Tuesday, September 30, 2008

October Desktop

I am totally addicted to these adorable "wallpapers" you can use on your pc/laptop desktop. For October I will be using one from Funky Playground. I am adding in a picture of my son and I from last Halloween, but they also have one without the photo option if you are not a digi scrapper. Check it out!
Here's mine...

Here's the one where they put an owl in the photo window, so even if you do not have digi scrapping capabilities, you can still have a neat desktop...

You can download one of your own here. Don't forget to mark my 30th birthday on the 2nd of October when you download the desktop calendar. hehe :)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Lost & Found

I am a novice jewelry maker, but I have been trying it out more and more this year. I have fallen in love with this line of charms, chains and stuff I found at Michaels and JoAnn's, it is called Lost & Found by Blue Moon Beads. They have the neatest charms, here are some of my favorites...

These birds appeal to me of course, because I have a bird obsession that I cannot explain.
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This metal heart locket, which I bought today and will be using to make a Christmas present for someone.
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These wire wrapped acrylic beads make me happy as well...
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And there's just something about these fuzzy velvet covered bead strands that I cannot resist...
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If you like to make jewerly, head to JoAnn's today because all their supplies are 40% off right now. I snagged up quite a few adorable baubbles to make a lil something this afternoon. Off to my craft room I go....

Scrapbook Saturday

Scrapbook Saturday

The journaling seems tiny and hard to read on here, but full size is fine. It is a Rascal Flats song that I love and think about my son every time I hear it.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Momma's gone CSI

That's right, I am collecting evidence. Evidence of how horrible my dogs can behave. Evidence of how sloppy my child and husband can be. Evidence of why I should be sent to some tropical paradise for a month long vacation without any of them.

I got out the fancy Canon this afternoon and my rubber gloves and hit the path, the path of destruction they tend to leave throughout the house and yard.

What sparked this CSI-like hunt you ask? Oh, just a little thing called 'the sound of breaking glass'. Yep that's where it all started, right here....

This was a glass of Kool Aid I left unattended on the patio as I snuck inside to go to the bathroom. God forbid I go alone and leave the child or dogs without strict supervision for 2 minutes. This was the handy work of my 5.5 month old doberman.
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It's just a glass of Kool Aid, right? I got it cleaned up and no one cut themselves on the glass. However, that was just the beginning, see the following evidence photos for more destruction caused by my lovely little doberman friend (all caused this week of course).

She completely tore up her dog bed. Yes, her crate is in the garage because she would not stop howling/screaming at me the other day when I put her in there to calm down.
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She chewed on my cedar planters.
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She dug a hole, wait make that two holes, and took a poo in my flower bed. Thankfully it is closed for the winter so I do not have to go weeding around in her poo.
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She stole my pen and highlighter and ran off into the grass to chew them up.
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She brought dirt into the house and deposited it on the kitchen floor I just mopped yesterday (twice mopped because right after I mopped she came in and muddied it up).
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Then there's my husband...Apparently the 5 feet walk from the shower to the laundry room is too much for him, so he stacks up dirty wash cloths on the shower floor for me to gather each week.
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He leaves his smelly socks all over the house when he strips them off after work.
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He also cannot seem to put his hair products back in the drawer, instead he likes to leave them all over the bathroom counter for me to take care of.
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Then of course there is the child, the sweet, caring, snuggle bug child, who has me pulling my hair out this week with his wild behavior, loud voice and constant rebellion against all rules and chores.

This here is a pile of toilet paper in our main bathroom. Yes, it is on the floor. When I saw this I asked him "what happened to all this toilet paper?"...his reply "it is for my dog to poop on". That would be his stuffed dog, not our actual puppy. Where does he come up with this stuff and why does it require such a mess?
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There were many more messes created by the child this morning, however they required yelling with frustration like a drill sargaent until he cleaned them up. After which, the following sign was made, discussed and hung up in his bedroom to remind him what to do every day.
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Now when you see me on Court TV trying to get these boys and dogs locked up or on trial for something horrible because they did not cooperate with me and I lost my mind, you will know that there is evidence of what I have been dealing with. I am not crazy. Well maybe I am, but if so, it's their fault for pushing and pushing and making me clean up after them. Right?!

A Minty Sale

Peppermint Creative is having an incredible Re-Launch Sale. It seems everything in their shop is on sale right now. You can snag up some incredible kits, paper packs, alphas or element sets at great prices. And their new site looks great!
I absolutely love the latest freebie they have available as well. Go download it now!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Homemade Fun

Yesterday at preschool my son received a Batman ring on top of a cupcake the birthday boy of the week brought in. He was excited about this ring. Then when we went to McD's for lunch he received a Batman toy in his Happy Meal. He was beyond excited about this! He wanted to know if we could make a Batman mask at home, I told him we would try after lunch. This is what we came up with.

