Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sketch challenge Wednesday

Good morning, peeps!! I really had no intention of posting today, but when I saw the sketch challenge on SCS this morning, I really wanted to play along. Boy, did I come to regret that decision!!




I decided to use one of my favorite Penny Black images, Dressed Up. This puppy is sooooo cute with his little tie. I decided I'd try my hand at watercoloring again. I embossed the image, & colored it with my Distress Inks. **sigh** I won't even tell you how long it took me. Look at that image.....does it LOOK like it should have taken more than a few minutes?? I could have had it colored with pencils in 10 minutes! I keep trying to expand my coloring horizons....but maybe I should stick to what I know. Anyway, I set out to gather my papers. I used Bazzill Bling Sugar Daddy & DCWV Pets Stack. What I *should* have done was look at the sketch a bit closer. I had layer 4 (the paper with the bones on it) all the way to the left edge, & it wasn't supposed to be. So....being the stickler that I am....I started to remove it. Oh, how I wish I had some Undu! I ended up ruining the brown layer underneath, & had to add another over it. So when I say there's lots of layers on this card......there are more than you know, lol!!

So....I finally got it put together the right way....& went to get a bone charm. I'm sure I have bone charms. Somewhere. Can't find them....& I *am* organized! I ended up stamping a bone, clear embossing it & watercoloring that. Then I used Crystal Effects. WRONG!!!! It dissolved the watercoloring. This was OF COURSE after I had it attached to the jump rings & ribbon.

OK, so I plopped some flowers & Dew Drops on & called it done!! I wash my hands of this card. You don't even get a close up of the image like I normally do! LOL!! Definitely not my best work. I didn't even START to do the inside yet.....I'd better wait for another day to do that!!

Ok, it's late, I have to be somewhere & I haven't even showered yet!! Tonight is the Talent Show at school....which runs REALLY late...so I'm sure we'll all be dragging tomorrow!! But it will be fun, I've never been to one of these shows even though they have them every year. I'm sure it will be entertaining!!

Have a great day!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

I like your style!

Good Tuesday, everyone!! Wow.....posting 3 days in a row.....that doesn't happen often!! I'm always amazed by the bloggers who post every day. And most of them work more hours than I do, & have more kids than I do!! They are definitely SuperWomen!!



Today's card uses yet another new High Hopes image, Danni Dress-Up. I colored her with Prismas & gamsol, & added some Twinkling H2O's to help with the shading. For some reason, my pink pencil did NOT want to blend, & it ended up being a mess. I used Liquid Pearls on her necklace (applied with a toothpick....don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon, lol) & Fun Flock on her boa. If you click on the picture, you may be able to see her fluffy accessory :) The papers are Bazzill Bling & that YUMMY K&Company Wild Raspberry. I haven't bought any more of that yet....but I must! I love all K&Co papers but I think these are by far my favorite!! Used some flower punches & my Martha branch punch yet again.....added some pretty pink pearls......& some beautiful pink velvet ribbon I picked up at Michael's for $1!!! Not sure it's *quite* the right pink......seems a little off to me....but it's so pretty I just had to add it!




Here's a close up of Danni......maybe you can see her boa & pearls better in this photo...





And here's the inside. The sentiment is also new with this release. I used the same sketch as the front, but left off all the additives.

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday. It's a beautiful day here so I'm hoping to get lots done outside!! Thanks for visiting!!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Eat dessert first!

Ha!! If you know me at all, you'll know that could be my life motto!!! I found this Fluffles stamp in my bin.....can you believe I've never used him?? I love Fluffles & used to make a TON of Fluffles cards! Shame on me for not using this one sooner!!



Yes, this one is reallllly bright!! I wanted to make a fun, bright, happy card. Because it's Monday. And Mondays are icky. I rarely make A2 sized cards anymore, & I rarely use JUST a couple of flowers for my embellishments!! Guess I felt a little crazy today.....lol!! The image is colored with Copic markers & Prismas/gamsol. I clear embossed the balloon, added Stickles to the tiny flames, & I colored the pink icing with my Spica clear glitter pen. The papers are DCWV Nana's Kids & Summer Glitter stack. The flowers in the corner are punched from that same glitter paper, using my EK Success flower punch. The pink plastic flowers were in my stash.




