a day at the lake

growing up, my grandparents lived on the lake and every summer they invited all of their grandchildren down to spend "A Day At the Lake."  i remember it, as do my sister and cousins, as being a highlight of the summer.  Grandma Peg always made egg salad sandwiches and wrapped them in wax paper, and for some reason, i always think of that and find myself craving egg salad sandwiches wrapped in wax paper!  when we visited NY back in July, we got most of the cousins together again and brought our own children to the lake for a very fun day. (Okay, 4 out of 8 isn't too bad, considering many of us have moved away from the area.) 

Mr. Bagubian was quite a hit with all of the older kids, some of whom he had never met before.  i remember being their age and loving toddlers and babies so that, and the fact that the Goob is pretty receptive to other kids, is probably why they had a lot of fun with him.  as his mommy, it was wonderful to see!  the above photo is him and my cousin Kerry's son Patrick.

and he made sure to keep the girls entertained, too!  that's him showing them how he smiles for the camera.  (left to right: Gooby, Gracie, Mallory, and Delaney)

he spent quite a bit of time in the water playing with his cousin Hazel.  i couldn't believe how well my sister's girls could swim!  i think they were in the water the entire afternoon and were fearless!  

and even the very youngest of the crew was there to enjoy a gorgeous day on Keuka Lake.  Baby Iris, all of 5 weeks old, didn't want to be left out!  Mr. Bagubian gradually became very intrigued by her during the three weeks we visited.  at first, he wanted nothing to do with her, but then he warmed up to her and even wanted to tickle her as often as possible!

though no one brought egg salad sandwiches wrapped in wax paper, our day at the lake was fantastic.  i have been away from home for 8 years now and after seeing my cousins' children--some of whom were toddlers when i left and some of whom hadn't even born yet--it really makes me homesick.  it's funny, and a little sad even, how wrapped up you can become in your own life and have no idea what's happening and who's growing up very fast on the other side of the country.  there's no easy fix to that, of course, but it helps to keep in touch with everyone.  luckily, my mom and my aunt (who joined us for a bit that day) keep us all up to date through the "family grapevine," as we call it.  oh yeah, and then there's Facebook.

have a great Tuesday, guys, and say hello to someone far away today...  

celebrate today...

happy Friday!  it has been so hot here in Southern California for the past two weeks and i don't mind telling you that i'm over it!  the house feels suffocating at times and we don't have enough air conditioners to cool every room--not that you can have them all running all day long anyhow.  no one wants to risk a power failure in this weather!  i am certainly not wishing for summer's end, of course, but i wouldn't mind some mild 80 degree weather--or even some rain, lovely rain!  

i have 2 cards to share with you today.  i made them back in June (when the weather was comfortably warm), before i left for NY but didn't have a chance to post them here.

  

this first one is made using mostly Crate Paper products, plus an assortment of other little bits and bobs.  i made it for a good friend who was having a baby.  we gave her a gift but because this was her second baby, i wanted to make the gift mostly about Mama this time.

she knew she was having a boy (and he arrived on July 20th) so i did want to be sure to add some hints of blue to the card.  the "nouveautes" tag is by French General for Michael's and has a fabric feel to it.  i'm not sure if you've ever been to the French General website, but if you have a chance, check it out.  the items and photographs are beautiful; they have a very vintage, very French feel to them.  i've been a fan for years so when i saw that they had a product line at Michael's, i got so excited.  however, by the time i made it there, most things were cleaned out so i only walked away with this set of tags.

the pink pattern background paper, green butterfly card, and pink polka dotted paper, from which i punched the little butterfly, are all from Crate's Pretty Party collection.  i still love that line so, so much.  the small snippet of denim paper is from CP's Random line.  a blue paper flower, washi tape, grid paper, a vintage button, and white merchandise tag add finishing touches.

  

even though all you hear about is back to school and the end of summer, it's only the middle of August and summer is NOT. OVER. YET!  so here is a fun summer card from my favorite Simple Stories collection, Summer Fresh.  the card is very simple but i love it.