I happened to have a big sheet of black foam in my craft room. I freehand drew the mask and wings on the foam with a silver gel pen and cut them out. Then I hammered in a couple eyelets to hold some elastic cord in order to hold the mask and wings on. He wanted the eyes to be white, so we compromised with a silver ring drawn around the eye opening (poor kid didn't realize if we filled in the holes he would be a blind Batman).
He really enjoyed this craft. I did all the work and he enjoyed it later, like all afternoon later, running around pretending to be Batman for hours. It was really easy, only took ten minutes and the craft foam is about 99 cents at Michaels, so an inexpensive project as well.
Plus, how cute are these pics? I love them!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Scrapbook Saturday

Scrapbook Saturday

Credits: Background paper from Schoolin at Two Peas In A Bucket, redish mat from Grunge at KJoi Studios, black mat from For The Boys at Funky Playground, red border from Grunge at KJoi Studios, beaded wires and eyelet from Grunge at KJoi Studios, preschool font is INdian Poker, Other font is Pegasus, tag is from School Scribbles by Pineapple Plantation.
I believe I created this layout entirely from freebie downloads. Some may or may not be available for free download at the above mention sites.

Fabulous Freebies

Happy Friday!

I would love to share with you the fabulous digi scrappin freebies I have come across today.



Thursday, September 18, 2008

I forgot to mention...

I am totally WILD about this contest I won on MomDot. It is for a Wild Planet Animal Scramble Game. I totally laughed out loud watching Charlotte play it in the video on MomDot. I went and checked out the Wild Planet website and fell in love with the Animal Scramble and the Pirate Treasure Hunter. So I enterred the contest and was so excited to hear I won!

Fall crafts I WANT to do...

Fall is my favorite time of year. There are so many great crafts out there to try out. Here are a few I am planning to attempt this Fall.

Apple Prints on fabric as seen on The Crafty Crow.

Crockpot Applesauce as seen at Crockpot 365.


Jar-o'-Lanterns as seen on Martha Stewart. I actually started these little guys last week.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wordless Wednesday


Our pet praying mantis eating a cricket.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Meme Time...Formerly Meme Monday...

Ok, so I am not sure when I am supposed to post this, but here goes...

I was tagged by my friends Mimi and Melissa.

Where were you 10 years ago?
Ten years ago today I was in Florida, staying with my cousin and her husband, working as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens and battling serious anxiety and panic attacks. I was missing home, my mom and family and friends, but I was totally thankful to have the opportunity to take the time out for me and work hard at improving my life and beating anxiety.

What is on today's to-do list?
Return Charlotte's Web to the library, return some pants to Meijer, get printer paper, clean house, do laundry, cook dinner, make sure my child has fun and learns something and we all survive the day.

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Oh geez, what wouldn't I do?! I would pay off our house, our parent's houses and cars and set up my son's education. I would set aside money for my son to be able to travel the world before college. I would buy Adobe Photoshop for scrapbooking. lol I would then let my husband decide what to do with the rest, cause he is the financial guru in our home.

Name 5 places you have lived:
Clinton Township, MI
Warren, MI
Sterling Heights, MI
Mt. Clemens, MI
Hudson, FL

Name 3 of your bad habits:
I eat too many sweets.
I collect too many piles of receipts and papers and junk.
I cry a lot.

What are your favorite snacks?
Cookies, or anything chocolate.
Chili cheese Fritos.
Popcorn.

Who will you tag for this meme?
Debateur
Heather B.
Karyn

Trying out something new this Tuesday...

I have seen many layouts where the scrapper used a photo as their background. I thought I would give it a try because I always like the look when I see other people use this technique.

So, here I used an up close shot of my son set to be a bit transparent, with a colored and aged paper in the background. I really like how it turned out and will probably use this technique on future layouts.

This is also a great way to incorporate more photos into your layout. I am a pic queen and take so many and want to use them all, it is hard for me to discard some and only use a few for each page.

Credits: Paper, No. 9 and brackets from the Grunge Kit at KJoi Studios.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Menu Plan Monday




Ok, I totally planned my menu, really I did. But it is way over there in the kitchen and I am too lazy to go get it. So, here's what I can remember...

Monday - we had turkey tetrazzini (it was sooo good)
Tuesday - Meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn
Wednesday - Chicken Noodle Soup
Thursday - leftovers and whatever we find
Friday - Dine out
Saturday - Chili
Sunday - Pork chops

Wow, I cannot believe I remembered it all. LOL The best part of this week's menu is that I planned it all while I was sitting in Panera eating a bagel with cream cheese. I took myself out to breakfast right after I dropped my son off to preschool (yay preschool!). I brought my cookbook and a notepad with me so I could plan the menu and shopping list. It was a nice little break.

If you would like to enjoy a leisurely menu planning session like I did, head on over to OrgJunkie and get with the program.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Scrapbook Saturday

Scrapbook Saturday

This layout is very simple, but I enjoy it. I used papers and elements from the Peppermint Creative Tropical Popsicle kit.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

She did what to a cereal box?

