Happy Boo to You!

These are the cards Micaela and I made for her classmates at her two schools. We made 30-something of these little cards. They were incredibly easy! They are small and fit in a coin envelope the size of a business card. These were perfect for a 3 yr old that loves foamy stickers, she had a ball making them. Inside we stamped Happy Boo to You from the retired Booglie Eyes stamp set. We used Pink Passion, Only Orange and Lovely Lilac card stock. Micaela is so proud to hand out her handmade cards, it's totally adorable (I am a proud Mommy)!

Spooky Brownies

Here's a fun recipe I found at the Betty Crocker website. Aren't these adorable!

1 box Betty Crocker® Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for in brownie mix directions
1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy creamy white frosting
Neon green, pink and blue food colors
24 large marshmallows
Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits
Black decorating gel
1 roll Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack (any red variety)
Gummy worms candies


Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F. Bake and cool brownies as directed. Cut into 24 brownies, 6 rows by 4 rows.
Remove lid and foil cover from container of frosting. Microwave frosting uncovered on High about 20 seconds or until frosting can be stirred smooth. Divide warm frosting among 3 small bowls, 1 for each color. Decorate as directed below, using 8 brownies for each.Franken-Brownies Add 5 drops green food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon green frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Decorate with green baking bits for eyes and ears. Use black gel for mouths and centers of eyes. Cut fruit snack to use for hair. Boo-Brownies Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon white frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use black gel for eyes and mouths. Spider Brownies Add 5 drops pink food color and 3 drops blue food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Tuck gummy worms candies under each marshmallow for legs. Spoon 1 tablespoon purple frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use orange baking bits for eyes. Use black gel for mouths, centers of eyes and eyebrows.


You can access the website by clicking here.

Creative Pumpkin Ideas

I love subscribing to the Better Homes & Gardens "100 days of Holidays" email newsletter. Their emails are loaded with terrific decorating ideas and recipes. One of their recent emails was on decorating pumpkins. I love the idea of painting pumpkins because several years ago I cut myself carving a pumpkin. Here's one of my favorites. You can check out a slide show by clicking here.

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we took Micaela to one of the local pumpkin patches we've been visiting the last four Octobers. Micaela was six months old the first time we went. I have about 30 favorite shots but this is probably one of my favorites. We've been taking a picture of her in this pot every year. This year she looked at us kinda funny when we told her to get in (obvious smirk on her face) I am not sure if she'll fit next year. And, I have to tell a story about the sweater she is wearing, I actually bought that when she was six months old and I've been holding on to it for the last 3 years! I am so glad that this year was THE year she finally fit into it!

It's Autumn...

I love this time of the year. Here are two of the cards my ladies made this week at Stamp Club.

This is a simple card I made using one of my all time favorite stamp from the "All Holidays" Stamp Set. I stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear powder. The background on the Chocolate Chip is the Paisley background stamp (choc chip classic ink). I used an ancient Paper Shapers punch to punch out a maple leaf in the corner (I've probably had that punch for 12+ years, I can remember using is as far back as 1997! The ribbon (which I love) is from JoAnn's. The More Mustard circle is designer paper from the Juntos collection in the Spanish Stampin' Up! catalaog. I used the Nestabilities dies for the scalloped and plain circles.

Second card is also simple. I stamped the "Stitched" background on the Really Rust card stock and the sentiment from the Best Yet stamp set in Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The scallopped and plain circles are also done with the Nestabilities dies. The leaft was done using a Cuttlebug die and matching embossing folder-- I just love that leaf!

Thanks for visiting!

I've been stamping & cooking

I've been stamping and cooking just haven't had time to post! September is such a blur, I had so many different things going on, every single weekend was booked. October so far is a total repeat unfortunately. I can't say my life is dull because there are too many things going on. All of the KA trade partners are gearing up for the holidays, we have three weddings in the family and I have double events going on with Micaela since she attends two different schools. In addition to that, my hubby has a giant project going on in our back yard and I've got some redecorating going on inside the house. I am blessed to have such a full life!

Pasta Demo @ Macy's

Macy's is having a huge sale this weekend. I was asked to go in and promote the KitchenAid attachments. Here's my little display. I made pasta using the Pasta Roller Attachment

Thanks for stopping by

Bella Rose Dreams

This is one of the cards my group made for stamp club last week. I got the original idea from Deanna at this blog. I love this Dreams Du Jour stamp set, especially with the Bella Rose paper and these colors.I added a Chocolate Chip layer, changed the ink to Chocolate Chip Craft and embossed with clear powder, changed the ribbon, stamped the butterfly image from the set in Versamark ink on the top half of the card and colored more of the image. I also added a couple of layers and stamped the inside which is one of my favorite things to do..

Recipe: Stamp Set: Dreams du Jour
Card stock: Ruby Red, Old Olive, White
Chocolate Chip craft ink & clear embossing powder, Chocolate chip wide ribbon &Versamark
Ruby Red, Regal Rose, Old Olive markers, Old Olive ink & aqua painter.

Little Bitty Autumn Thank You Notes

I am still making thank you notes for my sister in law. She said she wanted all shapes and sizes, so I made up these little 3x3's using the retired Love Notes from the 2006 Holiday Mini that were available in True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp and Vintage Violet.

These were easy peasy.... I just ran the front of the card through the Cuttlebug using the Textile embossing folder and adhered the More Mustard maple leaf. Ta-Da, I was done! The sentiment on the leaf was computer generated, I punched out the leaves using an ancient EK Success punch that I have had forever and used sponge daubers and various Earth Element colors to add some dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!

RAK from my Upline

My Upline Denise had her quarterly meeting the other day, she gave us all this cute little favor. Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen??? This was made with the Big Shot die cutting machine, the pillow box die, our fabulous Bella Rose DSP and our Red Riding Hood ribbon. I am dying to get that die now--

Thanks Denise!

Proud Mommy Moment

Micaela is in a the pre-k 3 program. Last week she had her first 'assignment'. She had to take her favorite RED item to school for 'show and tell'.
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We started by looking around the house for red items. She headed straight for the kitchen, grabbed a dishtowel, a red spatula out of the drawer and pointed to the Red KitchenAid stand mixer on the counter.

Long story short, she really wanted to take the KitchenAid stand mixer to school to show her friends. As much as I would have loved to have done that for her, I just didn't think it was very practical. After much negotiation, (negotiating with a 3 yr old is not easy) we settled that she would take the red KitchenAid hand mixer and "show" pictures of the stand mixer.
Of course I had to stay to photograph the moment. I am so proud of my girl! Thanks for letting me share.

Macy's Shop for a Cause Event

This weekend, Saturday, September 20th I will be promoting KitchenAid at the Shop for a Cause event at Macy's Stonebriar Centre in Frisco from 11 to 3. I will be in the housewares department demoing the Pasta Roller Attachment. If you've wondered how the attachment works, now is the time to see it LIVE! Please stop by and say hello if you are in the area.

Fall Baking

I went to visit my local Sur La Table store over the weekend. They have the cutest mini pumpkin pans by Wilton. I just love individual serving molds and I think these are adorable.

Teacher Appreciation Purses

I am on the teacher appreciation committee at one of Micaela's schools. Every month we're going to do a little something for all the teachers and staff. Our date for the first token was a week after we met so we decided to go the simple route and get the teachers Sonic gift cards since there is a Sonic very close to the school. I couldn't bare the thought of just handing out gift cards so I volunteered on my own to make some sort of holder.

Last night when I started the project, I really didn't know what I was going to do. In the end, I went with one of my old faithful projects that I learned early on when I became a demonstrator.... a little purse card. I've made hundreds of these over the years.

I struggled with the color scheme because they want us to stick to the school colors which are purple and gold. I decided to go the pastel route on the purse because I just couldn't bring myself to use the colors 'full strength'.

I made 20 of these babies.

The font is cuttlebugged with the swirl embossing folder. I used my brand new Spellbinders Nestabilities to make the top flap and then just punched 1/8 holes in the scallops to dress it up. I used some pastel brads to make a clasp for the purse and a dime size Velcro cirlce cut in half to hold the flap in place.

I printed the inside of the card on the computer and used some white

holiday sparkly gift wrap twine for the handle.

The teachers will get these tomorrow and I hope they like them. Thanks for stopping by...

Busy... Busy...

I can't believe how busy September has been for us. We went on a weekend trip after Labor Day and it's been non-stop. Micaela is in two preschool programs so everyday I am taking her somewhere and then heading off to work for a full day. I've managed to work on a few projects late at night and will be sharing them in the next few days.

Halloween is around the corner

Halloween is around the corner. I was visiting my local Williams Sonoma store over the weekend and they have a whole collection of fun baking items for Halloween.

