Random Pics!

I don't have a card or anything I created for you today but I do have some random pictures to share!

Warning: VERY PHOTO HEAVY POST!!

I have been meaning to show this to my blogging pal Annmaree for months because we both love Spongebob! I finally found the picture and thought I would share with everyone! This was a cake my nephew got from his parents on his birthday back in February....he turned 19! HEHE!



My blogging pal Becky talked about these Orange Cream Slushies from Sonic. I don't have one of those near where I live but when mom and I were out driving to get some fresh peaches at an orchard I ran across a Sonic and even though I had just eaten lunch I had to get one of these to see what the big deal was about....now I know! YUM!! :)


Don't ya just love the retro cup?! So cool and shiny!


This is where I had just eaten lunch prior to having my ice cream treat at Sonic! A lighthouse restaurant literally on a boat! I didn't expect too much as the menu was very small and the place was too. How good can the food be on a boat right? Let me tell you this was THE BEST reuben I had ever had!!!! I am very picky on my meat and the corned beef was heavenly!! :)


Wanted to show off the lanterns we just put up next to our garage door...I HEART them soooooooooo much!!!


Here is a close-up! Pretty snazzy huh? They were on clearance being discontinued at the store and they only had two left....talk about lucky!!



Pretty sure this should go in the Guiness Book of World Records....luckily I took a snapshot before shoving it down my throat! LOL! Is this not the biggest blackberry ever?!



Also growing some huge melons this year! LMAO! I'm sure some of you will get a good chuckle out of that! :P Anyways, at the family reunion last weekend one of hubby's uncles told me an easy way to figure out if cantaloupe were ripe and since then I have successfully picked three of them! Before I would either pick too green or over-ripe and rotten so I am very happy to know how to pick these now! I go by color and smell....I can't seem to master the knocking method that some people do!



Doesn't that look delicious...especially on a hot summer day?!



Still with me? Great! Only one picture left!

A few weeks ago I went to a WOW (Women of the Woods) program. It is at a local fish and game club....you do not have to be a member and it is completely FREE! I went to the first one they had two years ago and loved it so much I decided to go back! The purpose of this is to teach women stuff like gun safety and how to shoot, fishing, canning and preserving, tree identification, outdoor cooking, etc. They also provide breakfast and lunch....free booklets and brochures....AND give away door prizes! Many other facilities have something like this but charge 50 to over a hundred dollars! So I feel lucky to have found this one for free and all the instructors are so helpful and patient! Anyways, this year I won a brand new pink fishing pole! SO EXCITING as I LOVE to go fishing!! I usually catch bluegill but the other night I went with hubby and my dad and I caught my first bass! WOOT WOOT! It was too little so I had to throw it back. It has to be 14 inches or more to keep but mine was only around 10 inches...even though it wasn't big enough to keep I was still happy to have caught one! :) Next time I'm going for the monster! :P



Well I hope everyone has enjoyed my random pictures and I will be back next week with some craftiness!

Hugs!
-Stacie

Reuben Time!

Today I have for you Reuben Eggrolls! The best part about eggrolls is you can make a bunch and freeze some for later which makes a quick meal! And I bake mine instead of deep frying which is even healthier! If you want to freeze some after baking let them cool,roll in foil and place in a freezer bag. Then when your ready to eat just reheat in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes! Voila!

Click HERE for the recipe!

* This recipe tells you to deep fry them but if you want to bake them instead just line them on your cookie sheet, spray the tops with non-stick cooking spray and bake at 425 degrees til golden and crispy...about 15 minutes depending on your oven. Sometimes I even turn mine halfway...I don't think that is necessary I just have a habit of doing that with most things I can flip! LOL! *



Here is one opened up so you can see the inside. I smothered it with my homemade thousand island dressing which I usually don't do cause I am not a fan of that dressing but my MIL's dad was a chef and I have his recipe....so good! He also has a bleu cheese one that is AMAZING! But I won't be sharing those just in case someone in the family decides to make millions off of the recipe! LOL! :P


What if you run out of eggroll wrappers and still have filling left? Just scramble it up with some eggs! I also added fresh mushrooms and spinach....season to taste with salt/pepper (sometimes I add garlic) and it makes a yummy lunch! :)



ENJOY!!

