Twin Sisters

2011-04-28T21:39:00.001-04:00

Let's talk about your invitation needs!

Contact me today to inquire about a custom design made specifically for your event: jillfmiller@gmail.com

New and Improved!

2011-02-05T21:32:00.000-05:00

I am happy to announce that I am now pursuing Twin Sisters full time! As a stay-at-home mommy to Riley, and baby number two on the way (due in late May, 2011), I am very excited to have the ability to enhance my custom-made invitation business. I now have a new website, which I welcome you to visit and take a peek around. I am also now posting invitations for sale in my Etsy shop. Both sites are "in progress" so please be patient as I grow into this new venture.

Thank you for stopping by! I welcome you to contact me with any invitation or paperie needs you may have.

~ Jill ~

2010-03-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

Oh how the time does fly! My life has had some exciting changes lately, starting with this little guy:

I gave birth to my first son, Riley Roger, back in late October. I was truly blessed with a great pregnancy and easy delivery (even though he was 12 days past due!). For the past five months, my husband and I have been in constant awe of life’s greatest miracle. He truly is a blessing to us and we couldn’t be happier.

I am still learning how to juggle a newborn, a day job, and my aspiring career as an invitation designer. Although my “free time” has drastically diminished, I am still very much committed to Twin Sisters and the work I provide to clients. I appreciate everyone’s patience while I work through all of this.

With that being said, I am very excited to announce that I have taken a big financial step in furthering my Twin Sisters ambition. A recent investment will allow me to produce a new line of pocket invitations in house. This means more design options for my clients at friendly prices!

I have been blessed to work with some very nice clients over the past few months and I hope to have their creations posted here for all to see sometime soon. If you or someone you know has an invitation need, please feel free to contact me at jillfmiller@hotmail.com.

Pretty Pink Baptism Invitation

2009-08-06T20:57:00.003-04:00

Here I created a very simple baptism invitation for my newest niece. Using Stardream Rose card stock as the base, I added a text layer in a creamy white that had a bit of texture to it. Since the layout is so simple, the texture helped to add some dimension to the invitation. I used a digital stamp to add a bit of flourish to the corner and rounded the whole thing off with a heavenly quote at the top. She was born almost two months ago, on my birthday! If my baby is a girl, I wish them to be the best of friends! Isnt she sweet?

Monkey See Monkey Do

2009-07-30T20:33:00.004-04:00

Monkeys are very popular these days for everything from room decor to party themes. I recently designed this very simple monkey birthday invitation using Stardream cardstock in Fairway Green as the base and layered the text with light blue. A fun monkey embellishment gives the invitation its theme while keeping the look clean and simple. I really love Stardream cardstock, it has a very nice shimmer to it. Thanks for "swingin" by!

Outdoor Shabby Pink Baby Shower

2009-07-24T20:50:00.009-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I aided in hosting a baby shower for a new mommy-to-be. Knowing that the upcoming bundle of joy is to be a girl, we pulled out all the pinks and threw her an outdoor shabby baby shower. I sincerely wish I had more time to devote to this sort of thing because it really was a lot of fun to plan!

We started with a large back yard, added a few white tents, some shabby décor and fresh flowers. What we didn’t count on but received anyway, was lots of rain and really bad hair! We didn’t let the rain spoil the day; we counted it as good luck instead…just like rain on a wedding day. Prior to the shower, I began “researching” ideas, like I do for most all of my projects. Fabric bunting banners are very popular right now and come in a multitude of themes and styles. I thought they would be a nice shabby addition to the shower and they looked simple enough to make. In another post, I’ll show you just how easy they are! Another décor element that punched up the color factor were tissue paper pom-poms. Talk about inexpensive and easy! There are a multitude of resources out on the web on how to make these. I definitely suggest giving them a try for your next party…or even just for the fun of it! We had a simple brunch menu catered by a local friend that consisted of warm chicken salad, broccoli salad, fresh fruit, and muffins. Lovely choices for a warm, rainy, late morning baby shower. An interesting aspect to the menu wasn’t just the food but what the food was served on. An idea I had been dying to use for quite some time and look forward to building upon in the future. Mismatched china in a wonderful array of shabby patterns and colors! The town I live in has three Goodwill stores and I scoured each and every one of them to find enough dishes to use for the shower. I not only came across steals but some very lovely pieces as well. I think I could have gone hog-wild picking out shabby plates, glasses, and other table pieces of the sort. Fortunately for my pocket book, I was seven months pregnant and unable to carry too many fragile, heavy dishes. Vintage cloth napkins in varrying pink patterns were also used to add color to the tables and give a shabby appeal. I had a friend of mine arrange the flowers using white porcelain vases and pitchers which were actually left over from my own wedding reception. I love these vases and any excuse that allows me to use them! I think any flower color looks nice against fresh white porcelain, especially pink shabby ones! We also had light music playing in the background, which you obviously cant "see" in the pictures. I love mood music, it helps to set the tone to whatever type of gathering you're hosting. But all the sights and sounds dont hold a candle to the wonderful feeling of love that surrounds a new mother-to-be. For all those that gather in her honor, are truly a blessing!

Champagne Bridal Shower Invitation

2009-07-13T19:55:00.012-04:00

Business has been quite busy here at Twin Sisters! A project I completed recently was an order for bridal shower invitations. The bride-to-be's wedding colors are champagne and white...it is an early winter wedding. There is something about the simplicity of various forms of white that I find breathtaking, especially during the early winter months.

The requirements were fairly simple, champagne and white invites that gave the indication of an upscale, luxe event. Fun! I was simply excited to work on something that wasnt pink, so imagine my giddiness when I was able to incorporate dazzling rhinestone buckles and fluffy white feathers! Unfortunately, the shimmery cardstock and white feathers do not show up well in the photo, but the end result was fantastic. A matching shimmery envelope completed the look.

Baby Shower Pocket Invitation

2009-06-20T12:07:00.003-04:00

Busy as a bee, that is me! I was asked to help coordinate a baby shower for a family friend so the first thing on the list is the invitation. I pulled out my simple pocket card recipe for a slightly shabby pink, baby shower invitation. The Baby Love labels were cut from Nestabilities ovals and adorned with a simple pink paper rosette. The band was comprised of two pink shades of satin ribbon. The actual invitation card pulls out of the pocket to read details for the event. A quick and easy invitation!

Simple Pleasures

2009-06-04T21:29:00.003-04:00

Summer hasn’t arrived yet but already it’s slipping away. We must enjoy these warm moments before they are gone! With a plethora of “to-dos” around my house, I sometimes have to make a devoted effort to stop and experience this great season.

Spring often awakens my “nesting” mood, my need to try out fresh ideas for my home and garden. I have enjoyed planning and planting new annuals around the house this year, forcing myself to toss out the tried and true pink theme and explore some new possibilities. That’s easier to do with an inexpensive crate of flowers! But some tried and trues are hard to live without, like the beauty that accompanies our thriving peony bush in early spring! So I took some of nature’s blessings and brought them indoors to create small flower vignettes. I nestled the oversized flowers in simple bud vases and placed them around the house. I love the romantic look that can be created with these flowers and the added vintage charm that comes from placing them next to a large apothecary jar, French script scrolls, and an aged doily. Vases with varied heights, colors, and textures create an interesting appeal as well. Be sure to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures of the season!

Baby Themed Pocket Card

2009-05-08T20:15:00.005-04:00

I really like this self-made pocket card, it is so versatile. We’ve received a couple of baby gifts recently and I need to send out thank yous so I whipped up a pocket card in a neutral baby theme. Using Papertrey Ink cardstock in Lemon Tart and Kraft I was able to create a gentle baby themed thank you that was not gender specific. I printed the little booties using the Baby of Mine Doodlebat then added Baby Miller and its due date underneath.
The rest of the card was left blank so that I can hand write a personal note of gratitude.

Black & Fuchsia Bridesmaid Cards

2009-05-07T21:54:00.003-04:00

Ahhhh, wedding season! I love weddings and all of the details that go into them. So I was super excited when someone came across my blog and asked me to make her some bridesmaid cards…a way for her to ask her friends to be in the wedding.

Establishing a wedding party is one of the first big steps in the planning process so I wanted to give this bride-to-be something that was unique and personal. Her colors were fuchsia and black and she was considering using orchids in her wedding. So I came up with this card: The design is a standard A2 size but it’s a pocket instead of a folded card so I was able to slip in a printed note, personalized for each attendant. The card reads "On my wedding day, I will need you more than ever. Please be my Maid of Honor now.... and my friend forever.

Fuchsia is so striking against jet black but it’s really the silk orchid that gives this bridesmaid card its distinctive style. Such a lovely way to ask someone to be a part of your special day, don’t you think?

We're havin' a baby!

2009-05-06T18:57:00.004-04:00

Spring is already speeding by and Id like to grab it by the reins and slow it down a bit. Maybe bottle it up in a jar, poke holes in the lid, and let it slowly leak out. Spring is definitely a time of new beginning and that couldn’t be more true here at Twin Sisters.

Our most exciting news is that my husband and I are expecting our first baby! It isn’t even here yet and it seems to be occupying a lot of my time and brain power! So my craft room sat unoccupied for nearly a month until I was forced to reckon with it recently. And boy did it feel good! Ive been busy with some bridal jobs that I cant wait to share with you but first, I thought I would share a little baby item.

We told our families about the baby well over a month ago. My mom had been showing me some of her recent quilting projects and when she was done, I said that I had a new craft project to show her! So I presented her with this frame, wrapped in tissue paper: So that was exciting! Our little tadpole has certainly changed from that picture but its still remarkable to look back upon. We’re due in October so you can bet that you’ll see plenty of baby projects over the coming months!

Im Back!

2009-05-03T16:00:00.001-04:00

My sincerest apologies for being inactive during the entire month of April! Spring is a time of new starts so I intend to be a better blogger during May. Hopefully everyone had a pleasant Easter and is now busy with their gardens or tending to other spring projects. Things certainly have been busy here so I cant wait to share some projects that I’ve been working on or that I have in the hopper. But right now, I have a batch of very ripe bananas that are screaming to be baked. See you soon…promise!

Black and Fuchsia Wedding Invitations

2009-03-30T19:33:00.006-04:00

I was excited to be able to offer this particular bride-to-be some very budget friendly invitations. Initially, she had picked out some basic white invitations because they were some of the least expensive ones she could find. I firmly believe that an invitation sets the tone for your event, giving your guests an idea of what to expect. Plain white is not what these guests can expect at this wedding. I set out to not only save her money but get more color for her buck.

I created a simple flat card for the invitation then included a reception and response card that were banded together with coordinating pattern paper. The reception card gave logistic information and details about hotel rooms for the evening. The response cards contain the RSVP information on one side and mailing address on the reverse, allowing them to be stamped (at a lesser postage rate) and dropped in the mail without an envelope. By eliminating the traditional inner envelope and opting to use a postcard for the RSVP, the bride was able to save quite a bit of money on this set. For 200 invitations, they were less than $1 for each set!

Spring has Sprung!

2009-03-25T20:28:00.004-04:00

Spring has sprung and isn’t it just wonderful?! I love a sunny spring day after the long, cold, dreary winter. With all that is going on in the world as of late, the promises of spring are so refreshing. Plump robins are everywhere, feeding on a smorgasbord underfoot. Forsythia is beginning to bloom and just today I saw a magnolia tree in full splendor.

Each spring I overwhelm myself with all the possibilities that spring has to offer. Maybe this will be the year I start that garden I’ve been dreaming about, or the year I raise my own herbs. What types of perennials will I add to the face of our landscape, what color scheme shall I choose for the annuals? How will we manage the crabgrass this year or fight those pesky weeds? It never fails, by the end of May I’m burned out and wonder why we can’t hire it all done. But spring has just begun and I plan to hold fast to the notion that THIS will be the year…

So bring on the garden ideas and plans,

dust off the recipes that winter pushed to the back of the cupboard,

unfold the delicate linens for the dining room table,

and spruce up the house with some fresh decor.

Spring has sprung!

Happy Birthday Barbie!

2009-03-09T20:21:00.006-04:00

As one of the most influential women in my life *cough*, I feel it appropriate to take note of Barbie on her 50th birthday!

Magic Moves Barbie, I loved your blue fur gown and awesome moves!

(Yes, I had her!)

And Crystal Barbie was oh so flashy in her iridescent dress (and crunchy too!).

(Yes, I had her too!)

And Peaches and Cream Barbie, you were always one of my favorites. So much so, I dreamed of having a peach wedding all through childhood.

(Unfortunately, I did not acquire this doll and I'm still a little bitter.)

Happy birthday Barbie! If it weren't for you, my childhood memories would be cut nearly in half!

Princess Birthday Invitations

2009-02-19T16:47:00.012-05:00

I have really enjoyed my little invitation business, especially when I get to see project come full circle. It started with her shabby couture birth announcements in black and pink, then her baptism invitations in pink and cream, and now it's princess birthday invitations.

Isabella's mommy said she needed some first birthday invites in a princess theme...except the princess should not be too princessy or "white trash." Come on, we all know the look we're NOT going for here right?! She sent me this picture of a bedding set that she liked and asked for something similar in an invitation.

I knew exactly the look she was going for, I just wasn't sure that I would be able to find it. I scoured the web for princess themes and imagine my surprise when I found this paper by Imaginsce called Back By Midnight!

I couldn't believe my luck, it's like the two were made for each other! I headed into the big city to pick up my slightly glittered but perfectly princess paper and other supplies. I wanted the paper the be the focal point so I kept it simple by matting it with pear colored card stock and set it atop a shimmery rose scallop flat card. Light brown inking around the edges and some pink rhinestones in each corner completed the look.
The flip side of the invitation contains all the the party details printed on creamy card stock, complimentary to the creamy background on the front. Rhinestones are again used to anchor the wording to the scallop card.

The shimmery rose scallop card was accompanied by a matching envelope. An envelope I just couldn't leave plain! It was mentioned that little frog princes might be used at the party so when I spotted this little stamp, I thought it would be perfectly suited on envelope seals.

Avery makes some full sheet sized labels that were perfect for this project. They come in white so I simply created a green color in Word to match the invites, and printed it out on the sheets. Then, using my Nestibilities dies, I cut out scallop squares, stamped them with my frog prince, then inked the edges with a soft brown. Very simple and convenient!

These invitations fit the theme like a glass slipper!

Fuchisa and Black Bridal Shower Invitations

2009-02-13T09:58:00.011-05:00

I've just completed an order of bridal shower invitations. The only requests were to use black and fuchsia, the bride's wedding colors, and this little bride's dress cut-out. So I came up with a simple, double sided, flat front card.

