Color Inspiration

Good morning!

Unusual Saturday post, since I don't normally post on the weekend. However, Kwerner put up her Color Inspiration #10 yesterday. Yay!! I always enjoy the colors that she picks each week. This week the colors were Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Old Olive,
Whisper White and So Saffron. If you want to participate in the CI roundup, you must post your card with a link on her blog by tomorrow (Sunday) at 7:00pm. Then check back on Monday to see her example and if you've been selected as a random or a favorite. I decided to combine the Color round up with Beate's WSC. Hey, I have three children, so I'm all about combining challenges whenever I can!! I'm also posting the cards I did for yesterday's SCS Limited Supply Challenge. The challenge this week was to design 3 different cards using the same colors, stamps and accessories. I really enjoyed this challenge and am sure will experiment with it again.
So, as I said, just a quick chat this morning to share with everyone this morning. I hope you like my designs. Have a fabulous day and thanks for visiting with me!

New cards and challenges

TGIF everyone!!

I made these two cards yesterday; but didn't get a chance to post them. I've really been in the mood to use patterned paper and different ways to combine them. The Happy Birthday card was a bit more challenging; but I think it came out rather well. I think that patterned paper is a way to compensate a bit when you don't have an abundant supply of stamps. I am, however about to order a new set:)!! I can't wait to share my new creations and exciting news about the set I'm getting. (Fellow SU demos will know what I'm talking about!) As I mentioned yesterday, I am thinking of branching out a bit from my SU stamps. So I'd be really interested to hear feedback from any of you that use different stamps and what you recommend. Of course I'm always looking for great deals, so good stamp sets at a cheap price are preferred! (I'm paying the same $4.00 a gallon for gas everyone else is:)
Now, on to the challenges for today. There a three for you to choose from or you can do all three! The first one is the SCS Limited Supply Challenge. I think this will be a very interesting challenge to do and I will be working on that today. I hope to try to maybe combine it in some way with Beate's weekend challenge sketch. Also, it's time for Stamp Something's weekly challenge. I've seen all these challenges and they are fantastic. There will definitely not be a lack of inspiration for stamping this weekend. I hope you all have a chance to be creative this weekend. Leave a comment with a link to anything you make...I'd love to see what you all come up with. Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Thanks for visiting with me! (BTW, did you notice I figured out how to put the links to the challenges in the blog text...just click on them and it'll take you to the right page.)

Just a recipe and GH news

Good morning everyone!

It's recipe Thursday! Today's recipe is from Rachael Ray and it's Country Captain Chicken. It's a good one-skillet meal with lots of yummy flavors. Don't leave out the raisins, they plump up when they're cooked and add a very unique sweet flavor to the dish.
Before we get to the recipe however, lets chat about GH. Well, I didn't think he'd actually do it; but Sonny actually signed away the Mob and Michael and Morgan. It'll be interesting to see what he does now. I wonder if this means that Jason's going to start wearing suits! I wonder also how Elizabeth is going to react when she finds out about his new position. I'm also liking the scenes with Claudia and Nikolas. I think they are an interesting match. I think TPTB however, are leaning towards a pairing of him and Nadine, which is good also; but I don't think as interesting. BTW, if you've not visited the "Claudia Zachara" facebook page, check it out. Sarah Brown who plays Claudia does operate the page and she does post messages and interacts with the fans. Rumor has it that Ingo Rademacher who plays Jax is looking to pare down his on screen time because he's expecting his first child and wants to stay home more. I'm also curious to see who will be playing Leyla's mother this summer. I think there's definitely a mystery with that girl! Yes, I think the summer in PC is going to be full of surprises! I found this video on you tube this morning. It's really cool, lots of recent and old clips from GH. The song is perfect too. I hope you like it. It does have a couple of splotchy spots in it. I think there's a bit of problem with the embedding feature. Just wait, it'll keep playing.
As you can see, I didn't post a card today. Was feeling a bit uninspired yesterday. I really, really need some new stamps!! I'm thinking about branching out a bit from SU. I've seen a lot of really neat work with other stamps lately, so....
I do plan to do some work today, and will try to post some things later. If not, I'll be back tomorrow. Have a great day and as always, thanks for visiting with me!

