Wine for the Holidays!

Hello... Happy Friday!  It's Friday Friends with Flair at Unity!

When you read the title of this post, you probably thought I would be recommending some wines for the Holidays... Well, it's not the case.

Let me tell you...  I bought this notepad at Target a couple of weeks ago during one of those business trips I've had lately.

I just loved the message!  You know I love wine...  the name of my blog has a reason, ok?  

Also... I recently ordered some stamps from Unity.  They have sentiments and images that are related to wine.   Yes!!!! So I combined the inspiration of the message in the pad with a Unity stamp to create this card.

I typed the message in the computer, stamped the image and colored.  

I don't have many coloring tools ...  I mean, I have a little bit of this and that... but not a lot of one type of coloring tool... Besides, I am not very good at coloring... So I combined paper piecing and coloring with copics, watercolor pencils and even a sharpie.  I finished with some glossy accents (still kind of wet in the photo), to enhance the image.

The original stamp has three little hearts above the larger wine glass in the middle, but I placed a Christmas icon there because of the message I used.

So, it's Friday!  Don't you think is a good opportunity to taste some wine today?  Cheers!

Now, seriously... I haven't bought any Christmas presents yet... not even ready with a list... and the tree is still waiting on us to get out of the box...  But all we need for Christmas is...  (besides wine)... health, family, God's blessing, and love!!!  Let's not forget about the real celebration... :)

Tks for your visit and your comments.

2 For the Sketch of 1

Hello... Happy middle of the week!

I received some stamps I ordered recently from Unity...  There were grab bags among them and the stamps included were a pleasant surprise.  One of them was this beautiful Christmas tree I just love.

So I made a card using the sketch of the November KOM Sketch Challenge from Unity.

I stamped the tree with green ink and added green embossing powder before applying heat with the gone.  Love the effect (the photo doesn't make justice but you can get the idea).

This is the sketch:

And this is the whole card:

Then I realized this sketch was very suitable for a CAS card... so I was ready to make another one and thought of the current The Outlawz Challenges Sunday challenge.  This time I used another one of the surprise stamps showing a tower of sweet cupcakes.   Mmmmmm...   I rotated the card to make it vertical.

I hope you liked my cards...  And I hope you leave me a comment.  I really enjoy reading them.

Have a nice rest of the week!

An unexpected Christmas card!

Actually, I did not plan to do any scrap-booking today.  I am supposed to be working with our Christmas tree but I confess I haven't had any inspiration to work with it this weekend.  I haven't been able to think of any creation for this year's tree.  I guess I will use the same old ornaments... that's fine.  

But I was working with something at the computer and I thought of those scrap papers and embellishments I had in a box from last Christmas... and looked for them.  I saw them and started to take them out of the box and I ended up making a card...  and with a mess in my table... It seems I cannot have the table organized, ever! (My husband says this is the special space for the creativity so I don't have to organize it... LOL).

So I first cut a tag in the Cricut machine and started to embellish.   The sentiment is from TAC and the Xmas tree is a sticker I had left from an unknown package.  I used several scrap papers from Bo Bunny and Basic Grey... and I used one of the bows I worked recently with felt.  

When I finished the tag, I thought that maybe it was better in a card... so I used some patterned paper from Flair Designs, as background and placed the tag with AC 3D squares.

So... an unexpected and unplanned Christmas card... here to share with you.  (Now I better get going and spend some time with my husband... I'm not supposed to be scrap-booking... Shhhhh).

Have a nice Sunday!

My first Christmas card this year!!!!

Happy Saturday to you all!

I've finally made my first Xmas card this year.  It's a CAS styled card and it's ok for the start... to see if I finally get the mood for Xmas... 'cause every time I start, my project evolves to something else... LOL!

So, I'm entering this one to the C4C current challenge which is about using a bow in your project.  Label is C4C164.  I've been thinking for a while on using a little felt bow in a project.  I actually had other ideas in mind... more towards birthday banner in a card... which I probably will put in practice in future projects... but when I started to make the card, the idea evolved and ended up making a Christmas card.

Well... sometimes it's the mood, or whatever is called in our minds that set the  path of creativity.  But as I mentioned,  I needed to start making some Xmas cards anyway...

