Rubber Stamp Spring Fling

I thought I would take some time today to tell you about the Rubber Stamp Spring Fling I went to on Saturday. I had a wonderful time and I was only there for about 1.5 hours. I was inkspired by some of the displays I saw, and I even took pictures so that I could show you. I also learned a couple of new background techniques, and a new Twinkling H2O technique. You can look forward to seeing those sometime later this week.

The first thing that piqued my interest and that I actually ended up buying was a package of Starburst Stains. You can get them on this site: www.lindystampgang.com

Basically, you can do color washes with them, or you can pounce them on your page to create interesting starbursts, or just gently touch them to the page to get a cool stippled look. It takes a couple times of doing it to "get it" right, but once you know how hard or not hard to pounce them -- what fun!!! Oooh and they all have this marvelous glittery sheen, similar to pearl ex, but require nothing for it to stick to the page, and they don't come off on your hands. I got a pack of 5 colors - sea mint green, opal sea oats, glory of the seas gold, azure sea asters and cocklebells coral. I really love the backgrounds you can create with these.

Here are some pictures of cards on the displays that were up that inkspired me in some way:

These gorgeous two were at the Designs Unlimited booth. I picked up some sweet precut ready to stamp pencil toppers and match book notebooks there, as well as a really cool other thing which I am not going to talk about until I post it. I photographed these because 1) I loved that they embossed in gold and silver -- I never think to do that, always, black, white or clear to me, and 2) The watercoloring on these cards was just awe inspiring and sensational!!!

This card was in the Creations Unlimited booth. I just loved the idea of using multiple colors of glitter on the back of the acetate sheet and stamping images in staz on on the front. Beautiful!!! This booth was selling both embossing powders and glitter -- no surprises there!

1. 2. 3.

1. This card was photographed for pure CASEing. I really liked how the sunflower looked over the crimped kraft paper and since I have lots of sunflower images and fall is coming up . . . I took a picture.
2. I liked this one because of the dress. The image is totally not my style at all -- but her dress was done in green microbeads and looked so cool and shimmery in real life.
3. This is a technique that I have never thought about trying before (DUH) that I learned in that booth where both of the other pictures were taken. It was the Rubbernecker Stamp Company booth. The technique is to take your twinkling H2O's and using a paintbrush, paint them onto a solid image stamp and then stamp them down on your paper. I loved the shimmery sample and when I asked if I could photograph it, it was generously given to me! Thanks! I totally want to try a fall card using this technique, I think you could do some gorgeous things.

These photos were taken in the Ecstacy Crafts booth. It was totally and completely packed and had a line up of like 15 people at all times. I wanted to get some ornare stencils because they were gorgeous, but I was trying to avoid lines so I could see everything. I did take a picture of some of the ornare cards though. The flower card is just a stencil overlay and then cut out and spread out a bit. I thought it was a neat idea to use somehow.

So that is pretty much it. I had a fun time. I learned lots and I hope you enjoyed coming with me!

Fabulous Floral Fridays - Heartfelt Thanks and a PRIZE

So I decided that I have a lot of floral sets and guess what? I am not using them. I really need to because there was a reason I bought them. So, in an effort to use them more often, each Friday I am going to feature a floral set and a card, maybe two, that I have made with that set. I am really hoping this will help me use them more often and it will inspire you to use your floral sets too!

Here are the cards I made for this week. I will probably only make one each time on a regular basis, but this week I made a set of three simple notecards. I was playing with ribbon on them to decide which one I liked the best.

And because this is my very first week of doing this -- I want to give away a prize. This prize is a good one too! It is a MAKING MEMORIES Photo Cube Kit. It contains 47 pieces including 3 chipboard cubes, 24 patterned papers, 19 rub ons and a yard of ribbon. It is really cool!!!