Country Captain's Chicken

Ingredients:

2/3 cup flour
1Tbsp paprika
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt/pepper
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 cup chicken broth
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup golden raisins

Directions:

Combine flour and paprika in shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cut each chicken breast and thigh in half on an angle and then coat with the paprika-seasoned flour.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil. Brown the chicken pieces on each side for 3 minutes and then remove from pan. Add the butter to the skillet and then stir in peppers, onion and garlic. Season with Salt and pepper and sautee for 5-7 minutes until soft. Add the curry, tomatoes, broth and raisins to the skillet. Slide the chicken back into the pan and simmer over medium heat until chicken is cooked through about 7-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pieces.
Serve with rice.

New techniques and inspirations

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend. I am finally back on track and caught up with the laundry from being away. We spent the weekend at a lakeside condo complete with a pool for the kids to play in and of course the lake for my hubby to fish in. He actually caught a fish too! Jonathan went on his first "speed" boat ride and although it was a bit windy, I still think he had a good time. Tyler helped Daddy fish from the pier and I am sure he picked up valuable tips from our resident expert :)Reagan spent the entire weekend in the pool! I'm pretty sure that if it had been safe to sleep in the water, she would have!
As I said yesterday, I did finish a couple of cards. The "For You" card is for Monday's Try a new technique: find 3. I used spotlight for my technique. This was the first time I had tried this particular technique and I did like it, so I'll probably try it again in the near future. I used Chocolate Chip, Rose Red and Bashful Blue for my colors and watercolored the flower from fruit stand with Always Artichoke, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, and Bashful Blue ink.
The Happy Birthday Card is for Beate's Be Inspired Challenge. The dress was fabulous with so many colors to choose from. I actually had a hard time figuring out what I wanted to do. I definitely wanted to try to keep the scallop edges and drew most of my inspiration from the center of the dress. I used Pumpkin Pie, Mostly Mustard, Sage Shadow and Not Quite Navy. The flower is from the Simply Said set and I inked it with Sage Shadow and Night of Navy ink. I stitched the edge of the square sage piece with light green thread and then used a grey marker to make the holes appear darker and bigger.
Today is sketch challenge on SCS and they should be posting a new tutorial for a fun project as well. I will put a link to it here once they post it. Keep an eye on Kwerner's blog today as well, as she put up her color round up challenge for the week.
GH wasn't on Monday and I've not seen yesterday's episode yet, so we'll have to chat about the ins and outs of PC tomorrow.
Have a fabulous day everyone and thanks for visiting with me!

Back home!

Good afternoon everyone!

Sorry it's taken me until now to post today. I've been busy all day with laundry and unpacking from our weekend vacation; and of course the normal everyday mommy things haven't stopped either. I have managed to get a couple of projects done today. However, I'm not going to have time to get them posted. I will do that tomorrow morning along with a more detailed account of my vacation. We had so much fun!! Anyways, I'm sorry about the really short and really late post; but I gotta run. Have a great night and I'll be back early in the morning. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend! Thanks for visiting with me.

Friday Challenges

TGIF everyone! Not a lot of time to chat today. We are going to the lake for the Memorial Day weekend; and I've got so much to do!! I wanted to post Beate's weekend challenge for everyone and my sample for that. It's simple...but it's done! SCS Limited supply challenge for today was to use stamps in places where you would normally use hardware, which I accomplished with this card as well. I would have normally placed a brad in the center of the main flower image; but chose to use a small flower stamp instead. I'm also trying to use more patterned paper in my cards as well, since I've so many scraps of them which are too small for me to make useful in my scrap layouts.
Anyhow, it was a fun challenge so be sure to give it a try and then let Beate know with a link to your card, so you can be entered for blog candy!

The recipe for this card is:
Blush Blossom, Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgundy and a pattern paper from All my Memories.
Burgundy and Moss grosgrain ribbon from SU
So Many Scallops, and Lots of Thought stamp sets
Scallop Circle Punch.
Have a great holiday weekend everyone! I will be out of town and won't be back until late Monday, so I will post again on Tuesday. And as always, thanks for visiting with me!

Stamper's block and recipe Thursday: Oatmeal Pie!

