Friday Freebie!!

Wow, did this week go fast! It's Friday already! And, you are not going to believe this ~ but, it's snowing. My kids did not have school today, again. I think in a given school year, they get 3 or 4 snow days... well, since the beginning of February, I think we used about 7 or 8. They've already lost 2 off of their spring break.

Oh well. We didn't have any out of town plans for Easter, but I'm sure a lot of people did, and it will mess them up.

Anyway, I digress. I have a fun freebie SVG or PNG file for you. I've seen so many dress forms and sewing things out there that I thought I'd make one myself and share with you, too.

Here are the images:


Here's what I did with the dress form. It's kinda got a vintage vibe. It's not really a card, more of a wall hanging, although I didn't add the ribbon to hang it. I think I'll just put it up on my shelf.


It looks kinda cool next to the dress form that my friend Christy sent me:


Here's a close up. Note the turquoise button. It's a real vintage button, but I saw that Jenni Bowlin is making buttons that look just like this. I found mine this past summer at a fleatique.


The papers I used on this are Prima. The other elements are from K&Co, the bird & the silver circle, I cut out with my Slice. The silver is Martha Stewart super fine glitter.

If you want the PNG files of the sewing images, click here.

If you would like the SVG files for cutting, click here.

Don't Ya Hate When That Happens?

Picture this... Thursday afternoon, Walmart, cart full o' groceries... I just need one more thing, ink for my printer... black and yellow. I have an HP Photosmart with 6 cartridges. I go back to the electronics department and make a "b" line for the ink. Aha, there it is... ink #2 in black. It's $20 just for the black, and the yellow is $10, that's $30.... hmmmm, but wait, there's a box below it for $30, a combo pack with the black, plus the dark cyan, yellow and dark magenta. Cool... I grab the box... saunter over to my husband to tell him how clever I am... "hey, who would pay $20 just for black, when I can get all four cartridges for $30!"

Very pleased with myself, I pay for it in electronics, then proceed to the front to pay for the groceries.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. I'm printing photos for a scrapbook page. 2 come out, then the little message pops up that I need to replace my black ink cart... I grab the new ink, open the side of the box, and "uh oh".... this doesn't feel like the right size....

Nope...

I picked up the #21/#22 ink carts.

Dang.

And I had been so smug!

I hate when that happens!



I did manage to go to Michael's to take advantage of their 40% off MM Slice stuff. I got 2 cards and the spatula. I wish I would have saved my money on the spatula. My Xacto blade works much better. (but it is really cute)



I chose Spring and Just Chillin' Teen. I was aiming to get something that was versatile. They both have some fun shapes.

Had a happy mail day last week. I joined in the CHA chat over at 2 Peas, and won the Bella Boulevard prize. I've never had any Bella Blvd. product before, and was pleasantly surprised. I really like it. The kit had tons of paper, sticker sheets and some journaling blocks.



I did manage to do a little bit of creating. I haven't finished my layout yet, but I did 2 cards. I played with my new Slice cards on these.





I also used the Martha Stewart Loopy punch. Love that thing! I think the loopy punch kinda looks like candles on the top one.

I guess I am forced to go back to Walmart to return my ink. I'm just glad I didn't tear into the box and mutilate it! Just a few glue dots and it will be as good as new.

Have a crafty day!!

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

I finished a paper layout! Woo! It took a week! I started with a sketch, then a few nights later, I pulled out some papers.... another day or so goes by, I printed the photos. Last night, I cut the papers, but didn't adhere anything. This morning I woke up early (3 am!), and decided to finish it.

I have a weird sleeping pattern since my last treatment... lots and lots of naps... not cat naps either, like 3 hour naps! Wow, this last treatment made me very tired. But, I guess rest is good. Heal the body!

Ok, so here's my sketch. I always start with a sketch. It's one of those things drilled into my brain from art school. Thumbnails, thumbnails, thumbnails....



Yeah, that's pretty! LOL! Only I can decipher it! I do have that my photos will be 4x5. I wanted an inch border all around, so I kinda figure these things out before I start cutting. You know, measure twice, cut once?

Here's the finished layout. Lots of old stuff on here... like really old... recognize anything? I've got some Basic Grey on there, My Minds Eye and Crate Paper.



For the journaling, I took an online article from the paper and printed the stats on my green paper. Thought I should record this "record breaking snowfall".

Here's a close up:


Today is the day!! I am going to MIKES! I hope they still have a cart that I'll want... how many people in my little town do you think own a Slice??? I hope I'm the only one! LOL!

Cabin Fever Cookin'

What do you make when you haven't shopped for days, and all you have are over ripe bananas and potatoes?

