Mykayla Skinner

I'd like to shine a light on my sister-in-law, Mykayla Skinner. She is nothing short of amazing. At only 13 years old, she has been competing around the country at the 2010 US Covergirl Classic, 2010 Arizona Elite Qualifier, 1st ever Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup, and most recently, the 2010 VISA Championships at Hartford. She works so very hard toward her goal of being on the US National Team for Gymnastics and competing in the next Olympics and we don't doubt she'll go all the way. We're all rooting for you Gollygol!

*On a side note, I want to say thank you for being such a good lil' auntie. The boys ADORE their Gollygol and get so giddy when we drive up to your house. It's so cute how much fun they have with you.

P.S. You've inspired Brayden to take his somersault to a whole new level.

Before I met Mykayla, Jeremy warned me about the "credit card" (hand swipe up my butt crack when I bend over). Sure enough, she gave me one. It just goes to show off her playful, fun-loving spirit that I hope she always has. You can't take life too seriously, after all.

For more pics of her tricks and updates on scores, check out her website.

My Lil Photography Blog

Hello, my name is Delight and I'm a blogaholic.
It's true, I started another blog. LAST one, I promise. It's not as bad as you think...it's a photography site to post occassional pics I take that have nothing to do with crafts or my personal family events. Hey, I have to have SOMEWHERE to post them, right? It doesn't make sense to post pictures of random people I don't know on my craft or family blog, does it? Nope.

Kissing in the Rain

...or Love under Pressure, one of the two... The umbrella and rain coming down is actually covered in lots of glitter, but this picture does NOT do justice. Too bad, cuz the glitter is what makes it FABULOUS. I got the glitter idea from Chalice. She bought a canvas painting at the Tempe Town (f)Art Festival a few years back - it has a margarita glass painted on it, with glitter around the edges for the salt. I take my tequila straight, but margaritas are pretty. (just kidding)
Anywho, I'm selling this for $2,000 OBO. (just kidding again)

Shirts into Headbands

More than I love flower clips in my hair, I love headbands because they hold back my bangs. Bangs are cute, but they take patience. For the days I can't muster up enough patience for them, I throw on a headband. I used to have a wide variety, but some got lost, some borrowed, and some curiously snapped in half by the little hands of a three year old. I've got slim pickins' these days so I decided to make a few new ones... If you've got some tops laying around you never wear (Or a skirt, whatev.) and you like the print, why not use them for something you WILL use? (the fabric in the tutorial, I actually bought at Hobby Lobby with plans to use for another project, but I like it so much I decided to use a bit for this particular accessory. Can you blame me? It's too cute to NOT wear on your head.
I found this simple pattern on mmmcrafts.blogspot.com and used it as a guideline. [It's meant to be an interchangeable cover for a hard plastic headband, so cut it a little longer] First, You'll want to measure your head and make sure your fabric will be long enough. (Remember, there will be elastic meeting the ends together under your hairline). Fold your fabric in half and pin your pattern in place up against the edge of the fold like in the picture. (I left some extra room near the edge to make sure my elastic will be hidden) Then cut around the edges leaving about a half inch or so for the seam. You'll need to cut two of these. Open them up and make sure they are both the same size. You may need to do a little trimming around the edges. I like to get the cutting part out of the way and have them all ready for sewing...
Line up your fabric pieces facing each other and sew a tight seam down each side of the edges, leaving the ends open. (You'll connect it with elastic later) Make sure you double stitch (sew back & forth) when you get to each end. Then turn your headband inside out by pinning a safety pin in one side of the raw edge... ...and feed it down the center of the headband. It will scrunch up, but just fold the fabric over itself and keep feeding the pin through. Once the safety pin comes out the other end, pull the rest of the fabric rightside out. Make sure you don't tug on the safety pin too hard, it could rip your fabric.
Once your headband is turned out the right way... ...press it flat with an iron to make it easier for sewing around the edges.
Cut the appropriate length of elastic. [You can do this by safety pinning the elastic on, then try it on to see of it's too big or small. Adjust it to suit and pin in place so you can sew it on just right.] Once your elastic is in place, fold the raw edge of the fabric inside itself and double or triple stitch over the top of the edge like in the picture. Sewing the edges all the way around gives it a crisp, professional look. I love headbands Enjoy!

