Summer Break!

So, today is our first official day of summer break, and I've got to say how excited I am!  I love summer break!  Now, I know I kinda went missing for a few months.  But I'll be here this summer with an occasional post or two.  Since I waited months and months to post anything, today I've got two things to share.  First up, a scrapbook page.  My daughter just finished first grade and LOVED her teacher.  As the year was winding down, she was really sad for it to end, because she knew she wouldn't be seeing her teacher every day.  One of the days of the last week of school she was at the bus stop crying.  Well, I didn't want her getting on the bus with tears, so I promised her I'd make a scrapbook page of her and her teacher.  So I got that done, and she loved it, and then asked me to make a second one for her teacher.  So I did.  This one, is the one I made for our family album.  The page for her teacher I let her write the words, and it was a sweet little tribute to her teacher.

The second thing to share is a recipe card.  I do not love potato salad, usually.  In fact, most of my life I've hated potato salad.  Well, my mother-in-law's potato salad is the only one I've really had that I can actually say I like.  Yesterday was technically the last day of school, but we've always kept our kids home and done fun stuff as a family.  So yesterday, I was in the mood for summer food.  Bbq chicken, rolls, potato salad.  And as much as I LOVE my mother-in-law's potato salad, she's not a "recipe" kind of gal.  You know the type:  "Oh, a pinch of this, a little of that."  Which means I don't have an actual recipe for her potato salad.  So I went searching the internet. And I found this. The recipe looked delightful.  But I gotta say, as much as I need a recipe to start out with, I always have to change a few things here or there.  So I did.  And after my tweaking I loved it!  But the true test was my husband.  He's not a picky man with too many foods, but there are some things that have to be just right or he's not going to be a lover.  Potato salad is one of those things.  And he loved it!  Woo-hoo!  I was excited.  It's the little things in life that keep me going!  Here is the recipe card:

Well, I am off to do a few chores with the munchkins and hope to be back to make some blogging rounds later this afternoon!  Enjoy your day!

January 2011

Can you believe January is in the books already?  I can't!  And we've got Super Bowl Sunday coming up.  Should be a good week (as long as the Steelers lose, haha!).  I have my January scrapbook page to share today. And thanks to everyone for their input on the title.  I decided to go with the single 2011 memories instead of the full row.  Keeping it simple!

Stay warm!  And I hope to be back someday with some more recipes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

ya gotta have more, you can bake 'em in the oven or buy 'em at the store!  That song always gets stuck in my head when I think about chocolate chip cookies.  Anyway, I know everyone has a favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies, or they have tried a billion recipes for them and don't want just one more chocolate chip cookie recipe, or chocolate is a migraine trigger for you.  But I'm here to tell you.....these cookies are DEliCiOuS!!!  I love them.  One of my running friends brought them to me the day I found out my grade on a history mid-term last semester.  Well, I wasn't in a happy place and ate waaaaay too many of these.  But they are so good.  And I found out something fun.  I have made lots of friends through blog-land, but I realize that most of them I will never see or even talk to in person. Well I found out that one of my real life friends recently started a crafting blog!  I was so happy to hear that!!!  She is talented and crafty, and can sew (and, yes, I am jealous!) and she is doing a fun feature on her blog this year called Fantastic Friday.  Well, I know most of us look forward to Friday, and this is just another fun thing to look forward to on that day.  And, yes, I realize it is Saturday, but she still has the link up and running, so I'm posting for all you chocolate lovers out there.

 All supplies: Designer Digitals

Happy New Year!!!

Hello again, friends! Can you believe it is already 2011?  I have seen several blogs lately that highlighted some of their favorite cards/projects from the year.  I think that's an awesome idea!  Too bad I fell off the blogging wagon a bit last year.  haha!  Oh, well.  I did keep one thing going.  At the beginning of last year I had in mind to do a Project 365/Photo of the Day.  Basically you take a picture each day documenting life and at the end of the year you have a really cool album of the past year.  Well, I didn't totally keep up with my project as far as getting the pictures on layouts.  But I did keep taking pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures.  And early on in the year, I was doing a weekly layout.  But I decided to shift to a monthly layout.  So today I can share with you October, November and December.

I found a great template on Designer Digitals that I modified to fit my needs. Now, perhaps you noticed, but this template has room for only 28 photos.  I generally do take a picture almost every single day, but I have missed a day or two. This layout gives me a little wiggle room.  If I miss a day, no big deal.  Or if I have a day that I want to include several pictures from, I do that.  Now, for a little help from my crafting friends.  The titles are not the same on all of them.  November has "2010 memories" all across the page while October and November do not.  I could not decide which way I liked better.  I had the people in my house vote, and it was a split decision among the 4 of us.  So I am just hoping for a little input from you.  I always like to know other crafters' opinions on stuff like this. 