Okay, so here is what you have to do to win this. I want you to make a card using the featured set of the week -- Heartfelt Thanks. After you have made it -- upload your card to your blog, or SCS or wherever you like to keep your work on the web, and then come back and in the comment section of this post -- post me a link. Then I will go look at all the different creations and for each card you have made, I will enter you in a drawing to win the prize of the week. I figure this is a good way for you to inkspire me back and inkspire each other, while using those much neglected floral stamp sets we all just "must have." Winner will be announced next Friday! Ready, Set, GO! Show me your wonderful creations!!!!

I am off to get groceries for the week . . . I hope to have emails sent out to all of you who ordered monoadhesive today . . . so watch for that -- (although to be fair, it might not be until 11 pm {AZ time} tonight).

Oooh, and tomorrow I am off to a stamp show in Mesa -- any of you AZ girls who read my blog -- keep your eyes peeled and come introduce yourself if you are there while I am! I would love to meet you!

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Super Simple Turkey Shepherds Pie

ETA: Thanks to Bobbie and Linda P for letting me know that I was missing my potatoes -- hehehe! FIXED!

I learned from a friend that in shepherds pie, you are supposed to use lamb. Makes sense, but my mom always used ground beef. I modified my shepherds pie and I use ground turkey. It is really simple, but tastes yummy and M always eats LOTS of it!

Super Simple Turkey Shepherds Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (or more if you prefer)
1 large can of green beans (you can buy the french cut ones or regular)
1-2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (dependent on how much meat you use)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 stick of butter
shredded cheddar cheese
5-6 potatoes (enough to cover the top of the whole dish -- spread out -- if you like more, use more -- we love the potatoes so we always do lots)

Directions:

Cook turkey in frying pan (scrambled) until it is no longer pink. Mix in soup and blend well. Pour into 9x13 inch pan. Drain and pour can of green beans over the meat mix. Meanwhile, boil potatoes, drain and mash. When you mash them, add a tsp of baking powder and 1/2 stick of butter and mix well. Pour potatoes over green beans in pan. Flatten out to cover the top. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place in oven at 400 F until cheese is browned and bubbly! Enjoy!

We usually have this on Thursday night in honor of Dr. Derek Shepherd (*snickers*) so since I got this up so late, you might end up doing the same. Let me know how it goes. I like to sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper on top. Total comfort food -- YUM!

R.S. Dinner - Favor Boxes

For the past couple of days I have been working hard on a project that started out simple and has ended up taking me a long time. This Thursday for my church, they are having a dinner for the women -- and I was put in charge of making the favors. I decided to make 2468 boxes, but a little smaller than half of a sheet of 8.5x11. I was to make 60 of them. I thought, no problem, it will go fast -- but it ended up taking me forever. They turned out really cute, but I think next time if I was doing a favor for a group this large, I would go with cello bags and toppers or something. The boxes contain Hershey's Kisses.

The paper is by My Minds Eye in their Wild Asparagus Collection and this design is called blue vine. I was going for an elegant look. Isn't it pretty paper? It was double sided and early on, I decided the boxes would look better if I covered the top somehow, so I punched an oval using my giga scalloped oval and folded it in half over the top of the box and it looked awesome. The paper is just the reverse side of the blue vine sheets. Hooray for double sided paper! Punched a couple of holes for ribbon, and then printed a scripture on white, punched it with my mega scallop punch and tied it on with a bit of silver cording and VOILA! Simple to make -- but like I said, in multiples of 60 -- quite time consuming! I really hope the ladies like them.

The scripture on them reads:

"And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work" ~Alma 26:3~

MONOADHESIVE UPDATE II

It's HERE!!!!!!! Yay! I came home and there was a note from FedEx on my door saying they left it in my backyard! SO, I have it inside now and it is just a matter of packaging it up and emailing you your postage due totals so I can send this stuff on its way.

I will keep you posted on progress. My kids are napping right now so when they are done -- I might have time to venture to the post office before dinner . . . we shall see . . . I hope to have it packaged up and totals emailed by tomorrow or Wednesday. Thanks for participating in this monoadhesive share. Currently I do not have plans to host another share for this product in the near future -- but you can often find shares like this on splitcoaststampers (link on sidebar).

