VLV week 2: Thoughts

ChaHi Everyone!!

Life has been crazy, what can I say?! Back to school stuff and then my hubby took a few days off of work and we had a great time hanging out together; but it left me very little time to craft or blog.

So I wanted to make sure I got something up for you all to see at least today. I'll be posting some recipes and book reviews soon as well.
Ok, so today's card is for week 2 of this month's VLV sketch challenge. Yes, I know that technically we're on week 4; but again....crazy life. I'm going to try hard to get caught up with them over the weekend.
I kept it pretty simple with the layers and papers, added a bit of texture with some embossing; and a simple button for an embellishment to finish it.
That's all for today, the kiddos will be home from school soon and I've a couple more things to do before they arrive. Have a great day. Thanks for visiting with me! Until next time....

Challenges:

Sister Act Card Challenge: Anything Goes

A.R.T card challenge: Anything Goes

Pinterest Inspiration: You're Special

Hi Everyone!

So sorry about the lack of posting this week. It was back to school week for us, so we are just trying to get back into the groove of things and get the school routine established once again. I have been doing some crafting; but just haven't been able to find the time to get stuff posted here.
Today, I am sharing another Pinterest inspired card. The original card was made by Dawn Easton. I liked the simple design that focused on the sentiment. I had to change mine slightly because my sentiment was larger than the one in the original card, so I moved it up a little more towards the top.
Other than that pretty simple and straight forward.
Have a great weekend!

Challenges:

Bloggers Challenge: Flower Power
Creative Corner: Anything Goes
Jo's Scrap Shack: Anything goes


Supplies:
Paper: Sage Shadow, Not Quite Navy (SU) , Dark Chocolate, Harvest Gold (PTI), Hopscotch Basic Grey
Stamps: Special Lace Basic Grey
Ink: Memento Ink rich cocoa, Not Quite Navy (SU)
Accessories: Martha Stewart mini scor board, ribbon, white gel pen. 

Viva La Verve August: Cute as a Button

Hi Everyone!

Super quick post for me today since we have a busy afternoon ahead of us here. Summer vacation is finally coming to an end and it we get to meet the teachers today. It's been a while since I've been able to participate in a Viva La Verve sketch challenge. I'm actually a week behind; but hopefully will have time to catch up in the next couple of days. This is for week number 1. This square sketch was easy to work with and I really liked the different layers within it.
This sketch is also perfect for this month's Diva Dare challenge to "Pile on the Sweetness" I also used the option of adding flower clusters.
Ok, as I said super quick post for me today. Thanks for visiting with me! Until next time...

Supplies:
Paper: Smoky Shadow, Terracotta Tile, Aqua Mist (PTI) Sweet Threads (Basic Grey)
Stamps: Sunny Days (Verve Stamps)
Accessories: Nestabilities dies, Copic Markers, buttons, scalloped edge punch, white gel pen

Book Review: A Family Affair by Mary Campisi

Hi Everyone!

For as long as she can remember, Christine Blacksworth's father traveled once a month for four days to a small down outside of Chicago for, what she and her mother always believed was rest and relaxation at their family's cabin. When her father dies in a car accident one night, she is devastated. She is even more shocked when her father's attorney informs her that he has left money to a woman named Lily Destano. She realizes then that he has been having an affair for the last 14 years. She travels to the town to confront Lily Destano and give her the money her father had willed to her and then hopefully never have to deal with her again. When she arrives in the town of Magdelena she discovers that Lily is not her father's mistress; but his daughter. It isn't until Christine meets Lily that she realizes how special she is that everything changes in Christine's world. Everything she thought she knew and loved is brought into question and she finds herself drawn more and more to this "other" family her father had and farther away from her mother and the boyfriend she realizes she doesn't love anymore and probably never really has.
A Family Affair  is a heart warming story that takes a different track than most "he had an affair" stories. In the places where you expect to find animosity and bitterness you instead find compassion, loyalty and love. You realize that maybe there is no "good and bad" side; but rather a "good and better" side to the the story. There is fault and blame on both sides to be sure as well; but as Christine becomes more and more a part of life in Magdalena, she begins to understand her father in a way she never thought possible.
As much as I enjoyed the story, I did find it a bit predictable. It became very clear early in the story what the outcome was going to be even through the few bumps in the road along the way. In some ways I wished that her father, Charlie, had not died so early in the story.  I would have liked to have seen the confrontation between Charlie and Christine as father and daughter. I also found that Christine was a little too accepting a little too quickly of her father's indiscretions. I kept waiting for the true anger that should have been associated with a discovery like this to emerge; but it never did.
This is the perfect read if you've just finished a long or complicated story and need something easy and lighthearted. Don't expect it to be any more than that because you will probably be disappointed.

Recipe: Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Hi Everyone!

Well, if you have an addiction to chocolate, today's post is not going to help you in any way! Seriously, if you are dieting or on a health food kick, close your eyes and click away from the image. (Good luck actually doing that!)
This recipe is for Chocolate Oatmeal Bars. They are so warm, so moist and chocolatey and so delicious!
As you can see by the photos today I had a little helper making this recipe. He approved of the final product as well!
Ok, for those who have decided to stay with me, here is the recipe! I am not, however, responsible for any inability to only eat one!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter softened
2 cups Brown Sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 Cups Flour
3 cups Quick Cook rolled oats
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 tsps vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 and line a 15x10x1 pan with parchment paper.

1. Set aside 2 tbsps of butter. Put the remaining butter in large bowl of electric mixer on high speed 30 secs. Add the brown sugar and baking soda scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

2. Beat in the eggs and 2 tsps of vanilla until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can and then stir in the rest. Stir in the oats.

