fresh off the press

I'm so excited about Lee & I's new pictures I couldn't wait to post them!
I'm a very lucky girl in the fact that I have had a ton of photographer friends in my life in Grenada... most of whom have been new at it and have asked to practice on me.  
I am not one one to turn down pictures!  Especially pictures of Lee and I!
It just so happens that the timing has worked out perfectly that we were able to do a photo shoot last year for our 1 year anniversary{here} and then again this year for our 2 year anniversary!

I got a lot of my inspiration  for the pictures from pinterest and was able to use the jute ampersand I made a couple weeks ago!
Thank you so much to my friend Allie for these pictures.  She's just starting, but I think she did a fabulous job!  She's working on a website soon and I'll be sure to share!

and a really big thanks to my Lee.
isn't he a good sport??
he indulges me when he can because med school is so life controlling... but I know he loves me.

I {heart} lions

When I was in the 5th grade I became an aunt for the first time.
My mom bought my niece the most adorable stuffed lion you can possibly imagine at a thrift store.... and I wanted it.
I've never been one to really like stuffed animals, but this one is different... and Mom gave in and let me keep him.  He even made the trip to college with me... but sadly I had to leave him behind when I made the trek to Grenada.
The other night I called my mom to ask her to check what brand he is so I could google him & guess what?!
He was made in 1987 - the year I was born! It was meant to be!

tell the truth... have you ever seen anything cuter?

I decided that whenever I have a child someday their nursery will be designed after my lion.  I love the mix of vintage patterns & gender neutrality of a sweet little yellow lion.


Want more adorable lions?

Source: flickr.com via Elizabeth on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via papermoon on Pinterest

who said they had to be yellow?

Source: printpattern.blogspot.com via Crafty on Pinterest

I am now finding myself posting this with hesitation... please don't let lions blow up like the owls did!

highlight of the day

I broke down and started using twitter. 
Mostly so I could stalk even MORE blogs, designers, companies, famous people...
and also because Cat told me she followed Picnik on twitter & they commented on her blog!
jealous much?

I signed into twitter for the first time in over 2 years the next day.
and today Picnik started following me!!
O happy day!

This brings me to a mid-week Picnik update.

Lee and I had pictures taken for Christmas this past year & while we absolutely love the pictures... Lee has never been happy about the fact that his shorts got splashed by a huge wave moments before we started.
kinda surprising that a man would care about such a thing, huh?

anyway, with my new found love of the cloning tool I went in and simply erased the water spots by cloning areas of his shorts that were dry!

a little 1960s effect

See my last post about the amazing cloning tool here
and duh... follow me on twitter!

7 things to recycle into art & craft projects

We all know I'm currently living in Grenada, but did you know that Grenada has NO form of recycling other than re-using glass beer bottles?  Sad but true.
I cringe every single time I throw something away.

I decided to compile a list of some easy, cheap, recyclable projects you can do with the stuff sitting in your trash can [in Grenada] right this very minute.

1. Paper - magazines, newspaper, medical school notes, etc

• Magazine Rosettes - my version
• Magazine Basket   - my version
• Magazine Beads
• Rolled Paper Frame 
• Newsprint Art
• Paper Ornaments  - see mine here & learn how to make them here 
• Paper Feathers 
• and you can always make a collage!

2.  Cardboard - cereal boxes, shoe boxes, packaging

• Shoe box shelves - my version
• Jute Ampersand (or any letter/symbol) my version
• Bunting / Banner - my version
• Toilet Paper Art - my version here & millions of more versions here 
• Toilet Paper Photo Trick - my version
• Cereal Box Shadow Box - my version
• Oatmeal Container Headband holder 
• Can also be used to press leaves & flowers!

3. Glass - pop bottles & jars

• Food Storage - much better than using plastic!  Use for leftovers in the fridge & to store candy or anything vulnerable to humidity
• Beach memory jars 
• Pop bottle halloween decor - my version
• Bottle vignette - my version
• painted glass jars 
• also use them to drink out of!

4. Tin Cans 

• Planters
• Pencil Cups 
• Luminaries 
• Hanging tin can decor

5. Plastic

• Empty Sunscreen bottle turned secret beach storage 
• Plastic spoon wreath 
• Plastic spoon rose
• Plastic bottle flowers
• Purses and jewelry from plastic food wrappers 
• I always use my iga bags as trash bags so I'm not purchasing additional plastic bags & always use my reusable bags when possible!

6. Wood

• Subway Sign Art - my version
• Sea Shell Art - my version
• Merry Christmas Sign - my version

7. Fabric

• Fabric scrap necklace 
• t-shirt re-design  - my version
• Yo-yos
• Dish rags 

Anyone have a good idea of how to reuse styrofoam for art or crafting?? Or do you have a another great recycling project to add to my list?

Source: etsy.com via Sandie on Pinterest

Color Duo: Purple and Green

My friend Ellen's wedding colors were purple and green.  When she told me this I truthfully thought "WHAT?!" but it turned out absolutely beautiful!
I've been seeing this unusual color combo pop up and I think it's so fresh and interesting!

The Fab 4 - my best friends from jr high!