MONOADHESIVE UPDATE

I still have not gotten that big box of mono yet . . . but it was shipping directly from TOMBO and should arrive within 10 business days of ordering, which according to my calculations mean it should either arrive Monday or Tuesday at the latest . . .

I still need money from the following people:

Jessica H ($47.76), Amy I ($119.40) - Paid $100 -- still owes $19.40

I am keeping track on here still so that I make sure it all gets collected. I will send out emails as soon as the product arrives to let you know on shipping costs. Also, when it gets here I will take a picture so you all can see that it is indeed coming . . . I am so eager for it to arrive -- I am on my very last refill . . .

Hope you are having a good weekend everyone!

A Marathon Stamp Session

I was up WAY too late last night. Sometimes I just get stamping and lose track of time, and then I look and it is 3:30 am *sigh* -- I am so tired. But, on the plus side, I am now all caught up on the challenges I wanted to do on Splitcoast!

So, here we are again, back to me posting lots and lots. Are you excited that you get two posts today on Grey's day? I just decided I made too many cards last night and I don't want you to have to wait to see them, so I am going to upload them all in this post *giddies*

SC115/CC104 -- I finally caught up on all the challenges I had opened windows for and had not done yet. This one turned out prettier than I expected it would. I love how the ribbon was done on the sample card -- so I tried it with this brown polka dot ribbon and it looks cute and is SO easy to do. Plan to use that more often in my card making.

The prima flowers were an afterthought because I noticed that one of the bottles I had had the exact same colors as the challenge in it and I decided that it was fate that they should go on the card. I think it works though. Stamp set is Winged Things by SU. Colors are so saffron, chocolate chip, regal rose, certainly celery. Oh, and the butterfly is just watercolored using my watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter. I also used my buttercup twinkling H2O's on the yellow part of the butterfly to add a little shimmer. Original layout by Jenn Balcer.

FS06/CC105 -- Next up we have one of my favorite cards I made last night. I just LOVE this image. Too funny! I would so not typically have put these colors together so I am so thankful for the color challenges because I love them together on this card. Apparently last night was the night for so saffron. I used it here again, paired with tempting turquoise (stamped off once to make it closer to cool carribean), really rust, old olive, and chocolate chip.

The cows are from Very Punny, a sellabration set by SU! If you did not get this one, sorry it is too late -- maybe try E-bay to find one. The main cow image is by Penny Black (love love love Penny Black sentiments and now this *YAY*). The ribbon was hanging down on my ribbon rack and happened to match just perfectly, so it got thrown on, with some olive ribbon and chocolate grosgrain for good measure. Oh, and I had to add some bling, so I just randomly put them on cows as spots.

SC116/TLC108 -- I made this card totally just to try out my new castaway pad. I heard about these a long time ago, but then the art store online that had them was out of stock and when they did get them in, the shipping was INSANE. Anyway, I wanted one, and when I saw them on a site I was shopping on the other day, I bought it and the refill because I had never seen them in my local stamp store before. SO, then I go to my LSS two days ago and SURPRISE, they have them! GRRRR! Hate when that happens. So it is a really cool pad that does like a batik/almost bleaching effect on cardstock. If you can find one, you should get it.
I also used my timber brown to stamp the flowers in the background, even though that is hard to see, and the sentiment stamp is Hampton Arts. Oh, and how could I resist using my scallop punches? I still need to acquire a scalloped circle, my LSS is out, so for now, it is just a square and these fun ovals.

SC114 -- Okay, what can I say? I gave in and bought a Fluffles the Cat. Sue me! LOL! I just could not resist when I saw this little guy on clearance, and plus, he is SPRING oriented and so it was perfect for me to get. The flowers are colored using twinkling H2O's and an aquapainter, and the paper in the background is by American Crafts. A simple, but cute and fun card! I tried to color the pot a bit, but it looked weird as clay with these colors, so I tried again and decided to leave it white. Ribbons are sheer black and white polka dots from Hobby Lobby and orchid grosgrain by Stampin' Up! Oh, and the brads in the centers of the flowers were added to help it all blend better and I really like how they worked with everything.

