{Links and Life and Love}

Welcome to February, people! I just have some stuff and things I'd like to share, and occasionally I want to discuss more than paper crafts. Can you deal? Here are some things I'm loving lately. Maybe you'll love them too - and then we'll love them together. Okay? 

Link Love:

First up, Meg Duerksen. I shall now talk about her like I know her - which I don't. But I'd like to. I'm pretty sure she'd be my BFF whether she liked it or not. Her blog makes me ridiculously happy, and I think I'd like to be her when I grow up. And she has a craft house. We could GO there. (If it just weren't so far away from me. Sigh.) But YOU could go there. And you should. It looks colorful and inspiring and pretty dang amazing. In the meantime, visit her blog. You'll be so glad you did! (Plus, ummm, her blog header matches mine. . .I think it's meant to be!)

Next, Yoga With Adriene. She is making yoga feel doable, and reasonable, and dare I say - fun?! I'm completely new to yoga, and I'm still not sure it's something I am going to commit to. But I'm sticking with her 30 Days of Yoga program on YouTube. (Although it's taking me longer than 30 days!) Plus, she's funny and quirky, and totally adorable - laughing during yoga? Yes. You will.

And last but not least, The Art of Simple Travel. Tsh Oxenreider and her family (including three children) are traveling around the world this year. For a year. Around the world. I'm mesmerized by her photos and blog posts. Not because it's something I'd ever want to do - but I'm loving vicariously living through their journey. (So much so, that I even dreamed about it last night!) I highly recommend following their trip on Instagram. I love their focus on simplicity, priorities, and slow travel. (This is the sister blog of The Art of Simple - also one of my favorite blogs!)

Other Stuff and Things:

So you may remember that I have this gig with Purex. They occasionally send me products to try out and share with you. My latest product is the brand new Purex Power Shot, which will be hitting store shelves soon. I'll be honest - my first thought, was "This is so super dumb. What's the big deal, I can't pour my own detergent effectively?" And then I tried it, and thought about it. It is actually pretty cool. I'm thinking I can teach my son to do his own laundry, and not worry that he's going to pour half the bottle in the washer, or spill it all over the place: no-spill and easy measurement. You just flip open the cap, and flip over the bottle. It automatically delivers one super concentrated dose of detergent. Then, the Power Shot feature automatically refills and is ready for the next load.  

Here's the best part: You need laundry detergent, and I have some coupons for free bottles to share! Wasn't that sweet of Purex? Leave a comment by Friday, February 6 and I'll choose two random winners to take home a coupon (and a handmade card of course!) There's also a sweepstakes going on - you could win free detergent, or even a washer and dryer! (Just for entering, you'll receive a $1 off coupon too!)

Okay. So go visit these fabulous blogs. Be inspired by these women who do what they love, and are kind enough to share it with ME (and YOU!) And leave a comment for the free detergent. (Seriously, I mean, you need laundry detergent anyway, so you might as well get it for free!) Thanks so much for stopping by! And coming up on Wednesday - a new card or two! xoxo

Make lemonade!

Summer weather is here, and my 2nd grader is only a 2nd grader for one more week. (Eek!)

I am excited to share the super-cute June stamp set, from The Stamps of Life, called lemonade2drink. 

On this first card, I used my favorite Sizzix dotted embossing folder to add some simple texture to the yellow background.  The sentiment is from the set, patterns4pops (another super fun summertime stamp set!)

On this second card, I created a lemonade glass shaped card.  I simply stamped the glass on a folded piece of cardstock, and trimmed around it, being sure to leave the top fold attached.  I also added dimensional glaze to the ice cubes, for a little added shimmer and shine!

All of the patterned paper for these cards is from Heidi Swapp's Serendipity, at Pink Paislee.

And because I am a pretty serious lemonade fan, here is my favorite lemonade recipe. (I also super-duper love Ted's Montana Grill, which makes this delightfully fab lemonade!)

