Thursday, October 28, 2010

Madymae Etsy Shop!

Check out my friend Bonnie's new ETSY shop!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/madymae

Photobucket

Saturday, October 16, 2010

So...yeah....I haven't blogged in forever...

Sorry everyone....school has taken over my life once again....and we have moved...just started my craft room and it looks awesome so far....I'm going to start making cards again soon!  I can't wait!
;0)

Photobucket

Monday, August 23, 2010

That First Birthday Card I Promised...

So here are the pics from that first birthday card that I promised to show you all a few months ago!  


Photobucket

Thursday, August 19, 2010

SUMMER SCHOOL FINALLY OVER!!!

SUMMER SCHOOL IS FINALLY OVER!   After taking 6 summer classes in a row, and also taking the first teacher certification exam and PASSING, I'm EXHAUSTED!!!  Maybe now I'll have time to be creative again!  School starts again on the 30th...


Photobucket

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

It's been a while....

Sorry to my followers out there for not posting the 1st birthday card that I promised to post yet!  I was just able to give her the gift, so possibly sometime this weekend I will be able to share...Things are a bit hectic since my summer courses started....
I'll keep you all updated!
;0)

Photobucket

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Earrings


So...My camera did not want to focus yesterday. 
Sorry for the horrible photos.  
I made these earrings for my cousin's graduation present. I made another pair but you couldn't even tell what they looked like in the photos so I won't bother putting it up.  I'm going to try to get better pics of these later!!  
These were a lot harder to make than I thought they would be.  It took a lot of beads falling off and breaking wires, but I think that it was worth it! 

Photobucket

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Origami Favor Boxes!


When I hear the word Origami I automatically think of cranes. 
 Instead I found out how to make these cute boxes. 

These boxes don't require any glue or tape at all, and are perfect for favors or candy holders at parties.  You can even fold up two ends and connect them, and fold down the two other ends to make a cute little basket.

The Jellybean paper is from the Sweet Stack from DCWV.

The lined paper is from the Latte Stack from DCWV.
The paper was a little too thick for this project. I'll have to find the right type through trial and error. 
  I can't wait to make more!!

Photobucket

Sunday, April 25, 2010

My First Necklace!!!

I made this necklace for my sister's birthday!  

She loved it (after receiving it a week late since the post office wouldn't leave it at her leasing office when it wouldn't fit into her mailbox!!!)  
Oh well...she was excited when she finally got the package!

I just LOVE the beads that I used!  
They are "Bead Gallery" beads, and I found them at Michael's after what seemed like forever...I was overwhelmed at all of the choices that they displayed! 
My mom finally spotted the large bead to go with the smaller round ones.

So, I had NO IDEA how to even start a necklace...but I figured it couldn't be too far from the basics of making earrings.  I was doing alright until I had to figure out how to put the chain on....it was difficult wrapping the wire through the rings of the chain....3 hours later........haha....but it was worth it!  

I wanted to make the clasp area in the back a little more exciting, so I added one of the smaller round beads.  I think it looks really nice!

I also made some Earrings to match....

I can't wait to make some more!!!!

Photobucket

What do you think?

I have a new post divider!!  What do you think?? 

Photobucket

Saturday, April 17, 2010

A New Card!!!

Here is the latest card that I made for my grandmother's 89th Birthday!!!  

Of course, I used my awesome 

Here is how I made the card:

I started out the same way that I have started out on all of my cards.  I set the size dial to 6" and using the Cricut Plantin SchoolBook CartridgeI pressed the card button.  
I would use a larger number, but that is the biggest size that it will cut on my machine.  I like to work with the bigger cards because I have more room to put cute details on them.



Next, I used the same Latte Stack that I have been using for all of my cards so far.  I cut out a 6" rectangle using the beautiful pattern you see on the front of the card. 
There are so many great options in this stack. 

I like the look of the Tall Ball function with the letters, 
so I used that at 1" for "happy birthday"

Behind the "happy birthday" greeting, I cut out a couple of tags (sorry I don't remember the size) and used a decorative pair of scissors to cut around them. 

I used the Cricut Serenade Solutions Cartridge to cut out the butterfly and the scroll.  I played with the layer function and I think that it worked out well!

