Thursday - on our way to Friday

Well I could post a picture tonight. This is a card I made last year - the snowflakes are from the US Postal Service site - some of their stamp images make wonderful cards. Tomorrow I will post the card I made with Greta Garbo's stamp -

Update on the rodent story - so today I went out and one of the traps was triggered - so I am totally psyched out - will not drive my car - luckily my friend Pat will swing by and get me - so my boss said it just triggered - did you check the food - did they eat that - by george - they sure did - that peanut butter was pretty licked clean. So tonight - I called my neighbor - he brought over a live trap - hopefully we catch something. Stay tuned for the next saga.

I did buy some House Mouse s tamps - do you think that the rodents now feel this is a rodent safehouse?? Just a thought.

Wednesday - where did the week go

Well no pictures today - I am having issues I guess. I didn't have anything new to share anyway. The weather is cold, cold, cold - so my Mo Jo must have gone to the warmer climates.

The week has been interesting. The weather of course - very cold - below zero - with high winds. Did not go into work today - I did bring things home so did manage to get some work done today.

I had car issues the the other night -went to check out the new Hobby Lobby and buy some embroidery floss that my Mom needed. Well the car died when I pulled out into the heavily traveled road - couldn't get it to go - so called for a tow - what do you do - sit in the car - get out of car - etc - I stayed in the car. Had it towed to the dealer - well - the guy from the dealership calls - car is fixed - some little rodent got in - chewed up the air filter and all that stuff got into important parts of the car. $165 dollars later - my car runs - but I am left with the thought is there a rodent in the car with me??? Right now there are two mouse traps set in my car - I hope not to find a rodent in them in the morning. I hate mice!!!!

Well I think I will go stare at some paper again.

Barb

Soup Day - New Recipe

I made a new soup today - that is where my creativity was - I hope you enjoy it. The soup is off the Taste of Home Recipe site - I get a weekly mailing from them - here is the link if you would like to sign up Taste of Home Menu Saver I promise I will post some new cards some day.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup

SERVINGS: 14

Ingredients:
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 cup finely chopped celery
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup dry white wine or additional chicken broth
3 cups cooked wild rice
2 cups cubed cooked chicken

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes. In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, melt butter. stir in flour until smooth. Gradually whisk in broth mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Whisk in soup and wine or broth. Add rice and chicken; heat through. Yield: 14 servings (3-1/2 quarts).

Still Cold in Wisconsin

Happy Thursday - what a long day - it was one of those days - 2 steps forward and 8 back. But tomorrow will be Friday. YEAH.

The card I have chosen to post today is a card using some of my many Basic Grey scraps. The flower stamp is from Endless Creations - a Wisconsin based stamp company. The sentiment is Morning Star Stamps. I added some prima flowers and of course - inked the edges of all the paper. I also did this card for the http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/ blue challenge.

A little touch of spring in these cold days of January.

Cold - Snow - 4 letter words

Can you guess that it is still cold and snowing in Wisconsin - my car was outside all night last night so it was a little sissy this morning and did not want to stay started. It finally started. Yeah - I could go to work.

Today's card is a birthday card for my oldest daughter. I hand delivered it yesterday so I can now post it. The papers are from a Hot Off the Press - Vintage Pad. They have such nice assortments of coordinated papers. The happy birthday is a QuicKutz die cut. The rub ons are from Heidi Grace designs. I used my new Martha Stewart border punch on the trim in the middle. The cream flower was placed in coffee to make it cream colored rather than white.

She liked it and that is what counts.

Happy Monday

Yes it is Monday - but it is a holiday for me - so an extra day off from work and guess what it is doing in Wisconsin - snowing - big fluffy flakes that are suppose to accumulate to maybe 6 inches - give or take an inch or two.

I have run errands - bought myself a new vacuum cleaner - don't be jealous. Now to get it out of the trunk and actually use it. I have friends coming tonight - I am making soup - trying a couple new recipes - if they are good - I will share them with you.

I did do some card making over the week end. Experimented some - but here is one card I did make - it is a birthday card - made out of that endless pad from Lasting Impressions. Ribbon is a scrap I had. The flower brad is from the $1 bin at Target - you can find some fun things in that bin. I added Stickles to the center of the small flowers to give it some bling. The rub ons are from De Ja Views. They have a wide assortment of "Wonderful Words" that are just made for card makers. Whenever I see them in the store, I pick some up.

I do apologize for my photo taking - it is something I am working on to get better at - but don't hold your breath.

Off to do some cleaning and then some snow blowing.

Sweet Treat for Today - Bar Cookie Recipe

Today I am going to share with you a favorite recipe for bar cookies. I don't seem to have the patience to bake regular cookies - so bar cookies were made for me. This is a favorite - one of our students said they were orgasmic. Bon appetite.