Here's a close up of the cutie......I love that one eye open.....lol.....




Here's a pic of the inside.....used the same papers & colored another Fluffles.....cut it out with my oval Nesties......





And how cute is this "hand stamped" stamp?? I always forget to stamp the backs of my cards.....I have a customer on Ebay who HATES stamps on the back of her cards.....it's a huge issue in the Ebay world......but I have to always remember to do it, or the angel policy police will come & take me away!!

Speaking of Ebay.....that's where this card is headed right now. I actually got the card, the inside, AND the envelope all finished so instead of putting it in the ever-growing pile.....I am listing it now! Usually I put cards aside to finish "later"....even if it's just the envelope, which I usually make, it takes me forever & a day to finish & list it.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!! It was very rainy & windy here......much different from the 80 degree day we had on Friday!! Today is so-so.....cloudy & about 60. I'm off to list this card, then run some errands......hope you all have a great Monday!!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Thinking outside the card

Good Sunday morning, my cyber friends!!! It's that day of the week again..... time for another High Hopes challenge!! This week's challenge is to think outside the card. Meaning, to make anything other than a card. I made a box. Which is funny....thinking outside the card....thinking outside the box.....

ANYWAY...........here is what I came up with!!





I've been wanting to make a pizza box for some time now, & figured this was the perfect time to try it!! Not only does it work for the challenge, but I needed a little giftie for someone & this will be perfect!! It will hold some chocolate, & a gift card. I used the Large Open Flower from the new release. I colored it with Prismas & gamsol, then used Twinkling H2O's on top of that for lots of shimmer. I cut it out & curled the edges a bit to make it 3D. The papers are SU's Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, & Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie Ella. Added some olive organdy ribbon.....heated the ends a bit so they'd curl....& voila.....a cute little pizza box! The instructions for making this box can be found HERE ON SCS.





I used my Martha doily lace border punch on another scrap to put around the sides......





.....and added some fun raffia curls for the inside. I added the chocolate....but being behind as I always am, I haven't bought that gift card yet!!! It's next on my list.....really....

I hope you'll pop on over to the High Hopes blog to see what the other Divas created. Lots of fun projects over there that I know you'll love!!! If you join along, you'll have a chance at winning a couple of HH goodies for your very own!!

Thanks so much to everyone for your comments & emails about my hubby. He had the endoscopy yesterday, & we have to wait 2 weeks to get the results. They took out a lot of fatty tissue & other stuff which went off to the lab. I'm sure everything will come back just fine, but thanks for your good thoughts!!

Thank you for visiting, & I hope you all have a fabulous week!!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cupcake Thursday??

Well, gosh, I wish I had a good cupcake recipe to go along with my card today. I'm sure I do....somewhere....but I already planned this week's recipe because I just made it yesterday!!

First, the card.......



This is one of the new images just released this past Sunday, Sweet Little Thing. I think this is one of my favorites. I say that a lot, don't I? Well, I'm all about cupcakes.....anything sweet, actually. I think I mentioned before that I could LIVE on dessert alone!! I stamped the image onto my brand new Canson drawing paper that I picked up at Michael's. Crissy, Janette & Kimmie all went to a Copic Certification class recently, & they returned RAVING about this paper. I happened upon it at Michael's & used my coupon to buy it. I do really like it, the colors blend so well. So yes.....I used my Copics on this card :) I think I'm getting which method works best for me to get the blending down. The papers are SU's Gable Green (which I had never ever used before....I still had all 3 sheets from my starter pack, lol) & DCWV's Sweet pad. The swirl in the corner is part of the paper, so I couldn't cover it up! But it looked lonesome when I was done with the card, so I just punched some vellum flowers & added a couple of silver thingies to the centers. The cupcake liner is paper pieced with another piece of the Sweet paper.....only because I didn't like how I colored it. Thank goodness for whomever invented piecing! The cupcake frosting has Angel Wings Shimmerz on it, because it was a bit too bright. I wanted it to match the paper, & the Shimmerz really toned it down, & made it sparkly at the same time :)



Here's a closeup.....I hope you can see the shimmery frosting....yum!! And speaking of yum......

