cork board part 2

Well its back to school again.  Therefore, everything is in full swing again.  So far I don't have homework...which is a surprise, but I'm sure I'll be studying soon. I have been able to do some crafts during this down time and really enjoying it. {my netflix is also getting a lot of use!}
As most of you know I have been working on a cork board {for what feels like a year now}  I thought I would all update you on the progress.  I received a bunch of corks one night from work so I glued them onto my board.  I was thinking that all these corks would get me at least 3/4 of the board finished....seems I forgot how many corks it took.. I got about 2 rows done so thats exciting!

Here it is....almost half way done...right??

I'm expecting to get a lot more this weekend so I will keep everyone updated :) I hope these get me at least 3 more rows!!

dad's birthday gift

Hello my people!! (If I still have followers...) I have been very busy working, studying to take my GRE :( and trying to get ready for school to start :(  I have had a very busy summer with weddings, events, being at the lake, and swimming lessons!  (tomorrow is my last day of swimming lessons for the year!!!) Anyways...yesterday was my dad's birthday.  Due to getting ready for school to start I am now broke and have no money to spend..so I decided for my dad's birthday I would make him something.  Of course I had no idea what to make him...I mean if my dad wants anything, he could probably make it himself.  So...I recently went to crafts direct with my best friend, Nichole and she showed me this cute quote that she put on an old piece of wood for her dad for father's day. It said, "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad."  I then knew I needed to do that for my dad.  Of course crafts direct had a sticker of it, but it was $15 which I was not spending considering I could just paint it myself.  I decided that I could just find a piece of wood in the garage and paint the quote on it.  It turned out great and my dad loved it.  I'm just curious where he decides to hang it.  I'm thinking he will hang it up in his garage...I'll post pictures later of where he decides to put it :). 

Its such a perfect quote for such an amazing father.  I'm truly blessed to have him in my life and could not have asked for a better father.  He's such a great man and I have learned so many valuable lessons from him. (I'm sure I have many more to learn as well)

my summer at a glance

Boy has the summer flown by!!..I've been so busy with school, work, going to the lake, baseball games, and spending time with friends and family that I haven't had time to do any new crafts :( ..hopefully I will be able to work on some soon!  I have been taken tons of pictures on my iphone so here are a few of my summer so far!...

of course its wedding season...so far I've had two weddings, I have 3 more before the summer is over!! Here are a few pictures of friends and I at Zach and Danielle Thissen's wedding!

a. Matt & Geoff celebrating

b. Bailey & I {the future bride!}

c. Matt, Geoff, & Travis

d. Steph & I

e.  Geoffrey & I

 The recent street dances I've gone to!  

 Kailee, Meghan, & I before the Maynard Street dance

Jessica, Kailee, & Lydia during the Granite Falls Western Fest Street dance

Summer is about spending time with family and friends which I have been doing a lot of!

a. Jerry fishing {his first bullhead}

b. Jacob & I at his graduation

c. Jerry during his hoopshoot

d. Kayla & I celebrating the 4th of July

e. Date nights with Geoffrey

f. Under the fireworks with Geoff on the 4th

 Baseball games have been a large part of my last couple summers.. I'm starting the love the game more and more.  Geoff recently switched teams and is now playing for the Raymond Rockets.  Although, red isn't my favorite color I believe its his new color and he also looks pretty good in it ;)

Thats my summer at a glance so far...hopefully the rest of it doesn't fly by too fast.  I hope you are all having a wonderful summer as well.

iphone photos

I have taken a MILLION pictures over the last week!!..and finally figured out how to make a collage of them all so heres my first one!

1. Piper of course--my new favorite animal

2. I have a new room mate!!...she comes with A LOT of stuff!

3. I went to Geoff's baseball game in Milroy last weekend and got some sweet photos of him.

4. I also went to the lake last weekend and did a lot of swimming!

5. Alissa and I with our shades on in the boat!

6. Geoff has a new friend--Alissa now LOVES him!

coffee cup sleeves

I recently received a sewing machine from my Grandparents for my birthday.  I have been wanting one for years, so I was super excited when I opened it up.  I have only hand stitched before so I needed some sewing lessons before I really knew what to do.  Thank goodness my grandma is a seamstress and gave me some quick lessons.  I then pondered my first sewing project.  I decided on coffee cup sleeves.  This is the first one I've made so it isn't the best.

What you need:

fabric

lining - I used an old blanket that we don't use anymore

button

tooth picks

elastic

I had cut out the fabric and inside lining according to a pattern I found on the internet.

 I then sewed as close to the outside of the fabric as I could.  I'm still learning so I didn't quite sew in a straight line.

In order to sew on the button you need to place tooth picks in between the button and the fabric, in order for the elastic to fit around the button.

 You also want to make sure that the elastic is matched up perfectly with the button, this one isn't quite matched up well..but it is only my first one :) I decided to hand stitch my elastic on the backside.  I'm not quite talented enough to use my sewing machine for that part. 

I'm hoping to get better at sewing...I'm practicing quite a bit! I also am hoping to learn how to sew a button hole on it.  I think a button hole will look better on the sleeve than the elastic.

wedding gift

A great friend of mine got married a few weeks ago and I wanted to make the perfect gift for her and her new husband. I don't have a huge budget so I needed to use the materials that I already had on hand.  I wasn't sure what to do so I did a little research on pinterest and found this:

 So I decided I was going to make my own, I started with the W for their last name. I just used a stencil and black paint on the burlap. {of course I got the burlap from my father's garage}

 I first decided I was going to put the lyrics of their first dance for the background, but once I got it all put together I hated it.. I also had a hard time cutting the wood my dad had on hand, so he of course helped me out by cutting it to the perfect size.

 So I decided to paint it red like I found on pinterest.  

I then added the burlap onto the wood using large thumb tacks. 

I hope they love it as much as I do, I can't wait to make one for myself!!

Iphone photos

Sorry its been awhile since my last post! I've been crazy busy with homework, graduation/retirement parties, scrapbooking and trying to relax a little  inbetween...I haven't had a lot of time to work on any new projects, but like I said I have been doing a TON of scrapbooking for my younger brothers graduation! 

Here are some photos that have accumulated on my phone over the last week or two..

 Piper {the dog Geoff and I sort-of adopted} and Geoffrey sleeping together.

 Marissa, Brooke, Samantha, Destiny, & Kristie at Sam's wedding a few weeks ago.

 This was my scrapbooking area over the last week or so. I have looking at pictures of my brother Jacob for the last 2 weeks- trying to get his scrapbook done for his graduation!  I now can not wait until I have my own scrapbooking room!

 It was our 2 year anniversary yesterday so I thought I would put a picture up of us together!! Happy anniversary Geoffrey Lamont!

Sweet Little Ava Symka