Ted's Montana Grill Lemonade

(as featured on The Martha Stewart Show, October 2009)

Ingredients

• 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 10 lemons)
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 1/2 cups cold water
• Crushed ice

Directions

1. Place sugar and 2 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Remove sugar syrup from heat and let cool.
2. In a large pitcher, mix together cooled sugar syrup, cold water, and lemon juice until well combined. Serve over ice.

Yield

Makes 2 1/2 quarts

*I'll admit though, I totally don't dissolve the sugar on the stove when I make it.  I just throw it in to the cold water and lemon juice, and mix it up really well!!! (Don't tell Ted or Martha!)

HAPPY SUMMER!

:)

Oct. 31 (a fall card and a fall recipe)

Halloween is coming! 

We're looking forward to fall leaves, cool weather, and tasty treats this year on Halloween, because we'll be celebrating in the mountains, instead of sweaty Florida! Hooray! 

I like all things pumpkin, and cute on Halloween. So this swirly, cheery Halloween card is very ME!

(all supplies from Close To My Heart, except ribbon and jewels) 

Speaking of pumpkin, want to see one of my favorite fall pumpkin recipes?

Baked pumpkin oatmeal . . .totally delish, and you can make it on Sunday night and eat it all week long for breakfast! 

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ cup canned pumpkin
• ¼ cup brown sugar (for the top)

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients except the ¼ cup brown sugar for the top.

Spread into a greased 9×13 pan.

Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup brown sugar on top.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with milk and enjoy!

(recipe from: Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal :: Lynn's Kitchen Adventures)

You can find this recipe, plus lots more pumpkin recipes that I love, on my recipe boards on Pinterest! 

Have a beautiful fall day!

xoxo

The Garbage Truck Birthday Party!

Hello, hello! I'm here with the OFFICIAL garbage truck birthday party update! Now that it's over, I can continue on with other aspects of my life. (Which is sort of a relief!) 

All in all, I gotta say that Mr. 3-Year-Old's birthday party was a SMASHING, BASHING, TRASHING success this past weekend. 

This child's LOVE (read: obsession) with the garbage truck inspired our shindig.  

We hit a few bumps along the way. . . like the AC deciding to stop functioning, a few hours before the party. NOT COOL. (Literally)  But our crew of family and like-family friends were troopers, and we had lots of extra fans.  And thankfully it was fixed during the party and we had some relief.  In the meantime, the mimosas and chocolate milk (excuse me - "muddy milk")  helped keep the grownups and kids happy.  

The cake tasted FABULOUS.  It was chocolate cake (from a mix -gasp!) with a big thick layer of "dirt" inside.  You know, the fabulous pudding-Cool Whip-cream cheese deliciousness, with cookie crumbles? I just mixed the cookie crumbs right in, and used the whole thing as filling, rather than putting it in cups like dirt is "traditionally" eaten.  Then I frosted the cake with my new FAVORITE chocolate frosting.  It was simple to make - a fairly normal chocolate frosting recipe. . .but with the addition of 2 Tbsp of espresso - oh my GOSH, it was amazing! (And I must say - I think the cake was much cuter in person.  It looks pretty BLAH in this picture!)

You can find the recipe, along with a delicious looking cookies 'n cream cake, which was part of my inspiration, at Restless Chipotle. 

Oh, and I forgot to take another picture, but you can see the pennant banner that I made, in the background.  I die-cut a pennant die, on my Big Shot using green cardstock for the back layer, and magazine pages for the inner layer.  Then I layered on circles and spelled out his name. 

I did favors for the kids - these are pencil cups from Dollar Tree, that  I lined with squares of black trash bag.  I found some great reflective stickers (see photo below) at WalMart, that I thought went with the theme pretty well.  Then we hit the jackpot at the last second, and found little "green" earth-friendly notebooks in the Target Dollar Spot for 70% off! Woohoo! I also put in a Go-Go Squeeze.  It fit the color scheme, and Go Go is a pretty earth friendly company, so I decided that it fit.  ;)  I used my circle punch to make a quick tag, and stuck cork sticker-back letters for each child's first initial. (Cork stickers from Close To My Heart)

Here's my random picture - I wanted to show you the silverware holders . . a soup can, lined with garbage bag, along with the cute stickers from WalMart.  

