Monday, November 30, 2009

Let the Christmas season begin!

So Thanksgiving is gone and now it's all-Christmas, all the time, are ya' with me on this?
Let the fun, the magic, and the busyness of the season begin.

Yesterday we went to the Festival of Trees. I know a lot of places have these, but today I'm sharing pictures from ours in case you don't have one where you are, or you do and you just wanna have a looksie anyway. Most of these trees are just my style - just a bunch of stuff on them with no real pattern that I can tell - and that's what I like!

FOT2_2009

FOT3_2009

FOT4_2009

FOT5_2009

A Nightmare before Christmas tree - really?

FOTNightmare_2009

A Big Bird tree - OK, it's the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, I get it.

FOT1_2009

A Michael Jackson tree - I personally loved this one.

FOTMJ_2009

2 pictures for this next one -
"It's time for a cure" - my favorite tree.

FOTBC1_2009

FOTBC2_2009

And we take this opportunity to try and get a photo for the Christmas card. Not sure we're goin' with this one. We'll see how pics with Santa at my company party go tonight.

FOTDK_2009

What fun holiday stuff are you up to?
See you tomorrow with....a Christmas card!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Hello!

This Hero Arts stamp makes me giggle. Hello! It could be said like "huh-low" or it could be said like that one Seinfeld episode where Jerry was saying "hellooooooooo!" - ha ha.

Anywho - just a quick lil' post today sharing a bright card I made with papers from My Little Shoebox. Their stuff is just the cutest!

I've got some Hibiscus Burst ribbon and ink on here, some stitching, and a little Doodlebug button I picked up at my LSS.

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Here's wishing you a happy-hello kinda day!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

The downs and up of mojo.

I have heard people say that when they have had a bad day or have a lot on their mind, that crafting relaxes them - it's a good thing. So I had a not-so good day at the office recently and I wasn't really feelin' cardmaking but thought it might be good for me. This first card is what I made first. It's not a bad card, but, it's kinda blah to me.

I've got some Aqua Mist cardstock and buttons from Papertrey Ink, some Eskimo Kisses paper from BasicGrey - - another cutout Rudolph! - - and a sweet lil' sentiment from Studio G.

PEZ_MerryChristmas2_11_21_09


I was sort of frustrated with that first card so I thought I'd make a second card. Good thing because I totally {heart} this card. The only thing wrong with this card is the picture. Anyone else have problems photographing cards with red in them? I seem to get sort of a red glow all around the card. Anyhow....this is New Leaf paper from Papertrey with a felt poinsettia that I cut with my Nesties and then cut some Merrymint paper for the inside of the pointsettia and topped with a coordinating badge. I used some Prima leaves and topped with some berries that I picked up at Real Deals; sentiment is also from Papertrey Ink.

HappyHolidays_11_21_09

Hope your weekend starts off just great!

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Friday 5.

Welcome back to another Friday 5.
Thanks for the comments last week - this is totally fun to do and I'm glad y'all are as excited about it as I am!
So let's get right to it, shall we?


Becky Roberts' blog.

BeckyRobertsBlog

Becky's blog
is so fun. She goes all out on her projects - if she makes something, she makes several versions of it for you to oooh and ahhh over.
Very colorful, nice pictures and most important: great ideas.


This card by Julee Tilman.

VG_NewMoonInspired

Now I don't know what this New Moon/Twilight business is all about, but this card is hot. The quote she made her sentiment panel out of is hot, that ribbon is luscious, the hat pin is gorgeous...and I just noticed that the embossing on the red panel and the turned sentiment panel line up perfectly! - a really fabulous card.


Collage Press' Joyride line.

CollagePress

Am I the only person in the crafting world who is not familiar with Collage Press? I noticed their Joyride chipboard on Two Peas and they just reeled me in - - I bought the entire line. It's got that childhood feel to it which makes sense because when I researched them, the designer of this line said that it was inspired by a vintage Life Saver's ad; success.


Easy Pumpkin Pancakes.

So I'm a day late for Thanksgiving, but since you're still having turkey sammies and soups through the weekend, why not have some pumpkin pancakes for breakfast?

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups pancake mix
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
1 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

Directions:
1 - - Wisk all ingredients together until combined. Do not overstir.
2 - -Heat lightly greased griddle or skillet over medium heat.
3 - - Pour or scoop batter onto griddle, apx 1/4 cup per pancake. Brown on both sides.
4 - -Serve hot!


PumpkinPancakes_11_26_09
We had these yesterday morning and I can confirm that they are DELISH! Fluffy, not overly pumpkiney-spiced but just enough, not too sweet but sweet enough to just use a tad of syrup.


Party in the USA.

How can you not like this song?


It's Friday! - noddin' my head like yeah....

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving.

PUB_HappyThanksgiving_05_14_09

I hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends. Do you do the thing where you go around the table and say what you're thankful for? My Yayo used to make us do that all the time and when I was a kid, I hated it. We used to giggle the whole time. Now that I'm older and wiser *wink* I have incorporated that in to our family tradition and I get all teary saying all the things that I am thankful for: my loving & supportive husband, my beautiful children who are in good health, a roof over our heads, and food on our table....and all you dear people who come to my blog to visit and indulge me and take the time to leave kind words; thank you.

Here are the place cards I made for our dinner later today. We're having my mom and my aunt & uncle over. I didn't put much thought in to these, and I waited 'til the last minute to make them. All things considered, I am OK with them. But next year's, or even Christmas this year, will be way better!

ThanksgivingPlacecards_11_24_09

Have an especially wonderful day.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

(Regular blog readers, this is my 4th post today - scroll down for more!)

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Hello and thanks for stopping in along the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop.
This month's Hop is all about solutions for the busyness of the holidays - with "grab 'n go" gifts.

I find that I am always short on those "little somethings" - for the babysitter, for the friend that comes by to bring a gift and she brings her kid and you want to hand something to the kid too. So a few small "somethings" on hand are what I need to have for this year - and they need to be cheap somethings!

Large Hershey bars were on sale for $1.25 - - I had $1 off coupons making them 25-cents each. I had 5 coupons = 5 bars for a total of $1.25 *cheers* I wrapped my chocolate bar in Rustic Snowflakes patterned paper, and then embellished. Embellishing is key to kicking everything up a notch! I tied some Fresh Snow classic grosgrain ribbon around it, tied on a K&Company glittered snowflake that I got at Michael's after-Christmas clearance last year, then topped that with some vintage buttons and a little sentiment from the Holiday Button Bits set and I was done.

25-cents and something that took me less than 20 minutes to make - mission accomplished!

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See you on the Hop!

American Crafts - glitter cardstock challenge.

(3rd post for today - scroll down for more)

Hello - again! *giggles*

Here I've got a couple of cards that I made for American Crafts' Glitter Cardstock Challenge. The challenge is to use bling or other sparklies to brighten the card up....in celebration of their new glitter cardstock.

On my first card I've used American Crafts patterned paper, coordinating badge, and even one of their stamps. The base of my card is glimmer cardstock, and that fabulous ribbon is from A Million Memories.

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My second card features more of the same American Crafts paper - it's from the I Heart You line - along with their ribbon, badge and sticker.

AmCraftsChallenge2_11_23_09

*whew*
Still have my Papertrey Blog Hop post later too!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #19

(2nd post for today - scroll up and down for more)

I'm back with the card I made for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge. The colors this time around were: Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, Lavender Moon and Aqua Mist. Normally challenges with so many colors intimidate me, however I had the brilliant idea to revisit my beloved umbrellas and paperpiece one with 3 of the colors! How cool is that? I've never done any paperpiecing before and I am so tickled by the way this turned out. After I put the umbrella together, I topped it with some Glossy Accents. My sentiment is from Scattered Showers Additions, and I can't remember if my bling was Zva or Prima, but I do know that the perfect matching Raspberry Fizz bling on the ribbon is from Kaisercraft!

RaspberrySuite19_11_22_09

So nice to see you again!

Colorful Christmas - indeed!

Are you and your family as in love with The Polar Express as we are? The kids watch that movie non-stop starting Thanksgiving night through New Year's Eve. Anyway, there's a part on there where Santa says "indeed....indeed!" Yeah, that's totally not related to today's post, but when I typed my title that's what I thought of - ha.

So today's cards all feature Colorful Christmas from My Mind's Eye. What a fun kit with completely unexpected color combinations for Christmas: gotta love that!

This first card is made with Spring Rain cardstock, vintage buttons and ribbon from Papertrey Ink and a sweet little Studio G sentiment on my tag.

PEZ_MerryChristmas_11_21_09


I've embellished this card with some lace trim from A Million Memories, Glittered Skittles from Pez-A-Doodle, and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

MME_MerryChristmas_11_20_09


This last card was made with Miss Rebecca in mind. We were talking about the new Orange Zest from Papertrey Ink and she thought it might be too Halloweeny. So I took that as a little challenge - heh. Granted there's a lotta orange goin' on here, but I don't think of Halloween when I see this card - - do you? Again I've used a lil' Studio G sentiment, cardstock, button and ribbon from Papertrey Ink, some Prima Say It In Crystals, and a touch of lace trim at the bottom from A Million Memories.

PEZ_HolidayFun_11_21_09

Here's wishing you a bright & fun day!
I'll be back later this morning with some challenge cards and then my Papertrey Blog Hop item this afternoon - - it's a 4 post day!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Thinking of you.

This week's Jacksonbelle Embellishments DT challenge was an easy one: make a card using your favorite things from the JBE store! This was super simple for me: I love my little paper packs. Cosmo Cricket, Jenni Bowlin, BasicGrey, doesn't matter - - I get them and love them all! So today's card features patterned paper from the BasicGrey Porcelain paper pack and also a sweet Cuttlebug embossing folder by Provo Craft.

ThinkingOfYou_09_29_09

JBE's got all the new Christmas Cuttlebug folders so be sure and check those out too. And what's more - there is a SALE going on at the JBE store right now! Everything is 25% off through the 30th!! Oh - and don't forget to head over to the Jacksonbelle blog and see what the rest of the girls' favorites are!

Have a great day!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Merrymint gift tags.

Happy Monday!

Did you think I was kidding when I said I was addicted to making Christmas tags? Well I wasn't - LOL Good thing is I am completely done with all my Christmas cards - all one-of-a-kind (no mass-producing for me!) and I had my son write on the inside of all of them. Just need to get them packaged, labeled and stamped and away we go. So now I can focus solely on presents and packaging.

This first tag features Red Pepper Columns paper from Paper Temptress. I'm not sure I did the right thing with my choice of patterned paper in the center of the pointsettia as I think I've got competing themes going on, but that's OK - Christmas is about glitz, glam, fun and sometimes even garishness, right? *giggles*

PT_ChristmasTag_11_21_09


I figured since I made Merrymint thank-you cards, and Merrymint Christmas cards, it was time to make tags with this fun paper. These next 3 tags I am definitely sure about as I used only papers from American Crafts' Merrymint line and I didn't really try anything too crazy. The green, brown and red ribbon are from American Crafts too.

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MerrymintTag2_11_15_09

MerrymintTag1_11_15_09

Have you moved on from cards and focused on presents and packaging yet?
Only 32 days 'til Christmas!

So nice to *see* you today!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Merry Christmas...Studio G style.

Here's a fun card I made for a challenge over on the CARDs (magazine) blog. It actually ended up being one of the top cards in the gallery which was exciting for me.

Now I'm going to put my hands on my hips and get up on my soapbox again so consider yourself warned: the stamp I have used on this card is from Studio G. Yeah, STUDIO G. You know, "the cheap dollar stamps." But I ask you - does my card look cheap because it's got a less-expensive stamp on there? I would argue that it does not. Hey I place my Papertrey order every month too - and I get me a $24 stamp set from there every month. But how many $24 stamps sets can one person afford? Well, for me - not many....one a month. And I have found in this hobby of ours that we are addicted to our papers and our stamps and our ribbons. Just think how many more stamps you could get if they only cost you $1. Just think how much more other stuff you could buy when you get 5 new stamp sets for $1 a piece?

My point is this: don't let the price tag turn you off these little guys. Studio G stamps are fun, they have soooo many different sentiments. Sometimes with the more expensive sets I find that there is just ONE stamp in that entire set that I really want...but spend $24 to get it? No can do. Studio G if you need that ONE stamp in a set for a BBQ or a Cookie Exchange or whatever, you can get that ONE stamp that you need - for a buck! OK, rant over *wink*

So on my card I've got a base of some glimmer paper from Paper Temptress, then I've used some scraps of My Mind's Eye and Making Memories papers, a lil' Jenni Bowlin BINGO card, a bling heart from Kaisercraft, oh yeah, and a little bow that I made. How could I forget to mention the bow - LOL I made that bow. I LOVE the ribbons that Costco sells at holiday time. These are the bows I put on my Christmas packages, but the CARDs challenge was to make a big ol' ribbon bow - - and I think I accomplished that *giggles*

PEZ_MerryChristmas_11_18_09

Thanks for stopping in today!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

....the simple things.

Take time to enjoy the simple things.

How's that for a wake-up call?

Sometimes we get so caught up with insignificant situations or drama, or having to have this or having to be that, and we forget to take time to enjoy the simple things. Like having cocoa with your kids when the weather turns bitter cold. Or literally stopping to smell the roses. I have found myself doing that more and more as I get older - when I get home from work and I'm walking up to the house, I stop and smell the roses. And sometimes, it's the best 10 seconds of my day up until the moment I open the door and see my beautiful family.

Today's card features another Hero Arts stamp, patterned papers by My Little Shoebox, some Enchanted Evening cardstock, some White Felt Grandee cardstock, another piece off my daughter's old jeans and some fun stitching.

TakeTimeToEnjoy_09_20_09

Enjoy your Saturday!

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Friday 5.

Boy am I happy to *see* you!
Today begins a new weekly feature here on the blog
that I am calling.....:

The Friday 5


Every Friday I'll be posting 5 fabulous things: a fabulous blog, a fabulous card, fabulous product, and 2 spots that I am leaving as miscellanous to do with as I please. These 2 spots can be a recipe, a great deal I found, the color of my lipstick, or even another blog or another card or more fabulous product. It's gonna be fun to change it up just a little around here once a week.
So let's get started, shall we?


Danni Reid's blog

DanniReidBlog

I just love Danni's blog. I love her style, I love her spirit. She signs her posts with "hugs & all my love" and I think she actually means it! A truly refreshing place to spend a few minutes of your day.


This card by Kerri Michaud.

KerriFab5

Fun patterned papers, stitching, buttons, hand-cut berry leaves - fabulous.


Jenni Bowlin BINGO cards.

JenniBingo

So fun and versatile; and most places sell single cards or packs. I like to cut them in half and use the top part that has the word showing and then I have the bottom half with numbers that I can use on a birthday card sometime.


This incredible wreath by Amber Packer.

AmberPackerWreath

I have found that I am a papercrafter and not a stamper per se. So I am doubly tickled when I see people make other "things" out of the beautiful cardstocks and patterned papers we love so much. She cut the leaves, shaped them, has flower picks in there and a gorgeous bow. Absolutely fabulous.


The Lee Brothers' Buttermilk Sweet Potato Pie
.

I'm not a fan of sweet potatoes. But doesn't sweet potato pie taste similar to pumpkin pie? I think for me, it's one of those things that I have never tried and just say I don't like it. So I am making this pie for Thanksgiving. I hear it's got a cheesecakeyness to it unlike regular sweet potato pie - and I'm all for that!

•1 9″ pie crust, prebaked
•1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch dice
•4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
•2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
•1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
•1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
•3 large eggs, separated
•1/2 cup sugar
•2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•3/4 cup buttermilk
•Garnish: whipped cream
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Pour 1 1/2 inches water into a 3-quart stockpot with a strainer basket, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes, cover, and steam until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Strain the sweet potatoes, place in a large bowl, and let cool to room temperature. Mash them. Place 1 1/4 cups of the sweet potato puree into a large bowl; discard any excess. Add the butter, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

3. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Add the sugar, and beat until they’re lemon-yellow, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the egg mixture to the sweet potato mixture, and stir until the eggs are incorporated and the filling is a consistent bright orange color. Add the flour gradually, stirring after each addition. Add the buttermilk, and stir to incorporate.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, about 1 1/2 minutes. With a wooden spoon or spatula, fold the egg whites into the sweet potato-buttermilk mixture until thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust, and bake on the middle rack until the center is firm and set, 35 to 40 minutes.

5. Remove the pie from the oven, and cool completely on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature (or cover with plastic wrap, chill in the refrigerator and serve cold), with a dollop of whipped cream.

So there you have it - the first edition of the Friday 5.
What do you think?

Happy Friday!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rudolph Christmas taggies.

Who {hearts} BasicGrey paper packs? - raise your hand.
Who {hearts} the BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses paper pack? - raise your hand.
Who can't stop making Christmas tags? - raise your hand.
Yes - I raised my hand all 3 times.

I LOVE making Christmas tags. And I'm finding that I am totally celebrating each and every cool line of paper I've got. So these taggies today are made with papers from BasicGrey's Eskimo Kisses paper pack. I cut out my little Rudolphs from the paper in the pack too; aren't they adorable?? I've also got some pretty lace trim, some vintage buttons, and some Glittered Skittles here.

