Happy New Year!! (my 2012 in pictures)

2013 is almost here! What are your plans for New Years Eve? In a couple of hours, me and my family will go over to my boyfriend's house to celebrate it with his family... as always :) but first, I will like to share with all of you how was the 2012 for me. As you know, my first language is Spanish, so I will write all the months in Spanish (just to make it a little fun!) ;)

Here is my 2012...

Enero: I didn't had a blog yet :( so I was just starting a new semester in college and beading as always. In January was when I decided to start selling my creations! I started with a Facebook page and it was in Spanish (when I started my blog I decided to change it to English).

Febrero: Another Valentine's Day with Gustavo ♥ It was actually our 6th Valentine's Day together. We started dating on December 2006.

It's my Birthday!

Today is my 24th Birthday!! I can't believe how fast time goes by... Thank God I'm able to celebrate it with my family and my boyfriend. By the way, I'm also celebrating my 6th anniversary with my boyfriend :) so it's a double celebration!

Look at the digital scrapbook page I made...

Do you like it? I can't wait to show this to Gustavo!! :)

I know a lot of bloggers are taking a Holiday break so in case you were not able to read it, I'm now hosting Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop} with my friend Brenna from Life After Laundry. You can link up here. We will return with another Nice to Meet You on January 8th.

Also, My Memories is giving away a My Memories Suite Scrapbook Software to a lucky Sensational Creations reader! Don't forget to enter the giveaway! That was the program I used for the digital scrapbook page about our anniversary.

I hope you all had a enjoyable Christmas with your family and I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I'm wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! May you and your family enjoy The Holidays ♥

Christ's Story Bracelet

I want you to see something meaningful I've made. As I've mentioned before, I'm catholic and you all know that I've nothing against any other religion or atheists. I respect everyone because all of us are different and we all have our own beliefs and opinions. Having said that, I would love to show you what I did last week. I hope you like it!

Here's the Christ's Story Bracelet. If you haven't seen it before, I will explain it to you. Each bead and charm represents something specific. You'll notice that every word in bold will be the one that's represented on the bracelet. (Click on the picture to read the story)

Do you want to make your own Christ's story bracelet? It's super easy!

Here's what you need:
     

My Memories Software Giveaway

Today I have something special; a giveaway I'm sure you're going to love!

As you know, I love scrapbooking. For me it's kind of a big project, there's always a mess of papers, stickers, scissors, glue, glue & more glue...  Just a couple of months ago, I found out about a digital way of making scrapbook. It's amazing! You can create almost anything besides scrapbook pages; labels, banners, calendars, announcements, signs, tags and invitations. Believe me, you'll have many options to create something!

Nominated for The Liebster Blog Award! Again!

Wow, this is my second and third time to be nominated for the Liebster Blog Award! You can read my first nomination here. This time, I got nominated by Karina from Mom In The USA and by Tammy from Yours and Mine ARE Ours. Thank you so much ladies!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for “favorite”. So this is the “favorite blog award”. You need to start with 11 facts about you, answer the 11 questions asked of you by the blogger who gave you this award, nominate 11 bloggers (let them know you have nominated them), and then come up with 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominated.

Let's see how it goes this time...

Nice to Meet You Blog Hop #6

Hey everyone! It's blog hop time!! Thank you so much to all of those who has linked up on Nice to Meet You. I'm so happy to tell you I joined forces with my blogging friend Brenna from Life After Laundry :) Check out her blog!! She's amazing! You will notice some changes on the hop. Brenna host her blog on WordPress so we decided to incorporate RSS Feed, Bloglovin and some other stuff instead of just using GFC. Also, there are some changes on the button so please, take the new one. Thanks!!
Let's get started...

Do you want to find more blogs to read? Do you want to meet fellow bloggers? I do! That's why I joined Brenna from Life After Laundry and created Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop}. Let's make some connections with people who likes blogging, just like us!

• Grab the Blog Hop button and add it to your blog.
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I'm Baaaaack!!! :)

I'm so happy to be back! I'm officially done with this semester :) I just got out of my last final exam of this semester and I practically run to my computer haha I needed my blogging world! ♥ Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and emails of encouragement, I really appreciate it! I've missed so much posts from all of you :( Feel free to put me up to date. Leave me some links so I can go through all those amazing posts I wasn't able to read. It can be any topic! Believe me, I need to read it ;)

I'm taking a break... see you soon!

