Embracing Life in Ruby Red....

It's been more than a week since I have posted. Not only am I under the weather but I have been on a rollercoaster with one of my best girlfriends (friend since 7th grade) who had to have breast surgery last week. Praise God, the two tumors removed were benign but it was a scary couple of weeks going through the process with her. I've had several friends and aquaintences go through similar experiences but never anyone so close to me. Marina and I have been friends since we were 13 (ironically our birthdays are two days apart -same hospital, same doctor delivered us) so this hit VERY close to home for me.

During the process she appointed me to be the contact person for all our junior high and high school girlfriends. While I loved reconnecting with everyone, I hate that it took a life crisis for all of us to take time out of our busy lives as Moms and wives to sit down and catch up with each other. We have all vowed to get together more often, I can't wait to see everyone the next time I visit my hometown.

So that brings me to my card.... The name for this stamp set could not be more appropriate, "Embrace Life". This was one of the cards my ladies made during January's stamp club. It was inspired this card on SCS made by Renee1.

I stamped the flowers in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear powder one Ginger Blossom DSP and Ruby Red card stock. I cut the flowers out and placed them on dimensionals. I used a ribbon knot for the center of the flowers. My stamp club members really seemed to love this card, even though it was a little time consuming.

One of our favorite books

Mimi gave Micaela this book her first Christmas and it has been a favorite ever since. You're My Little Love Bug by Heidi Weimer is absolutely adorable. You will love this!

I highly recommend this little musical book. It's got a cute little rhyming poem that you will memorize quickly and you will find yourself humming often.

Happy Heart Day

Here's one of the cards we did at Stamp Club this month.

The elephant is paper pieced using Almost Amethyst DSP. It's hard to tell but I used two different patterns. The body is in the stitched flower and the arms and ear are in the argyle pattern. Card stock colors are Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White. The background stamp is Polka Dot. I trimmed .5 inches on the card front to allow the front cover to slide under the scallops. I adhered a strip of DSP to the inside and then used the slit punch to create a scallop border, I added pink and white brads to dress up the scallops. The heart rhinestone was a last minute add on. I am so thrilled to finally use one of those little hearts, I've had a jar-full sitting on the shelf above my desk for close to a year waiting for just the right project!


Thanks for visiting!

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Birthday RAKS

RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness)

Last week I had a birthday. It comes two weeks after Christmas like clock-work! I have two more years of being able to say I am 30-something, then I hit 40 (gulp). In my immediate family (Parents & brother) we celebrate big on birthdays in increments of 5, the ones in between we lay low. Hubby has adopted the policy, so my birthday was a pretty uneventful day except for the three wonderful RAKs I received.

From Kristin Homoly, my very first official customer when I started as a demonstrator and the hostess of my first workshop in March 2006, (and hopefully a future member of my downline) I received this card....

From Jean Ashburner- another one of my first customers and the first member of my stamp club, I received this card.....

And from my second recruit Tina Maxwell, I received this gorgeous fabric covered box for keepsake cards.

Thanks ladies, your thoughtfulness touches my heart!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Micaela and I did a little baking tonight. You know how much fun it is to bake with a 2.5 year old! We made Daddy's favorite, "Oatmeal Raisin" cookies. I have tried lots of different recipes and we like the Quaker Oats' "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie" recipe the best. I found the recipe on the bottom of the Quaker Oats lid and it's the only recipe I've used for the last several years. Try these out, I promise-- they will vanish!

You can access the recipe online by clicking here.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Quaker Oats

Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Preparation:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Note: I add about 1 cup+ of chopped pecans.... I love pecans!

Servings: ABOUT 4 DOZEN

Card & Gift for a Little Princess

Micaela was invited to a Princess Birthday Party a few weeks ago. She was excited because she got to wear her fluffy pink dress and sparkly-glittery pink shoes. It was so fun to see a bunch of 3 year old princesses all dressed up, they were all so cute!

The Birthday Princess' Mommy specifically requested no gifts but we could not go empty handed. I found this great book at the book store, "Count my Blessings 1 to 10" by Jeane Cabral and illustrated by Dubravka Kolanovic. The pages of the book are glossy chipboard and it includes magnetic characters that the children place on each page as you read easy rhymes that remind them of the wonderful blessings they have and enjoy every day. Micaela absolutely loves it, it's one of her favorites. I highly recommend it, you can find it at Amazon here.

Here's the card I made for the Birthday Princess.

Recipe: Pretty in Pink and Whisper White Card Stocks. Embossed tiara using Versamark and Detail Silver Embossing Powder. Used Pretty in Pink and Barely Banana markers to color. Dry embossed scroll & happy birthday sentiment using Cuttlebug embossing folders.

Back in the Saddle Again....

Alright- bear with me... close your eyes and imagine listening to "Back in the Saddle Again" by Gene Autry playing in the background. Ok, I am not into classic cowboy songs but "Back in the Saddle Again" was on "When Harry Met Sally" movie from 1989 which I watched more than a thousand times when I was in college. I kept hearing that song in my head as I was planning and thinking about this.... my 'come back' post.

You have no idea how much I have missed blogging. December is now a blur and I am so glad the new year is here. This was a very unplanned break. I am sorry for not posting, life got very hectic in December for our family. This was hubby's first Christmas in management at UPS and I had NO idea he'd work such long horrible hours, then our daughter was sick with bronchitis (two visits to doctor) and had to miss school, in between I kept visiting stores for KA, then I got sick, then Christmas came and then we took a little trip over New Years so my online time was limited to zilch!

Nonetheless, I am 'back in the saddle again' and I had to make a card to fit the theme.

I used the cowboy from Bronc Buster, the paislies are from Wanted and the striped designer paper is from Ginger Blossoms. Cardstock colors are Chocolate Chip, Ruby Read and River Rock. The cowboy and the paislies were stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink and heat embossed with clear powder. The edges of the River Rock piece were inked on the edge with Ruby Red classic ink and then sponged with Creamy Caramel classic ink, the Ruby Red piece was also inked with Chocolate Chip classic ink. I dusted off my sewing machine and stiched the paper designer paper on, using a wide zig zag stitch. I love to sew on scrapbook pages but I seldom do it on cards. I matted a peice of River Rock with Ruby Red for the inside since you can't really write on Chocolate Chip. I used Hodge Podge Hardware brads in the corners to finish it off.

Be assured I am back and loaded with new ideas. A special thanks to those of you who wrote asking if I was okay--

Happy 2008 and thanks for stopping by!

Building A Display...

This weekend I had to go to our Great Indoors store to redo their displays. This was a big task because TGI has ALOT of merchandise.


Here is the picture before...


And After....

Thanks for stopping by.........