Handmade Gift Giving!

It's THAT time of year again...when all we think about is spending time with family, enjoying the holiday cheer and giving gifts to the ones we love! It seems like such a magical time... and everyone is usually in a great mood because the Holidays are here!


Over the past couple years gift giving has become so much more important to me, especially when it's something handmade...something that you're giving from the heart, which you probably put all your heart into making! I feel that it's so much more meaningful when you put a lot of thought and effort into ones gift...it's not just slapped together, or given with little thought. I like to cherish every moment of the gift making process and in the end the gratitude and warmth that you feel from that person makes it all worth while!


Speaking of gift giving...there's been A LOT of baby showers at my job lately. It seems like everyone's been struck by baby fever! (Hopefully I won't get hit with that anytime soon...cause we are just not ready yet!). But babies are so sweet and so cute, how can you not LOVE these celebrations?!? I recently made a personalized frame for a woman at work who's having a baby boy. She's Israeli and so I wanted to incorporate part of her culture to make it personal. This frame includes the baby's name and then the Hebrew interpretation with the meaning. It was definitely a one of a kind gift. Take a look;

I was able to creat this frame fairly quickly, in a couple hours. It was a great addition to the 2 outfits she recieved as well. I can't wait to welcome little baby Ben into the world very soon!

Then there's the gifts that take us a while to complete. There's always some. While I was living in Jersey City, my neighbors had a little baby boy, and for the wife's birthday her husband bought a sweet keepsake box to put the son's first piece of hair (from his first haircut) and his first tooth, to always remember. The gift was wonderful, but he felt like something was missing...some added interest...which it was lacking since it was just a plain white box. So he asked me to do something with it, to make it more eye catching. I took on the challenge, knowing that I could do something with it to make this keepsake one they will always cherish. Of course with all the moving I've done this year, it took a while to complete the job, but it's finally finished! All it took was some cute patterned paper (making memories), a rub-on, a few buttons (making memories) and a ribbon to tie it all together! The outcome was great! The box looked so cute and definitely stands out. It was so simple to do and has so much more meaning... Enjoy!! :-)

Superhero Sunday

Yes...I'm posting, finally! Well it's been so hectic lately...I barely can find time to keep up around the house let alone keep up with my blog! My main wish would be to have more than 24hours in a day! I need it!! But hey...I need to thank my lucky stars that I'm able to post when I can! I'm just happy to have the chance.

So superheros are a part of my daily life, thanks to my loving husband. He's a HUGE fan of all things comic book related ESPECIALLY if it involves Superman, Batman or the Green Lantern! Haha. It's so cute sometimes...it brings out the kid in him...which is very sweet and innocent. We even recently bought a shelf from Ikea to house all of his comic books and actions figures nice and neatly in the living room. I of course added a couple frames and some vases to that shelf. (He can't hog it all...you know!?! After all, sharing is caring!)

I always know that when it comes to superheros, they will always make him smile so last year for his birthday I created a superman card. It came out really nice and it's something for him to add to his stash and he loved it!

Considering this first superhero card was a hit, I created one yesterday for my little cousin's 13th birthday. He has this knew found love for spiderman and we were giving him some first edition spiderman comic books, so I thought this card would be appropriate. To make it more personal I drew the spiderman by hand, which took a while but it was very rewarding once I finished to see how well it turned out. I was pretty impressed. Again, the superhero card was a hit. There may be more to come in the future...we'll see. Enjoy!

On the move...YET AGAIN!!

Yet again I have failed to keep up with my blog as much as I would like and yet again we are on the move! Chris and I just recently signed a lease for a new apartment and will be moving in less than a month. I can't believe we are going to have to pack up our whole lives one more time! I've literally moved 3 times in the last 4 months...CRAZY!! The up side to this whole situation is that we will be getting out of our basement apartment. We moved into this place in June because it was fitting for us and we planned to save A LOT of money within the next year to buy a house...but apparently this was not meant to be. Considering the fact that I have asthma and allergies (that actually have not bothered me since I was young) the basement apartmemt was NOT a good idea! But we will be moving on out soon and all the sickness will be behind me! We found a very spacious one bedroom about 10 mins from here...we can't wait to make it our own!!

Nonetheless...with everything else that's been going on, I've been trying to keep my creativity flowing and I have been able to create a couple frames lately.