You make banana cake and potato soup!

Ok, we have other stuff, but it's Ash Wednesday, and we don't eat meat on Ash Wednesday, so this recipe is completely meatless and totally delicious! I'm so very happy with it!

I just used what I had on hand... and it turned out sooooo good. Seriously! Just look!



I wing things a lot when I'm cooking... a little of this, a little of that, give 'er a taste.... and sometimes I really wish I would have written it down. Since this was sooo yummy, I thought what better place to write it than on my blog. I can easily find it here!

Pantry Potato Soup

4-6 med sized potatoes, boiled, (reserve 2 cups of the water)
2 cups of potato water (from above)
1 can of condensed milk
1 rib of celery
1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic
salt
pepper
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 cup butter
flour
1/3 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup regular milk

Garnish: cheese, bacon, croutons... whatever you'd like

Step 1
Boil the potatoes until tender. Make sure to salt the water well. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the liquid. Cover, set potatoes aside. To the liquid add 2 bouillon cubes. Let them melt.



Step 2
Chop up onion, garlic and celery, add to melted butter in your pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and saute in the butter until tender and onions are translucent. I used my big ol' cast iron skillet, 'cause it's my favorite pot!



Step 3
Add the reserved potato liquid and bouillon, bring to simmer. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the celery is tender.

Meanwhile, take an old fashioned potato masher and mashed the potatoes about 4-5 times, just enough to break them up. You still want some chunks. Set aside.

Step 4
Make a flour slurry by adding some flour to water, then add this to the cooking mixture. It will thicken a bit. Immediately add the can of condensed milk. Stir. Add the regular milk and stir. Now add half of the cooked potatoes.

Step 5
Mix... with an immersion blender if you have one. If not, use a regular blender, but be careful.



Step 6
Now add the remaining potatoes and the sour cream to the pot along with the blended portion, and warm it up on low temp.

While the soup is warming, you can get your toppings ready. We made these delicious croutons from some homemade bread my husband made. He loves to bake bread.... yes, I am a lucky girl!

Enjoy!!




I need to taste test the banana cake, but it sure smells good! Just waiting for it to get cool enough to frost with cream cheese icing. YUM!

Well, what else can you do when you're snowed in (again), but sit around, cook, eat and get fat until spring???

Have a beautiful day!

Monkey Love!

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday. We were low key. I woke up to lots and lots of tiny cut out hearts, streamers and MM's on a plate! My kids stayed up and cleaned and decorated! How cool is that? Especially the cleaning part!!



Here's the monkey love! LOL!



The little hearts are everywhere! Sprinkled here and there and sticky tacked to the wall. Cute.

My hubby got me truffles, these tulips and if you look at the base of the tulips, he made me a handmade grungy fringe heart!! How many hubbies would do that? (Ok, maybe Jingles! ;) I think it's really cool, and will put it in a prominent place in my scrap room.



I wasn't feeling too great yesterday, but better than Saturday. Each day is better. I can't wait to move on with my life and be done and better... I feel like I'm in limbo, ya know.

I did manage to scrap a bit, a digi page. I used a Crystal Wilkerson kit from 2 Peas. Pictures from when I had hair! Oh, I can't wait to be "normal" again!



This layout could so easily be done in paper, using a punch, hand cut, or eh, maybe a Slice!

Speaking of the Slice..... Guess what???? The SLICE is on sale at Michael's this week! And the other Slice stuff!! I'm soooo excited!! I'm going to get another card!! If you're on the fence, and don't have a Cricut or other cutter, check it out... seriously, MM needs to pay me for this! I really like the little thing!

My kids are finally going to school after a full 5 days off because of snow. That has never, ever happened, ever! Tons of snow, and unfortunately, more is on the way. Where is this stuff coming from? Go away! Hurry up spring!

Have a super scrappy day!!

Some Valentine's Day Cards

Just a quickie post today. I made these two cards using my (you guessed it) Slice. :) At least I'm using it!!

This one is for my hubby...


A close up, lots of pop dots:


And this was for the in-laws, cause they expect these things... ;)


I used my Cuttlebug, too!!


Well, had my chemo on Wednesday... feeling OK so far. I'm so happy I only have one more to go. I'm getting there!!

Found out a friend of mine has breast cancer, too... so sad that others have to go thru this.

Don't forget to feel those boobies!

Happy Valentine's Day. I'll probably sleep the whole day! LOL! I'm wiped!

Chemo Eve

Well, we didn't want to chance this wonky weather, so here I am holed up with the family in a hotel right across the street from the hospital. Better yet, got a discount for being a patient. Woo hoo. My neighbor is going to watch my dog children, so they're good.

It was a horrible drive here. The snow was the greasy slushy stuff, and we almost slid thru a red light. Thank goodness for traction control! We checked in and then went into Oakland for some dinner. Oakland is a part of Pittsburgh where the University of Pittsburgh is and also Carnegie Mellon. We went to this great Italian restaurant called Joe Mama's. It was really good. Totally worth walking those 4 blocks thru slush and getting splashed by buses.

And guess what? It stopped snowing... oi vay! Oh well, better safe than sorry. It could start up again in the middle of the night and have a bad rush hour.

Yesterday I was on a roll with some digi designs. I used a Jen Martakis template, and a freebie kit from Peppermint Creative on this one.

Well, that's about it. Gotta get some rest. Thanks for all your wonderful comments. It really keeps my spirits up. I appreciate your prayers. :) I'll do some blog surfin' tomorrow while I'm getting my treatment and try to stop by and say hi.

Have a great day.

This Is Gettin' Mighty Ridiculous

The snow, that is. Enough already!! Now we are to get another 6-12 on top of the 24+ that we have. This is crazy stuff, I tell you!!

The kids did not have school. I think it might be because there wasn't any electric for 22 hours on that end of town. We were spared, and ours only flickered for a few hours.

Here's a picture of what we have so far. We are buried!



The temperature dropped, so that snow isn't going anywhere. I just hope that I can make it to chemo and back on Wednesday before all the snow falls... then after that, it can snow. I'm so close to being done, so I don't want to miss any.

Here's a card I made for my mother in laws birthday. I used the Martha Stewart Loopy Punch on it. This card came together pretty quickly.



Close up:


I used some really old paper!

I know a lot of you are in the same boat as me. Well, I guess if we get snowed in, we can always scrap away the days.

Have a great day!!

“Sliced” Love Tag

My Making Memories Slice die cutting machine arrived on Monday. It was scheduled to be delivered on Thursday, so I was super excited that it came early!

I have to say, I love that little thing!! And I only have the basic shapes card.

I played around with it, and made this little love tag. Everything, including the tag, was cut out using the Slice.



I used foam dots to add some dimension. The hearts are cut from Bo Bunny paper. I added black stickles to the word LOVE.



I love my slice. I can't wait to get more design cards for it. If you have been thinking about a die cutting machine, this little guy is great. No cords, it charges and then you unplug it. You can take it to crops. The design cards are tiny, so storage isn't an issue. If you have a small scrappy space, the Slice doesn't take up much room. I think it's affordable, compared to some of the bigger machines. I don't have the hands free gizmo that comes with it, but honestly, it cuts so fast, I can hold it for the 30 seconds it takes. I'm very happy with it!!

Yesterday, I got more happy mail!! Joscie sent me some Hawaiian Kona coffee! YUM... and some macadamia nut chocolates.... AND some of this very cool masking tape. I can't wait to use it. Look how cute it is:



I also wanted to share this photo. I'm doing Project 365 (yes, again), and took this photo the other day while it was snowing. I took my son's hat and caught some snowflakes. I had to take the photo with the door open because when I brought the hat it, the snowflake would melt! (duh!) So, I sat the hat on the floor of the deck and snapped this shot. Everyone in the P365 group was asking me if it's real... and yes, it's real! I used my close up lenses to get a macro shot of it. There are actually 2 snowflakes stuck together. A big one and a small one.



Speaking of snow, I guess we'll be getting up to 10 inches starting this afternoon and into tomorrow. I'm going to get my Superbowl stuff today, so I don't have to be out tomorrow... I have a feeling it's going to be a mess! YIKES! Seeing that the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't in the Superbowl this year, I have no idea who to root for, so I'll just enjoy the commercials! ;)

Have a great weekend!

It's February!!

Is is me, or did January fly by? These days and weeks seem to really be going fast. I remember being in school thinking Christmas vacation lasted forever and summer felt like a year... now it just flies by.

This weekend I got some scrapping in. I did this using the Scrapbook Nooks January kit. I still have enough paper and goodies to do many more layouts. It was a great kit!

This layout came together very quickly. I had the sketch idea and photos already sized and printed. Oh, if you watched my scraproom tour video, these are the photos & sketch that were on my desk. Here's how it turned out:



Couple of close ups:




And here is the chipboard scenic route butterfly. I had trouble with this for some reason... I painted it bumble gum pink, then added pink stickles all over it. It didn't seem sparkly enough, so I put a coat of glossy accents all over it and added the pearls. The glossy accents cracked on me... never had that happen. So I just filled the crack in with more. I think it cracked because I sat it by the window to dry and it was -4° outside, and really cold by the window.



Hope you all have a great week!! Happy February!!