Catch-up photo post

So here is our abbrviated life in a nutshell since October 2009 (my last full post). Ignore if you came here for papercrafting inspiration (that will be tomorrow's catch-up post)!

First non-uniform day at school and the boys choose tie-dye!

Autumn begins to show...

...and continues to amaze me.

Our first snowfall (October 13, 2009)

Thankfully it warmed up and we raked leaves!

OK, ok. THEY raked leaves and I took photos.

We visited Pumpkinville (as we do each year like clockwork).

The requisite giant pumpkin picture. It was a bit wet so they didn't sit on it this year.

Crumbgrabber gets his pony ride!

We take a hayride (Stickyfingers and I are on the other side of the wagon).

Meeting the goats.

This goat took a shine to Stickyfingers the entire time we were at Pumpkinville!

Pumpkin carving at the kitchen table.

Our carved pumpkins on the bench in the front lawn.

Night shot!

My bat and my cowboy ready for trick-or-treating.

My DH turned 30 and adopted a rescue puppy. Great. We named him Emerson.

I don't care if he IS cute...he drives me batty!

Crumbgrabber turns 5 and has his Birth Day Breakfast (cinnamon roll with whipped cream and sliced bananas).

The afro gets cut off.

Our oldest kitty Agatha is officially irritated that we have introduced a jumpy puppy to the household. She will never forgive us.

Family visits from out of town! YAY. My brother and my DH eat jumbo garlic dill pickles over the sink.

We get ready for Thanksgiving. We need seating for 10 this year!

My plate. In case anyone is interested in what vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving (and this was actually all vegan): Sweet potato biscuits, garlic mashed potatoes, vegan gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, steamed buttered rutabega, traditional celery/onion/sage stuffing, fresh green beans with homemade cream of mushroom gravy and homemade crunchy fried onions, glazed Pearl Onions, whole-berry cranberry sauce, and sliced Tofurky.

My boys loved having their cousins over to visit for the holidays!

One very cold saturday Crumbgrabber made this lincoln log Resort Hotel.

We went Christmas Tree hunting and found...

...a grinning munchkin? no...(By the way, I knitted his hat myself!)

A 16 foot Picea pungens (Colorado Blue Spruce) that we cut the top 10 feet from! (see the bottom part in the right background?)

Attempting the quintessential holiday card photo...(not really. My DH would kill me if I sent this out to everyone on our card list! *giggle*)

Lets have one more for good measure, huh? *grin*

Clay pot nativity crafts for teachers' gifts.

Can you tell that my boys LOVE it when they don't have to wear their uniform to school?! (This was red/green day)

Here is our tree in all its glory. ( and yes, that is horrible ugly paneling behind it on our livingroom walls. Do you have any idea how time consuming it is to fill each crack/line with spackle, let it dry, sand the walls, wash the walls free of dust, apply primer, let it dry, apply paint? UGH. We've only finished a few rooms in this house so far.)

One more for good measure with the gifts underneath.

Emerson got bigger. Great.

Grandma came for a visit!

So that's it. Are we all caught up now? Oh wait, tomorrow's post will be all the paper crafts that I've neglected to post since October.

It's good to be back. I've missed you.

Quick update

I was getting really sick of having to delete all those spam comments so I decided to take control of my blog again! *grin* (Looong catch-up post coming soon.)

I whipped up this simple card in about 15 minutes early this morning. I'd forgotten how much one can accomplish when the rest of the household is sleeping! *wink*

Loving the new tree stamp set from PTI. Especially with that gorgeous terracotta tile color. (why does it look like the bottom of the card isn't in focus...hmmm...)

Back soon with a catch-up, photo-heavy post about all that's happened since my last post. (was it really October of 2009?  YeekGADS!)

I love Halloween!

I've decided to post a few things from my office computer while on my lunch break. I uploaded a few photos from my camera to this computer weeks ago but can't edit them, because I don't have PSE here, so bear with me if they are a bit dark. I did lighten this one a bit with MS picture manager, but it's not the best.

I'm still alive and kickin', but can't use the internet at home (STUPID COMPUTERS!) so if you have emailed me, hang in there until I get a chance to check things at work. Because I'm a federal officer there are only so many websites I can visit on my Government computer and only a few minutes to do so if I'm in my office. (I'm usually out in the field or on the road)

I adore Halloween, (we call it Samhain) and we usually celebrate in a big way around our house. We like to do lots of natuire inspired craft projects to remind us of the end of the harvest season. Winter is coming!

This little card makes me happy and I might keep it for myself. All PTI supplies.

I miss you guys and can't wait to catch up on all my blog hopping when our new computer arrives!

(I'm totally dreading the loss of my photos and our itunes files though...blahhh.*pout*)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Posting woes and an old card...

Do you know what the most frustrating part of this is? The fact that I actually HAVE photos to share of some really fun cards! ARGHH! This computer virus/trojan thing is driving me batty!

I have tried everything recommended by the experts, and short of buying a new computer (I can't even do a system restore) I'm at a loss. Besides, if I purchase a new computer, I still lose the photos that were on the old one! Typing this at the library makes me sad, but I wanted to give you all an update and let you know that I'm still alive. *smile*

I'm including a photo of a card I made in April of 2005. Isn't it hysterical to look back on your older cards and see how much has changed? Not only what's "in", but style, LO and design too. Don't judge too harshly, I'd only been stamping for a few months when I made this card! And I hand drew those letters too!

CARD FROM 2005! Bazzill CS and Hero Arts stamps (these were the first stamps I EVER owned!)

Make a card today!

