Happy Halloween Printable Pennant Banner on Etsy!

This printable Happy Halloween pennant banner is up on Etsy today! It is a banner that you can print from home! Print off as many as you like and hang them all around your home. Check it out here! 

Happy Halloween Printable Pennant Banner - Blank pennants included for custom banner $5.00

Detailed view of pennants

SVG Haunted House

BBQ 4th of July Scrapbook Layout

You've been upgraded to Grill Class.

I made 4 of the same layouts for this Two Peas Swap that I'm doing. This is what the BBQ themed page looks like. Then I took the one for me and made it my own by adding my photos.

So Cal Shop Hop 2014 - Map

View So Cal Shop Hop 2014 in a larger map

Christmas Gift Checklist - Etsy

Check out my new Editable Gift Checklist Planner for Christmas! I just put it up on Etsy as an instant download.

Christmas Gift Checklist - Editable Christmas Gift Planner Pack - Printable Christmas Planner Kit - 2 Documents, Instant Download

http://etsy.me/1bhcycC

Fluer De Sel Vanilla Caramels Recipe

Print Recipe 

This is what you need to make these homemade caramels. Brown Sugar, butter (cubed), sweeten condensed milk, light corn syrup, vanilla and fleur de sel (not pictured) for the topping. Super easy ingredients right?

Thanksgiving Editable Printable Planner

Check out my new Editable Printable Planner for Thanksgiving! I just put it up on Etsy as an instant download.

Simple Printable Thanksgiving Planner Editable Pack - Printable Fall Planner Kit - 10 Documents, Instant Download
http://etsy.me/1hqGPYM

Halloween Banner

This Halloween Banner is for sale on Etsy! http://etsy.me/1gIsSVT
This 3 dimensional Halloween Banner is handmade of different papers and embellishments. The banner available is in orange, purple and green Halloween themed papers. Each pennant measures approximately 9.5"x 6.25" and banner measures about 60+ inches depending on flag spacing. Excess black organza ribbon is included to create the length you need. Light enough to hang with push pins.

Bowles Farms - Pumpkin Patch + Corn Maze

At Bowles Farms, this was the start to the corn maze.

My parents were in town for the week and we headed over to explore the corn maze at Bowles Farms. This year they shaped the maze to recognize the 70 years the Navy base has been around. Mind you I am no fan of getting lost in a maze and when they handed us this tiny little paper map to help us get through it I freaked out a bit. But my family is courageous and off we went, making wrong turns all along the way in the hot hot sun but we had a lot of fun as we always do and made it through! 

After the maze we went over and hand picked our own pumpkins, we came home with 6 pretty and colorful ones!

Boo Sign

This sign is super easy to make! All you need are 3D cardboard letters and a strand or two of mini lights!

Fall Wreath

Since we just moved into our new home, we don't have many decorations. Which is fine for me because that just means I get to make as many as I want!! I started with this wreath for our door, very fall like and its something that I can keep on the door from September-November! Love it!

May the 4th Be With You

I made this for my loving boyfriend today who loves Star Wars and has recently introduced me to the movies as well. I wanted to surprise him today being Star Wars day and make him something to show him that I care. So May the 4th be with you!

So Cal Shop Hop 2013 - Map

View So Cal Shop Hop 2013 in a larger map

US Scrapbook Stores Map

http://papercrafterscorner.com/scrapbook-stores/

I have found a new favorite website. It is called Paper Crafter's Corner and they have a huge up to date list of scrapbook stores, crafty events and even scrapbook kit clubs. Check them out!
http://papercrafterscorner.com

Scrapbook Stores / Paper Crafting Stores

The above map shows 671 US brick & mortar paper crafting retail locations including independent scrapbook stores, independent stamping stores, Archiver’s locations, PaperSource locations, Craft Warehouse (pacific NW), and a few “mom & pop” general craft store locations (like Ben Franklin.) It does NOT include “big box” stores.

Looking for more detail on stores, retreats and events in your state?  Click here 

Fluer De Sel Vanilla Caramels

WARNING!! These are extremely addictive. Don't send me your dentist bills! ;)

Yield: about 60-100 caramels (depending on how you cut them) Prep and cook time: 1 hour (not including time to cut and wrap caramels. That takes about another hour or 2)

Valentines Day Nails

Look what I did using washi tape!

Steps:
1. Punch a heart out of a piece of washi tape
2. Place tape on nail make sure all edges are pressed down
3. Paint where nail shows through in washi tape
4. Peel off tape while wet and touch up and edges
5. Let dry!

Our first wreath

I've always wanted to make a wreath like this. It is very time consuming I must say but living in New York, you have a lot of time on the subways. I wrapped the cardboard wreath with white yarn while sitting on the G train for the past week. It took me about 2 days of train rides to wrap 2 layers of white yarn around the cardboard wreath. 

Framed Layouts

Its official, scrapbook pages look so much prettier when they are framed! Thank goodness for Hobby Lobby! I grabbed a handful of these simple black 12x12 frames for about $5/piece since they were on sale 50% off! Score!

