Monday, December 31, 2012

2013 Resolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 

So long 2012!  You were great (got hitched!) but also tough (work wise)!

Hello 2013!

Here are FIVE of my new year's resolutions:

1) One Friday night of each month, hubby and I will have date night where we will learn a NEW recipe and cook together

2) Paint and decorate house.  It's about time!

3) Learn to say NO more often

4) Run less.  Surf more.  I still plan on running/racing, just not as much as I have been.  I realized ever since I started marathoning, surfing has taken a back seat due to "training".

5) Use materials accumulating in craft room.  Since I always have TONS of crafting ideas in my head but I never bring them to fruition, here is a goal for 2013 inspired by my most favorite blogger, Elise.  Check out her "27 materials" goal.  Pretty cool!  Here are my "35 materials" - only my goal is to use as many of these materials by the end of 2013 and I can use mulitple materials in projects.  For the materials I use quite often, I will try to kick it up a notch!  This is going to be fun!!!

1 beads
2 canvas
3 cardboard
4 ceramic
5 clay
fabric
7 feathers
8 felt
9 glass
10 glitter
11 glue
12 ink
13 lace
14 leather (real or fake)
15 metal
16 nature (i.e. leaves, branches)
17 paint
18 paper
19 paper mache
20 photos
21 plastic
22 rhinestones
23 ribbon
24 rubber
25 sequins
26 shells (sea stuff)
27 soap
28 stone
29 thread
30 tile
31 twine
32 wax
33 wire
34 wood
35 yarn

Saturday, December 15, 2012

I realize that as the years go by, it seems like there is less and less time in the day, week, month, year…  I’m not sure if that’s what growing up is all about?  Did my mom feel this way at my age?

All my life, I stuck with the family (or Japanese) tradition of tidying up and cleaning up at the end of the year so that we can ring in the New Year FRESH and ORGANIZED.  Well, this year, I may have to toss that out of the window.  It’s a good exercise, but I have so many competing priorities this year.  Heck, I’m lucky if I can squeeze in vacuuming and cleaning the bathrooms (my usual weekend routine) before the end of the year…  I’m ranting and raving about this now because technically the end of the year for me is this Thursday, December 13th, because I am leaving for my HONEYMOON!!!  Whoot!

So that means I’m also nixing Christmas cards.  Here’s one I will send out electronically.  :)


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

5 Minute Custom Headband Tutorial

I went into Joann's and Walmart the other day and bought a couple yards of faux leather, ribbon and elastic to make headbands for myself. I love comfortable headbands!

All you need is about 24 inches of material and about 3 inches of elastic to make a headband. I've learned that the perfect headband measurements for my head is 20 inches of material and 2 inches of elastic.

All you need to do is sew the ends of the materials to the ends of the elastic. Be sure to front stitch and back stitch a few times on each end to prevent breakage.

I love the way the faux leather hand and and the silver braided headband came out. :)











Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Thankful for...

November is a month to reflect on what we're thankful for...

I had some time this weekend to tidy up my craft room and I realized oh my, I have a TON of scrap paper that I need to use up!  And I wanted to play with my Martha Stewart leaf punch!  :)  I love the FALL!  So I made this for Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws (I hope they don't think I'm too bored at home...  heehee): 

They are table place cards.  :)  I love the quick stitching (and I really mean quick because they're hardly perfectly sewn)...  the stitching gives the paper a "leather" earthy feel.  :)



























*****

Even though every day feels like an overwhelmingly busy day, if I take a step back I see there is so much to be thankful for...  just to name a few off the top of my head:

1) MY HUBBY - We'll have frequent tiffs over something super silly, but at the end of the day he is still my hubby for life...  :)  too bad he doesn't read my blog!
2) IN-LAWS - My husband's immediate family is one I desired to be a part of all of my childhood...  don't get me wrong, I love my family...  but growing up in an Asian family meant being raised by super duper strict parents where the word LOVE was NEVER used.  So I'm very thankful for each and every one of my in-laws because they are just the sweetest...  especially MOM...  and I'm not just writing this because I know she checks my blog.  :)
3) MY JOB - YES!!!  The job that has given me lots of grays!!!  My company made 2 big acquisitions (in company history) this year (one worth $20B!) so we are busy at heck!  I work with a large department of people across various business units who are smart and genuinely CARING.   The job's challenging and it keeps me on my toes.  And most importantly it pays the bills! ... and my many, many hobbies!
4) MY HEALTH - This year I've had no major injuries...  like bursitis in my knee from slipping on the ice or an (almost) hernia from marathon training!
5) MY HOBBIES - And OH!  I have too many of them to start typing here!!!  ... all to relieve stress from #3 above!
6) MY FRIENDS - Especially the ones I've kept since college who are like FAMILY. 
7) MY DOG - I can't stress just how much I love my dog.  He is the smartest, the SWEETEST, THE BEST.  I tell him I love him so much, like a million times every day, that my husband gets jealous.  This may sound insane but everyday I wish he would live as long as he can...  because I simply cannot imagine life without the little bugger.
8) MY FAMILY - they drive me nuts...  but this year my brother and I got closer...  so that's a warm and fuzzy feeling.  :)

So much more to be thankful for! ...  but I'll stop here for now.  :P

*****

Wow!!!  This is the first time I used blogger.com instead of the blogger app.  I need to stop being l-a-z-y because blogger.com is so much more fun than the app!!!  :D

Saturday, October 20, 2012

October Jewelry by Ami

My latest jewelry design!!! Twisted beaded statement necklace. That's a whole lot of beads around my neck! :P

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Quick-to-Make Mini Album

I've been non-stop stressed at work so I usually can't wait to get home and play with SOMETHING in my craft room to relieve some stress!

