Silver Magic!

Isn't this the COOLEST?!?! This project is in this month's "Stampin' Success," and it is surprisingly simple . . . until you get to the microbeads! But I'll save that for later! I have always loved our Hodgepodge Hardware and the Styled Silver is the prettiest. I made this necklace/card for my sister-in-law's birthday and, since she's a scrapbooker like me, I knew she'd like this charm I found at Hobby Lobby. I used the Fresh Cuts stamp set and Bella Rose DSP. Once I assembled the necklace, I covered my focal point with Crystal Effects (per the instructions) and poured on some clear microbeads. A word of warning: use the CE sparingly!!! I used too much and had glue and beads going everywhere!! I was able to press some of the beads into the glue and remove the extras, but it was touch-and-go there for a minute! I couldn't bear the thought of ruining my masterpiece at the final stage! I hope my sister-in-law likes it!!

Patchwork Valentine

My sweet friend, Cele, always finds the most amazing stamping and scrapbooking supplies and projects, and she often shares them with me. I was *SO EXCITED* when she gave me a Valentine Kit from TayloredExpressions that includes cardstock, beautiful patterned paper, coordinating ribbon, brads, and glitter. I couldn't pick just one patterned paper to use on my thank you card/Valentine for Cele, so I used them all to create this patchwork Top Note, which is one of my most favorite new ideas. After cutting out the Top Note, I embossed it with the Swirls folder. I also embossed the second layer with the Swiss Dot folder because I love the look of all that texture! I found some GREAT Valentine stamps at Michael's for $1 each, so I grabbed a handful and used one to make the medallion on this card. A little glitter and Ba Da Bing - a beautiful Valentine, if I do say so myself! Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Pages

If you haven't seen K & Company's Christmas paper, you must check it out! I love the beautiful color combinations and the glittery, embossed papers! I found this layout on-line and thought it would be great for one of my many photo-filled pages! I especially like the glittery letters (Making Memories Fa-La-La-La are my faves!!) on the rounded accent at the top of the page.

One of my favorite ways to get lots of pictures on a page is by doing a collage. Some of my collages are more structured (like this one) than others, but free form collages work very well, too. Once I put the pictures on the page, I needed something to jazz up the page, so I used decorative scissors to cut strips of coordinating paper and I put them where the photos meet. I also used these cute little Christmas brads at the intersection point for a little more pizazz. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you get to scrapbook a little today!!

More Simple Pages

I know it's hard to tell anything about these pages, but they are super simple! My new favorite accessories are Thickers Sticker Letters - they are so much fun and make the prettiest page titles. I love to mix different styles of these cute letters to make my titles pop! The glittery letters are the very best - I used those on the word "tubing" and they just remind me of snow! There are so many cool colors and styles that you can create titles for all your scrapbook pages, quickly and easily! Happy Scrapping!!

I'm just a scrapbooking machine . . .

OMGosh! I have been scrapping like a crazy woman over Christmas break!! I have so many awesome pictures (if I do say so myself!) from Christmas and Bailey's birthday that I just had to get them on some pretty paper! I just love this layout because it's simple, beautiful, and includes lots of pictures. I love looking at scrapbooking magazines, but the layouts usually only have 1-2 photos and my layouts usually have 10 or more pictures. I used my square Nestabilities dies to crop these photos so that they are a uniform size. Believe me, photos are much easier to arrange when they are square and the same size!!! But this layout is never boring! I hope to get some more layouts posted this week so check back often for more scrapbooking inspiration!

You can be a rock star!!

Here's another card using my new favorite stamp set, A Little Somethin.' I didn't think I'd use the Rock Star stamp until I saw this card on Dawn McVey's blog. I made this card for a friend's birthday (love ya, Jackie!) and wrote on the inside, "I hope your birthday ROCKS!" Clever, huh? I am so in love with the new Raspberry Tart DSP that it almost hurts my feelings to cut it, so if yo get a card from me that uses it, consider yourself SUPER SPECIAL ;) Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!