This Happy Couple frame I made for my cousin Meagan and her fiance Voltaire. They recently had their enagement party and I wanted to give them something personal that they can keep with them forever. My cousin's favorite color is red and I knew this would match her home decor without a doubt. They are a wonderful couple...just perfect for eachother and it's very exciting that they are starting out on the journey to the rest of their lives.

The frame reads;

To a very special couple
who make a perfect pair.
This brings a wish for happiness
in the future you will share.

This True Love frame was made for a friend who was looking for a unique and personalized gift to give to her cousins for their wedding. She requested a fall color palette (since their having a September wedding) and I wanted to create something beautiful that they can display in their home for years to come, and will always remind them of their beautiful day.

The Frame reads;

May you cherish these moments

For all of your life
As you step out together
As man and wife.
May the vows that you've taken
Remain true and strong
As you start on life's highway
And journey along.

Scrapbooking Expo! (Somerset, NJ)

Today was quite an eventful Saturday, despite the fact that I was a little lazy this morning and didn't wake up until almost 11am!! Uggghhhhh! BUT, Chris and I went over to NJ for the Scrapbooking Expo (yes I forced him to go with me) and it was great, we had a good time together and he was actually interested in looking at most of the products and demos, which worked out for me! He was also very supportive, as always, and let me purchase whatever I wanted...which led to me getting some cool embellishments, some Cosmo Cricket and Melissa Frances Papers AND the Bosskut Gazelle personal die cutter!!

I'm SOOO excited because I've been wanting a die cutter forever, but I wanted something that I can hook up to my computer and cut whatever I've designed. I don't want to have to go through the extra expense of having to buy cartridges every time I need a new design or font. This cutter seems to be the perfect choice especially because I can use it along with my Adobe Illustrator, it will cut ANYTHING that I can draw, not to mention that we were able to get a pretty good deal on it too!! I can't wait to try it out!


I love going to these shows because I feel so inspired and ready to work afterward!! Hopefully I can get a few things accomplished soon that I can start sharing! 

Hope you all are having a great weekend so far!

Back in Town!

Can you believe it?!? I'm FINALLY BACK!! It seems like forever since I posted on here (well it's been 4 months...so forever sounds about right :-/)...but everything got so hectic in May once my "hubby" came back from the Marines (I still can't get used to referring to him as my husband...It makes me feel so old! haha.

So just a quick recap of all that happened while I was away...

Chris landed a job 3 days out of the Marine Corps (Hallelujah!)and we moved in together at the beginning of June. It was definitely exciting, but a bit of an adjustment, especially if you've never lived with the opposite sex before! Usually they just don't do things the way you're used to, but that's all part of life and what makes the whole experience so interesting and fun!

Anyway...back to the topic at hand, we had our wedding on August 1st and it was AMAZING!! We couldn't have wished for better weather, it was sunny and warm, but not humid, it was just right! All of our closest family and friends were there to help share the day with us and everything went off without a hitch! We are both so happy that everything worked out and we have so many wonderful memories to share forever! Also, our honeymoon in Costa Rica was sooo relaxing and beautiful!! I took TONS of pictures because I couldn't resist the beautiful scenery over there! I can't wait to share some pictures with all of you...but bare with me, because i'm a little slow getting back into the swing of things.

First on my "To Do List" is to try to catch up with all of my blogging, or lack there of! I miss sitting down and taking time to express my thoughts/feelings and I REALLY miss letting those creative juices flow!!! So like I said, bare with me...and I will get there. Also, on a very happy note...today I subscribed to the Studio Calico monthly scrapbooking kits and I can't WAIT until I get the first one!! I hope it gets here really really fast! Do any of you subscribe to Studio Calico already?? If so, what are your thoughts on them??

Well it feels good to be back and I look forward to posting a lot more and sharing all of my recent events with you soon, so check back often!

Finally a post! ;-)

Hello fellow bloggers!

It's DEFINITELY been a WHILE since I've blogged, but I just thought I would stop in and give you all an update on what's going on in the life of Wahkuna Maelyn...

So there's been A LOT going on here in my world! I've recently moved to a temporary place in NJ which is about 45mins from where I was originally living. Hopefully Chris and I will be moving into our own place within the next 3 months before the wedding. Chris comes home this Monday (May 11th) for good from the military and our wedding is coming up really soon!! I'm very VERY excited for everything, but there's also a lot of stress that comes along with it! It's definitely not easy to plan a big wedding...but it will all be worth it in the end!

I'm currently working on my wedding invitations, which is really fun and will help to add a personal touch to our special day! I'm very excited about it!

