Malahide Castle - Ireland

I have returned from Ireland with happy memories....Ryan's parents took us to Dublin for Christmas! It was beautiful!

One day we took a bus ride to a near bye seaside town called Malahide, and visited the Malahide Castle....it is set on 250 acres, and the grounds are amazing!!!! Just acres, and acres of neon green grass, lined with tall trees, and an occasional stone fence. We took a tour of the Castle, but were not allowed to take photos inside. Some of the Castle walls are 8 feet thick!!! For one of the ladies rooms there was an adjoining room, quite small, and circular in shape, lined with windows. It was where they would write letters, and admire the gardens....so interesting....love learning about that stuff.

So here are a couple pics of that day:













After visiting the Castle, we walked down the main street of Malahide to a pub called Gibneys, which was a recommendation by one of the locals. I forgot to take a picture, but if you click on the link above, there are some on their website. The beer was delicious!

Back with pics from another day soon!

Happy Christmas Sarah!

So, I mailed a Christmas present to my sister today. She wanted a gift card, so I mailed it in this cute little tin....







You can see a couple more pics of it here. I used glitter felt from Michaels, some paper post-its I found at Target a while ago, Hambly Transparency in Brocade Magenta, and Hambly Patchwork Paper White on Silver Metallic. I sewed the glitter felt to the backsides of the post-it paper, and wha-la!!!!....A little book ATC size that fits perfectly inside the tin!!!

Class was Sweet!!!

Here is a pic of the Winter Wonderland Class at Pink Pineapple last night. We ate cookies, and pie, and scrapbooked with some great ladies! Thanks, Kathy!!!..for bringing the sweets!



Last weekend Ryan and I went to the Wild Animal Park for their Festival of Lights.

It was very festive....We were only there for an hour, but it was nice to just walk around the park, at night, with our scarfs, and mittens, and the cool air making our cheeks pink. It had just rained, before we arrived, so the ground reflected all the Christmas lights...it was so pretty!!! I am sad because the Wild Animal Park is not doing it again next year...they will be moving it to the San Diego Zoo. Oh, well....I'm sure it will still be sparkly.

Disneyland was so much fun!

I recently spent the day at Disneyland for my sweet friend Elena's, birthday. Here is a picture of her in her tu-tu at Disneyland....

I drove up with my friends, Terri and Bonnie....

...and we met up with our group to see the birthday girl, walk around in awe at all the gorgeous Christmas decorations, have yummy snacks, and go on fabulously fun rides. Here is a pictures of Melanie walking down Mainstreet...it is so pretty......

We also took a Christmas tour around the park, which ended with a cup of hot cocoa, gingerbread cookie, and front row seats to the parade!!!!

I also made Elena a special birthday present to hold some of the pics from our day....

I used mostly the new Sassafras Lass Serendipity - Life at the Pole paper line.....just absolutely love that paper!!!! You can see a couple more pictures of the project here. Thanks for a great birthday party, Elena!!!

Are you ready???.....

to get your Christmas Cards in the mail???? I love getting Christmas Cards!!! They look so welcoming for the season all propped up together on my shelf, and fridge!

It has been 10 days since I had my tonsillectomy, and I can honestly say that I did not really have an urge to scrapbook at all during my recovery!!! Weird, right??? Well, I am excluding the fact that I did actually get a craving to be creative. I sent Ryan to Michael's for ribbon, and went to town on these puppies:

You can see more pictures of them here. I used Basic Grey paper Line Figgy Pudding in Glacier and Slient Night, red, and white ribbon, inked the edges of the card, printed and cut out the little reindeer, narwhal and a greeting for the inside, and added Swarovski crystals.

Loads of Fun!!!

Free Make & Take

at the Pink Pineapple. I created this nice sized holiday tag as the Make & Take for their store, for the month of December. Stop by any Tuesday, and put together this little cutie for FREE!!!!



They have these small alphabet stamps in all different fonts for only $1.00 each set. You get to try one out with this project...I highly recommed them...they are so versitle....

