I've been tagged...

I've become totally and completely hooked on Melissa's blog. I stumbled upon it a few months ago and now read everyday like it's my job. I enjoy her writing style, I find her very funny and incredibly sarcastic and snarky (that's a good thing in this case) ... all in all ... my kind of girl.

I find that when I read her stories I can relate...a lot of the time. From her family 'stuff', her parenting style, her childhood, etc, etc. It's nice when you click with someone that you've never even met before!! But, anyway, the first and foremost thing that we have in common is that we are Mothers. If you're a Mom you should DEFINITELY read her site...and even if you're not...she provides a lot of great tips from product, green living, and just all around good stuff!

Melissa is an incredibly amazing Mother...and she, like the rest of us as it seems in our generation struggle to be the absolute best best best...and even beyond that, whatever that is...and when the day's activities don't reach our ridiculously high standards...we beat ourselves up about it.

sigh...our kids are all great - well fed, clean, warm, healthy, happy, clothed and provided for...yet we lie awake at night, partly because we are Moms...and well...that's just what happens but the other part of it is just pure anxiety about...well, everything. let's hope that by putting 'it' out there that we can release some of our Mommy anxiety and start really enjoying it all.

So..after that long schpiel...Melissa has tagged me to reveal 7 things about myself and then I in turn tag 7 other women...I don't think I know 7 other blogging women personally but I'll give it a go...

1. I love lounge wear. Tanks, yoga capris, velvet track suits (i only wear the bottoms...i don't do 'matchy matchy', terry cloth shorts, tiny tees from Old Navy.

2. I've traded my subscriptions to Vogue, W, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, and Allure for Parents and Real Simple and by my Grandmother's hand I get Better Homes and Gardens, Rachel Ray and AD.

3. I used to shop at Bloomingdale's once a week on Wednesdays before or after therapy...depending on the time. Now - I'm addicted to Target and sometimes - sadly - The Job Lot. (don't you judge me!)

4. I got so drunk last Saturday night (by accident!!!) that on Sunday I charged my darling husband with the task of getting me 4 McDonald's cheeseburgers. Gross...I know...but it's really the only thing that cures a hangover...for me at least.

5. I spent 7 years in therapy for a VARIETY of things and it positively saved my life. I still miss my therapist.

6. I struggle every day to be more patient with my children. I am an instant gratification girl by nature. And I hate to admit it. (even more than I hate admitting that I ate 4 McD cheeseburgers) But I am. I want what I want when I want it. And with a 3 year old and a 20 month old...nothing happens when I want it. So I'm snippy...a lot of the time. I don't have time for cooey pleases and thank yous. I say please and thank you but it's often not in a very pleasant tone. I bark and shout sometimes. It's not one of my more fabulous mothering qualities but I work on it daily. My love for my children knows no bounds...so I try harder and harder every day.

7. I miss free time.

Ok I am now tagging the following 3 people (I really only know 3 other people who blog) - and if you don't want to do it, that's totally fine. I just love these things! Thanks Melissa!

Nita
Joanne
Kristyn

Thanksgiving Treats...

So in lieu of pies this year I decided to make Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) recipe for chocolate dipped pecan pie squares. They are TO DIE FOR! So, so, so bad for you but SO yummy! I have never made pecan pie before and didn't realize how labor intensive it is. It's not hard...just many steps.

Anyway - they are just simply heaven!

Here's the recipe!


Crust:
1 1/4 pounds unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:
1 pound unsalted butter
1 cup good honey
3 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 pounds pecans, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, beat the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, until light, approximately 3 minutes. Add the eggs and the vanilla and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the batter with the mixer on low speed until just combined. Press the dough evenly into an ungreased 18 by 12 by 1-inch baking sheet, making an edge around the outside. It will be very sticky; sprinkle the dough and your hands lightly with flour. Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Allow to cool.

For the topping, combine the butter, honey, brown sugar, and zests in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat until the butter is melted, using a wooden spoon to stir. Raise the heat and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the heavy cream and pecans. Pour over the crust, trying not to get the filling between the crust and the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Cut into bars and serve.

First Snow

Yesterday we had our first snow of the season here in the Northeast. I picked my daughter up from school and walked out into the snowflakes with my delicious son yelling "SNOW! SNOW!" We came home and she just wanted to jump around on the deck in the snow. It was only a flurry but it was still the first snow of the season.

