Masculine Birthday

Like many of you, I have a terrible time creating masculine birthday cards. I typically buy Chris and my dad a card for their birthdays simply because I was the sentiment to be especially meaningful since these are the two most important men in my life! So, when I was called on to make birthday cards for the staff at my church, I not only had to make one masculine card, I had to make 11!! WOW! Of course, I didn't make 11 unique cards, but coming up with 1-2 designs was proving harder that I thought. So, after scouring the internet and SCS, I went back to my old faithful, Me, My Stamps and I and found this perfect card design!!! I dug through my stamps and found a funny one with several, simple images, and went to work. I LOVE how these cards turned out!! I am definitely going to use this layout in the future because it is easy, fun, and let me use all that beautiful coordinating paper that I have from SU! Thanks for stopping by today - I hope you have a great week!!

Pumpkin PSA

I feel I have been remiss that I have kept this wonderfully delicious Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Muffin recipe to myself, so consider this a public service announcement - a pumpkin public service announcement!! These are the easiest muffins to make and you will surely find yourself making them again and again. You can make these in standard muffin cups and you'll get 24 per recipe, so be sure and make two batches so you'll have some to give away. Your friends will love you for it!! And, if you need another incentive, I've been told that these are Weight Watchers approved!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Muffins

1 box yellow cake mix
1 can pumpkin
3/4 cup cinnamon chips
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; mix all ingredients together very well to completely incorporate the dry cake mix; drop batter into mini or standard muffin cups and bake for 15 minutes (minis) or 18-20 minutes (standard).

Go now and bake!!

Birthday Photo Garland

Our sweet Morgan recently had her first birthday so, of course, we celebrated with a party and lots of yummy cake!! We had a cookout and the day was gorgeous, with just a hint of a breeze and glorious sunshine. We put up a canopy for a little bit of shade, which offered the perfect location for the photo garland I made. I took one picture from each month of Miss Morgan's first year and created banners for each one and hung them on rope using custom clothespins that coordinated with our party color scheme. I am so proud of how the finished project turned out!! It was very simple to create using 4x6 photos and card stock cut to 4.25 x 8.5. I then drew a line from each bottom corner to the middle of the picture to create the fishtail. I used a bit of monoadhesive to attach tiny strips of patterned paper to the clothespins. I did the same thing, with the addition of buttons, and used them as weights for our tablecloths. Clever, don't you think? And super cute!! Thanks for stopping by! Hope you'll make a photo garland for your next party!!

Quilt Quips

A couple of Sundays ago, I was able to go to my stamp club meeting at Harriet's place in Norris, TN, not too far from Knoxville. We made several pretty cards, but one of my favorites was Harriet's card, which looks quilted and even has faux stitching for a truly authentic look! Simply punch approximately 16 1" or 1.25" square (or more, depending on the shape of your focal point) and adhere them to a 5.5" x 4.25" piece of copy paper. Emboss using the embossing folder of your choice and cut out in your preferred shape. Fun and clever! I don't have this stamp set, Quilts Quips, but I can easily write these sentiments on future cards for an even more handmade, homespun look. I can't wait to make more of this adorable card! Thanks for stopping by!

Rich Kiss!

A couple of days ago, Papertrey Ink posted a card on its Facebook page that I really liked and believe it or not, I had a few minutes today to make a simpler version for a relative whose husband passed away recently. I wouldn't have put Rich Razzleberry together with Kiwi Kiss, but I love the look of this simple card. The colors make a statement so the card doesn't require elaborate embellishments. I would definitely make this card again, perhaps using another color scheme that's outside my comfort zone. Thanks for stopping by!

The Plug-In Drug Yields Delicious Scones

One of my favorite motivational speakers is Nelle Mohney, a Methodist minister's wife from Chattanooga, TN, who I have heard speak several times over the years, though sadly not recently. One of her points that I have remembered all these years is that television is the "plug-in drug!!" I totally agree! It is completely addictive and can waste more time than just about anything. Next came Facebook (even more addictive!) and most recently, Pinterest! I have spent more time "pinning" recipes, party ideas, gift ideas, crafts, things for kids, and on and on (which is probably why I haven't blogged in a month!). So this week, I have made an effort to actually cook some of the recipes I've "pinned." Today, I gave pumpkin scones a try. I made scones for the first time in high school more than 20 years ago and they would have easily passed for bricks! Over the years, I haven't had much better success with scones . . . until today!! As luck would have it, I had GREAT success with my scones today! They were easy to put together in my food processor and had 2 glazes! YUM! I even took pictures along the way, a la the Pioneer Woman. That's really a lot of work and my phone still has flour on it, but these are the lengths I'll go to for you, sweet blog readers!!