And while I won't be making any New Year's resolutions like "post to my blog every day," I do hope to share a few more projects this year than last.  Have a great one!

The countdown begins

I have started my countdown.....finals will be over next week and I can say good-bye to one of the longest semesters of my life.  Yes, school took up most of my time these past few months and I have really missed blogging and crafting.  I had two incredibly boring (although informative) classes, and I am ready to be finished with both of them.  Although that doesn't mean I'm ready for my finals.

I have a quick and easy and sugary recipe to share with you today.  And since I haven't blogged in forever, I think I'm going to be trying to fit 3 billion words on one post, so settle in!  LOL!  I had these tasty treats at my sister-in-law's 4 years ago.  They were SO good!  I'm guessing she gave me the recipe and I lost it somewhere and never made them.  Well, yesterday I was craving some sugary goodness and I called her to get the recipe.  Her baby is teething and was not too happy, screaming in the background.  I told her it wasn't a big deal and I could call when it was better for her, but she said to give her 30 seconds, she knew exactly what recipe I was talking about.  So she gave me some of the ingredients and I got ready to make these.  Here is the recipe (and the 3 billions words continue below):

Okay, so if I remember correctly, she actually called these "Welfare Cookies."  But, I can't come back after months of non-posting and give you a recipe with that title.  So I just made up my own name for them.  I got new digi supplies I was ready to use, and so I went with a Christmas-y theme.  So I made a batch and they really do go together quickly.  My husband got home and I thought, "well, he is either going to love these, or wonder why I wasted a cup of chocolate chips!"  It turns out he loved them.  And so did my son and my daughter.  They were in sugar heaven with me!  And then my brother called.  I asked him to please tell his wife thanks for the recipe and that we all loved it.  So he asked what I made and I said, "Those cookies you make with saltine crackers."  Silence on the other end of the phone.  "What are you talking about?"  So I started describing them to him.  He was laughing so hard.  Apparently, they are supposed to be made with graham crackers, not saltine crackers.  LOL!  I told my husband and he said not to change a thing because he loved them just the way they were.  So, I will stick with the plan.  And if you really want to know how else I changed things up, I'll let you know.  Apparently her recipe didn't call for chocolate chips, either, but it did call for coconut.  Well, I didn't have coconut, but did have chocolate chips.  So I used what I had.  Her recipe also called for 3/4 cup of both butter and brown sugar.  Well, I cut both of those back and thought it was still plenty gooey and yummy and sugary.  And since my husband loved it how it was, that is how the recipe got typed up.

And now, I am off to study more and more and more and more.  And then in about a week, I hope to be back on here, and especially catching up with all your lovely blogs I have missed out on for all these months!

Going for a bike ride

Well, I hope you've all had a wonderful week!  It's starting to feel like fall here.  When the kiddos have been getting on the bus in the morning it's been 55 degrees....perfect weather for running!  Saturday was too cold, though.  My son's football team had an 8 a.m. game, which meant 7 a.m. practice.  It was 36 degrees!!!  Hot chocolate weather, only I didn't pack any hot chocolate.  Anyway, on to my page.  This is from the day my kiddos finally mastered the art of bike riding.  Yes, I kind of feel like a bad mom admitting that I had a 9 and 6 year old that didn't know how to ride their bikes.  But, they didn't, that's life, and now they do.  So it's all good!  And they are super happy!!!  I finally FINALLY used an element on this page that I've been meaning to for ages.  Bingo cards seem to be making the rounds in the crafting world, and I've seen them on lots of cards and every time I do, it reminds me that I have these digi ones I've been waiting and waiting to use.  Well, this project just called out to me to finally use one.  And I'm so glad I did, I love the fun look it adds to the page. 
Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals, Basic Grey

Surprise!