The wreath was REALLY fun to make.  I spent a whole ONE DOLLAR on it.  I got a foam base from Dollar Tree, and used the fabulous tutorial at Living With Lindsay.  I used newspaper pages, junk mail, and shopping bags.  Then I diecut those little flies, which I used on the cake, the wreath, and wherever I could stick them.  I used a butterfly wing die, from The {Stamps} of Life, along with a circle die.  I used a silver Sharpie pen to draw their eyes, and then attached a piece of floral wire.

Probably my favorite project of all. . . .our matching garbage truck t-shirts.  I used a freezer-paper technique to stencil them.  There are a TON of great tutorials out there.  I looked at a couple, and then went for it.  Do a google search, and you'll get LOTS of great advice.  I looked at a lot of clipart, and garbage truck images, and then just created my own stencil for it.  (And I just used tshirt paint from WalMart.)

We got a box in the mail, the week before the party, that had TONS of this brown paper in it, so I saved it and made garland from it.  Easy peasy, and it went perfectly with our decor.  I forgot to take a pic, but the other thing I used for the table was instead of a tablecloth. . . .I used black trash bags, bubble wrap sheets, and a big cardboard box to add some dimension.   Because of our little AC situation, I didn't bring the cake out until we were ready to eat.  It was going to be the centerpiece of the table, on top of the cardboard box, but instead I just stuck one of Tanner's toy garbage trucks on there instead! (Improvise!!!)  We did the party in the morning, so we had lots of good brunch foods. Muffin-sized mini quiches (which I found on this blog, but seem to be originally from Food Network)  mini grilled cheese sandwiches for the kids, fruit, bacon, cottage cheese, and of course CAKE! 

Just another little decoration.  A large size soup can (I think it had crushed tomatoes in it.)  I stuffed it with garbage bag plastic, and some crinkled wrapping paper and added the picture of my little guy in there, and some of the flies.  It was a nice little extra decoration.

If you are planning a garbage truck party, check out my Garbage Truck Birthday Party Pinterest board with LOTS of ideas I collected along the way.  There are some other AMAZING garbage themed parties out there.  I have links to some of our favorite garbage truck books, cute coloring sheets, cake ideas, games, and crafts.  I had so much fun scouring the web for ideas!!!

Update: This has been such a popular blog post. . . .apparently we aren't the only garbage truck loving family out there! Looking for more party fun? Check out our Fire Truck Birthday Party post!

cake time!

this is my bad-blogger excuse of the week. . . (you know, aside from Christmas chaos and a week's vacation) My Mr. B is seven years old!!!! We've been celebrating for DAYS now, I think. For this weekend's celebration with family, he requested a giant cupcake with blue frosting.  And his wish is my command (at least for one day out of the year!)  I used some Target Dollar Bin fake "Thickers" and two circle punches to spell out my little man's name.  (It took all of five minutes, and I think it looks pretty cute!)

And because I know you are really here to see some cards, here is a cute one using December's stamps from The {Stamps} of Life.  I stamped the mint candy, and then wrapped it a little scrap of cellophane, and tied it with baker's twine.  (The paper is from Echo Park.)

I hope your Christmas chaos is fun, and full of family, and festivity! Now that Bryce's birthday celebrations are officially OVER, I can concentrate on Christmas!  We've made cinnamon applesauce ornaments, which are happily drying on a rack on top of the fridge, and making my house smell marvelous.  Our gingerbread house (which I must admit was a royal DISASTER both creatively, and literally) is perched where it can't be touched by toddler fingers. I'm pretty sure I hear it begging to go into the garbage can, and to kindly be put out of its misery.  I think next year we will have a gingerbread village, so we can each do our OWN house. ;)

And now, I must go clean up PlayDoh from the kitchen floor, and help my big seven-year-old finish his homework!  Let's all hope for an easy bedtime, so I can get on to the FUN stuff . . .a little card-making with NEXT month's TSOL stamps. . . (oooooh! just you wait!!!!!)

xoxo

pinwheels, spinwheels. . .

