Happy Birthday Kim

I made this for my friend Kim's birthday. I told her a few days before it would be late. I finished it the day after her birthday and carried it in my computer bag for a week. I will mail it tomorrow. I was in vendor presentations all week last week so it seemed like I was always rushing to get to the other building. I used the February SFYTT (Sketch for you to try) on Jen del Muro's blog. I flipped the sketch, and covered the card front with black which is something I do not normally do. I needed the black border so the white would stand out more. And as you probably know, I love black and white polkadot paper...I use it when I can. :)

Here is the link: Sketch For You To Try - Feb 2012

Supplies: Bazzill (white, purple, black), Recollections (purple patterned papers and b&w polka dot), Cricut, Elegant Edges cardridge, white ribbon, SU Riveting, $ clear stamp (JoAnn's - purple), $1 Studio G cupcake stamp, white ribbon, bakers twine, button, SU circle punches, SU eggplant envy craft ink.

Happy Birthday Laurel

I made this for my neighbor and friend Laurel for her birthday. I had the paper all scored for the rosette so knew that I wanted to use it for this card. Laurel loves purple, but I made her a Shannon card (in pinks) so she would know it is from me. I really love the bright colors. I used the January SFYTT (sketch for you to try) on Jen del Muro's blog. I missed the deadline to post it to her blog though. I love bright colors and mixing patterned papers.

Here is the link: Sketch For You To Try - Jan 2012

Supplies: Bazzill, SU mambo melon (did I ever say I love that color), SU daffodill, DCWV, Recollections, bling, Martha Stewart scoring board, flower punch, circle punches, cuttlebug, dot folder, spellbinders circle die, button, homemade bakers twine, $1 clear stamp, paper piecing.

Us

This is the scrapbook page/wall hanging I made for my mom's belated birthday. She got it about a month late but she got it. lol. The picture is not that great quality. I had a hard time getting the right angle at night. I made this for Mom to put in her beauty shop since she redid the colors to yellow and brown.

Supplies: MME patterned papers, Bazzill, SU chocolate chip, SU flower punch, Bazzill brads, chipboard, chipboard swirls for tracing. 12x12 scrapbook frame from Michaels.

Get Well - Maricella and Thank You to Barb

I told you last week that I loved this sketch. I have used it again, this time, for a get well card. I made this for the Volunteer Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity, Maricella Martinez after she was injured in a car accident. I had all the leaders and folks who know her sign it.I used the same papers as before, just added brown acrylic paint for the dots. The colors were not as bright in this picture as I was taking the picture at night. They are the same as in the Thank You cards. Barb, Kim's mom, collects martini glasses and has a group of ladies that get together to have a martini a few times a month. Barb loved this card and put it in her curio cabinet with all her martini glasses. : )

Supplies: Bazzil (white and orange), SU Kraft, SU pixie pink, The Paper Studio (orange and green polka dot), AG papers (pink orange and brown), DCWV (pinks), SU Chocolate chip ink, DCWV green flower, SU punch bunch, SU garden greetings, bling, brown acrylic paint, stylus.

Supplies: Bazzil (white and orange), SU Kraft, DCWV, MME Bohemian, other, SU Cherry Cobbler, SU Old Olive, Studio G, SU, Ribbon, toothpick.

Thank You with pennants

As you all know, I make a card-a-month for my only grandma and my great aunt. I did so well in 2011 up until August. That's when work started to get crazy and my life got all out of whack on the home front. Well, I didn't create anything since September and decided to make this card. It's not for my grandma or my great aunt, but for some friends that I need to show my appreciation to. Grandma and Aunt Madonna will get a card for February and then I will be stay on top of it at least until work gets crazy again. It's such a small thing for me to make a card and it's a really big thing for them. They actually look forward to receiving their card and they tell my mom what they look like or what I write about. I love this design and will be using it again. I have one more to make, but it will not be exactly the same. It's very versatile and is a great way to use up some designer paper scraps. If you are like me, we have tons of those sitting around. I ran out of bobbin thread and since I was already tired, I left the uneven stitch lines. It gives it character right?

