We Got Engaged!! :)

I haven't really posted all summer.  You may have noticed, unless you've been as busy as I have!  I didn't do much crafting over the summer because I've been busy working hard at my new job, enjoying the summer sunshine, and vacationing in Puerto Rico.

But I have some news to catch you up on!  We got engaged!  He proposed on August 22 during our first vacation together in Puerto Rico.

I love my ring!  He used his mother's stone.

Its also a Verragio and I think it crosses modern and vintage quite well. 

It was all very romantic.  He even had to overcome obstacles to ask me the question.  He planned to ask on the second full day of our stay in Puerto Rico.  Instead, I convinced him we should use that day to travel 2 hours to the Yunque rainforest to go hiking in the mountains and swimming in La Mina Falls, which was very fun but delayed his plans for a day.

So he thought he'd do it the next day, but I woke up a little bit sick (allergic to something in the rainforest--go figure), so I was in a grumpy mood all morning.  Then we found out that tropical storm Isaac was making its way to the island, and since we really wanted to go kayaking in the bioluminescent bays that night and they would be shutting down the tours during the tropical storm, we did that that night instead, and his plans were delayed once more.

This is not the bioluminescent bay--just the ocean.  We don't have any pictures of the glowing waters because I didn't bring my camera for fear I might break during the kayaking part of our journey.

On the fifth day of our trip, he was running out of time and getting a little nervous he might not get to use his plan.  We spent the day in Old San Jaun, then dressed up to go to dinner at La Perla in Condado.  The plan was to take a walk on the beach after dinner, which was where he would ask the question, but instead it started pouring down rain and the tide started coming in while we ate.  Hello, Isaac!

So we took a cab back to our hotel.  When we arrived, there was a break in the rain, and Tyler said, "Let's go out to the beach!"  At first I thought he was crazy, but I agreed.  And I'm lucky I did, because once we were on the beach he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

And I said yes. :)

We're so excited and will be sure to share our engagement photos with you as soon as we get them taken.  Thanks for letting us share this happy moment with you!

--CC

DIY French Board

As you may know, I started a new job at my company a few months back, which involved moving to a different office in the same town.  Now that I'm settled in and (finally) feel like I know at least a little bit what I'm doing, I decided my dull gray cubicle could use some sprucing up, so yesterday evening I made myself a colorful floral french board to hang at my desk.

I looked at a few tutorials before starting my project, but didn't follow any one in particular because the concept is pretty simple.  Basically, it involves cutting out some batting and fabric an inch or two bigger than your canvas, pulling it taught over the edges, then using a regular stapler or staple gun to staple it down.

I made a big X with the first two pieces of ribbon, then eyeballed the rest to layout the grid.  Once I was satisfied with the way it looked, I actually used scotch tape to hold the ribbons in place, then flipped over the French board and stapled down the ribbons.

Last but not least, I sewed on the yellow buttons where the ribbons intersected, and voila!  I have a happy new French board to cheer up my work space.  The whole project took about 2 hours start to finish, and since the canvas had a hole in it, I got it at a 50% damage discount, so the whole project cost about $10.

My grandpa has recently been sending me a lot of vintage photos of my family, so I'm excited to hang some of them on the board.  I can't wait to see what it looks like it my office!

I hope you've been crafting away, possibly on some fall projects...?  The weather has definitely been cooling off here!  (Well, in Florida terms.  So like 88 in the day and 70 at night. Ha!).

Thanks for reading, and happy crafting!

--CC