Here's one of our engagement pics...which was my second choice for the save the dates.

Birthday Wishes

While I attended a crop this last weekend, I made 2 cards. One of which is for my grandmother's birthday tomorrow. We have been planning a surprise birthday dinner for her this Saturday with the whole family, but unfortunately she ended up in the hospital on Tuesday. She's doing better now but we are hoping that she continues to get better and is able to be with us all on Saturday. But in the worst case scenario...we can all just go to the hospital and be with her! (My fingers are crossed for a speedy recovery!)

Check out the 2 cards and let me know what you think! ;-)

Leaving Already...

As of yesterday night, my roommates and I decided to try to get out of our lease early. Early as in May 1st instead of the original date of August 31st. It's crazy to think that in just 2 months I will be living in a new place and starting my new and hectic life! I've been stressing a lot lately but I'm trying to stay positive, hoping that everything works out for the best!

Chris gets out of the Marine Corps. in May, and we are hoping that soon after he will find a job. Although with this economy, its not going to be easy! Anyway...like I said "positive thoughts" which will hopefully lead to a positive outcome. Keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll keep you posted on our progress! *wink* In the mean time, take a look at a cute little card I made for the neighbors little baby who was christened today.

Save The Date!!

This is the save-the-date I recently designed to send to all of our family and friends for the wedding. I sent some via email but hopefully the rest will be in the mail by the end of the week. We are now just about 5 months away from our Big Day and the nightmares have already begun! I'm trying to focus on positive energy to get me through the next few months without any major catastrophes! Let's just all cross our fingers and toes that everything gets done in time and the day of goes off without a hitch!! Oh please, oh please, oh please!

A Crop Weekend!

This weekend I attended 2 crops which were back to back Friday night and Saturday night! They were the first crops I've ever attended and very amazing might I add! I met some WONDERFUL women and enjoyed every minute of it!!! I will definitely be attending again!

The crop I attended Friday night was sponsored by The Manhattan Scrapbooking Meetup Group, which I'm a member of (http://www.meetup.com/Manhattan-Scrapbookers). The organizer is Cheryl and she is an amazing woman! Very talented and very sweet! It was a very welcoming and friendly atmosphere, not to mention a very inspiring group! I will definitely be attending more throughout the year!

The Saturday night crop was held at Portrait Bug, a brand new scrapbooking store on the Upper West side of Manhattan @ 92nd & Broadway (http://www.portraitbug.com/).
The store is great, there's lots of really cool scrapbooking supplies and they had a whole tool bar setup that we could use to help create our LO's or cards. The snacks were really yummy too! I highly recommend you attend one if your into scrapbooking or paper crafting. I promise you won't be disappointed! :-)

I wish I had some pictures to share, but unfortunately my camera was not cooperating this weekend! Oh well...there's always next time! ;-)

History In the Making!

=Hope for the Future, Yes We Can!

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics."-President Obama 1/20/09

Today is a great day and will be remembered for years to come as the day we were ready to come together and make a change! God bless America.

Love Notes

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and we are always looking for ways to express our love to the people we care for the most, with that said, I came up with a few cards today that I would like to share.

I used a Valentine's Day Themed paper pack that I found in the $1.00 Section at Target and some other holiday embellishments that I had lying around. There's nothing like paper crafting at virtually no cost! Enjoy and let me know what you think!

A New Year...A New Post!

Hey All!! Happy (better-late-than-never) New Year!!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year with your families. My New Year's eve was spent with some good friends...dancing, drinking and eating! I believe there's NO better way to celebrate and get things started right!

I actually have a few resolutions that I've been thinking about lately, but haven't really followed through with. And here they are in no specific order;

*Learn Spanish

*Use the elliptical that's lonely in the living room to help get in shape for the wedding! (6 1/2 months and counting)

*Get at least ONE LO published this year (BIG GOAL)

*Learn more about digital scrapbooking and using photoshop/illustrator

*Make at least one LO per week!

*Post more blog entries!!! (I really need to make a better effort here)

*Focus a little more on wedding planning so that my big day has NO BIG disasters!!!!

There's other things, but one can't try to be too ambitious until she starts tackling some of these things!

So anyway, as part of my first post of the year here is a new LO I did recently of my little 2nd cousin Niko. The picture was taken a while ago, but so cute that I couldn't help but scrap it! It looks like he's escorting his little gf, but in actuality, she's a distant cousin of his too! But they are just 2 cute for words!! Enjoy!