Today's recipe is a dessert that I'm sure many of you have not only heard of, but made yourselves. Someone brought it to work one day many years ago & I was hooked!!!


CHOCOLATE ECLAIR TORTE

Line 9"x13" pan with graham crackers.
Mix 2 three oz boxes of instant French Vanilla pudding & 2 1/2 cups milk. Fold in 8 oz Cool Whip. Put layer of graham crackers on top.
Refrigerate overnight.
Frost with chocolate frosting.


Now, could that BE any easier????? Oh...it is soooooooo good. If you're having a chocolate craving....trust me.....this is the dessert for you!! I've included a picture, if only the picture was scratch 'n sniff!! LOL!!




As always, thanks for visiting my little blog. Tomorrow is the day we found out if hubby needs another surgery or not. I have mentioned I'm moving out if he's going to be home another 8 weeks, haven't I?????

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tea angels

Good morning, everyone!! I hope you're all having a wonderful week! Mine is flying by, as always. I've had very little me time & it's taken me since Sunday night to finish this card!!



I just had to play along with the sketch on the Truly Scrumptious blog from last week. After playing with all the new High Hopes images, I decided to use an older one, Tea Angels, which is actually new to me. I ordered it with the last batch...when I ordered all the other angels, lol. As much as I loooooooovvveeeeee all the new images, I still love the older ones as well. Have I mentioned lately how blessed I am to be on this design team??

Anyway....so I followed the TS sketch.....although it's a bit off. That yellow layer under the image is wider than it should be, but that's ok because it shows more of the YUMMY K&CO paper. OMG!!! All these papers are from the Wild Raspberry pad & I love each & every one of them. So much so.....that I'm going to buy a few more pads. I think they're even on sale this week at Michael's!! I matted all my layers with Bazzill Bling Red Carpet...one of my very favorite colors of Bling. I used a bunch of punches to make the flower, & of course the Martha branch punch, which I seem to use on every card. I added rhinestones in the corners & on the flower to give it some added oomph. The image is colored with Prismas & gamsol, & I used my Spica clear glitter pen on the angels flowers on their hats, Dazzling Diamonds glitter on their wings & I clear embossed the tea set. It took me a while to finish this card, but I do like how it turned out!




Here's a close up of the sweet angels!

I really wanted to start another card, & use this week's sketch challenge on SCS. But my kids get out of school early today.....in fact, they'll be home in just a couple of hours, & I still have errands to run, so I guess I'll have to play later. Tomorrow I'm working & Matthew & I have Scouts tomorrow night, & Friday hubby is going back to the hospital for some tests.....hopefully I can squeeze in some more me time somewhere in there!!! Have a great day & thanks for visiting!!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Challenge Sunday

Happy Sunday!! Today is High Hopes Challenge #27 ......distressing & de-stressing!! I don't know, I was pretty stressed making this card, lol. I had to redo the flowers a few times, I couldn't get the plant leaves colored the way I wanted, & I dripped clear embossing powder where no EP should ever be. But, it did turn out all right in the end!!




For today's card I used Hopeful Ant, along with the High Hopes sentiment. I colored him with my Prismas & gamsol, & used Twinkling H2O's just on the plant. Those darn leaves.....grr....I think I finally got them looking halfway decent!! The papers are SU's Certainly Celery & K&Co Hannah. That was my very first K&Co pad & I've been hooked ever since. I went way back to SCS's sketch challenge #165 for the layout. I really rely on sketch challenges....on SCS & on the many challenge blogs. I stink at coming up with my own layouts!! Anyway, I distressed the heck out of all the layers, added lots of flowers & leaves.....some ribbon.....& at the very last minute decided I needed to use some celery colored pearls I bought at my LSS some time ago. They've been sitting on my desk, waiting to be used, & I think they are the perfect touch!