More Raspberry Tart

Here's another beautiful card inspired by one that caught my eye on SCS. I just LOVE this new Raspberry Tart paper from SU! The color combination (Rose Red & Cameo Coral) is unusual, but it really works and helps me think outside the box. I intentionally left off the sentiment on the front of the card so it could work for any occasion. The Raspberry Tart paper will be available when the new catalog is released in mid-January. So far, I've seen lots of beautiful samples using new stamp sets and accessories, so start getting excited!!!

HELPFUL HINT: Our retired Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon blends beautifully with this paper if you don't have an exact match (which I didn't) - I was very excited!!!

Buzzin' Back By!

Well, here's another CASEd card from SCS - that's all I seem to be good for these days! I'm just thrilled to be creating SOMETHING!! This little set is going to be so much fun. I have loved every color combo I've seen it used with on SCS. I have lots more cards to make . . . I know everyone at Bailey's school (where the mascot is the hornet) will want cards with these little impostors on them! Thanks for stopping by!!

Just Buzzin' Around!

I was tempted not to get this set, but then I remembered that Bailey's school mascot is a hornet, and I thought these little bees would pass. And I have found so many cute cards on SCS! Thanks for looking today! Have a great weekend!

Spring/Summer '09 Preview!

I finally had a moment during the Christmas busyness to try out some of my new goodies from Stampin' Up! The BEST thing about being a demonstrator is getting to order items before they are available to the public. I fell in love with the new Raspberry Tart designer series paper that will be in the Spring/Summer '09 catalog. It looks so much like a Vera Bradley pattern and combines Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, and Cameo Coral. I usually have a terrible time picking out new stamp sets that will be popular and versatile, but I could tell right away that A Little Somethin', one of the new Level 2 hostess sets would be a hit! This extremely simple card (created by Vera on SCS) would be perfect to demo at a workshop or to make in bulk to have on hand for any occasion.

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

My sweet daughter, Bailey's birthday is December 27, which can be a little tricky when trying to plan a birthday party! This year, we decided to invite a few friends to see the new movie, "Despereaux," and then walk to the new ice cream shop nearby. Since I only needed eight invitations, I made them and I just love how they turned out! They were very simple - popcorn boxes from World Market (although I have seen them at Target and Party City), microwave popcorn, and a card with the party info that I printed and attached to basic gray cardstock. I thought the card needed something so I stamped it using the popcorn stamp from Treat Yourself in Barely Banana. Happy 8th Birthday, Sweet Bailey!

"We wish you a Merry Christmas! We wish you a Merry Christmas! We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!!"

Love and blessings from the Lemmons family!

Peace & Joy & Love & Cheer

I found this beautiful framed art piece by Julie Case on SCS and couldn't wait to make it for Christmas gifts. It's not hard, but it took me awhile because, for some reason, EVERYTHING takes me awhile! My friend, Rebekah, set me up with all her Big Shot stuff so I could make it. I think I'm going to have to break down and buy some more dies - my Top Note is getting lonely :) Thanks for checking out my FOURTH POST of the day - can you believe it? I think this might be a sign of the Apocalypse!! Merry Christmas!

Reindeer Food

OK, I feel like THE SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!! Well, maybe not the smartest, but definitely the LUCKIEST! I heard about this idea rather randomly and thought it was a great idea for Bailey's class Christmas craft, but it wasn't until I made one and saw how completely adorable it is that I felt so happy I could hardly stand it! Inside the brown paper bag is "Reindeer Food" which consists of dry oatmeal with a little glitter so the reindeer can see the food from the sky (of course!!) - the kids can sprinkle this in their yard on Christmas Eve so the reindeer will have something to do while Santa unloads those presents! I traced Bailey's hands and used the cut-outs as the antlers and punched circles in white, gray, and red for the eyes and nose and VOILA!! I can't wait to make these with the kids tomorrow - I hope they like them, too! Merry Christmas!!

