MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged!!! I haven't stamped much lately - I've been working on Chris's grandmother's calendar for Christmas and scrapbooking since the mood hit, so I haven't made any cards or much of anything else! But I had some alone time today, so I had to get some Christmas cards made and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how they turned out! The scalloped one was inspired by an e-mail I received from Archiver's. What a GREAT (& super simple) way to use SU!'s Carousel Notes! The second one is a complete CASE of Holly McMillen's awesome cool punched Santa! If you got SCS's e-newsletter last week, you saw the link to the scallop Santa ideas on the website. This was my FAVORITE one!! I also needed a gift card holder, so I CASEd this idea from Mish Mash and Annie B. Very simple and beautiful! I just love it when an idea comes together! Have a blessed Christmas season!

Baby Bib Card

I found the CUTEST baby card on Patty Bennett's blog and I couldn't wait to make it for a friend of mine who's expecting a little girl soon. We're both Vera Bradley fans, so when I saw this cute little outfit, I had to buy it for her. Love those Java Blue colors, and Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip coordinate beautifully. I hope she likes her gift . . . and the card!

Have you ever had one of those brilliant ideas that just made you happy every time you thought about how absolutely SMART you are?!? Yea, me neither, until today! I have a GIANT stash of card fronts from three years of demo swaps and, while I have gotten rid of a bunch, I still have a bunch that I couldn't bear to throw away but that I just don't have room for anymore. So, in a moment of shear genius, I decided to turn them into full cards and donate them to our local Ronald McDonald House. How cool is that?!? I hope the guests enjoy sending them to loved ones back home.

I took the cards to RMDC today and they were very appreciative. If you have any extra cards you'd like to donate, please consider taking them to this wonderful place.

Gobble, Gobble!

Chris's cousin's sweet daughter, Lainey, used to call goggles "gobbles," and I always laugh when I think of that. It was so cute! She's older now and says it correctly - so sad!! This is a card I found on-line last year and just LOVED because it used SU!'s new scallop circle punch! Even though the Apple Cider Designer Series Paper is retired, I hope you find some inspiration in this simple Thanksgiving card. Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving Blessings

I decided this year that instead of getting out the Christmas decorations right after Halloween, I would make some things for Thanksgiving. My family and I have so much to be thankful for and I wanted to take time before the holiday madness begins to really focus on our blessings. I copied this project from the cover of this month's "Stampin' Success," and I am very proud of the way it turned out. When my family comes over for Thanksgiving dinner, this will be the focal point of my decorations. Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving, friends!

Color Challenge

Kristina's Color Challenge this week was Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand, and Whisper White. I was surprised I even had Sahara Sand, but luckily, I had enough to make this card. I love the spotlighting technique and it really jazzes up a card in a very simple way. Thanks for looking!

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas . . .

So, if you've got a little time to kill and 23 friends to help you ;) why not make this adorable Advent calendar!! It's made from a 24-cup mini muffin tin and 24 cute squares made by me and my fellow SU! demonstrators. We got together to assemble the entire project for our holiday party, so there was lots of good food and great conversation. Each square is 2 3/8" x 2 3/8" and has a magnet cut to the same size on the back to hold it on the tin. Each of the little cups can be filled with candy or other prizes for your sweet little ones to uncover each day of December till Christmas. It is the neatest idea, but I'm so glad I didn't have to design and make 24 different squares for the project or my brain would have exploded!! My square was a little Santa tag that I found on-line and I love it!! I think the silver Hodgepodge Hardware buckle is the best part! Very simple and fun! I hope to post more Christmas projects as I get into the spirit so check back often. Have a blessed day!

The best shrimp ever!

I don't usually post recipes on my blog (or take pictures of my dinner!), but this is too good not to share! I watched the "Barefoot Contessa" over the weekend and she made onion rings marinated in buttermilk with a flour/cornmeal coating. They looked so good that I thought that same coating might be delicious on shrimp! So I followed the recipe exactly substituting a pound of peeled, deveined, tail-less shrimp for the onion, and OMGosh - it was FANTASTIC!! I wish I had bought another bag of shrimp!! We wolfed it down in no time - here's the recipe so you can try it, too!


1-2 pounds peeled, deveined, tail-less shrimp
2 cups buttermilk
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (medium) yellow cornmeal
1 quart vegetable oil (I used peanut)

Combine the buttermilk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add the shrimp, toss well, and allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes. In a gallon-size Zip-lock bag, combine the flour, cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a large pot or Dutch oven. (A candy thermometer attached to the side of the pot will help you maintain the proper temperature.) Working in batches, lift some shrimp out of the buttermilk and dredge them in the flour mixture. Drop into the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes, until golden brown, turning them once with tongs. Don't crowd them and don't overcook them! Drain on paper towels and ENJOY!

Some of you asked for it, now all of you have got it!!

OK. so some of you know that I partcipated in my first craft fair over the weekend. Not the rousing success I hoped for, but not a complete loss. However, I have a TON of stuff left over to sell - all BEAUTIFULLY packaged in cellophane bags (Martha Stewart's favorite corsage bags!!) and tied with Stampin' Up! ribbon. I have lots of 6x6 tiles ($10 each - they have felt feet on the bottoms to protect your table) and notepad/pen sets ($5 per set). I think either of these would make GREAT teacher or co-worker gifts and the work has already been done for you so you'll be ahead of the game this holiday season! Please let me know if you'd like to make a purchase! Have a great week!!!

Prepare to be amazed . . .

