Cards for Publication

Hi Everyone!

Well, I have decided to make a wholehearted effort  into trying to get a few of my cards published. For those of you who have accomplished this wonderful feat, you know that you can't publish or display any cards that you hope to have published. So, with that I must tell you that I am busy busy crafting away; but I'm not able to share anything right now.

I will be here, however with a post this Saturday for World Card Making Day!! I am a participant in the Operation Write Home Blog Hop and I can't wait for you all to see what I've made (or will have by then!) and I can't wait to see everyone else's great creations.

Enjoy the rest of your week; and I'll see you on Saturday!!

Just Because You're You....

Good Morning Everyone!


Well, I just couldn't resist CASEing another one of Teresa's card. I won't be submitting this one to the Diva Dare Challenge because I've already put in the one from yesterday. Still, it just didn't seem like CASEing only one card was nearly enough! I was very intrigued by this beautiful card in Teresa's Verve gallery. I decided to see if I could do it any justice. I chose some beautiful fall colors as well as some pattern papers from the Basic Grey's "Indian Summer" collection. I embossed the bottom piece of Rust paper with my Inkadinkado polka dot stamp and copper embossing powder. I  stamped the flowers from Verve's Sunny Days collection on watercolor paper using Firebrick Red and Rusty Hinge Distress inks. I sprayed the paper with a little mist of water and then used my aqua painters to blend in some of the colors. I cut the flowers out and edged them both with some Walnut Stain ink. I cut the center panels using Label One Nestabilities. I embossed the top layer using the Birds and Swirls embossing folder and then used my blending tool and some Rusty Hinge Distress ink to go over it. I also edged the outer rim of the Pumpkin Pie Label. I stamped the leaves with Crushed Olive and cut them out using the Leafy Springs Die. I stamped the sentiment from Verve's Circular Sayings on a 1 1/4" circle and mounted it on a Pumpkin Pie circle measuring 1 3/8"


Lots of Challenges for this Fall Card:




1. Crafting For All Seasons: Fall Colors


2. I Brake for Challenges: Fall


3. Paper Shelters: Anything Goes


4. Penny's Paper Crafting: Fall


5. Scrapbook Sisters: Autumn Colors


6. Simon Says Stamp: (and show) some dies/and or punches

7. Four Crafty Chicks: Autumn

8. Paper Play Challenges: Autumn Leaves

9. Southern Girls Challenges: Anything Goes

10. Stampin B's: Use 2 or more Spellbinder's to make your card

Verve Diva Dare!

Hello!

Yes, I'm back again with ANOTHER Verve creation. I know, I know you are probably getting tired of seeing these; but I am just having way too much fun with my new stamps. I am actually on my way out the door, so I am here very quickly to share my card for the current "Diva Dare" challenge going on. This month's Diva Dare was to "Case a Diva" As soon as I saw this challenge, I knew immediately that I was going to case something from the AMAZING Diva Teresa Kline. Teresa's gorgeous creations are just beyond drool worthy! She has always been one of my favorite crafters and I do so enjoy her work. I had the best time looking through her Verve gallery and fell in love with this gorgeous creation. Now, as you can see I went in the polar opposite direction of Teresa as it relates to the color palette choosing to do fun pastel colors instead of the dark neutrals that Teresa used. I did, however, try to maintain the rest of the elements of the card as best I could. I think it turned out pretty well. I hope she likes it and I hope you to do.
Have a great day!

Recipe Thursday: Sausage and Vegetable Stir Fry

Hi Everyone!

After a few week's absence, I am happy to report that Recipe Thursday is back! This recipe is so versatile and so easy to do. You can use any vegetables that you want, so it's a great way to use up things that you just have in your refrigerator. I've also made this dish with chicken in place of, as well as in addition to the sausage. I also like this recipe, because it's family friendly. If you're children are anything like mine, they don't like all the vegetables and that's ok, I just save a some of the sausage or other meats and sautee them in a separate pan by themselves for the kids. They can still have the rice and gravy and everyone is happy.
Ok, so here we go:

Ingredients:

--1lb Beef Smoked Sausage (or chicken, or both...the meat is completely your choice), chopped. Note however that if you use chicken, you will need to brown it in a separate pan first before adding it to the vegetables
--Variety of vegetables. (again, use your judgement and personal preference)
--white wine or red. you'll just need a little splash (or chicken stock)
--ingredients to make gravy
--white rice cooked according to directions

Instructions:

1. Heat a skillet with some Olive Oil over medium high heat. Chop your vegetables. They don't need to be finely chopped. I chopped some and sliced others. Add the vegetables to the skillet. I usually add the carrots and celery first because they need a little more time to soften. I added the onions and mushrooms second. Sautee for 5-6 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Season with a bit of salt and pepper

2. Add the sausage (or browned chicken) to the pan and mix with the vegetables and cook for a few minutes until the sausage is browned for about 4 minutes.