I used UTEE on the pot......& was trying to get a good picture of how smooth & shiny it is.....but I think I failed miserably. Another reason I was stressed, lol......I really like the light box I made, so I can take pictures at night, but I still prefer the natural daylight for taking pictures especially when I'm trying to show off something like embossing. Oh well, you can use your imagination :)



Please check out the High Hopes blog to see what the other Divas made!! As always, if you play along you have the chance to win some High Hopes goodness!!!

And of course........TODAY is the day the NEW STAMPS are being released!! They should be on the website as I type this.......click HERE for the site, then type "HOTP" into the search box. You will see all the fun new images pop up!! Have fun shopping, & have a terrific Sunday!!!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

High Hopes Hullabaloo day 3!!

Well, it's the final day of the Hullabaloo....the stamps will be released tomorrow morning!! How exciting!! I'm telling ya, these releases just get better & better!! I'm so glad I'm on the design team, I wouldn't be able to afford all the stamps I'd want!!



For today's card, I used the little cleaning girl. I seem to be using a lot of bright colors lately!! This one uses SEI Dill Blossom, paired with SU's Tempting Turquoise & Old Olive. I bravely colored her with my Copics....oh how I wanted to reach for my pencils, but I persevered. There are so many different ways to color with Copics, it's all about finding which method works best for me. So I keep at it. I added some flower dies, a Prima with a rhinestone, & some leaves to the corner, & the sentiment (also a new release) was punched out using my Word Window Punch. The Turquoise matte for that was punched with my McGill Retro Word punch......that punch was my very first purchase at Hobby Lobby a few years ago & I just love it. A little twine finishes it off.

Here's a list of Diva's who also have sneekie peekies for you today:

CRISSY

JEANNE

KAREN

KIMMIE

NIKI

NIKKI

I hope you've enjoyed all the previews of what's to come tomorrow morning!! I will be back tomorrow with my challenge card!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Friday, April 17, 2009

High Hopes Hullabaloo day 2

and today I get to play along!!! I was scheduled to make a card just for Saturday, but found some extra time & was able to make 2 cards :)

So....here is MY first card using one of the new stamps that will be released on Sunday!!!!



Not sure of the official name of this image.....for now we're calling it Wheelbarrow Kids, with the I'm Diggin' Ya sentiment. I used the layout from Sketch Saturday this past week. Love all the layers.....I knew I wanted to use my K&Co Que Sera Sera pd & there are so many beautiful papers in it, that this way I got to use 4 different ones!! The image is colored with Prismas & gamsol, I clear embossed the wheelbarrow & glitterized her buttons, patch on her pants & barrettes. The image is cut out with the biggest Large Labels Nestie, & I used the biggest scalloped rectangle Nestie on the matte. That beautiful orange-y red paper is Bazzill Painted Desert. I just love Bazzill papers.....although I see lots of people using Prism & that looks pretty yummy too!! Anyway, I used 3 Dew Drops in the upper corner, & a Prima & "Nestie" flower on the lower right. Have you seen Lesa Rapp's tutorial for these flowers?? You must check it out HERE. Genius!! Thanks for sharing your creativity, Lesa!! I used the same Bazzill paper to cut out all the hearts, then like she did, sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. I love the end result, especially with that big ole blue Prima underneath!!!




Here's a closeup of the little darlings....seriously, can Crissy draw cute kids, or can Crissy draw cute kids?!??




Here's a closeup of the flower. Lesa's of course looks better.....I kind of threw mine together because I had to get this card done in time!! LOL!!

Here's a list of Divas who also have sneekie peekies today.......

CRISSY

JEANNE

KAREN

KIMMIE

NIKI

KATHARINA

TAB

& our special guest star.........ZOE!!!!!!!


Zoe actually assisted Crissy in designing Rocker Girl....so we are honored to have her play along in our sneekie peekies!! You rock, Zoe!!!!

Well I hope you are having as much fun as we all are, & that you get to visit all the blogs.....Remember, the stamps will be posted on the High Hopes website early Sunday morning!
You can type "HOTP" into the search box to find all the new releases!!!!!

Thanks for visiting!! I'll be back tomorrow for another peekie!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Sneak peeks, shipping info, & yes, a recipe!!!!

