Piece of Cake - February Stamp of the Month

It's a new month and that means a new stamp set from Close To My Heart. This set is called Piece of Cake (Item D1407) and it is loaded with whimsical images of cakes and greetings for the perfect card or scrapbook layout. This set is available through February 28th for $22.95 or at a discount with your qualifying purchase.

Have Some Rain...

This has been one wet week for us Desert Rats. This is our third storm in four days. I'm sure we need the rain, but all at once? Okay, we'll take it. Here are some pics of my backyard. Everything is so saturated, the water is beginning to form puddles and lakes. It's a good day to stay inside and scrapbook.

Spring Creations

I made these cards using Close To My Heart products featured in the Spring 2010 Idea Book. The designs are all from fellow consultant, Denise Anderson who shared her talent with me.

Let me know what your favorite is.

Veranda paper collection:


Caboodle paper collection:


You Rock paper collection:


Top Stitch paper collection:


Creative Basic - Veranda (great for duplicating projects):

Rockin' New Years Greetings

These cards were made using the You Rock paper pack. It's new this spring from Close To My Heart.

One creative tip I like to use is to cut images from patterned paper to use as embellishments. The stars in the front card are cut from the same patterned paper you see in the background of the card. It's a great way to tie everything together.

Items used:

X7122B You Rock level 2 paper pack

D1268 January Word Puzzle stamp set (retired)

G1006 Just Be You stamp set (sold exclusively with the You Rock Workshop-On-The-Go kit*)

Z1277 Outdoor Denim mini medley accents

1446 Outdoor Denim ink pad

Z1263 Bitty Sparkles

* the Workshop-On-The-Go kit includes a complete level 2 paper packet (22 sheets of coordinating paper), coordinating stamp set, embellishments, and color brochure complete with cutting guide and assembly instructions.

White Chocolate Covered Popcorn

Sounds delicious, doesn't it? This tasty treat is so simple to make. [Thank you to Kim Wiltse for the recipe.] Pop three bags of microwave popcorn. Pour all three bags into a large brown paper sack (like the kind you get at the grocery store). Melt two 12 oz. packages of white chocolate in the microwave. Be careful not to overdue it - white chocolate tends to burn faster than semi-sweet chocolate. Add the melted chocolate to the popped popcorn in the paper bag. Fold down the top of the bag and shake it up to coat all the popcorn. I gave mine a couple of stirs with a large spoon as well. Pour the contents out onto a cookie sheet or waxed paper to cool. Store what you don't eat right away in an airtight container.

Now you know what my new year's resolution is. LOL

The Wilkerson Wild Fire...

Aka pink-eye. Wowzers - this stuff is contageous! It spreads like fireworks and dry brush on a hot summer day. We spent the Christmas holidays with our extended family and later found out some of them had pink eye. Now four out of seven of us have had it under this roof. And my poor husband had it in one eye, recovered for a couple of days and now has it in the other eye. I've used disinfecting wipes on the phones, remotes, wii-motes, and door handles. There has to be an end in sight, right?

These things make us appreciate our good health when it is restored.

Why Put Off Today What You Can Do Tomorrow?

I don't scrapbook events in chronological order, but I do like to put the completed layouts in order in the albums. So when I complete a layout I put it in a big box until I can organize them all by date and put them in the books. Here I am sorting three years of scrapbook layouts for five children. I don't recommend sitting on the floor for half a day at my age, but I needed the space to spread out. It feels really good to have the layouts organized and stored in albums. The biggest payoff is sharing them with my kids. They love looking back at birthdays, holidays, vacations and just-because days.

Now that the box is empty, I see I have some gaps to fill in those books. Thank goodness Studio J is coming...stay tuned.