3. Deglaze the bottom of the pan with some wine (red or white, whatever you choose) just a couple of turns around the bottom of the pan. Cook for a few minutes until the wine evaporates. Now at this point, I remove the meat/vegetable mixture from the pan to another dish, and prepare the gravy in the same pan.

4. Prepare your gravy. Everyone has their own way of preparing gravy. I add the butter to the pan with some flour and make a roux. Then I mix in a little beef stock or chicken stock while whisking to blend the roux and the liquid.

The only thing left is to plate the dish. Put some rice in the bottom of your plate, top with a little bit of gravy and then add some of the sauteed vegetable and meat mixture.
Easy and delicious!

New Verve Mojo

Good Morning!

I got some new Verve stamps the other day and I couldn't wait to play with them! What better thing to do use them for than this week's Mojo Monday Sketch! I'll admit, the slanted panels threw me a little bit; but I think I mastered them pretty well. I used Verve's Sunny Days, the Graph Paper Plain Jane, and Where Flowers Bloom. I also used the Leafy Springs Cut above Die. This was my first time using the Verve Dies and I have to tell ya...they are AWESOME!! So easy and so fun to use.
The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Collection: Madison Avenue. This papers are so pretty and easy to use. I coordinated it with some dark brown, Blushing Bride, Kraft and Vintage Cream card stocks. I distressed the edge of the card with some Walnut Stain Distress ink. The "buttons" in the center of two of the flowers are stamps from the Sunny Days collection that I added a couple of layers of Crystal Effects to make them shiny.
Anyhow, so lots of fun playing with my new Verve! I ordered a ton of stuff, so don't be surprised to see lots of Verve Creations this week!!

A few challenges for this card:

Mojo Monday: Sketch
Make it Monday: Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles: Layers
Stamp with Fun: Anything Goes
Anything Goes Challenge: Anything Goes
Scrap-Creations: Anything Goes

Have a great day!

Tigers Roar, Kyle Wins, and Pumpkins Sparkle!

Hi Everyone!

Wow! What a fantastic weekend I had. Believe it or not, I never left the house; but I had the best time! First on Saturday my beloved Clemson Tigers FINALLY beat Auburn. I was soooo excited about that victory. They played a great game and deserved the win. Now, admittedly, they are probably going to get their butts kicked by Florida State next weekend; but that's ok. This was still a victory and I'll take it! Football Saturday would have been even better if the South Carolina Gamecocks had lost; but I think NAVY proved to be an unexpectedly worthy opponent and I was proud of the way they played.
Ok, now on to Sunday, which was probably the best day of the whole weekend cause I stayed in my PJs and crafted ALL day!! I only got 2 cards made; but I had the best time putting them together. I just tinkered here and there with them and took my time. It was fun! I finished the night by watching the Primetime Emmys on TV and I cannot tell you how stoked and excited I was that Kyle Chandler won for Lead Actor in a drama series (Friday Night Lights). He is an exceptional actor, one of my absolute favorites and that award was so very well deserved!!

One more note before we get to the cards and challenges for the day. Hopefully you've noticed that I've changed the music video for this week. I chose the opening theme song for the former TV show "The Tudors" (a great show by the way!) I love the melody of this song because it's upbeat and beautiful and yet at the same time a little mysterious and haunting. I do hope you enjoy it; but as I've said before please feel free to mute or pause it.
Ok, so a couple of Halloween cards to share with you this morning. I'm not sure that they require a whole lot of explaining; but I'll give a quick recap anyhow. This first one uses Orange, Ripe Avocado, Perfect Plum, Black and White. I embossed the Perfect Plum using Hero Arts Classic Fabric Design with Versamark and Clear EP. The green piece was embossed with my cuttlebug and my Swirls folder. The pumpkin is from Inkadinkado. I colored the back to pumpkins with Pumpkin Pie Marker and on the front one I used glue and some of my new Really Juicy Orange Sparkly Fluff from OCL! The Happy Halloween Sentiment is a rub on from SU and the die tag is also from SU.