Last but not least is this fun card. Seriously, I totally HATED these colors together at first, but they do grow on you. This layout is by Holly (Toy on SCS) and I had never done anything like it before. She used patterned paper on her side panels, so I went rummaging, and wouldn't you know it, I had some that matched in my supply (see that is why I stock up *wink*) -- this paper is Skate Shoppe by Basic Grey (Fakie). I stamped flowers from Springtime stems over the panels in really rust, so saffron and brocade blue. I also stamped these same flowers on the vanilla sparkly paper from Prism Papers (a sample I got in the mail). The primas just seemed to match and be right, so I added them, adhered using a saffron brad (so thankful SU makes all sorts of matching brads). Lastly, I added the ribbon to make it more "girly girl" -- more me. I like how it turned out in spite of the colors. It is different than anything I would normally do and that is what the challenges are all about!!!

Grey's Day! / LSC106

All new Grey's Anatomy tonight. I *might* be a little bit excited. I was surfing on the abc.com website and I found this awesome quiz to find out which GA star you are most like. SO, because I want to know which one you guys are . . . I urge you to take the quiz and leave your results as a comment on this post!

http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/quiz/greysdiagnosis/index

Me, I am . . . most like Callie *smiles*

So I have been catching up on all the challenges I have missed on SCS when I was in my little stamping slump, and yesterday I worked on LSC106 - The Bold and the Beautiful. Can I just say this was not really a tough challenge for me because I actually do really like the bold bright family. No really, I do. It was just fun to play with them. They always make me think of spring/summer!I made this card using twinkling H2O's because basically I am obsessed with them *grins* I don't know how I missed this trend when it was popular. I remember reading about it, but I did not buy. WEIRD! Anyway, I stamped the flowers from SU's "Because of You" on white cardstock in staz on black ink. I colored them in using chiffon pink, plum blossom, and bashful blue H2O's by LuminArte' -- oh and I used a little of the buttercup color for the flower centers. For the background, I stamped some small flowers and dots from the same set on the pixie pink background, using orchid opulence ink. Then I used my white gelly roll pen to color dots on all the centers of the hollow dots. Next I layered my H2O image on tempting turquoise cardstock and decided it would be fun to use my crimper. I crimped the edge and then tied a piece of white rick rack around it. Finally, I placed the sentiment on orchid opulence cardstock and mounted it on the card. I decided it needed something still, so I did a sweep of the plum blossom and a sweep of the buttercup over a couple of words. The finished card is so cute! I love it!

Creative {Quest}

Yesterday at The Creative Quest -- my local rubber stamp store that I like (in Glendale) - they had a 1o card class -- where you pay a dollar a card and can stamp as many as you would like. The cards were easter and spring cards. I decided on two that I wanted to do, and went to work. Unfortunately, I don't remember who made each of the stamps -- but if you want to search, and let me know, I will update.

The first card has the most adorable bunny on it. The brown layer is a textured cardstock and the sentiment "Happy Chocolate Day" was stamped in brown colorbox ink. The bunnies were stamped in staz on black and colored using twinkling H2O's (I had never done this before). It is just gorgeous in real life. Then the little pink flowers (which are plastic) are attached using a brad. I modified my card from the original in the store a bit because I decided I would like it this way instead.

The second card was this pretty bunny. He was stamped in a brown ink (similar to staz-on) and heat set. Then he was colored with markers. Since when I stamped my bunny, I missed a corner of my paper completely, I did some direct to paper technique on the edges with the purple ink, to "fix" it. I think it looks okay. The sentiment "Happy Easter" was then stamped on a few places at random. The ribbon was done by punching two holes in the green cardstock (which is gorgeous and filled with sparklies in real life) and then I used the perfect bow method to make it look cute! I like this card, but I like my first one better!

