New Blog Location

We have moved to 

https://swimmingstanczyks.wordpress.com/

Please come visit. 

Our Save the Date Postcard Scratch-offs

For our save the date cards,  we decided to create postcards with scratch-offs. The scratch-offs on the back revealed the date.   We used VistaPrint (http://www.vistaprint.com/) to get the postcard and a family friend was able to give us circle scratch offs to place on the date.   

I also created an electronic save the date for the website for those that we were 

sending electronic invitations to.  I used Adobe Flash and saved it as a movie to upload to the website.

I was not able to upload it for viewing. 

Wedding ~ DIY Projects

In the coming weeks, I will begin posting my adventures of creating my dream wedding.

For our wedding (June 2011), I decided to do a few DIY projects.

1. Design and Print Save the Dates 
2. Design and Print Invitations
3. Design Wedding Website
4. Make Wedding Favors 
5. Make Bridal Bouquets 
6. Make Bridal Gifts 
7. Make Parent's Gift and Guestbook
8. Make Out of Town Bags

There might be more that I am forgetting.  We created a lot of the items for our wedding and hope that my experience can help someone with their wedding. 

BzzAgent ~ Trying new things

I joined BzzAgent about a month ago and accepted a campaign to try some Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner.  A week ago I received a small package with the shampoo. I was so excited to try it.  I am not one to spend a lot of money on shampoo. So I never bought anything that was more that $2.99 or so.

The shampoo and conditioner smell great and have made my hair smoother but I am not sure how it will hold up as a daily use.  I am planning on trying to use it daily for the next 2 weeks to see how my hair is.

If you have used this shampoo let me know how you like it.

A Year of Changes

The past year had a few changes for us.  We finally got married in June and we both got new swim coaching jobs.  I have also completed my teaching degree and am looking for a full time teaching job.  


Crafting was put on the back burner this past year and I finally have the time and energy to begin again.  There are so many projects on my to-do list and pinterest has not helped it at all. 


I will begin to post some of the wedding projects that I did.  Hopefully, it will help someone else. 


Until next time :-)

Sorry about being MIA

Its been a couple crazy months with all the wedding planning and working. Unlike my cats, I have been a busy bee. 

We are under the two month mark and there are a lot of DIY projects that I am finishing up and can't wait to post after the wedding. However, I can post the cards that I made to ask our bridal party to be apart of the celebration.

I used our wedding colors for the cards. The bridesmaids and groomsmen got these cards it also have our monogram in a circle on the front.

On the inside, for the girls I found cute little poems to ask them.  For the guys, Eric found movie quotes that expressed his relationship with each guy.

For some reason, I can not find a picture of the finished product. I know I took some.... o well.

I hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend. I am crossing my fingers and praying for no snow in Michigan.

Bye for now.

Its been a while....

College classes are done but I am still exhausted by the end of the day.  The last few months have been a bit crazy with wedding planning, work, family, and trying to stay warm that all I want to do is curl up with my cats and have some hot chocolate.

I have some holiday crafts that I haven't posted and will show you in the next couple days. Our wedding is less than 5 months away and I have most things either done or decided.  I am going to be making  couple this for the date of. I will begin posting wedding ideas that I am using.

Hope everyone stays warm!

Some Deep Dish Pizza

A couple weeks ago, it was our anniversary and I decided to try my hand at making some Chicago-style deep dish pizza.   It came out really good and we ate it all.  Here are some pictures of the pizza:

I was also had a chance to play around alittle and make this coloring page pizza into a MTC file.


MTC File

SVG File

Making PIZZA!!

I am really loving the taste of homemade bread. So this weekend I decided to try making some thin crust pizza. It came out really good.  The only thing I would do differently is put them closer to the bottom of the oven. I made two different pies!

A Day to Remember Those We Lost

It has been 9 years since the towers fell.  Living in NYC during that time was very hard and sad, throughout the 9 years I have moved away from New York but will never forgot those lost and the horrible feelings that I felt during that time.  It is a time that is a huge part of my life and continues to affect the way I see things. 

I keep hoping that people will become more tolerance and learn to love all people. Meanwhile, I will remember all those lost and learn new crafting skills. 

On a craft note, I recently make some decorations for the bulletin board that Eric's girls swim team has on the pool deck.  I used the free pennant file from Paper Creativity.  

They loved it!  It was sooo easy to made the cut out flags with the letters in MTC.  Since it a gloomy day in Michigan, I will probably do some more crafts and will post some pictures once they are done. 

Learning to Make Fresh Bread

Recently, I have been looking at The Fresh Loaf website and wanted to try making some bread.  Last weekend, I had some time and made fresh bread.  It turned out really good and was super easy to make. It just takes time to wait for the dough to rise.  Here are some pictures of my first loaf. It didn't last long, Eric ate alot of it :-)

I am hoping to make some bread that has some more stuff in it.  I will probably try this recipe next.

Bored at work- so here is a dog coloring page

I was bored at work and I have MTC trial downloaded at work.  I was searching for free coloring pages and found this cute doggie one.

Here is the MTC file.  If you would like the SVG, please leave me a comment and I will post it.

Some Garden Stuff and another Cat MTC file

This weekend we smoked some brisket and it came out really good.

Also we have been getting alot of tomatoes and a couple peppers!!!

I saw this cute kitty coloring page. So I turned it into a MTC file.  If you would like it click below.

MTC File

SVG File

Free MTC File: Kitten

I found this free coloring page and made it into a MTC file.  Here it is for anyone that would like it.


MTC File

Learning to Sew some bags

The last couple weeks I have been trying my hand at sewing some bags.

I used a pattern to make this bag for my FMIL:

I made this small bag for my sister using the tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew!.  I used her Simple Party Clutch tutorial to make it.

They both loved them!!! It was so easy to make the simple party clutch that I made 3 more for some friends and family.  I still need to learn to better use the sewing machine and to make the stitching straight. Here are some pictures:

Digi Stamp Challenge Card

Tonight I made the card using the free challenge digi stamp from Stretch N' Bubbles Shop.

I used some pink card-stock and crayons to make the card.

If you want to join the Challenge head over to http://snbshop.blogspot.com/

Tomatoes are Starting to Ripen!!!!

I am sooo excited!! My early bloom tomatoes are starting to turn red!!! Here are some pictures of the ones that are almost ready to be picked.

I might be able to bring some with me to Chicago this weekend.  I am going to see my sis and future parents in law.   We are going to a bridal show in the Chicago area on Sunday to look for some more ideas. 

I am in the process of finishing up some more Avatar MTC files and will post them as I finish fixing the problems.  

Until next time, have a great day!

Interesting Bee and A Card

I had a day off this week, so I did some yard work and look up at  the window.  I saw Clint looking at me work while he slept.

Then while I was watering my tomatoes, I saw a weird looking bumble bee.  I got  some pictures but they aren't to good.  I think it might be a bumble bee queen from the hive we have near our garage.
Here are the pictures I got of the large bumble bee:

All of a sudden it started to rain, so I came inside and made some cards using the free challenge digi stamp from Stretch N' Bubbles Shop. 

I made one using the paint option in Illustrator and the other using colored pencils.

Here are some close-ups of the computer colored digi:

Here are some close-ups of the color penciled image:

If you want to join the Challenge head over to http://snbshop.blogspot.com/