Crystal and Akiko

2SOME EVENT........FANTABULISTIC!!!!!

A weekend full of dancing, socializing, and who could forget meeting CELEBS!!!

 

Ben and Crystal, you have really done an AMAZING job with the 2some event. Corey and I had such an amazing time, we are so thankful to have you two amazing people in our lives!!! Thank you for all your hard work and putting together such an incredible weekend full of classes, OUTSTANDING entertainment, and all around fun!

Here are a few pics of the dinner:

From Left to Right: Robyn Alves (crystal's sis in law), Me, Teresa Alves (Crystal's mom) and Crystal 

Here's me and Sassy Jeannine :)

 

From Left to Right: Corey (my sexy man), Me, and Ben!

 

Here's me and my sista Sabrina!

 

Let's not forget Me and my future hubby hubby hubba hubba Corey ;)

 

Here's me and Dimitri....need I say more?

 
 
 

....will be back...soon

As you know, my BIG EVENT is this weekend and our faculty is flying in today, so I've been dancing, singing and tripping over my feet for the past few days trying to get things in order to make things just Perfect.  So, no ellaborate post for you today but I soooooo promise I'll be back on Tuesday with some awesome pics to share with you.  Let's make it a date!  See you Tuesday and wish me luck...eek!

P.S.  Not sure if you heard....but Stampin Up! Demonstrator, Caroline, won the Raptors Tickets over at my 2some Dance blog...wohoo!  The game was last night, wish I could have gone, hope there was smiles, laughter and screams =)  You can check out her fab blog HERE

Japan Chronicles: Tori Gates

These gates were amazing to see. They were featured in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" when the little girls is running under the Red Tori Gates. They are so beautiful and peaceful, with their donors names carved down the sides. The entire trail was about 4-5 hours, so we took the short route - about 45 minutes.

 
 

How-to Video: Valentines Milk Carton

Stampin' Up! has a mini milk carton die cut for the Big Shot, but in all seriousness-ness, it's just as easy to cut and score your own which is what I did.  BUT...to make it even easier & FREE for you, I threw together a template for ya to print here Download Mini Milk Carton Template...I luv u guys...how could I not ;)

Here's my vid on how after a skip, hop and a jump it all came together...haha...such dancer talk!  Then I popped in some scrumptious hershey hugz & kisses....after somehow a few miraculously ended up in my mouth...haha...and I'll be giving this sweet treat to my cutie-pah-tootie =)  All though, I'm pretty sure they'll all end up in my tummy once he opens it....ohhhh how i luv me some chocolate!

  RECIPE
Paper (Stampin Up!):  Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron & Whisper White
Stamps (Stampin Up!):  Love You Much
Inks (Stampin Up!):  Basic Black Classic Ink Pad & Real Red Marker
Punches (Stampin Up!):  Scallop Circle and 1 1/4 Circle
Other (Stampin Up!):  Petals-a-plenty embossing folder, Sticky Strips and Dollarama mini valentine clothes pin

Back to 2some Dance work....it's this weekend can you believe it!!!!! ahhhhh.....

Stampin Up! MEGA MEETING!!

Saturday, January 30th, 2010 - MEGA MEETING

Crystal, her mom Teresa and myself went to the Stampin' Up! Mega meeting on Saturday. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!! It is really neat to see what other crafters are doing - its a great way to meet other like minded people and share our creativity.

Was it ever a fast paced day! With only 6 minutes to work on each project, we did a total of 15 Make and Takes and WOW's - we learned some really cool new techniques! I have NEVER made cards so fast in my entire life, lol.

Here are some of the projects that we made:

 

Here is Crystal and Teresa with their goodie bags :) Don't you love Crystal's dance hand??

 

And here's me with my new flower punch!!!

 

Not only did we get to create new projects, but we also got to SWAP! The more card fronts you make, the more you can swap with others. There are some seriously creative people out there! Here are just a few of my favs (there were so many, but I couldnt fit them all in a picture!)

 

BEAUTIFUL!!!
 

 
 
 

 

Giveaway worth $322....whaaat?!

I know!!!!  A giveaway worth $322????  Geez...I really love you guys <wink>  We're giving away TWO FREE Toronto Raptors tickets over at the 2some Dance blog.  Should you, for some reason, want to WIN them....haha, take a stroll over to my 2some Dance blog and leave us a comment.  A random winner will be chosen.  I love freebies! 