All in all I had a fun time stamping at the Creative Quest. I fell in love with the H2O's and bought myself a pack of 12. They are just so simple and yet so stunning. I also got myself an egg stamp to play with and I plan to do that soon! Can you believe easter is on the way already?

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Cabbage Fat Burning Soup

This recipe was inspired by me looking in a mirror and realizing that swimsuit season is not that far away and we actually have plans to make a couple trips to the beach in California this summer. SO, I need to lose some weight. I decided it could not hurt for me to detox a bit and so I decided to do the cabbage soup diet for one week, starting today, and ending next Wednesday. I will let you know how it goes. This particular recipe came from allrecipes.com, and is called:

Cabbage Fat Burning Soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 carrots, chopped
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 (16 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, with liquid
• 1 large head cabbage, chopped (I used preshredded cabbage from the grocery store)
  
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can cut green beans, drained (I used frozen)
  
• 2 quarts tomato juice
• 2 green bell peppers, diced
• 10 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth (I used chicken broth as we don't eat beef)
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place carrots, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, green beans, peppers, and celery in a large pot. Add onion soup mix, tomato juice, beef broth, and enough water to cover vegetables. Simmer until vegetables are tender. May be stored in the refrigerator for several days.

It actually tastes pretty good and is pretty filling. I am excited to see if this actually will kick start my weight loss. Happy cooking! Oh, and use a large stock pot if you have one because this recipe makes lots of soup. M actually really likes it so it must be good!

I am NOT a scrapper (*DISCLAIMER*)

So, I have been working on this baby book for my darling daughter all last week, and I thought I should take some time to share some of the pages with you all. Some of them are not quite finished (aka, I feel like they are missing something -- ideas please) and some I am content with. It was SO hard for me to do these and I have more to do . . . I just *stink* at it. Anyway, enough whining -- here are the pages. Please be gentle!

A STAMPENDOUSly good mail day

Hello! I know, I know, I am a little bit late posting today, but it is tough getting back into the swing of things. Seriously, I have found myself to be so slow at stamping since I took a break. Today I got some good mail! I got a Stampendous stamp called Melanie from a friend named Carolina. I sent her some envelopes (invitation size) a couple weeks ago and she thanked me by sending me this cute stamp! I was so excited!!!

So, I got right to work and decided to upload the card I made with my new stamp today instead of what I had planned -- but you can see that tomorrow (don't worry!) The card is really simple, but basically, I just stamped the image on watercolor paper. I watercolored the image using my watercolor wonder crayons and a blender pen. I used my silver leafing pen to color in the metal desk and chair elements. I used the leafing pen on the edges on the black scalloped oval as well. Then I used some swirly rub ons on the white paper and a strip of black and white gingham, and stitched pink ribbon - for an interesting texture. The "Just a Note" stamp is by Wordsworth and I have had it for awhile. As a finishing touch, I added silver brads on the corners. I think it turned out cute. Sorry about the bad picture -- I might take another one early tomorrow morning when the light is better -- the colors of this card are true black and white and then pink, gray, and not quite navy on the watercolored image. Thanks CAROLINA!!!

The other thing that I wanted to show you today, is that I put up some shelves to host my non-SU wood mounted stamps. I got the sheves at IKEA for under $10 each, and then are awesome because they have a little lip on them, so the stamps stay on them perfectly! Pretty!!! Also, I think that this solution, which is right above my paper files, will help me to use these stamps more often and not forget that I have them. *smiles* Hope you had a lovely Monday. I am off to eat some cabbage veggie soup (yep, trying to lose some of my butt) and then watch "What About Brian" with my hubby. Until tomorrow . . . happy stampin'!