Ok, a lot of talk but no cards on this post. At least, not MY cards. As I mentioned, High Hopes is releasing tons more adorable images this Sunday. The Divas are showing sneak peeks on their blogs for the next 3 days. Here's a list of the blogs which have sneakie peekies today......grab some coffee & enjoy....oh, & you may as well get that credit card warmed up.....you will need it on Sunday!!!!

CRISSY

ILA

JEANNE

KAREN

KIMMIE

NIKI

NIKKI

TAB

OK, I think I got everyone, lol. These ladies have done some fabulous things with the new images!! I can't wait to finish mine now, & maybe get started on a second one!!

I also wanted to clarify the shipping info from my previous post. I thought it was posted on the HH blog, my mistake.....I think they actually posted it on SCS but not the blog. Anyway, the news is that Tina is going to start shipping orders to the US via UPS instead of the postal services. So you all should be getting your rubber wayyyy faster now!!! Yippee!!

And now for today's recipe.......I actually found this posted on SCS a few years ago & decided this was the best recipe I had ever tried. I can't take credit for it, but I had found it a few different times so I have no idea whose it originally was. All I know is they are AWESOME!!!!


BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 TBSP sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients (except the last 1 TBSP sugar). Add all other ingredients & stir just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into lined muffin cups & sprinkle tops with remaining sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.



Oh, how I wish I had a picture of these yummies, but I haven't made them in a while so no photo. They are in my stack of recipes to make.....just haven't gotten around to it yet. I've also made chocolate chip muffins using this recipe.....oh soooooo good!! I think it's the sugar on the top that makes them so yummy....reminds me of muffins from a bakery!

Well I will back tomorrow, either with my own HH sneakie peekie, or another list of blogs with sneakie peekies. My hubby & older ds are leaving tomorrow to go camping for the weekend with Scouts, so I have lots to do to prepare for that. Why is it I do all the work, & they get to have all the fun?? **sigh**

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

How can it be Wednesday already?

Seriously, how does that HAPPEN? It was *just * Monday.....the kids were groaning about going back to school.....hubby was groaning about going back to work....where did the last couple of days go??

Well I whipped up this card this morning, since I've been working on some High Hopes stuff that I can't show you yet. I had to show you *something*! But.....I didn't realize how PINK this card is, until I was editing my pictures!! Yikes!!! Fluffy cotton candy pink!!!



I know I've mentioned before how much I adore the Hanglars, & how unfair it is that we can't buy them in the US.....but thanks to friends like my fellow diva Nikki, I do have a few images to play with. I was recently blurfing, & saw card with a Hanglar with a STRAWBERRY! Is that one new?? Oh, how cute it is.....hint....hint...for anyone out there that can get a hold of these stamps :)

Anyway, this girlie is colored with Prismas & gamsol. Went wayyyyy overboard with the Basic Grey Bittersweet paper....added some flowers, a flourish, & some pearls. I think it still needs something, like a charm, but that would have to be attached to the flower & no way I'm taking that apart!! I added some mesh behind it & it took a lot of doing to get it exactly how I wanted it, so it's staying put!!! I will just have to be happy with it the way it is.




Did I mention that High Hopes is releasing MORE stamps this weekend?? It's true......more fun stuff is being released this Sunday, & the divas are going to start posting sneakie peekies on Thursday. Watch the High Hopes blog to see who has peeks!! I'm scheduled for Saturday, I'm going to try like heck to do another day but I seem to be moving in slow motion this week so we'll have to see. But I will definitely have something fun for you on Saturday!! Oh, there's also some GREAT news as far as shipping to the US goes......it's posted on the blog right now so go read it!! You'll be thrilled!

In other news....I finally got my sleep study scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd. I was supposed to be there overnight, & then the whole next day, but they can't find anyone to do a day on the weekend. Dumb, huh?? So I'm skipping that part. It's only needed if they don't find apnea, & I'm pretty darn sure apnea is my problem. So we'll see....cross your fingers that I have apnea, I get a mask AND I have no problems with it. I've read about lots of people not being able to get used to the mask so they're then back to square one.

