I want them everywhere!

i have fallen in love with feathers and handmade felt flowers.
*swoon*
so i played around in my little studio chillin', relaxing and made these cuties.

You can add a hair clip to them and wear them in your hair





Or clipped onto your clothing




or even add a glue dot to the bottom of it and adhere to your scrapbook page!





I have a few more smaller mini flower pieces that I will be adding to the shop this week too.
I'm crushing on felt right now. it's sooooo nice to play around with and make cute fuzzy things.
Hope you enjoy the eye candy!
Have a beautiful Wednesday
xoxo
-d

Q & A

Jen said...
Ok... I just used this page and it is totally awesome! I would love to have quick pages like these to digital scrapbook with. It is totally my style but I can have fun without the mess on those "can't get the paint out" days. You should totally think of selling some of these in your etsy shop! Hugs!

first off Jen, I LOVE your digi page you made with the free download!!!
So happy it worked out for everyone :)
It's my first free download and hopefully not my last *hint*hint*wink*
as far as selling some digi goodness in my ETSY, i think i might just sneak in some pages. Thank you for liking them and for your encouragement! I love designing and feel like it really does make me happy to make something that i love and you really like :)
it's perfect for us all! yay!
lol

I totally know what you mean about having fun without the mess. we have a backyard with bricks splattered all over with paint *oops*
*blushes*
and of course my carpet. oh my.

OH!
I was at michael's and i walked into the martha section...
I guess they have a "kit" section in the same aisle and i FOUND MY 8X8 SCRAPBOOK KIT !!!!
i partly designed this kit for MAMBI about a year ago ( can't remember, it was a while ago)
It comes in this package:

insert cheesy photobooth pic:


and most of the pages come with paint splatters all over them :)


my fav:


It's called Debee- Us and it's $6.99. so just keep that in mind next time you have a michael's coupon :)
i think it's worth it :) especially if you want to try the paint splatter style without the fuss.
I'm such a bad influence. i know. alright infomercial over. (yikes! sorry)

Naomi said...
I love this page!!! Did you use spray paint to create that effects? Or did you just use a mister like maya mist? Also the droplets how did you do that and what do you use? Im so curious i just love your style!!!

Hi Naomi! Thank you for the sweet comment! I did use black spray paint ( i use black matte & glossy spray paint ) to create the splatter effects. To make the droplets I just lightly press on the spray nozzle so just a little bit of paint comes out. I just play around with how much pressure I use to spray the paint over my page. easy peasy!

Natalie said...
I could look at your stuff all day. Lovely colour combinations, beautiful graphic designs. Just amazing!
I am curious to know what punch you've used for those doily/flower type shapes? The one you made the mini-garland out of?

Hello Natalie :) *blushes* thank you for the sweet comments, you are too nice!
hmm.. okay, i know I bought it from the Martha Stewart line. I think it's called "Medallion". I bought mine at Michael's ( yeah, i practically live there)

funny tid bit, during college i used to work there. hahaa. just for 3 months. and i never bought one.single.thing. srsly.

oh yeah, i know someone also asked about the circle punch i always use.
it's also from Martha Stewart and it's called "Starburst".

certifiedpaperfreak said...
hello love
you know how much i love your kits. they are so easy to put together in a snap.
quick question. do you use an actual typewriter on your pages or is it a font?
have a happy Valentine's day!
My sweet Sandra xo,
I inherited a very old panasonic KX-E700m from a previous job. The typewriter is not pretty to look at but i can pretty much fit anything up to 16 inches in width through that baby and type my heart out! it's pretty useful when i want to add journaling to my pages. It takes up SO much desk space and it's SUPER heavy and i ran out of the corrector tape, and cannot for the life of me find more cartridges for it ... but until the ink runs out, she's a keeper. :)

Rose said...
here's my 'pretty much anything' question ;) who inspires you?

Hello Sweet Rose :) *waving hi*
i come from a traditional art background. i would've loved to have been a painter. or even just an animator. but even back when i first discovered the following creative painters during art school, i knew i would not be the same. They inspire my paintings, graphic designs and even art journaling to this very day. I have a few favs that hold a special place in my heart as far as inspiration...

marc chagal


Pablo Picasso ( i once named a beta fish after him :)


gustav klimt


they all speak to me. visually, emotionally. i love the essence of their art. so peaceful, beautifully detailed and emotionally charged. that's my kind of art. it provokes. it fills a little void of happy in my heart.

what's inspring me now...


i want to live here.

i have yet to make a trip to peru, or bolivia or istanbul... but i have this urge, this "home" feeling when i think and see anything that has to do with these places and people.

i want to dress my babies like this:




i kid you not. LOVE



i am drawn to them in such a way i know something good will happen and someday i will be able to visit these fairy tale places. That's what they are to me. Mr. Handsome and i are actually planning on a trip to peru maybe this year to celebrate our first anniversary ! keep your fingers crossed for us! we didn't have a honeymoon so this is it :)

i love lamas. *kiss*kiss*


i want to dress with this.