Is this not THE CUTEST T-SHIRT EVER?!?! I saw this idea by Jennifer Buck on the Stampin' Up! website in the Artisan Award section and could not wait to try it out!! So I found Jennifer's blog where she posted a great tutorial that was super easy to follow! I used by new favorite tool, the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, to perfectly line up my little cupcakes, and I am so proud of the results!!! I also stamped some onesies with Bugs & Kisses and Wild About You and they are so cute, too! This project couldn't be simpler or cheaper. Once you make the initial investment for the iron-on transfer sheets, which you can get at Michael's so use that coupon, you can always find plain Ts on sale. What kid (or grown-up!) wouldn't LOVE to have a personalized one-of-a-kind T-shirt?! So get busy!!

Color Challenge

It's been forever since I've done one of Kristina's Color Challenges! I always love them, but can never seem to get around to it, but I carved out a few minutes today to make this card that I really like! As I've mentioned before, Flight of the Butterfly is one of my favorite new stamp sets, and it is the best set to use for a One-Sheet Wonder! I stamped off the Taken with Teal butterfly to soften the look. It's a little light in the picture, but it's there!Thanks for looking - have a great day!

Trick or Treat!

My friend, Wanda (aka Darkside Stamper), made the CUTEST little treat buckets using the super-cheap pails in the $1 Spot at Target and Stampin' Up!'s Halloween rub-ons and I just had to make some, too. When I bought the buckets, they had been reduced to 50 cents for 2, so they're an AWESOME deal!! Keep in mind, they are VERY small - they'll hold about 5-6 fun-size candy bars - but they are perfect for teacher treats. I hope Bailey's teachers like them!! Happy Halloween!

Last-Minute Halloween Cards

OK, I have been literally thinking about Halloween for a month or more. I have researched project and card ideas, yummy recipes, decorations, the whole thing. So why is it that 2 days before Halloween, I am still making cards to send out and creating little treats for the teachers at school?!? UGH!!! I had marked this card as a favorite on SCS because I love the layout and the color combination. Since I was sick today, I sat on the couch and worked on a few cards all day . . . and believe me, they took ALL DAY! But I love the finished product so I'm glad I stuck it out! Have fun on Halloween!!

Holiday Swap Card

I have a demonstrator meeting on Monday night and the theme is holiday cards. It's too close to Halloween to make scary cards, so I decided to make a Christmas card - with a twist! I used the set Party Hearty - the "trees" are actually the party hats. Cool, huh?!? And since this is one of the sets that's 20% off this month, this is a great demo card as well. It was hard not to use Deer Friends because I love it, but it's so popular that I'm sure my fellow demonstrators have seen every possible project I could create, so I had to get a little creative! Have a great weekend!

Birthday 3x3

I needed a card for a friend of my daughter who is turning 7 this week and this little 3x3 card is perfect to put on his gift! He will surely toss the card aside quickly, so I didn't get too precious about my design! I think this card is cute enough to impress the moms but easy enough that I won't collapse if it mistakenly gets thrown away!

What a hoot!

How cute is this idea?!? I saw it in the September issue of "Stampin' Success," the magazine for SU! demonstrators, and I knew I had to make it for one of my hostesses who LOVES owls! It's VERY simple and uses lots of punches so it would be great to demo. I also used my favorite Bella Toile background stamp inked in Sage Shadow on Sage Shadow CS. It's really pretty! I don't use Sage Shadow much, but it's one of the coordinating colors for Creamy Caramel on the color wheel which meant I didn't have to think about picking a good color match, and the less thinking I have to do, THE BETTER!! Have a great week!

More Branching Out

I've always had a fear of demonstrating scrapbooking - always! It's such a personal hobby and my very simple style may be the farthest thing from your more intricate and detailed style. So these thoughts of self-doubt have always steered me clear of scrapboking demos - until Friday!! I saw in the latest issue of "Stampin' Success" the cutest little 2-page layout that really seemed doable! So I copied that bad boy straight out of the magazine and it turned out so cute!! I used a 6x6 format and the pieces were very simple to put together. It's one of those projects that you can add more or fewer embellishments based on your mood! ENJOY!!

One-Sheet Wonder

I am truly branching out in my stamping, sweet friends! I have always been fascinated by the concept of the One-Sheet Wonder but I usually have trouble spacing out my stamped images - I'm a pretty crappy "random" stamper. But when I found this pretty card on . . . (drum roll, please!) SplitcoastStampers, I knew it would be perfect design for a One-Sheet Wonder. And I need several thank you notes for a workshop I did on Friday, so here they are! I love Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, & Chocolate Chip together, and I'm REALLY in love with my new set, Flight of the Butterfly. I had a stamped strip left over, so I made a card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge, too! I think I'm going to be making a LOT of One-Sheet Wonder projects!! Have a great weekend and a great Fall Break for those of you who get one!!

Stamp-A-Ma-Jigs ROCK!!

Well, my once irrational loathing of the infamous Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (SAMJ) has turned into a love to end all others! It never made sense to me to try to systematically and methodically line up the images in a 2-Step Stampin' set - I just always eyeballed it and got close enough to look good, if whimsical at times. But since I got the Flight of the Butterfly set, I have faithfully used my SAMJ to perfectly place the details on the butterflies' wings and it is AMAZING!! Such a simple trick that makes a HUGE difference in the finished project! I found this card on SCS (crazy, huh?!?) and fell in love with it so I made it for a friend who is having surgery next week. It turned out PERFECTLY! There is a bit of a learning curve with the SAMJ, but I'm well past that now ;) And I take back every single snide remark about that precious piece of purple plastic. It ROCKS!!