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry but I need to take a break. I'm on the final 2 weeks of classes and then comes the final exams. So I need to get ready. Besides, I'm working on my investigation for the Experimetal Psychology class and in December 15, I'll be taking the EXADEP for graduate studies. As you can see, I'm overwhelmed with college stuff... but I'll be back soon!

Beading, Fashion, Shopping and more...

This past 2 weeks were great! I will share some photos with you...
Besides shopping for new beads and charms, I took time to do some beading :)
If I get new beads, my thought always is:

New beads= new bracelets!

Look at these pair of earrings! I made them for my 100th follower Erica Bodker from Walking In My Shoes.

Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop} #5

It's blog hop time!! Thank you so much to all of those who has linked up on Nice to Meet You! As you may know, I'm celebrating my 100 followers with a Giveaway :) You have until December 5, 2012 to enter for a chance to win 2 pairs of earrings and 3 bracelets!

Let's get started...
Do you want to find more blogs to read? Do you want to meet fellow bloggers? I do! That's why I created Nice to Meet You {GFC Blog Hop}. Let's make some connections with people who likes blogging, just like us!

If you want to:
• Grab the Blog Hop button and add it to your blog.

<center> <a href="http://marielyvp.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o739/marielyvp/GFC_BlogHop2.jpg" " /></a></center>

My Pinteresting Week #4

Hey everyone! First, I just want to remind you all to enter my giveaway for chance to win 2 pairs of earrings and 3 bracelets :) and remember to join Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop}! Now... let's see some pins ♥

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard were you can pin anything you like. It's like a world of pictures! And I have to accept it... I love wasting my time with the pinning lol. I'm addicted! But, I mean, who isn't?

I will share with you my favorites pins every Friday on My Pinteresting Week. Here's my Pinterest in case you want to follow.

You need an invite to join Pinterest; if you don't have an account, you can email me to sensationalcreationspr@gmail.com and I will send you an invite right away.

My Pinteresting Week

Here are my favorite pins!

100 Followers Giveaway!!

I have reached 100 followers!! Thank you so much, I'm so happy to have you all as my followers :) I hope you are enjoying my blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.
I'm celebrating my 100 followers and I want to share my happiness with a giveaway!

Nominated for The Liebster Blog Award

I've been nominated for The Liebster Blog Award by Esther Davison from Esther Norine Designs! Thank you so much Esther, this is so kind of you ;) This is my first time being nominated so I had to do a little research about it. If you are not familiar with the award, this info may help you.

The Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers who have less than 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for “favorite”. So this is the “favorite blog award”. You need to start with 11 facts about you, answer the 11 questions asked of you by the blogger who gave you this award, nominate 11 bloggers (let them know you have nominated them), and then come up with 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominated.

Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop} #4

Thank you so much to all of those who has linked up on Nice to Meet You! Welcome to all my new lovely followers ♥ I'm so happy to have reached 100 followers!! I will celebrate by doing my first Giveaway this week :)

Let's get started...
Do you want to find more blogs to read? Do you want to meet fellow bloggers? I do! That's why I created Nice to Meet You {GFC Blog Hop}. Let's make some connections with people who likes blogging, just like us!

If you want to:
• Grab the Blog Hop button and add it to your blog.

<center> <a href="http://marielyvp.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o739/marielyvp/GFC_BlogHop2.jpg" " /></a></center>

My Pinteresting Week #3

Hi everyone! Here's another Pinteresting Week :) But first... Guess what? I'm getting ready for my super weekend... I'll be attending to a fashion show called Get Dressed! I'm so excited!! Besides a runway, there will be a group of designers and some local boutiques selling their clothes, accessories, shoes and handbags for $50 or less! :O Can't wait!!

And now, let's start with the pinning...
Pinterest is a virtual pinboard were you can pin anything you like. It's like a world of pictures! And I have to accept it... I love wasting my time with the pinning lol. I'm addicted! But, I mean, who isn't?

Dawn's Disaster Giveaway!

Hello everyone! Dawn's Disaster is offering two amazing giveaways! Yeah... two!! You have to check them out :) I'm sponsoring along with some great fellow bloggers.
Remember to join both giveaways!

