My Summer Pics, part one

Hi everyone,

I can't believe that summer is almost over and school starts next week! 

Well I hope you have all enjoyed your summer vacation.  

It would have been great if my family and I were able to vacation in Europe

 or visit a couple of states, unfortunately we weren't able to but we sure

 had a great time exploring our own island.  Today I will be sharing with 

you the first part of photos from places we went to right here

 in my homeland of Puerto Rico.  

First up is the beach!! We would hit the beach two to three times

a week, which is saying a lot because I'm not a beach person lol.  My

daughters enjoy going so I sacrificed every couple of days to take them.  The

beach we went to  is called "Bridges" in Aguadilla.

The water is so clear that you can actually

see fishes by the shoreline.  

Here my daughter is holding a urchin that my nephew found in the water,
we made sure to carefully put it back.

The Botanical Gardens in Caguas, Puerto Rico was one place I have
been meaning to visit for a while now.  I just love sightseeing so
this is definitely one of my favorite places.
The gardens are so beautiful and peaceful.  I actually took over
three hundred photos if you can believe it, so here are just a few.

This is the entrance to the gardens.

Once you're inside the view is amazing!

I just loved walking the grounds and admiring the flowers and trees.

The pond is so beautiful.

Our next visit was to the Bacardi rum factory located at Cataño, Puerto Rico.
We were greeted by a tour guide who welcomed us.  We were given two
tickets per person to enjoy free drinks.
The coconut Bacardi rum with pineapple juice was my favorite.  When
we finished our drinks we went on the trolley to tour the museum on the grounds.
Inside we were shown a short movie of the history of the owners and
the growth of the company.  Next we were taken to another area where
they explained the process of making the rum and its storage.

The bartender asked my daughters if they wanted to take a photo behind
the bar and of course they agreed wholeheartedly lol.

This is one of the barrels where they store the rum 6 to 10 years.
It weighs 500 pounds when full.

Bacardi's logo is a bat.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of photos from my vacation.  Tomorrow I
will be sharing part two, so stay tuned.

Until next time,
Ana
xoxo

My mini for Mother's Day

Hi scrappers,

Hope everyone had a great Easter.  This month is almost coming to a close

and Mother's Day is just around the corner

so we better start creating some quick handmade gifts for mom.  

Whether it's a card, home decor or a mini album it will be loved 

by the person you give it to.

Today I have a small mini album that would be 

perfect for this occasion. The best part is that we can create it 

from scraps we have and it's fast and easy. So gather all your 

scraps of paper, flowers, embellishments, etc.

and start creating.

I used scraps of card stock, chipboard and pattern paper 

that I had left over from other projects I created to create this mini album.

I distress all the edges of the chipboard and papers with Prima's distress

 tool and inked it with distress ink (black soot).

Here is a video I made of my mini album.

I hope you enjoyed my mini album.  Please leave a comment and happy scrapping!

Until next time,

Ana

xoxo

My Girls Layout

Hi everyone,

As promised, I hope to be writing more on my blog and sharing with you layouts and cards that I have created.  Today I want to show you a layout I made of my daughters, husband and I. Since I like to use 3D embellishments and handmade flowers I display my layouts in shadow boxes throughout my home.  I arrange my frames in groups of three on the wall with other home decor along the sides here and there.  Every couple of months or so I like to change the layouts in the frames to more recent ones that I create.

For the chipboard embellishment I used black enamel acrylic paint and after it was dry I sprayed it with shimmer mist, Perfect Pearl.  I really loved how it came out.  I also used the mists on the doilies and the flowers.

Here's a list of products I used:

Papers: Engraver, Prima and Far & Away, Teresa Collins
Distress Ink: Ranger Walnut Stain
Paint: Folkart, Plaid
Perfect Pearl Mists: Ranger, Perfect Pearl, Heirloom Gold, Forever Red
Flower Punch: EK Success Retro Flower
Chipboard embellishment: Dusty Attic
Eyelets: Making Memories
Metal Flower: Prima
Gem Swirls: Prima
Flowers and wooden leaves: Prima
Doilies: Walmart

I hope you like my layout and please leave a comment.  Have a great day!