Well, I think that I had my first stamper's block experience yesterday. I sat down to work on some cards; but found that I just couldn't decide what I want to do or what stamps I wanted to use. All I kept thinking about was what stamps I didn't have and which ones I want to have...a list that seems to grow rapidly every day! I was completely uninspired. So, I decided that perhaps it was time to put them away for a while and go back to working on layouts for a few days. I finished this one this morning. It's more about the fact that Tyler didn't want to smile for the family Christmas pictures this year than about the outfits or the tree etc. I can always count on Tyler to throw a wrench into my picture plans! Do you have a child like that? I am going to try and do another layout this afternoon and will post it tomorrow morning.
It is Thursday,(in case you aren't aware of that at 1:15 in the afternoon! :)) So it's time for a new recipe. This week's recipe is definitely not for dieters as it is a dessert. This Oatmeal Pie is delicious and was actually made by accident the first time I made it. I was going to make Pecan pie and had all the ingredients mixed together; and then discovered I had no pecans! I found this recipe on all recipes and I don't think I've made a pecan pie since. I hope you enjoy it!

Oatmeal Pie:
2 eggs beaten
3/4 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut
3/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 butter softened
1/4tsp salt
9 in pie crust.
Preheat oven to 325. Mix eggs, corn syrup, coconut, oats, butter, salt, and brown sugar. Pour into shell and bake 45 mins. Cool on wire rack.

Have a great day everyone, thanks for visiting with me!

Early morning chat.

Good Morning Everyone!

I thought I'd go ahead and post early this morning before the craziness of the day began. The card for today was actually done yesterday for the SCS color challenge. The colors were Soft Sky, Blue Bayou and Certainly Celery. They were easy colors to work with and I was pleased with the results. I've really liked this year's In Colors and I will be sad to see them go. I'm in the quandry now of whether or not I want to order more so I'll have them to use for personal use or if I want to let my supply run out and just make room for the new set of colors. Somehow, I think I'll end up finding a way to do both.
It's a busy day in our little world of stamping. Beate posted her Be Inspired Challenge yesterday. I didn't see it until late yesterday afternoon, however, so I didn't have a chance to play around with it. You can find more information about it on her blog. It's also Wednesday sketch challenge on SCS. I've already seen the challenge and it's very simple, so check it out and see if you can use it to create something new. SCS will also be posting their Wednesday tutorial. I will post a link to here as soon as they put it up on their website. Wednesday is also Kwerner's color round up day. I will probably try to find a way to combine at least a couple of these various challenges!
Now, on to General Hospital. I discovered something interesting yesterday, which is that the Michael storyline was not one that the writer's originally wanted to write. It was written more out of necessity as fall out from when Michael accidentally shot Kate. Apparently that particular story was written during the writer's strike when Bob Guza and Co were not at the helm. The fans were outraged that the show had put a gun in the hands of a child. It seems as though the current story was deemed the only way to truly depict the consequences of guns and children; and was a way the writers felt they could show the ripple affects of Sonny and Jason's life.ABC Soaps in Depth is also reporting a hush-hush plot twist which could put Jason in jail again. Not too sure why it would be hush hush...or why it would be a surprise that he would be arrested again! Finally, a quick note about Carly....shame on her!!
That's all for today everyone. Be sure to check out the challenges and get creative! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Quick Post

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post today. It's been a crazy busy day. I did complete a project and I did watch GH today. I've so much to share with you; but now it's time to get dinner ready and I don't have time to upload the photos and chat. I will, however, be back bright and early tomorrow morning with pictures and more.

Have a great night!

A New Week

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. The weather was gorgeous here in South Carolina; and we spent much of the weekend outside enjoying various activities including bike riding, the slip n-side, and blowing bubbles. Reagan had her end of the year party for Brownies on Saturday night. They cooked out, made smores and learned how to pitch tents. Needless to say after hot dogs, chips, 2 smores, and extra candy, she came home at 10:00 that evening on a little bit of a sugar high!
I didn't have a lot of time to work on anything this weekend; but did manage to get a couple of things put together this morning. The star background of the little one baby card (obviously for a girl) was made by embossing with Regal Rose ink and then Iridescent Ice powder. I love the shimmery look it gives. The crinkled background for the butterfly thank you was done with the water mist texture technique. I will be uploading these to my SCS gallery, so you can visit there for the recipes for each card.
Don't forget today is Make a Card Monday for KWerner; and also try a new technique Monday on SCS. (I am posting a link to today's tutorial here on the right)
It's also a new week in Port Charles!! Based on Friday's ending, I think there's going to be a lot of continued steamy action! We'll definitely chat more about that tomorrow.
Have a great day everyone. Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Dori

Time for the challenges!