Challenges for this card are:
Crafty Emma: 4 or more embellishments (I used the ribbon, twine, eyelets and gold stickles)
I (heart) 2stamp: Sketch
Crazy 4 Challenges: Create a card with a Pumpkin
Wee Memories: No pattern paper
Card Cupids: Anything Goes
The Corrosive Challenge Blog: Punches and Dies


Ok, now for the second card I have for you. This was just another very simple Halloween card I put together using some old pattern papers from last year's Halloween stash. The Boo sentiment is from Martha Stewart. I stamped it in black ink on white paper rounded the corners and then matted it on a variety of ovals that I cut using Petite Oval Nestabilites. Just a few challenges for this little card:

Card Patterns: Sketch
Stamptacular Sunday: Just Saying
The Squirrel and the Fox: Anything Goes

Phew! Long post today! Thanks so much for hanging in here to the end with me. Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!

Up Up and Away VLV week 3

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick card to share with you today for this week's Viva La Verve Sketch Challenge. At first I was a bit scared by this sketch; but the card came together rather quickly and not to shabby if I do say so myself! I used Kraft, Ocean Tide, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow and pattern papers from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Collection Mabel papers.

Have a great weekend!

Card Making Mama's: Use Punches (I used the Threading Waters Punch and the Circle bunch for the balloon center and heart punch for the center hearts)
Clearly Inspired Challenges: Glitter
Fabulous Friday: Punches

Joy to the Snowman

Hi Everyone!

Well, here it is...the first Christmas card of the season! I know I should probably be working on Fall and Thanksgiving/Halloween themed cards; but you know what? I just can't seem to get in the mood to do them this year! I'm not sure why that is, either. Perhaps I just really really need to think about very cold weather because it's still 105 degrees EVERY DAY here! (Can you tell I'm sooo over Texas!) For me, summer should be 3 month Jun, July, August...and that's it! Come September, October I want cool Autumn breezes, beautiful leaves and I want to start digging out my soup and chili recipes for the crock pot!
Anyhow, I digress, so on to the card for today. I actually had a different image where the snowman is now; but I just didn't like it at all, so I took that off of there and just substituted this cute little guy. Trust me, it looks much better!
Have a great weekend. I have big crafty plans and not a lot of time to get it done today since it's early release day for the kids at school.
Oh, and one more note: I know that it's been a few weeks since I've posted a Recipe Thursday; but I plan to post one next week.

Christmas Challenges: Sketch
Creative Belli: String (I've had these snowman stickers for about 2 years now!)
PaperCraft Star: Anything Goes
The Paper Variety: Use Stickers
4 Crafty Chicks: Embossing

Sunny Day

Hi Everyone!

I love new stamps! I recently won this cute new little single stamp set from Our Craft Lounge. It is called "Fall Sunflower" and it was so much fun to play with! I can see that it's going to be a very versatile little stamp to have and I can't wait to play with it again. I also got some new crafty fluff also from OCL. I used the coffee bean fluff for the middle of the flowers. This was my first time and it was so much fun!! I have some other colors to try out and and plan to do that very soon! So,just a quick post for today. Enjoy your day and thanks for spending some time with me!

Challenges:

Stars and Stamps: Sketch

Make it Monday: Anything Goes

Everybody Art Challenge: Flowers

Craft Your Passion: Use the "F" Word (I chose Flowers)

Hooked on Crafts: Spring

LadyBug Crafts: Flowers

Thanks a Latte!

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was nice and relaxing, with a little bit of football, Wii time, movie time and lots of playing!
Before I get to today's card, I just want to make a quick note of a change I've made here to my blog. As you noticed, when you arrived here today, I've set some music to play automatically. It's the video over there on the right hand side. I decided to just give it a try and see how I like it. It'll only play one time, so don't worry. If you don't want to hear the song, by all means just click the pause button and that will stop it. I will only put beautiful instrumental music here, so don't worry Lady Gaga will not come blaring out of speakers unexpectedly when you arrive! Each Monday I will choose a new song for the week. The prior videos will be listed underneath the "Inspirational Song" page tab at the top. You can read that page also for more information about where and how I select the songs.