Until next time,
xoxo

Quick Hello

Hi bloggers,

CHA is over but did you have a chance to check out all the great products from your favorite companies?  There are so many things that I have added to my wish list...that I can't wait for it to get to my scrapbook store so that I can start creating!

Here are some of my favorite picks:

Teresa Collins -

Daily Stories, Hello My Name Is... and Save the Date. All three collections have beautiful papers and embellishments and Basically Essential is a must have, love the stencils!!

My Mind's Eye 

Now & Then, very fun and cheerful collection and Lost & Found Record It, love it to make Valentine projects and cards.

Simple Stories 

DIY, love all the pockets, tags and envelopes you can decorate any which way you want with their small embellishments! The Homespun collections is great for a mini album of time spent with family : ) It makes me feel happy!

Prima

What can I say, love all their new flowers...and the Stationer's Desk is a beautiful collection, love it! Cartographer is also a great collection.  I also love all the embellishments from Ingvild Bolme.

Tim Holtz

Where to start!! I'm drooling over the mini distress inks, the layering stencils and the Sizzix Frameworks!! I must have them, that is all I'm saying.

Graphic 45

Botanical Tea and By The Sea are both such a lovely collection!

Fancy Pants

Love their Artist Edition brag books and wooden phrases.

Pink Paislee

Switchboard is a great collection for a teen mini album, very chic!!

These are some of my wish list products.  There are so many great companies out there with fantastic products that I can't possibly name them all but you can check out YouTube videos of CHA 2014. I enjoyed looking through the videos and seeing how the companies decorated their booths with layouts and home decor.

That's all for today, hope you have a great one,

Until next time,
Ana
xoxo

CHA

Hello bloggers.

CHA has officially started!  I truly wish I was there right now to see up close all those great products each company has designed this year and to see those awesome booths with all the great inspiration that showcase using their new products.  We have all seen sneak peaks from them throughout his past week on their blogs. Truly awesome collections!!  The best thing about the sneak peaks is that you have a chance of winning them before they are up for sale in the scrapbook stores, hooray!  So hurry, make a comment on each blog for a chance to win some of their fab products.

Here are some links to the companies that are giving away their new collections:

• Graphic 45
• Tim Holtz
• Simple Stories
• BasicGrey
• Bo Bunny
• Pink Paislee
• Teresa Collins
• Prima

Be sure to check out their blogs for posts from CHA and chances to win their products.

Until next time,

Ana

xoxo

Happy New Year 2014

Hello,

I want to wish everyone a very happy and healthy new year 2014!!  Hoping this new year brings us many blessing, great memories and new friendships along the way.  I'm grateful for all the past experiences this past year has given me, it has made me stronger.  I'm also grateful for reconnecting with old friends which I hope will be in my life for many years to come.  Ring in this new year enjoying it with family, friends, great food and drinks.  May it come to each of us filled with blessing and prosperity!!

Until next time,

Ana 

xoxo

Keepsake Box and Mini Album

Hello all,

Wow, have I been busy getting together all my photos for my albums.  Thanks to Kathy's contest from Paper Phenomenon I have forced myself to finish making her wonderful tutorials, print my photos and display them inside the mini albums. Well, I wouldn't say forced because I enjoy making Kathy's album so much I practically have at least 11 albums done plus over 6 that I have given as gifts lol.

Kathy's contest is running until today so if you are participating you must hurry.  You can check out the rules for the contest at Paper Phenomenon.

Once again I have another finished album I want to share with you guys.  I have chosen Kathy's tutorial called "Keepsake Box and Mini Album".  For this album I have placed photos of family get-together and snap-shot moments that I wanted to remember.  It also has photos that my family has emailed me since I live far from them and they know I want to be caught up in their every day lives.  I truly love this album...it was suppose to be given as a gift but I kept it...shhh don't tell anyone lol.  This album has at least 140 photos believe it or not!

The following are some photos of my album.

Here is my YouTube video.

I hope you enjoyed my video, thank you for watching.  Be sure to check out all the other participants at Kathy's blog Paper Phenomenon.  They all have great talent and ideas that can inspire you to create. Wishing everyone good luck,

Until next time,
Ana
xoxo