Happy almost-Easter!!!!  This past weekend, we had an un-birthday party (it's a long story) at The Little Gym, where the boys have both taken gymnastics classes for pretty much their whole little lives!  I was trying to decide what fun thing I could decorate cupcakes with, since we didn't really have a theme, and there would be boys and girls of all ages there.  I decided on these cute little SUPER easy pinwheels.  

Simply cut a 3x3 square from patterned paper (it works best if it is patterned on both sides). Gently crease the paper from corner to corner on both sides, to find the center point.  Then cut from each corner to ALMOST the middle, being careful not to cut the whole thing up into triangles! Then pull one side of each section down towards the center.  Use your piercing tool to poke a hole (make sure to go through each layer) and stick a brad in the center.  I hot glued the pinwheels to short kabob sticks, and stuck them in the cupcakes.  I really should have done a tutorial to share with you, but if you google it. . .I promise you'll find a lot of them, if you need more help.

Totally un-paper related but equally fun, are the rainbow cupcakes.  (I've probably shared this recipe before!)These are quickly becoming a kid-party tradition in our household.  Use yellow or white cake mix, prepare it as directed.  Then divide it into separate bowls - however many colors you want, and just add food coloring to each dish.  Blend it until you have the colors as you like them.  Then just spoon each color into your cake pan.  If you're doing a regular size cake, just distribute the spoonfuls evenly.  If doing cupcakes, just do a small (really small) scoop of each color.  After they bake, they look sort of tie-died.  You can try to smooth out the layers and make them truly rainbow-like, but I sort of like the splotchiness of it!

 I also used a new-to-me frosting recipe for these cupcakes.  Wilton's Fluffy Boiled Frosting.  It came out pretty nice! Not as super-sweet as buttercream, and there's no butter or shortening in it. (So it's fat free! Does that count as healthy??? Perhaps not so much!)  It is the consistency of marshmallow fluff.  Pretty fun stuff!

I totally forgot to take a picture, but we also made favors.  We made rice krispie treats with Froot Loops in them.  (Here's the recipe I used!) I wrapped each individually in plastic wrap, and then wrapped a 1 inch band of patterned paper around it, finishing it off with some baker's twine.  It coordinated with the pinwheels, and it was pretty adorable!

The pinwheel cupcake toppers would be perfect for Easter!!!  I bet a tray of pinwheel cupcakes would be a fabulous centerpiece!

HAPPY EASTER!


(special thanks to my dear Charity, for the cupcake picture!!!)

unity cuties and yummy treats!

Well well, look at me. . . .here twice in one week already! Impressive, I know! Other than wrapping and cleaning, I am finally starting to feel like things are settling down, and although we have things to do, I am ready to peacefully enjoy Christmas (well, peaceful is a relative term with little kids in the house!)

I was decluttering my computer folders, and weeding out some card images, and found these two that I never shared!! Family members will be getting both of these cards under the Christmas tree this year, so I figure it's a fine time to go ahead and share them! They both feature stamps from Unity Stamp Co. Yesterday Unity announced that they will be retiring all their kits of the month, from 2008 . . .. better go grab one quick if you've been thinking about it! You can find the "Soon to be retiring" list HERE!

Yesterday I made a batch of chocolate biscotti, also for Christmas gifts. And it turned out pretty good - I will be making more today!!! I was afraid to make too much, the first time, in case it didn't turn out. But it DID turn out - and half of it is gone, because we keep munching on it! So I better make a LOT today!!! The biscotti recipe came from here, at eatingoutloud.com, where I also got a FABULOUS fruit cobbler recipe. I make it ALL THE TIME. (Here's the cobbler recipe)

I also helped my sweet friend, and mama-to-be-anyday, Sara, make Oreo truffles the other day - oh my GOODNESS. She got mint Oreos for them, and they were SO YUMMY. It's a darn good thing she didn't leave the whole tray here - because they would now be GONE. ;) Dangerous things, those little truffles!!! There are a lot of recipes out there for them . . .find which one you like the best!

Have a terrific day!
THREE MORE SLEEPS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

completely random

Having a random sort of day today. . . and here is a blog post to coordinate.

