12.30.2009

There's still time!



Greetings all my scrappy friends! I just wanted to tell you there's still plenty of time to play for this fabulous Nikki Sivils prize at Creative Cookbooking! We want to see your mini albums of 12 favorite Christmas cookies recipes!

Here's a layout I did recently for Creative Cookbooking. Not cookies, but still yummy! We made these several times during the holidays and for as easy as they are to make, I don't know why we save them for holidays. Plus, I like to say they're healthy, because of the Crispix cereal. High in fiber, right? :-D



I will be back soon with lots of new creations I've been working on. And to all of my faithful readers, I hope you have a very healthy, happy and scrappy New Year! :-)

12.24.2009

I believe in Santa Claus

This is the subject line from an email from my Rabbi... and a few of his thoughts. I agree with him. :-)

"I believe in Santa Claus...If we strip away all the commercialism and the kitsch (tackiness) that surround Santa Claus, we can see Santa Claus really reflects the best of what it means to be human...let Santa Claus be our role model during this Christmas season and take this spirit beyond Christmas."

Merry Christmas to all my scrappy friends. Maybe the warmth of the spirit of Christmas be with you throughout the new year.

12.20.2009

Clarification on last post

Thanks for the comments! Just so everyone knows, I DID send the link to my blog post to the Taco Bell website. Their comment section was limited to 500 words, and I'm pretty sure my post was more than that! LOL

It's all about the Roosevelts??

Really, Taco Bell? Really???

To all my scrappy friends, I'm sorry. This isn't even CLOSE to scrappy related, but I have to tell the story. I think it's important, particularly in these hard economic times.

For those who know me, you know I'm big on letter writing. Whether I get very good customer service or very bad, someone at the company is going to know about it.

#1. Some of you may remember my computer saga a few years back. I had a Sony Vaio laptop, called them up to tell them of my issue, and the rep tells me that's considered a major repair so it'll cost me $699. plus tax and shipping both ways. I said "but I can buy a whole NEW computer for that!" And he told me I should. And I did. I bought a Gateway. And Sony execs got a letter for that.

#2. Fast forward to last year, I sent my Gateway in and they did the repair for less than $100. AND I had my computer back in 3 working days! AWESOME, right? So they got a letter for that.

#3. Have you ever gone clothes shopping and picked something off the clearance rack only to have it ring up full price? This happened to my girls at Rue 21. I went to their website and told them, no biggie, BUT, the little girl that was working there was quite argumentative and said that the item should not have been on the clearance rack. Well, guess what. It was. And we don't work there, so one of the employees should be going through to make sure there are no regular priced items on the clearance rack. Two days later, my home phone was ringing with a call from the district manager wanting to make it right. Nice! Love that!

#4. Just last week, because of my poor planning, I ran out of Chanukah candles. Because I live in Alabama, I can't just run to the store to pick some up, I have to hunt for them and maybe I get lucky and find them. In light of the fact that I waited so long, I was in a pinch. Looked at some of the places I'd bought them in the past, but no luck. So I go to my local Publix store, where there is about 2 feet of floor space for Jewish items. Like I said, Alabama. LOL So I go to the customer service desk and asked the manager on duty. First she walked the store looking with me, then she immediately got on the phone and started calling to other area stores. The closest one that had candles was 30 minutes away. She asked if I could wait until the next day for the candles. I said yes. After her shift, she drove 30 minutes to the other store, picked up the candles, and brought them back to my store to be picked up the next day. How inconvenient for her and very convenient for me! SHE got a very nice letter sent by me on her behalf to the home office in Florida.

Okay, by now you get the drift. I'm a HUGE letter writer. And sometimes a tad lazy. Which is why I wanted Taco Bell Friday night. We don't eat out often because 1. it's expensive to feed all these people, so eating out is a treat and a rarity and 2. it's a pain to take the 85 year old father in law out in public. So, the hubs and I had a little "date" to pick up dinner to bring back to the house. The reason I'm having to post here instead of direct to the Taco Bell website is those sites don't allow photos. So, I'm going to post the photo and before you read on, really LOOK at the photo...