Also, my husband is going back to the hospital next week Friday for another procedure, to find out what's up with his esophagus. Lord help me if he needs another surgery & will be home for 8 weeks again!! Argh!!! Work is still shaky......they did lay off more people on Monday, but not hubby. He said he's almost next in line though, so if any more happen, he'll be on that list. Keep crossing those fingers for us.....I have no idea what we will do if he loses his job. I'm seriously considering getting a pt job at either SuperWalmart or Sam's Club, just for the summer to help with the bills. Working for the school district is great, except for some reason they don't pay you in the summer!!!!!!

Thanks so much for visiting.......& if you're reading this, thank you for listening to my ramblings, lol!! Sometimes a girl just needs to chat!! LOL!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!!

Good morning, everyone, & Happy Easter!! It's time for another High Hopes challenge, & this week it's Crissy's turn to host! The challenge is Pierce It......so find your paper piercer or needle...or you can use your sewing machine....& make some holes!!!



For this week's card, I used Maribelle Cow. I colored her with Prismas & gamsol, & added just a touch of Twinkling H2O's. I covered her bell in Crystal Effects & glitter.....because this cutie needed some bling!! The papers are SU's Chocolate Chip, Bazzill, & SEI Aunt Gertie's Garden, which I picked up at Hobby Lobby about 2 years ago!! I love it, but I've hardly used it. I used my Nesties for the circles, added some Chocolate Chip ribbon & some brads in the corners. And for my holes, I used my piercer on the scalloped circle & the pink layer. Even though I used my Mat Pack, it still ended up not quite a straight line. Hmmmm....maybe I've worn out my Pack & need a new one, lol!




Here's a closeup of Mari with her sparkly bell.




And here's a picture of the inside....yep....more piercing!!

Be sure to pop over to the High Hopes blog to see what the other Divas have created. And, as always, you can join in the fun & be entered to win a couple of HH goodies!!

I hope you all have a fabulous Easter. We are going to my mom's later, where the kids will get even more candy & we'll fill up on Deviled Eggs & smoked fish. I always eat so much of that stuff, that I'm too full to eat dinner!!

Here's a picture of my kiddos, after they found their baskets this morning. They were more excited about the Bakugan then the candy!! Of course, as I type this Michael is at the kitchen table stuffing his face with chocolate, lol!!




Tomorrow it's back to school & work......have a great week!!

Photobucket

Saturday, April 11, 2009

A bike riding kind of day...

& boy is it ever! It's sunny & beautiful out today. I'm going to make my husband get the kids bikes out of our back shed, where we stored them for the winter....& get them in tip top riding shape!

To celebrate spring, I inked up one of my new High Hopes stamps I recently received:




She's not NEW, but she's new to me. Another that was on my wish list for quite a while & I finally ordered her. This is Lizabeth Biking Angel....& I was brave & colored her with my Copics! I also used my NEW Nesties that I just receieved. Nope, I didn't break my promise to watch my pennies.....I had actually ordered these back in January. That's how long they were backordered!! I'm happy I finally got them, but of course now I want all the new ones out there!! The blue & orange papers are Bazzill Bling.....& the designer paper is MM's Chloe's Closet. I love this stuff & last time I went to Michael's I couldn't find it anymore. Not only could I not find the paper, but all the matching brads & flowers were on clearance....THAT'S not a good sign :( Anyway, I used my wavy punch, an orange swirl clip with some ribbon, & some Primas & a buttons finish it off. I used Stickles on the flowers & Dazzling Diamonds glitter on her wings.




The inside looks the same as the outside!! I love doing that, lol!




I hope you have a splendid Saturday, no matter what you are doing. We need to dye our Easter eggs.....I bought some "camouflage" dye at Walmart. I'll have to take a picture when we're done!! We also have some outside stuff to do....& the usual laundry...& some school stuff that we waited all week to do...lol...

