Thursday, January 22, 2015

About Saying Goodbye

Hola everyone!

Hope you have had a very nice week so far.  Mine has been a very sad and difficult one.  My best friend just passed away... She had metastatic Colon Cancer, which spread to her lungs and liver.  She was only 43 years old and the mother of two wonderful children.

Our last picture together ~ Summer 2014

Pinky and I (as we lovingly called her), had been friends since High School.  We were inseparable.  Wherever you saw one, you would see the shadow of the other one.  Wow, such great memories!
Pinky as Cleopatra, Halloween Party ~ 1989
There were many things shared throught the years.  Over 25 years of memories!  And although life separated us for a bit, our friendship never died.  When we got reunited many years later, it was as if we had never been apart.


Christmas at my house ~ 2008 (3 months after my Kidney Removal)


Hanging out ~ 2009
She loved life.  She loved her friends.  She loved her family, and specially her children.  It has been very difficult for me these past days.  I miss my friend!


Her obituary read like this: "Isabel Cristina (Pinky to her family and to those very close to her), was an extraordinary 43 years young woman and a hard working dedicated teacher, always in search of knowledge. She completed 2 Master Degrees (Education and School Management), and a PHD(c) in Higher Education. With her special sense of humor, she always kept everyone smiling.  Devoted mother of 2 outstanding kids, that made her very proud every day. Loving and selfless daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, niece and friend. She was one of those special Shooting Stars that "live" in the universe, brightening many souls on Earth. Like the destiny of some stars, called Red stars, her life ended with a great burst of light that was seen by many, near and far. This left an enormous hole in our lives. But as it happens in the universe, that "Astronomical Hole" will be for eternity, filled with Pinky's positive energy...A loving and tender soul that in many ways touched our lives and that in a new way, will be with us forever. This is how we will all remember Pinky."

Yes... I will remember my friend forever.  It broke my heart that I wasn't able to be in her funeral.  It was held in Florida and when I searched, the plane tickets were extremely expensive from Puerto Rico to Orlando.  So, I sent her some flowers and did the best next thing: a symbolic memorial, at the beach with some dear friends of ours:


I am so grateful to have had her as a friend.  I even dedicated her an LO I made about friendship.  I sent her many gifts these past couple of years she had lived in Florida.  Her parents moved her to Florida after she got really sick.

I am so grateful for the many hours she spent in the hospital with my dad; she never failed to visit him whenever he was hospitalized.    She would watch him sleep for hours if needed... he always scolded her for not waking him up... We cried together over the phone when my dad passed away; she was in so much pain! She loved him as one of her own.   

On January 2, a couple of weeks before her death, she posted this message to my father on Facebook.  


In hindsight, it sounds like a goodbye to all of us... she mentioned each one of us by name.  She was more than a friend to us.  She was family.

Goodbye my friend, my sister!


Friday, January 16, 2015

Ian turns 3 - Jake the Pirate LO

Hola everyone!

Hope your year is starting as amazing as mine has.  

I am playing in the Scrapping4Fun Challenges blog's DT Challenge and Guest Designer’s Challenge.  The Challenge is to create a card, layout or anything using this sketch as inspiration:


I've done so many cards in the past months for different swaps, that a layout was long overdue.  I hit my photo stash and found this cute picture of my 3 year old nephew on his 3rd birthday.  

Jake the Pirate scrapbook layout

His birthday was a bittersweet celebration for us... it was just the day after my father's burial.  He was trying so hard to make everyone smile!  And he achieved it!  This face is so lovable and laughable, that I just had to create a layout with it.  

I used American Crafts and My Mind's Eye paper, which I stitched the border with my sewing machine. The button and string is American Crafts as well.  The half beads were made by me!!  Yep, I recycled some old plastic beads by melting them in the oven (400 F for 10 minutes or until melted).  Jake the Pirate was printed from here, and all other images used, were printed off the internet.  

I had tons of fun making this LO.  Hope you like it!!!  Happy 2015!!

Besitos,

Linking to:

·         Paper Creator’s Crafts
·         Art by Miran
·         Jo’s Scrap Shack
·         DL Art
·         Inspiration Destination
·         Mema’s Crafts
·         Penny’s Challenge Blog
      Bimini Moose
·         Little Miss Muffet
·         Scrap n’ Craft
·         Pals Paper Arts
·         Your Scrapbook Place
·         Seema Crafts
·         Moo-Mania & More

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Valentine's Day ATCs

Hola everyone!

Valentine cards


Continuing with the ATCs, I signed up for an ATC swap where I had to make 28 Valentine's Day ATCs.  Yes, 28!!

Valentine cards


I downloaded the bingo cards from Designs by Denise:


And the tickets from Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking:


I printed the bingo cards and the tickets in very strong cardstock, and distressed it with Tim Holtz Tea Dye and Vintage Photo distressing inks.  

Hope you like my creations and that it inspires you to create.

Besitos,


Update: Thanks to Heather from My Artistic Adventure for picking my design in the top three of her challenge!

Linking to:

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Happy Three Kings Day (Epiphany) and my first ATC

Hola!

Happy New 2015 and Happy Three Kings Day!  Here in Puerto Rico we celebrate today in the most beautiful way.  Kids will leave grass for the camels the night before and the Three Kings will leave presents under their beds.  Love our traditions!!


By the way, did you know that here in Puerto Rico we have the longest Christmas season in the Planet?  Check out this USA Today report for all the details!  I LOVE my Island!

Wow! 2015 has started super awesome for me and my family.  We have had so much fun this Holiday Season and most importantly, we were able to spend some awesome time as a family.  It has been one of the best Holiday Seasons ever!

I've also been very busy creating in my Scraproom.  In a swap group I participate on Facebook, we were asked to make Three Wise Men (Three Kings) ATCs for the January swap.  It is my first time making ATCs and I loved it!  

ATC card wise men

I think they turned out pretty good for a first timer ATC creator, huh?  

Three Kings cards

I used playing cards for the base, printed a music sheet jpeg from Google and used Tim Holtz distressing in Dusty Concord and Seedless Preserves to distress the edges.  

In the back, I glued an ATC artist card that I created using PicMonkey.  Here it is for you if you want to use it for your own ATCs (just right-click and pick Save As...):

ATC

I made 26 of these beauties... yep, 26!!!  It was super easy and fun to do!  You can check out this video or this video on YouTube to learn more about ATCs and how to create them.  

Well, off to do 28 Valentine's Day ATCs!!!

Besitos,

Linking to: