Card Request

My friend Debbie requested a card made from the "It's Pasture Birthday" set. Apparently her brother's birthday was over a month ago. Speaking of which, APPARENTLY my brother doesn't know his own address and I've gotten my Christmas card and his birthday card back in the mail. Sheesh. Is it that hard folks to look at some bill that's been sent to you and say, "OH, that's my address!" Enough griping. I'm just tired and worn out without the dh around to fill in the gaps between homework and guitar practice and preschool and meetings and potlucks, oh and WORK. Yuck. Didn't I already say enough griping. I'm done.

Today on the way to take Jakob to school it was fairly warm, I think today it going to be a beautiful day. Wonderful weather ahead. I'd better hurry along though. Oh, I bought Tessa the cutest dress yesterday. It has pink hydrangeas on it. I can't wait to take her pic in it. Soon. We really need to get family pictures done, I think Aaron was 6 months old the last time and he'll be three in March. Sheesh. I've been a total slacker on that front.

Just wanted to say thanks to Jenn D. I recently won the So Many Sayings stamp set on her blog and got it in the mail yesterday. THANKS JENN! You're such a sweetie!

If anyone has any tips on mounting this set it would be much appreciated. Have a great day.

Eggcellent!

So again with the Egg! This time I embossed it in white and then used my aqua painter and inks to fill it in. The coral bg paper is not that bright IRL but oh well. The swirls (grass) are from Technique Tuesday and stamped in Old Olive. I used my Fiskars edge punch for the detail on the side. Finished off with some Fruit Punch Stickles. This egg is more to my liking.

So a little note about the hubby being gone. He sorta kinda neglected to leave us with any cut wood (to be fair, when he left for work Mon. morning he didn't know he'd be gone all week). We heat our entire home solely by a wood burning stove, propane can get super expensive during the winter. So, yesterday me and my little peeps went outside and mommy proceeded to cut wood with a circular saw ( I won't dare touch a chain saw). My little helpers loaded all the wood I cut into their wagon and stacked it in the wood shed...even little A. I really felt like a Pioneer. My super wonderful friend Lucia came over and helped me with her dh's circular saw and I totally think we're gonna be toasty this week. Now when I need more wood I won't feel like I have to wait around for my man to cut it, I'm a confident, strong, woman. Go WOMAN! Have a great day.

Mojo Monday

My dh left this morning and will be gone for the whole week. This bums me out. I don't do well when he's away...the house is cleaner but it feels incomplete.

I wanted to use a sketch today and get some creating done, so I visited Julee Tillman's blog and used her MojoMonday#26 sketch . i finished up kinda late so my picture has the evening sun feel to it. I'll try to retake it tomorrow.

Deelio:

Stamps: Seeds of Kindness, Double line Doodles; Inks: So Saffron, Groovy Guava, Rose Red, Cameo Coral, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie.

Paper: K&Co

Eggcitement!

Just wanted to let y'all know that the girls on my basketball team won the whole enchilada. They're awesome. I'm really proud of them especially since they had to play seven games in less than twentyfour hours. It's been a long couple of days.

I had a lot of fun making this little Easter card. I thought the white embossing powder would resist the chalk more than it did?!?! Oh well. I'm going to try watercoloring next time.

Deelio: Egg stamp, Impression Obsession; flower stamp from Stampin' Up Noteworthy. Easy Peasy

Priceless Poser

My daughter, Tessa, loves to pose for the camera. Yup, she's a natural. Papers are basic grey. I used my double heart punch. I believe the chip letters are from Heidi Swap. I sanded them and then inked them with a couple of different colors. The buttons are FooFaLa.
Time to get busy with the errands! Have a super day!

PS Don't forget about the awesome blog candy being offered when 10,000 hits rolls around.

Tzatziki--It's what's for dinner!

Well tzatziki and pita and spinach-feta hummus and lettuce and tomatoes and a little beef. YUM! We layered like tostadas because I couldn't get the wheat pockets to open.

TZATZIKI

1 pint sour cream (I used plain yogurt instead with a little sour cream added in.)
· 1 English cucumber , peeled, grated on a box grater, salted lightly for 5 minutes and squeezed between the hands to remove extra water (the long, thin, almost seedless kind)
· 3 garlic cloves , mashed to a paste
· 1/2 cup olive oil
· 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
· 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill (optional)
· to taste salt
Directions
1. Just mix everything up together until it is all blended and the oil has emulsified into the yoghurt/sour cream. Taste for seasoning, and add salt if you think necessary. Put in a resealable container.
2. Allow to 'sit' in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours before using to allow the flavors to come out.

We made the hummus from scratch too but I have to warn you. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of crushed red pepper flakes, we only used one Tablespoon and it was still WAY hot. I would ommit altogether next time or maybe only use a tsp otherwise super yummy. My dh said he would eat it as a chip dip.

SPINACH FETA HUMMUS
1 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas (15 oz), drained
1/2 cup fresh spinach
3 oz, crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cups red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon roasted garlic
PREPARATION:
In a food processor combine, beans, spinach, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. Blend well. Add cheese and red pepper flakes and blend to a smooth and creamy dip.

And I just wanted to say thank you to Samantha at Living Creatively for sending me this beautiful Valentine. So appreciated.

Have a great day.

I started this lo forever ago at a get together at my friend Linda's house She gave us a lot of the goodies that went into this lo. I can't exactly claim it as all mine but I've added my own personal touches, and it's a finished lo!My dd Tessa was a flower girl at a friend's daughter's wedding along with her closest friend Kate. The best part about it was that when Tessa walked down the aisle ahead of the bride she didn't toss out flowers at her feet, NO, she carefully placed one flower petal at a time on the ground. The guests all thought she was adorable and although it took her longer than practiced to get down the aisle she got there and Kate, such a sweetie, waited patiently for her.

I just needed to make some cards for the store. I find it really hard to do sympathy cards, but they sell so I need to do them. I've been thinking about retirement cards to because people have asked for them but I'm not sure what to do for them.

So today is a Costco day. I need to get refreshments for Saturday's get together as well as for my Young Women's Basketball tournament which is Friday and Saturday (had to get a sub for Saturday). Busy, busy weekend coming up. Travis just found out that he's supposed to attend this Boy Scout Training thing on Saturday which I was peaved about because I had asked him a month ago to do something with the kiddos. Jakob also has a bowling birthday party to attend Saturday afternoon. I know I should just be supportive but I have to admit frustration with last minute announcements about training.

Show me some love baby!

This is one of the layouts that I made the other night. I had a lot of fun with it. I told myself I had to use what I brought with me to complete my pages and I did. I didn't buy a SINGLE thing at the store. Aren't you proud of me. This is a picture of Tessa giving Jakob a kiss. She loves to do this so I have several through the years.

Deelio: Chipboard heart frame is from Technique Tuesday. Buttons, paper and rub on from FooFaLa. I used several different sized cirlce and hole punches to fill in the heart shape. They hd a butterfly punch there that I used to create the red butterflies. The black butterfly is a stamp from the SU Kind Thoughts set stamped in black staz-on.

I hope that they always stay this close and support eachother as life goes on.

Bibs Away

I went to Midnight Madness at a LSS last night and for once I got A LOT done...that might have to do with the fact that I knew no one there and pretty much kept to myself and scrapped away. I will be posting the layouts throughout the week. I'm throwing a Stampin' Up party this Saturday and I hope all goes smoothy this week with getting the homefront in order. Jakob has Monday and Tuesday off of school. I'm finally going to exchange Christmas gifts with my dear friend Natalie and her kiddos tomorrow. So that pretty much sums up my life right now...on to the fun stuff.

Here's a cute little bib card. I hope this looks like a bib anyway! I tried, I really did. I wanted a different kind of baby card so here's what I came up with.
Deelio: I used my creative memories circle cutter to cut out the card shape. I scored it along the top so that I could add eyelets and still be able to flip it open. I used my SU scalloped punch to make the neckline.
The hippo stamp is from Autumn Leaves and the sentiment is from SU Noteworthy. I just tied white ribbon through the eyelets for a finishing touch.

Back Tracking for Nicole

My friend, Nicole said she misses the stuff on my blog that has more to do with my fam so I'm going to post something fabulous we did at Christmas time with the kiddos. So much fun. We made salt dough ornaments and a couple of salt dough nativities. It's very interesting stuff to work with and you have to seal it when you're done or it will continue to dry out and crack. Here's Tessa helping daddy roll out the dough (he did most of the hard work).

I plan on painting my nativity before next Christmas, but the pieces that Jakob made will probably just be varnished. Most of the trees were taken to church for the kids to paint there. I pressed the top of a pill bottle into the trees so that the kids could add their pictures in the center or a picture of the nativity. We used a straw for the top hole (to hang them).

I just rolled balls for the nativity pieces and stuck them together with a little water. Toothpicks were added for the staffs. Please don't make fun of my sheep/pig/dog. I had a hard time forming him...so he's just every animal all rolled into one. I love how Jakob's nativity on the right is a little copycat of mine. What is it they say? Copying is the best form of flattery. I love my little boy!

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane and have a great day.

Happy Birthday To Jenn A.

Jenny-O's Birthday today. We like to tease her and tell her she's SO old, just cuz she's the oldest in our group... give her a hard time and all. So Jenn, how old are you now, 40? Hope you have a wonderful birthday and if you see this before you get your card and present, oh well, it's on it's way. Take care and have a great day all. I've got a lot on my agenda for today. Plus, Travis and I are going to a couples fondue party tonight, should be some yummy fun.

Deelio: I used the butterfly stamp from Kind Thoughts with my Kaleidecolor Riveria stamp pad. I then drew some lines and added irredescent beads to the lines. The sentiment is from Love Maters.

PS head on over to Lisa Bearnson's Blog to see all the packages the Brian Nishimoto received by Monday of this week. I know my package couldn't have gotten there that fast. I'd love to see a pic of ALL of them together.

Heads Up! On a bunch o' stuff.

Are you getting gussied up tonight like this here... um... er gentlemen to my left.

Thanks to Sue Daly for nominating me for this awesome award.

I would like to pass this nom on to

Jill at Inkgenious

Jenn at Stamp Your Heart Out

Jenn at Llegue

Happy Valentines Day Everybody! (I don't really play into the gimmicks anymore other than making my dh a card and helping my kiddos with theirs). It's something cute to celebrate though!

I am just giving y'all the heads up that when this blog o'mine reaches 10,000 hits there will be some FABULOUS blog candy (courtesy of the kindhearted Sue Daly, Mr. Brown and his mistakes, and the wonderful SU!) With that hint, and if you read my blog then you might be able to guess one of the things I'll be giving away shortly. It really is pretty awesome, so stay tuned. On that note I'm off to create or take a nap which ever one happens first.

***For all those who live in the Albuquerque area there is an amazing craft store you HAVE to visit. It's called Rhonda's Creative Crafting Center!!!! I was NOT disappointed when I went there for the first time today. They had every color of stickles imaginable and YUMMY paper (you don't want to miss it, yeah, you know who I'm talking to). PLUS they gave me a box of chocolates, a heart shaped notebook and a bag full of Valentiny goodness when I checked out!!! (Each of my kiddos also got a box of chocos and a heart notebook which they quickly filled with stickers, that was so sweet!) Awesome... we just don't have stores like that around here, it was like being at convention again.

Back from the Doc

She's got Pneumonia and he's just got the left over croupy cough, which could last for weeks. Ugh! But get this, the doc said she was fine to go to preschool tomorrow! What!?!? Now I've got to disappoint my baby girl because there's no way I'm taking her to school tomorrow. My friend suggested we just drop of her Valentine's and then next week when she's better she'll be able to get hers. So I hope you all have a wonderful day.

PS here's a pic of a matchbox toothfairy box I made for my oldest. I'm going to make one for each of my children as a keepsake. I just printed out the title. Drew the teeth, cut them out and popped one up. It's the perfect size for a folded up dollar bill (that's right, this tooth fairy is CHEAP!) I remember getting a quarter.

No More Boo Hoo Hoo

Kind Thoughts arrived yesterday via Mr. Brown along with my new Blender Jar. Boy was I stoked. Not only did I get a great stamp set but I got to drink a smoothie while I mounted it. YUM!

I think that this card will go to my dearest, sweetest, hubbie.

Deelio: Beates WSC#34 was used to start this card. I used a rolodex card as the base for the sentiment which is from Love Matters. I stamped the big scroll from Kind Thoughts multiple times in white craft ink on the brown card base for my background. Everything else is stamped in Purely Pomegranate. I can't believe I still have scraps of this doodle wheel paper I made. I really like it, but I need to use it up already. I used my water brush to highlight some areas in the sentiment and on the other images.

Have a great day. Taking the two little ones to the doctor today. I'm so done with winter. Bring on the spring!

I've got Moxxie

I first want to say THANK YOU to Elizabeth at It's my thingy because she sent me the whole "How do I love thee" line from Moxxie. I received papers, rub-ons, cardstock stickers with coordinating chipboard. AMAZING! I feel so blessed and I love the way this lo came together. Except for the little goof at the top. When I get back from Fuddruckers I'll write more about this little beauty.