Winter Wonderland Class....

...at the Pink Pineapple:











Winter Wonderland
Project & Tags

Monday, Dec 15th

6:30pm

$18.00

This whimsical project is a card that holds your winter and holiday photos. Perfect as a small gift or just to place on the mantle in your home, it will bring the magic of the season and a smile to your face. We will be using the Pink Paislee paper “Tinsel Town”, lots of glitter, snowflakes, miniature reindeer, ribbon, and other shiny little do-dads. There are also some sweet winter sayings, and a journaling card for your memories or a holiday greeting. As an added bonus, we will be making 4 holiday tags to match…a lovely way to personalize your holiday gifts.

Please bring with you: Paper trimmer, Scissors, Large Needle for ribbon, Dry Adhesive, Wet Adhesive for glitter (I used Elmers Craft Bond Glue), Glue Dots (mini, regular & large pop-up), Gold Inkpad (I used Drew Drop Brilliance in “Galaxy Gold”), Cropadile, 3-D Dots Adhesive Foam Strips (the strips work better than the dots for this).

Love to see you there!!!

State of FANTASTIC!!!

So, I went and saw the movie "Twilight".......I actually grew up around there, and used to visit a friend who lived in Forks (we used to ride horses). The movie was very sweet, and the views of the Peninsula made me a little homesick....they were so breathtaking!!!! Here is a layout I did for Pink Pineapple's Design Team last month, with a picture I took of a rainbow in Washington last year....it is so beautiful there!!!

.....And a little bit later today I am having my tonsils removed....heard it is fairly painful.....yuck!!!! The day before Thanksgiving....I must be crazy right???? Well, I have a reason for choosing this date, and I will spill the beans on that later:) I am, however, looking forward to one aspect of it....I bought the first "Twilight" book to read, and have been saving it for after my surgery....Well, I'm off to daydream about Washington!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!

New Layout...

...for Pink Pineapple Design Team:

Products Used:

SEI – Black Orchid Paper Line

• black orchid paper
• milou mist paper
• frames & tags

Creative Imaginations – Creative Lifestyle Line

• green glitter paper

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

• patina

Other – ribbon, black brads, butterflies, text

I am obsessed....

with this TV show!



It's on KPBS, Thursdays at 10:00pm. Not only is it an amazing travel show where you see the most beautiful places, but you learn really yummy stuff about food.....like, right now one of my favorite afternoon snacks is toast (that really great artesian bread) with seasoned olive oil, instead of butter....it is soooo good!!!! Here is the link to their website / blog for more info.



This is a photo from last nights show....that unreal wall of arches in the background is actually an aqueduct that is over 2,000 years old....isn't it incredible???? Also, as a bonus, Gwyneth Paltrow is in most of the episodes....and she speaks fluent spanish!!!! I am so inspired right now...

A Little Christmas Project...

To share.....a itty bitty mini book of my top 5 favorite movies for Christmas....honestly, this was so hard....I had to kick out the Dr. Seuss' version of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" to make room for "A Charlie Brown Christmas"......and I love Boris Karloff's voice!!!! But, it was fun to use the mini photos of each movie....they are so cute!!!

Overall, it was a mini challenge for myself to use as few products as possible, and just repeat them on each page. I decided to use only 3 different Christmas papers, Hambly frames, the American Crafts silver embellishments, pink buttons, text, silver clips, and some ribbon. Also, I decided to try a new technique where I took some black paint (watered down a little with water), and splattered it onto each page.....and I kinda like how it turned out...let me know what you think...

You can click here to see the entire album. It is also on display at the Pink Pineapple if you want to see it in person....

Just love the colors in this Owl Mini Book....

Kits are for sale at the Pink Pineapple for only $11.00!!! Aren't owls cute??? They seem so relaxed and wise....If your in the area, stop by the Pink Pineapple and see it in person....makes a great gift.

Thank You Melanie & Gloria!!!

Soooo.....much for helping me finally start this baby up.....you two ROCK!!!