Rock Star

Today I have a LO that I have entered in the Layout Challenge Friday over at Bo Bunny. Here is the sketch:
And here is my take on it
This is me with Heidi at a class I took in AZ - she is great and so much fun ~ a rock star in my book. I have used the Bo Bunny Back to Basics paper and Rock Star stickers. 
Carstock:Core'dinations, buttons: Basic Grey, Ribbon Offray and May Arts, flowers: Prima, punch: Fiskars, bling: Prima , Tim Holtz Fragment

I hope you had a great Halloween in what ever way you celebrate it. I love to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Here is a shot of the view leading up to my front door.
Have a great week and don't forget - now that Halloween is over- the Christmas Season is officially OPEN! 
Anita



The Senior Mumm,,,

By the time my daughter graduates college, I just might be done scrapping her high school days. This LO is about her Senior Mumm. For those of you who are not from the south, a Homecoming mumm is a BIG deal. For her SR year, she required the quadruple, over the shoulder, silver and white, weighed in at 30lbs mumm extravaganza. We still have it in the closet in a special container we made for it. I have no idea how long we will be required to keep that thing!
Papers: Best Creations, Bo Bunny, Karen Neuburger
Journal sheet: Making Memories
Flower: Prima
Chipboard: Heidi Grace

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day. I love to read your comments so please leave some love!

A little trick to share

for the past few months I have been in the process of writing cook books for my two girls who have finally decided that maybe learning to cook wasn't such a bad thing after all  :0)  Daughter one ~ who likes to remind me she is my firstborn child~ never was one for the kitchen. Daughter two was not adverse to the kitchen, and in fact helped out a lot in there and knew her way around. It was just that she didn't feel any pressing need for learning any real skills. 
Enter reality.
Daughter one moved out on her own a couple of years ago, got serious with a young man and has recently become engaged. NOW she sees the value of knowing how to cook. I love those panic phone calls right about dinner time.
"MOM!"
"yes, my child?"
"I have had the potatoes in the oven for, like, 15 minutes! How long does it take them to bake?"
"Oh, young grasshopper,,,,,,,,,,,,,,"

So, my recipe recipe book will include all of the dishes I cooked for my family while they grew up, and I am including lots of little tips as well. I thought I would share this one with you, because I think everyone would want to know how to cut the cook time on a baked potato or a roasted sweet potato in half. Less time in the oven, means less heat in the kitchen, and who isn't for that, right? 
So, before you throw your next potato in the oven, poke a METAL skewer threw the middle of it. This is not as easy as it sounds, I will admit. Potatoes are hard after all. But, having that piece of metal that will conduct heat to the center of the potato will cut your cook time by about 30 minutes. Who doesn't love that?
Just an old campfire trick I learned, but it works beautifully in the oven too. And is there anything better on a fall evening than a roasted sweet potato with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon? Perfection!

Senior Prom

This LO I posted a few weeks ago, I put it together for a challenge over at the Swirlydoo's site. But I was never quite happy with the title on it and it has been bugging me ever since. I normally don't go back and redo my LO's, but this one just wouldn't let me be :0)

I have redone the title using some journalling tickets from Tim Holtz' idea-ology line. I am pretty happy with how this title turned out! Just to give it that ticketed effect, I also ripped the tickets in half and crumpled them up a bit before adhering them to the page. I also added a few embellies to the corner of the picture on the upper left side: a paper rosette using the ne Tim Holtz die (I LOVE LOVE LOVE that thing!!!!) , some tatted lace and a Prima flower. 
Here is the new finished result.
To get the effect I wanted on the journaling tickets, I ran them thru my printer instead of hand printing the title. I also added some lace and flowers to the title, and a small ribbon and lace ruffle down the side of the large photo. To make the journaling pop ~ I re-wrote it in black ink, instead of the original dark pink ink. 

Thanksgiving

As fall is coming in, my thoughts turn to Thanksgiving and our family traditions. This year we lost the person who was, to me at least, the founder of our family. My grandmother, my Daddy's Mama, my Gussie, passed away July 10th of this year. She wasn't sick, she was just old. Ninety four years and 10 months old to be exact. She was ready to go, and so she told me every day of her last year. I had been her caregiver for the last 9 or 10 years of her life. Helping out with her DR's appointments and medications. Cleaning her house and helping with the grocery shopping. Driving her on her errands and just spending time with her. She was the joy of my life. She made me laugh too many times to count. 