I also used a winged friend and I will share this card with the Outlawz CAS challenge group.

The bow was made cutting a 1"x 1 3/4" rectangle, sewing the center and tying with a felt strip.  I thought of also using a button in the center but went with a more delicate touch with the strip.

The stamp is from The Angel Company.  It's a stamp I've had for a while.

Patterned paper is from DCWV (It's Cafe Mediterranean collection... nothing to do with Christmas... that's why I used it for this card... LOL).

Hope you liked my card... and now I can finally say I made a Christmas card this year.  :)

New Header!

Do you like my new header for the blog title?

Well.. just stopping by to give some credit.  I used some digital papers and elements from several sources.

First.. Mel from Mel Stampz has created a wonderful collection of papers.  They are designed with Christmas in mind, but sure you can use for other themes as well (I love using things for what they were not meant to).  You can download know more about this collection she has put together HERE.  If you decide to download some of her work, please make sure to read her rules about usage.

I also used some elements and alphas from a collection called Wild Sorbet which I don't have the exact source, but it was a freebie I found a while ago.

Finally, I used the alpha from the Flutter Collection from Page Maps (also a freebie from a while ago).

Just wanted to refresh the blog look a little bit.  We all need some refreshment from time to time...  Christmas is a good time as an excuse to do it.  I invite you to think of some things you might want to "refresh" and do it now.

Have a great weekend.

Family Ties

Hello there!  Happy Friday.

It's FWF at Unity and I wanted to post something... I haven't for a while.  Also, our friends at SEM are having a layout challenge with the theme of Family Ties.  The idea is to make the project about that special family relationship or bonding one has... that could even be about friends or a group of people that you love or care about like family.

Well... I decided to make a layout about my youngest nephew and niece.  Unfortunately, we don't have a day to day relationship.  For different reasons they grew old with their mother's family and we didn't see each other too often.  When everything started to improve, they moved out of country, so we do keep contact by phone or social media but we don't have a relationship that grew with time.

However, I feel that every time I talk to or about them, and when I get to know more about them, there is definitely a strong family tie.  We are family, and even though the relationship is not as we all wish, we love each other and I feel blessed to have them.  They are beautiful inside and out, and they are exceptional kids.

I decided to apply some acrylic paint to the base paper I would use in the layout, to make it more informal, relaxing... like family is.  Same reason why I painted a section in white to hand write my journaling.

I also made a heart with some elements.  I draw it in a little piece of cardstock, then applied red ribbon and some border stickers on the other side.  Then, cut the heart I draw and finished with some ink in the edges.

I used a photo where the children are together.  They are only one year apart in age and even though they are kind of different in personality and of course genre, they seem to get along very well.  I used this stamp from Unity that says: "you+me = happy".  I love it because it does not only refer to them as brother and sister, but also them with me as their aunt.

This is a picture of the whole page.

I hope you liked it... and remember to leave a comment because I am linking this to Unity's FWF and you could have the opportunity to win fabulous stamps.  Also, take a look at the other Family Ties layouts at SEM here.

Have a great weekend.

SEM Sketch Challenge

Here I am again...  Did I wish you Happy Thanksgiving?  Yes...  Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope you are having a wonderful day.

I wanted to share with you a layout I made with a sketch provided by SEM for their sketch challenge going on.  I though it was very inspiring.  Love it.

I made the page about my dog Malbec (yes, it's a name of a grape too).  He is 5 years old and is a big heavy Rottweiler with such a nice personality.  He's kind, obedient, lovable, tender, and I love him so much... like he was my own son.

Sometimes, when I am watching TV or sit at the family room, he places his face in my lap, and all you see is this tender look in his "not so little" face... that you could melt...  like in this photo I chose for the layout.

I used the number 5 because in my journaling I explain about him still being tender and lovable at age 5, like he was when he was a little puppy.  (Actually, I think he believes he is a puppy.). 

The title was handwrote and then cut and placed with 3D dots.

And here's my take on the sketch...   I also used some little circled photos of Malbec being a puppy, as part of the circle elements from the sketch.  Can you see them?