TGIF everyone! It's Friday, so that means it's time for Beate's weekend challenge and also the Stamp Something challenge as well. I decided to combine the two challenges and have posted my card for you to see. This week, Stamp Something's challenge is to create something with the theme of saying thank you. It can be a card, a gift bag, a scrapbook page or what ever you would like. Be sure to check out the link for some super cool examples. As I said I combined this one with Beate's weekend challenge. I enjoyed this sketch and found it easy to work with. Have fun with the challenges and be sure to post a link with your comment so I can see what you all have created! You can also upload your pictures to SCS as well. Be sure if you do that you put WSC48 in the keyword section.
My mom and I are going to be spending the evening together stamping. She is new to the hobby and I am excited to share ideas with her. I will definitely post pictures of the things we make.
Be sure also to catch GH if you are able to today. It should be pretty emotional as Carly, Sonny and Jason say goodbye to Michael. I do wonder how long it will be before he is back as an older recast. Hopefully they will at least make it more than a few months in order to keep with the reality of the story. I think it would very bad for him to be gone 3 or 4 weeks and then he comes back 8-10 years older than he was when he left because he was "never going to wake up again." Also, seems to be a bit of a mystery going on at the hospital. Mmm...wonder what that's all about?
One final note for you all before I go, I was very excited to see that my blog hit count is over 1000. I had no idea when I started this if anyone would want to read or care about anything I wanted to talk about. I'm just an ordinary person taking care of my family and enjoying the passion that I have for a super fun hobby. Apparently, however a few of you are interested and I just wanted to say thank-you to all of you who stop by and listen to me ramble on about anything I want.
Thanks for stopping by everyone. Have a fabulous weekend; and I'll be back on Monday!

Color Inspiration #9

It's time for K Werner's color inspiration. Each Wednesday, she posts a picture of inspiration and gives a set of colors to inspire people to make a card. This week's inspiration was from Martha Stewart. This is what I came up with. Hope you all like it.

Keep reading below in the next post for Recipe Thursday!

Recipe Thursday: Flank Steak Roll-up

Good morning everyone,

It's recipe Thursday! This week's recipe has a lot of steps; but they are not complicated and trust me the end result is well worth the work! Be sure to check out the kitchen tip for this week as well.

Ingredients:

1 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg lightly beaten
3 cloves garlic minced
2 Tbsp fresh parsley
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2-2 1/4 lb flank Steak (pounded into rectangle 1/2" thick)
Deli meats and cheeses of choice. (I use Ham, Salami, Turkey, monterey, cheddar etc)
1/4 lb bacon chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 cup white wine
26oz chopped or crushed tomatoes
1tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

Combine the first 6 (1 clove garlic for this step)
ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Rub the flank steak with some olive oil and then layer
the meat with the deli meats and cheeses
Spread the bread crumb mixture of the meats and cheeses
Roll up the flank steak and secure with kitchen string
Heat a deep and (if possible) long pot over medium high heat
Book bacon, onion and garlic(the other 2 cloves) 3-5 minutes then remove.
Add the meat and brown on all sides 10-12 minutes.
Add the wine and reduce by half
Stir in the tomatoes, Crushed Red Pepper and the reserved bacon and onion
Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Adjust seasonings to taste and remove to platter for serving
Cover and let meat rest for at least 10 mins before serving
***Note*** Freeze the leftover sauce and use for spaghetti later.

Enjoy the recipe everyone and have a great day!