Dry ingredients plus butter in the food processor - so much easier than a pastry blender!
A half-cup of yummy pumpkin goodness!
Pumpkin, milk, and an egg - what a beautiful color!
Wet and dry ingredients coming together . . .
Look at those beautiful little specks of butter!
Patting the dough out into a rectangle on a flour-covered cutting board - I used a little too much flour! I had to wipe it off the finished scones with a paper towel!
Next I cut the dough into three equal parts and each part into two rectangles per the recipe. The scones turned out to be quite big, so I think I'll cut them smaller next time.
It took three tries with three different utensils for me to get the soft dough to the baking sheet. The bench scraper turned out to be the best choice.
The finished product!!
I baked the scones for 14 minutes (the recipe called for 14-16 minutes) so as not to overcook them and they are so tender and moist and delicious!! My very first success with scones! They also have a sugar glaze AND a spice glaze drizzled on them - how could you go wrong with that amount of yumminess!!

Crafty Cup!

(ETA: Here is the link to the Coffee Card Tutorial. Thanks, bashore4usc, for reminding me where I saw it!!) Sorry I'm so very late with this post. I made this card DAYS ago but just got the lip stamp last weekend. I think it adds so much to the card, don't you? Sunday, the day I should've posted this, was not a very good day, as evidenced by my new haircut. Lesson learned: NEVER get your hair cut when you're in a bad mood by someone who normally doesn't cut your hair - NO MATTER WHAT!! And for God's sake, don't tell the stylist you have no idea http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwhat you want and to just do anything. You will regret this. I promise . . .

Anyway, I totally LOVE this card and am desperate to find someone deserving to give a Starbucks gift card to. I found this idea on a blog that I lost when my computer shut down on its own, but I promise to post an update here when I find it so you can see this and many other cool projects. Thanks for stopping by!

witticisms

Hello!! This is just a little note to let you know that must check out one of my new favorite blogs: witticisms. Jessica Witty is HILARIOUS!! Just read this blog post and you'll see what I mean!!

Pals Paper Arts Celebrity Color Challenge (PPA105)

I was checking out my favorite blogs this morning and came across the Pals Paper Arts Celebrity Color Challenge (PPA105) on Mary Fish's blog, Stampin' Pretty. I'm really getting into the challenges I'm finding on-line! There are lots of them out there and I am not even scratching the surface. Typically, I do the challenges that involve cool stamping prizes, and I don't even know if this one does, but I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't have Lucky Limeade or Island Indigo, so I used Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point, along with Daffodil Delight. I saw a card like this one at PTI's Stamp-A-Faire a few weeks ago. I thought the ruffles were a clever accent and they are super simple to make. Thanks for stopping by - I hope you'll check out a challenge or two yourself!!

Inspired by Linda Fisher

Here it is for today! I found my inspiration on the blog, Linda's Stamp Loft. Not much else to report except a big "THANKS!" to my buddy, Mary Ann, for loaning me her Simple Flower Embosslit! Later, gators!!

Birthday are the Berry Best!!

I was going through my Stamp-A-Faire pictures today and came across the cutest card that I decided to make on Sunday once my sweet husband got home from work to take care of our semi-whiny baby!! As usual, I didn't have ANY of the supplies used on the card, but I had enough comparable supplies to make it work. Miraculous!! I don't know which Design Team member made this card, but I'm sure it's out there in cyberspace somewhere! That's my quick post for today! See you again soon!!

Make It Monday #26: Decreasing Apertures

Now that I am such a faithful follower of Papertrey Ink, I decided to participate in my first Make It Monday challenge. Oh, Lord, did I pick a tough one - Decreasing Apertures! I watched the video (twice!)and then took the plunge. The colors I used are Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, and Ocean Tides, Spellbinders Labels 4 dies, PTI Mat Stack 2 die, and Spellbinders Circle dies, and the stamp set, Round and Round, which is last year's PTI anniversary set. I decided to skip the glitter window because with my luck, I would ruin the whole card with that last step! This is certainly not the best card I've ever made, but I'm glad I tried the technique. Hope you'll try, too!