Her name was Gussie Violet Riley. 
She liked to tell people that she was the flower of the family......... the bloomin' idiot. 
I loved her beyond measure. 

The LO below is one I have recently done of Thanksgiving day 2007. That was the year that my Daddy passed away from pancreatic cancer. Gussie was particularly blue that year ~ he was her baby. Gussie always said the blessing at our family dinners.  Everyone had to be in a circle, even if it wasn't round, holding hands, before she would start. And the food could get cold before she was done blessing everyone some days. But that was our tradition.

I hope that your family is taking the time to stop and look around at the times spent with those who are so important to us all, and these times that mean so much. Bless us all.



Halloween Candy

Well, it is that time of year again. Time for me to send a Halloween box of goodies off to my daughter and her room mates at college. Sadly, this is the last year I will get to do this. She is a senior and will be graduating in May.  I have taken plain brown paper lunch sacks (because I know they won't last long when they come out of the mailing box) and added cute toppers to them.
I have cut the topper from Bazzill and Core'dinations cardstocks using the Lacy Labels cartridge on my Cricut. Love that whitewash cardstock from Core'dinations. I  then stamped the and inked everything.
I used some graphics that I printed from Jessica Sprague in the center of those great Prima flowers, adding the ribbon pieces makes them look like great big county fair ribbons. 
The small cards at the upper corners are from Graphic 45 ~ the Alice in Wonderland line. I have added a ribbon ruffle to the bottoms for a bit of whimsy. Also, take a look at the small charms dangling from the bows ~ these are made with Tim Holtz Fragments, a punch out from Graphic 45 and a little bit of Glossy Accents. Thank you to Margie Romeny Aslett from the The Girls Paperie for that neat little trick, picked it up in her class at CE this year. (which, BTW, she is a HOOT! - if you ever have the chance to take a class with her DO IT! We had so much fun in her class, we laughed so much our sides hurt when we left!

Gotta run and go get these goodies in the mail to the girls. Hope you are having a great fall where you are. I can't wait to carve my pumpkins later this week. The air has turned cool and the wind has kicked up. The perfect time of year. Thanks for stopping by. 

Well, finally, I might be able to load my photos into blogger! This is a Thank You card I made to go along with the caramel corn I sent out yesterday. I made it using a pre-made card shape and my heart shape nesties. 
For the front I have sewn my cardstock and added prima flowers, a May Arts ribbon and leaves from my McGill punch. The stamp on the background of the card front is from Tattered Angels.
For the inside I have made a cute little pocket and tag, again with my nesties. I have used Bazzill cardstock and paper from Websters. More Prima flowers, some stickles, pearls and ribbon finish it off. 
The tag is made with Websters papers and a stamp and punch from CTMH. 

And last but not least, here is the caramel corn that the card went with. 
Several bags of this are on their way to a wonderful group of people. I attended an event a few weeks back that I a the best time at and I wanted to let them know it. In my opinion, food always says it best! 
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Trouble with the internet

Well, I have some very cute stuff to sow today. I made a really cute card to go along with the bags of caramel corn that I sent out today. But,,,,,  I am having internet problems and I can't upload any photos :0(  We lost our connection late last night and when it came back on it has been very slow. I just cannot get my photos to upload no matter what I do! So I give up for the night and will call my internet provider tomorrow and gripe!

mmmmmm,,, Caramel Corn!

Well, I didn't get a chance to do any scrappin' today, we were busy with the house. But, Fall has arrived here in Texas FINALLY! So that means it is time to make caramel corn. I love caramel corn and even more than I love to eat it I love to make it for my friends. So I spent the evening making batch after batch and bagging it up. Here are a few pics to share. 



Here is the sugar bubbling away in the pan. It isn't quite ready to pour yet, it hasn't reached that beautiful amber color that gives it that great caramel flavor. 













Here is the popcorn, just waiting so patiently for the burned sugar. :0)








How tasty does that look? Once it has cooled I will break it up into small pieces and then bag it up. 

Stop by tomorrow and I will have a photo or two of the beautiful decorated bags that I am giving this away in. 

Have a great night!