I started by adding some black and white pattern paper to the front of the black card base. Next, was a black matted layer of fuchsia (technically raspberry) that held the dress cut out. I decided to leave the squiggles in tact with the dress, otherwise, it looked like the dress had been chewed by moths! I tied a coordinating ribbon around the waist of the dress and adhered a small pearl in the center. The edges of the dress are also slightly inked with a wheat chalk ink for added dimension but its darn near impossible to see in the photos.Below the dress I added a second matted layer of fuchsia to anchor the words "It started with a kiss and now it's come to this!" The flip side of the card carries all of the details for the shower, matted of course, by a layer of fuchsia.

What I especially like is the addition of the little flourish (DB Dainty Swirls), used here to separate the event's details from the registry information. It coordinated so well with the pattern paper!

With bright fuchsia envelopes, these trendy bridal shower invitations are sure to arrive in style!

The password is...

2009-01-31T12:00:00.002-05:00

or·ga·nize:
1: to cause to develop an organic structure
2: to form into a coherent unity or functioning whole
3 a: to set up an administrative structure
4: to arrange by systematic planning and united effort

For 2009, it is my goal to organize! Organize my thoughts, my projects, my household responsibilities, my life. My in-box has been fluttered with newsletters and emails, talking about ways to organize everything from my kitchen to the space between my ears. Being organized takes effort, but a little inspiration can be a great place to start.

Bird's the Word?

2009-01-28T20:08:00.007-05:00

At the start of 2008, I decided to live the year by a single word instead of several resolutions. Resolutions that I knew I wouldn't be able to keep. Hoping that '08 would hold some excitement, I chose the word celebrate. By choosing one single word, I found myself looking for ways to use it. Ways to put it into action. I posted about a few instances throughout my blog journey; graduating from college, a new job, my first sale on Etsy! But the truth is, I was able to find ways to celebrate in even the smallest every-day details. That's when I knew that my word was working! And even though '08 is now past, celebrating will continue because I made a point to make it a part of my life. If you chose a word last year, I hope you were successful in putting it to use. If not, why not choose a word to live by in '09? Share it with your loved ones so that they can help you to live by it as well.

So, what's my word for 2009? You'll have to stay tuned to find out!

Nautical Boat Accents

2009-01-26T19:50:00.004-05:00

In planning for the nautical baby shower that my sister-in-law is hosting, she had a need for some little accents to add to a diaper cake that they're making. I went to Michaels and found some very inexpensive, wooden sail boats. And by inexpensive, I'm talking 25 cents each. One shiny quarter!

For a quarter and some coordinating scraps of paper, I was able to give her some cute little accents that she could use on the diaper cake as well as the centerpieces. These will be darling tied to the front of a pail holding raspberry colored hydrangeas!

Accents don't have to be costly, just use your imagination! Ahoy!

Nautical Thank You From Baby

2009-01-21T19:44:00.008-05:00

I mentioned in my previous post that I was working on some nautical themed baby shower items for my sister-in-law. Today Id like to share a thank you note that reads from the baby. I used all of the same supplies from the nautical baby shower invitations and put together a simple card that can be placed along side the centerpiece of each table.

I added some simple aqua pearls to the corners and let the rest of the thank you speak for itself.

There are various baby thank you wordings out on the web, or if you're a poet and didn't know it, you could write your own. I think that this is a cute and simple way to carry your shower's theme throughout and to thank guests for attending.

The nautical themed fun isnt over so stay tuned!

Nautical Baby Shower Invitations

2009-01-15T20:56:00.009-05:00

Hello! I hope you're reading this from someplace warm and cozy because we've got sub-zero temperatures outside. It is bitterly cold but I'm at least thankful for the clear sky and sunshine, rarities this time of year.

My sister-in-law came to me and asked me to make some invitations for a family baby shower she was hosting. She knew she wanted aqua colors paired with kraft paper but in a unisex kind of way. Knowing that the family has lots of love for boating and all things water related, I thought a nautical theme would be perfect for this shower. Nautical is easy enough, but try doing it in a non-traditional, non-gender way! With a little help from trusty ole Martha and Papertrey Ink, I decided to pair the aqua and kraft colors with raspberry for a new twist on nautical.

I started the invitation with Papertry Ink's Aqua Mist cardstock and layered it with Kraft cardstock. I wanted to keep the outside simple in order to emphasize the inside contents so I printed a catchy opening line in raspberry ink and set it off with a coordinating border:

The guest is met by a nautical greeting, 'Ahoy there!' and encouraged to sail on over for a baby shower. The invitation's final size is a standard A2 but I used the paper's full 11 inches in order to create a pocket on the inside. The pocket's contents were then secured by wrapping Raspberry Fizz Saddle Stitch Ribbon around to the front. The seam is disguised with a layered circle featuring a nautical anchor, courtesy of a Martha Stewart craft punch.

The pocket created additional space for directions and registry information without scrunching all of the wording into one area. I love this concept! Its an easy way to include an ample amount of information while keeping the invitation organized and easy to read without sacrificing its appearance.These invitations were so much fun! I look forward to sharing a few other concepts I came up with for this non-traditional nautical baby shower so stay tuned.

Shabby Hookers Set

2009-01-08T19:15:00.006-05:00

Hello friends! If the rest of 2009 follows suit to this first week, it is sure to fly by! Over my holiday break, in between bouts with the flu bug, I created a Shabby Hooker set for my sister to give as a special gift. I love making these and you will soon see some new ones in my Etsy shop.

I love this floral patterned paper against the distressed, antique white wood.

To coordinate, I created two smaller Shabby Hookers that feature a rustic, red dot pattern with greenish-brown glass knobs.

Together they make a nice contrasting set!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:14:00.001-05:00

Best wishes to each of you for a blessed and prosperous new year!

Forcing PaperWhites

2008-12-30T16:58:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago I attended a Christmas brunch with my sister in the home of one of her coworkers. She gave each guest a gift of paperwhites, so that they could be forced indoors during the winter months. I think that giving your guests a small gift is such a thoughtful and wonderful idea, it helps them to remember your special occasion. Recognize the gift tag? :)

I have had my eye on some pale blue and stone pottery pieces at Michaels for the past couple of months. When we moved into our current house, we debated on whether we should paint the living room blue or yellow. In my absence, Max went with yellow, and we have many times since then wished we had gone with the blue. Due to the height of the room, it's open to both floors, we're not repainting it anytime soon...though I would love to! We've desperately been in need of an area rug to cover the wood floors in that room but Max and I never agree on rug types. He likes shag...I like anything but shag! So in the days before Christmas, I found a rug that I liked which would work well with the existing colors yet pull in some of the blues we were longing for. Thank you Santa (Max's dad) for standing in my corner of the boxing ring to be sure that this rug made its way into our house! With my 50% coupon in hand, I knew I had to run back and see if any of the pale blue pottery was left because it would be perfect for my new paperwhites. They had a piece that would work perfectly so I also snagged some smooth river rocks, in two different tones, that would help to pull the look together.

I mixed the rocks then filled the container about 2/3 of the way full. Next, I added enough water so that it would barely reach the top of the rocks. If the bulbs sit in too much water, they'll rot. The paperwhites were then nestled in the rocks, roots down, so that they would grow upright. That's it! I placed the planter atop an old chest I bought for Max for our very first Christmas. Knowing what to get a guy I had only dated for a few months was difficult but I somehow knew this would be the perfect thing. We've both loved it ever since and it has served several purposes in all three houses that we've been in. I cant wait until they bloom! The flowers will be a cheery reminder that spring always follows the cold wintery months.

Isabella's Frames

2008-12-29T21:14:00.008-05:00

You may recall from a year ago when I had a crazy order of 15 custom frames. A new member was added to my friend's family so more frames were needed. This time, only four, which was less stressful! As with her birth announcements and baptism invitations, the frames carried out the black and pink theme.

The first small frame has a shabby, pink striped background with the child's name spelled out in black rhinestones. The look is tied together with a black silk ribbon and rhinestone button. The second small frame is covered with Anna Griffin patterned paper in soft pink and ivory. Again, a black silk ribbon ties it together with an ivory flower and black rhinestone button as the focal point. Her name was added beneath a name plate in the same font used for the announcements and invitations.

I made a large frame identical to the small one, changing only the ribbon and button to balance out the size difference.

I decided to go all black with the second large frame. With a black on black felt damask background and diamond accents, this frame hints at a diva in training!

These were a lot of fun to make and allowed me to brush up on my framing skills a bit. I have a few other ideas rolling around in my head that I cant wait to try out. Hopefully I'll have time while I'm still on vacation for the holidays.

Cherry Stationery Set

2008-12-24T09:23:00.005-05:00

Last night, in the wee hours of the morning, I finished my last Christmas order. It really isn't Christmas unless I procrastinate just about everything...! One of my good friends asked me to make her a cherry stationery set for her grandmother. Her maiden name was Cherry so she loves anything with cherries.

I found a simple cherry image and made this stationery set:
I accompanied 16 cards with coordinating stationery paper as well as, red and natural colored envelopes. Then I added a beaded letter opener, compliments of my sister-in-law, to complete the set. I hope she likes it!

I now have to go finish my last minute Christmas shopping before we head out of town. If I'm not able to check back in with you before we leave, have a very Merry Christmas!

Fresh Cut Ornaments

2008-12-22T20:39:00.010-05:00

I've finally found an opportunity to share with you my "best seller" at the craft show from a few weeks ago, Fresh Cut Ornaments. On the cover of a magazine (Cottage Living maybe?) I saw where they had decorated a simple Christmas tree with log slices hung by ribbon. It looked easy enough so I decided to give it a try. Max just happen to have cut a few logs that were perfect for this idea so I loaded them up and headed out to the farm. Using my dad's band saw, I went to work cutting the log into slices. Once we got the correct blade on, it worked like a charm and before I knew it, I had over 50 slices from a log and a half!

Once I got them home and the slices dried out, I began adding to the simple version I remembered from the magazine. I seldom leave well enough alone so I picked up some very inexpensive holiday picks from the craft store thinking that they would add to the rustic charm of the ornaments. First, I threaded my ribbon through the small hole that I drilled into the log slice. After knotting the two open ends together, I pulled the tails down and around so that they would be lying against the wood. Next, I stuck the holiday pick through the hole as well, pulling from the back side to ensure a very snug and tight fit. Originally, I pulled the excess wire around and tucked it into the pick where it wasnt visible but later decided to cut it off using wire cutters so that it was flush with the wood. After snipping the tails with pinking shears and adjusting the holdiay pick so it was "just right", I was all done! Except, it really isnt quite finished. This was regular wood, and I wanted PINE wood so that it would smell good. Hmmm, to make it smell like pine...great idea! I searched the stores for some kind of oil to scent the wood with but didnt have any luck finding a Chrismasy smell. It occurred to me that I had some home fragerance oils from The Body Shop, the kind you use with a tealight burner, that just might work. I added several drops of this piney Christmas scent to the bark around the log slice and it instantly gave it a wonderful Christmas scent! Problem was, several drops of scented oil times a dozen ornaments equals a scented overload headache!

I was please with how the simple ornaments turned out but I wanted to try one more idea...snow! So I picked up a small tub of Snow-Tex and gave it a whirl. Using a regular butter knife, I added dollops of Snow Tex to the top of the ornament, dabbing here and there to make it as realistic as possible. While the snow was still wet, I added some clear glitter to give the snow a glistening sparkle. After the snow had successfully "fallen" on the ornaments, I set them into a cupcake tray for them to dry before I put on the decorations. Drying time depends on how thick you lay it on, but I let mine sit over night just to be sure it was good and dry. But its dry to the touch in just a few hours, although a bit soft.

So here are a few of the ornaments on my tree:

I hope you found this not-so-brief tutorial on Fresh Cut Ornaments enjoyable. These ornaments really are very easy and quick to put together, give it a try!

Christmas Tags

2008-12-22T20:31:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I received an order to make up 50 Christmas tags. Using my Nesabilities and various scrapbook papers, I pulled together these easy to make tags. Each was threaded with thin hemp rope for a natural look and adorned with a bell for a festive touch. The tags were printed with a Merry Christmas greeting as well as a standard To: and From:. A quick and easy way to use up your left over Christmas scrapbook paper!

The Truth About Santa Claus

2008-12-20T11:24:00.003-05:00

This isnt my story but one I wanted to share at this very special time of year.

The Truth About Santa Claus
============================

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma.
I was just a kid.

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the
day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus,"
she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to
her that day because I knew she would be straight with me.

I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth
always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of
her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous,
because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites,
I told her everything. She was ready for me.

"No Santa Claus?" She snorted... "Ridiculous! Don't believe it.
That rumor Has been going around for years, and it makes me mad,
plain mad! Now, put On your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my
second world-famous cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store
in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we
walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That
was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and
buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in
the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my
mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.
The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to
finish their Christmas shopping. For a Few moments I just
stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill,
wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my Friends, my
neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my
church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby
Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he
sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never
went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote
a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we
kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have
a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing
excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it.
It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the
counter asked Kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really
needed a Good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put
the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag
fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in
Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa
Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on
secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house,
explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially,
one of Santa's Helpers. Grandma parked down the street from
Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the
bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All
right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the
present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to
the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited
breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open.
Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent
shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That
night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus
were just what Grandma said they were: Ridiculous.

Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.
I still have The Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside:
$19.95.

LucKey Wristlets

2008-12-15T22:05:00.005-05:00

Hello! It is definitely Christmas season, can you feel it? I have been very busy completing Christmas orders, its been snowing, and today it was fra-fra-freezing! As I sit here, Christmas music is playing and the tree is all aglow. I love this time of year, its too bad the season doesn't last a little bit longer. If it did, Im sure I'd just be twice as busy!

I haven't had a chance to fill you in on the craft show I went to two weekends ago. In a nutshell, it was good! Its always good to get back to your hometown once in a while and see some old faces. Of course, people saw my face and thought I was my sister. Hence...Twin Sisters. But that's another story for another time.

Today I wanted to show you my LucKey Wristlets, which I sold a few of at the show. I wasn't really expecting to sell any because the previous show they were taken to, people thought they were...dog collars! Can you believe it? They're actually a nifty and stylish way to carry your keys. The band fits comfortably around most wrist sizes, keeping your keys at hand whenever you need them. I forgot to take pictures of them before they left for shows. Luckily, I remembered that I had this shot from my cell phone: I'm not selling these on Etsy, simply because there are already several people there who sell them. But I was offered the opportunity to have a small boutique in Covington sell some for me (more on that later!) or I can be contacted directly if anyone is interested. Each LucKey is $7.00. Here's what I have left: Im elbows deep in a custom Christmas card order but I hope to be back soon with my top seller from the craft show! I hope you're enjoying the season!

Shabby Hookers

2008-12-09T19:03:00.008-05:00

Shabby what?! Sorry folks, the name has stuck, they're officially called Shabby Hookers. Here are a few more I made a while back but forgot to post for you all to see. They'll be up for sale in my Etsy shop very soon...I hope.