Okay, let's review... 2 Grande Meals (20 tacos total + 2 drinks) = $41.46. Whoa! So, the hubs starts going over the receipt with the girl behind the counter. She informs us that because we wanted sour cream and tomatoes, she added the additional $18. Holy CRAP! Are you kidding me? I was hoping to get a photo of an actual taco, but we just have a real aversion to paying another "roosevelt" to Taco Bell. But if you've ever ordered a taco supreme, you know that there are on average 7 pieces of diced tomato on each one and about a tablespoon of sour cream.

Here comes the fun part, math! So, here's a receipt from yesterday from Publix.



First, take note that a standing rib roast that fed all of us not once but TWICE, was $25. Yes, I know, that means we had to prepare it and clean up the mess, but it was WAY better than fast food.

Back to the point... Publix brand sour cream (16 oz.) cost $1.19 + tax. Tomatoes are $3.49 per POUND. Now, I'm estimating here, but I would say at MOST, there were 4 oz. of tomatoes on ALL 20 tacos. So 1/4 of $3.49 comes out to almost .88 worth of tomatoes. So even IF they had used an entire container of sour cream, and assuming that Taco Bell buys their food items from an upscale grocery store, it cost them no more than $3.20 to embellish our 20 tacos with tomatoes and sour cream that they charged us $18. for.

We felt totally raped paying $18. for tomatoes and sour cream! Before we left, we did some more math... The #3 value meal is 3 taco supremes and a large drink for $5.29. We would have been further ahead buying 7 of the meals because we would have gotten 3 more large drinks and 1 additional taco to the tune of $37.03.

As always, Caveat Emptor!

And I promise, my next post will be scrappy related! :-)

12.10.2009

Silly me!

I totally forgot to post the PRIZE that you can win for the 12 Days of Christmas contest that I told you about yesterday! Just in case you needed a little motivation... :-D

12.09.2009

12 Days of Christmas contest!

Creative Cookbooking has another awesome contest! We want to see your mini books of your 12 favorite Christmas cookies! Now don't feel overwhelmed! We don't need photos, just recipes, unless you want to include photos, then thats fine too!

To enter, upload your entries to our gallery and sign up on our sign up thread. Voting will be done by some special designers!

You have until midnight on January 4th to complete your mini book. Come on girlies, show me your minis!!! :-)

Here's a layout that I just finished of Megan and Caitlyn being silly the day the tree went up. They look a lot alike in these photos, doncha think? :-)



I'll have more to share soon! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

12.04.2009

Traditions

Usually this is where I say Happy Scrap Friday! But today, I'm feeling a little merry, and before I wake up my girlies to help me bake, I thought I'd share some ornaments I made for the kids. Every year, we get them a dated Hallmark ornament, but this year, the teeniest of ornaments are ridiculously expensive, so dh suggested that a handmade ornament would be so much more meaningful anyway. Brilliant! Why didn't "I" think of that? LOL So I did. I personalized them to some extent, but they are all dated.

Peyton's favorite color is blue. This week.



Caitlyn is into the vintage look. This week.



Ethan got engaged last month. I don't think it's as glimmery in the photo as it is in real life. Lots of gold glitter.



I had Megan's left to do by the time she came home from college for Thanksgiving, so she picked out her paper and "supervised" me. LOL



Another tradition of ours is that I have the kids put their handprints on the tree skirt and date it. Here is Megan putting it under the tree this year. :-)



Well, I'm off to bake some cranberry bread with the girls. Enjoy your merry moments this weekend! :-)

12.02.2009

Lots of layouts

Some insight as to why I've been a little missing in action recently...

Here are a couple of layouts of Kennedy. She's been spending quite a bit of time here, which I LOVE. She is so happy, always. :-)





And then Thanksgiving. Megan and Ethan and his new fiance stayed for the week, plus David and Kennedy spent the day with us as well.



And last but not least, this. :-/ Caitlyn had her first car accident, in David's car. :-O Thankfully, no one was injured too badly, although Caitlyn and Kennedy both had ER visits to make sure the blood wasn't something more serious.