Catching up over coffee

Good morning everyone! Well, since I didn't have a chance to post yesterday, I thought I'd catch up over coffee this morning. Since Tyler, my oldest son, woke up around 3:30 this morning because he was scared of the dark (and I didn't go back to sleep)I think I might need a LOT of coffee this morning!
So what's going on in my world? Let's see. Monday afternoon, my daughter Reagan wiped out on her motorized scooter and now has a banged up knee, hand and face. On Sunday afternoon, Tyler learned that it is not a good idea to where goggles while doing the slip n' slide and has the semi-black eye to prove it. Jonathan has been injury free and has used the potty three times! Yea!
I completed three projects and have posted them here for you to see. The fruit stand card was for Monday's SCS try a new technique challenge: Embossing and watercoloring. The Time Well Spent card was for the SCS color challenge using Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky and Ruby Red. Finally the Simply Said card was for Beate's Be-inspired Challenge.
I hope you like them.
What's going on in Port Charles? Well, it seems as though there's a little bit of couple swapping going on...Carly and Jax...no wait Carly and Sonny. Kate and Sonny or is that going to be Kate and Jax? Could it be that PC's notorious mob boss is going to be looking for another form of employment? Apparently Sonny is going to tell Carly he will step down as the Don of PC to keep being Michael and Morgan's father. Carly wants Sonny to give up his rights so that Jax can adopt them. What would he do?
Wonder what Jason will do? I doubt he'll take over the head position. I think that Michael's shooting put the writing on the wall that it's time for the mob to make a fast exit out of PC. A while back there was rumor spinning around that Robert Scorpio was going to come back and that Jason and Lucky were going to go work for him. Mmmm, interesting prospect.
Have a great day everyone. I'm off to get more coffee!
Dori

Happy Monday!

Good morning everyone!
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and a happy Mother's Day. I was treated to breakfast in bed and got some wonderful presents from my little ones. Then we spent the day with family. It was a great day!
I also got a few cards made over the weekend and have put them here for you to see. I will also be uploading them to my SCS gallery; so be sure to check there for the recipes for the cards. It's also MACM (make a card Monday) for Kwerner. Be sure to check out the link on the right and try a new technique Monday on SCS. So break out those stamps today and get creative. I hope to be back a bit later with a few more creations for you.
You'll also notice that I have a placed a link to my very first book here on my blog. It is called Lilacs for Allie. If you get a chance, click on the image and read more about it. Thanks so much!
Have a great day!

It's not always about the stamps

Good Morning everyone!

As I mentioned yesterday, I am providing a link for the "Stamp Something" Challenge from Lovin' Stampin Up! The first challenge for this weekly endeavor is all about firsts. Be sure to check out the website for details http://stampchallenges.blogspot.com (or you can click on the Lovin Stampin Up Blog link at the right of the page and that will get you there as well)
I actually had this card finished before I knew what the challenge was because I made it this morning for two SCS challenges. (SC175 and LSC167) For me it counts as a first because it is the first time I've made a card without using any stamps. To be honest, I never really thought about doing that. I've always associated stamping with card-making and it was refreshing to see that isn't always about the stamps. I am going to try to post a couple of more things today if I get a chance. Thanks for stopping by!

Another one done...plus more!

Hold on to your hats everyone,I finished another layout! This layout is for Jonathan's Second Birthday, which is in October. I figure I better finish it before he turns 3! The two pictures that are below the layouts are for the page flippers I used on the page. Those are totally awesome!
I even finished my sister's birthday card and my mother's mother's Day Card. I am only posting the front of the cards here but will be posting the inside views of each of the cards onto my SCS gallery in a little while. The birthday card is a gatefold card and the Mother's Day card is two way open card. Both of these tutorials were Wednesday tutorials from SCS. I have posted a new link on the right side of the blog with various SCS tutorials that I have tried to make it easier for any of you that want to experiment with them.
Also, be sure to check back tomorrow because I will be posting the link to the "Stamp Something" Blog challenge. This is a new weekly challenge started by the folks at the "Lovin' Stampin' Up!" Blog (newly added to the list of blogs to the right!)

Couple of GH notes really quick. Ok, so yesterday for little Jacob Martin's first birthday party in the park, didn't it seem a little odd that only 4 people came to the party? Where was Lucky? Is that a reflection on Elizabeth that she seems to have so few friends? (I really do like her!)
Also, what was up with the 2700 candles on the cake?!!? I thought this was his first birthday. What happened to the big number one candle everybody has on their first birthday cake?
Finally, watching Carly and Jason together this afternoon. I swear no man looks better with tears in his eyes than Steve Burton!

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by everyone, Have a Great Evening!

Recipe Thursday: Pasta Carbonara

Hi Everyone!