I made a page for Kyle before I went out to Italy to give to him when I got out there. He loved it so much he told me he wanted to frame it. Why didn't I think of that?! I just thought he would push pin it to the wall or something. Then near the end of my stay out there he asked me if I would make some more for him of photos of us from my stay. Awww. Of course!! So I made these and bought some frames and the photos don't do them justice but I think pages look so much better framed!

Vivere in Italia

http://missmaeabroad.blogspot.com/

I had the wonderful privilege to travel to Italy this summer and adventure around over there with my amazing sailor. Never in a million years at the beginning of 2012 did I think I'd end up over here, in love and not wanting to move back home! You can see more about my adventures over on a blog that I created while I was in Italy.

Glitter Nails

Ok the new trend is glittery nails right now. The problem is they use gel when you get them and I'm allergic to gel. So I can't have glittery nails...or can I?! I have all this Martha Stewart glitter left over from my starbucks cups, who says I can't dip my nails in them? So thats exactly what I did. I painted my nails with just a top coat then dipped them in glitter and added a top coat on top of that. They looked pretty good too! The only problem, they washed off the second I did the dishes. Eh at least I tried. They looked cute for a day.

Glittered Part 2

Remember when I glittered my Starbucks Cup pink a little while back? Well I also bought purple glitter at the same time I bought the pink to make a second cup. I think I like the purple better because the color is darker than the pink one.

Glitter!

How many people actually decorate their Starbucks cups? I've yet to see someone do so, or even personalize it. So here mine is to break this pattern and hopefully people will start getting creative and decorating their cups too!

I used Martha Stewarts glitter and a simple spray adhesive to create this cup. Make sure you cover the inside with something like foil so you don't accidentally get spray adhesive in the drinking area of the cup. All I did was spray glue then sprinkled glitter over the glue area until the whole cup was glittered!

Blinged Out!!

I am in love with Hobby Lobby! Best craft store around by far!! I don't know what I'm going to do without it when I move to New York. Save money I guess?!

Shipping Cupcakes Overseas

Sounds like an impossible task right?! Well its not. The impossible part is dealing with the freaking Military and their stupid mail system that takes forever. This is the only thing that makes shipping perishables difficult. Other than that its quite simple.

I bought small mason jars that had seal lids on them instead of screw tops. This made it easier to put wax paper on the frosting and seal them shut before shipping.

Waffle Time!

"Ohh, it's waffle time! It's waffle time! Won't you have some waffles of mine?"

Shop Hop 2012

The three of us made the trek today down to San Diego and back. We had a little delay because Nat forgot her passport at her house so we went back to Orange then all the way down to Temecula first. Christine was decorating Natalie's bag with bling on the drive down, so I had to sit in the back and sort out bling sizes for her. What a task to do while driving. I'm sure Nat will be finding bling in her car for the rest of forever.

Recipe Book

During the shop hop the girls and I made it to Paper Arts Warehouse which sells Pinecone Press kits and supplies. I came across the cookie recipe book and had to buy it! I decided that I wanted to make it before I left for New York so I could fill it up with a few favorite recipes here and fill the rest up with things I make out there.

Frozen Lemon Mousse

Christine just had Liam and has been recovering from her C-section and has been having AC issues at home in the middle of the summer. So I told them that I would bring over dinner and dessert for them this week. I made pasta salad since it is a cool dish that you don't need to heat and frozen lemon mousse because she loves lemon things and being frozen would help cool things down. The mousse was fantastic!! I was very impressed. I mean I love mousse and I love lemons so of course I would love this dish. There is a lot of cream in it though and makes it really very rich.

Birthday Puffs

Ok I would take it upon me to make something I've never made in my life before the day I need to deliver them. I always do this it seems and I get to that last 10 minutes and freak out because something has gone wrong and I don't have time to fix it. Well naturally this happened to me today.

I went out with Kyle's parents tonight for his mom's birthday. I know she loves cream puffs so I wanted to try to make them for her. The dough turned out perfect, the Pate a Choux. But once it came to make the cream filling I was at a loss. I had about 10 recipe books out on the table looking through all of them trying to figure out what goes inside a cream puff. The downside to this is I have never actually had a cream puff. So of course I don't know what the filling on the inside is like. Is it sweet and creamy? Light and fluffy? Bland? What the heck is in there?! After reading over way too many recipes I settled with one that would have turned out really good, if it wasn't 100 degrees outside. That made for a very runny filling and I didn't have any time to let them freeze completely. So I just threw a raspberry in the middle of all of them to help keep them cool from the time it took for me to leave my house and make it to theirs and let them put them in their freezer, which isnt a long drive at all.

She loved them and I ended up tasting them later and was impressed that they weren't terrible. I surprise myself sometimes with my baking skills.

SoCal Shop Hop 2012

Who is excited for this years shop hop!