Peanut Butter Fudge Bars

1 pkg. (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 c. vegetable oil

In bowl combine cake mix, peanut butter, egg and oil. Press 2/3 of mixture into greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
2 T. butter

In heavy saucepan, heat milk, chocolate cips and butter over low heat. Stir until well blended. pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.

Bake at 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Barb

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - It is Cold in Wisconsin

This is a challenge from Cococat's Cardmaking site. You could only use scraps on your card. These scraps are from a pad of paper from Lasting Impressions - I made lots of cards from it but it does not go away. I thought I had resolved not to buy pads and then I remembered - I just bought the Two Scoops Basic Grey pad. The buttons are from American Crafts and the rub on is Making Memories.

The card opens from the left side. The first card I made for my new neighbors I mistakenly made that way so now I just do it on purpose. This is a birthday card for the Mom. I hope she likes it. Her birthday is not until the middle of February - but of course I am still behind several birthdays from December.

Still missing that Mo Jo. If anyone sees mine, please send it back to me priority mail. Everyone have a wonderful day and stay warm - going to be a cold night in Wisconsin tonight. Below zero - yuck. Hibernate is the word of the day.

Thursday - Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Don't you just love this bright and beautiful card. It came from a challenge on Cococat's Cardmaking - it was sent to me by Sarah- check out her blog. She does beautiful cards. Here area the details on the card taken from her blog. PP for this card is fron Daisy D'sgirlfriends collection.paper pieced her coat and boots as well.Added stickles to her coat and boots.MA velvet rickrack ribbon with another ribbon layered over top.Verve visual oval and sentiment stamp.

We need this in Wisconsin - heading into a very cold week end. Maybe I will find some creative Mo Jo to keep me warm and I can post some of my own cards.

Of course in Wisconsin - we will have a Packer win (fingers and toes crossed). Just glad I can watch the game inside and warm with a wonderful group of friends.

See you all on the week end and hope I can post some of my own creations - otherwise I will be sharing some of the beautiful cards I have received from my wonderful cardmaking friends.

Where Did the Week End Go

You can see what I did this week end - watched a little foot ball - so had to post this card I made for my neighbor boy several years ago. - I believe I used every sticker on the sheet because I knew Ben would like it.

How about those Packers - what a game - all that snow - when they start shoveling the lines - it makes the game interesting - and the Giants won so the game will be in Green next Sunday. Long range weather forecast is very cold.

I have been putzing with paper all week end. There are some calls out for several different magazines so I have been creating and submitting - a girl has got to try. If not - I will have some new cards to share with you.

Unfortunately it is Sunday evening and I must return to the rat race tomorrow. I can do it - there is a 3 day week end coming up.

Everyone have a great work wee.

Yeah - Friday - Made it to the week end

A 5 day work week - I haven't worked one of those for over a month with all the holidays. I feel like I ran a marathon - but I survived and it is time to enjoy the week end and just regenerate the body and soul. I do hope to do some creating also.

Every one enjoy your evening. I came home to the wonderful smell of roast beef - going to a Packer party tomorrow so I had a roast in the freezer - threw it in the crock pot with some mushroom soup and dried soup mix and let it cook all day. Yummy - I had a sandwich for dinner was very good. So I decided to make some BBQ pork for sandwiches - I read the recipe wrong so added a little too much vinegar to the recipe so I added some more brown sugar - I am sure it will taste fine - otherwise - we will be doing some doctoring. How will Ibe able to sleep tonight with that simmering in the house. I may have to have a BBQ pork sandwich for breakfast.

The card I am sharing is one where the emphasis was on the color green. It is a fun card - lots of textures and layers.

Patterned Paper: Piggy Tales, LLC
Cardstock: Prismatics by Prism Papers for a Lifetime
Pens: Uni-ball
Paint: FolkArt® Acrylic Colors
Rub Ons: Wordsworth
Brads: Imaginisce™
Flowers: American Crafts™
Idea to Note: Sponged acrylic paint on cardstock so it matched green in patterned paper. Brushed paint on edges of all paper. Cut large circle out of paper – highlighted dots on paper with white gel pen.

Thursday

Where did the week go - but I am not going to complain - it is almost gone - anyway the work week and of course - what a week.

I went to post on Tuesday - and my cable connection went down. Last night I did post something but I had to delete it - I am not a very "smart" Blog person. Hopefully that improves as I blog more.

This is a card that I have made. It has several different layers of chipboard so lots of dimension.

Patterned paper, chipboard, plastic embellishments: Heidi Grace Designs

Does anybody suffer from "lack of Mo Jo" during the work week - I think it is sucked out of me at work so I can't create at night. Does anybody have this type of problem also.

Well I am off to do some cleaning and maybe I will stare at some more paper and not create.

My First

time to do a Caardvarks Challenge.