Announcement/Holiday Card

My darling friend Laurie has asked me to make her baby announcements/holiday cards. She's do in a matter of days with a darling baby boy. Her style is clean, classic and elegant. Nothing fruufy and nothing flashy. She wanted a notecard style with the ability to include a photo of the cherub when he arrives. Here is my sample and I'm thrilled that she loved it and did not want to change a thing!!

Basic Instructions:

CS: Real Red, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Whisper and Shimmery White
Stamps: Holiday Blitz, So Many Sayings (hostess set)
Ink: Real Red, Versamark
Embellishments: 1/8" Real Red grosgrain ribbon, word punch

I did the baby info on my printer using MS Word.

I hope that everyone is having a creative day!!

Slide

I've photographed all the details in the albums and uploaded them all to www.slide.com. It's a fun site. It allows you to have all of your photos in one place running on a continuous loop. Once you're done, you click 'save' and it provides you with html script that you can then plug into Blogger, Facebook, My Space, or whatever communication website that you use and it loop through your photos.

So if you're interested in viewing the albums that I've created just scroll down to the very bottom of my blog and watch the slide show!

We're off to Baltimore for the weekend and I can't WAIT to give Grandmother her books! I'm *tempted* to say 'Grandmother...THIS is your life!' ... but that's just a *little* too cheezy ;)

Have a creative weekend everyone!!

IM DONE!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I know I can't!!

I started this book on Monday, October 22nd and finished on Wednesday, November 7th. 65, 12x12 pages. I will be spending the weekend photographing each one so I'll upload them soon!

YAY!

Noir Blanc

Daisy and Joy at EP are fabulous. For those of you who have never shopped there...I HIGHLY recommend it. They have a wonderful and unique selection of products and they ALWAYS have something just *right* for whatever project that I am working on. I was astounded when I went to their site a couple of weeks ago to search for designer papers in black and white. I NEVER imagined that I'd find this amazing line - Noir Blanc.

The papers are all wonderful quality and the designs are so fabulous. And they're all named after Hollywood actors and actresses from a more glamorous time: Jean Harlow, Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Joan Crawford, Marlena Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and James Stewart. There are a few others but those are the ones that I picked. And they have really made my album pop! I am trying to really showcase the photos and have the papers and embellishments be the compliments to the wonderful pictures.

I have approximately 15 pages left to complete!!! YAY! I hope to have the pages done this week leaving me the weekend and next week to add any last minute touches and journaling.

Is it REALLY November???

WOW....how did that happen? It's November already??? Sheesh...

Anyway - no pictures to post right now but I'll be back in full force tonight. My In-laws were visiting from PA this weekend so I didn't have much time to dedicate to The Book. But I did show them the work so far - it's my Father-In-Law's Mother whom I am creating these books for (yes - I said THESE books because I've moved onto Volume II. It was too much to ask of Book #1 to squeeze 95 years of this wonderful woman's life into it!

Anyway - Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments! I'll post more tonight!!

I hope that everyone is having a creative day!!

=)

Flying Along!

So...for those of you who are following along, here is the next round of pages (in no particular order) of the BIG album. I had to come to the realization that I am going to have to have two volumes. I, in fact, started the second volume tonight. Vol. I holds 40 pages and will burst at the binding if I ask any more of it. I am LOVING this project. It is going faster than I anticipated.

My first few pages were started exactly one week ago tonight and I'm already done with 44 pages total. WHEW!! But that's me...once I get started on something I am like a train at full steam ahead until it is done. I've been doing roughly 6-8 pages each night. I've just completed 4 tonight and I'm done for the night.

I'm going to enjoy a glass of wine and dinner with my darling husband. But before I do I just have to say that this project has not only been fun and very interesting. But tonight I realized that I feel more connected to our (my husband's) family by doing this project. We've been together a LONG time (16+ years to be exact) so I've been around for a lot.

There have been a lot of stories, parties, laughter and tears. (mostly the first 3 thankfully!!) But there are still lots of memories that I wasn't around for and have heard so much about through the years. This album has helped me learn more about those stories. But I have also learned so much more about his fabulous Grandmother, his wonderful Mother and Father - who have always treated me like their own, his Aunts and Uncle - who have always included me, laughed with me and shared their stories. And to my Sister-In-Law who helped me put everything in chronological order last weekend - I thank you. I thank you for being my sister and for ALWAYS laughing with me.