Jewelry Hangars - Giveaway!

These are from last year's Creative Art Expo. For about two months, I worked on making these jewelry hangars. I got the idea from my sister-in-law, Chelsea, who made me one for Xmas. I love it, use it, and think it's so practical. Why have your necklaces tangled up in a drawer or box, when you could simply hang them all up neatly? So I made a bunch of them to sell at the expo, thinking everyone else would appreciate them as much as I did. Well, only a handful did. (so what if those customers were related? Ha!) I actually broke even, believe it or not, but still have some left. They're taking up a corner in the spare room and we're moving soon, so I need to get rid of them. So if you'd like to take one of these FABULOUS jewelry hangars off my hands, shoot me an email. I'd be happy to send you one! Please? These are the ones I have left...

The Life of Sprite

I'm not much of a soda drinker myself, but if there are fresh flowers nearby, so shall the Sprite be. I brought home a dozen of yellow roses for my husband yesterday. oh, just because. Actually, because I read somewhere (either on msn or the Dating Divas blog, I can't remember) that guys sometimes secretly wish they would get flowers from their wives to show their appreciation -and I very much appreciate all that my husband does, so I thought it seemed an appropriate gesture. {As I'm writing this, I'm realizing how silly it is.} HA! Well, I don't think that advice is necessarily true. Not in my case anyway. Jeremy was flattered, but definitely not like a wife would be. Since he is currently home with the kids while finishing up school, I handed him flowers and his first comment was, "does this make me an official housewife?" hahahhahaahaha! I think it did more damage than good.
...Nonetheless, yellow roses are still beautiful and I get to enjoy them.
...So flowers and Sprite do have some correlation with each other, I promise. If you ever give or get flowers, pour an entire can of Sprite (or Sierra Mist, whatev) in with the water and those flowers will look better than ever! The BEST part is you will see a full bloom of beauty at least a week longer. At the LEAST! [I had some roses one time that looked gorgeous and fresh for 2 straight weeks] It's the high fructose corn syrup that keeps them alive and happy longer than usual. [HFCS doesn't have that effect on humans]
Such a simple tip.

...and the whole flower-giving thing should really remain for females to receive. I'm just saying.

Easy Fabric Flower Hairclip

When I was in high school, before the flower hairclip fad, I loved to wear flowers in my hair. My husband said when he first met me, he thought, "what's with the flower?" {he loved it though} Ha! Now, they are totally in and I love them even more. (so does he :) My friends, Chelsea & Alyssa, came over to make some hair accessories. Chelsea brought over lots of lovely fabric to choose from, along with clips, buttons, and an array of all the different flowers she had made. Crafting is more fun with friends! Start by cutting a long strip of fabric. Then fold it over lengthwise (exposing the front print of the fabric) and sew the loosest seam possible with your machine along the edge. Make sure to leave a long tail of thread on each end for pulling. If you carefully pull one of the threads, it will easily scrunch up (make sure the other end of the thread doesn't come out). You can also sew along the edge by hand, but this method is quicker. Once you get the amount of scrunch you want, start slowing wrapping the fabric around itself while hand sewing it all in place. Remember to keep the ugly seam hidden. Once you get to the end of the fabric strip, pull the thread snug, tie it in a knot, and trim it. Cut a small piece of felt (round or square, doesn't matter) and hot glue it to the back of the flower. Make sure the felt is the right size before gluing. It's also less of a mess if you put the hot glue on the felt, then stick it to the flower instead of vice versa. Hot glue on a clip and... ...Vwalla! a pretty lil' hair accessory.
Love your braid, Alyssa. So lovely.

Goofballs & Chelsea's Bday

okay, i know i promised to dedicate this blog solely to artsy fartsy stuff, but i can't help myself sometimes :)
...was my little sister's birthday, so we all went out to celebrate...
and by "we all", i mean a group of whimsical, sarcastic goofballs i call my family. auntie Lacey found herself a new man ...and i still got mine :) ...with a mouthful of water pictures are ALWAYS better when you don't know someone is behind you doing the 'over-done-but-still-somehow-funny' bunny ears for some reason, when we're all together, life isn't serious...i love that this is the firstborn goofball who started it all (and her husband who nurtures that silly spirit) these silly genes continue to run in the fam so glad