see.top.5

Before we left for Florida, I put together a craft for a special trip I made while down home.

Mike is such a sweet fiance to put up with my endless desire to craft... he is extra sweet because he ALWAYS helps, cut, paste, glue and so on. AND he doesn't mind when I insist that it HAS to be perfect and I create a huge mess in the process!!!
While in Florida, I (along with my mom, sister, Mike's mom, Mike's Grammi, my sister-in-law and her mom + 4 nieces and nephews) went wedding dress shopping... yes for our wedding.
I wanted the day to be memorable, informative, and special so by inviting my entourage of ladies it was both memorable and special... as for the informative, well that is where the craft comes in...

I started with fun printed craft paper + really bright coordinating card stock paper, white card stock, glue, olfa knife, straight edge and my printer.I printed out 6 copies of large black numbers 1 to 5
Cut out (6) sets of five- 4x6 inch white + bright card stock paper and glued them together.

Cut out (6) sets of five- 2 inch wide strips of fun printed craft paper for the edges of the cards.

I coordinated the fun printed paper, colorful card stock, and number for each set of cards and glued everything together.

Front and back view of each card. So number 1 in each set was pink with a swirly purple and pink paper edge. The back is a blank white sheet of card stock for notes.

Inexpensive key chain hoops to link numbers 1 to 5 together!

Once I was complete I had visual voting cards numbered 1 to 5 so the ladies could vote on which wedding dress they like the best (no. 5) to the least (no. 1).
With each dress, I could walk out and instantly see what each person felt about the dress.
The blank paper on the back was used for notes about each dress so later I could remember which dress style looked the best, fabric choices and so on.

A big thank you to everyone who came along!!
Let the planning begin!

see.lauren.wed

Two weeks ago, Mike and I flew down to Florida to visit family. For me this was a much needed, long- LONG overdue trip!
One very important highlight of the trip included my dear cousin Lauren's wedding. Lauren and I are very close in age and share many fond memories of Summer days spent at the beach. We would make doodle castles, play in the surf, and always have a blast!!
Lauren is an avid surfer and so it was only natural to have a beautiful beach wedding on her favorite beach: Cocoa Beach.

Jeremy and Valerie on the play set at Lori Wilson Park. How fun is that? Beach and slides at a wedding!! Cousin Christa, Aunt Jo-Ann, Aunt Lisa and Gramma all waiting in anticipation for the bride!Cousin Lauren, all grown up and looking stunning!!

Lauren and Todd Holland!!!

Sweet married kiss on their way to party!
The wedding was fun and food was delicious!
Thanks for another fun time at the beach Lauren!!!

see.July.4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Boy does time fly!!!
Here we are on the 4th of July 2009!
Camping in California.
Hopefully in about an hour we will be on Lake Michigan eating veggie burgers, grilled jalapenos stuffed with cheese and yummy pasta salad with some friends.
Hopefully this big fat rain cloud will go away!
Hopefully you are enjoying this day as much as we are!
:0 )