Monday, May 31, 2010

Spread Love and Pesto

I don't know about you, but everytime I log on to the computer and go through my blog roll, which always leads to a few links here and there (I never know where I'm going to end up)....I always find new things to do and try. 

One day last week I went to one of my favorite places, giverslog.com and found this cool post about the most delicious homemade pesto.  And, better than just a recipe and amazing photos, she shared a really awesome download for your own printable labels. Well, with homegrown basil in my backyard (we finally tried basil AND tomatoes this year) I couldn't resist....I had to put some together.

I followed the recipe exactly, using my Cuisinart and it was so simple...and tasty!
And, it couldn't have come at a better time, because I needed a quick and pretty hostess gift to bring to a dinner on Saturday night.  This recipe actually made three jars so I was able to keep one for myself. We are sampling it tomorrow night over some pasta and shrimp. Here's a shot of the label I used....I love the sentiment... "spread love and pesto"
See you later!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Spending a Little Time...

in here today....yahoo!!
I've been a busy little beaver these past few days with school jobs and volunteering, so I've declared some time to myself with my sewing machine today and whatever else strikes my fancy...maybe even clearing a little dust (ignore the dust-topped Dell laptop in the photo - my hubby brought that one in yesterday to dissect it - one of his favorite things to do).

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Trendy Twill

I needed a few quick thank you cards for some gals at school so I put these together last night using the papers in my scrap stash. I think it's fun sometimes to keep your scraps in a big pile, close to your paper cutter, and then challenge yourself to use only those scraps to put something together totally different than your original project....in this case I was working on a few scrapbook pages and found enough scraps for these cards.  Here's the first one:
Next I went to a pile of die cuts I used a few days ago from a K&Company paper pad. I've decided I'm not a huge fan of the paper pads because after a few uses I get bored with the same designs.  These pads might find their way to my garage sale pile.  The patterns are cute, but I'm ready for a change....
Are you noticing a trend with the twill? A few months back I remember putting something together and wanting some twill tape to "finish" it off.  I only had one color, and not enough of it, so I thought the next time I went craft shopping I would look for some.  Well, that was easier said than done because I couldn't find any anywhere...I decided that the twill trend must be was dead.  But, lucky for me, I found mega rolls of it this week at a going out of business sale for $2.99/each! Each roll has 72 yards...so I picked up one each of natural and white! I love it!!  And now I'm thinking I should have gotten two of each one, huh?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

A Couple of Snags

I'm getting ready to get down to business in my craft room...working on a couple of different things right now (in between the ever-piling laundry loads) but I thought I would take a quick minute to share a couple of "snags" I got yesterday. By "snags" I mean great bargains that I "snagged" right up....makes my little life so exciting!!!

Here's the first one, totally un-craft related:
I'm assuming you've heard of Havianas? (Two people I spoke with yesterday had never heard of them.) Well, I've always admired them but never owned a pair because they can be a bit expensive....well, yesterday while peeking into my favorite clothing consignment store I found this pair at 50% off!!  Technically they were $4.00 but because I had a store credit they ended up being free for me!!!

Next up is a purchase I made at a local scrapbook store that is, sadly, going out of business:
Isn't she a beatuy?  I love clear acrylic organizing pieces.  This one will actually be making a home in my friend's awesome craft space.  She has a plentiful collection of SU markers and Copics so I thought she "needed" it.

And lastly......can I just pretend I'm in my early 20's again???? Just for a moment?  I am so, so happy to hear that this cutie patootie is going to be in the finals on American Idol:

I'm not a bettin' gal, but I would put money on this one! I can't wait for next week and you can count on me to be in line when his first CD is released!! Love to listen!!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Reached My Goal

One of the goals I set for myself when I turned 40 (last June) was to have a piece of my "work" published.  I wasn't going to be too picky about where, but I did have a few publications in mind.

Well, last week, to my surprise...I literally fell off my chair.....I received an e-mail from Alisha Gordon, Creative Editor at CARDS magazine.  She was asking for permission to publish one of my cards for the October, 2010 issue!!! Yahoo!!  I am thrilled beyond belief to have one of my teeny tiny cards in a major publication such as CARDS.  I just wanted to share the good news! (Isn't that the cutest badge above?...it's from the Girl Scout collection.)

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Just for You - #2

Hey there! I snuck in a few minutes yesterday morning to whip up this card for my great-nephew's birthday. I've got to admit, in the card making world sometimes you're in the mood and sometimes you're not....and when you are....wonderous things can happen....or at least cute cards like this one come together in flash.
I remembered that I had some really cute chipboard animals from Sassafras so that was my starting point. I saw the elephant and the balloon bouquet and married the two together.  Next up was choosing the base colors and contrasting colors. After that I decided it needed some "grounding" so I added the rub-on stitching which went on a smoothly as butter from my Doodlebug sheet. Can you tell I love Doodlebug rub-ons? Once I found the teeny sticker sentiment I decided one last thing was missing....and added the small Martha Stewart butterfly.  Perfect!  And it was done in less than 15 minutes!  Fastest time ever!

I'll try to have more up this week as my school schedule has slowed down a bit....it's so hard for me to say no.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Because I know my Mom...

doesn't read my blog, I thought I would share with you the arrangement I put together as part of her Mother's Day present: 
My Mom is so low-key and she said she didn't want any gifts this year, but I couldn't make myself not find something "pretty" for her [is that a double negative???].  I went to Michael's and glanced through their floral arrangement displays....nothing really grabbed me or fit the design I had in mind, so I did what I always do....I made my own.

These are not my normal "go-to" colors, but I love hydrangeas of any kind (real or artificial) and these three groups of flowers all seemed to just fall into my hands.  One bunch, (the small white flowers) I found in the dollar bin and they really helped add the finishing touch.  The total for this bunch of flowers + the ceramic pitcher was less than $15. 

I'm busy in the bow-making department now, because I wanted it to look a little bit more like a "gift" vs. a regular arrangment and then I'll add some cellophane and a card.  I can't wait to give it to her tomorrow.

Happy Mother's Day!