March Madness

What a month March proved to be. It started off sweetly but somehow ended up with devastation + saddness.

This year, I think the beginning of March came in like a lamb and roared out like a lion in the end.

Don't get me wrong. There have been days filled with much happiness but there also have been some very dark days...

Here is a chronicle of March 2011+ how life can change in a blink of an eye:

03.01.11 March Calendars

03.03.11 Paper Fortune Cookie Tutorial

03.08.11 Fat Tuesday + Lucky Days 03.11.11 Devastating Tsunami + 9.0 Earthquake hits Northern Japan (go here for more information on this terrible tragedy)

{photo found on internet} {photo courtesy of indiansnaps.com }


please go here to see more compelling photos of this terrible diaster.

My family watched in horror as parts of Japan was being destroyed by mother nature. My heart aches for the people, their country and the daunting responsibilities of rebuilding their world.

We are praying for all of those touched by this horrific disaster.

03.13.11

celebrating my Sweet Mom's birthday with dear family + friends.

03.17.11 Celebrated our 1st Annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner with my sweet sister and her dear family.

03.18.11 Bloggers around the world respectfully held a day of silence for Japan.

I missed joining in on this event. Please go to this site For Japan with LOVE to find out more about so many beautiful hearts making a difference!

this is my little contribution that i'll be sending with any packages, presents or homemade goodies that i'll be making this year. 4 different tags that i created called "with love."

these lil' hearts on boats represent all the love+thoughts my family and i will be sending across the ocean to Japan...

03.21-25.11 SPRING BREAK

my sis, Gail, is an avid baker. she wants to have her own lil' bake shoppe one day. she found this cupcakery on wheels. they also have a facebook page. it was fun trying to track them down. they also are on twitter @flirtycupcakes. really cute+tasty cuppies.

but i think my sis' cuppies are one of the best...hurry up and set up shoppe.
we love your cupcakes!

dear maddy: you're a true friend. i'm so lucky that we've found each other.
especially since the bad stuff going on.
thank you for being brave+protecting me. i love being in gymnastics with you. flip-flops are my fav. you are my fav. i'm one lucky girl!

love, xoxo, shioban

{photo courtesy of uk.ibtimes.com }

Elizabeth Taylor=one more classic star added to the sky

March 30, 2011

Mail Love.

Thank you Angela of Three Buttons for Peppermint + Arthouse for the 2011 Sketchbook Poster=love them! xoxox

whew...now that was one busy March!

xoxo

Ready for some Creative Spring Training?

{photo courtesy of maegan beishline}

{photo by me~ labour of love~day 7 last year's submission}

then save those dates for some Creativity Boot Camp Spring Training!

Maegan Beishline, creator of this fantastic Boot Camp is opening a new session May 15-28, 2011. it's a two week intensive e-course designed to take your creativity to the next level. i participated last year {go here to see my work} and it really opened my eyes in how i can capture even more beauty in my creative life. i primarily chose to improve on my photography skills but you can choose your type of medium. on top of this amazing + upcoming Boot Camp, Maegan has created an e-workbook on last year's course with new prompts and the best thing is you can do it according to your own pace.

i'm really looking forward to this e-course and hope you'll check it out too!

let's get ready to rumble!!!

yay...the sun's out...happy Thursday!

xoxo

Happy Fat Tuesday~Mardi Gras...Biegnets, Peppermint Mag+642 Things to Draw!

(photo courtesy of Southern Living )

Happy Mardi Gras~Happy Fat Tuesday!

Whenever I think of 'Mardi Gras~Fat Tuesday', I think of New Orleans. The first thing I think of are not those 'beads or the carnival atmosphere' but those delectable, scrumptiously, delicate yet puffy Beignets...with a delicious cup of hot earl grey tea or cafe' au lait or even a sweet cappuccino...I loved New Orleans and when we visited there several years ago, we made sure to stop in the famous Cafe' Du Monde. We bought several boxes of these irresistable sweets. But it didn't last long! You can buy them at Cafe' Du Monde's shoppe over here

(photo courtesy of Cafe' Du Monde )

or you can try to make them on your own. How about trying Southern Living's recipe
Go to their site + follow their 4 step slideshow...hmm...well, I might just have to try that out...

How do you celebrate your Fat Tueday?

Any exciting plans for Big Fat Tuesday? Do tell!

Well on to some good news, so far, March is really one Lucky month for me...

(photo courtesy of Three Buttons + Self Indulgent Exhibitionism + Chronicle Books )

yup...that's right...I am a lucky winner in 2 giveaways!