Wheels and a challenge rule change....

Time for our second challenge over at Unstampabelles and for this month we want to see WHEELS! We are also going to offer you an extra entry for the prize if you do the technique and for this month we want you to try out SPIRELLI! You have until September 3rd to get your entries in and the new challenge will start on September 5th. Remember you must have wheels on your project and spirelli is optional but it will get you an extra entry!

RULE CHANGE: We were allowing stamped sentiments but since our primary focus is on papercrafting techniques and not using stamps we decided to change this rule to NO STAMPS at all! No rubber, digi, sentiments, etc.!

Our sponsor for this month is Kelly from Kel's Kaszazz Kaleidoscope! She is offering up the wonderful goodies you see in the picture below!


Here is my card to get you started!

* Please click on the image to see the swiss dot embossing on the top two panels...I couldn't use my light box and this was the best photo I could get without it. *

I used the spirelli technique on the center green scalloped piece. If you need a tutorial on this technique click HERE! I had this great baby carriage 3D sticker for my wheels! Used some ribbon in my stash and added another 3D sticker for the sentiment along with two heart rub-ons.

Go ahead and give NO STAMPING a try! You have an entire month so I hope to see some of you over at Unstampabelles!

Challenges:
Allsorts - Free and Easy
Card Patterns - Sketch
Phindy's Place - Delightful Diecuts

Fishing You A Happy Birthday!

I know it has been WAY TOO LONG since I last posted something I created! Let me give you a little rundown on what I have been doing the last few weeks. I attended a Cincinnati Reds baseball game (they won!) against the Cardinals and then we watched fireworks afterwards....so fun! My hubby's sister had her pinning ceremony for graduating from her LPN program. Then we took her two boys (ages 3 and 4) and they stayed with us for a few days. My mom took us all to the Newport Aquarium and everyone had a grand time...we were all completely wiped out afterwards! LOL! Then my hubby's grandma had a party that weekend for a cousin that just graduated college, found a job down in Mississippi and moved away this week. Went swimming a few times with my mom...it is so hot out so the water feels great! Have been plucking tons of stuff from my garden and preserving it along with getting some fresh peaches and corn from other places. Managed to get 172 peaches for 10 bucks and 14 ears of corn for 3 bucks!!! Great bargains!! Tomorrow I will be attending a family reunion for my hubby's side of the family. Yep, all of this and more just in two weeks! Don't forget the normal house stuff (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.)...plus working on our house which takes a crazy amount of time!! Hopefully that explains why I haven't been on here much! WHEW! Are you exhausted just reading about my crazy schedule?

Now for the reason you are here.....my card!


Stamp: Birthday Fish by Dustin Pike ... sold at High Hopes Stamps
Sentiment: Computer Generated

Challenges:
Allsorts - Free and Easy
Crafty Calendar - Under the Sea or Water Theme
Crafty Sentiments - Polka Dots
High Hopes - Birthday
Phindy's Place - Delightful Diecuts
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes

A new blog I found plus candy!

Go on over and check it out HERE!

Blueberry Banana Bread!

Blueberries are in season and I found this wonderful recipe to try. Gotta say it has quickly become one of my favs! I have made it twice and even shared with my mom/dad and everyone really likes it! Click HERE for the recipe!
Warning: It does take a long time to bake (80 minutes for me!) so you might want to make extra and freeze the leftovers. I just baked mine while doing house chores!

Enjoy!

