Blog Candy to Celebrate VSBN this weekend!

Hello! This weekend is VSBN (virtual scrapbooking night) on SCS. Anyone can participate and join the fun! I will be hostessing a challenge tomorrow night at 11pm EST. Just click on the link above and it will take you to the threads for the challenges. The first challenge will start tomorrow at 5pm est time. The challenges will run all weekend with the last being on Sunday at 4pm est.

I decided to have some scrapbook related blog candy in celebration of the event! The album is EK success 8 x 8, studio G clear stamps, 7 sheets of chipboard words, sayings, alphabet; micro-beaded baby bootie embelishments by Creating Keepsakes; package of autumn and winter die-cut sheets from creative memories.

All you have to do is leave me a comment in this post and tell me what your favorite scrapbooking product is. For every layout that you do during VSBN this weekend, you can enter again! It can be any of the challenges, not just the one I am hostessing! The more layouts, the more chances to win! Just leave me a link to your page in the gallery. You have until next Friday to post your entries here! I will have my son draw the lucky winner! If you have never participated in VSBN before give it a try! I will be on SCS for the event most of the weekend. If you have any questions about the challenges, please feel free to PM me and I will try to help you out!

Hope to see you at VSBN! Good luck!

Emily

Jazzy Inspirations Challenge 4-Cherish

Hi everyone! Today I made a card for the Jazzy Inspiration challenge found HERE. If you go to that link check out Tenia's FABULOUS card! I LOVE it! Our card was to be inspired by the Herbie Hancock album shown above. I really love kiwi kiss with the white and grey. I decided to make a clean and simple card as seen below.

I actually stamped my flourish with black craft ink and stamped off. I then used a sponge to take away some of the ink to give it a distressed look. I wanted some highs and lows just like the grey and white in the album cover.

Paper: white, kiwi kiss

Stamps: SU Baroque Motifs

Accesories: grey satin ribbon, oval punch, scallop border punch from SU

Thanks for taking a peek!

Emily

Blog Award and a recipe!

Hi everyone! First of all I would like to thank DENISE for this blog award. Go check out her awesome blog! She is one talented chica! I will pass this award on to the following peeps:

Lisa

Jimmi

Abi

Ky

Nancy

Check out these ladies blogs!

Here is another recipe for you! This is another easy one! A wonderful barbecue chicken dip for parties! This would be a great super bowl snack. Here is what you need:

1 package of cream cheese

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1 large can of shredded chicken breast or 1-2 chicken breast boiled and shredded

barbecue sauce of you choice

Heat the cream cheese and shredded chicken in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir in shredded cheddar cheese. Put this mixture in a shallow baking dish. I like to use a pie plate. Pour barbecue sauce on top until mixture is covered. Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips. I like the scoops!

Enjoy!

Emily

I {heart} this flower stamp!

This is for the LSC204. We were to make a card with the base being black. I bought this ribbon at Michael's in the summer and have never used it. The flower stamp is from Unity. I love that flower. I stamped it twice on really rust and then white and cut and layered it. The sentiment is PTI mixed messages. Added some bling to the center of the flower and by the sentiment!

Stay tuned this coming week for some blog candy!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Emily

Hip-Hop Hangover!

Happy Hip-Hop Hangover! Above is the card I made for this weeks card sketch challenge over on SCS. LOVE this sketch! You can find the thread for this HERE. The DP is from Rob and Bob Studios. I also used baja breeze and chocolate chip. Added a prima and button and the hello sentiment is from Unity's Tiny Trinity set. I won a free stamp at Hip Hop for this challenge card!!! YAY! Unity gives out lot's of free stamps during Hip Hop on Thursdays, so come on over and join us for fun, friends, and chatting! A really great group of gals to chat with!

This is actually the scrapbook sketch from last week SBSC173. These photos are of my MIL when she went on a spiritual retreat to NYC several years back. I adore these photos of her. They just completely convey the type of person she is! The DP is from American Crafts. I matted the photo's in baja breeze. I fussy cut some flowers out of the DP for the "O" in joy and along the side of the photos. The "J" and "Y" are chipboard from thickers. Added some rhinestones to the leaves and flowers and stamps are from Unity!