A Little Bit About Me

I want everyone to know me a little bit better so, I decided to make this post! :) If you want to know something else about me, leave me a question on the comments section below and I will answer it.
This week and the next one I'll be pretty busy with some college stuff (can't wait for the weekend!)... but I'll try to make a tutorial next week!

Anyway, here's an A&Q about me...

Name: Mariely Vélez Pérez (in Puerto Rico we use both parents last names)

Birthday: December 29 (Yay, can't wait!)

Birth place: Puerto Rico, my beautiful island :)

Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop} #3

It's Blog Hop time again! Thank you so much to all of those who has linked up on Nice to Meet You! Welcome to all my new lovely followers ♥ I will celebrate when I reach 100 followers by doing my first Giveaway :) I've been pretty busy with college stuff... this week I'll be doing an experiment for my Experimental Psychology class, so *wish me luck* ;) BTW I'm sorry I haven't post any tutorial :( I promise I will get on track with the blog as soon as I get done some stuff about the experiment.

Let's get started...
Do you want to find more blogs to read? Do you want to meet fellow bloggers? I do! That's why I created Nice to Meet You {GFC Blog Hop}. Let's make some connections with people who likes blogging, just like us!

If you want to:
• Grab the Blog Hop button and add it to your blog.

<center> <a href="http://marielyvp.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o739/marielyvp/GFC_BlogHop2.jpg" " /></a></center>

My Pinteresting Week #2

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard were you can pin anything you like. It's like a world of pictures! And I have to accept it... I love wasting my time with the pinning lol. I'm addicted! But, I mean, who isn't?

I will share with you my favorites pins every Friday on My Pinteresting Week. Here's my Pinterest in case you want to follow. Oh, if you haven't link up your blog to Nice to Meet You {GFC Blog Hop} you still can!

You need an invite to join Pinterest; if you don't have an account, you can email me to sensationalcreationspr@gmail.com and I will send you an invite right away.

My Pinteresting Week

Here are my favorite pins!

I won, I won!

My first time participating in a Giveaway and I won! Yay :) I won a beautiful pair of earrings from Kate Spade.

I saw Shiloh's Taste announcement of her first giveaway celebrating 100 likes on her Facebook page. I was really excited to be participating! But I was even more excited when I saw an email from Shiloh telling me I won!! I received this amazing package yesterday...

Nice to Meet You {Blog Hop} #2

     It's Blog Hop timeeee! Thank you so much to all of those who linked up on Nice to Meet You last week! Welcome to all my new lovely followers ♥ When I reach 100 followers via GFC, I will do my first Giveaway :)

Do you want to find more blogs to read? Do you want to meet fellow bloggers? I do! That's why I created Nice to Meet You GFC Blog Hop. Let's make some connections with people who likes blogging, just like us! Let's get started...

If you want to:
• Grab the Blog Hop button and add it to your blog.

<center> <a href="http://marielyvp.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o739/marielyvp/GFC_BlogHop2.jpg" " /></a></center>

My Pinteresting Week

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard were you can pin anything you like. It's like a world of pictures! And I have to accept it... I love wasting my time with the pinning lol. I'm addicted! But, I mean, who isn't?

This week I'm starting My Pinteresting Week! I will share with you my favorites pins every Friday. Here's my Pinterest in case you want to follow. Oh, if you haven't link up your blog to Nice to Meet You {GFC Blog Hop} you still can!

You need an invite to join Pinterest; if you don't have an account, you can email me to sensationalcreationspr@gmail.com and I will send you an invite right away.

My Pinteresting Week

Here are my favorite pins!

Totally Green Contest! Over $600 worth of prizes

Do you like crafts? This is for you: Totally Green Contest. The challenge is Holiday Decor. Make anything with a holiday theme and use at least one recycled material. The contest is open for everyone, anywhere!

I'm really happy to be one of the Sponsors!!

