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! :)

Sweet Blog Award!

I received this DELICIOUS looking blog award from my best pal Annmaree! Thanks so much ... your awefully sweet yourself! :)

I am to give you 7 random facts about myself and pass it on to other bloggers.

7 Facts:

1. I enjoy going to the dentist for my regular cleaning
2. I am trying to eat healthier (more organic/natural foods)
3. I would love to lose 10 pounds
4. I wish I was more organized
5. I am a HUGE planner .... wish I could be more spontaneous sometimes
6. I tend to procrastinate alot
7. I enjoy making others happy

Now to pass this award onto others! If anyone reading this would like it for their blog please feel free to take it!

Pretty Peony!

Picked this at my mom and dads house awhile ago .... isn't it gorgeous?
I just love flowers! :)

Decoupage Father's Day Card

I made this for my FIL and there is a joke behind the bird. He has these doves on his wire fence at his house and I told him they were pretty (I had never seen them in that spot before)....thinking they were real of course. He is always playing jokes on me so he went along with it and didn't say anything different. Finally someone told me they were fake!! So he teased me pretty good...then I asked my 3 year old nephew about them and he even knew they were fake!! LMAO! Boy did I sure feel dumb! Later on I got a text with him and the dove and he called it his pet Sally! Figured this card would be perfect for him and on the inside I asked him if it was a nice picture of his pet Sally! :P LOL!

Challenges:
Crafty Calendar - Things with wings
Crafty Sentiments - Father's Day
Crazy 4 Challenges - Masculine
Creative Inspirations - Father's Day
Cupcake Craft - Boy oh boy
Delightful Sketches - Anything goes
Polka Doodles - Something for dad
Southern Girls - Anything goes
SSDS - Father's Day

Corner Bookmark

Challenges:
Crafty Catz - Bookmarks
Stamp Something - Punched (the two center pieces were cut with nesties)
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes
TIP: The center design is all one stamp...try coloring the rubber with water-based markers if you want more than one color and stamp it out. Great way to be more precise with smaller designs since inkpads tend to overlap colors.

Green Beans With Spaetzle!

Courtesy of my husbands Aunt Linda! When I make it I change up the recipe a bit to make it a little lower in fat and calories but I will give you the original recipe and you can customize to your liking!

2 (10oz.) packages of green beans or 1 pound of fresh green beans
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup spaetzle
salt and pepper to taste or any other seasoning you like!

Cook green beans til tender crisp. Sed aside. Fry bacon to desired crispness and remove. Leave about 4 tablespoons of bacon drippings in pan. Saute the onions in the bacon drippings. At this time in a separate pot starting boiling your spaetzle per package directions. When finished add the drained spaetzle to the sauteed onions and then add your bacon (crumbled). Add the green beans and butter. Heat over low til butter melts and green beans are heated through. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste! ENJOY!

-Stacie

Pulley Card!

My mom asked me to make a graduation card for the next door neighbor so once again I used the school colors AND I went outside of my comfort zone this time and decided to venture out and make something different....a pulley card! I saw the idea over on my blogging pal Curt's blog. It was sooooooo fun to make and the recipient and her friends thought it was cool! :)




The silver dots are those viva decor pens again...LOVE THEM!
The ribbon is a rub-on by American Crafts.
The chipboard is from the Basic Grey "Obsure" pack (I have a tip I'm going to share below under challenges about that item) and I covered it with crackle paint.
Added a few dew drops.........and I bet your wondering how I did her name right?
Well, I used this awesome new metal stamp set by Melody Ross that I won from my blogging pal Dawn. All I had to do was spritz the chipboard with water, align the punch where I wanted it and tapped it with a hammer! I think your supposed to use a rubber mallet but I only have a hammer and I figured you can't hurt metal! Then I colored in the letters with a black marker! Doesn't it have a neat effect?! I just fell in love with it! *thanks again Dawn!*

Challenges:
Stamp Something - Punched (chipboard, rounded corners on pieces that pull out, ribbon hole)
Stamptacular Sunday - Dads OR Grads...you must use a stamp (I used a metal stamp and also the word "congrats" is a clear stamp)
Top Tip Tuesday - More than 1 fold
I also have a TIP! If you don't have the exact shape of chipboard you need try looking for something similar and changing it up. For example, the chipboard piece I used was actually a surfboard!! I just used my corner rounder and nipped off each end until it was the same on both ends! :)

Edited: I was too late for Top Tip Tuesday but I will leave this up so everyone can read the tip!

Stress Reduction Kit!

Anyone ever have a day where you need one of these kits? May I just say dealing with customer service can make me cringe so bad sometimes! Why must people be so incompetent? It should not take 3 phone calls and an e-mail to get results for one missing item...it is not rocket science!! Okay, I feel better now...but my head hurts! LMAO!

Hope someone gets a good chuckle out of this! :P

Star Grad Card!