It's recipe Thursday. Be sure to check out the kitchen tip for the week as well. This is a recipe for Pasta Carbonara. If you've never had this, try this recipe. It's so easy and so delicious. It's great when you've forgotten to take something out of the freezer for dinner.

Ingredients:

1 pound pasta: (short ridged pasta works best, rigatoni, penne rigata or rotini)
Olive oil
1/4lb pancetta or bacon
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup heavy cream (room temp)
2 large egg yolks
5 garlic cloves chopped or pressed
handful fresh flat leaf parsley chopped

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions
Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and pancetta (or bacon)Let cook for a couple of minutes then add the red pepper flakes and the garlic and cook 2-3 minutes.
Add the wine and deglaze the pan,stirring up all the bits on the bottom.
Drain the pasta (reserve one ladle of the pasta water before draining.)
In a separate bowl, beat the yolks and then add the cream.
Add the hot pasta to the bacon mixture in the skillet.
Add the egg and cream mixture and toss quickly together. It is important to toss the pasta quickly with the cream so that the eggs and cream don't curdle.
You can also add some of the reserved pasta water to the pasta mixture to keep it from being to thick.
Enjoy!
(Also, be sure to check back later, I hope to post another layout and a card)

Finally Finished

Ok, so I finally finished this layout last night at around 9:00pm. As you can see, nothing particularly challenging about it! I even managed to start another one. Let's see how long it takes me to finish this one today.
I also uploaded two new projects to my Stampin Up website. Click on the link to the site on the right side of the page to see them.
I'm off to watch GH from yesterday and to get scrappin! Will try to post more later.
Have a great morning!

5 hours....one layout!

In effort to make good on my promise that I was going to concentrate on my scrapbooks this month, I actually started working on a layout. That was at 10:00am this morning. It's now almost 5:00pm and I'm still not quite finished with it. Is it a complicated layout...no not at all. Just one of those days, I suppose. I kept seeing in my mind's eye what I wanted to do with the page and I have all the materials to do it; but I just couldn't seem to get it done. I found myself easily distracted by extraneous things. Have you ever had a day like that? Isn't it funny how time flies by when wish you had more of it?
So, now it's off to finish the laundry and start dinner. Shall try to finish the layout this evening...perhaps. Perhaps I'll have better luck tomorrow and if so, I shall post for you all to see.
Have a great evening everyone!

Something unexpected

Last week I had the opportunity to reconnect with someone that I had lost touch with about 10 years ago. She and I were extremely close during high school and were roommates in college our freshman year. Eventually though differing interests, majors and career potentials took us each on a different path and, as I said, we lost touch. Well, through a series of emails we were finally able to talk to each other. It was so wonderful to be able to hear about what was going on in her life. Her family, children, career etc; and it was nice to be able to tell her about all the things that had happened in my life. So this weekend, I decided to make a card for her to send to her. (pictured to the right) I hope that when she gets it she is pleasantly surprised. I hope we are able to stay in touch now that we know how to find one another. So, today I encourage you to find a way to reconnect with someone you've lost touch with; someone who held great meaning in your life. Then do something nice for them, stamp a card and get it in the mail today. They'll be happy you did.
Quick General Hospital chat. I am watching Friday's episode this morning on soap net. Was just blown away by Carly's conversation with Elizabeth. Never would I have thought that Carly could be so humble and apologetic, especially with Elizabeth. I've said it time and again, I think that LW is really proving her weight in gold with this storyline.
Also, what is up with Kirsten Storms(Maxie) being so skinny? I'd heard a rumor not too long ago that GH was teetering on doing an eating disorder storyline. Will it be Maxie? Let's just hope it isn't fiction mirroring true-life.
Have a great day!

National Scrapbooking Day!