With just 6 sheets of double-sided cardstock (here I used Becky Higgins paper cut into 4x6's) and some colored envelopes, 2 binder rings (here I used Jim Holtz rings), a mini album can be made super duper quickly! I have plans to incorporate the confetti into my album too! Can't wait to scrap my next post busy season trip!

Monday, August 13, 2012

*everyday eclectic*

*rubbing hands* I've been looking forward to this! Came in the mail today. :)

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Song of the Month

If you loved watching the Olympics USA girls gymnasts as much as I did, this song is a must download. It sure keeps me pumped during my marathon training runs!!! :)

Snapseed Before and After

I love my Snapseed app because you can filter photos to any way you desire. My hubby noticed a beautiful sunset yesterday evening... I took a photo with my iPhone but it came out so dark! Notice the huge difference between the before and after photos???

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Another Rainy Day Project

A little bit of math and a whole lot of piercing and voila, a nicely textured and elegant card for any special occasion. :) mostly used CTMH paper, Martha Stewart punches, other Recollections products, and Divine Twine.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Chevron Stamp

I made my own chevron stamp using erasers that I bought at Walmart.

What do you think? I kinda like that it's not "perfect". I'll use this stamp on my scrapbook pages. :)

Rainy Day Notebook Project

All you need is a strip of 4.25" x 12" patterned cardstock (scored at 5.5" , 11" and 11 1/8"), 5 sheets of printer paper (cut down the long way at 4.25" and scored at 5.5"), a brad, an eyelet, some twine and a sewing machine to complete this project in about 10-15 minutes!

I can totally carry this cute notebook around in my purse! :)

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Summer Days

Again, for a card swap... "summer" theme... I LOVE making and sewing these balloons!!! I also LOVE my EK Success Cloud paper punch. I've been using it a lot lately on cards and scrapbook pages! :D

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Man's card :)

This month's card swap was a challenge --- theme: "masculine".
I made my own beer mug die cut. I can't take credit for the idea... I found it on Pinterest. It almost makes me want to take a sip. :P

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

I Heart Chevron! Wedding Scrapbook!

I just entered an SEI scrapbooking kit giveaway on the Creating Keepsakes blog and mentioned how I looove Chevron!!! Because I do! So much so that I keep saying "chevron!!!" to my hubby every time I see the pattern... and now when he sees the pattern, he looks at me (without saying anything) and waits for my face to light up! :D

I also suggested a back splash tiling job in the kitchen in Chevron pattern... but he said flat out "no" because I'll probably want him to rip it off next summer for the next "it" pattern... :P

Enough jibber jabber! I wanted to share 2 scrapbook pages from my super slowly assembled wedding album!

Chevron was hand drawn, hand cut, and run through my sewing machine! :)

Friday, June 22, 2012

Gift for Miss Chloe

It's amazing how a plain box can look so elegant with a simple bright colored silk ribbon!

Card a la ami's new invitation creations...

And why couldn't the Baby Gap make this cute colorful retro dress in adult size??? So love it!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Etsy Store - Sneak Peak!

A sneak peak of some of my items to be posted on my Etsy store!

Special occasions made-to-order invitations and cards will be my main focal specialty! :) :) :)

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Post marriage interior decorating

My husband and I thought it's about time we graduated from post bachelor/bachelorette apartment-sized mismatched furniture living.

So last weekend we went to look for a nice dining set. We fell in love with a dining set at Pier 1 but the table was too big for our dining room. I couldn't quite let go of this French inspired tufted seats which was on clearance and super comfy on the booty! I looove it! Now we have to wait another season for a potential matching dining table to come out. :P

Last weekend we tackled the basement. Installed new storage units that we accidentally got for FREE! Check!

Project summer: paint walls and apply back splash to kitchen walls. :)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Handmade Card Organizer

This quick fun project is a card organizer but it can be used for coupons, receipts, pictures or any other stuff to stay organized! Each flap has a pocket for each month of the year... so I won't forget to send out birthday cards to friends and family for the remainder of the year! :)

Products used: American Crafts and Close to My Heart paper, Making Memories rub ons, EK Success stickers, Bind It All. :)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Baby Onesie

Monkey iron-on $4 at Joann's. Onesie $3 at Walmart. One minute to iron on. Cute little onesie, huh? :) This is part of my friend Janie's baby shower gift. Gotta personalize something! :P

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Coral is the Color of Spring!

I've been noticing on Pinterest how people are using nail polish to add a touch of pizzazz on stuff like keys and jewelry.

The colorful necklace was my inspiration for my creations.



All it took was coral colored nail polish (just $1 at Walmart) and red rhinestones ($2 per pack on clearance at Michael's, bought 3 packs) to make a bracelet for my friend and a bib necklace! :)







I love the necklace!!! :)

Now I want to go out and buy a variety of nail polishes... so I can replicate the inspiration necklace! :)

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Post Wedding Projects

#1 - Refurbishing this Cynthia Rowley 3 tier jewelry box that I got off the clearance rack at Marshall's for $15. I'm thinking of painting it bright teal... (inspired by my mother-in-law's painting skills) and adding a starfish recycled from my wedding. :)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Centerpieces

This was the "big vision" I had for MONTHS. For our wedding centerpieces, I envisioned tall cylinder vases partially filled with sand and seashells, then water filled up to close to the top, throw in one or two round floating candles.

Our first attempt at our centerpieces was an epic FAIL using real white sand. Real sand made the water murky. :( Round 2 worked nicely with fish tank sand. Crystal clear. :)

Bridal Bouquet - Calla Lilly

Voila! My BFF and Maid of Honor's bridal bouquet!!! Looks real, huh? Even Troy stopped to smell the fake flowers! :)