3. Spread about 2/3rds of the oat mixture into bottom of pan, spreading and working it to form an even layer on the bottom with a little ridge for side crusts as well.




Filling:

1. In medium saucepan combine the reserved butter along with the chocolate chips and the sweetened condensed milk. Stir until the chocolate is melted and remove from heat. Stir in the nuts.

2. Spread chocolate filling evenly over oat mixture crust in pan

3. Use your fingers to work remaining oat mixture into flat pieces of various sizes and then put them along top of filling. (It will not cover all of it.)

4. Bake for 25 minutes or until oat mixture starts to look golden brown.
cool completely on wire rack before cutting.

That is all for me today. I'm taking the weekend off; but I'll be back on Monday! Have a great weekend. Thanks for visiting me and until next time....

Mojo Monday: Coffee and Friends

Hi Everyone!

I am so thankful that I brought my Nook and keyboard to my son's doctor appointment today since they are running 2 hours behind!! I mean, seriously...how ridiculous is that?!

Well, at least I can be productive and blog a little. This is my card for yesterday's Mojo Monday sketch. This sketch was super fun to play with because it was easy and worked well with pattern papers. I could definitely see myself using it again. Oh and hopefully you can tell that the picture quality has improved a bit too. I finally found a place with some decent lighting and a good "on the go" photo editing app. I think the results turned out rather well, if I do say so myself!
I added lots of distressing and inking to the edges of the panels in hopes to make it warmer and inviting which is the feel I was going for especially considering that I will be giving this card to a friend along with some coffee and some chocolates.
I also found some fun challenges for this card:

1. Anything Goes Challenge: Anything goes (optional Coffee Break theme)
2. Loves Rubber Stamps Challenge: Anything Goes
3 Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
4. Top Tip Tuesday: Embossing
5. Crafty Cardmakers : 1 image, 2 patterned papers, 3 embellishments
6. Mojo Monday: Sketch
7. The Pink Elephant Challenge: texture

That is all for me today! Thank you so much for visiting with me! Until next time....

Supplies:
Paper: Dark Chocolate, Terracotta Tile, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink) 
             My Mind's Eye Stella Rose
Inks:  Rusty Hinge, Tumbled Glass and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Stamps: "Delightful and Delicious" Verve Stamps
Accessories: Geometric Rings embossing folder, brads, button

Blogs, Blogging and Bloglovin

Hi Everyone!

I am posting very quickly this afternoon whilst I am sitting at Barnes and Noble enjoying some quiet kid free time to chat for just a moment about blogs, blogging and Bloglovin. If you've been reading my little blog the last few weeks, you know I've really been trying to update and change some things and get it going again. I have really been enjoying it.

I am grateful to those of you who stop by and visit me each day. I'd be lying though if I didn't say I'd really to have some more followers and readers. So, after a bit of research around the ol interweb, I discovered "Bloglovin". Now, if you are not familiar with Bloglovin, let me explain it. Basically it's a way to "quick read" all your favorite blogs. I signed up for it, linked my blog to it and started following my favorite blogs with it. I love how I can just sit down, open up one app and get the latest updates from all my blogs without having to wander through cyberspace.
So, in the interest of total blog selfishness, I am leaving my link for my bloglovin page "Live, Love Laugh...and Craft" here for you. Come on over and follow me!! If you have a bloglovin page, leave me a comment with your link. I will follow back!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone! Thanks for visiting me! Until next time....

Tutorial: Recipe Booklet

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in posting recently. I've just been super busy and haven't had a chance to sit down and post this project I've been working on this week. I wanted to do another tutorial; but this time, I didn't want to do something that was already out there that you could make from any other website, blog or Pinterest. Therefore, I challenged myself to come up with an original idea, figure out the measurements, and then put it all together. After a few rounds of trial and error, this is what I came up with. It is a very cute recipe booklet with pockets for you to put in recipe cards. I divided mine into four sections: Appetizers, Main Dish, One Pots, and Desserts. I think this would be perfect for a recipe exchange party or a gift for someone.
Anyhow, I hope you take a go at making one for yourself.  There are quite a few steps; but they are not hard. I took lots of pictures to make the explanation as clear as possible. I combined some of the pictures together to save some space. Since it is late in the day, I am only linking this to a couple of challnges. This week's Color Throwdown challenge of Turquoise, Orange, Yellow and grey; and also Create and Inspire Party

Materials:

1 12x12 piece of card stock

1 4 x 4 3/4 piece of card stock

stamps, papers and embellishments of choice for front and inside decoration.

Adhesives of choice.

Scoring board

Directions:

Score your 12 x 12 sheet at 1 1/4, 6 and 10 3/4
Turn paper and score again at 6
Pre-fold all score lines.

Put paper in cutter and make a cut from the bottom
6 inch score line up the other 6 inch score line.
fold the paper up in half and crease along edge.
Place sticky strip on left side of booklet and then fold in half
Your base for your booklet is complete.


Open booklet and fold down bottom flaps
place a piece of sticky strip on left, middle and right
edges. Fold up, these are the pockets for the recipe cards.



Score 4 x 4 3/4 piece at 1, 2 and 3 ins
Mountain valley fold, ensuring that
the valley fold is in the middle.
Turn over and place sticky strip on left
and right sides. Fold each to the
middle. Then seal along edge of booklet.
(Note: this step is actually optional; but it gives
the edge of the book a nice looking finish.)
Add a small horizontal piece of paper to the front right
side of the booklet to and secure in the back with
a small velcro adhesive. This will keep the book closed.

Decorate the front and inside

panels as desired.

Thanks for visiting me today!  Until next time....