i sometimes feel like i was meant to be born somewhere else. hahaa. i'm a foreigner. and i have a mission in life to fill up a passport. and before i'm too old to enjoy it. i have only 20 more stamps. :)

so that makes me visually happy right now. i know. you were probably expecting something more spray painty and splattered. but this is my eye candy... my happy. it keeps my creative spirit on fire. *sizzle* ;P

thank you for your questions!
have a terrific tuesday loves!
xoxo
-d

sweet treats

This past Valentine's day I dolled up these little kraft boxes with some yummy treats.


i thought I would share the cookies I made to fill these boxes with love :)



Two huge cookies were tucked inside


The Recipe is originally from Real Simple

White Chocolate Snowballs

Serves 20
Hands-On Time: 25m
Total Time: 1hr 00m

Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 7-ounce bag sweetened flaked coconut
12 ounces white chocolate (chopped or chips)



Directions
1. Heat oven to 375° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

2. With an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the butter, brown and granulated sugars, corn syrup, and vanilla for 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture.

3. Form the dough into teaspoon-size balls. Spread the coconut on a plate. Roll each ball in the coconut, pressing so it adheres. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks.


4. Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl placed over, but not touching, simmering water, melt the chocolate. Turn half the cookies upside down and spread the flat sides with the white chocolate. Sandwich them with the remaining cookies.

* love detail *
I waited about 5 minutes for the cookies to cool then cut them out with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

i love baking

today i'm
finishing up my flowers & jOy mini album
enjoying my day off
going window shopping at michael's (although i do have a coupon, hmmm..... ;P)
maybe hitting up starbucks for some passion tea lemonade
and packaging the flowers & joy kits to send to the post tomorrow
(thank you to everyone who purchased a kit! I had fun making them for you*smiles*)
and to finish off the day, a quick run on the treadmill and a sour worms candy snack right after (my favorite)

ps: I'm writing a post with answers to several questions many of you have left in the comments section recently. If you have a question about something i might be able to answer :P just leave your question in the comments section and i will be sure to include an answer to it in my post. Thanks!
* You can ask about pretty much anything *
*wink*

have a marvelous monday!

-d

flowers & jOy

made their way to my little shop

- with a cute mini colorful paper garland -


and of course, more handmade love ;)


i sat and handmade crochet flowers while listening to an Ingrid Michaelson music playlist on pandora such a fun time. ahh... it was peaceful.



played with felted flowers & die cut butterflies *** xoxo ***



Inspired by our trip to the farmer's market for flowers & a little joy*
this little kit is about the little things. that deserve a little party. a little special place.
To get your own Flowers & jOy kit hop on over here (only 5 available)



I'm playing with this lovely tonight ! I'm planning on filling it with still life flower pictures that never made it to frames.
And maybe even some pictures of my little sister's birthday party.
then just for a little fun, add a few lyrics I've been loving as of late

today I wish you flowers & jOy,
luvs,
-d

happy Valentine :)

i made this little digi love for the mister.
To celebrate our 1st valentine's day together as a married couple.
So glad we celebrate a week after the valentine holiday... dinner reservations were easy peasy :)

back in August of '09 I made this layout for Kenner Road. But before i stitched anything down, I took a quick picture of it. Something I had never thought of doing before. But so glad I did. Because today you get it for free :)

yay you!
********

Debeeruiz_free Digi Paper

I'm off to doll myself up for our big day.
- We are headed to the Farmer's Market ( we love the food & flowers :)
- Some fun San Diego freeway driving & sun bathing
- and then a special Thai food dinner at our fav place.

you my dear have a free digi page to play with xoxo
*smiles* :P

Hope you like the spray paint ( no fumes! yay)
Let me know what you think,

xo
-d

awwwwww yyyyyeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah!

so i was due to report for jury duty this week.
but monday was a holiday. (yes!)
tuesday they didn't call groups in. (awesome)
wednesday they were closed for mandatory statewide office closures. (sweet)
thursday they didn't call my group in. (love it)
and today... i rolled out of bed.... didn't think about my jury duty until about 5 minutes ago.
Jury duty starts at 7:30 AM.
i rolled out of bed at 8:48 AM :P
oops.
just called to see if my group was called in for today
(heart beating fast)
the suspense!
ack!

...


.
.
.
and then the sweet lady on the voice message system says the sweetest thing... no groups called in for today.
my jury duty is served.

WHHHHOOOOOOOO Hooooooooooo!

so i'm happy
kinda. :)

then....
my back up yo stuff before you loose it party was a blast.
backed up in less than an hour. over 20,000 files.... 2 computers...one whole year of work.
backed that thang up.