This is my favorite card that I have made so far! 
Photobucket

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Qingdao, China


So, as most of you know, about 5 years ago Brien and I lived in China. I wanted to share one of my crazy experiences with those of you who haven't had a chance to read my blog from way back when! I laughed as I read it.  And, I FOUND MY PICTURES WAHOOOOOOO so I incorporated them......It's pretty long but worth reading!   ;0) 

*************************************************************Hey everyone. As some of you know, I went on a trip to Qingdao, China for 5 days with 100 kids, 12 Chinese teachers, 2 tour guides and me...and NO ONE spoke English. 





It was an awesome experience...not awesome like hey this is awesome, but awesome as in a WILD AND CRAZY way!


Here are some things that I experienced on my journey:

DAY 1:
Whoah...there are 100 kids here...but they aren't really interested in me at all..which was a big difference compared to kids at schools that we teach at....at the schools that we teach at, they can't get enough of foreigners and ALWAYS wanna talk to you...but here, they all have their friends and are super excited for their vacation. 

I sat next to this really cute girl who was trying to speak "Chinglish" to me.....
I had to turn my Chinese brain on full blast for this trip.

The plane ride there was NUTS...we took up the entire plane and the kids were up out of their seats, throwing food at each other and SCREAMING..it was really funny...if I were just a normal passenger--not on a trip with these kids--I would be like OH MY GOD! haha... Anyways...when the plane was taking off all of the kids were like WOOOOOO and laughing and they were sooooo excited since it was the first plane ride for most of these kids!  It was cute! 

The tour guide kept on trying to talk to me, but I didn't understand everything and was frantically searching in my dictionary to find words she was saying to me. I just kept saying what everyone always says here: "Hao hao hao" (Those of you who live here know what I'm talking about, those of you who don't, Hao Hao Hao can mean a million different things!) haha

The poor flight attendants...there was a lot of turbulance, and the seatbelt signs were on...of course no one cared and were still running around....Things are REALLY RELAXED here in China! I felt like I took all of my students on vacation! When we got off the plane, it took us about an hour to get to the hotel...When we arrived it was midnight and there were screaming kids EVERYWHERE..it took about an hour and a half to get them all situated into their rooms. I shared a room with two of the tour guides..they were really nice....but I was too tired to try and communicate with anyone.....

DAY 2:
So, I woke up at 4 AM for no reason and just layed there. I started hearing the kids at 6AM running around and yelling..I was already up, so it didn't matter! First, we went to Signal Hill Park



It's on top of this mountain and it was a really nice hike..it was raining though, so we didn't get much of a view. "WHAT A PITY" as my students would say! 
When we got towards the bottom of the mountain, the rain stopped and I got some views of the German inspired buildings around. Man it was SO NICE to see mountains and hills and NATURAL greenery, instead of FLAT CONCRETE EVERYWHERE! 


Then, we went to Zhan Qiao Pier, which was really nice. 


It was only misting out, and it was really cool out....felt nice not to sweat for once! It smelled like the ocean! I think I got into EVERY SINGLE PERSONS PICTURES on that pier....OY! Stray people would "slyly" snap shots of me, and the brave ones would actually ask me. When we got back to the bus, it started downpouring, so we were lucky we got back when we did! Good thing I brought my umbrella, even though my good friend, Reshalati, INSISTED I wouldn't need it there. 


Next, we went to this AWESOME AQUARIUM
I haven't been to an aquarium since I was a kid...They had one of those tunnels with water surrounding it. It was so beautiful and peaceful..I just stood on a moving walkway and stared! 
Then, we all seriously waited for an hour for this lame show to start, and it only lasted for 5 minutes. The kids enjoyed it at least. They are entertained by the littlest things! At the end of the aquarium I seriously thought I got lost for a while..I even went outside to see if our bus was still there...and somehow I found a stray door back into the place where I saw one of the tour guide's flags....What a scary feeling that was!


Then we left, and I heard "Qingdao Pijiu" Which is "Tsingtao Beer" and I got excited....Well, here's what the tour was: We all stayed on the bus and a Qingdao employee came on and just talked and the bus driver drove us around... LAME - O!!!! I put my iPod on and blasted music. I was pissed..I thought we were gunna see some cool beer being made and at least get a freakin mug! 


We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the SAME place today....WITH THE SAME FOOD. Great!

DAY 3:
Today, I packed my bags and all I could figure out was that we weren't staying at that hotel anymore. This whole not knowing ANYWHERE we are going was CRAZY! So, I heard the tour guide say something and all of the kids started cheering, so I figured we were going someplace cool. We ended up going to the beach...it was sooo nice!!!