It's been a crazy month, and this one promises to be equally as crazy. Chanukah is in 10 days, Megan's 21st birthday is in 12 days and then Christmas in 23 days. And I haven't done the first bit of shopping for any of it! :-O Not that I haven't had time, but I needed some creative unwinding after the last few weeks. :-)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a scrappy week and I'll be back soon with some holiday projects. :-)

12.01.2009

Happy December!



As usual, another month has zipped by and here we are at the end of another year! Wishing all my scrappy friends moments this month to enjoy the season. :-)

11.22.2009

Thankful contest and DT call!

Creative Cookbooking is having another contest!

For this contest you must do a layout or altered project on what you are thankful for, whatever inspires you. Use fall/warm colors, journaling of some kind is a must, and you must alter something... your whole project can be an altered item or you can alter an item on your project (ie….alter one of your embellishments or your alphas) just be creative!

These must be new layouts or altered items and posted in the Creative Cookbooking Flickr Gallery with your name and in the description labeled "Thankful Contest". Please also link them to the challenge thread so we can all admire them too. You will not only be playing for an awesome prize provided by Cookbookin.com, but your winning layout/project will also be featured on our blog. The design team will select the winning layout/project by voting for their favorite layout/project based on the layout itself and by following the challenge as described. The deadline for this contest is November 30 at midnight, EST time.

Here is my almost completed layout. My family will each journal what they are thankful for on their own tag. It's so much fun to display the thankful layouts from years past. :-)



Ch{all}enge Masters is holding a design team call. Here are the details:

Ch{all}enge Masters is looking for 2 new group leaders!
1. Go Green Group Leader
2. Altered Group Leader

Group Leader Requirements:
*Post 1 new challenge on assigned date each month along with a project sample to your challenge group.
*Make sure you leave a comment in the gallery on each of your category's submissions.
*Be as active as possible on the forums daily.
*Check the Design Team group daily for posts containing important information or requiring your response.
*If you have stuff going on in your life, you're going on vacation or whatever & you can't be around, contact a member from the site's ADMIN to let us know.
*Since there is no compensation for your design duties, you are eligible to participate in all of our to win the prize each month!!! Please play along as much as you'd like!
To apply, please send a link to your blog and/or main gallery to: challengemasters@gmail.com . Please send a .jpg of 1 {only 1 please!} layout/project that best represents your style along with your full name & email address. Submissions will be accepted until Nov. 27th. Don't forget to let us know which position you would like to fill.

If you're interested, click on the link and come on over and check us out! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my scrappy friends! Thanks for stopping by!

11.21.2009

Challenge Masters challenge layouts

The challenges by the awesome design team at Ch{all}enge Masters kicked my mojo into gear! I've completed all of them, and my Kitchen Keepsakes and Book of We albums are so thankful to have new layouts in them! :-)

This one is for the Book of We challenge:



And this is the facing page, which is my layout for the Book of Him challenge. My friend Stace gave me a visual tutorial on the burlap flower. :-) The challenge was to have a pic of only him, and feature his handwriting somewhere on the layout. He was being such a pill about it, and after I stuck the journaled strip on the layout, I noticed he said he is SMARTEST. Needless to say, he's very amused with himself. :-P



Both of these layouts used sketches from Scrapsketch. :-)

I hope y'all will come back for the blog hop on Dec. 5th and 6th! I'm bursting at the seams to show you what I've created! Of course, I'll be back before then, I'm just saying, I stink at keeping secrets! :-D

Have a great weekend and a very blessed Thanksgiving!

11.18.2009

New look

Ohmygosh, you can't imagine the PANIC you feel when you realize that instead of adding a blinkie, you've wiped out your entire blog! :-O So, HOURS worth of work later, here I am. What do you think? LOL

I've added a couple of things, like the "Follow Me" thingie on the side. See it? ------> C'mon! Follow me! You know you wanna! :-D

Have a great hump day! :-)

11.17.2009

Jingle Bell Hop!



We hope you'll play along with us! Many of the Design Masters are offering RAKs at each stop and if you visit all of the stops, you'll have a chance at winning the grand prize! I'll show you that in a later post. I'm very excited to show you some holiday projects I've been working on as well! :-)

And since I've been working on projects, I only have one layout to share this time. I hope to rectify that soon!

