Bella Fiori Stamps

I have been thinking I need to update my blog, so today seemed perfect.

Stephanie posted some of my cards on the Bella Blvd blog today that I made using her stamps Bella Fiori by Unity.

All the pictures were taken by Stephanie...so much better than mine!  Well there you go...hope you are inspired.  Now hop on over to Bella Blvd for a chance to win this awesome set of stamps!

Martha Stewart in the house!

Well, not exactly, just me, getting all Martha Stewarty!  I was busy making decorations for our annual Halloween Party.  I did a search on my computer for "free vintage potion labels."  After they were printed and adhered to my wine bottles I decided that wasn't enough.  Soooo, I got out my Tim Holtz Distress Inks and got all inky!  Used some Distress Stickles as well, unfortunately, the Stickles probably won't show up until it gets dark and the light reflects off the bottles.

So much fun, no rules, just mix it up and distress away.  When I say "distress away" I mean "de-stress away" since I should be working on my make and takes for The Scrapbook Store Grand Opening tomorrow. Can't wait!

Simply Art

Cheryl, Sherry and I had signed up for a class over a month ago and Saturday was the big day!  Oh my...I LOVED it!  The class was taught by Wendy Vecchi, and talk about thinking outside the box!  It was a little 4" x 4" art book made out of grunge board, grunge paper, lots of inks, stamps, stickles and more.  The class was 4 hours and took me every bit of that time to finish this little work of art.  Our fingers and Cheryl's clothes (that's what happens when you drop an ink pad, ink side down, in your lap)  were a mess but by Sunday I had got them clean, my fingers, don't know about Cheryl's outfit!

Yes, that is a "snap" you see in the picture above.  Evidently This was part of a line by Tim Holtz that is no longer on the market.  Who would have thought!  I think I'm going to buy some snaps now and Sherry came up with a great idea...color them with markers!

Have you ever worked with gunge board or paper?  Can I just say it stinks!  Stinks, as in, smells really bad.  I guess it is supposed to smell like leather, I disagree.  But, oh how I love this little book!

Enjoy!

Yummy!

I have my favorite blogs I read everyday...some of them don't have anything to do with scrapbooking, believe it or not!  So one morning I came across this recipe, http://picky-palate.com/2008/10/06/famous-gourmet-mac-and-cheese-artisanal/, and thought I would give it a try.  Paul is pretty picky about his mac & cheese, doesn't really like too many of the "homemade" kind, if you know what I mean.   Sooo, I tried it and it is a "keeper."  A "keeper" in our house refers to new recipes that we love, so I thought I would share.  I substituted twists for the elbow macaroni and I also added some chicken that I browned in olive and a little white truffle oil.  Maybe it will be your next "keeper!"

Pictures didn't turn out that great, but I actually had my fork in my hand when I remembered I wanted to take a picture, you know, just in case!  Now stop reading, run, don't walk, to the market to get all the fixins'.

It's been so long, maybe I should introduce myself!

When I first started this blog I was so darn excited, I knew I had enough stuff to update everyday.  Well, I probably do have enough stuff to post, I just have been running out of time to post.  When I do have a moment, usually in the evening, I seem to think Big Brother or anything on Bravo takes priority.  Anyhow, over this past weekend, Paul and Brad participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk.  I am so proud of them...60 miles in three days...I'm not sure I could walk 6 miles in three days!  The training, raising $2,300 EACH, the blisters, it takes dedication.   This picture was taken at 5:30 AM before the opening ceremony on Friday, the first day of the walk.

The grandkids had a great time at one of the cheering sections on Saturday.  Here is a cutie patootie picture of Sophie, right before she bit another child.  Yep, that's right, can you believe anything this cute would actually bite?

Yep, this might have been the biting face!

And Jacob did an outstanding job of handing out candy as the walkers passed by.  I didn't think he would actually do it, but he stood there with another little girl handing out stickers, for quite a long time! I was just so proud of everyone!