Thinking Of You Flowers

Challenges:
Allsorts - Free and Easy
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Butterflies
Crafty Creations - Seeing Double
Flutter By Wednesday - Use a butterfly, fairy or angel
Phindy's Place - Pretty Pastels
The Pink Elephant - Colors

Japanese Cucumber Salad

I LOVE getting fresh produce from my garden but when you get one you get a TON! LOL! So I'm always looking up new recipes on how to use up some of my produce and this week I found a new recipe for cucumbers. This is a Japanese Cucumber Salad and you can view the recipe by clicking HERE!



ENJOY!

Hello Harold!

Digi is a freebie from Doodle Pantry called Harold Duck
Sentiment is a dollar stamp from Michaels

Challenges:
Doodle Pantry #14 - Use a Doodle Pantry image
Allsorts - Free and Easy
Cardmadfairy - Include an animal
Crafty Creations - Boyz to men (I think this would be cute for a young boy)
Polka Doodles - Long Hot Summer (summery outdoor colors)
Shopping Our Stash - Out With the Old and In With the New (everything I used on my card I have had FOREVER!)
Simon Says - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday - Animal Antics
ABC Challenge - Y is for Yesterday (Feb. 2, 2011 - Nestie)
Totally Gorjuss - All About Boys

Top 3!

I am beaming from ear to ear as my "Swimming Lucy" card was picked as one of the Top 3 over at Shopping Our Stash!! Click HERE to check it out! :)

A Friendly Mid-Way Reminder! :)

Just wanted to remind everyone that you still have til the end of the month to enter a CELEBRATION project without stamping (except sentiments) over at Unstampabelles! There is a prize on offer too! :) The challenge goes by Aussie time but no worries I won't make you do the calculating as there is a time clock on the challenge blog in the upper left hand corner!

Hope to see you there!!
Hugs!
-Stacie

Cool and Refreshing Tasty Tuesday!

After all the heat some of us have been enduring I thought you might like to see this cool and refreshing dessert called "Layered Pudding Dessert". You can click HERE for the recipe! The only thing I did differently was put the whipped topping on the side instead of covering the top in a thick layer.

*Mine never look as good as the original pictures but they still taste great and in my book that is all that matters! :)



Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mom....and gift set!

Today is my moms birthday and I made her this gift set of a purse style notebook and some homemade foot cream! I used her FAV color of green (the brighter the better for her!) and it also matches the spirelli card I made for her which I have posted HERE!

* Hope you can see all the bling!! The letter "P" is covered with stickles and so are the flowers on the foot cream!




Challenges:
Allsorts - Free and Easy
Charisma Cardz - All About Flowers
Creative Craft - Pretty Blossoms
Kaboodle Doodle - Use scissors (I had to cut the purse shape on the notebook)
Shopping Our Stash - Candy, Kits, RAKS and SWAG (I won the big yellow flower)

Swimming Lucy

I think Lucy is having some serious fun in the sun! LOL! :)



Stamp is from Sparkle Creations

Challenges:
A Spoonfull of Sugar - Sewing (I used faux)
Crafty Calendar - Water Theme
Creative Inspirations - Seaside
Paper Sundaes - Stitching
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Summer Fun
Shopping Our Stash - Candy, Kits, RAKS and Swag (stamp was candy)
Simon Says - Stitching
Sparkle Creations - Sketch
Sparkle Creations - 1st Anniversary Throwback (Use 1 of the original 8 stamps released)
The Lollipop Ladies - Fibers

Fishing Trip!

Hubby and I decided to take some time out from working and do a little local fishing! So much fun especially when you actually catch something! LOL!

He caught the "Big One" ... a 4.5 pound catfish! We did not keep this one to eat as he said the meat is usually yellow with bigger catfish and not very good.


I was catching these bluegill and we ended up with enough to keep and eat so hubby filleted these and we will get a good meal out of them! :)


Anyone else out there like to go fishing? If so I would love to hear what kind of fish you catch!

Thinking of You Hedgie AND a question!