Scrapbooking and Project Life Tutorial

Scrapbooking was my first hobbie. Have you heard of it? It's like making a collage of photos but decorating them in a "book". I've made two... Ok, I'll be honest. I haven't finished them! And you'll see why. They are still in process but I'm loving them :)

I started doing the first scrapbook with pictures just of my boyfriend and I. We have been together for almost 6 years so, yeah... we have a lot of pictures! I don't know when I'll finish it. Maybe when we get married I'll stop with this one and start a new scrapbook ;)

Nice To Meet You {Blog Hop}

     Hello there! Welcome to my first Linky Party!! Do you want to find more blogs to read? Do you want to meet fellow bloggers? I do! That's why I created Nice to Meet You GFC Blog Hop. Let's make some connections with people who likes blogging, just like us! This is what I'm planning to do: Tuesday will be for the Blog Hop and Friday will be for My Pinteresting Week. I will let you know more about the Pinterest Week this Friday. Let's get started...

• Grab the Blog Hop button and add it to your blog.

<center> <a href="http://marielyvp.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1340.photobucket.com/albums/o739/marielyvp/GFC_BlogHop2.jpg" " /></a></center>

Welcome New Followers!

I want to take this post to welcome all my wonderful new followers to my home; my beautiful island of Puerto Rico. It may be a small island, but it sure makes a huge impact when people come to visit. I'm in love with my island!! Puerto Rico is my family, my culture, my love, my everything. We have beautiful beaches, amazing architecture & structure at the Old San Juan, pretty Flamboyant tress and wonderful people. This island saw me grow and I feel really blessed :)

If someday you are planning to go on vacations, consider visiting Puerto Rico ;) I know you won't regret it! Do you want to know anything about Puerto Rico? Ask me and I will gladly respond.

Welcome my Online BlogCon friends and all the followers from the Blog Hops I've been participating. Thanks for all the love! Keep it coming! 

October: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hey everyone! As you may know, October is designated as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You should visit your doctor regularly and also, you can do a breast self-exam. I know some of you already know that info but, it's just a reminder :) Go PINK!

So, I'm going to tell you what I'm about do. As you know, I love beading... I though of making something special for someone who has fought against breast cancer. I just wanted to create something that represents what she's been through this year. I made a set of bracelet & a pair of earrings as a symbol of her being an example to me and I'm pretty sure, to all the women that knows her. I'm about to go to see her; here is my gift for her...

Photo Tutorial: Macrame Bracelet

Hey everyone! Here's another DIY but this time is about macrame bracelets. This type of bracelet is easier than the double bracelet :) There are many ways to make a macrame bracelet, but I will show you the easy one. At the end of the post, you'll see the other styles. 

Materials: diagonal cutter plier, wood beads and two pieces of macrame thread (available in different colors); one of 4' and the other one of 5'.

Online BlogCon 2012

 Have you ever wanted to go to a Blog Conference or a Blog Convention? I do. But the reality is, some of us can't afford the registration costs, plus the cost of travel, hotel and transportation... Well, guess what? Now there' an online blog conference which you can attend from the comfort of your home! Join Online BlogCon now! They are offering networking, prizes and amazing expert speakers; just for $15.00! All you need is your computer and access to the internet. Space is unlimited!! You have until tomorrow Friday, October 19th to register. The BlogCon 2012 will be from October 22 to October 24. Go to onlineblogcon.com for more info about this great event. And please, let me know if you are attending so we can get to know each other a little bit. Here's my Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

DIY: Logo Tags

I always wanted a tag for my creations, but I had no idea how to do it or where to go to get it done. Then, I came across OH SO Pretty the DIARIES and they had the tutorial I needed: Logo Tags! I got really excited and went shopping right away for the materials. I didn't found everything I had in mind, but instead I found amazing things to use! I will show you my tag, the materials and how I did it.

Here's my logo tag!

Photo Tutorial: Create your own Sticker!

Create my own sticker? YES! I bought this little machine today and I'm really excited about it. I'm planning to create my own logo tags for my creations (bracelets, necklaces and earrings) so, today I went shopping for the materials I'm going to use. Suddenly, I found this! I bought it on Office Max but you can get it online on Xyron page.

Fellow Beaders, Crafters and Bloggers...

Hi there! I would like to meet fellow beaders, crafters and bloggers. I think this blog entry could help me, and other people, to interact and get to know each other. So please, leave a comment with a link to your blog (if you have one), your Twitter username, your Facebook page, Pinterest and/or any other page you want to share.

Photo Tutorial: Double Bracelet

Hi everyone! I will explain how to do a double bracelet with plain beads. You can alternate colors of threads and types of beads. This is my first photo tutorial so... let's see how it goes!

