Anniversary

I am happy to say...tomorrow is my 21st wedding anniversary! This man has put up with me for 21 years! UNBELIEVABLE! Here is a picture of the 2 of us from my recent birthday. I will have to make sure to get a picture of the 2 of us tomorrow. We have had our share of ups and down just like anyone has...but I am so glad he decided to ask me to marry him! I even think I would marry him again! LOL! Minus all the icky stuff of course! LOL

And of course I had to make him a card and since my motto this year is USE WHAT YOU HAVE, I decided to get an old kit out (Magic Moments) and use it to make this card. I also used D1283 Say it in Style and D1402 Togetherness stamp sets. The pattern was from our Wishes How to Book and the pattern is called Classic Closure.

Why don't you get out your Wishes book and make the same card, just using what you have and make it your own. It would be a great birthday card, thinking of you or anything. The key is to get out your supplies and make those cards! And the bigger key is to make them ahead of time so you are not stress (or tempted to buy one).

July Stamp of the Month

Here is a sneak peak at our July Stamp of the Month. These adorable hedgehogs are great for scrapbook pages and cards. You can only get them in the month of July. They are called Happy Forever and include 9 stamps. Check all them out on my website!

I made 3 cards here that you will fall in love with.

Want to know how I did the balloons on the last card? Check out my blog in a couple days. I take you through it step by step. It really is a cool technique, so make sure you come back!

Art & Soul Episode - Cooking Up Creativity

Do you have an extra 8 minutes and 45 seconds to spare for some GREAT scrapbooking and stamping ideas? If you do, then you will want to catch our newest episode of Art & Soul. It's called Cooking Up Creativity. It is filled with some GREAT samples, GREAT ideas using GREAT products! You will be happy you took the time.

Don't have an spare 8 minutes and 45 seconds? Then you will have to FIND the time! YES, it is THAT GOOD! So check it out.

Just go to my website, click on CTMH TV and watch this GREAT episode.

GREAT SCRAPBOOKING DEALS

Do you need, want, HAVE TO HAVE some more scrapbooking supplies at AMAZING deals?

Check out my website each day after 10:00am each day in June and get some GREAT deals on the BEST scrapbooking products available.

These specials are ONLY available online due to product availability. So set your alarm each day for 10:00am and check out the deals!

Winter Wonderland???

Really? Winter Wonderland? Do we really want to go back and think WINTER? Ok maybe just in scrapbooking world! lol

I am creating an album to donate to the Hearts of Hope. It is a benefit for Childrens Hospital here in Omaha and I am doing a 2 page layout per month that will be donated to the silent auction. So I am going through WHAT I HAVE and found this AMAZING Aspen paper. Do you remember this kit? It is GREAT and it is still available to order just in case you missed it!

So, since I wanted to use what I had, I pulled this paper out and those cute snowmen stamps (stinkin cute D1244 Snow Friends $22.95, one of my favorites) and created this layout from our Reflections How to Book. The left page is Title Topper - Center Focus and the right page is Sidebar - Main Frame.

So get out those snow pictures...I know we all have a TON from this year, and create this cute layout!

Sympathy Card

There comes a day when we must send a sympathy card and today is my day. We recently had a friend die of cancer and it is bittersweet. We know she is now in Heaven with our Heavenly Father and has no pain and we REJOICE for that, but here on earth it just stinks to lose loved ones. It does give us peace to know she is in a MUCH better place so that is good.

This is my first sympathy card in over 10 years. Not that I didn't need any, but when our son died 10 years ago, it was just too hard to make them. I would have my friends go out and buy some for me and even read them...it was just too hard for me.

But today, I changed that. I created this card that I feel turned out pretty good. I used the pattern Heartfelt Classic (modified) on page 71 of our Originals How To Book. I also used Desert Sand and Colonial White cardstock with the blue patterned paper from our Sarsaparilla Level 2 kit. The stamps that were used were So Sweet (C1389) and Paisley Praise (D1414), and twilight ink (second generation) and garden green ink that I water brushed on the leaves. I wanted a slight color...didn't want it bold and bright. I also used our colonial white ribbon and a button from our Winter Buttons.

It is a simple yet beautiful card. I hope that you will not need a sympathy card, but if you do, here is a sample for you.

The Best Pasta Salad Ever!

I don't have a picture of it, but I wanted to share this recipe with you. I made this recently for my crop the other day and it was a hit! They even came back for seconds AFTER they had homemade Blueberry Cheesecake! I got this recipe from Paula Deen...and changed it a little. I added cucumbers, garlic and decreased the sugar...oh, I also took out the yucky peas! But if you must, you can add those back in...ick! lol

1 Cucumber (I am really liking the English Cucumbers...they are smaller and have less seeds)

2 cups mayo

1/2 medium onion

3/4 cup sugar (yes, Paula had MORE sugar then that!)

1 cup cold water

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, minced (because in our house EVERYTHING needs garlic!)

16 ounces of Raditore pasta cooked and drained (this one is hard to find, so I normally will use rotini pasta...I even have used the bow tie pasta...because that is what I had!)

In a large bowl, combine mayo, onion, sugar, water, vinegar and garlic. Stir. Then add cucumbers. Stir in COOKED pasta. Stir! It will look watery! YOU MUST cover and chill overnight. The next day stir and it has become very creamy. You can garnish with a sliced hard boiled egg if you choose...I normally don't do that part, but you can.

Very easy and VERY good!

Splendor cards

Here are some cute cards made with our Splendor kit. I just love that little owl on the first card and the snail on the second card. They are from our new Hot Diggity Stamp Set (C1407 $18.95). The tree is from our Go Green Set (C1413 $18.95). I stamped the tree and then took our watercolor pencils and colored the tree in. I used 3 different color greens. It is very easy when you are using our watercolor pencils to blend them all together and create some great depth. I also popped up the owl.

On the other card I stamped the snail in Topiary (green) and then stamped him again on a piece of scrap paper in Goldrush and just cut out the shell part and popped it up. Way cute! It is a quick and easy card!

June Group Layouts

These cute layouts are the layouts we will be making in my June Monthly Groups. Not in a group? You are welcome to come as a guest or join one of my groups.

We will be using our Splendor kit and our new Irresistibles Pizzazz. (Z1307 $4.95) LOVE THESE! They are white chipboard that you sponge whatever color you would like. They also have a resist on them so the ink doesn't cover the resist to give you even more details! See the flowers on the layout titled "Cody"...they are sponged in Goldrush and Topiary (for the leaves). You can't see them up close, but they are awesome! Come to one of my groups in June and create them for yourself! Or you can create them on your own by purchasing our Workshop kit (G1009 $29.95) that includes the Level 2 kit, workshop guide with full instructions, Summer Wishes Stamp set and our Pizzazz irresistibles. Great value!