Our Celebrity

Well, I am not sure how many of you know, but Maddie has her picture in a dog magazine. Both Jay and I were so surprised to be flipping through the magazine and see our baby girl looking back at us. I have about 10 copies of the magazine, so if anyone is dying to see her I can send you a magazine and she will even sign it, if you ask.
This is NOT the picture of her from the magazine, but I love her smile anyway. She looks mean, huh? Good, that is what we want all the bad people to think. But those of you who have had the pleasure of one Maddie's playful jumps, wet kisses, or coy nudges knows she is as precious as they come. Maybe I am a little bias, so feel free to ask Jay. Actually, Jay and Maddie are so close it is ridiculous. If Jay is in the room I don't exist. She loves her daddy.
I guess every little girl loves her daddy and Maddie is no exception.

Many Thanks

Oh My Gosh! Can I just tell you how easy these cards were to make? A Cuttlebug + embossing folder + cardstock + sentiment stamp + ink + ribbon = simple, fast card in a pinch. I needed 3 thank you cards for family members who surprised me with a birthday gift and whoopie pies last week. Well, they are actually Jay's family (Aunt Donna Marie, Theresa, and Simone).
The inspiration for this card was on Kim's blog (www.clearlyinspired.blogspot.com). She called them her 5 minute cards. I LOVE them. I cannot wait to make more. Have I mentioned how easy they are to make? Well, now that I have posted them I can actually send them out.
Mom, notice the embossing on the cards? That is the Cuttlebug.

just because

Here is another card from the Just Because stamp set from Close To My Heart. This card follows the Originals Watchband recipe. I like the colors of this set. I am always so critical of my work so as I look at it now I see a few boo boos, but they are things I can live with.
My goal is to have new cards posted tomorrow. I made three new Thank You cards and I am just waiting for my backdrop to dry.

Thinking of you!

Well, I am not completely back into scrapping or card making since I have a few more things to finish up on my paper, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...I just hope it isn't a train.
I want to take this moment to thank my wonderful husband, Jay, for a great birthday. He took off half day from work and bought me Red Velvet Cupcakes from Sprinkles (a famous cupcake shop in Beverly Hills). They were very yummy. I still have one more to eat. For dinner we went to P.F. Chang's. My dinner choice changed a bit since we have been together. I think my first birthday we were together I wanted to go to my favorite place...Rubio's.
Ok, I had made this card a few weeks ago with another kit that I didn't know I ordered from Close To My Heart. The stamp set is Just Because and I must admit I like how girlie girl it is. This kit is just like the other as it includes all the supplies and recipes you need to make fabulous cards. This is just one. I love the simplicity of it. The recipe is from the Originals called Set the Stage. I am looking forward to making a few more cards from this set.
Well, I want to thank those of you who leave me comments (Shemaine). I appreciate the encouraging words you give me.

Treasure Life

I have seen some amazing cards using this stamp set called Treasure Life, which is Close To My Heart's September Stamp of the Month. I pretty much used anything I could find in my scrapbooking area...Garden green ink from CTMH, ribbon and metal tag from the depths of my supplies (another purchase from the Scrapbook Expo). I did use my dauber to ink of the sides of the yellow paper to give it a rustic look.
Well, I am going to take a brief hiatus from posting here. For the rest of the week I am burying myself in my paper. It is due October 3 and I want to be able to hand deliver it to my professor next week. I am almost there...ha ha ha. Who am I kidding? The paper is written, but it is all the accessory parts that go with the project that I am lagging behind on. So, I promise that by Monday I will have a new post because my goal is to have everything done on Sunday. Wish me luck.

Banana Nut Bread

I just want to start off by saying that I love to bake. The very first thing I was taught to bake was banana nut bread by my grandma. I am not sure how long ago that was, but from that moment on I had a love of this comforting, warm, traditional bread.
I remember during the Christmas season my dad would "hire" me to bake bread for him to give to his co-workers for Christmas. He would buy ALL the ingredients and supplies and I will bake about 15 loaves of this delicious bread. The Christmas after my dad died I still bake a few loaves of bread for his co-workers, but when I delivered them it did not have the same feel. I don't think they understood what I was doing. Oh well.
In the past few weeks I have come across some slightly over ripe bananas that I would never eat by themselves so I decided to do the next best thing. Break out the old recipe and bake some banana nut bread. Every time I mash the bananas or measure out the vanilla I am overcome by the memories of both my grandma (who taught me to cook and gave me this family recipe) and my father (who thoroughly enjoyed eating the bread...warmed slightly with a smear of butter on it ((and sometimes a little peanut butter))).
It is these memories that makes me love being in the kitchen cooking and baking for loved ones. I am not going to lie to you this banana nut bread recipe is the best in the world, but I will take the recipe to the grave with me...sorry. You will just have to find your own family recipes and memories.
By the way, Jay loves this bread too...not heated, no butter, no hint of peanut butter, just plain and tonight...with a stick of string cheese. "To each his own." by Leonardo Sciascia (novelist)

Grateful

I am sure you have gathered by now that I LOVE pumpkins. Not sure why. Maybe it is because they are orange, my favorite color. Maybe because they are a symbol of my favorite season, Autumn. Or could it be that I love the way pumpkin smells. I think it is all of the above.
Well, as I was dong my tri-weekly review of my favorite blogs I came across Gina's site (blog.ginakdesigns.com) and I found a few cards of her that I thought I could duplicate, but only tweak them up to make them mine.
I used my Swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder to added some texture to the card. The pumpkin stamp is from the Harvest Memories stamp set from Close To My Heart and the sentiment is from the Treasured Life set, also from Close To My Heart (September Stamp of the Month)...oh wait, the two brads are also Close To My Heart. As for everything else, it is a hodgepodge of sources...paper and ribbon (left over from my wedding supplies) from Michael's and my colored pencils are from Stampin' Up.