Materials: diagonal cutting pliers or scissors, a button or something you can use to close the bracelet, 48 plains beads (quantity of beads depends on your wrist), approximately 24 inches of white leather thread, and 36 inches of thin white thread (the one you'll use to "knit" the beads).

Beading: The Basics

Do you want to learn how to bead? Anyone can learn! You don't need to take classes, you just need the desire to learn. I started with books and online patterns, so maybe this post will help you to get started with beading. There are a lot of tools and materials, but I will only show you the ones I use the most. I basically need them for everything! Also, I will show you how to properly open/close a jump ring and how to make a loop.

Tools:

• Chain nose pliers

• Round nose pliers

• Diagonal cutting pliers

Time to work!

This week I've been pretty busy... a lot of college stuff, specially the research proposal for my experimental psychology class. But I finally finished it last night! So... what does that mean? Time to work!! Yay!

New Style Bracelet

This week, my boyfriend's mom and one of my friends had their birthdays. I was thinking about making something new; a new style of bracelet so they could be the first to have it. I remembered there was a style of bracelet I couldn't do a long time ago, because I didn't know how to do the knot.

After an hour and a half trying (by seeing pictures of knots online), I finally made the knot. I was really happy when I finished the bracelets; they look cute! Here they are...

Do You Want a Photo Tutorial?

For those who doesn't know what is a photo tutorial, I will explain it a little bit. Some photo tutorials, are in different pictures showing the procedure for you to follow. But, most of the time, the photo tutorials are in just one picture. The photos are separated in different squares and they show you step by step how to do something.

Over 500 Jewelry Pieces Made

I can't thank you all enough... I'm so happy I've reached the 500 jewelry pieces made!! Bracelets, necklaces & earrings... This my hobbie, my therapy, my passion. You have no idea how much fun I have doing my orders! This is so much more than a work. Thanks again and keep those orders coming! ❤

Find Me on Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest

Hi there! I want you to know more about me, so I will explain how you can find me on different social networks. I'll start with Facebook; you can search for my page Sensational Creations and you'll see some photos of my creations. Don't forget to click "like"!

I Learn with Books, Magazines & Patterns

Some people wonder how did I learn to bead. I didn't take any classes or workshops; I bought some beading books at Borders (Simply Beaded Bliss and Jewelry Making & Beading for Dummies). I started to read them and try to learn by myself. At first it was difficult... but I got a little bit better with a lot of practice.

Great Weekend

This weekend was really good! I had nothing to do for college so I took some time for myself... I did my manicure and pedicure, I straighten my hair and applied all my face creams. Also, I started to do aerobics, zumba and other workouts with my sister; I feel pretty good! Let's see if I don't back down. Anyway, (as always) I couldn't finish my weekend without doing some jewelry, so I did an order of six bracelets. These are for four different clients.

For Me?

Being a crafter has its advantages... I can do my own jewelry! Before I started to make jewelry, I used to go shopping for my accessories every time a had a wedding or other activity. But now, I do my own jewelry for every type of activity and even for daily use. Last night I decided to make me a new bracelet. I wanted it to be different, I incorporated some old ideas with new ones I've seen on the internet.

Special Bookmark

I like to read and I was in need of a bookmark, so I decided to make my own. I took some decorated papers and stickers from the scrapbooking materials I have. I wanted the bookmark to be unique so I was looking for a picture to incorporate it to the design. I found an old wallet picture of my boyfriend and I when we started our relationship; so I thought “that’s the one!”.  I cut some decorated papers, glued the photo and used some love themed stickers. Then I used my mom’s laminating machine. And… this is the final result.

Meaningful Bracelet

Some of the bracelets I've done have their own meaning. Most of the time I help my clients to design their own. But, if it is a bracelet with charms, I tell my clients to pick their own. I have my own meaningful bracelet,  it's a white pearls bracelet with 4 charms.

 

My Two Favorites

Of all the bracelets, necklaces and earring I have made, I have my favorites. It's was hard picking my two favorites, but here I go...

I began doing jewelry for myself; for activities as New Year's Eve, weddings, family reunions, etc. One of my two favorites is a set of bracelet, necklace and earrings I wore for New Year's Eve 2010. I made it with swarovski beads.