I'll check back with you soon to fill you in on last weekend's craft show, how I did, who I met, and some fun projects for you to try. Until then...

More Christmas Cards

2008-12-04T18:58:00.011-05:00

Are you tired of seeing Christmas cards yet? Okay, only a few more and I promise I'll get on to something new. I have two simple Christmas projects to show you soon so stay tuned for those.

I have four more Christmas card packs made up for the craft show Im going to this weekend. The first two feature focal points that included in a digi pack I purchased from Sweet Shoppe Designs called Christmas Mix. I like to stamp but digital images are a bit easier for me to use since I can size them to my own specifications and they're already colored. An important factor when Im pressed for time!

This card features a simple holly image centered on Anna Griffin paper with a bow adhered to the corner. The distressed backgrounds and hemp bow give it a natural look. Here I used the stocking image and simulated them hanging by a chimney. I love tiny images that resemble postage stamps! The white background is matted on distressed kraft paper, again, giving it a natural look. My next card features one of my favorite stamps, the one I used to make my mom's Christmas cards last year. It is added to a simple candy cane striped background with a dark green ribbon folded around the corner's edge. Quick and easy! It's funny to me that during each card making process I think to myself, 'Oh I love this, I think this is going to be my favorite!' That is, until the next card comes along! Here's my current favorite but maybe that's because it's the last set that Ive made... I stamped a basic snowman image onto white cardstock using a denim blue ink topped with a touch of black, kind of using the "rock n roll" technique. I then inked up the piece with brown to give it a nice worn look to coincide with the pattered paper's tattered edges. I finished it off with some pearls for buttons and an inked up snowflake that I just happen to have enough leftovers of. Oh, and if you'd bring your nose a little closer to your monitor...come on, get close...now take a big sniff...mmmm, smells like Icicles!

I must run, other projects await my attention and time is running out. See you next time!

Snowman Cards

2008-11-30T18:01:00.005-05:00

We had our first significant snowfall this morning so I thought it was only fitting to bring you two snowman cards. Both use the same image and layout, they just have different color schemes.
The inside reads: Wishing you a warm holiday season!

Gotta run, I have lots of work to do yet before this weekend's craft show!

Christmas Cards

2008-11-23T20:30:00.009-05:00

In preparation of the upcoming craft show I'll be attending, I’ve been busy making holiday card sets. Tonight I have three to show you, so let’s get to it!

The first one is just a basic layout with a nice Christmas saying cut out my Nestabilities dies. A few rhinestones jazz up the corners and that's about it.
Next is a Christmas card with nontraditional colors of pinks and greens (my favorite combo!). I found the little tree die cut at the checkout counter and grabbed it as a last minute Gotta Have It! Those marketing people really know what they're doing... To add some interest to the little trees I stamped them with a music sheet background stamp, ink distressed the edges, and topped with either a rhinestone or button. The trees sit atop a sparkly white square, which is difficult to see in the photo.
The third card took me back to my Copic markers, let me explain. Years ago, like 5-10, I bought these clipart CDs from Provo Craft HugWare. I don’t know if they even make these things anymore but Im glad I decided to dig them back out. I had some snowman paper I was trying to make a card from but needed a focal point. A quick Google image search turned up nothing but then the thought of these CDs popped into my head. Again, I haven’t used them for ages so imagine my surprise when I found a snowman that would work. The cool thing about these graphics is that they come either colored or black and white. Since the colored version didn’t match my paper, I chose the black and white and colored them with my Copic markers so they’d coordinate with my patterned paper. I haven’t colored for quite some time and I forgot how painstakingly long it takes to do multiple cards. But I’m pleased with the results and will be turning back to my ancient CDs to see what else I can make with them. Unfortunatly, when I printed the images I didnt leave quite enough room to allow for the Nestabilities die, but I was able to salvage them by rotating the oval. Both ways turned out cute and I didn't have to waste my coloring efforts.

Back in the Christmas Saddle

2008-11-21T20:42:00.010-05:00

Where does the time go? I'm sorry to have left you hanging for the past couple of weeks but it seems that since I started my new job, Ive had less interest for crafting. But, I'm back in the saddle, so they say, ready to giddy-up for the holidays.

We have a craft show the weekend after Thanksgiving so I have several projects to finalize before then. Never mind a recent order I received for 100 custom Christmas cards...ack! Or 50 handmade tags...gasp! Or the Christmas cards Ive promised family members...oh no! *Insert McCulley Culkin face here*

Today I bring you two Christmas card sets that I recently completed. The first is a Christmas tree patterned paper set on kraft paper. I love the natural look of kraft paper, especially during the holidays. The Happy Holidays in the bottom corner is actually a Doodlebat, DB 'Tis The Season Words, which is a fun distressed take on common holiday words and sayings. To go with the distressed look, I scuffed up and inked the edges and set with tiny pearls. If there was a scratch 'n sniff feature on this blog, you'd be able to enjoy the scent of this card too, Christmas Lane. Ive discovered Card Scents and have enjoyed adding them to my holiday cards. The inside of the card reads "May the magic of Christmas fill each corner of your home and heart."

My second card is a simple piece of holly patterned paper, distressed with green and brown inks to soften the look. Set with tiny pearls, the pattern paper pops off of the contrasting cardstock, while the scalloped oval completes the theme. Inside reads, "A heartfelt Christmas wish of peace and happiness, this holiday season."

Hopefully I'll be back soon with more to share!

Drawer Pull Wall Mounts

2008-11-03T19:41:00.004-05:00

I need your help. I have created something that I don't have a name for and I need to come up with something catchy. Something clever. Something better than...drawer pull wall mounts. That's what they are, a cute drawer pull mounted on a 5 inch block of wood that you hang on the wall. Sort of like a decorative coat hook. Only shabbier. Cuter. And unique. So, what would you call this thingamajig? They'll be up for sale in my Etsy shop if I can think of what to call them.

Holiday Banner

2008-11-02T08:02:00.009-05:00

As I was preparing for this year's Pumpkin Pick, I was trying to think of an easy and clean craft project for the kids to do. The kids range in age from teenagers to little tots so finding a project that they can all enjoy is sometimes difficult. I'd seen a few renditions of paper pennant banners and that sort of thing so I tried to come up with my own version. In doing so, I realized how easy it was and thought it would be the perfect craft for the kids. I precut all of their materials and packaged them up with labels as to what each particular banner said. For example, Boo!, Spooky, Eek!, Halloween, Autumn, Pumpkins, and Give Thanks.

These banners are so easy and cute, you're sure to find several uses for them all through out the year. Let's get started!

I began by cutting the materials using my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities dies. LOVE these things, Ive used them for so many different projects! With the exception of the ribbon and a couple of tools, these are all of the supplies I used.
Notice the little bottle in the top right hand corner. Its called Card Scents and its a new product Ive just discovered that scents your cards for you. This particular scent is called Pumpkin Pie Spice. I'm looking forward to using my Icicles and Christmas Lane scents on my holiday cards this year! Its a light oil substance that you brush onto the edges of your card stock, just like nail polish.

I spelled out Give Thanks in a Word document and customized the font to the look I wanted to achieve. Each letter was then cut by hand (I didn't want them to be perfect in size) and inked around the edges. I then scented my patterned paper. The oil bled through just a little bit so I also inked the edges of the polka dot patterned paper to hide it, which worked out just fine (I'm still experimenting with Card Scents). Next, I attached the patterned paper to the scalloped card stock in an alternating pattern. Adhering the letters came next. Again, I wasn't too worried about perfect placement or size, I like the randomness. I then took my Fiskers ribbon hole punch and punched each corner of the scalloped card stock base, ensuring not to catch the corner of the patterned paper. I began with the last letter of the saying, threading the ribbon into the right hand side, behind the card stock, and back out the left hand side. I repeated the process until all of the letters were on threaded by the ribbon. I added a simple slip knot to both ends for hanging. Using some gems and flowers, I added a few embellishments. To finish it off, I added a few ties of extra ribbon to the center point as well as the ends. Viola, a holiday banner!

Pumpkin Pick 2008

2008-11-01T11:49:00.012-04:00

I shudder to think of how long its been since Ive touched base with you all. So sorry, really, its just that things have been unexpectedly busy. And Ive had a nasty cold that has taken up residence in my chest and wont leave.

Six years ago I started a little get together with my family called the Pumpkin Pick. It was a day to get the family together for something other than a holiday or birthday, just to have a little seasonal fun. The primary intent was to take everyone to a local pumpkin patch so that the kids could pick their own pumpkins. Over the years, we've tried out different pumpkin patches and activities, various food and crafts. You just never know what the next Pumpkin Pick is going to bring!

This year we didn't go to a pumpkin patch since there really aren't any that are close to our house. Instead, we started the day with a wienie roast, made home made applesauce, took a trip to a local corn maze that was acres and acres BIG, then came back home for some crafts. Though the weather was beautiful, we still warmed our bellies with some homemade vegetable soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

I remember making applesauce as a kid, or rather, I remember everyone making applesauce around me. I'm not sure I played a big part in the whole ordeal. But this time, even the littlest of tykes enjoyed the process. We started with a whole lotta apples! Lots of peeling, coring, and cutting going on. Like I said, even the little guys enjoyed helping out. Every successful operation needs a quality control manager! Unfortunately, I was too busy running around to get any good pictures of the days events, and wouldn't you know, as soon as we arrive at the corn maze, my camera died. But not before one group shot of the kids.

We cant have a Pumpkin Pick without pumpkins so I got some home grown goodness from my uncle and shared them with the kids. But I couldn't just give them a naked pumpkin! I dressed them up just a little with handmade tags, just to serve as a reminder of the day.

I started by downloading a Doodlebat called DB Halloween Little Notes. These are so cute and fun, there are endless crafts you could use them for. I picked one image, made it about a 150 point font size, then added a text box over top of it to read Pumpkin Pick 2008. I then printed them on natural card stock, cut them out, and punched a ribbon hole into the end of each one. I used some green raffia to thread through the ribbon hole and knotted it. Once I had all of the tags ready, I simply tied them on to each pumpkin stem. A simple, cost effective way to add just a little something extra to an otherwise ordinary pumpkin. Like I said, each child was able to take their own pumpkin home as a memento of this year's Pumpkin Pick.

Check back later for a tutorial of the craft that we put together!

Halloween Card

2008-10-16T22:47:00.010-04:00

Do you ever feel like you've lost your mojo? I sat down tonight to work on some Halloween cards and it was hours before I produced anything. I need to be working on some Thanksgiving invitations for my sister in law but things just aren't coming to me. Crafter's Block. When I get it, I get it bad and it's so frustrating. What usually helps is when I create just for fun, hence the Halloween cards. But even those were tricky...get it, trick-y...Halloween...trick or treat... Humor me here, I have crafter's block. If this is the worst Halloween card I produce this season, I think I'll be alright. I stitched the edges of solid black card stock (even though my machine is on the blink. Maybe it has a sewing block...) then layered on top, a patterned paper piece that had its edges distressed. Love that roughed up look. Each corner is touched with black rhinestones and the focal points are Halloween chipboard buttons by Making Memories. I bought these last year in fact, but never used a one (I have a bad habit of hording things). All was layered upon a cream card, which was a nice smooth contrast to the black. The inside reads:
When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,
may luck be yours on Halloween.

I really like this aged typewriter font, called 1942 Report. I found the quote at The Quote Garden, which I visit all of the time because it's such a good resource. They have quotes, sayings, etc. for just about every theme, holiday, or topic under the sun. Or moon. If you're working on some Halloween projects of your own, visit their Halloween page for some cute sayings.

I leave you tonight with a shot of my assistant...asleep on the job. She's a dainty "size 13."

Tastes of Fall

2008-10-14T21:40:00.007-04:00

There are so many wonderful things about Fall, don't you agree? You'll notice over there to the right that I have a new poll out for you to participate in, just for fun. There are so many great things to experience this time of year, what's your favorite?

One of my favorites is the foooood! Mmmm, I love eating, cooking, and enjoying the aromas that come from autumnal dishes on a cool day. It isn't that cool around here right now (we're still in the 80's but not for long) but I just couldn't wait to simmer up some soup. Broccoli Cheddar Soup that is. This was my first attempt at making soup from scratch and I am quite proud of myself. When it comes to cooking, I seldom use recipes. I rely on them for baking (too much science involved!)but not so much for regular cooking other than to get an idea or two. So I dont have a recipe to give you for this soup but I can tell you what's in it...Im just not sure of the exact amounts. Beware; this is NOT a health conscience dish. If you're feeling a bit risky, toss the following ingredients in a large pot and cook up some soup:

Milk
1 stick of butter
1 can chicken broth
Heavy whipping cream (maybe a small carton?)
Onion
1 bag frozen chopped broccoli
1 small stick Velveeta cheese
Shredded cheese (2 cups?)
Ground pepper
Flour to thicken (I actually used both flour and corn starch)

This was very easy and relatively quick to make. The butter, chicken broth, and whipping cream were definitely the stars of this show. Serve it up with some crusty French bread and you're all set. Perfect for those crisp fall days!

A Cause for Celebration

2008-10-10T20:39:00.005-04:00

You may recall that at the start of the new year, I chose a word. A word that would represent the days ahead, a hopeful outlook of things to come. My word was celebrate. We are in a time of thanksgiving, and I am certainly thankful for the many reasons I have had to celebrate thus far during the year. Today I have but one more reason to celebrate.

Today I accepted a position that will allow me to take another step towards this dream/goal/passion I have of event planning. After a total of three interviews and weeks of agonizing waiting, you are now looking at (figurtivly speaking) the brand new, sparkling, Marketing Events and Promotion Cordinator. That's right folks, I'm officially an event planner! I'll primarily be responsible for the coordination of our tradeshows and sales events, which is a pretty big task. Im excited though and am very anxious to get started. But as is the case with most change, its change...something new and a bit unknown. The good news is that this is a position within my current place of employment, so hopefully that'll ease the transition process a little bit.

When I came to this company over four years ago I had no idea the opportunites that waited for me on the other side of those glass doors. Some would take years to unfold and others, I believe, are still waiting for just the right time to present themselves. Opportunities are all around us, big and small, and we must seize as many as we can. Because you just never know what awaits you on the other side of those glass doors.

Here's to my new begining, let's celebrate!

Autumn Splendor

2008-10-07T16:55:00.006-04:00

Most people don’t want to look at lizards so I’ve pulled together a few fall inspiration pictures for you to gaze upon instead. There’s no denyin’ it, fall is here. Are you ready? We stopped by our local Farmer’s Market this weekend and the goodies were abundant! I came home with a few bunches of the prettiest hydrangea. I cant wait to show them to you (I have to find a container for them first)! All of the pumpkins for sale had me in the mood for autumn so the next day I drove to a nearby pumpkin patch and gathered some mini pumpkins and gourds to decorate with. It was dark by time I got home so they’re still sitting in bags waiting for me to put them to good use. And today, it’s raining. Hopefully the spirit of fall will return very soon and I can share my decorating projects with you. In the meantime, maybe these pictures will inspire you to do some fall decorating of your own. pictures compliments of Sunset.

Say hello...

2008-10-05T21:20:00.006-04:00

to our 'ittle friend. Ladies and gentlemen, this...is Barney. Max was spending time with his 'little' today (his little brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program) and came home with a Bearded Dragon. I okayed a lizard, because I was told that a cheap little $9 one would be cool. Barney here, did not cost $9 but we wont dwell on that little detail. Lets focus on the real issue at hand. I have...a lizard...in my basement. And it better stay there.

Alright, so the little guy is kinda cute, in a lizard sort of way. Anything's cute when its smaller than the size of my hand. But these things don't stay that small. They get big. And ugly. And it now lives in our basement! If it wasn't for the cool program that Max is involved in, I'm not sure Id be so hip and cool with Barney taking up residence in our basement. But, its something good for Max and his little so I am cool with it. How harmful can a little lizard be right?!

Dried Rose Topiary

2008-10-01T20:35:00.021-04:00

Hello my friends and happy October! I lovey the month of October and cant wait to dive into some autumn inspired projects. But first, I must show you a project that I recently finished.

You may recall that back in August, I shared with you my first professional event planning experience. With that event, I took home a few dozen roses from the centerpieces with intentions to craft them into something. You probably thought I forgot huh? No, it just took me forever and a day to complete the project(s). I worked on a couple of things using the leftover flowers and today I'm going to share with you my progression in making a dried rose topiary.

I first started by separating the roses from the greenery, pitching what I either didn't want or what wasn't any good to use. I was left with a good selection of roses. I then began the drying process. This was a learning experience for me so I tried several different methods. I first started with silica gel, a fine powder substance that allows you to microwave-dry your flowers. This stuff works pretty well but for this project I noticed that it left my flowers a little extra-crispy and smelling a little funny. I guess I overcooked them; though they kept their shape, they were extremely brittle. Not what I was looking for. So, I just laid all of the flowers out to dry, which took several days. I simply took a cooling rack, placed it between two chairs so that it would allow the stems to dangle and keep the flowers upright, placed each flower in its respective slot, and waited. This worked well and gave the flowers a natural dried look. Except, it took a while. So I sped up the process by sticking them in the oven. Once my flowers were all dry, it was time to gather my supplies. I began by selecting a pot that suited my style. I picked up this ivory one for around $5-$10 thanks to a 40% off coupon. I have one styrofoam ball pictured here but actually used two. One for the actual topiary and one to place inside the pot to hold the topiary stick. These crazy little balls were the most expensive piece to the whole project, about $4 each. I happened to have some Spanish moss on hand so that's what I used to cover the base but there are several different types available to choose from. I also picked up some greening pins to hold the moss in place and wood picks to adhere the flowers to. All of these supplies can be found at your local craft or floral store, I happened to get all of the supplies shown at Michael's. Except for the stick, I found that for free in my back yard. Once you have all the supplies needed, here's how you can put together your very own topiary.

Start by shoving the stick up the...um, lets try that again. Gently insert the stick into the styrofoam ball. Cover with moss, ensuring that it is kept in place by the greening pins. Talk about a bad hair day! Once the base is generously covered, its time to prepare the roses. Shorten the rose stem so that it is just long enough to attach to the wood pick. Line the stem up with the pick and wrap the wire around until the flower is secure with the pick. Stick the flower into the base, being careful not to smoosh it. Repeat process until all of your flowers are used up or your base is adequately covered. Next, ask your trusty side-kick if it looks alright. Meow! Two paws up!

At the time, I was out of dried roses and the topiary was looking like something that belonged in the compost bin. So there it sat, on my dinning room table. For days. Which turned into weeks. I managed to kick it back into gear and finished placing the remaining dried roses into the topiary. It was finally turning into something presentable.

I completed the project by inserting a styrofoam ball into the pot, covered it with moss, and gently inserted the other end of the stick into the bottom base. An ivory satin bow completed the look. Pretty simple really, just took a bit of time and ample working space.

I have one other project that involves the use of these flowers but you'll have to stay tuned to find out the details. Until then...

Shabby French Frame ~ Black & Cream

2008-09-24T22:20:00.006-04:00

Only a couple more French inspired projects and I promise I'll move on to something else. Maybe. We'll see. Tonight I whipped up a French inspired frame using the leftover paper from the French scrolls I showed you yesterday along with black and cream diamond patterned paper. If the frame looks familiar, its because I incorporated the same layout as I used on this frame.I love the subtlety of how the black, cream, and browns all blend together.Thanks for stopping by, I hope to have more for you to see very soon!

French Scrolls

2008-09-23T21:51:00.011-04:00

It is officially fall but I cant dive into all of Autumn's splendors until I satisfy this French mood Ive been in lately. I'll have to find a way to combine the two I guess. Tonight's project is a simple one, and pretty inexpensive too. Gotta love that right?

I received an apothecary jar for Christmas last year and I've had a really hard time knowing what to put in it because it is so large. Until I got smacked with a French inspiration stick, then I thought of something! I wanted to fill it with scrolls of French paper.

I began by opening a new Word document. I entered a bunch of text (it can be anything, really), highlighted the text, right clicked, selected Translate, then translated the English text to French text. Then, I played around with different font types to achieve the look I was going for. In this case, I wanted several different styles so I used the same text but printed them out several times in various fonts. I used fine business paper but any type of paper will probably do, it just depends on the look you're going for.Next, I distressed my the papers' edges using scissors and ink.Once I had all of my pages distressed to my liking, I rolled them up, some long ways and some short ways, and tied them with ribbon, jute, and/or lace.So simple right?! Now all I have to do is place them into my apothecary jar. But I'm faced with a dilemma, do I add a little moss at the bottom...?or......not?I'm pleased with how the scrolls turned out and was surprised at just how quick and easy they were to create. Instead of using French script, try sheet music, old ledger papers, or pages out of old novels. Specialty papers such as these would look great in a long basket or any other container that would allow you to showcase the delicate look of aged pages. Give it a try!

Shabby French Frame ~ Pink

2008-09-22T19:24:00.006-04:00

Shabby and French go together like peanut butter and jelly. Bread and butter. Chocolate and milk. And I love it all! I am very into French inspirations right now so the other day I had the idea to try my French script stamp on a frame. I haven't worked on frames for a long while so this is what I came up with:Unfortunately, the stamp is narrower than my frame, so I'll need to keep experimenting until I find the right placement. The flower embellishments are Cuttlebug dies that I cut out then crumpled and distressed to give them that shabby look. Pretty easy really, except that those flowers aren't very big and un-crumpling them is finger-numbing. I have a few other shabby-French ideas that I hope to share with you soon so stay tuned for those!

Adventures of a travelin’ girl…

2008-09-18T10:40:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, I have a pretty sweet job. Or maybe it’s just a regular job with a few sweet perks every now and again. Either way, its days like this when I am happy to be in Corporate America playing the role of a successful, high powered business woman. Im not really all that successful and not the least bit a high powered business woman, but I play one on tv. Okay, so I don’t play one on tv either.

Back in the spring I was asked to co-present at a large conference in Chicago with one of the banking institutions that we do business with. Apparently I was such a smash hit (gag me!) that they asked if I would co-present the same presentation at a conference in Grand Rapids, MI. Okay, so you’re going to fly me to Grand Rapids, put me up in the Amway Grand, feed me, entertain me, make me stand in front of a hundred people for an hour, then send me on my way? Where do I sign?

Let me just say that I am NOT an experienced traveler. I don’t think I have been through a major airport since the 9-11 attacks. As a matter of fact, I stepped off of a plane the very morning those horrific things took place and haven’t been back since. I remember all the hype about increased security measures, shoe bombers, all that. But when I was preparing for my trip, I forgot to make myself familiar with the new airport guidelines. I checked myself in online, was all set and ready…so I thought. I didn’t check my bag, decided to carry it on with me so I wouldn't have to pay the ridiculous fee that the airports are charging these days. Mistake! Thank God I was at the airport at a non-busy time because otherwise, I would have been mortified. As Im standing there…shoeless…how can anyone be comfortable in an airport security line without any shoes on? Anyway, Im watching them scan my computer, my bag, my purse, then…my suitcase. They might as well have started blowing sirens or something. The lady indicated that there was a problem and they would need to search my bag. Omg. Right there, for everyone to see, are the contents of my suitcase. Thank goodness I packed my cute undies right? Someone forgot to remind me that big bottles of anything liquid are NOT allowed on a plane. For crying out loud, what am I going to do with a bottle of Dove hairspray? Its Dove! A symbol of peace! How harmful can a half empty can of hairspray be? Fine, take it. Oh, and this Clean and Clear facial soap…fine, you can have that too. And the lotion. And my toothpaste. They picked up my bottle of Channel perfume and I about went postal on them…oh, but it was okay. Wshew! I then got a brief lesson from the should-be retired security officer as to what’s allowable and what’s not. And then he gave me a Ziploc bag to put all the allowable stuff in. Him handing me that plastic bag was like being handed that little plastic cup at the doctor’s office. Here, fill this up!

Alright, so Im finally through security and waiting at the gate with plenty of time to spare (which for me is a small miracle in and of itself). Im boarding the plane just like everyone else, and as I give my ticket to the ticket-taker-guy, he slightly glances up at me and says in a tone that is barely audible, ‘thank you Supermodel Miller.’ Lol!! I chuckled, said thank you, walked away, then rolled my eyes. Where was he when they were searching my private belongings?! I should have corrected him and stated that today I am not a supermodel; I am a high powered business woman. I’m only a supermodel on the weekends.

Country Living Fair 2008 (Round 1)

2008-09-14T21:28:00.007-04:00

The countdown is over, and so is Country Living Fair 2008. Despite the icky weather (rain, lots of scattered rain), we enjoyed ourselves at this year's fair which was held at Ohio Village in Columbus, OH. We saw several improvements since last year's show with access and parking being at the top of the list. The vendor count appeared higher, though I'm unsure of actual numbers. The layout of the fair was more "village" like and spread out. I missed some of the coziness of last year's fair, where all of the booths were snuggled in together, but at least we were able to walk around without mowing people over...too much. That was a good thing.

Below are various photos I took at the fair. I'm still doing a little research to find additional information on my favorite vendors so I'll bring you those photos in Round 2.

Overview:

Decor:

Vignettes:

Ceeell-la-brate...

2008-09-14T02:56:00.006-04:00

...good times, COME ON! Dernt nernt dernt nernt nernt nernt nernt nernt YEAH HOO!

Press play and celebrate with me!

Why are we celebrating?! Because I am d-o-n-e, finished, over, through, complete, stick a fork in me because I am DONE with college! Dernt nernt dernt nernt YEAH HOO!
Com'on, celebrate with me! You know you want to, this song is just too grooovy not to get up on your feet! Get up, dance around, YEAH HOO!
Its after 3:30 am and I seriously JUST finished college about 30 minutes ago. YEAH HOO! Dernt nernt dernt nernt nernt nernt nernt nernt YEAH HOO! *bopping my head, swaying too and fro* YEAH HOO!

Country Living or Bust!

2008-09-11T20:49:00.004-04:00

The wait is almost over. Tomorrow, bright and early, "the sisters" will load 'em up and head 'em out to the Country Living Fair 2008. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. I was over at this blog (because she's going to be exhibiting at the fair)and she mentioned that the pre-sales for this year's fair have already exceeded the number of total attendees at last year's fair. People, do you realize what this means? It's going to be bananas!! B-a-n-a-n-a-s, bananas!! Despite the thunderstorms in the forecast, I think it'll be a fantastic time. I'll have a full report for you when I return but in the meantime, enjoy some of my photos from Country Living Fair 2007.

Changes

2008-09-02T16:18:00.001-04:00

No matter how tightly we try to hang on, summer is slipping away. With the passing of Labor Day, summer’s unofficial end, fall is certainly upon us. But what a great time to celebrate! Autumn is such a splendid time of year with a multitude of things to look forward to. A fresh start to school (except for me, yeah!), the kickoff to football season, vibrant colors, festivals, harvest, food, Oh the food!! *sigh* Fall has become my most favorite time of year. I just wish the beautiful leaves would hang tight a little longer and the crisp air filled with sunshine would endure a few weeks more. But to everything there is a season right?

In tune with the season’s change, I have updated my blog just a bit. With the new month comes a new banner, one of my favorite ways to express creativity. You may also note that I’ve updated my blog lists and categorized my favorite selections. I am always on the lookout for wonderful and inspiring blogs!

I look forward to sharing this fantastic season with you!

Make a Difference

2008-08-30T11:57:00.013-04:00

Hello! A few days ago I mentioned that I was working on a super easy and inexpensive project that anyone can do. When I was a kid, the term Reduce, Reuse, Recycle was popular. Now, its Go Green! No matter what you call it, we all need to do more of it and this project can help. I truly believe that if we all did our part, we can make a difference.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I go to Walmart and they put like, two items in a bag. I buy six things and go home with four different bags. Why do they do that? I know those bags are flimsy but surely they can hold more than a box of Q-tips and some shampoo. I constantly find myself taking things out of the bags and putting them in with others...while the clerk just looks at me. Or if I buy just one or two things, I tell them I'll carry it and save a bag. Every now and again I get a thank you for that.

This project is a small solution to those flippy little bags that clutter our landfills and drive me absolutely insane. Tote bags! That's right, by carrying a reusable tote bag you can eliminate or reduce the number of those little bags that you see flying around everywhere. Retail stores are starting to sell more of them but they cost anywhere from $15 on up to as much as you can imagine. Spending a gob of money on a tool to help save the earth doesn't make sense to me, so I decided to make my own. Most plain canvas tote bags I found were around $5 but with a coupon, you can get them much cheaper, as I did. The only downfall I found was that I was limited in size options. So if you're looking for a really large bag, you may need to invest a little more money. I plan on doing some research to find extra-large bags so that I can make a complete grocery shopping trip without using any store bags.

So I started with my washed canvas tote bag, iron-on transfers, and a design. For my design, I used a Doodlebat, dbtrees. I had been wanting to customize a tote bag for a while now so when I found this Doodlebat, I had an idea! Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a different tree. I started with all the letters then started omitting the trees I didn't particularly like. Once I had a good row of trees, I randomly changed their colors to add a little contrast. I found a saying that I thought was fitting and added that below the trees in the font CK Alis Writing. I think I downloaded this font (for free) from the Creating Keepsakes website a while back. So here's the design:I then printed the design on an iron-on transfer sheet. You can purchase these just about anywhere that sells office supplies. There is a difference though between regular iron-ons and dark iron-ons so watch for that. Be sure to print according to the directions, your image should be mirrored. I trimmed my design to get rid of the extra white space. Though it irons on clear, you can still see the transfer sheet on the material so I like to eliminate that as much as I can. Place the transfer face down on your fabric and begin ironing according to the manufacturer's directions.Once you've ironed on the transfer sheet and it's cooled, slowly peel it offViola!Except it looks a little plain to me: *waving magic wand* There, much better! A close up of the details: Now, wasn't that easy?! Head the the craft store today and buy your canvas bag so you can begin to make a difference.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go hug a tree.

Cards

2008-08-27T21:31:00.009-04:00

Hi friends! I have a couple of projects in the works but nothing to show just yet. One is so inexpensive and easy that even you can do it! Besides that, you SHOULD do it, or at least really, really want to because it's so very important. So stay tuned for that.

I'm digging out a couple of cards I did recently but haven't posted yet, just to give you something to look at. The first is a birthday card for a coworker. I was in charge of buying the card...buying the card?! Who buys cards anymore? :)
This card uses the Circles Birthday Doodlebat from Scrapin Fonts on the front colored in with Copics.

Inside:

And here's another card made with the "Max and Jill" silhouette stamp. Same stamp, completely different look than the first time I used it. Sort of has an old west feel I think. John Wayne and Miss Kitty?

Details:

Fun with Flowers

2008-08-25T21:15:00.011-04:00

Thank you everyone for your kind words in regards to my I Did It! post. Though I have a long way to go before I make it to where Id like to be professionally, I realize that this first event is a very important building block for my future. I intend to have a lot of fun along the way and I hope you'll all join me for the adventure.

I mentioned that the centerpieces we used for the event would come in handy for a few other projects. First up (because my other ideas haven't come to full fruition), is some basic fun with pictures. I am a very visual person, love pictures of pretty things. Max laughs at me all the time when he asks about a magazine I'm "reading" and I reply with, I don't know what it's about, I'm just looking at the pictures! Don't worry, I know how to read...I just really love pictures. I know you're not suppose to judge a book by its cover but I do. I really do! And pictures are worth a thousand words aren't they? I digress but one thing I have been enjoying recently is playing around with my camera and trying to understand how it works best and how to take decent pictures. It's hard for me to leave something in its original unaltered state. That's why we have hobbies, so we can play right?!

I took scads of pictures of these centerpieces, both at night and during the day to see how the lighting effected the pictures. Then, I uploaded them to a photo editing software and started playing around. I bought Corel Paint Shop Pro last semester but was way too busy to take the tutorial to learn how to use it. I still haven't done that but Ive had fun trying to learn on my own. I find I learn best through trial and error. Until I learn the right way then I wonder why I wasted so much time trying and erroring... So this post is nothing more than a reason to show you some pictures of flowers and to talk about the fun I had playing around with the images.
Before:

After:
The pictures look a little fuzzy here on Blogger so I hope to get a Flickr account open soon so photos can be viewed in their best format.

I Did It!

2008-08-22T19:23:00.008-04:00

I did it! I've successfully planned my first event...professionally! Yeah sure, Ive been doing stuff for myself and family for years now, but this, this was for work. *angels sing*

I work in the Treasury department for a large manufacturing company and each year we hold a lenders meeting where we invite in all of our bankers (the wonderful people who we bank with and borrow money from if/when needed). Not a huge deal but sort of a deal. We bring them in for a two day affair to show them around, wine 'n dine them, present them with our company's latest and greatest, then entertain them. And yours truly was responsible for putting this entire ordeal together. Okay, we're only talking about 30 people here but they're important people in fancy suits. That drive fancy cars. And make fancy salaries! And we as a company, are feeling the effects of our current economy so I had to do it reasonably. I'll try to give you an idea of how it went while sparing you all of the mundane details.

On day one there is a plant tour so they can see our manufacturing process in progress. Cut 'n dry really. There was a slight hiccup with the timing but that wasn't my fault :) That evening a cocktail reception and dinner was held at a local hotel. We have slim pickins for nice hotels around here so I changed it up a bit and went with one a little further away that we as a company hadn't tried yet for this type of meeting. When I booked the hotel they failed to mention that they would be undergoing a major renovation to their main lobby area...uhhh huh! Not ideal but it worked out okay as our people were confined to the banquet rooms and were none the wiser til they stepped outside. Anyway, we chose to have cocktail tables scattered throughout one side of the room with large rounds for dinner on the other side. All covered in ivory linens with yellow napkins. Not my favorite choice of linens but I was working with a) what the hotel had and b) a limited budget. So, we had shrimp cocktail and crab cakes with dill sauce for appetizers and a duo of chicken and tenderloin for dinner accompanied by asparagus with lemon zest and smashed potatoes. It was all very tasty...for hotel food. Let's get to the fun stuff right? Okay!

Because I'm a girly girl, I'm thinking the whole time that I'm planning this that gee...we really need flowers on the tables. Hmmm, limited budget, not sure if my boss will go for flowers. We've never done flowers in the past... I asked and was told by my male boss that "flowers might add a nice touch, just don't sell the barn to buy them." Woo hoo, I get to buy flowers!! Except its 6 days til the event, can I get flower arrangements this late. Sha-yeah! I requested some small arrangements for the dinner tables with a few bud vases to go on the cocktail tables in "sunset colors". I specifically told them red, orange, and yellow, with maybe some dark pink in a short square vase. What I got was orange and pink with some yellow and...blue. I was disappointed when I first saw them but contained myself. Turns out, they looked lovely on the light linen covered tables and really brightened up the room! The florist had just gotten in some amber colored square vases which were perfect and toned down the flowers a bit. I guess those ladies knew what they were doing, here's how they turned out:

Fast forward...the dinner went great, next was the meeting. The room was divided in half and set-up classroom style. As a fleeting thought the night before, I asked the banquet manager to take the flower arrangements and reset them on the tables for the meeting. So glad I did that as the room was darkened for the presentations so the flowers helped add a little pop to an otherwise drab conference room. And dual purpose, gotta love that. And...I'll tell you later how these flowers will end up serving many more purposes! Okay, so the dinner went great, the breakfast and meeting went great, next...lunch followed by golf.

Again, this new kid in town wanted to switch things up so I picked a new golf course which is beautiful. I'm no golfer so I was at a bit of a loss to know what golfers think, like, do... Don't they all wear argyle? We usually give the attendees a little gift, like mugs or umbrellas or some other junky thing that will end up in the back of their car never to be seen again. Uh uh, I wasn't doing that. We need something cooler. *snap* That's it, a cooler! How about a cooler that...looks like a golf bag?!

Total score! These were a big hit! I handed out the coolers after the meeting and instructed them all to bring them to the golf course where they would be able to fill them with the beverage of their choice. *patting myself on the back* This worked out really well! Then, another lady and I filled our own coolers and drove around the course refilling theirs when they were in need. Each cooler was compact but large enough to hold a six pack plus ice. Like I said, they worked out really well!

So, everything went off without a hitch and many compliments were received from both upper management and the bankers. After the meeting, my boss stood before us and thanked everyone for coming. Then he publicly thanked me for my help in planning the event. The room broke into applause and I even heard a "woo hoo, go Jill!" from somewhere in the room. Lol!! I'm not kidding...! I don't know who it was but I like to think I now have my own little fan club! It could happen... :)

I'll be back later to share the plans I have for the centerpieces.

Minnesota Pictures

2008-08-17T23:12:00.005-04:00

I am ready to throw my computer in the lake but alas, the Minnesota pictures are finally ready for your viewing pleasure. I put together a slide show, set to music, which last about 4 minutes or so. The featured song, one of my current favorites, is Life In A Northern Town by Sugarland featuring Little Big Town and Jake Owen. Though I have no idea what this song is really about, the title fits and it will now remind me of my trips to Minnesota each time I hear it. All of the photos displayed in the slide show were taken by me, a VERY amateur photographer-wannabe. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

Countdown to Country Living Fair

2008-08-15T15:05:00.003-04:00

By now you may have seen my little countdown on the right hand side for the Country Living Fair. This is its third year and I am so excited! I went with my mom and aunt last year, really not knowing what to expect, and was blown away! I think it is what kick-started my desire to get back on the crafting wagon. There were so many wonderful vendors with such stylish booths and innovative ideas. Talk about sensory overload!! I cant wait to go back this year to see what’s going on in the industry. Because many of these vendors have blogs, I feel like I already know them. So when I see them this year, they’ll seem like celebrities! I’ll try to retain my urge to ask for their autographs but just might have to get some pictures of them!

The other thing that I love about this event is that it has been Mid-west based all three years. It seems like we never get the cool shows…until now! So if you’re in the Columbus, OH area on September 12-14, you MUST stop by the Country Living Fair! If it’s as good as last year, you wont regret it! Check out Country Living’s website for more details.

Missing Minnesota

2008-08-14T21:46:00.008-04:00

I miss Minnesota. I miss being out on the water, the beautiful scenery, the peacefulness. Though our time there was short, it was a great blessing to be able to spend time with family and revisit some childhood memories. As children, you never know which experiences are going to stay with your memory forever. The images that this lake has imprinted into my internal photo album will be there for years to come, evoking the familiar feeling of being in a place that I love.

My parents' and brother's site was on Cut Foot Sioux while my other brother and cousins were over on Big Winnie (Lake Winnibigoshish). Though they are connected, each body of water has its own personality (sounds like my family!). One small and tranquil, the other large and abundant. Here are two videos that I captured on my camera that give a brief glimpse at each lake:

Big Winnie

Cut Foot Sioux

I am almost ready to share my photos with you so stay tuned!

Better Banana Bread

2008-08-14T12:39:00.004-04:00

Good news, last night’s dinner experiment was redeemed with Better Banana Bread! I happened to have a couple of very ripe bananas on the counter and needed to use up the left over yogurt from the crispy chicken recipe so I Googled a banana bread that used yogurt. Here’s the one I tried from The Fresh Loaf:

Better Banana Bread
Makes 1 huge loaf or 3 small loaves

Preheat the oven to 350.

In one bowl, combine:
1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
1 cup vanilla or plain yogurt
2/3 cup sugar
Use a potato masher, fork, or spoon to squish the banana and mix the ingredients together. It is alright for there to be small (1 centimeter) chunks of banana in the batter, but you want most of the banana to be reduced to mush.

In another bowl, combine:
1 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are blended together.

If you like, stir in additional ingredients here, such as chopped walnuts or pecans, dried cherries or apricots, or chocolate chips. A handful (about a half a cup) is about right.

Pour the dough into greased baking pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Small loaves take around 30 minutes; a normal-sized loaf takes around 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven. This bread is great warm, but it is excellent cold too.

After they have cooled for 5 or 10 minutes the loaves can be removed from the pan to cool. Once they are cool they can be individually wrapped and frozen.
The only ingredient that Im not sure I like is the cinnamon. Had I baked this on a crisp autumn day, I would love it but cinnamon just isn’t a summer spice in my kitchen. It added an interesting flavor, that’s for sure. Im wondering what nutmeg would taste like. What other spices would you use?

I added walnuts (a 2oz bag) and a few handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I would have used milk chocolate but a little squirrel ate them all before I had a chance. I also poured in some vanilla since my yogurt was plain. I was only able to get one standard size loaf out of this mix and I baked it for about 55 minutes. The yogurt really kicks up the moisture in this bread but beware, it does make it a bit heavy. So if you’re looking for a light snack bread, find a recipe without yogurt.

I have some bananas frozen in the freezer so Im going to keep experimenting with this recipe. I think some sort of a fruit thrown in with the walnuts would be tasty…cherries, currants, cranberries… Mmmmmm!

Crispy Yogurt Chicken

2008-08-13T21:05:00.005-04:00

Have y'all checked out The Pioneer Woman yet? If you haven't, what are you waiting for? If I'd met her, I'm sure we'd be best friends. I think she's just great, with her whit, humor, amazing talent and all. Her photography is amazing and she has a unique way of making everyday things seem larger than life yet approachable. When she posted her recipe for Crispy Yogurt Chicken, I thought I would give it a try. Maybe its this time of year or the fact that I finally have a little more time on my hands but Ive been having fun experimenting with various herbs and recipes lately. This recipe seemed simple enough and it gave me a chance to try something new. I had all of the ingredients so I went to work.

I know that Pioneer Woman would never let me down, since we're best friends and all, so I'm not sure where I was led astray with this recipe. Emmm, I give it a C+ but definitely with A potential. Problem? Bland. Blah. Ho-hum. I even added an extra clove of garlic! I love that its made with yogurt, definitely a healthy spin on chicken, but it needs a lot of spice to kick it up a few notches. Max makes a delicious recipe that is very similar except it uses Miracle Whip and seasoned croutons. Okay, so its loaded with fat and everything that's totally bad for you, but at least its tasty. Not that my BFF's chicken wasn't tasty, it was just average. But I'm not giving up!

Fortunately, Max said the carrots (cooked in butter and brown sugar) and Alfredo noodles (topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese) were good, so that's a plus. And why I cooked my carrots in butter instead of boiling them and then adding the butter-sugar glaze...I have no idea. Sometimes I do weird things for no apparent reason. They look funny, but were delish!

I can only hope that tonight's cooking experiments are revived with this sweet concoction:

If all goes well, I'll share the recipe with you later. Stay tuned!

Home Again in Indiana

2008-08-11T15:21:00.004-04:00

We're home! Our time in Minnesota was wonderful and relaxing. Now, its time to catch up on laundry and cleaning before heading back to work. I need to organize and edit my pictures from the trip (what I was able to take when my camera wasnt dead!), so I'll post those for you very soon. In the meantime, enjoy this snapshot of the view we had from my parents' campsight:

Hop Skips

2008-08-05T15:33:00.002-04:00

I just received a call from my sister-in-law up in Minnesota. Boy am I jealous! They’re on the big lake, aka Big Winnie, and had just stopped off for a shore lunch (literally pulling the boat to shore and having lunch). Thankfully, everyone arrived safely in MN, although my brother’s entourage blew a tire on the boat trailer and lost some bearings during the trip. 14 hours later, they arrived to camp and have been successfully pulling in fish. I told them to save some for us; we’ll be headed that way in less than 24 hours!

They’re going into town tomorrow to get more lemonade and vodka; apparently the Hop-Skips are flowing nicely! What are Hop-Skips you ask? Mmm, a delicious concoction traditionally named Hop Skip and Go Naked! Or, hop skip and fall on your face… Or, as our friend who had a few too many once called, Jump Kicks. We’re not sure where Jump Kicks came from but it’s my new favorite terminology. Hop Skips are great to serve at large social gatherings since they can be mixed in large portions, much like margaritas (my personal favorite). Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give them a try:

Hop Skip & Go Naked

1 bag ice
1 can limeade
1 can lemonade
2 liters Sprite® soda
1/2 gal vodka
1 case beer

Empty a bag of ice into a large cooler. Add the cans of limeade and lemonade, then the 2 liter bottle of sprite. Add 1/2 gallon of vodka and 20-24 cans of beer.

There are several renditions to this recipe so feel free to switch it up to suit your taste. More or less beer can be used (I say way less!) and I’ve seen some recipes that use whiskey and other devilish liquids. Remember to drink responsibly!

We're getting very excited about our trip to Lake Winnibigoshish and are scrambling to get things purchased, organized, and cooked before we leave tomorrow. We have lots of fun to squeeze into three days of fishing and boating, so much to do!

Tattered Rose

2008-08-04T21:25:00.011-04:00

I have shared a couple of inspiration snippets with you over the past few weeks, and though I am not ready to reveal the completed project, I am going to share a small piece of what I have been working on.

I have had these pink silk roses for years. Literally, years. A Joann Fabrics was going out of business and I thought these roses were so lifelike (and cheap!!) that I had to grab 'em. I have used a few here and there but I still have a couple left.
Though they are nice in their current state, they were just too...perfect for what I'm needing. So, I grabbed my Distress Ink pad by Jim Holtz in the color tattered rose. Tattered rose, perfect! I was going for a shabby look so I inked up the rose petals as much as I could until I was satisfied with the look. I find myself distressing just about everything I create in one form or another. I either ink the edges or scuff them up with scissors...or both! I love the shabby look and think that distressing adds a nice softness with a worn in feel. Here's the finished tattered rose beside an original: The distressed look helps the rose to blend in better with the overall project scheme. At least I'm hoping that it will!

Timeless Silhouette

2008-07-30T21:12:00.004-04:00

When I first saw this silhouette stamp, I thought it was so reminiscent of Max and I on our wedding day. When Max walked in on me making this card he exclaimed, "Is that us?!"

What I really like about this image is that it's timeless. She could be wearing a bubblegum pink, taffeta dress and he a powder blue, ruffled tux. Or is she donning a scarlet red ball gown and he a classic black tuxedo? Where are they going? Where have they been? Are they kissing hello or kissing goodbye? What year is it, 1942 or 2008? A couple in love or a father kissing his daughter on her wedding day? I cant wait to explore the possibilities!The card front has a solid black base with a smaller pink mat, edges distressed with a stitched border. The silhouette image was stamped on top of the French Script background and adhered on a solid black scalloped mat. Rhinestones, flower, and distressed sentiment complete the look.Thank you for stopping by!

French Script

2008-07-29T19:39:00.004-04:00

I have really been enjoying my large stamp with the French script background. It seems to add just the right touch of shabby-ness to my projects. I designed a focal point for this card and ended up taking it off and replacing it with just the corner flowers instead. I still love the focal point I have, I just need to find a new way to make it work. So what I have here is the French script background, and some die cut flowers. Look closely though, one flower layer as well as the photo corners are cut from fabric. Shabby fabric! Ive been wanting to incorporate fabric on cards for a while now, just not sure how to go about it. Here's my first shot at it:(Sorry for the poor lighting in the photo!)
And a close up of the detail work:
I have neglected my Etsy shop all summer long so I am feeling the urge to get back in it again. So, back to the craft room I go. Let's hope some inspiration follows me!

Birthday Card

2008-07-28T22:41:00.005-04:00

We celebrated my nephew's first birthday over the weekend. Mother Nature cooperated and we had a great time at his party on the lake. Here is the quick card I put together for him: The front is cut about an inch short to reveal the patterned paper and buttons underneath. I dug out some birthday rub-ons that I had and added sentiments to the front and inside.

When my Godson Holden was baptised, I stumbled around trying to think of what to give him as a gift. Max had the wonderful idea of giving him a tree...so he could watch it grow just as we would watch him grow. Hauling a seven or eight foot tulip tree out the back of a Jeep for 30 minutes was no easy feat, but we made it there...tree in tact. So we felt that it was only appropriate to give his brother Wade a tree too, for his first birthday. A "Wealthy Apple" tree!Check out the size of those apples already!
Hopefully the trees AND boys will grow to be big and strong!
Happy Birthday Wade!

Let me introduce you!

2008-07-28T15:04:00.004-04:00

It has been about a year since I first discovered blogs. When I first heard the term “blog” I thought it was a medical term for some sort of yellowy mucus or an illness of some sort. But when I inadvertently stumbled upon my first blog evah, I was instantly hooked. It didn’t take me long before I was surfin blogs on a daily basis, then soon after, I started one of my own. Im still trying to determine what all my blog is suppose to be about, what its true purpose is, but until I have more time to devote to it and its readers, it is what it is. But aren’t blogs just great? I love ‘em and look forward to checking in each day with some of the worlds most creative and interesting people.

Recently, while checking in on a regular favorite, the writer mentioned having just discovered a particular blog. She claimed it to be awesome, so of course I had to check it out. Check it out I did, and I was instantly 100% hooked, impressed, amazed, and inspired by this woman that I am about to introduce you to. Her website is chock full of stories that will have you in stitches, crying tears of empathy, or shaking your head in amazement (Confessions, Home & Garden). The site boasts amazing photographs (Photography) that she takes herself and recipes that could make even Betty Crocker’s mouth water (Cooking). She calls her husband “Marlboro Man.” Perhaps you’ve already heard of her, perhaps not. Either way, get super comfy because once you start reading about this fabulous lady and her life, you wont want to stop. Simply put, she’s amazing. I hope you will enjoy, as much as I have:
The Pioneer Woman

Dont miss the boat!

2008-07-24T11:12:00.002-04:00

Two weeks from today, we’ll be here:

Hopefully fishing our little hearts out!

For years, my family has gone to Lake Winnibigoshish in Minnesota to camp and fish. I believe it all started with my grandparents many moons ago. Within the past few years, we grandkids and great grandkids have started joining our parents in what has evolved into a fishing tradition. I went back for the first time since I was a kid, two years ago, and was in heaven…even though it took a couple days to get used to being without a cell phone, radio, tv, and my loved ones.

It’s hard to explain or understand how such a massive body of water can evoke peacefulness from within, yet on a dime can become a mighty force to be reckoned with. There are so many wonders to nature aren’t there? I’m looking forward to it, even though there are times when the bugs bite more than the fish!

Stay tuned for some “fish bites” as we prepare for our trip!

Cleaning up and cleaning out

2008-07-22T13:18:00.005-04:00

Hello, I thought I would check in so you all wouldn't think I fell into a hole or something. Do you ever get the urge to purge? Not THAT kind of purge! Get rid of things, clean out, spruce up, make it all new? Well, that's exactly what Ive been doing, or at least trying to, and it feels good!

I don't know about you, but as I redo things, or redecorate, I learn a little something new about myself. What I am learning this go around, more of a confirmation really, is that I am very monochromatic. I LOVE color, no problem there, its just that when I find a color I love, everything I pick up is that color! I am no home decorating diva by any stretch of the imagination, though I would love to be, so I have to really work at figuring out how to put things together and incorporate various elements to create an overall style...without it being all the same color. And unfortunately, I always want something to look just like the picture in the magazine and will accept no substitutes. Although...I usually have to! So its no surprise that my next inspiration snippet is just that, monochromatic ivory.

Stay tuned to see how these "snippets" have inspired my latest project(s).

Future Fortune

2008-07-18T19:18:00.006-04:00

Another normal day at the office. Doing my work, punching numbers, lots of daydreaming about all things crafty...the usual. Went to lunch, scarfed down some delicious Chinese, then cracked open my fortune cookie.
I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. ~Author Unknown

(I think I'll hang onto this one...just in case.)

Martha, Martha, Martha!!!

2008-07-17T23:00:00.012-04:00

This group of cards and tags started because of a little bird's nest stamp I found and couldn't resist. Ive been challenging myself to use up my scrap paper, since I have plenty of it, and it has really been fun! So away I went...

One tag led to another...

And then came this little card which actually started with the three little scalloped squares...

...except at the time, I didn't have anything to put in the squares. I told you all I had been busy last week, and its all that darn Martha's fault. I went to Walmart for something completely unrelated, just happened to mosey to the craft isle, and wha?! When did Martha Stewart move in to Walmart?! Ye-ah, she has all sorts of fun stuff there now. Granted, she's had products at Michaels for quite some time now, in fact, she's pretty much taken over this whole green earth don't you think? There's just something about those little robbin-egg-blue packages that scream out "Pick me! Pick me!" And its by Martha, so how can it not be good right? So that's where the butterflies came from, good ole Martha. Ive seen some butterflies on this or that, and they were cute, but Ive never been a die-hard fan. *sigh* Until Martha's butterfly punch made its cute little way into my shopping cart. I've completely digressed but what I'm getting at is, how cute are these little fluttery bits of joy?

Notice that the middle but'rfly appears as if its flying off the page. Vellum. Its a good thing. *That's totally something my friend Martha would say!*

Amidst the bird nest stamp, Martha's punch, and these yummy scraps I'm lovin' I somehow caught a French moment. Probably because of last weekend's other big project that I gave you a sneak peak of and am still not ready to unveil to you all just yet. Yeah, I think that's what did it. So, I found myself at the hobby store, and like a broken record this stamp was hollering at me to pick it up. Oui oui!! And the French script begins...

I have had lots of fun with this stamp, although this is the only completed item I have at the moment. Another is in the works but it's being difficult at the moment so I had to put it in time-out until it learns to play nice.

And then somewhere along the way came this card and tag duo...

I turned the button into a flower by adding some freehand leaves that I inked up and scored down the middle to create a vein of sorts.

Some "whoopses" turned into good things with this matching tag...

Gotta love details...

That's all for tonight, I gotta hit the hay. Check back tomorrow, I just might have a Let's Entertain post and another inspiration sneak peak!

A little of this and a lot of that...

2008-07-14T21:38:00.013-04:00

Hello my friends! It's been almost two weeks, where have you been?! Oh wait, its me that's been MIA. So sorry about that, things have been busy. Last week I had several homework assignments due so blogging had to wait, which means my report on the Fourth of July had to wait, as well as all subsequent events. *sigh* Such is life huh? So let me rewind 10 days and give you a brief overview of the holiday.

What started as a "picnic" idea, turned into a full fledged cookout...albeit a small one. The invitees received this little e-vitation that I conjured up at the last minute using some freebie digi stuff and Publisher.

Max started the night before with a "secret recipe" for a chicken rub, which was applied and left to marinate over night. He stuck the chickens in the oven at noon and slow cooked them all afternoon long. Then, he smothered them in Sweet Baby Rays and fired up the grill. De-lish! The chicken was accompanied by baked beans, corn muffins, a couple of salads, fresh lemonade, and for dessert...homemade cheesecake (my brother rocks at cheesecakes!!) and my mom's cherry delight. We were all stuffed, no doubt about it.

I wanted to keep things simple so that I could enjoy the company and good food, so I covered the tables in...sheets! Yep, navy blue, twin flat sheets...from Walmart...at a whopping $3!! Sheets are a really great, and inexpensive, way to tie your party scheme all together. When you're done, just throw them in the wash, fold, and they're ready to use for something else (just not your bed!). In the centers of the tables, I added, again, very simple and inexpensive, arrangements that doubled as take-homes for each family. I love the gesture of sending the guests home with a token of the event! In this case, I picked up a simple potted annual, set it in the middle of a red handkerchief, gathered up the sides, and secured with a rubber band and then coordinating ribbon. Really simple, took a whole 5 minutes to do! Wouldn't violets, or another delicate flower, look darling with crisp white vintage hankies tied with satin and lace? Give that idea a try at your next ladies luncheon or shower. If using them at a shower, you could make them small, add a stake with the guest's name, and it doubles as a place marker and a take-away! Now I want to throw a shower...but I digress!! Anywho, here's how they turned out:

I added a few candles to the tables, as well as some cut out stars that I made the night before with my star punch. I also made napkin rings with those stars and ribbon to hold the cutlery but I didn't get a picture of those. But all I did was punch the star, cut two slits in the middle, then thread the ribbon in one side and back through the other so that both ends are in the front. Pull the "loop" away from the back so that you can insert the napkin rolled cutlery, then pull the ends tight and tie. Hello, simple! I also distressed the stars with some gold ink to snazz them up a bit.

So, after dinner we headed to Purdue to watch the fireworks from atop the press box at the football stadium. Hello, VIP, step aside... A different take on watching fireworks but we enjoyed it. They had a raffle...of which I won the GRAND PRIZE (an awning covered lawn chair)!! Sometimes I can be rather lucky...

Lets see, so after all of that, my three nieces who are home to see their dad for the summer, stayed the night with us. The next day I took them to the lake to see my brother and his family and to just hang out. I've learned that it doesn't matter how old you are, digging for seashells is still fun!

(More on these shellies later!)

I guess I was too busy enjoying the sun and failed to take any pictures. Except for these few of my squirly nephew and his dad...this kid is such a stink!!

You really cant tell in the photo, but this sandman was complete with muscles and a *ahem* "package". Niiiice!

So, after that enjoyable day, we headed back home, the girls stayed the night again, then the next day I took them home with plans to redo, "do" is more like it, their bedroom. Again, no pictures, but we painted the very very white room cocoa brown, then I picked up some white and brown polka dot sheets, aqua solid and stripped coverlet, and a coordinating rug. We took the seashells gathered from the lake, cleaned them in bleach water to rid them of any creepy crawlies, and the girls and their dad were going to finish putting them in jars to add as decor. I had some misc. frames and sea decor to give them so the room had an overall beachy theme to it. Dad liked it and so did they. Just took a couple of hours and we had a whole new look!

Okay, so that almost brings me to current with postings. Oh but wait, there is still so much more to share!! Sorry folks, you'll have to stop by tomorrow to see what I was up to alllll weekend long around this joint. What? You want a hint? Okay, here's just a little inspiration snipit to tide you over...

See you soon!

The Adventures of Max and Jill

2008-07-01T21:17:00.013-04:00

Max surprised me (sort of) with a little get away this past weekend for our first anniversary. We had talked about going away a while back but due to work and all of the other things that life throws at us, we just didn't get anything planned. Or so I thought. Max had something up his sleeve but wouldn't tell me what. He just said to pack an overnight bag and get ready to go, 'we're leaving this afternoon!' How on earth does a girl pack for a trip when she doesn't know where she's going? "Very casual" is all I got. I had guessed earlier that we'd be going to an amusement park, just wasn't exactly for sure which one. About three hours into the trip, it turns out I was right. :)

About five hours after we left home, we arrived in Sandusky, OH, roller coaster capital of the world! We visited an amusement park on our honeymoon so it is now our goal to visit a park each year for our anniversary. I personally am looking forward to the day when we've visited all of the ones here in the US and we are "forced" to travel abroad.

