Smash it!

So last week I got paid and had two days off so I decided to buy a couple different crafty things from work (I work at a crafts store) to keep me busy for the next couple days. Our store was having a sale on these new Smash books and all the side things you can buy for it. They were 30% off and on top of that I get 20% and since I live in the wonderful state of Oregon, there's no sale tax! YAY!! I lived in California before so in my mind set it's like getting 60% off the original price haha. Anyways! They're wonderful books! I'm soooo excited that I have one! They come in different themes, mine was the Doodle theme becuase I liked the different styles of pages. There's also a mod theme or eco theme and a few other ones as well. Basically each theme has it's own set of pages inside. It's basically like a journal for whatever your heart desires. Each book comes with a pen that's a pen on one side and a glue stick on the other! How awesome! You can also buy two different kinds of tape there's a black with white polka dot and a light blue that has different sayings such as, "WANT IT," or "LOVE IT," or "NEED IT" it's so great! There's also separate notepads that are also themed. I have a blank one and a quotes one. There's also ones for family/friends, travels, and a couple others I can't remember. You can add calendars inside as well as pockets for whatever you want. Here I've posted the cover of my journal, the first page that tells about what it's for and my first actual page of different quotes I like about art, inspiration, and passions. Also, I just got an email yesterday from Michael's saying that they carry them now so you better get over there and get one!

Before and After hair time!

So I've been WAAAAAAAAAY lagging on posts! And this one's for you, Francesca. I told you I'd put this up like 3 weeks ago now! So here it is, my new hair. There's a before and after shot haha
BEFORE:

and AFTER:

I love it so much, she did a good job on it. It's so long and still growing! I remember a little over a year ago when I couldn't get my hair to grow (it was up right above the top blonde mark) and finally I started using better shampoo and massaging my scalp more and BAM!! It grew soooooo much. And it's grown a lot since I had it cut too. I need to get my bangs trimmed though. At this point they're hitting my eye lashes and before I know it they'll be poking my eye. So anyways, I hope you like it! :D

Los Angeles

It's been an incredibly long time since I've posted anything. I couldn't even keep up with the one about my trip. So I'm skipping it haha. Just know I hung out with my friends and family, went to Disneyland 4 times, got to see Conan, and ate In N Out haha.

But one of the days I went to the LA Art walk with a few friends and my wonderful friend Nick Wisda (nickwisda.com) and Aldo Lihiang and a couple others to shoot a music video for Southern California rapper Lync. It was pretty dope! I'll post the video at the end. But before the shoot Nick, being the amazing photographer he is, shot some photos for me. And here they are.

And here's Lync's video. It's dope!! And I'm not that crazy into rapping haha

California

So I feel like I've been "neglecting" my blog. It's sad but I work ALL the time I hardly have time to do anything else. But I took a two week vacation to come to California to visit my family and friends. So I figured I'd do a lot photo blog of my times here. So we'll start with Day 1 :)
So I wake up and start getting ready and finish packing and here's my pup laying in my room. I miss her so much and it's only the 3rd day!

After I'm on my way to the airport. And of course updating my Facebook. Which I did all day. And I had to throw in the classic Back to the Future quote.

And then I'm in the airport. Never flown before and I was flying alone. Well, my brother, James, and his girlfriend, Mandy, were flying back to California but they were on a different air line. So I made it through security and found my gate with a little bit of help. My suitcase was 6 pounds too heavy so I had to transfer over some stuff to my carry on and my purse. Then it was 50 pounds EXACT. I was proud haha. So then I sit at the gate and knit for a while until I realize that my hat is twisted and I need to start over. Then it's time to get on. Flying in a plane is a dream I've had for a really long time but every time I've had the chance thing's would go wrong and it never got done. But this time it did. My ticket was paid for, I made it to the terminal, through security, to my gate and onto the plane. Then suddenly, we were in the air. It was exhilarating! I was in sudden awe and the only thing that could go through my mind was, "Wow, this is incredible. This is so beautiful. God is amazing. He designed all of this. Every rolling hill. Every growing tree. Every moving cloud. Every fall of snow. Every piece of sky. All of it. And I got to see it all from way up high. Then suddenly I remembered everything people told me about flying. Most of them were wrong. In my opinion at least. It was one of the most incredible things I've experienced.

And I also got to fly over San Francisco and saw the Golden Gate Bridge along with the rest of the city. It was pretty stinkin' awesome. So anyways, then I land in Oakland. Fly to LAX and then meet my brother, his girlfriend and my friends Randy and Jennifer at the airport. And we drive home and I eat some bomb Chili's Cajun Chicken Pasta and then went over to my brother's house. There I was reunited with my nieces and nephews all except Leia. This is me and Annie

Then a few more friends came over to welcome me back. And we continued the night with whatever I pleased. We ate pepperoni pizza, watched Tangled, and played Disney Scene It. Don't worry, we'll have more adult activities along the way haha. So after a long night I feel asleep.

Then starts Day 2. I woke up, hung out with the kids and ate breakfast and then got dressed. Went down to one of my favorite places, Augie's coffee house with my good friend Randy. Had an extensive conversation about Harry Potter with my friend Brian and then we left to pick up Jennifer from work. After that we proceeded to drive down to Disneyland. I finally rode on the new Star Tours, Little Mermaid ride, and Goofy's Flight School for the first time and all my other favorites. Including riding Tower of Terror 3 times in a row. I brought home a Harry Potter Lego keychain which I will cherish ALWAYS. 

 I bet the whole car on Toy Story Mania :) As usual. But I also got my best time. 

And then afterwards we went to James' work and he made me a martini. It was delicious. But I was so dang tired, it was like drinking juice before bed. And then I passed out in bed. And that's the end of day 2. I'm on day 3 right now so I'll have to write about that later. 

Happy Halloween!

So I really enjoy decorating pumpkins and I didn't get to decorate one last year. And this is the last year for Harry Potter, my favorite story of ALL TIME. I had to go all out! And this is my pumpkin. And yes, it's all on one pumpkin. Also it's a little hard to read but the second one says "After all this time?" "Always"

Church Nursery Mural

So I was asked by the lady that runs the nursery in my church if I'd be willing to paint a mural for them. At first I was a little nervous since the other mural in the church is a bit beyond my skill level (that I'm aware of haha), nor is it the sort of style I like to portray in my art. But I took on the challenge and came up with a design I loved. It took me about a month going in a few days a week. I'm pleased with the turn out and it's even brought in a "customer" who is likely to hire me (paying!) to do one in their house. And I have to admit, I love those trees so much, I wish my room was bigger so they wouldn't look funny on my walls haha

Pincushion Turtle!

I actually did this a few weeks ago BUT I figured I'd still blog it in spirit of my newest layout design haha. So here's the link to make it yourself:
http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/06/stuffed-fabric-turtles-with-pattern-pieces.html

Theirs is just for a stuffed animal but I made mine into a pincushion. Also the tail was RIDICULOUS to make so I ended up just sewing a piece of felt on for the tail :) Isn't he cute!?