No Christmas card today

This week we were supposed to make a card using the Colors suggested by Chocolate & Roses .

Well, that didn't strike any creative chord with me - so I gave up early and didn't try one!

Enjoy the 3 day weekend, I know I will!

Magnolia-licious Christmas Blog Hop

It's May 25, and that means another round of Magnolia Christmas cards. You may have come here via Leonie

If not, that's ok, just follow using the link below and you'll get all the way around the hop!

This image is quickly becoming one of my favorites- Solid paper is all Bazzil- sorry, I don't know the color names, colored with Copics- Carmine for her dress - Ocean green for the green!

From here, head over to Martina!

Christmas Friday - Paper Piecing

This week's Challenge was Paper Piecing - after looking at ALL of my stamps, I decided I just don't have many stamps that lend themselves to paper piecing, but I did have some 'wood grain' paper and thought I could paper piece the stairs- so that's what I did!



The images are from A Muse - colored with Copics, and paper from 'the stash'!



Check out the work from the others with the links on the left <-, and if you want to submit a card using paper piecing, you could be selected as a guest designer for next week! Submit your card here!

Have fun!

Spring Hat

Thought I'd give a try at the sketch on Taylored Expressions; and this is my interpretation!

The image is from A Muse, colored with Copics and paper- just what I could get my hands on!

Winning card!

Without further ado, a very happy congratulations goes out to MARCIA, from CiaB's Crafty Times! Here's Marcia's entry:

Remember this card? I submitted it to Humble Pie last week, and it was the winner- Imagine my surprise, but It's a nice thing!

You can see it here: Humble Pie Winning card

Jessica Watson Sails Around the World

I don't know if any of you have been following or even heard of Jessica Watson, a 16 year old Australian, who for the last 7 months, has been sailing around the world, non-stop, unassisted. I've been following her adventure for nearly a year as she prepared for the trip, and while she's been at sea, her blog has been one of the first things I have checked every morning.

She was able to write the most interesting and informative blog- especially for someone 16 years old. As I read her blog every day, I often wondered if I could have/would have done what she has done. I'm glad she made it home safely, but I'm definitely going to miss checking in on her every day. There is however, another young lady, 16 year old Abby Sunderland,from Southern California, who is attempting the same thing, though she has had a bit of a disappointment, as she has had to stop in South Africa for some mechanical repairs - her dream of a non-stop trip is no longer, but she is going to continue her trip to complete her dream of a solo circumnavigation. I'm following her blog as well, so I guess her's will now be one of the first I check every day.

I have always been independent, so I think that I could have done, and would I have done it if possible ? Probably. However, the things she did to get ready for the trip, especially securing the sponsors, would probably have made it a no go for me - that's just not something I'm any good at. (Don't ever ask me to be in charge of fund raising for an event, I'd fail miserably)

Ok, so I'm no longer 16 - (and oh so far from it) but is there anything I'd still like to try...(besides doing as much normal travelling as possible)? I think Sailing or Flying lessons could fit into this category...(sumo wrestling, climbing Mt Everest, digging for gold, not so much- LOL)

Anyway, a marvelous achievement for a wonderful young lady!

Christmas Friday

Ok - so this is my card this week- here's what we were given to work with:

Base: Kraft - 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
Mat: Red- 3 1/4 x 1 3/4
Any patterned paper: - 3 1/4 x 4.5
Ribbon or Fabric: White
Buttons or Brads: Red

I feel like I missed something here, as the card just seems a little boring - but I used what we were supposed to! Me- I always follow the rules pretty much right on - so maybe we were allowed to expand on this someway, but I did exactly as indicated- oh, I did add a little red flower because it really was boring without it!

Recipe Wednesday-Chicken & Mushroom Sauce

This is a great dish - and allows for a lot of substitutes and still tastes great! I was specifically looking for a recipe with Chicken and Prosciutto as I had Prosciutto in the refrigerator and wanted to use it up! You can easily leave it out or substitue ham without changing the flavor (just remember to add some salt)

3 Chicken Breasts - skinned, boned and halved
5 T buttler
1/4 C Chopped Onion
1/4 C flour
2 T Dijon Mustard
1 C half and Half (or milk)
1/4 C dry white wine
1 C chicken Broth
3 (4.5 oz) jars sliced mushrooms, drained (I used 1 "blue" pkg fresh mushrooms)
4 oz shredded Swiss Cheese, (I used Jack)
16 oz pkg frozen broccoli (I use 1 can green beans - french style)
6 slices prosciutto or thin sliced cooked ham
Paprika

Pound each chicken breast until about 1/4" thick. Heat oven to 400

In large skillen over medium heat, melt 2 T butter. Cook Chicken in butter until lightly browned on both sides. Remove Chicken

Melt remaining butter, add onion and cook until tender, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, stir in flour and mustard. Gradually stir in broth, half and half, wine. Cook over low heat until it thickens and boild. Add mushrooms and 1/2 C cheese. Stir until melted.

Arrange Broccoli (or vegetable) in bottom of 9x13 inch pan. Spoon half of sauce over broccoli; alternate ham slices and chicken slightly overlapping. Pour remaining sauce over chicken. Bake 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining cheese and paprika- bake extra 2 minutes

2 in one!

This card is for two different challenges - it just came together like that. Twisted Sketches provided the sketch - you can see it at TWISTED SKETCHES

This is also for the current challenge on HumblePie Stamps!

Check out these other 2 sites, there's a lot of fun stuff going on!

Happy Mother's Day

I didn't get to spend Mother's Day with my Mom, seems I overcommitted myself for this weekend thinking Mother's Day was NEXT weekend. But I did get a great card and gift off to her and called her this morning. My niece and Niece-in-law were fixing breakfast for everyone, so they'll have a good time! Of course I didn't get a picture of her card, but this is the card I made for my other niece-in-law for her first Mother's Day!

Twisted Sketches-guest team member

I was excited to be a guest team member for Twisted Sketches. Each week there's a sketch and a twist! You can see this week's sketch at Twisted Sketches. (in case the link doesn't work, you can find them at http://www.twistedsketches.com/) This was my take - and the twist this week is Word - any how any way! I used the "word" - Friend! Almost all of this card came from Teresa Collins Friendship collection. The flowers and the "bling" were in my stash!

Check out the Twisted Sketches blog and see all the other great work!

Christmas Friday Project!

This week our challenge was to create an accordian purse and matching card. This is my take.

The template for this project can be found here

Check out the work of the Diva's on the left! <-