I virturally copied it exactly from the person who initially posted it on pinterest. I made two exact cards and they took me 3 hours. How is that even possible? An almost exact copy shouldn't take me 3 hours. I'm wondering if I just do better with sketches and starting off on my own than trying to copy someone else's cards.

Sketch Website (this site is awesome by the way).
Here is the card I virtually copied from Allison Davis  (I love the colors and used what I had that was similar)

The dogs and one cat get so excited when they see me go in my craft room. They know when I leave the door open, I'm in there longer than to just get a shirt off the drying wrack, and have my iPod on the speaker, it's going to be craft-time for me and nappy time for them.

Here is my version:

I added a layer of color, made the pennants a little wider and made my center piece more square than rectangle.

Supplies: Bazzil (white and orange), SU Kraft, SU pixie pink, The Paper Studio (orange and green polka dot), AG papers (pink orange and brown), DCWV (pinks), SU Chocolate chip ink, DCWV green flower, SU True Friend stamps, bling.

Roast Beef with Gravy - Crock pot

For all of those who know me and know that my specialty is pot roast made in the oven like grandma Leona used to make, I actually made one in the crock pot. It was delicious. I kind of used some recipes online and kind of modified it on my own. I have done the gravy with pork chops, earlier in my blog but had never done this for roast. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of this.

1 roast

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

1 can Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup

Garlic powder

Pepper

Put roast in crock pot frozen. You can do this with a thawed roast also, but mine was frozen. Because mine was frozen, I added a little bit of water while the roast was cooking. Cook in crock pot 6 – 8 hours and add the can of soup the last 2 hours of cooking. The roast had very good flavor before I added the cream of mushroom soup so I think you could just have it that way and use the juices as more of an Au Jus instead of a gravy. I used the gravy over fresh mashed potatoes.

Green Chili tortilla roll-ups

Hi Everyone. I'm back after a long time of being away. I didn't make much in my craft room in these last months, but I did make a few items in my kitchen. Just a few. I made these for Christmas Eve with Kim Simm's family. Barb, Kim's mom has a Mexican theme for the food for Christmas Eve and they have all the items I make well in the Mexican theme so I tried these. I went searching online for recipes, asked Jodi Levell for her recipe, and combined what I liked best from all of them and modified to my liking. They were a big hit. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of them.

Flour tortillas (I used approximately 10 burrito size tortillas)

16 oz sour cream

2 bars of Philadelphia cream cheese

1 can Herdez salsa verde

1 can diced green chilies

3 - 6 green onions diced

1 -2 cups Mozzarella cheese shredded

Black pepper

Lawry’s garlic salt

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Spread mixture on a flat tortilla. Go out to the edge but do not fill too full. Roll up as tightly as you can. Refrigerate the rolls for at least 5 hours. Slice with a serrated knife into half inch slices. Serve with con queso dip, been dip, chili cheese dip, or simply by themselves. I took these to Christmas Eve with my friend’s family and they were a big hit. I altered the recipes I found online by combining the best of what I liked from all of them. I got the idea from Jodi Levell since she makes them with her chili cheese dip.  

Verde Pork chops and Homemade Chicken Soup

I have been so busy at work this month, I have hardly made anything in my craft room. I haven't even finished the birthday cards for my mom, great aunt, and grandma for September. I have made some things to eat though, however, do not have pictures for both of them.

Verde Pork Chops (no picture)

For my Verde Chops, I actually threw items in the crock pot that I had on hand and then went searching for recipes. lol. A lot of the time, that's what I end up doing. I have to say...I was impressed. Just remember, I rarely cook with an actual recipe so it's hard for me to tell you how much you need to add.