Hope you liked it.  Thanks for your comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, tomorrow's the day to give thanks... I know, I know... it's everyday.  But it's cool to have a special day to remind us how grateful we should be.  I hope you have a wonderful day with your family, at church, or doing anything that is what you want to do to demonstrate your gratefulness.

I made a card for two challenges...  You know, after being out for a while I needed to heat the mechanism... so it's simple and have the Fall colors most people see in the places where the season is very noticeable.

The inspiration for the card, besides the challenges... was also those Fall colors I'm talking about.  I live in Puerto Rico, and either you see green leaves or no leaves...but with just a few exceptions, if you want to see colors in the trees, you have to look out for flowers.  When I recently traveled to Colorado, and then to Spain... I was able to see the yellow, orange, nice brown, burgundy and beautiful Fall colors in the leaves...  so I thought... maybe these are the "flowers" of Autumn...  the mere leaves.

So this is why I simulated a flower with the leaves stamp, and used the sentiment that says "Autumn Leaves"... got it?  I know it's a long story for such a simple analogy but just wanted you to know about the thinking behind my card...  Both stamps are from Unity.

You can also notice I painted the white half doily with distress and chalk inks to achieve some unity with the colors.

And again... Happy Thanksgiving... I am grateful for life, health, family, a job, my husband, my dog, my mom (well, all family), friendship, the senses (being able to see, smell, touch, hear, and taste...)... and I am grateful for scrapbooking and for the comments you will leave me... those make me feel very happy.  Thank you blogger friends.

(I am linking this project to Unity Challenge and to a local group blog I belong, SB Friends)

Oh yes... it's been a while!

It has certainly been a while since my last post...  and it was a scheduled one.  I was on vacation, remember?  And then I was on a business trip (I know... another one)... and then on vacation again (just a couple of days to complete the accumulative days of this year).  So... the truth is I haven't been able to do scrapbooking for more than a month.  Can you believe it?  It's pathetic!  I'm in a lot of stress.  I really need this hobby...  This has served to face the problem... I'm addicted to scrapbooking.

Anyway, I hope to be back on track soon... but since this is Thanksgiving week, I'm not sure I will be posting as often as I'd wish. 

Let me tell you a little bit about my vacations.  I visited Spain.  A wine focused trip to visit La Rioja and Ribera del Duero, with a bit of Barcelona and Madrid!  This has been my first visit to the Old World, and I loved it.  As part of the trip I also visited some other smaller towns/cities such as Girona, Figueres, La Guardia, Peñafiel, Logroño, Haro, Toledo, and more...

I visited lots of wineries and had the opportunity to learn a lot.  Wineries I visited are Marqués de Riscal, Roda, Muga, Rioja Alta S.A., Luis Cañas, Sierra Cantabria, Baigorri, El Fabulista, Tinto Pesquera, Arzuaga Navarro, Protos, Alión, Vega Sicilia, Valduero and Emilio Moro.

So I won't bother you with my stories, but let me share some of my favorite photos from this trip... 

La Pedrera in Barcelona, one of the master pieces from Gaudi, the Arquitect of God.

The first "montaditos" we ate in Barcelona... then we ate a lot day after day... I could do that everyday. A little bit of anything on top of bread and some red wine on the side... Divine!

The next two photos are also from La Pedrera.

Inside Salvador Dalí's museum in Figueres... We saw paintings and sculptures we only have seen in books... Some of them were a lot larger than we expected... It was great to see my husband's face... He's a fan.

At Marqués de Riscal, and its monumental modern hotel on the back.

After taking out the delicious juice to be fermented, this is what it's left...

At Tinto Pesquera... Salud!

I swear these grapes were in the ground... Actually, they have already taken the fruit so these were not part of the 2012 harvest.  This is in Arzuaga Navarro.

Oh! Vega Sicilia... I loved this tour!  The best explanation... and we felt so special.  And fabulous wines we tasted... 

And look at the views..  Autumn colors at their best...  It was cold but I loved it.  I don't get to see these in the tropic.

San Miguel Market in Madrid offers you a lot of yummy things...

This is us...

Toledo is a nice medieval city.

Plaza Mayor in Madrid...

Thanks for stopping by...  and tks for your comments.  Don't get too used to me being inactive... I'll be back soon.  Cheers!