Archive for May, 2012

Last night Samantha and I headed over to my friend Brenda’s house so we could walk over to the Waterway to watch the fireworks.  Talk about a great night; not too warm and not too humid!

This is the street level of the Waterway; to the left are stairs leading down to the lower portion of this fountain and the ‘Waterway’ itself.

The colors and movement of the water change with each song that is broadcast along the Waterway; typically classical music is playing.

Tonight we’re here to honor the brave men and women that keep this country FREE!

Make sure your volume isn’t turned up too loud LOL

We decided to stroll along the Waterway after the fireworks finished since it was such a great night out.

Looking back at where we walked from… I should probably stand still when I take pictures LOL

I LOVE these trees!  They’re everywhere out here and come in reds, white, pinks and magenta…

Samantha dancing along the Waterway.  I need to remember to bring along the Nikon so I can get better ‘movement’ pictures.

Continuing along…

Heading back…  Remember the bridge with the pink lights?  This is the same bridge… it changes colors throughout the night.

The Woodlands idea of ‘Public Transportation’!  There is the water taxi & the trolley and they only service the Waterway, Market Square, Market Street and the mall.  lol

Silly kid!  Behind her is the lower section of the water fountain where we were to watch the fireworks.

Oh sure, she smiles as I start to walk away!  LOL

This is one of the many reasons why I love living in The Woodlands!  We’re planning on heading back out tonight to enjoy the FULL festivities.  There is going to be a live band and a bunch of activity booths, along with local organization information booths.

There’s a Marriott on the Waterway and plenty of nearby hotels… Now to get my family and friends from Cali to come out for a visit!

“Butterfly Fly Away”

You tuck me in,
Turn out the light
kept me safe and sound at night
little girls depend on things like that

Brushed my teeth and combed my hair
had to drive me everywhere
you were always there when I looked back

You had to do it all alone
Make a living, make a home
Must have been as hard as it could be

And when I couldn’t sleep at night
Scared things wouldn’t turn out right
you would hold my hand and sing to me

Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you’ll be
can’t go far but you can always dream
Wish you may and wish you might
Don’t you worry, hold on tight.
I promise you there will come a day
Butterfly fly away
-Miley Cyrus

In every child’s life there comes a time when they shed the toys, the dolls and for my daughter, the bubblegum pink bedroom. Her room didn’t change overnight from being a child’s room to a more adult room; it was a gradual change. It started with color changes; out with the pink and in with blues and oranges. Those colors lasted about a year before she decided the style still wasn’t quite right. So out went those colors and in came black. Thankfully there wasn’t an inner ‘emo’ emerging LOL Instead it was a very mature Paris theme with greys and beiges to soften the black.

First step; paint an accent wall — which my daughter got the biggest kick out of doing! Color me surprised LOL Last I checked, that was manual labor and not something teens are naturally prone to doing

Next step; add decor.

Throughout her room there are posters of Paris, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe; along with a few picture frames. I wanted to add an artistic touch that would convey a message in a subtle fashion and look cool doing it.

Enter Mischief! LOL

Let me just say that I LOVE the ‘tile’ feature in eCraftshop Pro! LOL Made this project sooooo much easier…

There are, literally, hundreds of little black butterflies in my daughter’s room… They float around pictures and are placed randomly around the room near the floor, by dressers, everywhere!



And just like a butterfly, this project took flight…

These butterflies are going into a teacher’s classroom at her school. Not just any teacher, but a very special math teacher whose style of teaching has made an enormous impact in my daughter’s life. If I could package that woman up and send her over to the high school, I would! She’s that amazing… She also lost someone very special in her life and that loss is represented by the butterflies. She LOVES butterflies and fell in love with what I had done in Sam’s room… She just wasn’t hot on the color LOL So I made ones that are bright and cheery

What I Used:
eCraft/eCraftshop Pro
Various card stocks
Glue Dots
Paintbrushes in a variety of sizes

How I Did It:
I took a basic (but pretty!) butterfly shape and used the ‘Tile’ feature in eCraftshop Pro to fill up my 12×12 sheets of cardstock with however many it could fit on the single sheet. For the multi-colored/sized butterflies, I just increased the size in 1/2” increments for each shade of card stock selected for the project.

Once Mischief cut out all the butterflies, I used the paintbrush handles to curl the wings and give them some depth. Affix a single glue dot and press onto the wall, repeatedly, until you’ve used up all the butterflies

Its a simple project, but the effect is stunning once they’re all in place.