Source: thelennoxx.com via Laura on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Erin on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Veronica on Pinterest

Source: roomenvy.wordpress.com via Amy on Pinterest

Source: interi0r-design.net via Azure on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Jessica on Pinterest

a saturday afternoon picnik #6

This week for our anniversary I spent some time editing some of our wedding pictures.  I have a picture of us in the "getaway" car that I love, but unfortunately my Aunt and Uncle are just chilling the bacground kinda messing it up... so I erased them!

This is only available with a premium picnik account (it's only $25 for the whole year!)

Under the advanced tab there is a feature called Cloning.With the cloning feature you can select a point in the picture and copy it elsewhere on the image.
Here is the original image -

Love you Uncle Larry but your bright yellow shirt has got to go...

What I did was clone the trees in the background to kind of cover up my uncle.  Then I did the same technique with the car to cover up my aunt.  I'd do a play by play but it would take a million images to show... this is a slow process of changing the area you're getting the cloned image from and changing the size of the area to fit in very small spaces like the car around Lee's head.

Here is the after. 

The trees look a little funny, but would you notice if you weren't looking for it?? I probably wouldn't.

 I decided to try it out in black and white as well to see the difference.

 What do you think?
I think Picnik should hire me as an advertiser! :)

Baby Shower Gift

One of our good friends is expecting a baby almost any day now!
She is a brave woman; not only is she IN  medical school but she is also delivering her baby IN Grenada.
Some friends got together and threw her a baby shower... island style.

For the gift I found an idea on pinterest.

Source: cricut.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I had to get creative with it, because after all, I am in Grenada.  Not only are baby blankets expensive, but they'd probably not use it here.... so I found a Grenada flag to use!  This baby will be a dual citizen after-all!

I loved this alternative to the diaper cake!  The diapers that weren't able to fit in the pouch I put in a gift bag.

Island cake!

tissue paper flowers are the ultimate easiest/pretty decor for a party

Now I am off to tackle the MOUNTAIN of laundry we have accumulated. boo

The Cotton Anniversary

Yesterday my precious husband and I celebrated 2 years of marriage, and today we're already working on year 3!
Since we're on a super tight budget holidays and celebrations are quite creative around our household and I am so blessed to have a husband who actually put thought and time into what he wanted to do for me... even if it didn't turn out quite right.

He attempted to make me cotton candy.
at home. in Grenada.
that sweet wonderful man.

I love cotton candy probably much more than the average girl... and since it was the "cotton" anniversary it was perfect! 
except Grenada is the most humid place on earth. kinda like living in a sauna.

He was so excited to do a DIY project with me & we had a blast covering our entire kitchen in sugar :)

preparing the solution... I was still clueless as to what he was making.

see it's working!!

but once we started rolling it it turned sticky :/

still delicious though! so we ate it like suckers! 

the little sugar droplets on the floor....

So what if the cotton candy didn't turn out exactly right? we still had a ton of fun... and got some cotton candy flavored hard candy out of it :)

I love that he wanted to do something a bit crazy and diy for me & I did something practical & useful for him, so like us!

I sewed him a new pillowcase because just last week his tore... and I mean, tore beyond repair.  He's a rowdy sleeper.

My friend Cat was a genius and brought a little sewing machine down to Grenada and let me try it out!
I found this green fabric in town for $6.95EC a yard (about $3US) and 1 yard was plenty to make a pillow case!

The pillow case is nothing spectacular... a rectangle.
But I did dress it up by using teal thread and sorta monogramming his name on it!

I remembered to take a picture after he had already slept on it! ha!

Lee ♥ done with the sewing machine. lol. would have been better off hand stitching it.
but o well! life is an adventure.

Here are a few wedding pictures I picnik'd this week. 

Happy Anniversary my Lee!! I love you more than words can describe.

Hello latest followers!

I'd like to introduce you all to some of my latest followers and what they've been up to!

Question - how do you contact a person if they don't have a blog or email listed on their profile? :/
I guess you just say HEY! Thanks for following! and hope they read it...
but seriously!  Thank you for all the sweet comments & making me feel like less of a crazy person for all my antics.

Want to see some other people's antics?
duh. why do we blog & read blogs? to get all into people's business.

First up - Tales of a Trophy Wife.  They just went on a family road trip and she shared this awesome map her kids colored and some other fun road trip tips. 

Amanda at Interpreted by Me is doing doing a rain dance, giving her dog a bath, and eating pizza soup.  My kind of girl!

Tasha over at Frugalicious Me is always doing cute, fun stuff. This week there are giveaways, link up parties, and she made these adorable little paper luminaries!  Check out the tutorial.

Kay at The Van Gogh Cafe just got married and shared a little preview of her wedding photos and I'm only slightly jealous that she got to have her reception in a white tent. or green with envy. 

Emily at Mirrors, Metaphors, and Kaleidoscopes is not only taking me on a trip down memory lane with the DC Talk post, but also giving me some great crafting ideas like this scarf she made out of an old pair of pants!

Rose and Heather are two friends that keep up at Sew Stylish Boutique with tons of DIY ideas. They also have a link party on Tuesdays!

Sidney, my newest follower, at together4everandalways is detailing the events of her wedding.  I love her use of color and feathers in her wedding decor!

Don't I have some pretty amazing, creative blogging friends? :)