This is the last of the 3 commissioned grad cards. As some of you might have noticed I kept the same color scheme on all of them. That is because all three girls graduated from the same place and I thought it would be neat to use the college colors!



Challenges:
Paper Sundaes - Let's Get Sentimental!
Stamp Something - Punched (Used a star border punch)

They Sky's The Limit!

This is the second of the 3 commissioned graduation cards. I am very happy with how this turned out! :) Normally when I use white ink it doesn't show up very well but I think I found one I really like...it is by colorbox! I would love to try the one from PTI but I'm waiting to place a big order with them hopefully sometime in the future! Finally bought some of that baker's twine I keep seeing and this one has a metallic strip in it...very cool! Bought a collection of different metallic ones from Pizzaz Aplenty....that shop is amazing!



Grad Cap and Scroll are from Creative Clear Stamps
Cloud and Sentiments are from PCD

Challenges:
Paper Sundaes - Let's Get Sentimental
Stampalot Challenge - Inspiration from picture (I used the clouds)

Graduation Birdie!

I was commissioned to make three graduation cards for a lady in town. Here is the first of those three.



Digi is a freebie from Doodle Pantry
The hat and scroll stamps are singles I think from Creative Clear Stamps...I did not see them in the store but maybe they are discontinued?
The 2011 is from my JustRite Stampers
Pearl dots are made by using a Viva Decor Pearl Pen (I love these!)

Challenges:
CPS - I flipped the sketch a bit as my panels go from left to right instead of up and down.
Crafty Calendar - Things with wings
Delicious Doodles - Texture (ribbon, pearls)
Doodle Pantry Challenge #13 - Any of their images and papercrafting materials
EtsyInspired - Inspired by the images HERE
Stamp Something - Digi

Tasty Tuesday Reveal Plus Winner!!!!!

Really enjoyed the guesses you left .... nobody got it right but you did get entered into the drawing just for guessing! I won't keep you in suspense...the winner is...............................ANNMAREE (Emu)!!! Congrats!!
Send me an e-mail!

The recipe is actually Persimmon Bread! *see previous post for picture*
Very delicious and I used all sorts of dried fruit and nuts!
Here is the recipe by James Beard -
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/11/persimmon-bread/

Mine looks darker but who cares as long as it tastes good right?!

ENJOY!

Whoops...Late Tasty Tuesday...plus other news!

Hey everyone! So sorry about the late post....I got so excited about going on vacation this week that I nearly forgot about Tasty Tuesday!! Hubby and I are leaving today for Indiana Dunes/Chicago and we won't be back til Sunday so I won't be posting anything til next week. I was wanting to leave this morning but hubby had to go to a meeting so the trip is delayed just until lunch so that isn't too terrible I guess. Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary!! WOOT WOOT! I can't believe how fast it has gone by but I guess as the saying goes....time flys when your having fun! :)

To make up for almost forgetting about the recipe this week I thought I would have another guessing game and the winner will get a little RAK from my stash!! Does that make up for my mistake? Do you all enjoy these guessing games? Anything in particular you like to see in the RAK if you win...ribbon, stickers, stamped images, etc.????

Anyone can enter....all you have to do is make a guess! A winner will be picked next week and announced when I post the recipe. Let the games begin!! LOL!

Thinking Of You

Digi: Dustin Pike

*The button is a brighter red than what you see in the picture...bad lighting!*

I haven't had alot of time to color recently with my schedule so I printed off this pre-colored image by Dustin Pike. Isn't that bug so cute? Then I added a rub-on to the sign he is holding. Cut out a sun with a die in my Cuttlebug and added a button. To finish it off I used my MS punch to make the fence out of white paper and then distressed it with my Tim Holtz ink. I hope my blogging pal has already received this in the mail! :)

Challenges:
Allsorts - Things with wings
Aud Sentiments - Card for a male
Charisma - Male card
Pennys Challenge - Here comes summer (bugs and sunshine!)
Stamp Something - Must have a sentiment

Fresh Picked From The Garden!!

First berry of the season....already picked and eaten! Completely organic and oh so yummy!!!!! :)

Where Have I Been?

I know I haven't posted much on here lately other than the Tasty Tuesday recipes but I will eventually post some crafty goodness soon! My schedule has been crazy busy with the end of school, house stuff and getting ready for vacation!! I won't bore you with all the details but I will share some updated pictures of the house we are building for those that are interested in taking a peek! :)

Need to de-stash??

Check out this swap you can join HERE!

Tasty Tuesday With Some History!

When I was younger I used to attend several family gatherings on my mom's side and someone always made a Sugar Cream Pie which tasted so good! I had never made one of these before thinking they might be hard to make, but a lady I used to work with gave me a recipe for a quick and easy version and this is how it turned out! OH SO GOOD!!



Click HERE for a little history lesson on how this pie came to be!

Click HERE for the easy recipe!

Enjoy and I would love to know if anyone else has made one of these!!

-Stacie