Crafty Friday... Go bake a -cup-Cake!

Oh man. I love cupcakes, don't you?? Baking is considered crafty, right? I think so. Here's my little collection of cupcakes and their recipes from around the blog world.


ROOT BEER FLOAT CUPCAKES

Root Beer Float Cupcake Recipe
Don't these look UH-mazing?! I can't wait to try 'em. Courtesy of Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. I'm so glad she shared this!


YELLOW CUPCAKES WITH STICKY CHOCOLATE ICING

Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing Recipe
Have I told you how much I luuuuurrrve Pioneer Woman? Well, I do. She's the bomb diggy--especially when she gives us beauties like these (WITH step-by-step pics!).


SNICKERDOODLE DUO

Snickerdoodle Duo Recipe
I can't do a cupcake post without one from Bakerella! I luuuuurrrve her, too! Find the recipe for this yumminess here (with awesome pics, as well!).


MINI BANANA CUPCAKES WITH NUTELLA SWIRL

Mini Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Swirl Recipe
Bananas AND Nutella? Yes please! This one is from Two Peas in Their Pod (love the name! ha!)

Hope you like the cupcake round up! Now go! Make something delicious!

JFC - Day Trois

Day three! Day three! Wheeee! For day three, we had to alter a repeating image. I really didn't know what to do, but gave it a shot!

I kinda cheated on the very last one. I was running out of steam, if you can tell! But I still stuck to my goal of journaling every day...so far so good!

I love Jessica Hische.

eriously. I'm a huge fan. Jessica Hische is a super talented illustrator and typographer. She's also the creative mind behind Daily Drop Cap (which I've used here.) She also designed Buttermilk, a font that's on my current font wish list. She's an excellent creative inspiration. Check out this little video:


Art In The Age Presents... Jessica Hische from Art In The Age on Vimeo.

Go check out Jessica Hische. You won't regret it! =)

JFC - Dia numero Dos

It's Day 2 of my journaling journey. Today's prompt: What are your journal goals?

My Journal Goals
1. Be Consistent: Journal daily
2. Be Honest: Especially to yourself!
3. Make New Friends: Always encourage others
4. Have Fun: Get those creative juices goin'!

I decided to use a spot color to highlight. I picked up this set of chalk markers that were on sale a while back from Michael's. I haven't had the chance to actually use them, so I thought I'd give them a shot. I like the finish that it leaves...it really does look like chalk! You'll probably be seeing a lot more of these markers in my journal entries.

I thought about today's prompt for a while. I didn't know how to go about illustrating it for myself, then I realized that these upcoming journaling for 30 days is going to be more of a journey for me. So I've set up my goals as a map to guide me, with "X" marking the spot to the treasure, which is what I'm going to have in this journal. I can look back on this journal years down the road, even share it with my children. So here's to sticking to the goals that I've set out for me. How about you? What goals have you set out for your journal?

On your mark, get set, GO!

Today is Day 1 of Janel's Journaling for a Cause! I'm so excited to finally start the class. I've been waiting to start and now it's here.

As an intro to our journals, Day 1 is a "Welcome" page. We had to include a blurb with five adjectives describing life as it is right now for us. Here's my page:

Welcome to my semi-charmed, creative, lovely, fun, and Always Blessed life♥

I'm been in a slump lately... It's times like these that I miss having my creative bestie here. But I'm hoping this is the start of the creative spark I've been needing. I can't wait to see what others in the class come up with. If you're in this with me, please share! =)

Chuggin' Along

Here are my latest journal entries. I highly enjoyed the entries for days 8 & 9 =)

Day 7: How do you feel today?

Day 8: Illustrate an inside joke

Day 9: Use adjectives and typography to describe an important person in your life

Hope you're having a wonderful day! =)

A little art therapy

 I did a bit of journaling during our trip, mostly on the plane and during downtimes. It's based on Janel's 30-Day Journal Challenge prompts. I was inspired and it's great practice for Journaling for a Cause that starts on Monday. Here are a couple of the pages that I did.

You can view the rest of my journal pages here. And make sure you check out Janel's flickr pool for others' 30-Day Challenge journal pages as well as pages for the upcoming Journaling for a Cause. Hope you enjoy! =)

Aaaand We're Back!

Back from our whirlwind anniversary trip to Cali. We saw some of my family, got to hang out with friends and we chuckled at how tiny Sleeping Beauty's castle was (she has to be hatin' on Cinderella's castle in Walt Disney World!) OH! And we celebrated our first year of mawwage. All in all, it was a great mini getaway. Back to the grind. But here are the pics from our trip. Enjoy!

This day.

I choose you to love and adore
through all the surprises in life,
both good and bad.
I vow to choose you above all else
and to walk through life together with you
forever.

A year ago today, we said this vow to each other. It was the best day. Filled with tears of joy, laughter and a whole lot of love. To my husband, the half to my whole... here's to walking through life with you forever.



♥♥♥ Happy anniversary! ♥♥♥

Journaling for a Cause

I've just joined Journaling for a Cause. It's an online class that's getting ready to start up, hosted by Janel over at Run With Scissors. I'm so excited to participate. I missed out on Janel's 30-Day Journal Challenge, so I was pumped to find out she's starting this class. As the title states, it's for a good cause: Janel and her husband are planning to adopt in the next year or two and the sign-up fees generated from this class will go towards their savings for the adoption expenses!