Yeah the sand was all wet, and it was cool out, but it was nice to hear the waves again! The kids were going absolutely CRAZY and were soooo excited! It was great! They all threw their shoes off and ran into the edge of the water and would all scream when waves would come. I'm sure that most of these kids have never been outside of Chengdu before and have never seen an ocean! So, it was a huge deal (like it is to anyone who hasn't been to the ocean before). We didn't have time to go swimming swimming, just put our feet in...that was good enough for me, cause it was freezing! The kids all got soaked and had to change their clothes. Then, an hour later we all got back on the bus....and of course I didn't know what we were gunna do next....I just assumed we would go on a cool boat ride or a museum or something....
Well, the bus just kept going and going....5 HOURS LATER, we all got off the bus, and there was a boat waiting there for us...and it was seriously like a DUNGEON! We all just piled into this boat with NO WINDOWS AT ALL..and just stood there for 20 minutes....I thought I was going to puke everywhere...(I could only imagine this is what it was like for people to come to America on the boats....) 


We ended up at a Navy Base....the kids all piled out of the boat and officers started yelling at all of the kids to get into lines and come quickly....it was nuts!
When they got to their rooms there were like 20 people to one room with bunk beds that are WOOD..really...WOOD beds..and NO BLANKETS...
I got really nervous....luckily I was told that since I am a foreigner I wasn't allowed to sleep there THANK GOD....I had to go to this hotel which was pretty nice! 


The meals were DISGUSTING and I just ate a couple of bites of bread (seriously) for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

DAY 4:
Before any meal at the Navy Base, the kids had to do these drills, and if anyone got something wrong, they ALL had to do it over again until everyone got it right..it was really funny! The kids sang some songs and did some military drills all day....BORINGGGG.....I wasn't even supposed to be there...haha.....

Then, all of the adults went on this trolly ride around the base and of course I didn't understand anything, so I got to go on for free...Then we got dropped off at this little shopping center where everyone sold the same things...SEASHELLS....it was nice to just walk around instead of just sitting there though! Then, we seriously sat, waiting for 3 HOURS for lunch that I didn't eat...and after lunch we waited for 2 HOURS....WHAT THE FLIP....WHAT A WASTE OF TIME! I get soooooo antsy! Well, at least I practiced my Chinese with people! 
So, I had to go to the squatter bathroom and literally WAS GAGGING....I went, and then RAN out of there like choking and coughing...people were staring at me...I don't care...MAN EVEN WITH MY NOSE PLUGGED IT WAS RANK! IT WAS HORRENDOUS!!!!! I've NEVER been in such a disgusting bathroom in my life! 


So finally after all that waiting we went to a LAME Navy museum. Then we all got our stuff and got back onto the dungeon boat back to the town WeiHai


Then, we all got onto the bus and I was told we were going back to Qingdao (At least that's what I thought I heard) So I prepared myself for a 5 hour bus ride back....and 5 MINUTES later we got to this hotel..haha...this was so crazy not knowing ANYTHING.....


It was a really nice hotel...I had to share a room with some grandma who came on the trip and one of the tour guides. So, I'm just watching TV, and all of a sudden the grandma comes out of the shower TOTALLY NAKED and just starts talking to me!!!!! OMG...TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT!! I wasn't THAT surprised, since I've lived in China for almost a year, and weird stuff always happens...They also all go pee with the doors WIDE OPEN and just get naked in front of you to change. I just HAD TO get out of the room, so I went into the lobby and just hung out for like an hour. I had such a headache from hearing ONLY CHINESE for all of this time..I needed a break! Then I went back to the room, and the phone in our room kept on ringing, and the Grandma would just stare at me and I'm like HELLO I DON'T SPEAK CHINESE I'M NOT ANSWERING IT! Then, kids kept coming in and out of my room when we all have our pajamas on....I felt EXHAUSTED!

DAY 5:
So, I woke up at 5 AM for no reason..I kept waking up super early on this trip...Maybe I was paranoid that they would leave without me! Everyone went to eat the same meal of breakfast....EVERY FREAKIN MEAL WAS EXACTLY THE SAME!! I didn't even want to LOOK at any of the food. I bought a Pepsi and some small cookies for some nourishment since I hadn't eaten in 3 days. Everyone was trying to force me to eat, I didn't know how to communicate that if I even SMELLED any of it I would throw up everywhere..I just kept telling them I already ate. HOW THE FLIP CAN THEY EAT THE SAME FREAKIN THING EVERY DAY FOR 3 MEALS A DAY!! AHHHHHHHH!!! Soooo weird! 



