where's my mojo??

hi everyone! has anyone seen my crafting mojo? i seem to have lost it and don't know where to begin looking. it's depressing! i have a mental block and no motivation.

i have my dress still waiting just to be finished, my shorts cut waiting to be started, a hat cut waiting for assembly, and tons of other options of things to start

i can't bring myself to do any of them. my rainbow of creativity feels dull.

i spent all day yesterday and today on pinterest (click here to follow me) looking to be pinspired. i did play with hair and make-up and i really want to cook but its too hot (i have made strawberry shortcakes but i will post about them separately)

but no crafting... ugh!

has this ever happened to any of you? how did you get it back?

well, as you know my bempa came to town and i unveiled my tattoo to him and the rest of my family was finally allowed to see it.

when they got in to town i went to the hotel and read my bempa the letter i wrote him and then let him be the first to see the tat...

here's the few pix my kid bro snapped while the moment was in action

i started cryiing like a baby before i could even start reading. i was so overwhelmed with the emotions of dedicating ink to the greatest man in my life

 as you can see i strategically wore a sweater on my left arm until the moment was right to unveil it

 and when i got to just the right place in my letter i took off my sweater. here's my bempa getting the first look

 and this pic was taken just after everyone had seen the tat. i love this picture! we were both still teary eyed.

when i was done focusing directly on bempa i realized everyone in the room was crying. it was such a sweet moment!

all my friends had been waiting to hear what bempa though, so i grabbed my cell and interviewed him. sorry its sideways, i have no idea how to flip it.

isnt he the cutest!?!

heres a few snapshots from the trip before they headed back to california

here i am ordering at sonic's with my cousin and brother. they had never been to a sonic's before

 they were content with their junk food and i was content with  my milkshake

 we went bowling and played 3 rounds. we each one 1 game 

 i was obsessed with my cousin's awesome docs! if they werent 2 sizes too big i told her i would steal them

 we went to eat at Chico's Tacos... it a local favorite that i knew they'd enjoy

tony even drank the sauce haha

 here i am between my grandparents: mema and bempa

 and this is me with my baby cousin alyssa who is much bigger than me now lol

 thats my baby brother and our mom

 bempa's oldest and youngest grand daughters giving him some love

i enjoyed every minute of having my bempa in town. it was fun hanging with the kids too.

xoxoxox

Lily Bean

My Bempa Tattoo - 12 days til unveiling

Hello there!

I went to get my Bempa tattoo today and i am ecstatic with the way it turned out

I will be seeing him in 12 days and have prepared a whole unveiling to make it a very special moment.

he still has no idea what i have done.

i know i am going to cry when i show him and explain the reasons behind my choice and i think he may just cry as well

i wrote him a letter and will read it to him before i show him the ink:

My dearest Bempa,

You have always been my greatest love. When I talk about you, I tell people you are my heart. Through all life you have made me feel special and loved. No matter what I have done or where I have been, I have always felt your love and pride in me. For years I have always said I wanted a tattoo for you and nothing has ever felt right. Nothing ever feels perfect for you because you are perfection to me. Even trying to pick a gift for you is hard! Imagine how much trouble I had picking something permanent to always remind me of you. You are always in my thoughts and strong in my heart but I wanted something the whole world could see to show how much you mean to me.

I finally was able to narrow down an image… i went through a million ideas! I finally narrowed it down to something that feels just right for how I feel about you! I chose an anchor with a rope tied around a heart. The definition of anchor: “a source of security or stability”. You have always made me feel safe, loved, and special. You have anchored me down on more than one occasion. Every time I need a pick me up or to be reminded I am worth something, I call you and you never fail me. You truly are my anchor.

I only strive to make you proud! I could not dream up a more perfect grandpa! Thank you for all you do for me, but mostly for all the love you give.

Now you are not only always on my mind and in my heart, but on my skin! My permanent tribute to the greatest grandpa ever!