So...this isn't as exciting as my giveaway, but was skippin' around some photos and found these from my mom's b-day back in October.  I LOVE making and receiving homemade gifts!!!!  I wanted to make something special for her so here's what my kooky self came up with:

Magnetic Board - Bought canvas mounted on a frame, adhered magnetic sheets onto canvas, covered with designer paper, embellished with flowers and cricut cut-outs.  The magnets are actually hooks that had a sticky backing to glue to your wall.  I scraped off the sticky stuff and VOILA!  You have magnets!
RECIPE
Paper:  K & Company "Belle" collection
Embellishments:  Stampin Up! ribbon, Prima Flowers & Leaves, Dollarstore rhinestones & pearls
Cricut Cartridges:  Storybook and Alphalicious

Coordinating Card - of course, how could your card not coordinate?! haha  Embossed with cuttlebug folders and lightly brushed across a darker ink pad to pop the embossed image.
RECIPE
Paper (Stampin Up!):  Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White & Bermuda Bay
Paper (Other):  K & Company "Belle" collection
Stamps (Stampin Up!):  On a Pedastal
Inks (Stampin Up!):  Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry and Real Red
Other:  Stampin Up! Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin Up! Scallop Border Punch and Martha Stewart Glitter

HAHAHA....yes, this is exactly how eccentric she is...luv it!

The Westin Osaka Experience

During our many amazing travels within Japan, we had the pleasure of staying at the Westin Osaka. WHAT A BEATIFUL HOTEL! One day we decided to try the sauna and pool - and we had to wear swim caps. Did we ever look hilarious! We called ourselves the "Westin Osaka Swim Team"....lol (I guess you had to be there to really feel the humor in that). Anyways, here is my layout from that day. I used the cricut to create the swirls all over the page....I just cut the same swirl out in different sizes and stuck them together!

 
 

Crystal's Event & Akiko's Engagement

Holy yowzers!  My mom and I were up to 1:30 in the morning finishing up our cards for the Swap coming up this weekend for Laura Bartoli's MEGAMEETING.  I'm waaaay too excited for this, I've never been to one nor have I ever swapped.  On Tuesday I'll share with you my favourite swaps I received.  Yee Ha!

My event 2some Dance is peeking around the corner...yikes!  I was going through some photos of our last event in August and thought I would share some pics with ya.

Ben and I brought in Francis & Claudia from So You Think You Can Dance to teach & perform for us
 

Here's Francis teaching.  We also flew in Dmitry from Dancing with the Stars & here he is teaching.  Work that bootie boyz....shake-a-da-bon-bon!!
 

Awww...why is my Benny Baby so cute?! muah!  Me?...just workin' or hiding or faking to work...ha!
 

SHOWTIME!!!  Some pics of the stars from the ridiculous show at our Gala Dinner.

Francis Lafrenier & Claudia Primeau from So You Think You Can Dance
  

My students.....whaaaat...they rock!
  

COREY & AKIKO'S ENGAGEMENT!!!!  I'll let Akiko tell you the full story, but here's me with my students, Corey, Akiko & Hailey (Corey's daughter) just after Corey proposed to Akiko in the middle of a comedic routine I choreographed for him to perform in our show.  I had serious ugly face while I sobbed when he got on his knee......the moment was perfect!
 

And the four of us wouldn't celebrate their special day any other way than an ugly face photo...ha!
 
 

I LOVE PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Awesome memories...can't wait to create more at the next event....a week and a half....ahhhhh....eek...ooooo--gee-o!
 
  

Froggie Sweet Treats Valentines Card

I was SOOOO excited for those sweet treat cups to arrive from Stampin' Up! and was really happy with the way it turned out.  I made this cute frog card for our Valentine's Craft Class, we had soooo much fun with everyone and I think everyone squeeled like a little girl just as I did when they saw their froggies come to life...haha  We really have THE BEST girls that come to our classes....xoxo ladies!

Now, of course I had to share my how-to video with my favourite bloggers =)  Let me know if there was any squeeling going on...hehe

RECIPE
Paper (Stampin Up!):  Chocolate Chip, Glorious Green, Regal Rose, Whisper White, Real Red, Mellow Moss, Basic Black & So Saffron Designer Series
Stamps (Stampin Up!):  French Filigree, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Holidays & Wishes and Love You Much
Inks (Stampin Up!):  Chocolate Chip, Glorious Green & Basic Black Marker
Punches (Stampin Up!):  Large Oval, 1 3/4" Circle, 1" Circle, 1/2" Circle, 1/4" Circle (standard hole punch), Curly Label, Trio Flower and Heart to Heart
Other:  Stampin Up! Pastels, Stampin Up! Sweet Treat Cups, yummy Butter Cream Pie Jelly Bellies

Was feeling poopy yesterday but THANK GOD I'm back to normal...I love socializing and can't wait to get outta the house again.  Off to work!  tah tah 4 now.

Valentine's Craft Class: January 23rd 2010

Gettin' Crafty!!

 We had sooooooo much fun on Saturday!!! We crafted all morning and made valentine's delights: a valentines day card (which is REDICULOUS!) a cute candy box and a romantic 12X12 layout. Here are some pics of us having fun: