Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Want to bless someone today

What a question right? I recieved a prayer request from some sweet friends of mine Cheryl aka Cherylquilts and Pat aka Patsmethers on SCS to pray for Ben and Susie.
Ben and Susie are missionaries through Athletes in Action/Campus Crusade for Christ International. They share their hearts and love of Christ with others daily. Susie is currently pregnant and apparently Susie was having some strange "episodes" as she states. She went to the doctor to find out what was happening. Come to find out Susie had a brain leision/tumor that was causing all these problems. Being pregnant means that the treatment is a bit more complicated and scary for both baby and mom. As of right now they are doing okay. If you click on the link above about 3 posts down you will see a video of Ben talking, its rather long but worth seeing the update on Susie.
Now I am sure you are wondering why I told you all that? This is where your blessing comes into the picture. Can you pray for Susie and Ben? Why not take it a step further and really show an out pouring of love by sending them a card? They are in the mission field so all cards need to be sent to Melissa at this address:
Athletes in Action
Attention of Megan Soderberg
651 Taylor Drive
Xeria, OH 45385


Ben and Susie have three other small children. They would love the prayers and a card also. (Simon (6), Talya (almost 4) and Charlie (almost 3). God gave us this talent and desire to bless others so let's do just that! You don't even have to make a new card, grab something from your stash and send it along. Most importantly please say a prayer for them. God is the ultimate healer and can do all things. Even missionaries can get scared in a crisis and need our love and prayers.

This is for Susie. I really debated on what I wanted to send and I wanted something that speaks freshness and hope. This is fresh and spring like I think. Hopefully this will make her smile, feel refreshed and stronger for the day. I used the adorable Miss Anya Love. It is not a round card but it is a shaped card, figured you all might be tired of the round cards. Since Pat was one that asked me to pray I used some of my special and cherished Pat blooms for Susie also. Now I am off to work on some cards for the kids. I hope you can join me and send some prayers and cards to Ben and Susie. Have a great day!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Human Lego boys

When you are home sick its not a lot of fun. Unless you have enough Lego's to make your own human lego. ha! The boys are underneath much like you would bury someone at the beach under the sand, they have buried themselves under their Lego's. The fact that they have this many and didn't even use the extra bin amazes me. The best investment we have made in the toy area is the Lego's. They create so many amazing things with them, its awesome. Hoping that they are better very soon! However this is super cute don't you think? Thanks for stopping in with me today!

Monday, February 27, 2012

HMF #114 Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

House Mouse and Friends Blog Challenge this week is Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice. Lori is our host this week and her challenge is: I am going to be a grandma again VERY soon...and it's a GIRL! To celebrate ...my challenge is to create a project for a precious little girl in your life. Our fabulous Sponsors this week are: House Mouse Designs/ Pizzazz Aplenty; My Creative Classroom. Be sure to check out the HMF Blog for all the details and linking your creations.

I could of gone all girl and had total pink on my card, however I wanted a little bit of green to go with the pink as I think its so pretty. This adorable House Mouse is called Baby Shoes and one of the cutest ones I have for babies. They are so sweet nestled in those shoes. hee hee Added a few of these flower rosets that my friend Billie sent me along with a few pearls and voila. Sweet baby card for my stash.
Did you know that the House Mouse Stamps Web Page has a place where you can load all your House Mouse creations? Its called HMD By Me (hand Made By Me) and you can have all your wonderful creations easily added by going here. They would love to see all creations with their adorable stamps in the gallery, so head on over and load your creations today! Have a wonderful day.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Birthday Blog Hop


Let’s light the candles and strike up the music!! The owner of Flourishes – Jan Marie Caruso – is celebrating a birthday and we’re helping her by getting the party started with just about the entire Flourishes Crew! Why not leave some love on her blog HERE and while you are hopping around, pay a visit to the Flourishes team members who are honoring her special day! Jan I hope your day is wonderful and your year is even better! Happy Birthday!

My creation is using A Year In Flowers 2. The fun trim was actually made from cutting out several other dies and the end result was this fun design. Well I am not one to waste a cool design so here you go. lol Tied my sentiment off with a button and twine combo as Betty taught me that buttons are my friend. Yes they are, and I can't put them down. LOL

In honor of Jan’s special day, the worker bees behind the scenes decided to
have a COLORFUL sale to help celebrate! TODAY and TOMORROW only – all Copic
Markers
will be on sale 15% off. Just use the code COPIC15 in the coupon code box at the time of check out to get this fun discount! So, join us in singing her a special little birthday song! Be sure to check out all the fun and festive wishes and grab some great ideas for birthday cards along the way!
Here is your Blog Hop order so as to not get lost today:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Dawn
Danielle
Barbara
Tammy
Sharon
Betty
Cindy
Makiko
Silke
Beate
Heather
Mona
Kathy
Yvonne
Pat Adam

Thursday, February 23, 2012

No Dies circle card

Happy Thursday! Some exciting news to share with you. Totally Stampalicious is introducing Stampalicious Thursday's! Every other Thursday check out the Totally Stampalicious Blog for a fun tutorial, project or fun creation that one of the Design Team have for you. Guess who is today's DT with a tutorial? ME! I have a fun little tutorial called No Dies, No Worries. I created this card using my tutorial using Stampalicious Scarlette. Even more exciting news is she is now available for SALE! To mark the kick off of our Stampalicious Thursday's and by popular requests she is for sale. Check out the TS blog for the tutorial and all the details on Stampalicious Scarelette! Have a great day!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Rock a Bye Baby Stampalicious Style

On the Totally Stampalicious Blog today its all about Rock a Bye Baby. Create a baby card for a new mom, first birthday anything for the babies. Check out the TS Blog for details on how to link your creations for us to find.
My baby boy card is using Angel Bears, this is one of my favorite bear sets. Easy peasy design with the reverse frame using the Spellbinders Classic Ovals today. I did this recently on a few cards and well once I start I don't stop. ha! Added a few pearl accents and a ribbon with prima for the tag tie off and Voila!
Totally Stampalicious just released the new Bugaboo line we are carrying. Be sure to check out all the new goodies! As well remember our Stampalicious Desert Menu! Hope you get to play along with us today.



Saturday, February 18, 2012

I have a confession.....

I am a total foodie! I love Foodnetwork, cookbooks, cooking channels all of it. On average we try about 3-4 new recipes a week in our house. The boys are really good about trying new things and DH loves it. Well this particular recipe I wanted to make was a craxy mess. Then it got me to thinking why don't I share these with you? I have friends and family who always ask for the recipe so now everyone can have them if they want. DH said not sure why you haven't done this the whole time. ha If you happen to stop by here and there you might start seeing a Foodie Post from me! Now for this crazy recipe!
A week ago I watched an episode of America's Worst Cooks on FN. Robert Irvine had this gorgeous Vanilla Brioche Bread Pudding with Peach Suzette Sauce recipe that I thought I would try. Now the bread puddings I have had are always dry or no flavor. Other than one time at this resort that was super expensive, that was delicious there. Well the judges on the show raved about this and Robert even said it was better than when he makes it. So.... I went with Dh to get all the ingredients on Friday. This recipe calls for Brioche bread? I have never heard of it and neither had the 3 stores I went to. We head back to the grocery store and DH looks on his phone for a Brioche bread recipe. If I am going to make this I want to make it right, this wasn't asking for any loaf of bread. It was a bit more specific and I didn't want to try and substitute. Anyways, we find a recipe and I made the bread.

This made 2 loaves and I have to tell you it doesn't look like much for all that work, right? After 3 1/2 hours making this bread I wanted it to look different I guess. It was a huge mess in making as it wants you to knead a cup of butter in stages into this bread. If you have kneaded bread you can only imagine how slimy and messy this was. I said to DH this better be worth it. It is now Saturday night and dinner time. Our new dinner recipe turned out awesome as well which was Slow Cooker Brisket sandwiches. Now we just had the brisket and all the sides etc, but you can use the Brioche bread with this as well.
Back to this bread pudding. The sauces are cooked and ready to slather on the scrumptious dessert or so we are hoping. This is the first dish served up, the little touch of Creme Fraiche on top and voila.....

The most delishes bread pudding I have ever HAD! It was so darn DELICIOUS.... I can't even begin to say how great this was. It was so creamy and moist, the creme fraiche was tangy and with the smooth sweet sauce it was awesome. Oh my goodness! I will gain 20 pounds if I make this a lot. Holy smokes! If you had smell-o-vision on the computer you would want to eat your monitor. ha! Now I have a whole loaf of Brioche bread to use and look what I found while finding these links for you all? A fabulous Tyler Florence recipe with guess what.... Brioche bread! Gasp! I adore Tyler as he has some of my favorite recipes so here is the next one I am trying with my Brioche Bread called Brioche and Berry Bread Pudding with Lemon Fondant! I will let you know how that turns out. Thanks for listening and seeing me ramble about my food addiction. hee hee Have a great evening.


