Birthdays, Chocolate and the End of Summer

The end of the summer always "begins" with my birthday celebration. Although my hubby suggested I invite friends over for a fun crafting soiree, I chose to spend the day with him and the kids.  Our older daughter, a recent UC Davis college grad [Go Aggies!], just landed a real career-job, and is now living in the OC, closer to home.  While in two days, our younger daughter leaves for the other side of the country to begin college (hello, Boston!).  So I chose to get out of the 107' weather, rack the bikes up to the back of the car, and enjoy cooler breezes and exercise on the beach.

However, there will be plenty of

CT [Creative Therapy]

in the coming weeks.

And I will need it! 

So look for new altered art posts soon.    In the meantime, I want to thank Carol, Head Chocolatier, at the fantastic blog, The Answer is Chocolate.  While she enjoyed her own family vacation and getting her son off to college, Carol featured many incredibly crafty bloggers.  I am thrilled to be one of them. 

So click here to see me over there.  While visiting, browse through Carol's blog to view her creative talents including great craft projects as well as tasty chocoholic recipes.  

Chocolate and Crafts -- You gotta love the combo!

Tropical Birthday Bash

Beach sand, shells and votives light up the room

I've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I didn't believe it until this post published without text!  All I did was answer the telephone, and the next thing on my screen read "You have published successfully."  Let me try it again...this time with a few explanations.

From the blog title, you may have gathered that we had a bit of tropical weather here recently -- in celebratory form.  My hub decided he didn't want to turn 55 alone, so we invited a few of his close pals by to cheer him up!  And they did a great job.  Look how happy he is:

He & Me in Hawaiian garb



Tropical Cupcakes
and a printed bamboo shade as the tablecloth

An embellished palm tree



Paint chips, fancy paper plus my Slice



Create a colorful banner

that reads "Happy Birthday Ron"

The cost for all this creativity:
priceless.



Staying with the tropical/beachy theme, we recently purchased this wood print artwork
for our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary,
to commemorate our engagement on the beach in Malibu, California.
Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!


Linking to these fabulous parties: