Friday, June 26, 2009

FREE Stuff!

This post actually has nothing to do with paper or scrapbooking but wanted to pass along some free stuff for you guys!

As some of you may know, Mr. Scrapbook Shoppe works for an independent bottler distributing RC Cola, O. Crush, A&W Rootbeer, etc.



He also deals in some energy drinks & this may be a new one he'll be taking on soon.

Click on the link to signup to get your FREE samples!

http://www.venomenergy.com/

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Mothers & Daughters

Today, in honor of Mother's Day, I'm sharing a layout that I made about 6 years ago.
It's a special photo of me, my mom, & my 2 daughters. . . .


The paper is old Karen Foster vintage stuff, which was perfect for this photo.

I tagged it as "Mothers & Daughters" which I printed out on vellum & heat embossed in black.
Then I tore the edges, smudged it with glue stick, & heat embossed that with gold powder.


These plastic black slide frames were smudged with gold ink and filled with our maiden names.

It's titled with " 3 Generations" the same way as the other tag.
And yes . . . I did tear the photo, too. I love to tear & rip paper ~ don't be afraid!

I hope this inspires all who read today's post to have a photo taken of you, your daughters, & your moms . . . Create something beautiful, & meaningful for all of your future generations to come . . . . to let them know how special Moms & Daughters are!
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
I love you!




Friday, May 8, 2009

I thought we were done!

Let me start this off by saying that I was totally surprised.
I was not expecting anything like this to happen . . . again.

I thought that we were done.
I thought our family was complete and big enough.

After all . . . how could we afford another? We already go through 6 gallons of milk each week the way it is!
Getting woke up by crying in the middle of the night . . . .
Those days of potty training . . .

The girls had both said to me not long ago "Mommy, why don't you have another baby?"
I told them both the same thing "Are you out of your minds?"

So our family is growing again . . . but not the way you may be thinking!

Just after Christmas, we lost 2 cats. We think coyotes got them . . . one we found, the other just disappeared.

Bob was very torn up over our beloved huge, white cat, loving called "Bear". She was one of our barn cats we brought along when we moved from Kentucky. Her real name was Juliet but she had no tail and when she was tiny, she looked like a polar bear cub . . . Hence the name Bear.


So Caitlyn was on the hunt to get her daddy another cat with no tail for him for his birthday in March. Everytime she found one in the paper, they were gone by the time she got there.

Well, a couple weeks ago, Bob & I went to Macon for the day and then out to an early dinner.
The kids kept calling every 10 minutes "When are you coming home?"
"We'll get there when we get there" we kept telling them.

When we did walk in, we found a big note laying on our bed with a bunch of confetti stuff all over.

Wondering why they were in our room, messing up our bed, we heard a little tinkle of a bell and caught a flash a something diving under the dresser.

This is what we pulled out:



A kitten with no tail . . . .



Here is the mastermind of this plot . . .



She's got quite a few names: Kitten Kat, Brat Cat, Riley, Lucy -fer (cuz she can get wicked with those claws) or my favorite Angelica . .. and not cuz she's so angelic . . . .more like Angelica Pickles, the brat on Rugrats.



Now this new little girl has not been good at making friends with Eliza & Bubby, our 2 other cats.
he constantly antagonizes them.


So this has been the only one who will play with her . . .
Alex's dog . . . Jaxson


And play they will!

Every morning tearing up the house.

I yelled at him the other morning to be nice and the next thing I knew, they came charging thru the kitchen . . . her chasing the dog!
She likes to stand on her back legs & box him or jump on his head . . . and he has her whole head in his mouth half the time.

But she never cries . . . .



But this is definitely it for more babies . . . .NO MORE! Do you hear me Caitlyn?

(That's going to be hard . . . she just got a job in a veterinary clinic!)

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

April 19th

April 19th . . .
Twenty years ago on this date, we became a family of 3.
Caitlyn Alexandra joined us and until then, I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I remember just rocking her & crying, crying, crying cuz she was my world.
Then there were the times that I just cried, cried, cried cuz she was a colicky baby & wouldn't stop screaming for hours on end . . .
These were some of my first scrapbook pages ever & I don't think they turned out too bad . . .
(Please ignore the fugly, I-just-spent-20-hours-in-labor-without-any-drugs hair I had back then. And, yes . . . I must have been on drugs to NOT want them!)



Well, here she is now . . .all grown up, but still my little girl.
I used some new "On the Dot" papers and tags for this page . . . .


Her most favorite cake of all time is a "Chocolate Cake Roll" and requests it every year for her birthday.
Keep on reading if you would like the recipe to try for yourself!



And since I had leftover papers from this "Pink Lemonade" collection, I also made a page for my niece, Nadia, back home in Wisconsin . . .

So here ya go, Cake Lovers . . . Try this one out.
(My favorite part is the filling . . . yum-yum-yum!)
Chocolate Cake Roll
3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. baking cocoa
1 t. baking pwd
1/4 t. salt
3 lrg. eggs - separated
1 c. sugar
5T. water
1 t. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350* and line a jellyroll pan w/ was paper. Grease & flour entire pan.
Beat egg whites until frothy & add 1/4 c. sugar. Beat until stiff.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks until light-colored and add 3/4 c. sugar. Continue beating this until it's thick & creamy. Add water & vanilla.
Fold yolk mixture into the whites, and add dry ingredients.
Spread in pan and bake 20 mins.
Remove from oven & immediately invert cake onto a dish towel sprinkled heavily with powdered sugar. Roll cake into the towel while warm & let cool.
Cake Filling
1/2c. four
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
Beat all ingredients except milk until smooth. Gradually add milk and continue beating for approx. 10 mins.
Spread onto cooled cake and reroll.
*NOTE* . . .the longer you beat the filling, the fluffier it becomes.
Hope you all enjoy this as much as we do!

Friday, April 17, 2009

My Fave Antiques

Today I thought I'd share some of my fave oldie-but-goodie things that I've collected over the years.

I've always loved really dated, old, rusty, antique-y stuff.

Some things jump out at me more than others & if I can afford to, I treat myself here & there. That doesn't happen too often tho' cuz with 4 kid-lettes there's always milk, cereal, & bread to buy. 6 gallons, 6 boxes, & 6 loves per week add up fast!

So since this blog is suppose be sharing some of my treasures along with the paper pretties, I decided it was time to show you all some of my stuff. . . . just not all at 1 time.

For today, I'm gonna let you peek at my basement . . . well not the whole thing - just when you get to the bottom of the stairs.



There's a little alcove thingie which is perfect for the table I found about 10 yrs ago. I had plans to refinish it, but I've decided I like it just how it is. . . all ratty, beat up, & cracked.


It's home to a basket of wooden thread spools, some crocheted lace gloves, an old hand mirror / perfume bottle, & some vintage photos we had taken at Olan Mills.








I love this one of the boys . . . We chopped down some bamboo from our yard, stripped the leaves, & took the poles along with us.

Olan Mills even asked permission to keep this print on display for awhile in their studio!


On the wall above, I framed 2 copies of McCall's magazines that are dated 1906 & 1908 . . .I just love those!



Underneath is a basket of old iron horseshoes, a few of my teddy bears, my collection of Victoria magazines (is that even still in publication?) & another album that I keep old magazine pages of the Onieda Silverware ads in.






On the side wall, is one of those expandable, cheap cup rack things on which I hung vintage hats with the lace netting & feathers, and old purse, & another pair of gloves


And I'm also gonna show you 2 things from my laundry room that I love dearly . . .

My basket of red-handled vintage kitchen tools ( the old beaters was my great-grandmother's) and 4 wooden blocks whose initials I hunted for for a L-O-N-G time. They stand for my babies ~ Caitlyn, Samantha, Alexander, & Zachary.




That's it for now . . .I've got soooo much more to share so check back!

Thanx for reading!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Yummy Stuff!

Today I'm sharing a little secret that I found.
I love to bake . . .I like cooking too, but really love baking more. I guess it's cuz of the sweet stuff involved.
Last year, hubby & I stopped at Lanes Peach Packing here in Georgia after a trip to a car show in Macon.
We took a little tour and bought some peaches & other good stuff.
Among that good stuff was a package of Cobbler Mix.

Husband absolutely love, love, loved it with the fresh peaches so I've been on the hunt for some good, easy recipes.
Found some OK make-from-scratch ones . . . but nothing like the mix was.

Well, who would have thought that while shopping at Wally World I would find one!
And for cheap!

It was tucked in with the breading, fishy-hushpuppy stuff (note on the label ~ it says fish fry products). . . .but I found it!

So here it is . . . in all it's yummy-ness!



And you gotta have some good vanilla ice cream with it when it's warm . . .that's a requirement!



Now we've only done peaches so far but I'm dying to make a cherry one! I'll let ya know how that one turns out!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Quick Mini-Mini Album

Today I decided to share an really, really, quick, quick, mini-mini album that ANYONE could throw together in about 10 minutes.



Now, these handy, dandy embellishment thingies I used as my pages are called Page Coasters from Cloud 9. They've been around for quite awhile but someone may not know exactly how to use them.

They have alot of different themes, with 3 cards in a package . . . .here's just a couple that they offer:










Now, I'm no expert, but this is what I did with the Family set. . .





I punched 3 holes with my Crop-a-dile, added some ribbon scraps, and an "S" charm (for Stoddard) to the front cover.


Super Simple! And a cute gift for someone, to boot!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Secret Sister Gift

With Spring here and Easter on it's way very quickly, I decided it was time to get something together for my Secret Scrappin' Sister.

And this is what I'm giving her . . . .




Scrap Goodies in a cutesie gift bag are all right, but this is much more fun!



Instead of plant stakes, I purchased some inexpensive forks at Wally World & bent them apart a little bit so the packages would stand straight up . . .


Hope she likes it!