I have officially crossed over into some sort of crafty twilight zone. My brain is slowly being reprogrammed. Today as I was about to toss a Cocoa Crispies box into the recycle bin, I had an idea to reuse the box instead.

I headed down to my craft room and spent half an hour with my friend Aleene's Tacky Glue and some Cosmo Cricket paper and created a box for take out menus.


If you want to make one of your own, here's what I did...


  • I used my craft knifed to cut off the top of the box. I did this freehand leaving the back side a bit taller than the front.
  • I loosely traced around the sides of the box onto my scrapbook paper. I used Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste Dew Drops and ColorMates Dark Awesome Aqua. Cut those shapes out and glued them onto the box, inside and out.
  • Then I used white paper craft ribbon to cover all the edges (this can be found in Michaels near the rafia and comes in several colors).
  • I added the words Take Out to the front using Provo Craft white self adhesive chipboard letters.
  • Then I stapled a little ribbon on the inside to hang it from,since I plan on hanging this on the wall in my utility hallway off my kitchen.

This was a very simple craft and only took 30 minutes. The only product I definitely recommend using for this is the Aleene's Original Tacky Glue. This glue is thick, dries clear and has an instant grab with the ability to still move your item, totally perfect for cardstock paper. Everything else could be swaped out, you could use real ribbon instead of paper ribbon, you could even cover it in fabric or felt and you do not have to hang it, this box would be cute sitting on a buffet or counter top.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

First Day Of School Goodies

Inspired by Wendy at The Shabby Nest, I made a first day of school banner for my son. Today was his first day of preschool at the elementary school he will attend Kindergarten at next year. I was so excited for him to experience this and I wanted to make it a special day.

Here's my version of the school banner hanging in between my kitchen and dining area. I used the trianlge drawing tool in Microsoft Word to make a triangle template, traced and cut that out of different scrapbooking papers, used Avery round labels to print the letters on and some red and yellow ribbon to string it. I think we will be hanging this up on the first day of school every year. So simple and festive.
I also made a little treat bag using some of the same paper, labels and ribbons. I put a little prize in there for him to have after he got home from his first day at preschool.

Wordless Wednesday



Ok, so, I totally swiped my WW idea from my friend Trisha at MomDot. I did put my own scrapbooking spin on it though.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Birthday Mania...

My family and friends know I get really excited about my son's birthday each year and plan him a sweet party. Well, this past April I got a chance to throw a birthday party for my husband as well. He was turning 30 and I wanted to make it special. That same month our English Bulldog, Rocky, was turning one. I just could not pass up saving him a cucpcake and making him wear a party hat while we sang happy birthday to him. And of course, I could not resist taking a few pictures and scrapping them. So here it is...my dog's first birthday...


Credits: Papers and elements from the Faith Sisters designer try out freebies Let's Celebrate and Birthday Bash.

Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday has been awesome. I love knowing exactly what to buy and not constantly forgetting stuff at the store. My husband loves knowing what's for dinner each night by looking at the list on the fridge. Thank you OrgJunkie!

Monday - Cheeseburger Pie (this is a fave of ours from Betty Crocker), mashed potatoes
Tuesday - Chicken Quesadillas (trying a new recipe), salads

Wednesday - Steak, Grilled taters and veggies

Thursday - Cheese Ravioli, garlic bread, green beans
Friday - Pizza or Carryout

Saturday - Grilled Chicken Breasts, corn, rice

Sunday - Super Quick Minestrone Soup (trying a new recipe)

Friday, September 5, 2008

Scrapbook Saturday

Scrapbook Saturday

Credits: Paper and elements by Raspberry Road the Big Boy collection. Fonts: Toy Train and Twentieth Century Poster.
Are you participating in Scrapbook Saturdays? Let us know!


Mmmm mmmm good...

We just got home from running errands and I was starving, so I popped some leftover vegetable beef soup I made for dinner last night in the microwave. OMG so good! Even better than last night!

This was a new recipe I tried for dinner last night from the Food Network site. Here it is with my modifications...

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 1/2 to 3 pounds boneless chuck roast
4 quarts cold water
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons beef bouillon granules
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 cup diced celery
6 cups frozen mixed vegetables (green beans, corn, carrots, peas)
2 cup diced potatoes
1/2 cup uncooked elbow macaroni

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the roast in the skillet and cook until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the roast from the skillet and cut it into 1 1/2 to 2-inch cubes; discard the fat. Place the beef cubes in a large stockpot.
Add the water, tomatoes, onions, dried parsley, beef bouillon, dried Italian seasoning, House Seasoning, seasoned salt, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, black pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover the pot; reduce the heat so that the liquid simmers, and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the meat is very tender.
Add the remaining vegetables and the macaroni and return the soup to a boil, stirring to distribute the ingredients. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Just before serving, season with salt and pepper to taste. To remove excess fat from the surface of the soup, swirl a lettuce leaf around the surface—it will pick up a lot of the fat.

House Seasoning: 1 cup salt 1/4 cup black pepper 1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.