Gift Ensemble and More Yapping. . .

Happy Saturday, Friends! How are ya' all doing? Hope your day is starting off nicely. I woke up early this morning. . .4:30 to be exact! I'm not really a morning person but I don't like sleeping. I just feel there's so many things in life to enjoy that I don't like wasting it on sleep! LOL! Gosh, most mornings I wake up with the optimism of what life has to offer that I go to bed sometimes excited thinking of what I can do the next day! I'm serious!

It's not like I do anything exciting but I don't know. . .I just feel like there's so many things I want to do that I cannot wait to have the opportunity to do them. It can be as simple as just hanging out on a Saturday with my family or watching a favorite show. It's nothing extraordinary. . .but I still look forward to them.


Let me talk about my projects before I start yapping away again. I had bought a "Me and My Big Ideas" stamp set that was on sale at Michaels a week ago. As I was about to put it away, I decided to use it rather than throwing it in a bin and not use it until 6 months later! LOL!

I used SU Craft ink to ink the images using a sponge dauber so I can have the multi-color and shading effect, heat embossed it with clear embossing powder then applied Scribbles Iridescent paint to parts of the image.

I decided to create a gift set ensemble rather than just a card. Scroll down for the other projects. . .




About 2 years ago, I bought a box of tins from Ebay. . .the goal was to alter the tins. They're actually vintage cigarette tins . . .I can't believe cigarettes were packaged in these tins. The tins were perfect for altering and creating a post it note holder. The post-it note fits so nicely in the tin. Well, like anything that I buy. . .the tins sat in storage but I'm so glad I kept them now that I'm in the mood to alter them! LOL!

Here is the inside of the tin. . .I added a mini calendar and a post it note. Below is a Kraft box. . .again, another purchase I made a while ago and I happen to stumble across it looking through a container. I love opening containers and discovering things that I've long forgotten about. I think that's the reason why I never sell or throw any of my stuff away. I always find them handy even if it's years later! I basically designed the box with the a similar design of the card and altered tin.

Card and Project Details:

Stamps: Me and My Big Idea, SU Upsy Daisy
Paper: SU DSP, Blue Bayou, So Saffron, Bliss Blue
Ink: SU Craft Ink. . Night of Navy, Bliss Blue, Yo-Yo Yellow (I think), Old Olive, Hunte Green, Scribbles Iridiscent Paint
Accessories: SU ribbons, SU Designer Label Punch, Dew Drops, Nestabilities, SU Word Window Punch

Anyway. .. if you read my post yesterday, I discussed what I would change if I could go back in time to my 20s. Wanting to change things doesn't mean I have regrets. It's common for people to say they wouldn't change a thing because then they wouldn't have their husband or children, etc. Wanting to change things doesn't mean erasing your family and everything else present in your life or it denotes regret or unhappiness in your present life.

When people say that they don't want to change a thing. . .I think "really?". . .I mean, "come on. . .really?" When I asked my husband this question. . .my husband says he wouldn't change a thing. I'm like. . ."I don't believe you"! LOL! I'm like. . ."you mean, you would marry that psycho ex-wife of yours again?" Well, I told him that I wish he was my first and only husband. . .but it doesn't mean I don't want my daughter because her father is my ex-husband. It's not about erasing my present life. It's more about lessons learned that I wish I could have applied when I was younger. . .as the saying goes. . ." hindsight is 20/20" ...

Yesterday, I wrote a few things that I would change if I could go back to my 20s. . .well, I have more but I won't write all of them. .to be honest, the list could get really long! LOL!

Here's a few more:

1. I would travel more. I lived in Hawaii all my life and really did not travel out of the state too often until I turned 30. Gosh, there's so much to see in this world. . .luckily, I'm traveling more than I did back then. I don't want to be in my 60s or 70s to start traveling, you know. . .when I'm too old to walk or travel very far.
2. I would have finished college before I had my child. Although I started college when I was 18 and was in college for a few years, instead of finishing college, I got married and had a child and took a break. I returned to college when my daughter was 3 years old. . . at that time I was already 26 years old. It would have been much easier if I finished before having a child.
3. I would change my major. I would instead choose a career that I was passionate about. . .maybe in the arts. Although I'm happy that I have a Bachelors in Nursing. . .I chose that major for practical purposes and it was the right major at that time but still, an arts degree would have been nice.
4. I would sky-dive at least once. LOL! I always wanted to try it but I don't have the guts or the bones to handle a sky dive now. I actually had an opportunity to do it back in my 20s but I chickened out.
5. I would move to a city. . .like Boston or San Francisco. I love the city life. . .the idea that I can walk out of my home and be able to stop by a cafe or see different things without having to drive there. My husband hates the city life so I know I'll never be able to live in one unless I divorce him! LOL!
6. There's more but I'll end it here with my last change. . .I would hug my grandparents (I was adopted by them) and tell them more often how grateful I am to have had them in my life and for being wonderful parents. I would tell them how much I love them more often than I did. This. . .if anything in life, the only regret that I have. . .that I didn't tell them more often than I should have.

Anyway. . .that's it with the yapping! Hope y'all have a wonderful Saturday!