A thankful heart...

What an interesting week for me! Ups and downs and the roller coaster just never seem to want to stop for me to get off. So many things has happened in my life and in the lives that are really close to me and my family. Thanksgiving is around the corner and I'm grateful for this holiday. I get to reflects on the blessings in my life and what I'm grateful for. After writing down the lists of what I'm grateful for in my journal it sure make losing my engagement ring seems so small and less important.

It's hard to believe that it is more of an emotional loss for me. All of the memories when we were dating keep flooding my mind. The cloud 9 moments every single seconds of the day. That kind of happy memories!

I'm so grateful for loving God, husband, kids, parents, extended family, health, and the list goes on. My cup is runneth and I am at peace. I must admit it was a hard week but for some reason I feel perfectly OK right now. Sometimes you have to work really hard for what you really want -- and that my friend I am trying to find joy in everyday small miracles.


I took this picture this morning of a fountain. I added some magic to the picture in Photoshop using Rhonna's brushes. I'm going to print it out and frame it.
It's a great reminder.
We all need it.


Be. Grateful.

Storyboard in a layout

Storyboard is another fun way to add pictures to the layouts. Storyboard is simply just a fancy name for collage. I love to group pictures from the same event to tell a story.

This is the story I wanted to tell...

1). Z was making 'Arizonan snowman.'
2). He thought one particular rock was so neat and couldn't wait to show it to me. (of course I snapped the picture as he was showing it to me... with little children you have to be ready to snap that magical moment. Wear the camera around your neck -- do not set it down!)
3). He kept challenging himself to see how high he could stack the rocks. It doesn't take long for Z to learn the law of gravity. He's definitely a 'learning by doing' kind of kid.


You do not need Photoshop to do this. You can use Picasa, Microsoft Word, and other programs.

So switch it up and give storyboard a try. This is another way to freshened up the look of your layouts.

Since this layout is picture heavy. I decided to journal around the outside perimeter. Yes you can still get some journaling in even though there are so many pictures. My new goal is to add journaling in every page. So far so good!

iphone4 case

I just wanted to share with you a very awesome company called UNCOMMON for custom made iphone case. FYI I'm not being paid to promote their products. I'm just a very satisfied/happy customer. They are very professional.

By professional I mean...

1). Easy to navigate site
2). Easy user interface program
3). Proofs of your case before you check out
4). Quality - durable, sleek, glossy top coat
5). Packaging - very important. It's like the first couple of seconds when you meet your blind date. *wink*

Seriously it's one of a kind. I don't know about you but sometimes it's nice to have customized goodness in your life. I think it's fun to showcase your personality on your iphone case! Don't you?!

I designed this case in Photoshop. If you don't have Photoshop you can upload any pictures you have.

I used amazing Photoshop brushes designed by Rhonna.
Ch ch ch check her out!

And I do have ONE $5 off code to give away.
If you want it say "I WANT IT" in the comment.
First person to say "I WANT IT" in the comment below this post gets it!

41 days till Christmas

As I'm typing this post it's almost 40 days left till Christmas!
(for some reason it feels a lot more than 40 days)

I still haven't make anything Christmas except cards.
I promise as soon as I get going with my Christmas projects I will post them on my blog!!!


Just a little experience I had earlier today that gave me an "A-ha moment"and I thought I should share it with my readers.

But lets back up to Friday...

This is how the conversation goes with my sugar daddy.

Me: Hey hun you know we need to get our family pictures done?
SD: Oh yeah!
Me: When can you do it? (he is crazy busy with school and work)
SD: Umm let me check my calendar (I can hear him clicking away on his iCal.)
I can't do it next Saturday, or Saturday after that, or the Saturday after that one either. The ONLY Saturday I can do it is this Saturday (meaning today!)
Me: OK!

Off I went ... I knew just the right person I had in mind! My cousin! She loves taking pictures and I know she would do anything to get her hands on my DSLR camera that sugar daddy bought me. After leaving her a voicemail she finally called me back and informed me that she was in California. Greaaaaaaaaaaat! Now what?!

I'm determined we are going to make this work. I'm not about to go pay someone to take our pictures for a gazillion dollars for 5 pictures. A-Ha! I do have the remote.

"Let's just do it honey!"

(This picture makes me feel so happy... family who plays together stays together)

For those of you who do not have "fancy" camera or remote. You have a lil' cool feature on your camera called "self-timer." Go for it and have fun! It's boring to have everyone looking at the camera and say "cheese" anyway. Candid shots are the best!

The other tips I have for you is that when you are dealing with your lil' Santa's helpers you'll need to keep them occupied. As you can see in the picture there's nothing but trees and dirt. We brought props to keep Mister Z happy. We know he likes his bike and balloons. You know your kids best, it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

One last tip I have for you is to add digital brushes using Photoshop. If you don't have Photoshop do not panic. You can use stamps! Make sure to use Staz-on ink!


Now go for it and give it a try. Don't forget to put the camera on a tri-pod or something sturdy; i.e. table. Have fun and please send me some shots!

Falling for you.... for the 100000000th time

Fall is in the air!
(thank goodness, and it doesn't hurt to have the cutest biker by my side)

Can you feel it?

We have been having great weather here for the past few days. We rode our bikes around the Zoo today and everything about it was beautiful! We got to see pretty much the whole entire zoo in a short amount of time. No more walking at the zoo for us! Thanks to my MIL for a great idea!!!

Every other person that we passed by said "Why didn't we do that?" or "Wow that is so smart." So enough about my day...



I want to share some tips with you as regard to pictures for scrapbook layouts. (for those that have Photoshop.)
I don't know about you but for me I have to be inspired by the photographs in order to complete my pages. If I'm not feeling them I just put them back in the pile and come back to them later. I usually pick out 1 element (or more) in the pictures that I really like and go from there.

The following are great ways to jazz up your pictures before sending them to print

* Add text to your pictures
* "Stamp" directly onto your pictures (use Photoshop brushes)
* Add frame around your pictures
* Change the color; sepia, black & white, vintage, and etc. (this will change the feel of your layout dramatically)

Last but not least ( in my opinion this step is VERY important ...)
**** Make sure that machine color auto correct isn't on, if it's on that means they will tweak the colors for you ****
Note to photo tech at Costco. Please do not mess with the colors of my photographs. Leave them alone or else!

Have a Happy Fall!

Now go out there and capture some Fall memories!