MIA -- Busy Busy Busy

Sorry I have been MIA. I have been working on a baby book for my DD and it has been consuming all of my time because I am mildly a perfectionist and not super great at scrap-booking. This is just a little post to check in, let you know that I am still alive and that I will be posting all new stuff every day next week.

Also, I wanted to direct your attention to some lovely blog candy that my friend Teresa is giving away on her blog Inkfully Yours. All you have to do is tell her your favorite patterned paper -- how easy is that? Go do it!!!

Finally, I am still waiting on monoadhesive moolah from the following people:

Leslie B ($23.88) (PAID- PAYPAL)
Nicki ($95.52)
Jessica H ($47.76)
Amy I ($119.40) - Paid $100 -- still owes $19.40
Robyn K ($59.70)
Tracy T ($47.76) (PAID)
Jen M ($59.70) (PAID)

Please get this money in to me ASAP! Let me know in the comments section of this post when I shall expect it, or the status -- if it has been sent out. Thanks!!!

Tombow Monoadhesive Refill Share - CLOSED

SHARE IS CLOSED -- THE PEOPLE WITH A BLANK BESIDE THEIR NAMES NEED TO EMAIL ME YOUR TOTAL BOXES AND THEN WHEN I HAVE EVERYONES FUNDS I WILL PLACE THE ORDER!

Thanks!

I am running out of monoadhesive, and in order to get the best deal, I need to order lots, so I am opening a monoadhesive refill share.

Each refill will only cost $1.99 each and will be sold in multiples of 6 (1 box). Thus the cost of 1 box will be $11.94. Please when you order, tell me how many boxes you would like. When you place your order of boxes, payment will be due in order to hold your place in the share. Once the order is placed, it will take as much as 10 days to get to me from the manufacturer. In order to get such a good rate, I need to order 432 units (or 72 boxes), so there is no deadline as I need to make it to that number, however, space will run out quickly, so please contact me as soon as possible to reserve your spot. I would like to order in two weeks (by March 23rd) at the latest, sooner if we can reach the goal before then. (Bold means paid)

Kristin -- 3 boxes
Amanda -- 12 boxes
Rose -- 3 boxes (sent check)
Melissa C -- 3 boxes
Jody -- 8 boxes
Crystal -- 4 boxes
Lyn -- 10 boxes
Leslie B -- 2 boxes
Dawn B -- 3 boxes
Erica P -- 4 boxes (sent check)
Nicki -- 8 boxes (sending check)
Jessica H - 4 boxes (sending check)
Karen G -- 3 boxes
Amy I -- 10 boxes
Stephanie S -- 6 boxes
Patti C -- 5 boxes (sent check)
Dorothy W -- 5 boxes (sent check)
Emily A -- 4 boxes
Paige G -- 4 boxes
Robyn K -- 5 boxes (sending check)
Tracy T -- 4 boxes
Jen M -- 5 boxes
Wendy B -- 3 boxes

They will be shipped to you priority mail. Upon receipt of the shipment from the company, I will email you with the amount due for postage, as well as your percentage of the tax (if they charge us tax -- I have never ordered from them before), and when the postage is received by me, your shipment will be mailed. This will allow me to most accurately charge you for postage. Payment will be through paypal or by check, but please, if you are sending a check, make sure I have confirmed that this is okay. If you do not have a paypal account or do not know how to send paypal, let me know and I can send you a bill. This makes it easier to send payment. Please add the following info in the “notes” section:

name
scs name
address
email address
number of boxes you are ordering

If you would like to sign up, just send your payment and all the info requested. My paypal address is: amandalsewell at gmail dot com -- if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me and please put MONOADHESIVE SHARE in the subject line.

I will update my blog with where we are on making it to the goal, and when we are expecting the order as that happens.

Thanks for your interest!

I'm SORRY!

Oi! Times flies when you are busy busy busy! Okay, I finally finished the prizes for my last blog contest - you know, the one where I had you all guess my middle name sometime back in *embarrassed* February. EEK!