I'm sure you all know what today is, but never-the-less I'm going to say it again. It's WORLD CARD MAKING DAY! Are you going to be making cards today? I'm hoping to find some time to get into my studio and accomplish a few things myself. I have heard word that several prizes are out there for the taking! So hop around and see what you can find.

In the meantime, here is a card I made last weekend.

  Orange is my favorite color, and I love it combined with pink! My mom always decorated our home in pink and orange for the Christmas Holiday and I like to do the same. No red and green for us!

This card is for my niece, Kayla. She turns 18 this month and I'm so excited for her. (She doesn't read my blog, so I'm safe in posting it!) Isn't it fun?

Just some simple stamping on the card base using a scroll-y stamp from PTI's Vintage Label, an actual label stamp, a large damask image from Damask Designs and a sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages. Not many layers or embellishments besides a few black buttons, a simple black rhinestone and some grosgrain ribbon. Oh, and I added some glitter using a spica glitter pen.

Can you see it here? Not vey well I guess. Well you'll just have to imagine it then! *smile*

Alright, enough chatting, I'm off to take care of some chores and hopefully find some time to make a card today. Happy WORLD CARD MAKING DAY!

Thanks for stopping by!

I know why the caged bird sings...

Hello everyone! Although our computer woes aren't completely fixed, I have been working all day to be able to access my photos so I can share a card or two with you. Plus, tomorrow is WORLD CARD MAKING DAY and I intend to post. Computer troubles aside! (I can be just as stubborn as this piece of...well, machine, I mean *grin*)

I was playing around with some background stamps last weekend and ended up filling an entire sheet of CS with the dotted stamp from Background Basics: Retro. I then used a copic marker and colored in the inner circle with various colors. Liking the red and yellow combo, I built this card around it.

I love how the PP from the Men Of Life Colletion matches the stamp pattern! I covered a chipboard bird from Maya Road with the PP and then stamped a small piece of lemon tart with Text Style and covered the wing. After using a Paint Dauber in Pearl to paint the cage, I adhered the bird on the outside.

A touch of ruffled red saddle-stitched ribbon, and some Spring Rain CS stamped with Fancy Flourishes, and it was done!

Thanks for stoppping by today, I appreciate your patience!

It figures

For once, I have a ton of things to share with you. I had a period of frenzied card making this past weekend, got quite a few done, and then...*kerplop* our home PC got a trojan virus. The entire computer is infected and nothing works and I'm not able to access any of my pics nor PSE to edit them! Incedibly frustrating!

So I'm using a computer at the library to post this photo of a card I made when I got my newest PTI order and put aside because it wasn't quite..there. KWIM? I wasn't satisfied with it and put it away to maybe work out some kinks later. BUT, at the moment, it's the only photo I have for you, so we'll "make do" for today! Hopefully, I will soon retake the pics of all the stuff I created last week, and will post from the library (without the use of PSE to edit them, they might be darker, but oh well!). Thank goodness the public library is a block away from my home!

The image stamp is by Penny Black, and I LOVE it. It can be used in so many different ways, and I attempted to make it "christmas-y" for this card. Sentiment is from PTI. I like the colors of Ocean Tides, Poppy Red and Kraft together, but didn't get quite the right mix here. The vintage cream made it pop, but I still know something isn't right. Whatever. You can judge for yourselves!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope your day is fantastic!
Hang in there with me while our computer woes straighten themselves out.

PTI Princess challenge-No white!

Cheryl issued the newest Papertrey Princess challenge...man oh man was it hard! We were not to use any cream or white on a card. Not ink, ribbon, cardstock...anything! I thought it might be challenging but it was more than challenging...it was hard. Seriously. I tried so many different samples before finally finding something that worked, at least IMHO.

All supplies PTI except black ink and black brads.

Hope everyone is having a relaxing, productive weekend. I'm off to finish the yard work!

Wordless Thursday?

Orange Zesty Sweet potato pie Fall card

My favorite color is orange, so when Papertrey ink decided to realease Orange Zest, I was delighted. Of course the first card I made with it was this autum inspired leafy one.

The leaves aren't actually..well, leaves. At least not leaves like you think of when referring to fall; oak, maple, ash, birch, hickory. But, I think given the colors of ink I used, they work just fine!

The image and swirly stamps are from the Spiral Bouquet set. Sentiment is from the 2009 Autumn Tags set, and the surrounding border is from the new Vintage Labels set.

Here's a photo of the sweet potato pie that my BFF and I made last weekend. We actually made two pies and now she has one in her freezer! I thought the colors in the pie were a perfect match for the card above!

SWEET POTAOT PIE RECIPE

(courtesy of my mother in law, Beth)

1 1/2 c. cooked, mashed sweet potato

2/3 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. evaporated milk (can use soy)

1/2 c. flaked coconut

6 T. melted butter

1/2 t. lemon extract (or 1 T. lemon juice & 1/2 T. lemon zest)

2 egg yolks (can use vegan versions)

1 9 inch pastry shell, unbaked

2 T. dark brown sugar

Blind bake the pie shell in a 375 degree oven for about 9 minutes--no browning should occur. When removed, sprinkle brown sugar over bottom of hot crust and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine rest of ingredients and pour into pie crust. Bake at 375 for 15 mintues, then lower the temp to 350 and continue to bake for another 30, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

I like to top mine with a butter, brown sugar, pecan, brandy drizzle and some whipped cream, but feel free to experiment to your liking!

Thanks for stopping by today. If you try the pie, let me know how you like it. Sweet Potato pie should NOT be a 'remake" of pumpkin, so no adding cinnamon and all those other spices, you hear me! *grin*