I love you!

 here's the sketch i took to alex.

 i knew he would make it awesome but i was still completely taken aback by how awesome his design was. heres the stencil ready to start

 and here is when the outline was all done

 i am super happy with the way it turned out

once again, alex hasnt let me down

i will fill you in after i suprise my bempa with all this in a few days

i have spent the last few days catching up on sleep and housekeeping i had gotten behind on from the last few weeks. i need to clean up my sewing area and sew the zipper on my dress and start new projects before Fall semester starts

a very inky hug!

xoxoxox

Lily Bean

(just look at how bright and happy my eyes ae after getting this done)

i survived summer semester (drinking lots of juice)

Hello! my how i have missed you. I took my pathophysiology final today and should know my grade after Tuesday. (keep those fingers crossed). my final grade in Interpretation of Lab Results was an A (99.2% overall average... pretty awesome! my best ever)

i am still in english and intro to computers but they are not labor intensive.

it is great to be done with the hard part of the semester!

so now i have 7 weeks (i think) until the beginning of fall semester. only 5 semesters to go until graduation!

this class was teaching about how the body gets sick at cellular levels... scared the crap out of me! so what did i do? started taking  my vitamins and juicing again.  i plan to start excercising now that i have free time as well.

so ive been making a mean green super food juice (almost) every day. i feel yucky when i dont drink it and so refreshed when i do. i was always starving when studying and only this juice made me feel full

what was in it you ask?

(for 1 person)

a good handful of kale

a good handful of spinach

a good handful of parsley

half a cucumber

a carrot

an orange

a lemon

a pear

an apple

a stalk of celery

and a piece of ginger

wash all veggies, remove rind from lemon and orange, cut as needed to fit in juicer, and juice them all

 drink in all the yummy nutrients

 i prefer healthy juice to the energy drinks and caffeine pills most students take, especially after pathophysiology class!

mmmmm mmmm! you cant even taste the celery (thank goodness! i hate fresh celery)

i still need to finish my dress... maybe this weekend i can get back on the wagon

i also want to make a few more mini pillbox hats and need to take pix for the tutorial i promised

i just found out that my bempa, mema, mom, cousin alyssa, and kid bro will be coming by for a short and sweet visit in 2 weeks. i want to have my dress done for sure by then so i can wear it and show it off <3 as i mentioned before, my next tat is for my bempa. but i hadnt planned on getting it until fall tuition and books were paid for. i was then going to save some cash, get it done, and send him some pix and a letter. now that i know hell be here in 2 weeks i decided to put it ahead of everything else and worry about paying for it later. thank goodness for credit cards haha. im not sure when i will get a chance to see him again and would rather he see it in person and get pictures of me and him and the tat. so i have sat and spinned my wheels to narrow down the image and have finally decided on something meaningful that i feel is perfect. i may go get it tomorrow... if the weather isnt awful!

monsoon season is upon us and it has rained all day. the rain has even caused some minor flooding in some areas to the east of the city (my tat parlour is to the east, thats why i didnt go today). the weather will decide tomorrows fate.

either way i have plenty to do if i just hang out at home and catch up on crafting

here's an awesome cloud i have snapped a fews days ago:

looks like my angel was watching over me

 glad to be back!

xoxoxoxox

Super Mean Green Lily Bean

new haul of depression glass and summer semester

hey everyone! man this week has been so long and somehow gone so quick at the same time!

i just dropped by to show off the depression glass i bought when i went back to the fleamarket last sunday and to update you on school.

what did $20 get me? man did i make out like a bandit. i got a citrus juicer, cream and sugar bowls, butter dish, and 6 mini coctail glasses or maybe theyre for ice cream... hmmm
all pieces have minimum wear and only a few have tiny chips

was i lucky or what??!!??

i looooove the way the green glows under the flash of my camera!

so as you know, school started this week

my schedule is beyond HECTIC... way beyond

i am still working 40hrs a week (no way i could pay for next semester if i didnt)

and i go to school for 2 hrs in the morning Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

and 2 hours in the evening Monday through Friday

not to mention the 2 internet courses I signed up for that i need to also study and do homework for...

man how i despise school

but i sure love learning! my pathophysiology class moves so fast because i am absolutely engaged in the lesson the whole time.

the human body amazes me!