Wish Me Luck!!

My fabulous husband's Grandmother's 95th birthday is coming up next month. There is going to be a wonderful party thrown in her honor at her home in Baltimore that we're all going to. My father-in-law has been very hard at work on a wonderful slide show of her entire life and I've been asked to create an album of the photos in the slide show. I am VERY honored to be able to do this for her.

I've been sent money from various sources to fund this project and it's going well. However, when I first said yes I was under the impression that there would be somewhere around 50 photos. Which is totally doable by November. I now have approximately 170 photos in my possession. This woman has lead an amazing life. Full of adventure, family, education, fun, and laughter. And I have photos dating back to the 20's to prove it!!

I am not scrapbooking all 170 photos...but it's pretty close. I was originally going to go with a flowery vintage feel using greens, corals and taupes...but with the enormity of the project I opted for a less 'fussy' color scheme.

So I'm going with red, silver/gray, black and white. I'm keeping my embellishments simple and classic. I've decided that each page will have the same 'signature' touch using some designer paper and the SU! scallop punch, pierced on each petal with a corresponding DP center punched out using SU!'s 1 1/4" punch.

I've got a few pages done and photographed as well as the laughable stack of photos ;) But for me, getting the first few pages done is the hardest part...now I'm in the groove!

I will have this done for the party on 11/17.

3 Year Thank Yous!

The party was awesome, the kids were SO well behaved (all of them) and my girl LOVED all of the wonderful gifts that friends and family gave her. I've been working fast and furiously to get these done and out. I HATE having outstanding TY notes to send. It keeps me up at night...seriously. I feel bad until they're done. So...why did I pick such a layered card?? I don't know...I wanted them to be special. And I LOVE how they came out. I cannot take credit for the design in ANY way however. It was one of the projects that we did at the SU! Regionals in Philly last month. I loved it and went right for it when I was trying to figure out what to do for her TY notes. I totally changed the colors tho...I used More Mustard, Purely Pomegranate and Cameo Coral. They're 3 of my favorites and worked well b/c I was going for a 'fallish' look. I really wanted to tie ribbon or twine in the buttons in the middle but I just didn't have the nrg!

Anyway - I'm heading downstairs to chill with my DH on our 11th anniversary eve...and to write out these notes to get them in the mail TOMORROW!

Happy Friday!

xoxoxo

Where Does The Time Go?

Seriously now? I really don't know how it all flies by...but it does. It seems that I get in certain grooves and other things fall by the wayside. I stamp religiously, post, stamp, post and then I get distracted by...life I guess? And I realize how much I'm jonesing for time to create. We've had A LOT going on here the last few weeks. Pre-school for the first time, birthday parties, lots of teething, visits with friends, holidays, stamp club, card club, etc, etc.

I'm working on my time management...I promise.

But today and this weekends event is my 11 YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!! (it's today actually) It's amazing to me that it's been 11 years. My DH and I and 2 of our closest friends (who btw are celebrating their 1 year anniversary) are going out to dinner at the Capital Grille tomorrow night! I cannot wait!!

I hope that everyone is having a creative day and I PROMISE to get some good crafting in to show you fun stuff soon!!

XOXOXO

Happy Birthday My Darling Girl

So I cannot believe that my daughter is going to be 3. We're having her birthday party at home on Saturday! As horribly disfunctional as my my Mother was, she always managed to pull it together long enough to produce amazing parties for me at home. (as well as Halloween costumes) As I got older I'd have some friends go rollerskating, bowling or whatever but we always ended up back at my house for cake and ice cream. I'm trying to keep that 'at home' party tradition alive in my house. The only *extravagant* thing we're doing is renting a bouncy house...which is only $100 so I think it'll be well worth it!! I invited a few of her little friends and some of our friends and the 3 family members that my husband and I have in the area and that's it! A few snacks and some drink and we'll call it a party!