One was from a Sweetheart from Australia~Angela's Three Buttons
YAY!!! I won one of her magazines called Peppermint Magazine. It's one of Australia's newest and upcoming, eco mag showcasing handmade designs from Australia + the world. Topics ranging from good designs about fashion, lifestyle, art + bringing a whole lot of creativity while being environmentally friendly! Go GREEN!
Her blog is quite inspirational and she finds the neatest blogs+showcases such lovely eye-candies to drool over! I absolutely LOVE her blog...you must check her world out...
she has fab ideas + a cool shoppe too!
I'm truly amazed with Australian women. They really know how to take it up a few notches with their sweet Soirees or their unique creations.
Thank you so very much, Angela! You made my day even SWEETER!!!

The second prize I won was from another sweetheart: Summer Woodham's Self Indulgent Exhibitionism giveaway.

I wrote all about it in this post. I look forward to seeing Summer and the other artist illustrate their creative ideas from this book...I still can't believe I won...YAY!!! The book arrived safely and it's beautiful! I really can't bear to draw in it as I love to keep it as an inspirational book. Thank you so very much Summer + Pattie (from Chronicle Books) for sending this magical book my way...the possibilities are endless and it truly is inspiring me to think of creative ways to draw simple objects. Plus it will help me grow confidently in my drawing techniques, as I'm self-taught...+ this experience will help me believe more in myself...
I've promised myself that I'll draw something weekly and post the drawings here on my blog.

Here is the first object: a rolling pin :

I was inspired by a recipe/rolling pin favour I received from a wedding shower years ago. I thought about how happy my marriage has been over the years (17 to be exact!) and how cute the recipe was. I just added the phrase on the last line "Decorate with Life!"

click on picture for larger image + see a close up of the "Recipe for a Happy Marriage"

Well, I'm off to try out that Southern Living Beignet recipe...
let's see if some Beignets will make my marriage even more HAPPIER today...

bon temps!

xoxo

let's make some...

as promised here's my picture tutorial:

easy as 1, 2, 3...

you can use whatever paper you'd like. how about those old newspapers, ads, scratch paper...with newspapers, mag pages or thin paper, i mount them on circles of leftover cardboard boxes or cardstock paper. i used one of my cooking bowls. i wanted my cookies to be about 3/4"w x 3" L. i think it's just about the perfect size, like a real fortune cookie but you can use whatever size you want. all depends on how big you want your cookies.

reuse. recycle. go green...gotta love that!

i used leftover valentine chocolates but use whatever treasures you find...

{these lil' hands are my Shioban's cute lil' paws...she's a better hand model than i could ever be...lol}

now the fun part:

i made my own

take out boxes from using an old one as a template. i also had a template i bought from Michaels but i liked the pink boxes' template the best!

ENJOY!

have a LUCKY month!

xoxo

jo;)

March...Lucky all month long...

Wow!

Did i really only blog 2 posts in February?

That's really sad.

Well, it was a very short month + as usual it's hectic around these parts of the woods.

February was a busy month. I've been making sweet lil' things for my munchkins' Valentine's Day treats. To be exact about 40 or so little items. I didn't get a chance to take pics before handing them out to the kidlets but I had a bunch leftover and will be using them again for

St. Patrick's Day-YAY!

{i'm in the process of preparing a picture tutorial so you can make them too!}

Everyone wants to make neat things that's easy, quick + with stuff you already have, right?

Well these beauties really did the trick!

They really are easy to make. you'll see when i get my picture tutorial up, how really easy it is.

I found that you just have to do some good prep work inorder

for the assembly line to go smoothly.

Basically, you can use any type of paper you'd like. Cut them in rounds. Do a quick fold (this can be a lil' bit tricky), glue the middle and stick sweet treasures inside!

For my lil' fortune i wrote 'Lucky' and collaged 4 lil' hearts together to make a cute shamrock.

I had leftover Valentine heart chocolates and covered them in orange crepe paper then glued them onto strips of index cards-it was that easy!

(for Valentine's Day: i stamped cute heart, robot, 'bee mine' designs on strips of index cards, then glued a red chocolate heart to it. then stuffed it into the cookie-viola!)
In a couple of days, I'll have that tutorial up. in the meantime, I'm continuing on with my 'Monthly Calendar Project'.

Please enjoy March's Calendar. Couldn't decide on one photograph so, I've included a variety for you to enjoy. Here's wishing you a whole month of 'Luck!':

bonne nuit

xoxo

jo