Hard for non-scrappers and stampers to believe it; but yes today is National Scrapbooking Day! I hope that those of you who are dedicated scrappers have an all day crop event of some kind that you plan to attend. Cropping with friends is fantastic fun and I do truly miss the group I cropped with in Okinawa. I shall be working on some more cards today simply because I have all my SU stuff out right now and not my scrapping things; but I am going to get back to my layouts and photos next week...honest, I really am!!
Be sure to check out the new Stampin Up! promo that I've listed on the right side of the blog; and check out my site for additional details.
I hope you all are considering participating in the challenge that I posted yesterday. So far I've not seen anything uploaded to SCS; but you do have until next Friday. I really would like to see what inspires you.
Finally a quick word about General Hospital. I've actually not seen Friday's episode yet (I'll watch it Monday AM on Soap net) However, I did thoroughly enjoy the final scenes with Nikolas and Emily and the montage. I think that Tyler Christopher has just done a fantastic job during this storyline and is definitely past due for an emmy nomination.
In case you missed it, I've posted the montage from Thursday's episode.
Have a fabulous weekend!
Dori

A Little Inspiration (Friday Challenge)

If you are a scrapbooker or a stamper then chances are you find inspiration in all sorts of things. A shirt, a pattern on a cushion, or a piece of furniture. Perhaps a painting in the window of a store.
True scrappers and stampers see inspiration and think about how they can incorporate that into a card or on a layout. I found inspiration in this adorable little coffee cup my mother brought back for me from a recent trip she went on. I saw it and immediately began thinking of the colors and how I could design a card based on those colors and the design. This card is the end result and I think it came out rather well.
As I said yesterday, I am going to begin putting up a challenge each Friday for anyone who is interested in playing along. Your first challenge is to find something that inspires you and use that to create a card or a scrapbook layout. You can use anything at all that you want. Be sure to take a picture of both your inspiration and your creation. Post a comment here and post a link to your picture (on your blog) or upload to SCS keyword: SGHMC1 (all caps no spaces). I hope some of you will accept the challenge and play along. I look forward to seeing and being inspired by all of you. The challenge is open until next Friday when I will post another one.

Have a great day!
Dori

Recipe for today's card:

Colors: Green Galore, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Whisper White
Stamp set: Simply Said
Accessories: Brads and white ribbon, Blender Pens

Recipe Thursday: Crab Rangoon Dip

This recipe is for all of you who came to my Mystery Hostess Party this past Tuesday and raved about the crab dip. It is a Pampered Chef Recipe and was the first time I had made it; but it definitely won't be the last!

Crab Rangoon Dip:

Ingredients:

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1 garlic clove, pressed.
4 oz shredded Swiss Cheese. (I actually used the already grated Italian cheese blend)
3/4 cup sweet and sour sauce
1 cup chopped imitation crabmeat
1/4 cup sliced almonds (I forgot these the other night)

Directions:

Mix the cream cheese and garlic and spread into the bottom of an 8 inch round pan (mini baker if you are using PC stoneware)
Spread the swiss cheese over the top of the cream cheese mixture and then top with the sweet and sour sauce, the crabmeat and almonds.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 22-25 minutes.
Serve warm with Wonton Chips.

Enjoy!

National Scrapbooking Month and New Blog Features

May is National Scrapbooking Month, and in honor of that I will be concentrating on catching up with my much neglected photos. That is once I finish the cards I need to do! I will be posting layouts primarily this month. I'm not sure if I will have a new image each day; but I will try to get them up as soon as I can. That's not to say I won't be posting cards, so don't worry. I've also decided to add a couple of new features to my blog this month as well. I hope you all will play along. I would love to get feed back from anyone (and everyone!)
The first thing I will be adding is a kitchen tip each Thursday. Another one of my passions is cooking and I'm always interested in anything that helps me in the kitchen. I will also post a new recipe (or a link to one) on Thursdays. If anyone is interested we could make this like a recipe exchange. Just post a recipe on your blog, leave me a comment and I will come and check it out.
The second thing I will be adding is a weekly challenge each Friday. The challenge theme will vary from week to week. Example: color schemes, a certain layout, using a specific technique etc. The challenge will run from Friday to Friday and is completely optional. All you need to do to participate is post your creation on your blog, leave me a comment with a link to your blog so that I and others can visit your site and see what you've done. For those of you who are members of SCS you can upload to there as well. I'll give you the key words each Friday. There are no prizes or rewards unfortunately; but we can all use new ideas and it's a way to drive new traffic to your site as well. The only stipulation is that if you visit a blog to view what someone has done or the SCS gallery is that you must leave a comment for the person who made it. I think that everyone who takes the time to create something likes to get feedback about it. A few nice words can really make someone's day. I hope that you all enjoy the new additions and choose to participate. I look forward to seeing what everyone does.
I've also decided to change the layout of my blog...just because!

Have a great day!

Dori