*now let's pause for an MC HAMMER break it down session shall we?*
too legit to quit. :P



so this is what you look like to me now.
all shiny.
pretty sweet.
and look, you come with an apple symbol :)
hahaaa.

this year, i made a commitment to further invest in myself. as selfish as that sounds, it really is a key point in accomplishing further goals down the line. Being self employed is tough. Nobody is going to provide you with anything you need to get your job done. soooooo, the mister and i bought this little MAC (be still my heart) named of course: Bella. And I am SO thankful for a computer that works and doesn't slow me down. I feel closer to my little dreams. one step at a time. this is exciting!

So yeah. this is where i work/play.
this is my happy place. I'm SO thankful that mister handsome set aside this room just for me. We live in a teeny tiny place, and this is all mine. I'm so blessed.



and this is how i look on the flip side. ( to you)
but i hide sometimes :P

starbucks in one hand.
friday love
happy smile.

today, my barista was wearing dark sunglasses while she took orders and made my drink.
she made me a delicious cinnamon dulce frap with whipped cream and sprinkles on top!
ahhhh.... sooo yummy :) then when i went to pay, i opened up my wallet and saw a starbucks card i received around christmas. I thought it didn't have any money on it but asked just in case. Lucky duck* There was enough to pay for my drink AND with change left over ;P
*hi 5 !* ( i LOVE it when that happens)

this weekend the mister and i are celebrating valentines/anniversary. The 20th is the day back about 5+ years ago that we became official boyfriend/girlfriend. that might not mean much to anyone. but we were each other's first girl/boy
friends. *so so so happy*

counting my blessings
*sigh*
xo
happy friday to you!!!!
-d

M is for Mona

hello :)
Just finished my yummy pasghetti lunch.
thought i would hop on here during lunch and wave hi to you :)

*waving*

and mona wanted to come with so here we are... pretty sly.
you usually just see her pretty pictures, but today we are changing things up a little with an ever so unoriginal take-a-picture-with-your-camera shot. (picture taken at disneyland in Minnie's house)

smile!

cheesy.

little miss mona is a canon 40d with a sigma lens

she's pretty. that's all that matters right?

i used to have a canon rebel before this model.
film. when i went to cambodia i took 30 rolls of film. ended up paying more to develop the pictures than the worth of the camera. oh boy. reality set in. digital is the way to go. :)

so now you've formally met mona.
:)
we get click* happy
it's love,
-d

dressed up gifts

are better.
sometimes i don't even want to tear into a present when it's so pretty. i just want to look at it :)

well over the weekend mr.handsome and i had a birthday party to go to. and honestly we were just going to buy a card. then i remembered i still had a maya road envelope i stashed away from one of KR's kits + i had 5 min before we headed out the door and = viola! love & happiness for sure :)
lucky birthday girl. handsome and i tucked a starbucks card inside with a note saying: thank you for being alive, we love that about you ;P (silly us).



then this pretty garland was headed international so i just had to doll her up with a fun tag.
i think hearts should be posted everywhere. like graffiti xoxo.



and the travel paper kits had a little fun and headed out all at once. kind of like they were having a party all to themselves hahaa.
and this is how i wrapped them up. i had some coco coloured envelopes left over from our wedding invitations and so i thought they fit into the travel "theme". they looked pretty darn cute all together. ( i bought tons of that ribbon for our wedding too but never used it. so glad i had a pretty reason for it :)



and remember the anthro inspired decor i made here? i had put most of the decor i made for my sister in a box. just sitting there, then i wanted this black and white garland to have something cute like a bow... i thought it fit perfectly. waste not. *smiles* xo


just my little gift for supporting my little art shop :)

today i'm heading out to finalize tax stuff.... anyone else going crazy with tax stuff?
a good crazy of course ;P i love my tax lady.

mr. handsome is buying me and our computer a new firewire cable, and external hard drive for a fun back-up-yo-stuff-before-you-loose-it party i'm having in my office. by myself. hahaa. and hopefully FINALLY migrate (i really have no idea what i'm talking about.) my new mac computer with my old tower so i can finally work in my studio! not on the living room floor. like a hippie. :)
peace & lub people.

then i'm heading to the post to say hi to my fav. post people. i actually have made friends with the clerks at the post office! they actually make going to the post a little fun. they have the radio on a cool music station, and they crack jokes about each other... very funny. hahaa. i guess that makes working there a bit more sane.

and today...
is going to be a good day.
for sure
peace!
xo
-d

bakers twine is so divine :)

I love it so much I am now offering it in my ETSY shop!

red & white twine


baby blue twine


brown & white twine


I've also added a few gift package kits to the shop. Each kit includes 2 handmade tags & 2 embellishments (made by me) with plenty of bakers twine (5 yards) to wrap around 2 kraft pillow boxes (included). That way you can give a gift with style. :)













I had fun making these little beauties. I hope you enjoy them.
It's really nice to get something cute, I'm sure it's so much better giving your family and friends something just as endearing.
xo
afterall, i firmly believe you get what you give ;)
love to you,
-d