Friday, July 19, 2013

Road Trip!

This was one of those banner birthday years for me. I'm having a hard time saying that I've reached the, ahem, big 6-0. See, I can't just write the number normally. My family and dear friends gave me a surprise birthday party a few weeks before my actual birthday. To say the surprise was a success would be an understatement (see happy surprised face). I honestly had absolutely no clue.
My daughter suggested that as gifts people could give gift cards so that I could go on a road trip with some girlfriends. What an awesome idea, and I owe so many thanks and gratitude to all of those people who so graciously contributed to my "trip fund." It was awesome, because I received gas gift cards, a hotel gift card, lots of food cards and some cash that pretty much covered my entire trip.
I just returned from my trip. It was such a great trip. But, I'm blaming that large number...you know, the big 6-0 one, for the time it is taking me to recover. I've needed a nap every day since I've been back as I'm so tired!
We drove as far north as Monterey, and had stops in Solvang, Seaside, Monterey, Carmel (17-mile-drive), Highway 1 to Cambria, Santa Barbara, Mission Viejo and home to San Diego. I couldn't have asked for better travel mates. Each night at the hotels we played our favorite card game.
Prior to the trip I tried my hand at my first actual vinyl projects. I designed our trip logo in Photoshop, then took it into Illustrator and converted it to an svg file. I cut the vinyl with my Sizzix Eclips, and applied to the cups. We all used them for water the entire trip.
These were really fun to make. I will definitely be making more vinyl projects.
Here are a few of photos from our trip. This first one is on the 17-mile drive in Carmel.
 This one is on Highway 1 on the California Coast. See that bridge? Well, I'm afraid of heights and bridges, so to have come across that baby was quite a challenge. But, I lived...go figure!
 And, these are my girls. They are the best!
I hope you all have great summer adventures.
Blood Orange Margaritas from Bubba Gumps Rule!

Little Summer Projects

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. I told myself I'd post at least once a month. So, guess I need to do two postings to catch up!

I'm just going to share a few things I have worked on fairly recently. Firstly, I've been trying my hand at etching. And, everyone in the family is getting an etched mug this year. I think I've made around eight of them so far. I wanted to make a box to put them in, and this is what I came up with. The Gable Box from SVG Cuts' Classic Gift Boxes SVG Kit worked perfectly when sized down to 85% of the original size.

I reinforced the bottom with chipboard, and also double-cut the handle section, as you can see from the photo, to make it stronger. I love how sturdy this box turns out.

Here's the one I made for one of the guys in the family. A bit more masculine.
 
And, here's another one I made for my niece.
 And, you can see a sample of the mugs I've been etching.
Next, I made a couple of small boxes for twin sisters. I put some Italian crumiri cookies. The box is also from SVG Cuts, from the B is for Birthday SVG Kit. I love how the top has an acrylic see-through insert so you can see what's inside. It's a pretty deep little box and is very versatile.
And, lastly just a little clutch purse that was made for a give-away from SVG Cuts. They gave away one of the handbag patterns from their Luxury Handbags SVG Kit, and whoever made it was given a gift card to their store. I think 100s of us made them. It was so easy and quick, and would be perfect for a gift card and some earrings, or another piece of jewelry or trinket.
So that's all for now. I hope you're all having a great summer!

Happy Sunny Days!