Precious little penguin tag

I am so glad that I stumbled upon the blog, StampWithHeather!! I have found more amazing projects on her blog lately, but this little punched penguin is probably one of the cutest! I lucked out and found penguin Christmas wrapping paper in the $1 spot at Target, so I couldn't wait to make some of these adorable tags to match. Heather even has an easy-to-follow tutorial on her blog - very nice! I think I used almost all of my punches for the penguin, but my favorite part is his little hat which is made from a 1 3/8-inch circle, a 1/2-inch circle, and a word window punch piece. I want to make a snowman, too, and put this little hat on him! Hope you like - thanks for stopping by!! Merry Christmas!!

Today's second post - a Christmas miracle!!

I am still completely in love with the Top Note die, but I hadn't used it in awhile, so when I saw this beautiful journal on SCS, I couldn't wait to dust it off! This is an easy card to make, but very impressive in person. I used my 1 1/4 inch square punch and placed 12 squares on a piece of copy paper, them ran the paper through the Cuttlebug with the Top Note die. I embossed the patchwork piece with the Swiss Dot embossing folder (my fave!) and embossed the Baja Breeze background with the snowflake embossing folder. I LOVE how the two embossed patterns look together. A little ribbon, a little Hodgepodge Hardware, ba-da bing - a beautiful Christmas card for a dear friend! Merry Christmas!!

If you haven't seen the blog StampWithHeather, you are truly missing one of my favorite blogs! Go right now and check it out - go ahead, I'll wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don't you LOVE IT?!?!?!? This little tag caught my eye and I couldn't wait to make it. It uses the ever-popular scallop circle punch in a cool new way! So, I made a bunch to put on the plates of cookies I made for some of the teachers and staff at Bailey's school. They are getting Peppermint Chocolate Fudge, Peanut Butter Fudge, Espresso Chocolate Cookies, Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Almond Pound Cake Cookies with Strawberry Jam. Whew! I've been baking like a crazy woman! I hope they love their treats and their cute tags, too! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Comfort Food ROCKS!!

OK, so many of you know I love to try new recipes, but I've been in a cooking rut lately . . . until I found THIS recipe in December's "Southern Living" magazine. Breakfast Enchiladas - what could be more wonderful?!? So I made them tonight and they WERE wonderful, and I wanted to share a bit of the wonderfulness with you! I tweaked the original recipe a bit to suite my taste, so here it is:

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Breakfast Enchiladas

1 (1 lb.) package ground pork sausage
2 T. butter
10 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. salt
8 (8-inch) soft-taco size flour tortillas
Cheese sauce (see recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees - cook sausage in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, 6 to 8 minutes or until sausage crumbles and is no longer pink - remove from skillet and drain well - wipe skillet clean - melt butter in skillet over medium heat - add beaten eggs, salt, and pepper and cook, without stirring, 2 minutes or until eggs begin to set on bottom - gently draw cooked edges away from sides of pan to form large pieces - cook, stirring occasionally, 4-5 minutes or until eggs are thickened but still moist (do not over stir) - remove from heat and gently fold in 1 1/2 cups cheese sauce and sausage - spoon about 3/4 cup egg mixture down the center of each flour tortilla and roll up - place, seam side down, in a lightly greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish - pour remaining cheese sauce over tortillas - bake for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly - serve with desired toppings (I garnished with sundried tomatoes)

Cheese Sauce

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 (8 oz.) block Cheddar cheese, shredded (DO NOT USE preshredded cheese - trust me, it make a HUGE difference!!)
1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chilies
3/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat - whisk in flour until smooth and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute - gradually whisk in milk and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 7 minutes or until thickened - remove from heat and whisk in remaining ingredients until cheese is melted
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I think this cheese sauce would be delicious with macaroni or other pasta, or to make cheese grits. So many possibilities!!

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!