I have my settings on blogger set to upload all my cards at the biggest setting but they still seem small. Any suggestions on how to make them bigger?



Hedgie stamp is a Penny Black

Challenges:
Card Patterns - Sketch
Creative Craft - Pretty Blossoms
Penny Black at Allsorts - Flower Power
Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Desert Island Stamps (a PB stamp you couldn't be without)
Stamptacular Sunday - Seeing Double (Two of the corners on the main image panel have the same bling!)
Lollipop Crafts - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Free and Easy

Fruit Cobblers!

I had some berries to use up before fresh ones come on for the year so I decided to make a blackberry cobbler. I liked it so much I decided to make another, but that time I did a strawberry one with cinnamon!

Blackberry


Strawberry


The recipe is REALLY EASY and uses few ingredients!!!
Click HERE for the blackberry recipe!
For the strawberry version just use the same amount of berries and sprinkle some cinnamon in the mix (however much you want).

TIP: If using frozen berries make sure you thaw then DRAIN excess liquid off otherwise it takes alot longer to bake!

Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!!!

In honor of this day I wanted to show you a red, white and blue creation I made for my mom. Some quilled flowers using a cuttlebug quilling die set! I put them in a Brown County wine bottle which is where we went for Mother's Day so I thought it would make it more special! :)



Here is a close-up of the flowers....I love how they turned out!



Challenges:
Allsorts - Free and easy
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - gardening (flowers)
Creative Inspirations - Red, white and blue
Lollipop Crafts - Anything goes
Delightful Sketches - Red, white and blue
OTWC #56 - red, white and any shade of blue

The Pink Elephant - Red, white and blue
Top Tip Tuesday - Triple flowers
TIP: When making quilled flowers it is best to die cut (punch or handcut) a small circle out of stiff board like a cereal box and glue the entire flower onto that so it doesn't come undone. For the wire you just add glue and poke it through!

1st Unstampabelles Challenge!!!

Today is the launch of our first challenge over at Unstampabelles! Our theme for this month is CELEBRATIONS and you can create anything you want as long as there are no stamped or digi images (except sentiments). For my DT sample I have made a gift set to show you. I saw this set on my blogging pal Becky's blog (Thanks Becky for the inspiration!!) and thought it was brilliant! This set in particular will be given to my husbands cousin which just graduated college!



This is a notebook purse and you can find the tutorial by clicking HERE!



This is a wonderful homemade foot cream and you can find the recipe for this by clicking HERE!



Here is the matching card I made and I used a sentiment sticker from The Sticker Store! They just so happen to be our sponsors for this month!



Here is a close-up picture so you can see the actual sentiment sticker better! I just LOVE these stickers!



The Sticker Store was gracious enough to offer the goodies in the picture below to one lucky winner!



I hope to see several of you over at Unstampabelles playing in our first challenge!

I am entering these items into the following challenges:
Allsorts - Free and easy
Lollipop Crafts - Anything goes
Stampalot Challenge - Anything goes
Stampin' For The Weekend - My favorite things (bright colors, flowers and bling)
ABC Challenge - X for crossing ribbons (all the ribbons are crossed on top of the jar)
Top Tip Tuesday - T for turquoise or three items!
TIP: Want a glittery flower but don't have one...just add some distress stickles to the petals of a plain flower and smear around with your fingers!

Introducing a new challenge blog with CANDY!!

*This will stay at the top until July 3rd .... please scroll to see newer posts*



You all like blog candy right? Here is an EASY way to win some!!
All you need to do is help us tell everyone about our new challenge blog "Unstampabelles Challenges".

About our challenge blog:
This challenge blog was created to share all types of papercrafting techniques without the use of digital OR rubber stamps (sentiments are permitted).

We would love for you to enter any type of paper creation like cards, scrap pages, boxes, books, calendars, etc.