First, the card - all Close To My Heart goodies, including the circle card. I feel a little challenged by the circle shape. But I am fairly happy with this card (although the photo sort of stinks. Sorry about that!)

Made this for dinner last night:
Chicken Marsala Yummy!!!

Desperately trying to clean my kitchen. Funny how I have been desperately trying to clean my kitchen every day for at LEAST the past week. Funny how every time I get half way done, it's time to cook again, or some wild child runs through leaving a path of destruction behind him. I should be cleaning right now. But as I clean, I also have to remove half the items from my cabinets, because SOMEONE, who shall remain nameless, REALLY likes to pull all the Ziplock bags from the boxes, and REALLY likes to fill the colanders with trucks and magnets. And REALLY likes to spread the PlayDoh toys (minus the PlayDoh) all over the floor, for me to step on. So it's sort of a losing battle.

But onward I must march.
In pursuit of the unattainable goal. . ..
a clean kitchen. Actually, just a NEAT kitchen. Clean would be a bonus.

A quick recipe for. . .

Chicken Tetrazzini. My sweetie-pie pal, Sara, asked for this recipe, which I got out of our church cookbook. So I thought I would share it here, as I haven't shared a recipe in quite a while! (And Sara, even though I'm giving you this recipe, after that sweet baby arrives, I will still be bringing this to your doorstep!!!)

Chicken Tetrazzini
4 T butter
4 T flour
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. evaporated milk
2 c. cooked chicken (about 1 1/2 breasts, cubed)
1/2 box spaghetti, broken, cooked, drained
cheddar cheese, shredded
bread crumbs
butter

Melt butter; add flour and stir. Add broth and milk to make a white sauce. Sauce will be a bit thick. Stir in chicken and then stir spaghetti. Put in a dish; sprinkle with cheese then bread crumbs. Dot with butter. Cooke at 350 until bubbly, approximately 25 minutes.

I added peas into mine too, and I think broccoli would also be yummy. It is awesome leftover, and you can assemble it ahead of time, so it's the perfect make-ahead meal!

bee-lieve

Flower Soft was kind enough to share lots of goodies with the CPS designers, for this week's sketch sponsorship. I am still a newbie when it comes to Flower Soft, but it is pretty fun stuff! It is a bit easier and less messy to use than glitter. . .I am not so much the fan of working with glitter! And the Flower Soft adds just a bit of fun texture to cards and projects. On this card, I added black Flower Soft to the black areas of my sweet little bumblebee.

Thanks for the comments on my last blog post. . .although you know what this proves? There are exactly 7 comments, and isn't it ironic how I told you I knew that there were SEVEN of you reading this blog????? ;) tee hee! I know there are more than that. . .probably 10 or 12. LOL! If you left me a comment, I am working to get around to each of YOU to leave a comment for YOU, you sweetie pies!

Made these granola bars today. . . it was supposed to be a project for me and Mr. B. but it ended up being just MY project. I must say, they turned out pretty yummy! I used a little less sugar, and less butter, and added walnuts instead of almonds. Definitely worth a try if you like granola bars!

(card goodies: stamps - Unity Stamp Co, cardstock - Worldwin, ribbon - CTMH, Flower Soft)

Feeling Punchy!

This week The {Stamps} of Life design team girls challenged each other to use punches on a card. (We're feelin' punchy!!!) We'd love it if you played along!!! This card also happens to be my CPS card for this week. I used the July stamp set, circle punches, and scalloped circle punches (both from Marvy Uchida) on this card. If you create a card, be sure to link it up to one of our blogs so we can see your take on the challenge!

Be sure to stop by the other girls playing along:
Jeanne, Jen, Deb, Joana, Vicki

We are officially on summer vacation in my house. Mr. B is done with school now. At age 5, he doesn't REALLY have an understanding of how long "almost three months" is, until Kindergarten starts. He is going to LOVE being home though, and he'll probably drive me batty! I'll still be here blogging, but between 4 planned trips, two kiddos at home (one of which still doesn't sleep), and lots going on around here, I will probably be a little inconsistent!!!