  

i cut one of the cards from the 4x6 Journaling Card Element paper in half and matted it onto a piece of the CP denim paper.  i stitched a zig-zig pattern in red thread up one side, sandwiching a doily from my Etsy shop in-between.  peeking out behind the doily are two small strips of washi tape; the red dots from Target, the blue floral from Pretty Tape.  lastly, i wrapped red twine, also from my shop, around the card and tied it in a pretty little bow.  you can find the "hello sunshine" stamp at Papertrey Ink for only $5!

   

that's all i've got for you today, friends.  i hope you're staying cool, wherever you live.  have a fun weekend!

exciting news!

i have some exciting news to share today--which is actually kind of old news by now, but i haven't gotten to personally share it with you yet...I was asked to join the Crate Paper Design Team!  i am beyond thrilled to have been considered and when my invite came last month, i said YES immediately--i can't imagine anyone saying no!  i feel like i am way out of my league when i look around at the other team members; they are so, so talented!  but this opportunity is amazing and i intend to take full advantage of it and learn everything i can from this experience and from the other ladies on the team. 

with CHA (Craft and Hobby Association convention) happening back in July, i created a few cards for the Crate Paper booth using some products from their soon-to-be released new collections.  if you like Crate Paper, you are going to love the new collections!  

i made these two cards using the new Acorn Avenue line--it's very fall-ish and eclectic.  most definitely not a one-dimensional collection by any means!

  the next two cards were made using the On Trend line.

this collection, too, features many different colors and graphic elements and was so much fun to work with.  it's very, well...trendy!

  
with the new collections, CP is expanding their product line to offer you many, many more embellishments.  i, for one, am looking forward to playing with it all!

i've already been busy, busy, busy creating some projects for the Crate Paper blog so be sure you check it out--you will gets loads of inspiration there, not just from me, but from all of the remarkable gals on the team! 
thanks for sharing my exciting news with me today--i've been dying to tell you for quite awhile now!  

slow down for a minute...

hello there, folks!  i'm back from vacationing on the East Coast with my family.  we had a great time--it always makes me realize just how much i miss my New York home, and especially my parents and sister.  it's difficult living so far away.  

{eating one of many, many ice cream cones at local favorite Seneca Farms}

i have to admit that it was nice taking a break from technology for a little while.  my parents live in Upstate NY, in a rural area, and that forced us to s-l-o-w way down.  i fought it at first, getting discouraged by the incredibly slow internet and the hassle of using mi-fi, but after a couple of days, i decided to step away from it and was glad that i did.  i encourage everyone to "take a break" from the computer and Internet, even if it's just for a day.  it's surprisingly cleansing!  

{at the spray park with cousins Hazel (far left) and Violet (right)}

i'm back now, though, and with my school semester starting up next week and some news from the design world, i'll be tethered to my laptop again in no time.  

but for now, a brief look at our vacation.  as you can see from the Instagram photos, we were pretty relaxed.  the above photo is one of my favorites, taken on one of the best days we had there--a day on Keuka Lake spent with family.

it took him awhile to warm up to this strange new area and strange (to him) new people but once he finally did, Mr. Bagubian had a wonderful time with my folks!  (and they had a marvelous time with him, as well!)  here he is checking out Papa's "tractor" and helping Neena water the flowers.

we ate A LOT!  i must have gained 15 pounds in the 3 weeks we were there but who can help it when there is so much good food?  my personal favorites:  Friendly's ice cream, Seneca Farms ice cream, and Dunkin' Donuts (which we do not have here in CA)!  but i was definitely ready to switch to grilled turkey burgers and green salads once we got home.

{this Friendly's sundae looked so good, the Goob tried to eat it right from the dish!}

i haven't gone through the photos we took on the big cameras yet--that will be a chore--but thought i'd give you a little taste of our vacation via my handy iPhone and Instagram.  i hope to have more to share in the coming weeks once i do tackle the big cameras, but tomorrow...i have some very exciting news so please check back for a big announcement!  as always, thanks for stopping by my little corner of the Internet!