2 bonless pork chops (thicker ones)
1 can Herdez salsa verde
1 can diced green chilies
1 can petite diced peeled tomatoes
4 or 5 gloves of minced garlic
Black Pepper
1 tsp onion flakes
Some shakes of chili powder
Some shakes of garlic powder

Throw all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours. Turn to warm overnight. Let cool and put in the refridgerator until you serve them. I got a veggie bowl at Chipotle so I could have some rice and beans with it. I ate half a chop and half the salad each night for two nights. I took one chop to work and shared it with two of my coworkers and myself. It was a mere taste but they both asked for the "recipe".

Chicken - Veggie - Noodle - Rice soup

I made some chicken breasts in the crock pot for the soup base. I used one of the chicken breasts and added the other ingredients into a big pot for soup. I used the other chicken breasts with potatoes and gravy. I make this after Thanksgiving with fresh turkey so thought it  would be good with Chicken as well. I think I liked the chicken version best.

4 breasts of chicken
3 cans Swanson chicken broth
1 can petite diced peeled tomatoes
1 box chicken Rice-a-Roni with seasoning
1 cup egg noodles (cooked)
4 potatoes diced (cooked)
Half a bag of frozen corn
Half a bag of frozen French-cut green beans
Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb seasoning
Black Pepper
Garlic Salt

Put chicken breasts in the crock pot with pepper and chicken broth. Cook 6 or 8 hours until tender. Take one breast or two and shred to add to your soup. Add 2 other cans of chicken broth, tomatoes, veggies, rice-a-roni rice, and seasoning packet (no need to cook rice), add seasoning to taste. In a small pan, cook diced potatoes and wide egg noodles until tender. Add into soup mixture. Simmer for about an hour. Top with fresh parmesan cheese and serve with bread and butter if you want it. I didn't eat bread with mine this time. It makes a pretty big batch. This was good the first night, and better the second.

Wishing you the Best Max

I made this card for the host at my friend and my favorite restaurant. He is leaving to go to culinary school in Rhode Island on the 31st of August. He is so awesome, he always seats us and keeps our ice tea filled to the brim. We also gave him a gift card to Starbucks. I don't think many (if any) customers thought of him before he leaves like we did. He was so excited that we thought of him. The owner of the restaurant also thanked us for thinking of Max.

I found the chef in an online coloring book and shrunk it down to the size I wanted. I could have actually used a smaller chef so more of the cute pattern paper could be seen, but I had already colored this size in so went with it. I used the VLVAUG2011 - week 3 sketch for this card. I really liked the kitchen pattern paper but didn't want the card to look too girly.

Supply list: Bazzill (white, green), Recollections (red, orange and white polka dot), Doodlebug designs (kitchen pattern), Making Memories (black and white check), SU (cool caribbean, tempting turquoise, daffodill), SU Riveting, digi chef, circle punches, aqua painter, SU ink (really red, creamy caramel), black ink, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug square embossing folder, nestabilities.

Happy Birthday Colleen

I was supposed to go to my friend's 50th birthday party on Saturday night. I didn't make it. Spent too long visiting with family friends and getting dishes I inherited from my grandma. For a quick note on the dishes...I now have an extra 14-place setting for dinner parties - now though, I need more seating space. I used the VLVAUG2011 (week 2) sketch. The 50 is cut from glittery fun foam. I paper pieced the balloons. I added them after since it didn't seem to look finished without them. I stamped directly on the white and have sent off the card, so there's no going back now.

Supply list: Bazzill (white, purple), SU daffodill, SU melon mambo, Papertrey Ink border die, Ribbon, Cricut, Elegant Edges cartridge, Glitter fun foam, SU Cute Converse, Making Memories foam stamps (50), Rubber Stampede, pop dots behind main panel, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder, SU lattice folder.

Pork chops with gravy

I decided to make myself a meal of comfort food on Friday. I put two boneless pork chops in the crock pot with 1 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and 1 packet of Lipton Onion soup mix. I cooked the chops about 6 hours and used the gravy to top my mashed potatoes and made myself some frozen peas.

Easy and delicious. The gravy was a little salty the first day, but was better the second day.

Ingredient list: 2 bonless pork chops, 1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, 1 packet Lipton Onion soup mix. Do not add liquid. Potatoes, skim milk, butter, peas.

Wild Wild West

This saying is the best...I made this card for the AUGVSN11MINI6 challenge to use the Eurythmics Song Wild Wild West as inspiration and add gingham. I didn't have any stamps that would work, but when I asked Laurel, she had some that worked perfectly! She came out with that Greetings from the Wild Wild West stamp and some Southwestern stamps that would be perfect. She was the one that recommended I use the gingham paper for the rosette. Originally, I was going to use a gecko but he was too skinny in the center and you could see the top to the rosette so I switched to the turtle. Not the best photo because I couldn't get good lighting Sunday night. The edge was cut using a plastic template. The old stuff in our supply cabinet is new again!

Supply list: Bazzill (white), SU daffodill, SU (tempting turquoise), Recolletions (red, and yellow and white pattern), SU (gingham - old), Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, Score Pal, Rubber stampede.

Just Because

This card was made for the AUGVSN11MINI4 challenge to use sequins. I knew I wanted to fill in a stamped image with sequins and the bird seemed to work. I originally tried a cupcake but wasn't using glue on the sequins and ended up scrapping the idea. You may see it someday after it's finished. Due to the time limits on the challenge, I used a simple sketch, FTL149. In real life, all this matches and really is SU Rich Razzelberry. Couldn't get a good picture and I tried from 3 different rooms in the house Sunday night.

Supply list: Bazzill (white), SU Rich Razzelberry, SU Old Olive, SU Daffodill, DCVW orange, MME Chester (pattern), SU border punch, Cuttlebug, SU dots embossing folder, Recollections half pearls, Craftsmart stamp, Sequins, SU Mini Mates.

Hi

These cards were made for the AUGVSN11MINI challenge - bring in the clown's - to use at least 4 bright colors, and pop something up on dimensionals. I made two cards and will use them to send to Grandma and Aunt Maddona during the winter when they will need some bright and cheerful colors. I got the hot air balloon stamp at Michael's for $1. I love it and it has a lot of possibilities. I didn't think I had enough ribbon to make the cards the same so I made them different, and realized I did have enough ribbon (I had just misplaced it in my pile). The clouds were made from a plastic template. Can you tell I love that black and white polka dot paper? I love how versitle it is.



Supply list: Bazzill (white), Recollections (black and white polka dot and red on top card), SU bashful blue, SU pixie pink, Offray ribbon (turquoise and pink), Studio G stamps (hot air balloon and hi), SU label punch, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug dot embossing folder, Sharpies, SU Creamy caramel marker.

Whale

I made these for the AUGVSN11MINI2 as well as used the VLVAUG2011 - week 1 sketch. I will be sending these off to Grandma and Aunt Madonna for the month of Aug. This was for the Queens Wave challenge. To use something that waved, was in waves, etc. I decided to use a whale, wavy paper, a swirl embossing folder, and I had to add the blingy crown because it was the Queens wave afterall. Originally, when I made this card, I just had the whale on it due to the time constraints for the challenge. I posted it anyway, but didn't really like it. I added to it, and now, like it a little better. I was making the cards at my neighbors during craft day, and didn't have my paper scraps with me so the pinks are different. I posted the before and after pictures. The digi is from an online coloring book that I shrunk down. I had the whale printed and colored and just couldn't get it to work on my card (too big) so I cut it down to fit and remarked the edges. The waves by the whale are hand drawn and cut. The baker's twine is homemade. I like having the whale on the circle. It doesn't look like I just stuck a whale on the strips of paper.



Supply List: Bazzill (white), SU melon mambo, SU pixie pink, Sonborn (wave pattern), Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug dog and swirl embossing folders, SU silver embossing powder, Silver Encore ink, Sharpie, bling, Baker's twine, button, Nestabilities.