Inside of these coaster boxes are the following:

• Two rolls of American Craft Ribbon
• One Roll of ribbon by Michael's on wooden Ribbon spool
• One bag of brads, eyelets, paperclips
• One Prima assortment (including leaves and flowers)
• One bag of punches (scalloped ovals and corners - assorted colors and sizes.)
• One bag of fibers (hemp, wire, funky yarn, rick rack)
• One stamp, One sheet of puffy stickers, Two paper bag books -- just choose how to tie together and decorate, starbursts.

Congratulations again to the winners of these: Jeri and JenMarie. I will get these out today! So watch for them early next week! Thanks for your patience. I am so sorry for not getting these out sooner . . . but I hope that they are cool enough that you will think they were worth the wait.

I just wanted to add the sweet comments that I got from both of the winners! Their emails made me tear up!

I am so thrilled with my prize! I keep getting all the goodies out and looking at them. What a wonderful package to receive! I am posting a picture of something I made this morning with the vanilla scallopped oval and some of the prima flowers. You sure did make me smile... Jeri

AND

WOW!!!

I got my amazing coaster box full of goodies from you today! I'm just totally in shock over the spendiferous box and ALL of the goodies inside! (I've never seen a prima or scalloped punch in 'real' life before...just on blogs!!!)

Thanks SOOOO much!

I really enjoy your blog. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful works of art!

Now, you be watching your mail..........

Thanks again and again and again!!!

~Jennifer

Stampers Block - FS03

I have spent the last couple of days playing with my mother in law and her mom and dad (my kids great grandparents). It was lots of fun. I know my kids won't have lots of chances to be with them because they are really old. In the evenings I have made attempts at stamping, but I have been blocked -- I find myself sitting staring out the window into the blackness.

Do you ever get blocked and what do you do that helps you out of it?

My friend Kristin suggested I stamp just for me, and not think about it so much. Also, she suggested new rubber. So, I went rummaging through my stamps to find something I have not used so much. I came across SU "Happy Harmony" set and "Crosshatch" background (which was brand spanking new - never been used). I decided to combine them. As for color choice -- I had played with some alcohol inks last night -- some turned out pretty and some, wow, right into the trash they went. The colors used here are denim and eggplant of the Tim Holtz Adirondak alcohol inks. I have wanted to do the Featured Stamper challenge on spiltcoast for a couple days now . . . and so, I decided to use it on this card. Beth's (myprecious) gallery is gorgeous, so if you have time to go find it, do so.

Anyway, this is what I managed to come up with. Thanks to Beth for inkspiring me with her layout.

What's For Dinner Wednesday - Chicken and Dressing Casserole

This was so yummy and so easy, although DH said he would prefer no mushrooms next time, but (and this is an important but) -- he ate them all so they could not have been that bad to him. Me, I like mushrooms. YUM!

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

1 (2 1/2 to 3 lb) chicken, stewed and de-boned (I used boneless skinless breasts here -- about 4, cubed)
1/2 c. butter (melted)
1 (12 oz.) package of stuffing mix (we used chicken)
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. chicken broth, divided
1 can cream of chicken soup

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine stuffing mix and butter, mix well. Spread 3/4 of stuffing mixture in bottom of greased 13x9x2 casserole dish. Lay pieces of chicken on top
of stuffing. Add mushrooms on top of that. In a medium bowl combine sour cream, cream of chicken soup and one cup of chicken broth. Spoon over chicken, dressing and mushrooms in pan. Add remaining 1/4 of stuffing mix on top of this. Drizzle with remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth over all. Bake for 45 minutes. ENJOY! Serves 4-6

We had this with a side of veggies and it was just so good.

It's 10:28 pm -- NEGLECT

Okay, I have been completely a slacker. I totally neglected you and for that, I am SORRY! Lots going on around here. I just found out my mom has multiple clots in her legs from her pelvis to her knee. I am super worried about that, so if you are the praying type, pray for my mommy.

