Thanksgiving Prep

My best advice to anyone this time of year is to work ahead as much as possible. Even though my guests bring something for our dinner, there is still lots to do. Just like Santa, I make a list and check it twice. I write my menu and note who is bringing a dish and what it is. Then I make my grocery list and shop purposefully so I don't forget anything.

Now it's 8 days until Thanksgiving and I am pleased to say that my shopping is done and I have baked two different batches of rolls and made the fruit salad. Those items are in the freezer and ready to heat and/or serve. Hooray! The photo below is the second batch of rolls (honey oatmeal) next to my favorite workhorse bowl. It belonged to my grandmother and then my mom used it before I inherited it. They are both watching over me from above and I think of them every time I use it. So the secret ingredient in my food really is love. Happy Thanksgiving!

                                                  

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my second favorite holiday next to Christmas. I have my orange lights and scary bats on my front porch. My witch hat, boa and candy are ready for tonight. I love making cards for Halloween so I am sharing three of them with you today. I had a great time creating with Graphic 45 papers.

Expo Weekend

I just spent Friday and Saturday at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Kansas City Missouri. I had a great time! I took six classes and shopped, shopped, shopped. The classes were all really good, with cute cards and great instructors. I will definitely go back next year.

Happy Birthday America!!!!!!

                                         

Trying New Techniques

I think it is very easy to get into a rut with my card making. Thanks to a couple of forums I belong to I have the chance to try some new techniques. The first one I tried today is a chalkboard technique. It looks just like a chalkboard but it is done on plain black card stock. I found it to be an easy and fun technique.

                                                                     


The next technique I used today is a Bleached Image Technique. I found the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers. It's a great website for finding new techniques. I had a little trouble with this one because my very heavy Kraft paper did not bleach out at all. I changed to a lighter weight paper and I could see the bleaching begin instantly. So, word to the wise: test your paper with bleach before you stamp and emboss your image. It may save you some time and material. The finished card turned out well.

                                                                 

I'm Back!

We just spent 2 weeks on Anna Maria Island, Florida. It's our favorite vacation spot and we had a wonderful trip. Here are two of my favorite sunsets for you to enjoy:



Right after we got home we had a Game Night Crop on the We Craft Cards forum. It was a really fun crop which produced some great cards. Here are a few of mine:

Monochrome Card

I just entered this card in a Monochrome Challenge on The Outlawz. Monochrome is not my favorite technique but I do like the way this one turned out.  That's why I like doing challenges; they force me to do things I might not do otherwise. It's easy to get into a rut. I like to stay out of the rut!
 
                                                                

Love That Sourdough!

Is it just me or do all sourdough bakers love to sniff the starter? The best smell in the world is a baby right after a bath. The second best smell is that tangy aroma of a well fed, active sourdough starter. Here is my bowl of starter after I fed it today. It's all bubbly and smells like heaven!
                       
                                                       

And here is the perfect loaf of sourdough bread that we enjoyed tonight with a big salad. Just a plate of salad and a couple of slices of that bread with some real butter....Yummmmm!! Since all I had was a salad, I think a dish of ice cream would be appropriate right about now.

                                                        

Easter Prep

It's beginning to look a lot like Easter in my card studio. This is the card I just made for the Progressive Freebie Challenge on The Outlawz. It's 3D and kinda cute if I do say so myself!

Exciting News!

I have been invited to be a Guest Designer next month for the Clean and Simple challenges on The Outlawz Challenges website. I feel very honored to have been chosen and I am excited about doing it. So, every Monday morning in March you will be seeing my work with the Design Team. Hooray!

Here is the address to the site:  outlawzchallenges.ning.com  (Sorry, I don't know how to make it be a link.) They have a different challenge and design team for each day of the week. It's a big group of players so there is lots of inspiration there. They come up with some fun ideas and they cover a lot of styles of card making. What are you waiting for?....Go visit!

Great Technique

I saw this technique on Stamp TV last week. Today I watched the video again and gave it a try. I freakin' LOVE it!!!!! It is a really cool, different look. Some stamps are better than others for this technique so it will take some experimenting to find the best ones. The background paper is a Toned Gray sketchbook from Hobby Lobby. The only other thing you need is a few colored pencils and a brave attitude.
   
                                             

Happy Valentine's Day!

I went all out to make a special dinner for Valentine's Day. I spent several hours at the stove but boy, it was worth it!

I made Gumbo with chicken, Andouille and shrimp, sourdough oatmeal rolls and for dessert, individual cherry gallettes.  My sweetie provided flowers for the table. Our daughter joined us for our yummy dinner and we had a great time.

                                           

Cherry Galettes

                                              

Some Birthday Humor

I spent this past week hosting a humor challenge on Wecraftcards.com My friends there created some cute cards. I just finished this one and I had to share. The sentiment is a digi that I picked up a long time ago. I rediscovered it in my files and it cracked me up. Hope it gives you a laugh, too! This one is going to a friend who has a birthday this week.

                                                                     

Masculine Card

JoAnn's had Darice embossing folders on sale this week at 6 folders for $10. That's $1.66 each!!!! Another shopper asked me if you had to buy six to get the price. I wanted to say, "Why WOULDN'T you buy six?" but I didn't. Of course I had to peruse the rest of the card making supplies and I found this Spellbinder that I have had my eye on for 30% off. Here is the card I made with these new goodies. It was a fast, easy card and I really like it!

                                                                     

Milestone Birthday

                                                     

I'm 65 today!! Lots of people call that old but I call it Lucky. You see, neither of my parents lived this long. So in the game of life, I consider myself to be a winner. I never complain about birthdays; I am grateful for each and every one. Happy Birthday to me!

Reaching Out

I made this card for a lady undergoing chemo. She is 80 years old and having a very rough time with being sick from the chemo. I'm hoping this card will bring her a bit of cheer knowing that we are thinking of her and praying for her. Is there someone in your life who could use a boost?

I'm Jazzed!

I had a stamp made for the backs of my cards. I used an online company called Design Your Mark. It was very easy to design and order my stamp. It took about three weeks to receive during which I worried that I might be disappointed with it. It came today and it is perfect! It makes a nice clear impression and looks great on my cards. If your are interested in checking them out you will find them at designyourmark.com This is strictly my personal experience with just one stamp but I am happy.

Fuse Tool

My fabulous daughter gave me a Fuse Tool for Christmas and I used it for the first time today. Can I just say I am in love? I cut a large star in the plastic using my Spellbinders die. it didn't cut all of the way through but it was easy to finish with scissors. Then I sealed all but two sides of the star with the Fuse Tool. It was quick and easy! I filled the star with a little silver glitter and some sequins and sealed the last two sides. I made the card by cutting a smaller star out of the heavy card stock and adhered the plastic star to the back side. I used foam tape to attach it to the card front so that there would be room for the shaker to work. The card turned out great and it was fun to make.