so here is how i expect to do this short and cramped summer session:

interpretation of lab results (only 5 weeks) - so far i think i will ace it. its all reinforcement of what i learned in anatomy and ive been performing well in class this week. as long as i study what the teacher mentions is for the test i should be golden

pathophysiology (only 5 weeks) - definitely my heavy hitter. thankfully i am actually interested. this class does scare me a bit, i dont want to lose my 4.0 gpa but i plan on focusing more on this class than any other

intro to computers (full 10 weeks) - to be honest i wish i could test out of this class. it is required for my degree plan but so far its all child's play. the first lesson is intro to windows and how to save files... i havent even felt the need to open the book lol. lets hope im not too cocky and do as well as i imagine i should in this course

english composition (full 10 weeks) - okay so this class scare the who-who-bee-jee-bees out of me. as you may notice, english is not my best subject (hopefully you dont notice haha) i have always had trouble here. and i started with such a feeling of intimidation since it took me 3x to pass the essay placement test... ugh! biggest problem: studying for this class is like a sweet lullabye and puts me right to sleep

so we shall pretend tomorrow has already passed so i can officially say only 4 weeks  left of the heavy part of my semester

wish me luck!

hope to be able to stop by soon

xoxoxox

study bug extraordinaire

Lily Bean

pinspired snack and fleamarket finds

hey everyone!

well i have been obsessed with pinterest just as much as any other person these last few months.

(check out my boards and follow me on pinterest by clicking here)

i have seen blueberry yogurt drops all over the site and they look so simple and yummy!

now that it is summer and i had to seek desserts and snacks that don't require the oven, i decided to try them out for myself

i did a trial batch and was super happy with the results!

just as i suspected... super easy and yummy

i have seen most people using fresh blueberries but i decided to buy a frozen bag of blueberries and plain vanilla yogurt.

i let the blueberries thaw in the fridge over night

get a pie pan, bowl, spoon, and 2 of those pick things you use for cracking  nuts (name? hahaha forgive my ignorance) or toothpicks/kabob skewers... anything of that nature

 put some yogurt in your little bowl then put a blueberry on your pick. dip and swirl until well covered. you may need to use another pick if the blueberries seem to slide off. just gently use the second pick to hold the blueberry in place while you swirl

 place each blueberry on your pie pan or tray keeping them all separate from each other then pop them in the freezer.

 it doesnt take these babies a long time to freeze at all. try to give them at least an hour so you are sure they are solid before popping them off. i used a spoon to gently scrape them off. it doesnt take much force at all. in fact... too much force will make them fly so be careful

 put them in a freezer bag or tupperware and store them in the freezer

just grab a few when you want a snack

i want to try it with strawberry bites now

i worked at the fleamarket today and it was the SLOWEST day since opening

thinking maybe since its graduation party weekend.

hopefully tomorrow makes up for it

in my boredom i walked around and did some shopping  myself

both window and real shopping haha

first i spotted this adorable summer hat.

i tried it on and fell in LOVE! instantly!

i put it down and told the lady i would be back after i had some sales myself

when i came back around later, i saw this hat at her stand as well

 i knew before even putting it on that we would be inseparable as well

so i got both!

she cut me a deal for being a vendor and for buying both

even better right!

and this is the piece i really want to gush about!

when i walk into the fleamarket i always pass by a booth with old stuff.

(i never let mysef walk around because i end up spending all my profits... just like today haha)

so i finally made my way over to his booth. he had amazing glassware

i wanted to buy so much but again, "sir, i will be back when i have some sales"

later in the day my uncle grabbed this up for me

(maybe because i kept talking about how awesome it was and how bad i wanted it haha)

hooray! thanks!

it is green depression glass... yes, it glows in black light.

 i had intended to use it for jewelry from the moment i saw it but really want to know what it is truly for. i have tried to research and find similar pieces listed as

-ash tray

-dessert tray

-jewelry tray

-sandwich tray

does anyone have any insight?

doesnt my jewelry look so cool on it!

i love the way it reflects the pieces!

well, needless to say, i am now ADDICTED and OBSESSED with depression glass

i plan on going to the fleamarket with money tomorrow to buy myself a tea set, butter tray, and whatever else i can squeeze out of $20 or so

and if i have good sales, ill go right back to the booth for more

i want MORE!

well, tomorrow is my last official day before school starts

can you believe last week one of my teachers already sent an email stating a quiz will be on tuesday.

geez! i havent even bought my books yet!

i have been doing some "motivational" crafting to keep myself focused and smiling as i go through these next 2 years. but first to focus on these next 6 weeks. i will try to peek in on you all, at least to say hello and update you on anything awesome

but i cannot make any promises until i know how intense it will really be

xoxoxoxox

 love,

Lily Bean