So anyway, we're in Sandusky, 5 hours away from home, and uh, we have no reservations to stay anywhere. None. Everything was booked, Max said. Huh. All of the hotels in this dumpy little town were booked. But what the heck, right, lets go anyway! Max would sleep in the car for all he cared, I on the other hand, am a bit more...am way more particular as to where I lay my head. He was content with stopping at the first two hotels we saw. Nuh uh, no way Jose, I'm NOT staying there, keep driving. We tried two other places, both full with the exception of smoking rooms, which Max refused to accept. Max was referred to a resort just a few miles out of town, they might have some openings. This should be good, I thought, based on the looks of everything else around here. We get there...and omg...b-u-t-ful! I crossed my fingers, toes, and eyelashes in hopes that they would have something available...and affordable. Thankfully, they had open rooms, a bit pricey but what the heck, it was our anniversary! Sawmill Creek Resort is where we stayed and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a nice getaway or are in the Sandusky, OH area. This place had its own golf course and a spectacular setting right on Lake Erie. The weather was absolutely beautiful when we arrived so it was a great opportunity to head down to the marina and check things out. Here are a few pictures that I was able to snap before the battery in my camera went kaput.

I could have taken in that view all day long!

We went to dinner, then came back to check out "The Saloon" at the resort. Okay, people who live in million dollar condos and drive million dollar boats, do not hang out in saloons...do they? Apparently so and apparently they have a really really good time doing so! This cozy bar (for lack of a better word) was comfortably filled and hosted a Motown cover band, which was a hoot! We had so much fun watching the *ahem!* elderly folks getting their groove on. We busted our moves a few times as well, but I think I had more fun watching everyone else. And the funniest thing of all was when we spotted this guy (please forgive the terrible photo quality, I had to sneakily take the picture with my cell phone):

Who was an absolute dead ringer for this famous bounty hunter:

He had the black pants, white shirt, cowboy boots, necklace, and long blond hair. This guy knew what he was doing, for sure! Hysterical!!

I wont bore you with details of Cedar Point. We had a great time and that's all that matters. Unfortunately, a strong storm headed our way as we were getting ready to ride this:

This coaster launches forward, reaching 120 mph in 4 seconds, racing straight up a 420 foot track then comes down a track that twists 270 degrees. Great balls of fire!! I can take most coasters but this one I was really unsure about. But, mother nature had other plans and the ride was closed due to incliment weather. *wshew!* Maybe next time...

Oh, I almost forgot! On our way home, we stopped in Celina, OH for a bite to eat. We somehow stumbled upon this little dive right on the lake and decided to give it a try. What a spectacular view!

But the interesting thing about this stop were these two little cutie pies:

We saw the white dog trot up the sidewalk then came the black dog. We were commenting on how cute they were and the waitress told us that they follow their owner where ever he goes. He comes in for a beer and they sit across the street and wait for him to finish, then they follow him home. That's exactly what they did too! Their owner peddled up on his bike, came in to have a beer, and the dogs sat and waited for him across the street. They watched and waited until he was done. When they saw him getting ready to leave, their tails started wagging but they didn't move. Once he came out and hopped on his bike, away they all went! What loyalty!

Because this post is now waaaay too long and its past my bedtime, I'll leave you with the last few shots of our adventure:

One year ago...

2008-06-30T16:48:00.004-04:00

It is hard for me to believe that it was one year ago today that Max and I "joined forces." Our past several years together have gone by so quickly, memories seem as if they happened only yesterday. No wonder we have a hard time remembering how long we've actually been together. We've come a long way, and I cant wait to see how the next 50 years turn out!

Let's Entertain!

2008-06-27T18:29:00.006-04:00

It's Friday so here are a few snippets of summer entertaining inspiration that can be found on the pages of these two fabulous books:

You can find these and other great books at a discounted price here and here. LOVE these books!

I've had picnics on the brain lately and have been gravitating towards ideas that are outside, simple, and a bit vintage. These pictures depict all of the above.

A few patriotic ideas to get us in the mood for the great American celebration:

And finally, here's the recipe for the Southwestern Layered Salad listed above:

"Served individually in one-pint Mason jars, this salad is great for taking on the road!"

8 oz container sour cream
3 oz package cream cheese, softened
10 oz can tomatoes with green chilies, drained
1 t cumin
4 c romaine lettuce, shredded
2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz can corn, drained
1 sweet red onion, chopped
15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 red peppers, chopped
Garnish: shredded sharp cheddar cheese, green onion, chopped

Combine sour cream, cream cheese, tomatoes with chilies, and cumin in a blender; process until smooth. Chill. Layer vegetables in order given among eight, one-pint Mason jars. Spoon sour cream mixture over top; sprinkle with cheese and green onion. Cover and chill for one hour. Makes 8 servings.

I love this idea, but I have to wonder, how do you get your fork down to the bottom of the jar?!

Stationery Set

2008-06-26T22:49:00.008-04:00

I just finished another stationery set to give as a thank you gift to a friend of mine. A very long overdue thank you gift but still. I thought for a while about what colors to use but when pool blue and red came to mind, I knew that was it! She lives in Vegas now and these papers sort of remind me of the West. Makes me wanna put on a pair of red cowboy boots and turquoise jewelry! Yee-haw!

I just placed an order for some actual stationery boxes to use for these kinds of sets. I have a feeling Im going to be making more, they're just too fun! So once the boxes come in, this entire set, 20 cards, envelopes, paper, and labels, will all go inside. Im also having my sister in law make a beaded letter opener that I will include as well.

The entire set:

I broke down and bought a Scor-Pal the other day and this is the first card I really used it on. Its hard to tell because of the busy pattern, but I scored lines every half inch or inch in each direction. Then, I distressed the scores with ink, which adds another pattern. I also roughed up the edges of the paper to give it an overall distressed look.

I dont have anything on hand just yet but Id like to add some crystals to the centers of a few of those star bursts. We cant have a set without bling!!

Simple polka dots with a few buttons added.

Monogram cut with nesties and topped off with a coordinating brad.

Another nestie monogram. During the day, the monogram paper matches really well, not so much at night...?

And finally, envelopes and paper bound with coordinating trims of paper.

Let's Entertain!

2008-06-20T16:06:00.007-04:00

It’s Friday which means I bring to you some entertaining tips and goodies. All of today’s pictures and information came from Country Home, a great magazine I recently stumbled upon and am really enjoying.

I love the outdoors and especially enjoy entertaining outside or alfresco style eateries. Keep these ideas in mind next time you are out antiquing, flea market shopping, or planning a summer get-together.

Just Can It!

A vintage wire basket used for canning jars becomes the perfect companion for organizing silverware at a picnic or alfresco table.

Get Carried Away!

Reuse old tin pans with newly constructed handles as a carrier for drinks or condiments.

Spring Into Action!

A tired bedspring can be awakened with a bright napkin and party snacks. Another idea would be to place a small vase of flowers inside to use as table décor.

Bright Idea

Industrial light covers can be turned into lovely luminaries with simple paper supplies and a tea light.

Standing Tall!

A metal bucket and some vintage napkins are used to create an adorable beverage station.

Hold That Thought!

Vintage candle molds become handy holders of all things pretty with nothing more than pieces of ribbon used to bring out their natural beauty.

See Cat Run!

2008-06-20T10:29:00.003-04:00

I thought I would give the blog's video feature a go today.
This looks like something Max would do with Calli...(we all know Mandy is too lazy to even think about giving this a whirl!)

Happy Friday!

Baby Cards

2008-06-19T20:45:00.008-04:00

With a couple of friends who recently gave birth to baby girls and another with a girl on the way, I felt compelled to craft up some baby girl cards. Patterned paper is by MyMindsEye, the big pack that I am still in love with, and images are BabyofMine by Doodlebats. No stamping involved with these cards, all are computer printed.

The scalloped border behind the image was created using a Nestabilities die. For the corner crystals, I cut the fancy edges off of a cross used for the baptism invitations a few posts back. Edges and ribbon were distressed with ink, and I also distressed the edge of the image using scissors.

A simple card using Nestabilities dies, ribbon, and a brad.

Another one of my favorites, simple layout with a touch of sparkle. I really like the combination of vintage-distress with modern glam crystals.

And finally, another simple layout with added ribbon, tulle, flower and brad.

Father's Day Shortcake

2008-06-17T21:19:00.005-04:00

All of my posts have posted in reverse order today, so I apologize for that.

It has become my recent tradition to take my dad strawberries and shortcake for Father's Day. He doesn't like gifts usually, says he has enough shirts and doesnt need anything else. He doesnt need homemade strawberries and shortcake with real cream either but I think he deserves it at least once a year, so that's what I take him.

I'm all about presentation, when at all possible, so I wanted to do something simple yet creative for the dads' gift. I picked up a few cute baskets at Hobby Lobby for just a couple of bucks as well as red bandanas. I was only able to fit the shortcake in the baskets so the strawberries and cream were kept separate.

Im sure you could find these baskets in various sizes so keep this idea in mind next time you have a carry-in, reunion, or other summer-time party to take food too. It is a really inexpensive and easy way to liven up your presentation.

Oh, and here's the Father's Day card I made. Very simple...as I was just learning how to use my new dies!

Birthday Presents!

2008-06-17T21:05:00.005-04:00

What a nice birthday I had! I received pearl earrings from Max, along with an ice cream machine and ice cream scoop. I think the earrings were for me and the ice cream machine was ultimately for him but that's okay. Im looking forward to giving it a whirl, its been such a long long time since Ive had homemade ice cream. Max's family was oh so kind in picking up a few items from my "wish list" which I have had oodles of fun playing with! Cuttlebug...cha-ching! Who knew such a simple die-cutting machine would be so much fun?! And with it came the Spellbinder's Nestabilities dies in square and rectangle shapes. These are a card maker's dream and I have only just begun exploring the possibilities with them. So let's get to it shall we? Here are a few simple things that Ive made so far:

A simple thank you card in some dreamy colors that I am absolutely loving right now. Sort of a vintage, Tiffany's blue, accompanied by kraft paper and left over pearl card stock for the message.

I really like this little ditty. A simple, summery card for an any occasion message.

This card is intended to be for a baby congratulations but could be used for anything really since there is no sentiment. Super quick and easy to put together.

I have a couple of other baby cards to show you too but I dont have pictures just yet. Each of these cards used paper from the big My Minds Eye paper pack I was gushing about a short while back. Still loving that paper!!

Baptism Invitations

2008-06-17T20:49:00.006-04:00

Let's start with the Baptism invitations I completed last week. I had this basic layout down from the get-go but when I constructed it with actual paper, I didnt like it. So I sat on it, hem-hawed around forever, then I was finally forced to recon with it. These were for the same customer that I made the 100 baby announcements for (of which she now needs an additional 25!)so a similar color scheme applied. Pale pink, ivory, shimmery paper, and crystals...those were the orders. I got the paper, no problem, but do you think I could find a crystal cross anywhere in this town? *sigh* Sometimes I swear I live under a rock. So, off to the city I went, for various things really, and like a gift from heaven appeared...rhinestone crosses! *clouds part, angels sing* I really love it when a plan comes together! The whole project was going beautifully until about 11:00 pm when I suddenly realized...I had cut the bases an inch too short! *insert various explicits here* Lots of stress ensued but I finally completed them. What should have been a simple project turned out to be a minor panic attack. Eh, what can you do? The final product was a bit altered from the original plan, but all in all they were kind of sweet...in a couture kind of way. The picture stinks because I haven't found the right way to capture shimmery paper and glistening rhinestone crosses on camera.

Dream Glow Barbie

2008-06-13T16:37:00.004-04:00

Thanks to my friend Kristal, you all can now have a visual of the Barbie I referenced in my birthday post. Id like to introduce you all to Dream Glow Barbie!

She was special. The shaw around her shoulders came off and could be placed around her parasol...the perfect accessory for a date out with Ken...who was also outfitted with glow in the dark stars on his matching tie and vest. Im sure they were a sight to see walking around in Barbieland, especially at night!

When doing a little research on ole Barbie, I ran across many others that I had as a kid. I had so many Barbies that I could probably fill a year's worth of posts detailing them all. They just dont make them like they used to though...!

They say its your birthday...

2008-06-12T14:36:00.005-04:00

Today is my birthday. I’ve always thought it to be pretty special to have a day all to myself, “my day”. The one day out of the year when I can wear what I want, eat what I want, do what I want, and not feel guilty for it. Just one day, that’s all I need. I don’t need presents or parties or all of that, just knowing that the day is mine to do as I wish is simply enough. But, presents never hurt… ;)

Maybe it’s because I’m another year older, or simply because its summer time but nostalgia is setting in and I find myself thinking back to when I was a kid. Childhood was a much simpler time, a great place to have been. So I share with you now, my favorite birthday memory.

Im not sure how old I would have been, but I would say early elementary school age. My dad was out working and my mom had plans to be somewhere else that day so she took me to Grandma’s house. As a kid, I was a Barbie fa-na-tic! Couldn’t have ever had enough Barbies, it just wasn’t possible. For this particular birthday, I was getting a new Barbie but I couldn’t have it until I got to Grandma’s. Was this bribery to make sure I behaved for the two mile car ride to get there? I’m not sure, but I do remember the anticipation of getting that much wanted Barbie. She had a long pink ball gown type dress with stars all over it, and they glowed in the dark! Oh she was beautiful. For the few days leading up to my birthday, I would sneak into my parent’s bedroom and just look at her in her box…with the lights out of course so that I could see the cool stars on her dress. Once we arrived at Grandma’s I received my Barbie and was in heaven. But, as much as I loved Barbies, the doll isn’t what makes this birthday so memorable.

Growing up, the radio was always on in the kitchen playing country music. It was a part of every day and I had no idea how many memories I would have that relate to the comforting sounds that came from that little box. Each morning, birthdays were announced over the radio and every once in a while we’d hear a name that we’d recognize. As a child, this was astonishing! Almost like being famous! As my birthday approached, I remember mentioning something to my mom about my wonder if they would announce my birthday. I dunno, she said, I guess you’ll just have to wait and listen.

So when I got to Grandma’s that day, I immediately told her that we needed to have the radio on to listen for the birthday announcements at such and such time. She looked at me like, uh huh, okaaaay… But I was serious, I needed to be a witness to if my name was called or not. So, the time came, and we turned on the radio. Grandma was in her rocking chair, I standing beside her, and the names were called. Jill Deno! Oh my goodness, that’s me! They called my name, it’s my birthday and they called my name!! I was so excited! And my Grandma being the wonderful person she was, sat up in her rocking chair, cocked her head with the “Oh!” expression on her faced and just looked at me. Like, ‘Did you hear that? They called your name!’ For a brief moment, I was famous. How on earth did they know that it was my birthday?! I don’t know how many names were called that day but I felt like the most special birthday girl in the world. They knew…that it was my birthday. Amazing. As soon as my mom came to get me later that day (or morning, I’m not sure how long I was really there) I HAD to tell her all about it. And as mothers do, she played along as if she had no idea how on earth they would have known it was my birthday. It was one of those simple things that moms do, which they think goes on unnoticed, but it really didn't. A Barbie and a radio announcement, such a simple act of kindness that turned out to be one of my fondest memories of childhood.

And that my friends, is my favorite birthday memory.

Stationery Kit

2008-06-11T19:47:00.007-04:00

From time to time my sister comes to me needing something special for this person or that, for this reason or another. And I, being the best sister in the world, try my best to oblige her. Recently, a friend/coworker of hers was to retire and she wanted to give her a gift. Of course, she had no idea what she wanted, just something. Well, that narrows it down a whole bunch. She decided that she wanted something with her monogram on it but for whatever reason, I lost my card making mojo. Sometimes, that just happens. So I set out to make her a frame instead. I must have lost more mojo than I thought because the frame didnt turn out so well. Anyway, the mojo returned and back to the monogram idea I went. Over the weekend, while visiting my favorite scrapping store in "the city", I settled on strawberry and chartreuse cards and envelopes. *Im nuts about strawberries this season and I have no idea why.* But do you think this big store would have any cute papers to match these deliciously colored cards? Nope. Not a one. Disappointed, I headed home with what I did find with hopes of finding something later. And find something I did! At an aimless stopp at Hobby Lobby after work I spotted this brand new pack of patterned papers by MyMindsEye. Not a paper in the pack of 180 sheets that I didnt like, and by golly, they matched my strawberry-chartreuse set perfectly! I love it when a plan comes together. All of that is a long way of showing you what became of the final project (some of the pictures aren't real true to color since I took them at 2 am!!):

So there you have it. 20 coordinated cards, envelopes, monogram paper, and a carrying case. Im making a second set for a friend of mine in the colors of pool blue and cherry red...using the same fabulous paper pack. Really excited to see how they turn out and will of course, share views of the end product right here so stay tuned!

Let's Entertain!

2008-06-04T15:04:00.004-04:00

June. I lovey June! There are so many wonderful things about this month; my birthday, our anniversary, my birthday, my parents anniversary, my birthday, summer arrives, flowers, sunshine, my birthday… June is the most popular month for weddings, mine included, and with weddings come parties and entertaining. Even without wedding events, June is a great time to, shall I say, celebrate, or to simply entertain friends and family. That is, if you’re into entertaining. Because I miss planning our wedding and am no longer planning faux events for my classes at school, I’ve decided to dedicate some June posts to the art of entertaining.

I’ll try my very best to bring you some tips and ideas, pictures, and maybe even some recipes to kick start some entertaining excitement. Hopefully you will reap some benefits of me needing to get my virtual event planning fix. I’ll shoot for Friday posts to give you something to mill over for the weekend. But in the meantime, here are a few photos of an Italian Summer Picnic to get us started:

(all photos curtosy of www.barillaus.com)

Springtime Beauties

2008-05-28T21:47:00.006-04:00

I've had my eye on these flowers for the past week, anxiously awaiting their arrival. Today, the spring sun and 70 degree weather brought them into season.
I just love these flowers! So simple yet so georgous with their full, ruffly skirts and perfect shade of pale pink. It's too bad the ants love them as much as I do.

Catch-a-Cat

2008-05-28T21:38:00.004-04:00

A seemingly innocent picture of our corner hutch:

But, wait...a...minute! A closer look reveals what the husband does while the wife is away...

Baby Announcements

2008-05-22T13:45:00.015-04:00

They're done! The 100 baby announcements are finally done. Boy was this a doozie of a project. They look simple enough, and I thought they would be, but my inexperience made them a little more difficult than they had to be. I have a tendency to come up with a really cool idea, then realize midway through that maybe it wasnt the most doable idea. These announcements are case in point.

Coming up with the paper and color scheme wasnt too difficult, it was based on the baby's room decor and the mother's personal style. She has a black chandelier in the baby's room and I used that as part of my inspiration. Wouldnt it be cool, I thought, to use a black chandelier piece on each announcement?! Oh yeah, way too cool! See reference above about doability of an idea... Yeah, those little black chandelier pieces...impossible to find. Zero craft stores in the area had them. I Googled, and Googled, to no avail. I hit up my bead experts and still came up empty handed. So then I went to "the city", an hour away, and they didnt have them either. I finally settled on a little teeny tiny black charm I found in the jewelry section of Michaels. But how disappointing, its so little. Okay, I can make this work, I thought. So I added a small matching bead on each side of the charm. Okay, this will work. Again, see reference above regarding doability of idea. My initial thought was to place the chandelier piece on a jump ring and thread it through the ribbon. Ive done that tons of times and know that it is doable. These teeny tiny charms and beads...not so much. Hmmm, jump ring is too thick for the charms. As if searching for these silly things wasnt bad enough, now I had to find a way to get them on the announcement. I'll save you from the boredom of too many details, and believe me, there are lots of them, but I (I meaning my mom!) finally had to settle on threading microscopic wire through the beads. Hmph, simple enough...until you have to do 100 of them.

And I couldnt resist taking a picture of my number one fan...she was definitely thrilled with the box, not so much on what I was working on. But none the less, her support is much appreciated. ;)

So without further ado, I bring to you,

"the announcements"...ta-dah!!

Seed Packet Card

2008-05-16T21:36:00.004-04:00

I am in love with Doodlebats! That's all there is to it. I purchased five more files this morning, one of which was DBseedpackets. I love that farm fresh feel (cant take the farm out of the girl!) so I thought these were fun to play with. As I mentioned before, there is a separate image for each letter of the alphabet and typically for numbers as well. So over 30 images of seed packets... oh the possibilities!!

Although I have always loved to color, coloring with Prisma or Copic markers is pretty new to me. I only have a very small handful of them since they are so expensive, so I have to make do with what I have. Lots of fun though!

Cupcake Card

2008-05-15T22:00:00.005-04:00

So I had to go to the scrapbook store today to get some paper for these 100 baby announcements that Im working on. Ive been looking at pink and black for so long that I needed a fresh change. Up pops this cutsie polka dot paper by BoBunny. Perfect. So I grabbed some sunny yellow and strawberry pink cardstock and couldnt wait to piece together a card.

I tell you what, Im really out of the swing of things! I've fiddled with this darn card all night and Im still not happy with it. The cupcake image is actaully a doodlebat called DBlovepastries. They work like stamped images except you print them out from your computer. At a buck for a whole alphabet worth of images, you cant beat that!

Anyway, here's the card I was super excited to put together but turned out less than par. Ah well. There's a good chance that ole cupcake will get taken off and replaced with something else...Im thinking lemons...or stawberries...

Antique Finds

2008-05-14T19:03:00.003-04:00

Last Friday, Max and I headed downtown for the evening. We had dinner at a new restaurant in town then mosied through the various little shops. Downtown was having a gallery walk so most of the little stores were open late. We love little events such as these!

I wasn't shopping for anything in particular, or even anything at all. I did have my eyes peeled though for something sweet to give my mom for Mother's Day. We headed into one of my favorite little antique shops, my favorite because its owner is just the sweetest lady ever and there always seems to be something that catches my eye. This is the same shop where I found many of the vintage napkins that we used in our wedding. But I digress. Anyhoo... we hadn't been in the shop all that long when I found it. Or maybe it found me, I'm not sure. The cutest little wire purse was just hanging on the corner of a large hutch. No price tag, just hanging there like it didn't really know where it belonged. Until of course, I came along, then it belonged to me! So I snatched up the little purse, as well as a vintage hankie, and took them home.

I filled the purse with moss, found at the local craft store, draped the hankie out the top, and pinned on a rose. The picture below is how I gave it to my mom, but I told her that it still needed a little something extra. I wanted to add pearls but didn't have any so I think she'll add them for me. I just love little finds like this. Completely original (as far as I know!) and pretty quick and easy. You just never know what you'll find at one of those antique shops!

Graduate = Celebrate!

2008-05-11T19:48:00.006-04:00

When I decided to go back to school five years ago, I'm not sure I truly believed that I would actually graduate. Sure, I thought I could, but seeing it as a reality just seemed too far off in the distance. As I walked through graduation ceremonies today, I realized how dedication, long hours, and a lot of juggling made this distant dream a reality. But this accomplishment would not have been possible without the love and support of my husband, family, and friends. A special thank you to all of those who continued to believe in me!

A good friend of mine gave me the book "Oh The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss, back when I graduated high school. I thought it would be fun to revist the poem:

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes

You can steer yourselfany direction you choose.

You're on your own.

And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.

About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."

With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,

you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there

in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen

and frequently do

to people as brainy

and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,

don't worry. Don't stew.

Just go right along. You'll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!

You'll be seeing great sights!

You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.

You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don' t

Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

and Hang-ups

can happen to you.

You can get all hung upin a prickle-ly perch.

And your gang will fly on.

You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch

with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then,

that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,

you're not in for much fun.

Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.

Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.

A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...

or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?

Or go around back and sneak in from behind?

Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,

for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or waiting around for a Yes or a No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escapeall that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.

And the magical things you can do with that ball

will make you the winning-est winner of all.

Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,

with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.

Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times

you'll play lonely games too.

Games you can't win

'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!

Whether you like it or not,

Alone will be something

you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance

you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.

There are some, down the road between hither and yon,

that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go

though the weather be foul

On you will go

though your enemies prowl

On you will go

though the Hakken-Kraks howl

Onward up many

a frightening creek,

though your arms may get sore

and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike

and I know you'll hike far

and face up to your problems

whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.

You'll get mixed up

with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.

Step with care and great tact

and remember that Life's

a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.

And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

---Dr. Seuss

No more pencils, no more books...

2008-05-02T16:11:00.002-04:00

...no more teacher's dirty looks!

Remember that ole saying? I took my last final this morning so Im officially done with spring semester. Boy was it a doozy! Looking back, it really is kind of amazing how I was able to handle the demands but as usual, it all worked out.

Im really looking forward to getting my hands dirty this spring and getting back to crafty business. Tell all your friends, Twin Sisters is back online.

I'll check back in over the weekend so we can catch up. Its been such a long time...

Hello again!

2008-04-24T19:35:00.004-04:00

Hello friends, Ive missed you! Why is it that when you have a lot of catching up to do that you just dont know what to say?

What a crazy and stressful semester Ive had these past four months. Great news though, after next week its all done! Spring semester is finally coming to a close and I couldnt be happier! And guess what came in the mail the other day...my cap and gown! Yep, in just a few short weeks I'll be walking through graduation ceremonies. Technically, I dont graduate until August but after 6 years, who's really keeping track!? Its been a long time comin' so you can bet we're gonna CELEBRATE! Getch yer party hats ready!

Can you believe that I havent done a single crafty thing since Christmas? *gasp* I know. But! The good news is that my mom and I have several projects cookin' up and I am more than looking forward to sharing them with you. But we must be patient because before I can start on those I have to start some baby announcements for a friend of mine...100 of 'em. I think I must be crazy. Couture chic, that's what we're calling them. Pale pink, ivory, and black...cant you just picture them? If you can then let me know because right now, I have no idea what they're going to look like!! Ack!

So I must go now, I have a final paper to write which I am so far behind on. Wish me luck over the next week...Im going to need it to pass a couple of these finals!! I'll be in touch soon, pinky swear, but in the meantime stop and smell the lilacs!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T19:24:00.013-04:00

Spring finally arrived a few days ago, although you wouldn't know it based on the snow we received today. Yep, big gloppy flakes that thankfully will not amount to a hill of beans.

I hosted Easter dinner with my parents this afternoon. What fun! I cant believe how much prep time it takes to prepare a meal for only four people. I makes me wonder how my mom did it for nine people every single day...two or three times over even. I enjoy entertaining, picking out the menu, setting the table, arranging pretties to make things nice. I got to break out some of the vintage napkins and tablecloth that I purchased for use at my wedding...Ive been waiting for the perfect time to do that! What's your favorite part of entertaining? Or maybe you'd rather be entertained by someone else...

Here's what I put together for this afternoon's lunch:

Baked Ham with Dijon-Pineapple Sauce

Scalloped Potatoes

Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Corn Pudding

Spinach and Baby Greens

Apple & Mandarin Orange Salad w/ Strawberry Vinaigrette

Yeast Rolls

Iced Tea

Carrot Cake

I highly recommend the Dijon-Pineapple Sauce! It was a delicious addition to the ham (which was already awesome on its own) but I think it would be extremely tasty on just about anything pork....especially chops. It was super easy to make and you can find the recipe by clicking on the link above. The only thing I did different, I didnt baste the ham with the sauce during the cook time. I just added all the ingredients together and served it on the side. It makes 3+ cups Im sure.

The apple salad was just something I dreamed up, luckily it didnt turn out too bad. Some Granny Smith and Gala apples, two small cans of mandarin oranges, dried cranberries with almonds, all tossed with a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. This would be a great summer time salad!

My mom made her signature yeast rolls, which were totally delicious! You just cant get rolls like hers from the store and it really isnt a holiday without 'em.

And to top everything off, after we gave our bellies a rest of course, was some homemade carrot cake. Okay, so Ive never made real carrot cake before...so this was a test. Grating a pound of carrots was the most time consuming but in the end...totally worth it! Some time ago, and I have no recollection as to how, I stumbled upon this lady's blog. Mmmm, she always has delicious looking treats! Anyway, I just happened to pay her a visit the other night and she had a carrot cake featured...perfect, just what I was looking for. Yep, super de dupper delicious! The only small detail I maybe would change, is the frosting. Very sweet, but maybe that's me because I like a cream cheese frosting that you can actually taste the cheese in. The only change I made to that recipe was that I used orange extract instead of orange zest. I dont own a zester...maybe I should? How often do you zest things?

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying each other's company...and eating jellybeans... I hope your Easter was just as nice!

Spring has Sprung!

2008-03-20T22:55:00.004-04:00

Hello friends! It has been a month since my last post, I really cant believe it! School has been keeping me very busy, that is for sure. Im down to just over a month to go and then I'll be back to my normal blogging routine.

Today is officially the first day of spring and fortunately Mother Nature was nice and gave us sunshine and 50 degree weather. Much needed love Im tellin' ya! We still have some chilly days ahead so I thought this little picture I found out on flickr was appropriate for these last few days of March.

Happy Spring!