My favorite was this set of Stamped Cookie Cutters. They are a set of four cookie cutters, a flying witch, pumpkin, cat and skull (not too crazy about skull).

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First, you use the nylon cutters to shape a flat cookie from rolled dough. Then gently press the spring-loaded stamp to add imprinted detail. Pressing harder creates a cutout surface. You can also sandwich a flat cookie and cutout cookie, with a filling of frosting or jam in between. Aren't these adorable?

Green Tip #1

Each year the average American throws away about 100 polystyrene foam cups, each expected to last over 500 years.

Source: Dinegreen.com

Bunch of One Sheet Wonders

My sister in law asked me to make a BUNCH of thank you notes for her. I decided the one sheet wonder technique would be the fastest way to make alot of cards quickly. She wanted simple, tailored cards in earth tones, (she likes brown, blue and green) so I mostly used papers with those colors. All the designer papers I used were 12x12, typically each sheet yeilded enough to make 6 to 8 cards. I didn't use a pattern, just cut the dsp into blocks and started layering. The sentiment was computer generated. I used a circle label Avery template in Word but just printed on card stock.


Here's a sample of each of the sets I made for her. No stamping involved, just paper & punches-- easy peasy!



This last set is my favorite... I made 8 cards with this paper. The circles were dry embossed, I almost don't want to give her these...lol. The paper is from the Nana's Kids glitter stack by DCWV. (Available at JoAnn & Hobby Lobby)

I am back...

Didn't mean to take such a long break. We went to Vegas for my BIL's wedding, it was fabulous. Had out of town company twice and then started to get Micaela ready for preschool-- so I blinked and it's now September. I love autumn!

Home from Las Vegas

We're home from Las Vegas. It was a wonderful trip. My BIL is officially hitched.

Here's a picture of the happy couple.

Picture taken at Ceasar's Palace where the wedding was held.

Flip Flop Card

Today was my boss's last day at work. She was responsible for most of the water conservation efforts of the city. She's did not leave to pursue another opportunity, only to stay home and relax because she's got some health issues. I thought it would be fun to make a flip flop card because what could be more relaxing than flip flops in the summer. We ended up making the theme of her party summer pool type stuff. (Read the next post to see the cute cake I had made for her)

Here's the front of the card. I purchased the ribbon in a spool a couple of years ago at JoAnn, I love how a simple knot looks on the card. I used the Cuttlebug for the Yo Yo Yellow dotted background.

Here's the inside of the card, the alphabet was the retired Whimsical Letters and the chair and Umbrella is from Sparkling Summer also retired. Recipe: Tempting Turquois, Pink Passion, Yo Yo Yellow card stock & markers.

Flip Flop Cake

This was the cake I had made for my boss's going away party. Originally I was going to try to do it myself but with company here and us trying to leave town, I decided my friend Traci would do a much better job. I got the original idea from the Betty Crocker website, they have a video tutorial on how to make it and many others.

Cute Flip Flops

Look at these cute Flip Flops I just got Micaela!

I wish I could get some for me but I feel like I might get some funny looks. My friend Trina makes these and ships them all over the US.

This is Micaela's second pair, I was so bummed when she outgrew her first pair that I decided to "preserve" them in a shadow box because I couldn't bare to part with them!

Check out Trina's store, "Prissy Princess Bowtique" she's got alot of cute bows for girls. Trina has been Micaela's personal bow maker since she was a baby. When I have a special dress that I need a bow for, I just email her a picture and she makes a bow to match!

She's offering a discount for all my readers, 10% off. Just enter MARTHA in the coupon code box.

Ginger Blossoms Friendship Card

Here's a simple card using the Ginger Blossoms Designer Paper and the Think Happy Thoughts stamp set. I love the richness of the Ruby Red floral paper, I am sad to see this paper retire.
I love using the sentiments from the
Think Happy Thoughts stamp set and layering them with different size circles, the scallop circle and brads. I used the retired Spring Flower punch to make the small flower in the center and my 1/8 inch punch for the circles on the petals.


Recipe:
Ginger Blossoms DSP
Ruby Red, River Rock, Groovy Guava card stocks. Ruby Red classic ink.

Cutie Pie Birthday Card

Here is another card using the Cutie Pie designer paper which is also retiring.

The sentiment is from the retired Friend to Friend stamp set and the candles and Happy Birthday image is from the So Many Scallops stamp set. I used the Itty Bitty Backgrounds to make the dots on the So Saffron layer.