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EskimoKissesTag1_11_18_09

You won't want to miss being here tomorrow.
I've got something new, exciting and *fab* to share with you.

Have a wonderful day!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Merry Merrymint Christmas.

Happy Hump Day!
Today I'm sharing 2 cards with most of the same product and stamps, but with different end results.

I'm sooooo in love with American Crafts' Merrymint line. Just. Cannot. Get. Enough. I had originally made thank you cards with Merrymint, but I just had to go back and make "real" Christmas cards with it. In addition to the Merrymint papers, I've also got some American Crafts ribbon and badges on here too. These little badges are so fun - they're like those little button pins we used to wear back in the day that said I {heart} John Stamos or whoever your junior high crush was *blush*

My sentiment is from Studio G and I just love this one because it's big and chunky and can really stand out even on busy cards like these. I'm just lovin' Christmas cards on Aqua Mist cardstock - that, with red, is a really nice look and you'll see that again from me soon *wink* I've embellished my patterned paper with some vintage buttons and a Glittered Skittle from Pez-A-Doodle.

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MerryChristmasSG1_11_15_09

Thanks for stopping in today - *see* you tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Inspiration by fashion.

This week at Jacksonbelle Embellishments we are workin' an inspiration challenge. The challenge was to go to this site and make a card based on something you see there. Now I'm not totally sure if inspiration challenges mean you have to go full-boar and go with the shape and style that you see in the inspiring object, so I went with the colors of these skirts:

InspirationChallengeSkirts

Pink and green with a little bit of blue mixed in. Pink and green to me is one of those odd mixes like pink and brown - you wouldn't think of it, and then you see it and it works. So I worked my card around some BasicGrey June Bug paper and a die cut sticker.

ThinkingOfYou_09_30_09

Have you seen the new BasicGrey stuff coming out next month?

Origins

SugarRush

I've got it from a good source *giggles* that these will be in the Jacksonbelle store soon just in time for you to get these for Christmas - - so stay tuned! And be sure you head over to the Jacksonbelle blog to see what the rest of the team came up with today for the inspiration challenge!

Thanks for stopping in today - I appreciate your visit!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Colorful Christmas tags.

In case you missed it, I posted some fun purple tags late last night.
So scroll down and check those out.

Monday Monday....la la la la la la...
(I figure if I sing I'll like Monday more...but oddly, it's not working - LOL)

So Miss "I don't do challenges because they're too hard for me" went and tried the My Mind's Eye sketch challenge this week. This was a little tricky for me because I think the sketch was made with scrapbook layouts in mind. So being a cardmaker, I had to fit all the little pieces that the sketch called for into a considerably smaller space than a 12x12 layout, get what I'm sayin'?

I mixed and matched bunches of MME papers that I had from last year and this year and even some that were on clearance last year that I think were from the year before. Not sure if that was a good idea or not because these are waaaaaay busy - and if I think they're busy, then man, they really must be over-the-top *giggles* These were totally fun to put together though and that's really what it's all about. And I think on like a shoebox size Christmas package with some solid paper, these would look fabby!
(I just have to tell you that I first typed "baffy" instead of "fabby" - - baffy...that's cute...maybe I just invented a new word.)

Papers and ribbons are from MME, and I've got some vintage buttons and some Glittered Skittles and Dew Drops on there as well.

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MMETag1_11_12_09

Here's wishing you a baffy day!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Celebrating Plum.

Me again! This is my second post for today and with some tags I made for a really fun challenge.
Be sure and scroll down for my first post.

I'm back with some Christmas tags that I made for the Moxie Fab World's "Plum Crazy" challenge. Purple being my favorite color (in all things but clothes to wear because it reminds me of this purple sweater I used to wear in high school and the mean boys would call me Grimace *tears*) I just had to play along this time around!

This first tag features papers, ribbons, stamps, ink and button by Papertrey Ink and a cute lil' Cosmo Cricket chipboard snowman.
MoxieFabPurpleTag1_11_15_09

My second tag is my favorite of the two - it's more glam. Again I've got mostly Papertrey goodness, but I've also got some beautiful Prima leaves and some swirly bling from Zva Creative; button is by Doodlebug that I picked up at my LSS some time ago.
MoxieFabPurpleTag2_11_15_09

See you back here in the morning!