Megan came home a couple of weeks ago from college and highlighted her sisters hairs. I had Caitlyn and Peyton write in their own words as to what they thought of it. As usual, they are as different as night and day. LOL



Have a great week and thanks for stopping by! :-)

11.09.2009

Welcome CC&M blog hoppers!

Weren't Joan's projects great? If you didn't arrive here from Joan's blog, you don't want to miss what the designers have in store for you! The CC&M Mega Recipe Blog Hop starts at http://diecutdiva.com

Welcome to the first day of the Creative Cuts & More Mega Recipe Blog Hop, which will feature the 8”x8” Treasured Family Recipes Kit!



There are 24 designers who have created wonderful pages to inspire you. I've been so excited to show you my creations using the Treasured Family Recipes Kit, featuring Cosmo Cricket Early Bird line! First up, the first 3 pages of the mini album:







Here is a two page spread that I did for Megan's recipe album. I gotta tell you, I'm SO not a souffle fan, but Megan made this last time she was home from college and it was YUMMO!

I used the scraplift challenge from Ch{all}enge Masters for this one.


Did you notice how I drew the salt and pepper coming out of the shakers? This is what happens when I scrap at 3 a.m.! :-D

And to show how versatile these papers are, here's a layout I did. All of the papers and the adorable die cut tree are from the kit.



And there's lots left over to make several more layouts! Love, love, love that! So, read on, because you'll want to see the deal that's coming at ya!

As part of the celebration CC&M will be having a great sale! For the next six days, they are offering 20% off the entire store!!! But act quickly, it is only for six days – this sale will end on Nov 14th. Make sure you enter this code recipebloghop2009 during checkout. How awesome is that! :-)

As a continuing part of the celebration CC&M will of course give away great gifts. Each day they will give away one kit. Here's the twist – go through the blog hop, leave wonderful comments for the designers. After you have finished the blog hop, return to www.diecutdiva.com and instead of leaving a comment, share a recipe to have a chance at winning the kit. Share the recipe on your blog and link it back and get another chance to win the kit! Pretty cool, right? Not only a chance to win a kit, but collect some awesome recipes as well!

Make sure you check back at www.diecutdiva.com tomorrow for the Holiday Treats Apron Recipe Kit Blog Hop. They will also have 24 designers who will be showcasing their great creations and sharing holiday treat recipes.

Now it's time to hop along to Angie's blog for some more fabulous creations!

Cya at the end, happy hopping! :-)

11.07.2009

I've been a scrapping fool!

Unfortunately, I can't show you most of my creations until Monday. LOL BUT, I can show you a couple.

My friend Stace is such a talented scrapper, WHEN she scraps. :-P So in honor of her first scrapped page in forEVER, I lifted her. LOL The paper is Graphic 45 and the photo is Peyton with her newly highlighted hair, courtesy of big sister Megan. Hard to believe she's only 13. :-O



Here's one I did for the technique challenge on Ch{all}enge Masters. This was oh so messy, but I love the result! Thanks for the challenge Dana!



I hope y'all are having a very scrappy weekend! I will see y'all bright and early Monday for the Creative Cuts and More blog hop, right? Right?? RIGHT!!! :-D

11.05.2009

Coming your way!



The Creative Cuts and More design team, the "Die Cut Divas", are gearing up along with a bunch of super talented paper crafters from around the blogosphere, including yours truly, for a Mega Recipe Blog Hop!! Can you say Cosmo Cricket? Well, the kit includes the awesome Early Bird line! Be sure to stop by on Monday and Tuesdsay, November 9th & 10th!

If you'd like a chance at winning a little blog candy, then you can help spread the word about the hop. Copy this blinkie and add it to your blog or your place on the web, come back, leave me a comment showing me where you put it and you are entered! Easy and fun!

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back on Monday with some creations I made using the fabulous kit from Creative Cuts and More. :-)

11.01.2009

Whatcha doin' next weekend?