Ok, so on to today's card. I made this card for the Viva La Verve's September Sketch Challenge: week 2: I used Cameo Coral, Fine Linen and pattern papers from Basic Grey's "Hopscotch" collection. The Scalloped Circle, 2 regular circles and the rounded rectangle were cut using my cricut and various SVG files. I stamped the coffee cup from Verve's "Delightful and Delicious" set on watercolor paper and then used Antique Linen and Tattered Rose distress inks to color it in. I added Coffee Bean Sparkly Fluff from Our Craft Lounge to the coffee for a little texture. The sentiment was stamped with Rich Cocoa ink by Memento.
The inside of the card was done very simply and I took a quick picture of that as well.
As you can see from the list below, I went a little challenge happy with this card! So, I better get busy and start linking it up. I hope you all have a fabulous day, and I'll see you tomorrow!

I Did it Creations: Anything Goes
One Stitch at a Time: Anything Goes
Stamp Something: Anything Goes
The Friday Mashup: Stitching
My Mum's Craft Shop: Lots of Layers
Little Red Wagon: Die Cuts (I used my Cricut and SCAL software to cut the scalloped circle, the 2 regular circles and the rounded rectangle for the sentiment
Catch the Bug: Punches and Die Cuts
Stamp Scrap and Doodle: Thank you
Paper Sundaes: Finishing Touches (complete the inside)
Pile it on: Layers

My Memories Winner!!

Hi Everyone!

I am here very quickly this afternoon to announce the winner for the My Memories free software. There were only 7 entries, and I let random.org do the choosing and as you can see the result is comment number 3. This particular comment was made by Deborah.

Deborah, I will be in contact shortly to tell you how you can claim your prize!

Thanks so much for participating everyone. I'll be back tomorrow!!

Happy Fall, Happy Blessings

Good Morning!

First, I must apologize for the very crooked picture of today's card! Just tilt your head a little...it'll be ok! LOL

I am so happy the weather is at least a little cooler in the mornings. Still hot as Hades in the afternoon; but the nice breeze in the morning has allowed me to turn off the AC and open up the windows at least until around lunch time. Fall is my favorite season and last year was the best as we were in RI. Nothing...I mean nothing compares to fall in New England!!
Anyhow, I am happy to be making some fall cards and as such, don't be surprised if you start seeing a whole bunch of them over then next month or so!!
I took two pictures of this card, so that I could show it's an easel card. Obviously you can see I took this picture outside this morning. I used a whole variety of papers and patterns mostly all from my stash that just seemed as though they went well together. The scarecrow is from an old SU set called "Happy Blessings."
On a side note, I have a question (for those of you who care to answer) how do you all feel about your older stamps? I have a ton of older SU stamps, some I still use a lot and some not so much. Sometimes I think about trying to sell them or get rid of them; but then I think, why? There's nothing wrong with them, I'm not an SU demo anymore so I can use them and blog them all I want. However, I often can't help but think they just aren't trendy anymore and maybe my followers and visitors aren't really interested in them for inspiration. So, like I said I was just curious....
Ok, so here are the challenges for today's card. Have a great day, thanks for stopping by and I'll see you all tomorrow!

1. Creative Card Crew: Anything Goes
2. Everybody Art Challenge: Autumn
3. Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
4. Ribbon Carousel Challenge: Anything Goes (use at least 1 ribbon)
5. Top Tip Tuesday: Easel Card
6. Tuesday Throwdown: 3 pattern papers, 2 buttons and 1 ribbon
7. Peachy Keen: Sketch

Always in my Thoughts

Hi Everyone!

Well I had a fantastic week off from crafting and blogging. It was nice to just relax and catch up on some other things. I even read 2 books both of which I really liked. I'll be updating the "books" tab over the next few days, so be sure to check it out soon and read my reviews.
Ok, so on to today's card. This card is for a few challenges (all of which are listed below) including Verve's Viva La Verve Challenge (Sept week 1) and a new one for me, Verve's Diva Dare Challenge to "Send Some Sunshine". You can read all the details here and participate by linking your card to the Verve blog. I made this card to send to a sweet sorority sister of mine who three years ago today, gave birth to her beautiful baby boy and then held him close to say goodbye to him as it just wasn't his time to be on this earth and God called him home. I remember when she sent me the message telling me what happened. I cried for days. As a mother, I just couldn't imagine the horrible heartache and devastation she must have felt. Even though she has since had another healthy baby boy and is now pregnant again, I know it still must be difficult for her as she remembers and wonders what might have been.
I am entering this card also for OCL's Anything Goes Challenge this week as well as for the following challenges.

1. Craft Your Passion: Flowers
2. Crafty Boots: Anything Goes
3. Heart Song: Distressing
4. Lexi's Creation: Autumn/Fall
5. Make it Monday: Anything Goes
6 Woodware USA: Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting me! Have a great evening and I'll see you all tomorrow!