The Deelio: All paper and rubons are Moxxie. I used my Simply Said and Love Matters stamp sets for the hearts on this lo. I colored the images with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons, spritzed them and then stamped for that soft look. I drew the swirls with a prisma pencil and used my Regal Rose SU Water Color Crayons on the parenthesis mark. I had these cute little love bug stickers from Mrs. Grossman's that I added for whimsy. I x-actoed the parenthesis and added the smaller pic under that. That's about it.

Boo Hoo Hoo

Sue Daly over at StampnDaly was so super sweet and offered to send me my pick out of the new catalog! Of course, I jumped at the chance and bowed down to her a couple of times too. I picked Kind Thoughts because it's gorgeous and I loved the swirls and butterfly. Well, I just found out today that UPS LOST my package!!!!! Can you believe that? Stampin' up was so sweet and said that if they couldn't find the package they'd send out another one a.s.a.p. I was supposed to get it Friday, but now I'm still waiting. I'd better go create something to make me feel better. Have a great day.

Making Brian's Day!

FIRST Check out this post on Lisa Bearnson's blog and see if you can help... I have SO many stickers that I just threw a whole bunch in an envelope and mailed them off with this card to Brian Nashimoto (he's a major sticker fiend). Lisa's hope is that he gets them for V-day! I wish I could see the look on his face as he receives tons of stickers and I hope he has fun with them all.

Again, I used Julee Tillman's Honored Guest sketch, can you tell I'm trying to become the honored guest?!?!?! The heli stamp is from SU Going Somewhere (retired). Stamped in Taken with Teal. The tab sticker is from SEI. Have a great day

Changito Twins

I used Julee Tillman's Honored Guest Sketch for these cards.

I have twin boys in my Sunday school class and they turned 8 this week. They're stinkin' adorable and they're taking guitar lessons right now so I went with this Changito stamp. I wanted the cards to be similar but not the same...the boys have told me they're not identical...one of them has a longer face then the other. This just cracks me up! They make me smile every Sunday and that's why I used the sentiments: Funny Guy and You make me Smile on they're birthday cards. Have a great day. Off to preschool and the Library.

Good Morning...let the stress begin! I had a lot of fun making this card. I started out trying to use a Julee Tillman sketch but it came out really different. I used the sticky embossing powder and glitter on the flower from In the Spotlight. The words around the green circle are "Valuable, Sister, Friend, Irreplaceable".

We had snow again last night, but nothing big and although the townies delayed school we are on regular schedule and I drove Jakob to school today. His cough seemed better this morning as he was eating MY Smart Start and telling me how good it is. I was like "hands off buddy, you get cheerios!" He just laughed.

Tried to finish up the taxes last night but sometimes it's so confusing. I can't tell wether my IRA interest is "taxable interest" or "non taxable". I mean can't they just say it in plain English? Enough griping. I'm off to shop for a blender since I can't live without fruit smoothies and my jar fell off the counter last week and smashed into a million little pieces. The replacement jar looks like it'll cost 22.99 plus shipping (whatever that is). I'm debabting about just buying a whole new $50.00 blender. What do you think? Have a great day!

Recipe: All stamps are Technique Tuesday except for the larger flower. Inks: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery

Pasture Birthday

I was given this stamp set a couple of months ago. I'm not sure how long it's been retired, but I think it's pretty cute. I used Beate's Weekend Sketch for this card and it's a larger card than I normally make. The sentiment inside is "Pasture Birthday". I used my blender pen and ink pads to color the images.

Recipe:Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, OldOlive, Basic Black, Ballet Blue

Accs: Hole punch, 1/2" circle punch, buttons, American Crafts ribbon

I've got all my kiddos home with me cuz my boys are coughing like crazy. They've had the steroid dose and I hope it helps soon.

Cards, what cards?

Ummm how can I possibly create when my table looks like this? So, THIS is what I'll be working on today. What a mess!!!! Oh, and hopefully taxes. My boss, at the store always waits 'til the very last day in Jan to send out our W-2's. Have a great day!

Also today is my little brother's birthday. He turned 30! There's only a year between us and I'm older, so I get to boss him around, plus I'm way more responsible! You know how that goes. Just wanted to wish him a great b-day. Sorry for the blurry pic, that's what happens when you give my mom the camera!