So...in lieu of traditional goodie bags I've decided to give each child a full size can of play-doh as well as 2 play-doh cutters. I was going to wrap the can in fun paper and then tie the cutters around with ribbon. However, the can is not uniform from top to bottom. It's 7.5 around the top and 7.25 around the bottom. Must be for shipping purposes or something but whatever it's for it is not helpful as far as wrapping in paper. The paper would just wrinkle up. So I scrapped that idea and went for a 'topper' instead. I have a circle punch that fit perfectly in the top of the can so I snagged some SU! jumbo eyelets from my friend and SU! demo Sarah. I used my Crop-O-Dile to set the eyelet and I just used whatever DP scraps I had lying around. I used the SU! Wasabi double stitched ribbon (it just ties SO well!) through the eyelet to tie on 2 cutters per can. I used my oval scallop punch with a little detail from my white gel pen to create the 'thank you' element on the front of the can. I used my large glue dots to adhere both the toppers and front piece.

I love how these came out!

Sorry that the photos are not touched up...I *still* don't have any photo editing software on my new computer yet.

Hope you're all having a creative day!

Happy Birthday Sarah!!

Today is my most darling friend Sarah's birthday!! YAY!! We all decided when we had kids to stop giving gifts to each other for birthdays and in lieu would give them to the kiddies.

But I couldn't help myself and I dropped off a small bag of crafting goodies to her house earlier today and made this card just for her.

Basic Instructions:

Cardstock: SU! Kraft, misc DP from Michael's
Ink: SU! Purely Pomegranate
Stamps: SU's Wing It, Short and Sweet (little cupcake is on the inside)
Embellishments: Making Memories silver brads, SU! grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate and Olive and Crate Paper ribbon, pop dots behind heart and wings, dazzling diamonds glitter applied with clear gel glue (kind of like elmer's)

Organization

Are you one of those who have it? always? yes? no? ya..me neither. But I truly strive to be organized. 99.9% of the time even in my organized disorganization I can end up laying my hands on whatever it is I'm looking for...eventually. I remember seeing it in a pile, in this corner...which I moved to that shelf, which is now in that drawer under that cabinet. Yes...there it is!! Well...I'm 34 years old and I still haven't mastered the daunting task of organization.


I strive to have kitchen counters without stuff on them, I strive for my laundry to end up in the same drawer and on the same shelf every time I put away the laundry, I strive for an organized playroom (HA!)...etc, etc.

So while I am constantly on this quest for eternal organization...I do have ONE place in my house that is heaven to me as far as organization goes....my STAMP ROOM!!! Again, I am constantly shifting and moving things around to make room for more stuff or re-work my workspace so the other day I stole 10 minutes to myself and alphabetized my cardstock. Go ahead...laugh!!! It's SOOOOOO much easier to find what I need fast!!!

I highly recommend it.

Hope you're all having a creative day!!

Snowflake Holiday

Ok so I have ZERO energy today because my entire house has a headcold...including me. WAH! But I still have a ton of pictures to upload from the stash of product that I made for the craft fair that I was involved in a couple of weekends ago. If memory serves this paper is American Crafts (i think) and it's mounted on SU! Real Red cardstock. It's stamped with 'Very Merry' from SU!'s "Short and Sweet" set. I use this set CONSTANTLY. If you don't have it already...it's a must have! I also put a snowflake brad (Making Memories) in the upper lefthand corner and stamped the snowflake from SU!'s Holiday Blitz set in Basic Black.

Ok...I'm off to CVS with my kiddies for more medicine.

Hope everyone is having a creative day!

ps - i know the picture looks HORRIBLE! but we *just* got a new computer so we haven't loaded Photoshop on it *yet* so I had to crop it in Paint...which is a HORRENDUS program. So I promise to upload a better photo when I've got Adobe installed.

Pocket Full Of Love

Here is the rest of the series of Pocket and Love Notes that I've made for my cousin Jodi. She has 2 boys so *most* of the birthday parties they are invited to are for other boys but she requested a few girl cards as well.

The first one is the continuation of my last post. All of the design elements are the same..I just popped it onto an SU! Purely Pomegranate love note instead of the pink pocket note.

Her oldest is a sports *fanatic*. So I went with the football and baseball theme. I used SU! Very Vanilla craft ink and heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder that I picked up years ago at The Paper Source. I finished the baseball/football love notes off with the new SU! sky blue double stitched ribbon and the baseball/football pocket notes off with a smidge of SU! 1/8" red grosgrain ribbon and a little yellow paper clip...it just needed a little something and the paper clip kind of made me think of clipboards...which are a must in the sports world. They all say 'Happy Birthday' inside using the Warmest Regards set...my constant go to for sentiments.

I hope that everyone is having a creative day!