Nothing, right? How about a crop? Scrap for a Cure is hosting Autumn Bliss. It will begin on Friday evening and go through Sunday. There will be challenges and games posted all weekend long!!! Sounds like a fun weekend, right? Plus, they have tons of prizes to give away, so come and join me! :-)

I also thought I'd share a card I did today for Ch{all}enge Masters. The blue ticket was an afterthought, since the challenge called for a round Christmas card with blue on it. Hey! It's round! ED. LOL I'll spare showing you the back. :-D



I hope all my scrappy friends had a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

10.31.2009

Happy November!



Don't forget to fall back! Daylight Savings ends tomorrow, so that means an extra hour of sleep! It also means it's going to get darker earlier which means tomorrow night, I'll be ready for bed at 5 p.m. LOL

Tomorrow is also the day all of the challenges go up at Ch{all}enge Masters. There will be something for everyone, so come check it out! :-)

There are 9 days left to enter the contest at Creative Cookbooking for a chance to win the fabulous prize from Graphic 45!

Need to make some cards? Cookin' Up Creations is having a "Card a Day in November" challenge, with a chance to win a $20. gift certicate to your fav online store. Pretty cool, right? Just in time to buy yourself a scrappy Christmas gift! Gotta love that! LOL

I'll be back soon with some new creations! Thanks for stopping by! :-)

10.26.2009

Ch{all}enge Masters

Woo hoo! The big announcement came today! Congrats to all the ladies who made the first ever Ch{all}enge Masters design team!

I hope all my scrappy friends will join me! Challenges go up Nov. 1st to win this awesome prize from Scrapbook Deals 4 U...



I'm excited to see who the first ever Monthly Master will be! Maybe you?? :-)

10.24.2009

Contest layout

Remember yesterday I posted about the contest going on at Creative Cookbooking? I totally forgot to share my lift! Silly me! So, I lifted one of my favorite scrappers, Stacy Cohen. I think she's uber talented and she also just happens to be on the Graphic 45 team. The challenge is to choose a layout to lift, so I lifted this one of Stacy's...



Here's my version...



Okay, can I just say how amused with myself I am? I had Caitlyn bring her sewing machine to my scrap room and I actually machine stitched the paper pleat that's under the lace trim. Can you believe that? Yep, I have to keep it secret that I actually know how to do it, otherwise everyone will want me to make clothing repairs. LOL

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! :-)

10.23.2009

Who likes Graphic 45??

I thought so! Creative Cooking has a FABULOUS opportunity to win the FABULOUS Domestic Goddess line from Graphic 45 AND more! It's easy peasy, ready for the rules?

1. Drop by the message board and sign up for the contest.
2. Create a cookbook layout by Scraplifting a layout from Graphic 45 gallery using a Thanksgiving theme.
3.Incorporate a recipe and a photo.
4.Link us up to the layout you scraplifted.
5.Upload your layout to the Creative Cookbooking gallery and leave a comment on the Creative Cookbooking blog.

The winner will receive a gift prize of Graphic 45’s Domestic Goddess product line, an apron to keep you clean while your cooking, wooden spoons, measuring cups and spoons.

The winner will be selected by Design Team vote and announced on November 13th, 2009.

10.17.2009

Saturday stuff

I hope all my scrappy friends have a wonderful weekend planned, whether you're scrapping or spending it with family and friends. :-)

I just wanted to remind everyone about the DT call at Ch{all}enge Masters. They're still looking for lots of team members! (see the post below for all the various categories and details for how to apply.) C'mon, you know you wanna! There has already been an impromptu challenge, so if you think a one stop inspiration spot sounds good, come over and play with me! :-)

I haven't had too much scrappy time, but I did manage to complete a couple of layouts. Not my best work, in my opinion, but I find birthdays very hard to scrap. I made a collage and stuck them on a page. There. Done! LOL I'm still using up some stuff from the Scrap for a Cure kit.



I've been so into hand stitching and last weekend I bought a Bazzill alpha template. I made the flower by misting a coffee filter.



Thanks for stopping by! And come back next week for an exciting chance to win an amazing prize from Graphic 45! :-)

10.11.2009

YAY for scrappy weekends!

So, my Friday didn't go so well, but Glen was a peach this weekend and gave me time to shop and scrap!