Have a happy stamping day!

Emily

My Lil' Booger

So...sorry for the gross song today (it's kinda funny), but I had to play a song about booger's to go with this page! I was really trying to get a candid shot of Luke, but at the perfect moment he stuck his finger in his nose! Too, funny! I will be able to black mail him with this someday! LOL!

All paper used is from Cosmo Cricket's Halfway Cafe. I distressed the edges of everything with my distressing tool. The chipboard title letters are Thickers.

This was for the IFC23. We were to use Mousey'smom's gallery as inspiration for our page. She is a very talented scrapper, and there is a link to her gallery in the IFC23 thread.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a happy stamping day!

Emily

National Hug Day!

I received the Butterfly Award from Tenia. Thanks Tenia!

I will pass this on to

Lisa

Samantha

Denise

Jan

I also received another Lovely blog award from Jimmi! Thanks Jimmi!

I bet you didn't know that today is National Hug Day? It is! I made this page last week but thought I would save it for this special occasion! These photo's are of my twins hugging and kissing this past summer. They kept trying to out do each other in the hugging and kissing department, and almost ended up fighting it out in the end!


The DP is from My Mind's Eye. The stamp is from SU retired Alphabet Soup. I also matted some of the photos with baja breeze. I faux stitched the long red DP panel and added some buttons. The photo corners were made with SU photo corner punch!

Have a Happy Stamping day!

Emily

Hail to the Chief!

Happy Inauguration Day! I will be watching all of the festivities unfold on TV. I am still debating on letting my seven year old stay home from school to watch. He hasn't missed a day all year, and has been so involved and interested in the election this year. I am thrilled that Obama is going to be our new president! My husband and I don't always see eye to eye when it comes to politics (you can guess who he voted for!), but he will be coming home from work to watch too! Have a wonderful day and God Bless America!

Stamps: Unity

Paper: Ridinghood Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White

Ink: black, Ridinghood Red, Pacific Point

accessories: Ridinghood Red ribbon, stickles, dimensionals

Wild Thing!

I made this page for the VSBN challenge on SCS last night. The big VSBN will be held the last weekend of this month. I will hostessing a challenge on Saturday the 30th, so come and check it out! Untill the big VSBN we will have a challenge every Friday night until the big weekend.
In this challenge we were to use something metal and chipboard. I paper pleated skiny strips of DP and then wove them through the ribbon brads on the left. I used thickers chipboard for the l-u-k-e. These photos are from the twins first birthday. The journal box reads Three things I have learned from you:
1. Don't sweat the small stuff

2. How to REALLY give a hug!

3. How to REALLY childproof a house!

Luke is my wild man! He keeps me on my toes at ALL times and I know that nothing is safe from his exploring little hands! He likes to climb so even putting things on the tops shelf doesn't deter him. He has been known to brake into the child locked cabinets and use DVD's to pick the or "jimmie" the lock leading down to the basement! He keeps things interesting at our house!

He is by far the most affectionate of all my boys and I love his great big hugs and cuddles. He also is the most mannerly! Sometimes it is hard to discipline him when he looks at you with those big eyes and tells you "sorry, mommy", or "thank you mommy, I won't do no more". Love him!

All paper is daisyd's Beacon Hill collection-paper I have had forever and never used. I LOVE flowers, and use them often in my boy pages! I try to pick patterns that are not frilly or have dark muted colors. Beacon hill is a gorgeous collection of rich blues, reds and yellows. I think it is retired, but every once in awhile I will see it on clearance at Hobby Lobby. They must put little bits of old stock out a little at a time on their clearance shelf. Has anyone else noticed that about them? LOL!

Have a happy stamping day! Off to my Mom's house for a shoebox swap! Should be fun!

Emily

OMGosh...I am FREEZING!

Holy cow! I just got off work, and I am FREEZING! My van never really warmed up on the ten minute ride home from the hosital. The snot was freezing inside of my nose and I had to keep blinking because it felt like my eyeballs were freezing!

I can't wait to curl up in bed and sleep! I may set the alarm so that I have a few hours of stamping time before I have to go get the boys from the sitters! LOL!

I don't think I mentioned it, but I decided to go back to work part time! YAY! I am an RN and work at the local hospital on the step down unit and also fill in for the nursing supervisors when they need time off. I have stayed PRN since the twins were born to keep my "foot in the door", but have missed my job! I am only working two nights a week (I LOVE night shift) so the boys will only go to the sitter one or two days a week. I think it will be good for them and definitely good for me! Being a SAHM is the HARDEST dang job I have ever done in my life! Love my boys to death, but I feel like I have lost a little bit of ME, and by working I will get some of that back. I also am going to work hard to lose the 30 pounds I gained after I had the twins. Yeah, I know...I said AFTER! I am a big stress eater and piled on the pounds AFTER giving birth to them! Only I could manage that!

Okay, haven't done a recipe in a few weeks so here is a quick and easy chicken casserole that everyone seems to like. Enjoy the day and stay warm!

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

1 box of stove top stuffing mix

2-3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

3-4 chicken breasts

Boil chicken breasts. I like to use boneless. Shred the chicken up or cut into small chunks. Mix soup, stuffing mix, chicken, 1 cup of the cheese and 1 cup of the broth from boiling the chicken in a large bowl.

Put this mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of cheese on the top and cook for 5 more minutes. This is super yummy and great for cold winter days when it is so cold that your snot freezes inside of your nose!

Great Fathers...scrapbook page

This is a page I made of my dad and Max. Max's middle name is my dad's, so they have a special bond. All of the grandchildren call my dad, Boo-boo! It is a long story, but it started with my oldest. Dad used to talk to him in a Yogi bear voice and say, "There's my little boo-boo!" So....my oldest son just associated the name with my dad and started calling him Boo-boo. Now that he is older, he just calls him Boo!

All paper used is from Crate Paper's Zoom collection. I paper pierced along the bottom and added a row of buttons. (I am a bit button obsessed lately!) I distressed the edges of all of the paper and printed the quote onto DP with my printer.

Have a happy stamping day!

Emily

Beautiful Box

Don't you just love this box? It was the technique challenge today on SCS. You can find it HERE. I think it is absolutely a wonderful way to present a gift to someone. Also great to store little things in and put it on a shelf. Give it a whirl! Once you figure out all of the folds, it comes together nicely!

Stamp: Unity Stamp Company

Paper: DP is We R Memory Keepers, Old Olive

Accesories: rhinestones, ribbon, prima, top note die cut

I sponged so saffron and tangerine tango behind the sentiment!

Have a happy stamping day!

Emily

One Lovely Blog Award

My blog bud, Lisa, gave me the One Lovely Blog Award! Thank you so much Lisa! You can go check out her lovely blog HERE. I am to pass this award on to 7 more people.

CINDY

TESSA

JACQUIE

TENIA

LOUISE

SUSAN

ABI

Go check out these lovely ladies blogs!

Have a wonderful day!

Emily

Ten Years of Marital Bliss...and a card!

Today is hubby and I's ten year anniversary! Above is a photo of us dancing at our wedding to the song you are listening to right now on my blog!

This is a photo of us at Thanksgiving this year. Three houses(no, we don't own three...just lived in three) and three boys later...still smiling and in love!!!

I made the card below for the limited supply challenge on SCS. Here were the rules for the challenge:

*Stamps: Any (bonus points for using a heart image!)*Paper: any + red...any shade of red*if you use a punch or die it must be heart shaped*if you use embossing folders...they must have a heart*if you use an accessory it MUST be heart shaped or red*if you use designer paper...yup you guessed it, red or hearts!