Oh, & our mattress trip was unsuccessful. I didn't realize it would be so hard to pick a mattress for a 10 year old!! The ONLY one he liked was the Tempurpedic.....for $400!!!! For a TWIN!!! The last store we were at had a Tempurpedic TOPPER....now that would work....but they only had a queen size & I didn't think to ask if they could order a twin. So I've been looking online.....& a local mom's forum I belong to had some suggestions of some stores around here I could check out. You know what our shopping trip DID do?? Depress me!! When we went to American (a furniture & appliance store....I think it's only in Wisconsin)....they had done some remodeling & had some FANTASTIC kitchens....even my kids were drooling over the stainless steel appliances & cool gadgets. I found a couch that we can't afford, a big screen tv we can't afford, & heck, even a filing cabinet that I've been looking for that I can't afford!!! ***sigh*** I'd better go plant some more money trees!!!

I'll see you back here tomorrow for my High Hopes challenge card!! Have a great day!!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Recipe Thursday & an award

Hello all, & happy day-before-Good-Friday!! Some of you are starting Spring Break tomorrow, you lucky ducks! We usually have ours the week after Easter, like everyone else, but for some reason they scheduled ours a week earlier this year. We've been off this week...which has been nice....but we get gypped a day, since we already have tomorrow off!! No fair!!

I'm hard at work on my challenge card for Sunday's High Hopes challenge, but thought I'd take a break & post a recipe! I did miss last week, due to sickness, & I'm sure your week just isn't complete without a recipe from me!!

Today's recipe is for the best Taco Dip in the world!! I've tried many many different recipes, but when I found this one about 15 years ago, well I just about died & went to dip heaven. It's soooo easy but it's soooo good!! Must be the combo sour cream/cream cheese. I seem to use a lot of cream cheese. No wonder I'm seeing a cardiologist on Monday!!

TACO DIP

1 16 oz carton sour cream
1 8 oz carton cream cheese
taco seasoning
lettuce
tomato
olives
cheese
onions

Mix 3/4 container of sour cream & whole container of cream cheese. Mix seasoning in, spread in pan (I usually use a 10 x 15 baking sheet....the kind with the sides...depends on how thinly you want to spread the dip). Top with lettuce, tomato, olives, cheese & onion.


That's it!! Isn't that easy?? But trust me it's soooo good. It's been quite a while since I've made this, but I'm pretty sure the more I made it, the more cream cheese I added, lol. So I probably use about a container & a half, but it all depends on what you like. I use my mixer to mix the sour cream & cream cheese....I use to mix it by hand but found I couldn't get the cream cheese to mix smoothly enough. And I always make the base, stick it in the fridge, then add the toppings just before I serve it. A great appetizer for Easter Sunday!!!!

I also was blessed with an award!! Gvendalen at Ocean of Imaginations passed on this beautiful award to me!! Thanks so much Gvendalen!! You made my day!! Be sure to check out her blog....you may not be able to read it (she's Russian!!!) but you can gaze at her gorgeous artwork!!





Thanks so much for checking in, & I hope you have something fun planned for Good Friday!!! We are going mattress shopping!! Woohoooo!! LOL....ok....probably not as fun as say....going to the Brewers home opener.....but our 10 year old needs a new mattress, so a new mattress he shall get!!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A late challenge

Happy Wednesday!! Well, I'm only 3 days late, lol. This past Sunday's High Hopes challenge was a sketch challenge by Jeanne. Here is her fun sketch:



And here is my card.....finally.....using this sketch:



Not the greatest picture, I'm not used to working with BRIGHT LIGHT!! That's right, it's SUNNY here today!! Anyway, I used Lenny's Love Me Nots....I think he's adorable with his little tweetie friend....& colored him with Prismas & gamsol. The birdie is stamped twice, cut out & popped up. I used Shimmerz on Lenny's wings, & Stickles on the ground beneath him. Papers are SEI Dill Blossom......& SU's Cool Caribbean. Nesties for all the circles....the sentiment is from a Studio G set from Michaels....3 Dew Drops (fake ones, actually) & a swirl clip with some fun ribbon that really does match....it's green & blue....but it looks awful in the picture, lol.



Here's a picture of the inside, using the same papers & little birdie. I was going to make the white part a circle, to match the front, but I will putting this one on Ebay & one thing I've learned is that card buyers NEED as much room to write as possible. So I went for the square layer.



Thank you so much for visiting.....on to the next project....I hope you have a wonderful, sunny day!!!

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