For this one, I used goodies that I won from Scrapsketch! The paper and the Drippy Goo punch is what I won from playing along in August.



And here is another layout using the current sketch from Scrapsketch. There's lots of time for you to play along for the prize this month!



I also completed another layout for Creative Cookbooking, but I can't show ya yet. ;-)

If you haven't been playing with me at Scrap for a Cure yet, you must join! Can you believe it! They are allowing me to do the QOTD and SQOTD for the whole week! Oh boy, they totally don't know what they're doing! :-D I've got some very interesting topics this week that you might want in on! LOL

Thanks for visiting and have a great week! :-)

10.10.2009

Happy, scrappy weekend!

I hope. My scrap Friday didn't turn out as planned, so I'm hoping to put up my sign today on my scrap room door that Megan made for me: Don't bother me, I'm busy with ME! :-D If it works, I'll have something to show you later, but for now I wanted to give all my scrappy peeps a heads up on an exciting new challenge blog called
Ch{all}enge Masters. There is a design team call and there are lots of opportunities! Here is the actual call...

"We are very excited to bring you a challenge blog that will encompass many different types of challenges each month!! Here are the categories for challenges each & every month:

Book of Me
Book of We
Book of Him
Kitchen Keepsakes
Scraplift
Journaling Prompt
Blog Challenges
Going Green
Recipe
Color
Cards
Sketches
Technique
Ad/Art
Photography

We are looking for several designers for each category! So, when applying, please let us know which category you would be interested in designing for & if you would be interested in that category's Team Leader position. Team Leaders will be responsible for creating their categories challenge & one example layout. Each Design Team Member will be required to create at least one layout per month.

To apply please send a link to your blog and/or main gallery to: tysgram@tampabay.rr.com. Also, please send a jpg of 1 {only 1 please!} layout that best represents your style along with your full name & email address. Submissions will be accepted until October 22nd, 2009. Team will be announced no later than October 26th, 2009.

Right now there is no compensation for designing for Ch{all}enge Masters except the bragging rights ;-) plus to share, inspire & scrap!!! "

10.07.2009

New challenge at Scrap for a Cure

The challenge this week is to add dimension to a layout. The October Autumn Breeze kit gave me the perfect excuse to ditch chores today and scrap! :-D I just wish that my photo gave the colors justice. In real life they are so shiny and rich and pretty!



You can also see what the talented design team has been up to on Creative Cookbooking by clicking on this link. A new challenge just went up, so be sure to check us out!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

10.04.2009

Christmas cards

So, I dream about scrapping, right? Oh c'mon, y'all do it too, admit it! LOL Anyway, I had this FAB idea to use my scallop punch to do layers to make a Christmas tree. I get into my scrap room at the crack of dawn to create what I had dreamed and THIS mess is what happened. Totally NOT what I had envisioned! So I'm calling this one "The Christmas Cake." Which one of my scrappy friends would like to be the the lucky recipient of this beaut? :-D



I like this one a lot better. :-) My good friend Kayla sent me the glittery goodness and I just added buttons and a couple pins on top.

10.03.2009

Cards to share

I can see from my Google Reader that my scrappy friends have been busy today making cards! Y'all are rockin' the challenges, wherever it is that you've been playing.

This card is for the Think Pink contest at Cookin' Up Creations. If you haven't checked them out, you should! Such nice ladies and fun challenges!



Nevermind the feet on this one. :rolling eyes: Father in law asked me to make a birthday card for his oldest son, and I was all too happy to oblige! :-D



Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! :-)

10.01.2009

Happy October!



I almost forgot my calendar page in all the excitement! Eighty five more sleeps, or shopping days, however you wanna look at it... just sayin'... LOL

Reveal day at Scrap for a Cure!

Whew! That was the hardest thing EVER, keeping all my projects secret! :-D But do ya wanna see them, do ya, huh, huh, do ya? Well, just play along, cuz I'm gonna show you anyway. LOL

All of these layouts and cards were made with the Autumn Breeze kit. But the Halloween kit is super cool, and I'm trying to think of a way to use it NOT for Halloween. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that. :-D

So without further ado, TA DAH! Here are my creations! Thanks for stopping by! :-)