And since that non-sleeper has decided to be up at the crack of dawn, I am going to take advantage of some extra time, and attempt to get organized for our first trip of summer. We are heading to Orlando QUITE soon for Scrapbook Expo this weekend! Time to make a list, pile up some laundry, and make a batch of THESE muffins to use up some fruit in the fridge! (I'll let you know how they turn out!)

hello robot

here is the long-promised robot cake that i made for Mr. B this past weekend, for his robot birthday party. we kept things simple this year, no major decorating and craziness - it was just more than i could handle this year!!! but i DID spend a good deal of time (always longer than i intend) on the cake. it was a yellow cake, with chocolate cupcakes for the side and top pieces, as well as the details. (mini cupcakes for the eyes, and a giant cupcake sliced across for the mouth) The frosting recipe is HERE. . . its one of my favorites. It's like buttercream, but even better!!! And I always add LOTS of almond extract. :)

two of my favorite things. . .

a colorful card . . .

and a cake.

Two of my favorite things!

It's been quite a while since I really decorated a cake. If you've stuck with me for quite a while, you'll remember I LOVE cake decorating. But the months of morning sickness sort of put a damper on the whole BAKING thing, so it felt good this past week, to scoop up some sugary sweet frosting and decorate away! The cake pan is a KitchenAid silicone pan which gave me the outline and shape of the sunflower. All I did was "color it in". :)

The card is using that fabulous "Surprise" line from Scenic Route - I just can't get enough of these bright colors!!! There was a card in the last issue of PaperCrafts, I'm so sorry I don't remember who made it, but it featured a bunch of little squares of patterned paper - and it totally rocked! What a FABULOUS way to use up lots of little scraps!! (All the little scraps I can't bear to part with!) (And the cute sentiment is from Hero Arts.)

Hey, one other tidbit for you. . .Apron Strings Designs has a new blog! Go check them out. I am so happy to be a card designer for them every few months - they have terrific scrapbooking AND card kits. (And I might just have a giveaway from them, to share with you, before too long!)

Have a great day!

The CPS Anniversary Shindig! (and a yummy recipe!)

Have you been keeping up with all the daily fun at Card Positioning Systems? Seriously generous giveaways, beautiful cards, and fantastic sponsors are FILLING our days over there, and the party is long from over! This week we have three sponsors, for sketch number 101. I am happy to be working with Our Daily Bread Designs (my projects will be up on the CPS blog Tuesday. . .so enjoy this little sneak peek!) Our Daily Bread is a fairly new company, and they make really fabulous Christian themed stamps. This is my first of two cards that I did based on the CPS sketch. I'll share the other one in a few days. (card goodies: cardstock - Bazzill, stamps - Our Daily Bread, fibers, brads, ink - Close To My Heart)

This afternoon we are heading out to a SuperBowl party, and I am taking one of our family-favorite desserts. (Well, it's one of hubby's and my favorites. The little man doesn't like mint. Oh the horror!!) I have no idea where I got this recipe from, but if you like mint and chocolate, you will LOVE it.

Double Chocolate Mint Brownies

ingredients:

(brownies)

20-21 oz. brownie mix (I use Martha White, that comes in a bag - its perfect!),

ingredients specified on brownie mix

1 package (4.67 oz.) of thin mint candies (divided and unwrapped)

(frosting)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 TBS. light corn syrup

2 TBS milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9x2 pan with foil. Spray with nonstick spray.

Prepare brownie mix as directed on package. Spread half batter into pan. Arrange 24 thin mint candies over batter in a row of 4 across and 6 down. Spread remaining batter over candies.

Bake according to package.

Frosting: Break remaining 4 candies into pieces. Microwave candies, chocolate chips, and corn syrup in a small bowl, 1-1.5 minutes, till chips are shiny and soft. Add milk, stir till smooth. Spread over warm brownies. Cool completely. Use foil to lift from pan, cut into bars.

YUM-O!!!!

Good gracious! I forgot. . .

Thank you Summer, for reminding me that I promised I would share my buttercream frosting recipe! Here's the link!!!

Powdered Sugar Frosting from Southern Living magazine


:)