Life's a Jungle...

I have been dying to post this picture. This was my favorite card that I did from the Close To My Heart Life's a Jungle stamp set. I had to wait on this one since I sent it to my mom for her birthday, which is today. Happy Birthday, Mom!!! I love you.
My layouts for this stamp set were pretty much the same, but I added the Cuttlebug embossing to the black card stock. Even though you cannot see them, but I put silver stickles for her eyes. I also colored the flower in her ear with my ink pad (I am thinking it was Close To My Heart Hollyhock). A little pop dot lifts her off the card for a little 3-D affect. The two embellishments on the top corners are from All My Memories, Daisy Accents. I picked them up a few years ago when my mom and I ventured to the Scrap Expo in Orange County. The ribbon is another one from Michaels. The sentiment on the inside says, "You're Hip"

Penguin Dude

Isn't he adorable and doesn't that Popsicle look yummy. As promised, Penguin Dude. I did the same layout, but different paper, red stickles for the Popsicle, and frosted blue on his swim suit (although I don't think you can see it very well). I hope you enjoyed my cute little couple.

Penguin Chick

This week was Christmas. I received a few things from various places for various projects. You will just need to return to see the new things. I needed something quick and easy and this little cutie fit the bill. I ordered her (A Shore Thing Collection - Penguin chick) and her boyfriend (from the same collection- Penguin dude) from A Cherry On Top (a site suggested by my friend Shemaine).
I saw a card similar to this one on bigideasfromalittlegirl.blogspot.com, but I changed everything about it...the stamp, ribbon, bow, colors, paper, etc. I had this paper from our Hawaii wedding supplies, I am just not sure where I got it. I used it to make shirt invites for our rehearsal get-together, but I found this scrap to be perfect. I used my lovely circle scalloped punch and Creative Memories circle template. I am not sure if you can see the stickles on the flower in her hair, but I thought a little pink flower gave her a punch of color (stickle color is fruit punch...get it?!).
I cannot wait to play with all my new things, but I do have my BIG research paper due in less than a month, so if I do not get a chance to blog every day, please cut me some slack. Ok, mom?!?

Parasailing in Hawaii

I finally got around to scrap booking a few pictures from our honey moon and of course the first one was not even with my husband. I knew I had to scrapbook this page first because it was one of the most memorable moments in my life. I have always wanted to parasail, but lacked the courage and confidence to do it. One day while in Hawaii I mentioned to Angel my desire to go parasailing and he said he was game since Jay has a worse fear than I do about heights.
Angel and I had a blast and Jay was our photographer on the boat. I am so glad he joined us. It gave me added support and encouragement just by having him near.
I have been racking my brain trying to remember where I got this paper, but nothing is coming to me...must be old age. I want to say it was Close To My Heart, but I am not sure. Anyway, the letter was done with stickers as was the parasailing sticker. Since I think I have horrible penmanship I typically type my journaling if it is longer than a sentence or a few bullets.
Well, I have a lot more fun times in Hawaii to scrapbook, so keep checking back.

More parasailing.

This is the second page of my two page Parasailing layout. I really didn't do individual journaling since it was all done in the first page little story (which you cannot read since it is too small). You can click on the image to enlarge it to get a better view. Picture in upper left corner shows how far we are away from the boat. Upper right corner shows a plane behind us making it seem like we are going to collide with it. Bottom left photo is when we got dunked in the ocean (where just moments ago Angel had said he saw a shark) and the bottom right is just after we were dunked...dripping wet.

Yummy cupcakes

On one of the many blogs I check out, I saw this stamp set, cupcake affair, from Verve stamps. I used fruit punch stickles for the frosting and colored the flowers with colored pencils. My lovely round scalloped punch came in handy to mat the yummy cupcakes. I was going for a pink and black look, but I think I may have missed my mark. Oh well. I love the way the sheer white ribbon bow on the top looks along with the scalloped bottom edge with the ribbon threaded through it.
I think next time I will go with a white and black color combo with a dash of red. Hmmm, just thinking about it reminds me of the red velvet cake my mom would bake for me every birthday. Although every year she would forget a different ingredient, but I loved it no matter what.

More cupcakes...

Please excuse the picture. I didn't have a chance to retake it since I gave it to someone for their birthday. I was trying to keep all the backgrounds the same...sorry.
I thought I would try something a little different. I used frosted lace stickles on this one, but I put some beads on the "frosting" (they kinda bled) and around the card. I added some little flowers with brads in the middle. Behind the purple cardstock is a pop dot and the ribbon is another one of Michaels ribbon deals. It looks so festive...makes me want to eat it...if only it was chocolate.

Picket fence

I saw this template posted by Deneen Treble on the Close to My Heart bulletin boards and fell in love with it. You can also find it on her blog (apathofpaper.blogspot.com). I altered the design by adding pumpkins (love those cute little things) cut from my Sizzix and some green swirls (also cut from my Sizzix) and I gave the fence a little brown distressing ink around the edges. I haven't found a stamp with the greeting I want, but I am sure I will find it somewhere among my Thanksgiving stamps.
I have used up all the cards I had in reserve so I guess I better get busy making new cards to post on here. Or I will post a scrapbook page or two of mine and Jay's travels.