Then I just got on the bus at 7:30AM and we left at 9:30 AM . That's how it's been this WHOLE TRIP.. WAITING WAITING WAITING on the bus...it was soooo annoying! Then we left for Qingdao...Then guess what we did? We went for lunch....Everyone but me! I sat in the lobby and ate a Snickers bar while people stared at me. Then, I got on the bus and waited for another hour to leave. 


We went to the Haier museum....Another LAME museum...WHO WANTS TO GO TO A MUSEUM FILLED WITH REFRIGERATORS? They took millions of pictures!!! Too funny (ESPECIALLY THE HAIER MASCOTS!!!)

Then, we went to Coca Cola. 
We went in and they gave us a free drink and watched a movie which was mostly just Coca Cola commercials...we got to see drinks being made and bottled which was cool...and that was it....It wasn't even an hour...


Next, we went to this weirdo store that ONLY sold dried packaged seafood and it smelled HORRIBLE. I thought GREAT now the entire bus is gunna smell like this! The kids of course went crazy and bought like EVERYTHING in the store! 


Then, it was time for dinner...This time I didn't even get off the bus! The kids were all asking me in Chinese why I wasn't eating...I told them I wasn't used to it and I ate some crackers. FINALLY we were off to the airport....Our flight left at 10:50 PM ....


And of course at the END of the ENTIRE TRIP I find out that most of the kids DO speak SOME English and they all started talking to me and asking me questions at the freaking AIRPORT....I guess they didn't have anything to look forward to anymore, and they finally realized that I was there with them! 
My ticket said I was supposed to sit in the middle of all of the kids, but I told the flight attendant I couldn't sit there, so she let me sit in the front row..I had had ENOUGH!

FINAL THOUGHTS:
WHO DOES THIS?!?!?!?! It was a CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY experience and I'm really glad that I did it....It was hard, but worth it. I really had to turn my Chinese Brain on the entire trip and I learned a lot of new words, and my listening skills have improved! I learned A TON of different cultural differences....It was cool being absolutely FORCED to speak only Chinese and listen to ONLY Chinese....


I was pushed WAY beyond my comfort zone MANY TIMES....But hey, you gotta do that sometimes in life right!?!?!

~NaTALIE~
;0) 

*********************************************
Hope you all enjoyed this story!  Life is too short, do something CRAZY!!!
Photobucket

Friday, March 19, 2010

Alice in Wonderland Movie in 3D

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"

GO SEE IT IN 3D!  SOOOOOOO AMAZING!  

Photobucket

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Classic Case of Writer's Block

So, I started writing one day and before I knew it I had 3 really awesome chapters to some sort of book...the only problem is that I'm not sure where I'm going to go with the story.
The chapters are well written, but they are in no order...Every time I go back and read it over I change things....anyways, I thought I'd share my writer's block with you........................
Photobucket

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Noelle's Baby Shower!

My cousin, Noelle, is having a baby girl!!!!

Her baby shower was at the amazing
 Roycroft Inn in East Aurora, NY.

The Roycroft Inn is very rustic, cozy and elegant.
I thought it was the perfect setting for a baby shower.
 I just love it there!

Here is a picture of the card!  

Since our family is French, my mom thought it would be cute to write bébé on the card.
It's hard trying to think of something to put on the front of a baby shower card!
I think it turned out cute!
I made this card using my Cricut Expression Machine!

 Here is how I made the card:

I used the Cricut Plantin SchoolBook Cartridge for the whole project.

The card was cut using Tall Ball function and cut at 6" using two different pieces of cardstock:  A light purple so that I would be able to write a message on the inside, and I wanted the darker purple for the front and back of the card once it's folded. 

I cut the polka dotted rectangle using the Shadow Rectangle Feature at 5 3/4".
  
The pink strip with white scallop on the bottom of the card is from DCWB's Sweet Stack.
I had to painstakingly trim around all of the little bumps to get it but I think it was worth it! 
I cut out the letters for "bébé" using the Tall Ball function key for both colors 
(The top color and the shadow darker color) at 1".  
I cut out exclamation points and cut them down to size for the accent marks over the "é's".  
I added the cute pink ribbon on top of the card, stringing it through the folding guide hole that the Cricut automatically cuts out when cutting the card.


I had written up a whole explanation about how I did the envelope, but I definitely FORGOT to take a picture of it!!! So I'll just leave it out...

After we signed the card, I tied the same pink ribbon that was on top of the card itself through the holes in the envelope.  
Photobucket