Some examples of techniques are: papertole, quilling, iris folding, stitching, beading, origami, fancy folds, die-cutting machines, paper punches, canvases, stickers, rub-ons, etc.

Above all have fun!!!

How to Enter:
1. Add our Button to your sidebar or do a post telling everyone about the new challenge blog.




2. Then go back to the Unstampabelles Challenge blog and add your name and blog link to the blue frog at the bottom of the post.

3. A random winner will be drawn and posted on July 4th with our first challenge!
The winner will receive an AUD $15.00 gift certificate to the online crafting store they desire!!!

Hope to see everyone join in the fun!

-Stacie

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!

If you have not already checked it out head on over to the new Unstampabelles Challenge Blog! You still have a little over 18 hours left to enter the candy draw and our first challenge will also go live tomorrow! Stay tuned...

Christmas in July Candy!

Click HERE to enter!

Another giveaway!

This one ends July 8th and there are two prizes up for grabs!
Click HERE for the details!

WOJ candy!

It ends July 9th so you better hurry! Click HERE to check it out!

Avocado Milkshake!

* I already had half of it down before remembering to take a picture!

Yes you read correctly....AVOCADO MILKSHAKE!! LOL! :)
I love avocados and when my pal Merry had a recipe for this milkshake on her blog I just had to try it! It doesn't look very good but I was surprised at how much I liked the taste! My dad and husband enjoyed it as well but my mom .... well I don't think it was her cup of tea! :P

Recipe:
Avocado Milkshake

1 avocado
1 cup milk
4 ice cubes
Splash of vanilla
1 tbsp of sugar

Blend all together and enjoy!

You can also view Merry's original post by clicking HERE!

Red, White and Blue Spirelli Card

Another card using the spirelli technique that I talked about yesterday. Also used another sticker from The Sticker Store. I was lucky enough to win a pack of these stickers from my blogging pal Merry and she is also the brain behind the new challenge blog starting on July 4th called Unstampabelles! If you haven't already been over there you really need to check it out...did I mention there is BLOG CANDY? This card would be perfect for that challenge as there is no stamping! Go check out some of the other DT samples at the Unstampabelles Challenge Blog and sign up for some CANDY!!!!


Challenges:
OTWC #56 - Red, White and Blue

Penny's Challenge - Red, White and Blue
Polka Doodles - Red, White and Blue
Stamp Something - Red, White and Blue

Spirelli Birthday!

I used a new technique called spirelli on this card. You can find a tutorial HERE! So fun and incredibly easy! Added a silver sticker sentiment from the sticker store. Found a charm, ribbon, and doily in my stash for the finishing touches!

This type of card would be perfect for the upcoming challenge blog Unstampabelles! Not a stamp in sight and don't forget there is still time to go over to the challenge blog and sign up for the blog candy!!

Challenges:
A Spoonfull of Sugar - Ribbon and bow
Allsorts - Lemon and Lime
Card Patterns - Sketch
Crafty Catz - Add a charm
Crafty Creations - Let it shine (my ribbon is sparkly although it is very hard to see because it is white sparkle on white ribbon....bought it that way)
Fab N' Funky - Summer Lovin' (bright colors and flowers)
Lollipop Crafts - Inspired by a song (The good ole' Happy Birthday song!)
Phindy's - Going round in circles

Happy Wishes!

Stamps used are from Lawn Fawn

Challenges:
Lawnscaping Challenge #12 - Sketch

Etsy Inspired - Home and Weddings
Simon Says - Stamp and show some metal (heart is metal)

Italian Meatballs

This was my first try at making homemade meatballs and I must say they were very easy to make!! Just mix, roll and bake! The best part is you can make a whole bunch and then freeze them. I made these specifically for my husband and dad when they are working out at the house. Heat them up with some pasta sauce, throw them on a sub/hoagie, top with cheese and you have got a delicious meatball sub!

Click HERE for the recipe!

Enjoy! :)