Birthday Tag

This week has flown by! We have finally finished picking out cabinets for our new kitchen -yippee!!! In about 4 weeks they should arrive. Then the real fun will begin. I managed to squeeze in a little scrap time this week though. I needed a quick card to go with a book I bought for a birthday gift. I made the tag below to use as the card and for the birthday girl to keep as a bookmark. I started with a plain manila tag from Ranger.
I punched the bottom edge with a Fiskars border punch, then inked all around the edges. The background was stamped with a very lightly inked stamp just to give it a little color. I added paper from Websters, which I inked and stamped, then I added the butterfly stamped image to the bottom. The lace at the top is from Websters and the ribbon is seam binding (love that stuff, and soooo cheap!). The ruffle at the bottom is the outside of a paper doily that I pleated and then glued in place.

All Dressed Up

Maybe it is because it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I ma not sure, but I have been doing lots of LO's of my friends and I this month. This is one of those rare photos where we are actually all dressed to the nines. I have ton's of photos of us in everyday action ~ but not that many where we are lookin' good. So here's to us!
 I have used Co'ordinations cardstock, Websters papers and cameo, the lace is from my stash and the tatted medallion is from my sweet friend. The paper rosette is made from Tim Holtz' new die ~ yippee I finally got my hands on one and it is the BOMB!  The stamp in the corner is Basic Grey.
I love to read your comments so please leave some love. And your blog site so I can hop over to you! Have a great day, Anita.

Wonderful in Pink!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I will never give up my paper.  I will never, EVER, be a digital scrapper. I just love to play with paper. I love the feel of it, and I love the visual weight of it. Digital, for me, will never take it's place. But, in an attempt to sharpen my computer skills, I am playing around with some digital kits. I have a wonderful little invention called a Bamboo Craft Tablet from Wacom. It is an ingenious little device that lets me edit my photos with wonderful speed and detail. Much better than a mouse. They have a challenge and a FREE digi kit each month. This month the theme is Breast Cancer and it benefits the Susan G. Komen Chapter. Here is my LO made with the kit. Not bad, for a non digi scrapper, if I do say so myself  :0)
Last October, my good friend Ann ( in the light pink shirt) walked 60 miles in 3 days in support of Breast Cancer Research. She is my Hero. The rest of us ~ went to support HER. Remember ~ 
A good Friend is like a good Bra ~ strong and supportive.  
We were the LOUDEST cheer station on the route. The walkers told us they could hear us from a 1/4 mile away. I am not sure what that says about my friends and I. 

Double Take

I don't know where the days go, but I look up and then it is 4 days since I have posted! How does time slip by so fast? I am in the middle of a HUGE, BIG, MAJOR remodel at my work, and we are trying, really hard, to finish up a whole house remodel here at home that has been going on for a year and a half. I have contractors coming and going EVERYWHERE! I just cannot keep up anymore :0)

On to scrapbooking ~ I did manage to get a few things done this week. I pulled out some beautiful Websters paper and made this super sweet page of my daughter and a family friend. Getting a good picture of these two hams in next to impossible, so I took about 6 photos before I got the one on the bottom left. 
I have used Websters papers, ribbon and sparklers, buttons from Basic Grey, flowers from Prima. I have inked the pages and stitched them for some added texture. 
The cream flower I made with lace from Websters, the old fashioned way that my Gussie taught me so many years ago, which has become so popular again. The gorgeous crochet flowers my wonderful friend Sandy made for me. You can find her here . I really want to point out the beautiful pink TATTED lace on the far right of the flower group. I know a wonderful, sweet lady who teaches crochet, knitting and tatting ~ which would make me crazy to tell the truth~ and we were talking one day about all the little things I put on my pages. She asked me would I like a bag full of the little pieces of tatted lace that she had started for this and that but never finished. Would I???? So she brought me a bag full of goodness in wonderful colors and shapes ~ this is the first piece that I have used and I love the texture that it adds to my page. Thank you so much Mary Jo :0) 


New Stamps, New Primas! Oh My!

What is a girl to do with new stuff? Scrap away I say! I have been working so much lately that I can't wait to run home and lock myself into my scrap studio. This page was a quickie that I for the Prima September Build a Page
The circle in the center of the page was made with Glimmer Mist, I made a mask out of a larger page a sprayed it down. Then I stamped over the color with some new stamps I picked up from Inkadinkadoo. The title was cut on my Cricut, The bling is from Basic Grey. I stitched around the photos for some texture and the flowers are Prima Symphony Blend Amoroso Pink.

I am off to finish a canvas I have been altering and work on some photos from the State Fair of Texas. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!