The class will run for 30 days and there will be a journal prompt and challenge every day. I'm hoping this will help me get out of my norm and push me creatively. Hopefully it will transcend over to my design process for my everyday work. It's also a great way to make new blog friends, to be inspired and supported by others. So if you're interested in Journaling for a Cause, head on over to Janel's etsy shop and secure your spot!

Hip... Hip hop... Hippopanonnamous?

Name that movie! Just kidding... I couldn't resist. It's the first thing I thought of when I saw Hip Hip Hooray! I came across this awesome new blog the other day and I thought I would share. It's so bright and happy, I just couldn't help but fall in love!

Hip Hip Hooray! is a new blog that catalogs any and everything that has to do with kids' parties. It's a great resource for tips and inspiration to help plan a creative kids' celebration.

(All images by Hip Hip Hooray!)

Suann Song of Simplesong (another of my fave blogs...surprise, surprise, right?) along with Amy Atlas, Jordan Ferney, Maria Cooke, and Kate Headley are the talented and creative minds behind such a wonderful site. It will definitely be a go-to for me when it comes time to plan for my kids' party. Please go and give Hip Hip Hooray! some lovin'. 

Sunny Outlook

Yep. That's the forecast for Anaheim for the days of our trip! Which is so much better than what's in store for Orlando. So t-minus 4 days until fun in the sun! =)

Just in time

(Source: The Notebook Doodles)

God my not be there when YOU think you need him, but He is ALWAYS on time. I saw this post this morning on one of my favorite blogs. It's God speaking through and giving me a kick in the pants. (I hear You loud and clear, Lord!)

Now, off to church in a bit, then to the baby shower of a dear friend. Hope you all have a happy Sunday!

God is good, all the time.

I can't even begin to express how ecstatic I am right now. My lovely friend and her wonderful husband are going to be parents!! I'm gonna be an Auntie!! This was us (almost!) a year ago at my wedding. She was newly engaged and celebrating with us. Now my baby's all grown up and having a baby! Time sure flies. One thing is always constant... How amazing God is. It's wonderful to see how great He really is, and there's no better example than what I see He has done in my friends' lives. Huge congratulations to my beautiful friend. We already know how great of a dad your husband is and you're going to be a wonderful mother! We love you both! (And little Miss Mac, too!)

Happy 4th!

(Source)
 Light a sparkler. Get your barbecue on. Have some fun!Happy Independence Day!

Hugs,
TwoWeas

Crafty Friday - 'Stache Mania

'Stache Mania [aka Mustache on a Stick] is on hand for this Crafty Friday. I know you've seen them around! I wanted the original (pictured below) for my wedding last year.

(The Original Mustache on a Stick from Something's Hiding in Here. LOVE!!)

But alas, it wasn't meant to be. I think it was all sold out and I couldn't get it here in time with our short time frame, not to mention wasn't in our budget... but man! I really wanted mustaches for photos. So I decided to make my own! It was a hit with my bridesmaids =)

Alright! On with this Crafty Friday: 'Stache Mania Edition! Let's get crafting...

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Materials Needed:

- Self-Adhesive Felt (Found a variety pack in the kiddie crafts section at the Super Walmart. Makes this project SO MUCH easier!)
- Poster board (or any other sturdy cardboard... you can even recycle your cereal boxes for this one!)
- Small, thin dowels
- Pencil & eraser
- Scissors
- Glue gun & glue sticks (not pictured)
- Japanese Masking Tape or Fabric Tape (totally optional)

I decided to use the black, white and brown felt for this project. See? Self adhesive =)

STEP 1: Peel off the paper from the back of the self-adhesive felt.

STEP 2: Place felt onto poster board. I found that the easiest way to do this is by exposing a small area of the adhesive and placing it onto the poster board. Then slowly removing the paper, while smoothing the felt onto the poster board.

STEP 3: Cut out the felt and poster board, taking care to cut the poster board as close to the felt edge as possible. (Mainly because you're gonna need to know where the edge of your felt is for Step 4.)

STEP 4: Once you've cut out your felt, flip it over to the poster board side. Draw out your 'staches!

Have some fun with your mustache drawings! Experiment with different sizes, but keep in mind that you will be attaching them onto your dowels, so be sure to make them large enough to make room for that. Feeling like you're not keen on hand drawing mustaches? Well there are a plethora of mustache templates out there waiting to be discovered!

STEP 5: Done drawing? Well, cut those babies out!

STEP 6: When all your mustaches have been cut, take your dowels and wrap them up with some Japanese masking tape. Or you can even bust out your handy dandy fabric tape! You can even paint your dowels--whatever strikes your fancy. This step is totally optional, of course. If you don't have any tape or paints on hand, or simply like the way your dowel looks as is, skip to Step 7.

See? Just for pretty's sake...

STEP 7: Take your dowels and hot glue them onto the back of your mustaches. For added security, once the glue is dry, reinforce with some tape. (any tape you have is fine!)

Voila! You have your very own Mustache on a stick!

STEP 8: Have some fun and take lots and lots of pictures!

Have a 'stachin good time! Make the Monopoly Man and Magnum P.I. proud! =)