Friday, February 17, 2012

Free for all Friday

**Totally Stampalicious Blog Hop post Below this post**


Over on Flourishes Blog today it is a free for all Friday. I am going to show you another creation i made using the new set released last week called He Is Risen. I have also used the new 1,2,3 Create Kit called Bonjour with my creation. This cross is just gorgeous, Marcella did another fabulous design job with this set. I just love it. The cross is colored with copic collections



Very simple yet beautiful Easter card. Don't forget that the New Release Bundle Savings ends very soon. Don't miss your chance at these beautiful sets with a discount. The 123 Create Kit Bonjour is going fast so don't miss out on this beautiful kit either. Now check out the beautiful creations from the Design Team:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Dawn
Danielle
Barbara
Tammy
Sharon
Jan Marie

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Totally Stampalicious Feb. Blog Hop and New Release

Welcome to Totally Stampalicious February New Release and Blog Hop!! If you just arrived here from Angel's Blog you are in the right place. If you are just joining us head back on over to the TS Blog to start hopping!
We are super excited to share another round of stamps from our witty, hilarious and just plain ol' adorable Bugaboo Line by artist Jodie Mackrell of Bugaboo Digi Stamps! We have FOUR BRAND NEW SETS for you tonight and they are all available NOW at Totally Stampalicious!!
As always we want you to play along in our Release Blog Hop so we're going to give away some PRIZES!!!
1st Prize - All FOUR New Stamp Sets
2nd Prize - $15 Gift Certificate
3rd Prize - $5 Gift Certificate
All you gotta do is comment your way through the hop and YOU could be a lucky winner!!!
Don't forget that Totally Stampalicious also has an awesome promotion going on right now!
Stampalicious Dessert Menu
Level 1 - Vanilla Ice Cream - Buy 5 Get 1 Free
Add 5 items to your shopping cart and then enter the code VANILLA
Level 2 - Strawberry Shortcake - Buy 8 Get 2 Free
Add 8 items to your shopping cart and then enter the code STRAWBERRY
Level 3 - Triple Layer Chocolate Cake - Buy 11 Get 3 Free
Add 11 items to your cart and then enter the code CHOCOLATE

I used the new Gus Golf for my creation. This set has some FUNNY sentiments and I can only think of my dad for most of them. LOL He will get a kick out of them for sure. I went a little on the fru fru side with the ribbon but I think it will be okay, my dad is pretty good with my cards. ha! Hope you enjoy the hopping tonight!
Now hop on over to Joanne's Blog for your next hop. Enjoy your day!


Let it Snow

Not really as I want spring, but that is the sentiment on my card. ha! I played in the Ways To Use It Challenge 362 over on SCS today. Its been forever since I played in one of them and it was super fun as I got to create my own border. I used the Spellbinders Parisian Accents for the border. This is a 2 1/ x 2 1/2 Die in the set but I cut it into 4 pieces so that I can create a border. So about 3 1/2 punch outs make this border when cut into 4ths. This is one of my new The Greeting Farm Stamps I ordered called Rain, Snow, Shine, isnt she just darling? I added stickles to the bottom of her coat and some pearls to my primas. Another Christmas card down. Whohoo! See you back here tonight for Totally Stampalicious New Release and Blog Hop. Have a great day.




Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Miss Leopard Birthday

This is totally FUN for a birthday card I think. I used Miss Anya Hats Off for my card. It has been forever since I created a frame using Spellbinders Classic Ovals and doing a reverse frame with it. I do like how this turned out. This leopard print paper is from Basic Grey's Little Black dress paper pack. How fun is that? Added a little bit of hot cocoa sheer ribbon and tied it off with a button twine combo. Adorable birthday card!

Hoping that my new order of Anya and Ian's from The Greeting Farm come today. They had several that were on my wish list forever and I finally broke down and purchased them. Yea!
On a personal note all kids are back to school and healthy. Strep Throat ran through both the twins and finally everyone is on the mend. Ranger went to the vet this morning to have something removed from his abdomen. He got something like cheat grass or a sliver logged up in there and would not come out. So today they are going to sedate him and remove the foreign object. Praying that its nothing serious. We are able to pick him up late this afternoon. His last appointment he was 80 pounds. When we took him in to have this looked at last week, it took 3 of us to hold him down so the vet could poke around and see what was going on. I about fainted. ha! I am a wimp I know. Otherwise he is doing great. I need to post pictures as I have not done that in awhile and I know some of you have been asking. Anyways... thanks for stopping in today!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Quick and easy Valentine treat

Happy Valentines Day! Today I wanted to show you an easy little valentine table treat that I made. I like the little hershey kiss shaped cards that I have seen so I decided to make a little table top treat for the table this year for our valentines dinner. The boys helped pick out the menu as usual and the table decorations. These will sit at the place settings. Easy Peasy to make too.
First thing here are the supplies I used. Spellbinders Grand Calibur and Classic Hearts , stamp set Love notes , silver cord, scor-pal tape, ribbon, and whole punch.

Take your heart shape and run it through your machine and cut out two hearts. I have one already cut and embossed and ready for the next one here. If you do not have the heart shape you can free hand draw a heart, just make sure to cut them both out using the same template as they need to be the exact same.