Everything I used for this card was in my stash of "OLD" things. Both SU sets have sinced retired (sweet talk and alphabet soup). The ribbon and large heart brads were bought years ago, but never used. I plan on giving this one to hubby when he gets home from work tonight!



Have a Fabulous Friday!

Emily

Another Birthday Card!

I made another birthday card! This one is also suitable for a boy or man! This is for the WT200 challenge of on SCS. We were to make a card with stars as one of the elements.

The red DP is from My Mind's Eye that I have had forever. I believe it is called kaleidescope. The paper's are the colors that I used in this card. Very bright and cheerful. I used white as my card base and SU kiwi kiss and taken with teal. The teal felt ribbon was a bargain find at Walmart last year! I paper pierced all four corners and tied some hemp twine around the middle band. I used punches from SU to punch the star and circles.

I may save this for my dad's birthday coming up in March. He love's red, and I thought of him when it was finished!

Happy Stamping!

Emily

Birthday Bird-SC210

Hello! I made this card for the sketch challenge over at SCS found HERE. I had a hard time thinking of what to do with those thin, little panels. I decided to get out my A Little Birdie Told me... set. Love it and hadn't used it in awhile. I also used some Jersey Shore DSP, for the background and to paper piece the bird and party hat. I used my CB to emboss the blue panel in the middle. I used some scraps of wild wasabi stitched ribbon and pumpkin pie striped ribbon to tie behind my sentiment. The base of my card is 4.5 x 4.5.

I hope to participate in some challenges tomorrow for Unity's hip-hop over at SCS.

Have a great evening!

Emily

Sons and heroes....

It seems I have been making a ton of pages of my oldest son lately. I am trying to get caught up on his scrapbooks! I figure he is the oldest so I would work hardest on his. I will have to do some pages of the twins soon!

I ADORE the Cogsmo paper pack from Cosmo Cricket! LOVE IT! It is perfect for boys and the colors are awesome! I pretty much used all paper from this collection. No stamping on this page! I used hemp twine in the upper left hand corner and sewed three cross stitches. I used a black archival pen to make the faux stitching around the cloud, photo frame and stars. The stars were puched with SU's star punch. Added some vintage buttons that I scored at an antique mall and some wild wasabi stitched ribbon and page DONE!

This photo was taken at my parent's cottage in Michigan this past summer. He is getting ready to jump off of a big rock!

Have a happy stamping day!

Emily

Pocket full of Posies...SBSC171

Being the mom of three boys, I jump at the chance to scrap photo's of my niece. She is my only niece for the moment! I like to pull out the frilly girly stuff once in awhile. Thank Heaven for little girls, right?



This is for Sally's SBSC171 found HERE. You can see a photo fo the layout below. I think I sorta went a little overboard on this. It is crazy busy, but oh well! I love the new raspberry fizz DP from PTI, because it is so similiar to purely pomegranate. I also had to bust out another of my retired favs-wild wasabi. LOVE that color combo!




Stamps: Fanciful dots and fanciful border by UNITY




Paper: Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate(SU), Raspberry Fizz DP(PTI)




Accessories: decorative brad, satin ribbon, nesties, chipboard accents(UNKNOWN) and circle and word window punch (SU), prima flower.




Happy Stamping!

Emily

Jazzy Inspiration Challenge 2!

Hello! I was surfing my favorite blogs and Tenia always has great sketch and inspiration challenges posted. Now that the holidays are over I have vowed that I am going to participate more in those challenges! This card is for the Jazzy Inspirations challenge 2 found HERE. We were to use the Sam Rivers album cover shown above as our inspiration.

I used the houndstooth BG stamp from Unity stamped on Tangerine Tango. My card base is white. I added some black satin ribbon around the center. The flower is from Unity's Best friends set. I stamped the flower image and BG stamp in staz-on black. I used a build-a-brad(SU) for the center of my flower and stamped "friend" on tangerine tango. The friend sentiment is from PTI's mixed message set.

I like the way this turned out! Have a Fantastic Friday!

Happy stamping,

Emily