The paper is from Little Red Riding Hood by Piggy Tales. The stamp is by Great Impressions. The flowers were from my flower drawers (yes I said drawers). Note how I added the little flowers on the sentiment - when you have a smudge - this is what you do. I did some stitching on the card. It is very bright and cheerful. We need that in Wisconsin right now - fog is the word of the last few days. But don't worry - it is suppose to snow again tomorrow.

Well I took my cards tonight to my hair cut appointment - she took 4 cards so I got my haircut for $9 plus tip. Not too shabby.

Well off to see if I can get some cards made. Everyone have a wonderful evening.

Baby card

On another board - we are doing a daily challenge - I have managed to keep up so far but once the work week starts - I have my doubts. This challenge was for Monday - blue Monday - yes blue Monday - back to work - but it is still Sunday so won't think about that.

This card is done using Bo Bunny Paper, the main element is one of their beautiful stickers. I did lots of layering. Used my SU punch to make a cut for the ribbon to come out of at the bottom so I could tie a bow there. I have had that punch for a year now. About time I used it. In the upper right corner I used an embossing folder from Cuddlebug for the Star, cut it out and the little button is a Sizzlit. That Sizzlit has 4 different button shapes on it - and it is great because you get the look without the weight of a button or the extra thickness. Another card for the box.

Yesterday I went shopping - I got some of the new Basic Grey Two Scoops. I got smart and bought the 6 x 6 pad and just a couple of the sheets I thought I would use lots of. Stay tuned to see what I do with it.

It is foggy here. I went out to run errands - I drove about a mile and turned off and came back home - my errands were not emergencies and can happen another day- going to go create something. I am a little behind on my birthday cards. My two son in laws both have birthdays in December - I always tell them their birthday is celebrated another month. Last year I was cleaning/picking up and I found the perfect images for their cards in my crap - but my areas are pretty clean - so nothing to find to create with.

Fonts

I would consider myself somewhat of a font freak - it is not anything to be scared of - I love to use my computer to generate my sentiments for my cards on the computer. Fonts come in so many different styles and there are so many on the internet that are free. Just make sure you trust the site you download from - almost every site has directions on how to download.

A good place for free fonts is Scrap Village. 2 Peas has a few free fonts but has fonts you can purchase also. Go to your favorite search engine and do a search on free fonts and you will be amazed at what is available at no charge.

This card was made with a font called CK Coffee Time. The paper is from a vintage pad from Hot Off the Press. This is a card I think I will send to my brother - I don't think it is feminine. I did a little sewing on it but I should have used a bolder color for my thread.

This card was made for a daily challenge going on over at Cococat's Cardmaking. A great site for cardmakers. Warm, friendly group of people.

I think I should make another one of these cards for my card box. I keep a box of cards in my office for sale. Last time I got my hair cut - I took my box with with - bartered for my hair cut - she took enough cards that I paid less than half price for my hair cut - can't beat that - hair cut on Monday night - maybe I need to get some new cards in the box.

Yeah it is the week end. Enjoy.

Ms. Cuddlebug

Don't you love how easy it is to make a card using the Cuddlebug embossing folders. Embossed pink cardstock with the hearts folder. Inked the embossing. Added a strip of solid red and striped paper. The stamp is a new mounted rubber stamp from Michael's that cost a $1 - I think I got my money's worth out of this stamp.

What other holiday can you combine pink and red and it looks very happy together. The stripe is Reminisce. Everything else was scraps.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day. One more day and it will be the week end - isn't it amazing how 3 day work weeks seem like 7 days.

Favorite card from 2007

My friend Ivanka looked back at 07 and shared some of her favorite cards for the year. I will share one of my favorites I made - it was for my daughters birthday - inchies were all the rage for awhile so we had a challenge on Simply Sentiments - I made the inchies, I made a card I really liked and I did not lose it for 4 whole months before I mailed it for the birthday. My daughter is the 4th generation who has "Bea" as a middle name thus the B theme.

Hope everyone is enjoying the new year.

New Year Card

A New Year's card to wish you all "Happy New Year".

Image is from the internet and the paper is Basic Grey - found the cuddlebug embossed paper in the Basic Grey container so had to use it.

My question to you is - how much Basic Grey paper do you have - I - for some reason - have kept my Basic Grey all together - I have a 12 inch square container - 3 - 4 inches deep that is completely full of this paper. Do you think I need to get busy and make some cards. And of course I keep all my scraps also.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year

Where did 2007 go??

Every new day is an adventure and I hope that your 2008 is a smooth ride with no bumpy roads.

Resolutions - hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm - well how about blog resolutions - since I am new to this world - I think I will make some resolutions in regard to my blog.

Try to blog 5 out of 7 days of the week.

Learn how to put a background picture in title.

Learn how to add links and just put a name - example - Ivanka - instead of her whole blog address

I believe I will keep my list short so that I will be able to do it all - or maybe it is short - because I am ignorant about blogging and I have no idea what I should be learning. Stay tuned - I am sure it will be an interesting year for me blogging and hopefully you will all enjoy your visit here.