I have been working on a new adventure for Fridays on my blog. It is going to be called "Fabulous Floral Fridays" and each Friday I will feature a stamp set or stamp that is a floral and at least one card I have made with it. I am really excited about this. This will begin next Friday, so if you have lots of floral sets, plan to dig them out and let's get stamping together!!!

I bought a carpet steamer today from Sears. It is a Hoover and it seems like it will work well. I am working on getting the pee out of my carpets because Dobby is mostly trained but he occasionally will pee in one of his frequent peed on spots, and I need to fix that situation. Plus, I needed some retail therapy because of this stress and the above stresses.

I just was crocheting right down until a few minutes ago. I finished the blanket . . . a baby blanket in a week! WOOHOO! I am so glad I can send it with M tomorrow. His sister is going to love it. Well at least I hope so because I worked myself into a twitch this week, either through tiredness or because of the detail of all that work. My eye has been twitching for at least 24 hours now. Here are a couple pictures. It is just two rows of double crochet (dc) and two rows of treble crochet repeated over and over. Then I did a row of single crochet around the outside and a picot edge. Really simple, but I hope she likes it. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn, which I adore for baby blankets -- it is soft, but not weird like some baby yarns can be. It also has this awesome shimmer to it that I just love. I picked up a book on crochet from Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago and that is where the picot pattern came from. I taught myself one other thing from it so far -- I love the book -- it is SO easy to figure out because there are pictures to help! I will post my cool square I made another day . . .

ETA: The book is called "Crochet School - A Complete Course" and is by Sterling Publishing Co, Inc. -New York. The picot border can be found on page 110 of that book. I used a "G" hook.

I also made a paint can to give baby McKayla as well. I had never done a memory can before, so it was all new to me, which made it fun and challenging. I ended up using Scotch brand double sided tape, and so far it has held, but I ran out of my red terrifically tacky tape and did not have time to run to the store to get more. Inside of the can, I put infant tylenol, baby wash, baby lotion, baby socks, an infant tooth and gum brush, chocolates (for mom), a note pad to make note of the milestones and matching pink pen, a little matchbox to save some hair from her first haircut, mylicon (love the stuff -- lifesaver for gassy babies who can't burp), a baby bib that says "I love Mommy," a sleeper from old navy (pink and white striped), and I think that is it. I barely fit it all in. I hammered the lid on and it is done. It should be hard for my hubby to mess it up. I used chipboard letters and covered them with paper and sanded the edges (super hard with tiny letters -- totally would not recommend this). The ribbons are just proof that now I can match practically any paper with the bazillion rolls of ribbon I have. WOOHOO! The poem on the top reads:

Baby Books are great ideas,

but sometimes you’re too busy.

Living with a little one

can put you in a tizzy.

Milestones pass too fast at times

to find the proper page,

so jot a note of each event

with date and baby’s age

(like “took 3 steps on June the 1st”

or “teething - 5th December”).

Then drop it in this memory can

to help you always remember.

Sorry the colors are so bad on the photos, but it is almost 11 pm and pretty dark here in Phoenix, so obviously I could not use natural light, and since it is leaving tomorrow at 5 am, I decided to take photos anyway. It is very vanilla on the top piece if that helps you to get an idea of the colors more true and accurately. I hope she likes it!

Spinoff?

Can you believe it it March 1st already???

Okay, since it is Thursday again, but we have a re-run tonight instead of a brand spankin' new Grey's Anatomy, I thought I would discuss with you, what I recently read about a spin-off show.

First things first, I know my husband will be excited about this because he loves Kate Walsh (aka Addison Montgomery). Apparently, she will star in her own new show, a spin-off of Grey's

"Grey's Anatomy stars fuming over spin-off"

So, what I want to hear from you all, is, do you think this is a good idea? Would you watch this show? Do you like her character enough? Are you afraid of her taking other cast members with her (aka McSteamy)? What do you think?

Only one more week till the show we all know and love "Grey's Anatomy."