Not-So-Baby Button Bits

So, I didn't really LOVE my earlier post today, even though the thought was sweet, so I decided to post this amazingly, AWESOME card that I just made. I was looking for some inspiration to make a baby card using Papertrey Ink's Baby Button Bits and I found this card by Schirmcat on Splitcoast Stampers. How cool that a baby set can be used for a non-baby card! I just love how versatile PTI's stamp sets are!! I think this card is one of the prettiest cards I have seen in awhile!. There is just something about it that spoke to me and I could not wait to CASE it. Today has been a fabulous day for stamping! My hubby is on vacation this week and he's been taking care of Miss Morgan while I have a "free" day. I've got "NCIS" on the laptop and I'm stamping like crazy! These are my very, very favorite kinds of days! Thanks for stopping by again - I hope you're having a wonderful day, too!!

The World Over

With a very active 10-month-old, I barely have time to make a card much less come up with an original idea so, when Bailey told me her favorite stamp set was The World Over, a Stampin' Up! hostess set from 2006, I knew I would have to consult Splitcoast Stampers for an idea to CASE. I dropped Bailey off today with her Uncle Scott and Cousin Sam for a week-long visit with them, and Aunt Jennifer & Cousin Sarah, in West Virginia. This will be the first time Bailey has ever been away from home for a week, so I was careful not to say "I'll miss you" but instead "You're going to have a great time" & "We can't wait to hear all about your trip." I'm not quite sure who I was trying to convince, her or me! But when I left, she and Sam were playing the Wii at the farm and Bailey was super excited so I know it will be a fantastic week for her! But, I still wanted to send her a little card to let her know we're thinking about her so I found this one on SCS that I CASEd in it's entirety! The only think I changed is the color of the card base!! But it's the thought that counts, right?! And how cool it will be for Bailey to get mail at her cousins' house!! (Sorry for the glare - the pics I took out of the clear envelope weren't very good so I had to take another one!!)

Sweet Strawberries

I'm not sure how I got on a fruit kick, but a couple of weeks ago, I found a few cute cards with a fruit theme and then made it my mission to find all the other cute fruit cards out there!! As crazy as that sounds, I'm so glad I did it, because I found this adorable card by Mercedes Weber and I couldn't wait to CASE it! Hers is much more polished than mine, but I think I managed fairly well with the supplies I have. I believe she used some of Stampin' Up!'s new In Colors and, since I don't have any of those yet, I used my old faves: Tempting Turquoise and Real Red along with black & white. Thanks for stopping by on this hot Sunday! Have a great week!!

Simple Sunflowers

Everyone who made a purchase of $100 or more at Stamp-A-Faire received a little freebie, Simple Sunflowers. I didn't purchase that much on my own, but together with two of my stamping buddies, we were able to get it and I'm taking the first "shift" using it!! It's not posted on the PTI website yet, but I took lots of pictures at the event including some using this sweet little set. This is one of them . . . sort of! As per usual, I didn't have everything I needed to make the PTI sample, but I think I improvised fairly well. I inked one of my Cuttlebug embossing plates and ran it through the Cuttlebug to create an inked embossed look (thanks for that idea, Cele!!). I've got some more ideas in the hopper so check back often!!

Papertrey Ink Stamp-A-Faire 2011 (part 3)

Here are the rest of the cards we made at Stamp-A-Faire. Hope you enjoy!

Iconic Images from SAF

One of the best part of Stamp-A-Faire was getting an exclusive PTI stamp set before it's available to the general public! When I first saw Iconic Images, I'll admit I wasn't especially impressed, however, the first stamp I noticed was the lady's silhouette, which is only one, small part of this beautiful set. After using it at SAF and now at home, I really like it and can see it's potential!! The blue & yellow card is the one we made at SAF and it was one of my favorites. After doing a little I found the blue & red card on-line and I love it, too!! I simply cannot pass up a blue & red card! I took pictures of several other projects made by the PTI Design Team using Iconic Images and I'm planning to CASE or at least post my pictures here over the next few days. Check back often for much more inspiration! Have a great day!!