I'm back!  Wow, I feel like I've been gone a loooong time!  I guess I ended up taking almost the entire summer off from blogging.  I hadn't planned things that way, but that's how it worked out.  At the start of the summer, I did have 2 goals.  1) To spend as much time with my little munchkins as possible before both of them were in school full time.  2) To try to get a good fitness routine going.  To be honest, I am perfectly happy spending hours and hours on my computer: scrapping, blog-hopping, just surfing around.   But that also seems to keep me spending hours and hours sitting on my butt, and too tired at the end of the day to exercise.  So, anyway.  I got moving, and spent lots of time with the munchkins.  And it was great!!!  But, I did miss my time blogging and blog-hopping.  Now that these two:

are back in school, I'm planning (hoping) to get back in the swing of  blogging.  It might not ever be as regular as it was in the past, but I don't think I'll be missing 2 months.  ha!  No promises, though.  I'm taking day classes at BYU for the first time in 10 years, and I'll admit I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.  The past few years of classes, I've taken night classes.  Campus is always less busy at night, and there isn't quite so much going on to overstimulate my poor brain.  Anyway. 

I have worked on some projects over the summer.  Not a ton, but I'll be sharing them over the next little while.  And you have to know that I'm itching to work with paper and glue again, too!  What a perfect time for Leigh Ann to have several new releases of her Perfect Presentation templates: a Tall Gable Box and a Mini Cake Stand.  Now, I've seen these templates and they are fabulous.  I haven't worked with them yet, but I've got a long weekend ahead of me, so I'm hoping like crazy to fit some crafting time in. 

Digital Basic Grey

Well, by now you all probably know I love doing my scrapbooking digitally.  Well, Basic Grey now has digital papers, making life for a digiscrapper even funner!  This layout today came about because of two different challenges.  One, this sketch posted on the Inspired Crafters blog.  Chris was in charge of our April challenges, and while I fully intended to participate in each one, April went by too fast!  LOL!  The second challenge it is for is an "All About Me" challenge from Designer Digitals.  The All About Me challenges are issued every other week.  You can follow that challenge, and the idea is that at the end of the year you'll have some fun layouts about yourself.  I love it.  I know as a scrapper I'm always documenting my kids and their activities.  This is a fun way to leave behind something about me, too!  The current challenge is about your best friend.

My husband is definitely my best friend.  I'm so lucky to have him.  I found this old picture and it brought back so many memories, I had to use it for my best friend layout!  That's all for today.


Digital Supplies:
Basic Grey
Designer Digitals

Mr. V

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Well, I found myself in need of a sympathy card this week.  I was really sad to see my friend notifying people that her father-in-law had passed away.  I grew up in a tiny little town, and her father-in-law was a teacher there in the middle school.  I was super shy when I was younger, and I was petrified to have him for a teacher.  He was known to be pretty strict, a no-nonsense kind of guy.  He taught art and science.  Kind of a funny mix, now that I think about it.  Anyway, he ended up being one of my favorite teachers.  He really wanted his students to excel.  I believe he'd have been happy to have every student learn more about every subject than he himself knew.  He loved kids to explore and learn everything that they could.  And I loved that about his classes.  My friend posted how hard it was going to be to tell her kiddos when they woke up that grandpa wasn't going to be around anymore.  Well, I was really sad and didn't feel like making a card at all.  My blogging friend Chris had made a beautiful card for her friend, and I just decided to take the easy route and case her gorgeous card.  Enjoy your Friday, go hug all your loved ones!

Day at the Zoo

Good morning!!!  We're adjusting to our summer schedule.  The alarm has been off for two weeks now (minus the day my son had a scout hike), the smell of sunscreen is a constant, and hot dogs are once again a main food group.  I've been doing some crafting here and there, but mainly just enjoying summer at home with my kiddos.  Today I do have a scrapbook page to share.  I finished it a while back, but I'm pretty sure I never posted it here.

When my son was little, he was so scared of this gorilla at the zoo.  We didn't go a lot, but every time that we did, we'd try to get him to sit on the gorilla's lap and he never would.  Finally this day he did.  I thought it made the cutest little picture!

Enjoy your summer days, and I don't think I'll be going two weeks without posting again ;)

All Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals

It's Official

Well, it's official!  My daughter had her kindergarten assessment this morning, but it's over with and we are home.  So now I can say her summer has officially started.  Now if the weatherman would get the memo, and quit sending us rain, and even little patches of snow, I'd be a lot happier!  Today's project is what we made to give to her ballet teacher on her last day of dance class last week.

I always consider it a successful project if I get to combine pink, kraft, and a favorite template of mine!  I have to show the inside, too.  We piled some mini chocolate candy bars in, and added an iTunes gift card (not pictured, we picked it up on the way to ballet!).  I love the size of this carton.  I think it's perfect for getting just the right amount of chocolate in there!

Perfect Presentation Template: Cute Carton

Stamps: PTI Background Basics: Text Style

Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate

CS: PTI Rustic Cream, Kraft
DP: Unknown, but I love it ;)
Accessories: PTI Sweet Blush Saddle Stitched Ribbon

The case of the missing reinkers

There are times it does not pay to overthink.  Most times it does not pay to overthink.  I had the perfect little spot for the only two reinkers I own.  Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado.  They were tucked in a little box in my ribbon drawer.  And everything was fine.  But the overthinking side of me said, "What if they tip over and leak out and get all over my ribbon?"  So I moved them.  And I don't know where they are now.  I can't find them anywhere.  Which wouldn't matter at all, except that it's the last week of kindergarten, and I need my dark chocolate reinker.  Here is the card I need it for:

This is the card I made for the teacher's aide in my daughter's class.  She is awesome!  She works at the kindergarten in the morning, and then goes to school in the afternoons/evenings.  She is hoping to become a teacher.  She is so great with the kids and would make an awesome teacher.  So I really hope she pursues her dream.  I love this quote, and would put it on every other card I made, if it would make any sense to do that.  But since it doesn't, I definitely like to use it on occasions when it makes perfect sense.  As you can see, though, the sentiment needs a little more oomph to it.  That's where the reinker would come in handy.  I have a few days still to try and find it.  But if I don't, this will the be the card she gets (oomphless sentiment and all).  
Stamps: SU Summer by the Sea, Heidi Grace
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, Ranger Coffee, Copics, Prismacolors, Colorbox Royal Blue and Cocoa
CS: PTI White
Accessories: PTI Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon

2 weeks' notice

With all the crazy weather we've been having this year, it has hardly felt like spring, and now it's almost summer. We have 2 weeks of school left for my kindergartener, 3 for my 3rd grader, and I'm excited!  We had a baseball game last night that I had to wear a winter coat, hat, and gloves to.  It was SO cold.  This tree in our neighbor's field blew down a few weeks ago when we had a crazy wind storm. 

And now for a card.  I love it when I'm looking out in blogland and see a card or two that sparks my creativity.  Or when I see a card that is so awesome, I just want to hurry and case it.  I saw this fabulous card on Susan's Simplicity blog back before Easter, and I loved it.  It's been in my head ever since then.  Then I saw this card on a different Susan's blog (Mad Sky Designs).  Well, I decided to use the layout from the first card and the colors on the second, and this is what I came up with:

A super quick and easy card, with colors that I just love.  Enjoy your Friday!

Stamps: PTI Communique Curves Sentiments
Ink: PTI True Black
CS: PTI Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise, White, SU Rose Red
Accessories: Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly Punch, Rhinestones

That's what I get

I guess I shouldn't have joked around last week about my "weekly post."  Because it happened again!  And yes, I was supposed to be back later in the week with a real paper project.  But ballet and hives interfered with my scheduling.  I do have a baby card to share, though, that involves paper and stamping!  So I can leave my blog name as it is!  LOL!

I used the Fall-to Layout #86 from the Clean and Simple Stamping Blog.  I needed a baby card to take to a new mom at church, who had her baby a month early.  I loved the layout, and decided it was perfect for a baby card.  I got a little impatient cutting out all the circles, and ended up using buttons for the smaller circles.  That's all for today; no promises this time on when I'll be back.  I've been working on several sketches from the Inspired Crafters blog, so I'm hoping to finish them up and have more to share.  Enjoy your week (in case I don't make it back...lol!)

Stamps: PTI Signature Greetings, TAC Hello Baby
Ink: PTI True Black, Copics, Prismacolors
CS: PTI Kraft, Spring Rain, Ripe Avocado, Lemon Tart, White
Accessories: Circle Nesties, PTI Buttons

Inspired and Intimidated

Well, I'm here with my weekly post!  lol!  I don't know how the weeks keep getting away from me.  Today I have a scrapbook page to share using a sketch posted on Inspired Crafters.  So, the reason my post is titled  inspired and intimidated....well, you all left such sweet comments on my last scrapbook page.  And I loved reading all of them.  But then I finish a page like this where I feel like something's not quite right, and I get intimidated to post.  Silly, I know.  But that's just me.  But I have been working on this page since my daughter's kindergarten program last week, and just decided it was time to call it finished!

 
Enjoy your Monday!  My kiddos have started the official countdown until school's out.  And don't worry, I will be back later in the week with some real paper projects.  It's Teacher Appreciation week, and I can't just make them a digital scrapbook page.  Although it's tempting!

Digital Supplies: Designer Digitals