Here is a handy map of all the stores that are on the 2012 lineup! Enjoy.


View So Cal Shop Hop 2012 in a larger map

101 Things That Bring Me Joy

I am the queen of listmaking. My favorite list making app used to be Zenbe Lists but this year I discovered Wunderlist by 6wunderkinder. I love that with both of these programs you can edit online and on your iPhone/iPad/iPod/iwhatever and that it syncs fast and you can share lists too with other users.

Statistics show that people are the most depressed during the holiday months because of the amount of stress and memories of loved ones, family issues etc all come about. Here is something that I always have handy in my group of lists is a list of 101 things that bring me joy. Not just happiness, but Joy.

I believe that Joy is a completely different thing then happiness, there is more passion in it.
So when things start getting rough, I scroll through my list of things that bring me joy and cheer up.

Its A Boy!!

Christine comes home from the hospital today and I leave for New York on Monday. I made this sign for her a long time ago when we first thought she was going into labor but that never happened. Then when she finally did have Liam she has been kept in the hospital for the past few days. So today she gets released and I rushed over to her house to put this on their door before they got home!

Bake more than once a month - June

To continue one of my tasks on my 25 before 25 list, "bake more than once a month" here are June's baking adventures:

- Lemon Bars, Lexie's
- Peanut Butter cookies, Clean Oven

The Smith Family famous Lemon Bars! My absolute favorites!

My fancy new Card Box

Again. I love love love Hobby Lobby. Look at this pretty little box I got today to put all my handmade cards in. Its so cute! And Pink! I love it!

35 Thank yous

Since I graduated recently I have needed to send out a ton of thank you cards. One day while scrapping with a friend I decided to had make all my thank you cards instead of buying them. I chose a simple design that I could easily repeat many times and got to work! 35 cards later and I have a beautiful stack of hand made thank you cards that are so much more personal than just a store bought card.

4th of July Cake Pops

EVERYONE loves my cake pops. So when I decided to make them for the 4th of July I had a lot of excited people wanting to come over to our party. The only problem, the morning of the 4th when I was getting ready to dip the pops, I discovered that we no longer have red or blue chocolate melts. Just white and green. Well hopefully half of my guests are colorblind or they don't care that these pops don't match the 4th of July theme because white and green it is! Honestly I know that no one cares what color they are as long as they are made.

Smith Family Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars, a Smith family recipe. They are my absolute favorite and when I went to visit Lex, I had to make them with her! Since I never go anywhere without an apron, I was prepared! This one I just recently got too so I was super anxious to wear it. I had seen this apron a long time ago at Disneyland and was tempted to buy it then but I decided against it. Then they took it out of the store and I never saw it again until just recently when I went to Disneyland for my last time with this pass. My pass expired this month and I didn't renew it because I will be moving at the end of the year and it doesn't make sense for me to do so. Well when I was there I went shopping and guess what I found! I of course had to text my best friend to have her justify me buying yet another apron, which she did so nicely!

Bake more than once a month - May

When I turned 24, I decided it was finally time to sit down and make a list of things that I want to accomplish before I turn the scary 25! One of those things was to bake more than once a month!

So in May, I baked:
- 100+ Cupcakes, Capstone Presentation
- Cake Pops, Graduation Party

Chocolate and Vanilla mini cupcakes with buttercream

Chalk

Bachelorette Party

Our beautiful bride to be! We had a lot of planning and last minute decorating that went into making this lovely lady's day fantastic! One of the things I was in charge of was decorating her and the rest of the guests. We found that tiara and I added some lace to it for a veil, the sash was from Joann's same with the eye mask.

25 Before 25

Seeing how turing 24 creeped me out a bit this year, I decided to make a list of 25 things that I want to do before I turned 25! I got the idea from Kelly Purkey Here they are, I hope to finish all of them before May, 9th 2013 and hopefully they will be well documented too!

1. Move to New york
2. Get a tattoo
3. Work for Martha Stewart

LMC Branding

Laura Mae Creates has officially been rebranded and printed out gloriously! Capstone is this week and I just got these cards in today thank goodness!

100+ Cupcake Toppers

Capstone is coming up and I have decided to make over 100 mini cupcakes to go along with my project. Well of course my cupcakes need cupcake toppers. Thank goodness Christine has a Cricut Imagine!! That seriously made this job a thousand times easier. It took a couple of tries to figure out settings and what not but once things were figured out it was as easy as hitting enter and boom I have sheets and sheets of the same images, ready to peel off the matt and assemble.

Graduation!

Thats right, I'm graduating!! Yay!

Designed by Laura Mae Creates

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© Copyright 2011 Laura Mae Findley. All Rights Reserved.

FTS

Designed by Laura Mae Findley

Just a little homage towards LCAD Capstone, as well as other daily nonsense. This has become my motto to help get me through the days. =)

I encourage you when something starts going wrong, just think FTS and move on.

And as always, this quote will stay with me forever:

"Life's tough, wear a helmet" -Cass