Once your hearts are embossed you will turn them over as shown so you can score them. This makes the base to hold the treats. I have one scored and folded up and one ready for you to see where to score. Score right up till the heart curves meet in the middle.
Once score you will add your scor pal take to one of the hearts on the inside as the other hearts outside panel will adhere to the tape as shown.


Next hold your heart tips together and slide your sentiment tag inside the tips like shown. Hold and then punch your hole with all three pieces where you would like them.

Now take your tag and set it aside. If you want to add texture or stamped images to the front and back now is when you would do that. My pink one I ran the swiss dots folder over it, for this one I stamped out some hearts using Tokens of Affection.

Next you will tie off your sentiment tag between the tips for the heart. I first tie it off with the silver cord just so its easier to tie on the other ribbon like shown. Then you are ready to finish any decorations you want to do.
Voila! Easy Peasy Hershey Kiss table treats. The boys were tickled with these and thought that next year I should make them for the class. This year they went with Angry Bird valentines. ha! Hope you and your loved ones have a great day!





Monday, February 13, 2012

House Mouse #113 Make a Wish

Welcome to House Mouse and Friends Blog Challenge #113. This weeks challenge is Make wishes come true brought to us by Heather. For playing along with us this challenge our sponsor is: Simon Says Stamp Prizes, with a $(25) gift card to Simon Says Stamp shop. Be sure to check out the blog for all the winners of our blog hop we just had.

Now most don't wish for a birthday to come, but I do. Birthday's are always fun and exciting in our house. I pulled out the adorable Birthday Cupcake stamp for my creation. Added some sparkles to the frosting and tied off my sentiment with a bit of bakers twine and lace. Easy Peasy. Hope you get to play along with us this week! Have a great day!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Patriot Fans turn your head...

Giants Rock! Once again the Giants have beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl! I promised I would get a card ready and mailed to Derek and here it is. Not what I had planned but end result is the same, Giants ROCK! This adorable guy is Football Ian from The Greeting Farm Stamps. I think that Eli is becoming my second favorite QB of all time. HA! If he keeps beating the Patriots in Super Bowls I seriously might have to trade teams. NOT! But they are my second team in the NFL.
:0) Now for a funny story...

So if you follow my blog at all you know that I am a Colts fan and Patriots are my least and I do mean least favorite team. Keep this in mind for a moment and we will come back to it. You know the show NCIS? My favorite show that DH and I watch every season. This week's epidsode was interesting as it was a "What if" sort of senario. As in what if you choose differently how would things turn out. So this got me to thinking and then asking DH what would happen if we didn't get married. Where do you think you would be? I know dangerous question but interesting still the same. His first response was "Hopeless and lost without you honey" yea right, seriously. He then said " Well not sure really. I might have gone to a different college, maybe the college where Brady went. We would of hung out and you never know roomed together" As he is laughing at his funny remark. I socked his arm and said "I would rather you have said married to a Victoria Secret model on some island in the bahamas. That is blashemy in this house! " HA! Funny isn't he. Anyways, this NFL season is over and with a bang if I do say so. Looking forward to this fall. These *anaylists* that keep talking about Peyton Manning and what not are starting to irritate me. They are going to eat their words come March! :0) Have a great day!



Saturday, February 11, 2012

VSN Mini creations

In December I played in my first ever VSN Mini, Virtual Stamp Night over on Splitcoaststampers. It was a BLAST. Not hard, easy and fun contrary to what I may have thought before. So the VSN Mini for Feb, prepping you for the Big Event in March was last night. Here are some of the creations I made for VSN Mini. I am on a round card kick if you noticed from the bottom three. ha! Just going to list the company that the stamps are from as I got to get to the grocery store. Hope you have a great weekend!
Flourishes He Is Risen


Clear Dollar Stamps Tulip Wreath


Sweet N Sassy Stamps Springtime Cocoa


The Greeting Farm Miss Anya Hats Off



Friday, February 10, 2012

Introducing He Is Risen


Today is release day which means all the stamp sets are shown and ready to purchase. Today we are shoiwng our creations of He Is Risen. Such a beautiful cross don't you think? My creation is matted white on white as I really love how that looks. I took my Spellbinders Classic Oval and created a window after I stamped the cross out. I then cut out the window and matted it up on dimensionals with my sentiment on the inside base layer. The flowers are colored using Copic Collections Buttercup and Creamy. Added a few pearls and voila!


Release Reminders:
  • You have a chance to win our entire release by playing in our Black, White Plus One pre-challenge.
  • We have our Mystery Blogger don't forget. By commenting on each of the DT blogs you might be the Mystery Blogger.
  • Now for the creations from the Design Team today:
    Christine
    Cindy
    Julie
    Dawn
    Danielle
    Barbara
    Tammy
    Sharon
    Jan Marie
    Beate