SPICY MUFFIN RECIPE FOR FALL.

Hi all, 

With this gorgeous Fall weather, I've been in the mood for a yummy spicy snack and came up with a healthy (and yummy) muffin. I have to eat gluten free (GF) and awhile back, when I was having some stomach problems, I cut out all dairy, eggs and sugar also, and this is what I came up with. Boy is it good and just perfect for this time of year!  Here it is:   read more.........

FUN WITH COLLAGES.

I've had so much fun yesterday and today playing with collages! I discovered PicMonkey  where you can EASILY (and I mean VERY EASY!) make neat collages and edit photos.  I use lots of other programs too, but this one is so super fast and easy.  Here's a little collage I made which only took a couple of minutes:

I took these pictures the other day as I walked at McGregor Point in La Pine State Park (in Oregon) and boy was that a gorgeous trail!  I took over 100 pictures!

You can also change the color of the divider, the size, shape, and use a dropper to pick up any color in your photos for your collage dividers!  So cool!  I suppose this is only exciting for those who love playing with photos and taking pictures (which as you can tell, I do).

Here are some more:

My sister and me with her most DARLING Italian Greyhound "Zoie".... what a doll!  I used the dropper and picked up the color from the blanket so that the borders match it. 

There are all sorts of layouts... I chose these with 4 pictures as I'm thinking of doing some photo cards using these cute little collages.  I took these pictures from an old carousel that is located up in Bickleton, WA.  It was moved there from the old Oaks Park in Portland, Oregon many years ago and is preserved and in use to this day!

I like the "photo strip" collage.  I'm going to use these on some CTMH Die-cut Cards for another type of photo collage card.  These are flowers from my friend's garden from a couple of years ago. 

 Well... maybe you'll find a new "toy" in PicMonkey! I sure did and I'm having a blast making collages for Christmas gifts which I'll frame and maybe do some stamping and adding to.  I found another neat "toy" too, which I'll share with you soon!  I did actually get some cards made that I promised to share here, which I'll post in the next day or so.

HAPPY COLLAGING!

DARLING LITTLE FAVOR BOXES!

Hi all! Just wanted to show you what I've been working on with my sister. Her son is getting married on Nov. 2nd and we are in the process of making 125 favor boxes! And bless her heart, she ordered most of the stuff for the boxes through my CTMH website!  She got her idea for the favor boxes from pg. 117 of the Fall/Winter 2012 Idea Book (shown here) and we did alot of changing since I don't yet have the Cricut die cutting machine.

My oh my - so pretty!

She did get the boxes online - they are 2" x 2" little glossy boxes and we are putting black and green M&M's in a little bag inside, tied with black ribbon.  She also got the M&M's imprinted with her son and his fiance's picture, plus their wedding date and their names!  Don't have those to show you but are they ever cute!

Here are a couple of more photos:

We used the August Stamp of the Month, Baroque Borders to stamp the scrolly designs on all sides of the box. Since these boxes are glossy, only the Staz-On ink would work without smeering.

We used black and mint green silky ribbons around the box, using the Tombo adhesive.  We also used the CTMH Sparkles - Clear Assortment (Z1752) around the sides and one bitty one on the top!

Since we had to use what we had, I found a couple of heart stamps (NOT CTMY!) to use on the top of the box. We didn't have time to order some CTMH stamps with the heart designs and I didn't have any that were the right size.  She also used little "Thank You" and "Love" stickers to seal the box which she got online.

The things we both LOVE about our design, are the little flowers on the front.  We used the CTMH Petals Paper Flowers that are black and white, and distressed the edges of them with black ink, and then put CTMH Green Glitz Glitter Gel on the edges and surface of the flowers.  We layered the flowers with several different sizes of flowers, and we died some of them black using the black ink and a sponge (see first box above on right). The glitter added so much pizzaz!

Inside the box lid, we put a little oval tag with a sweet saying, which is from the My Acrylix Sweet Moments stamp set. We used the little saying "It's moments like this we want to hold in our hearts forever", and stamped in black on an oval piece of Colonial White cardstock, also using one of the pretty borders from this same stamp set. Then we put green glitter around the edges and topped with a tiny ribbon knot. And of course, we had to add a sparkley! Are these cute or what?

We still have about 50 more to make!  If you have any questions about these cute little boxes, feel free to email me or post a comment.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

I'M IN LOVE WITH OCTOBER STAMP OF THE MONTH!

I can't believe it's October already! I've been so busy unpacking that I haven't posted on my blog for awhile.... but........ I can't let October stamp of the month (Very Merry Christmas S1210) go by unnoticed! I JUST LOVE IT! I want it and I will have it! Besides this darling stamp set, I'm also in LOVE with the Pear & Partridge paper pack, and I can hardly wait to put the two together!

Aren't these as darling as all get-out??  The stamps outlined in RED mean you can cut the shapes from the Close to My Heart "Artiste" Collection and cartridge (see below for details). I can just picture stamping in our cranberry ink!

Here are some sample uses of the October Stamp of the Month. Just imagine the Pear & Partridge papers here!

Below are a couple of cards shown in the Idea Book, on page 63.  These use the Pear & Partridge papers and this gives you an idea of how cute your cards will be with the P & P papers and the October Stamp of the Month.  These cards shown use the Merry & Bright stamp set which is also darling, but you could substitute stamps from the October Very Merry Christmas stamp set.  

These cards use the Pear & Partridge papers and Merry & Bright My Acrylix Stamp set (C1510).

And LOOK AT these DARLING Christmas trees using the P & P papers, Festive Velvet Rub-Ons (Z1743) and Dimensional Elements in Color-Holiday (Z1771).

These trees are made using the Cricut Artiste cartridge from Close to My Heart (Z1790). I don't have a Cricut cutting machine yet, but I am getting one soon, very soon!  And of course I just HAVE to have this Artiste cartridge!

When you purchase the Artiste collection you also receive THREE My Acrylix stamp sets and THREE 12" x 9" Dimensional Elements in coordinating shapes!

HAVE SOME CHRISTMAS FUN IN OCTOBER!

 

OH "DEER" ..... STILL UNPACKING!

When I said "deer" above, I didn't misspell it! I'm still unpacking after my move and am finally getting my CTMH supplies out of their boxes. As I was sitting at my "new office" window the other day, typing away, I looked out my window and look what I saw! What a neat surprise! 

What a pretty girl! She was soon visited by another and they stayed and chatted for awhile, and then wandered off down the lane.  I love my new office and the wonderful window!

We also went for a drive the other day, to take a break from all of the unpacking and trying to find things syndrome.  There is a beautiful lake about 20 miles from us, up in the mountains, and it was nice respite from all of the work and hustle bustle. 

Paulina Lake - it's a crater left from volcanic eruptions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I got to sit on the dock and take some time to relax and contemplate..........

On the way back, after a nice lunch at the lodge, we stopped at the falls and I had so much fun taking pictures!

Knarled old tree - how long has it been dead and still stands?

Wild flowers still blooming in September at 6,000 feet. They were WAY HIGH above the creek that flowed in the canyon below.

I wonder how old this tree is?  Huge pines and a few fir and hemlock, but mostly mossy covered pines.

The walk to the falls.... I could have stayed here all day!

What a nice afternoon!  Now as soon as I get the rest of my unpacking done, I'll get back to posting some projects.  I have seen some really creative posts from fellow consultants so want to direct you to some of those as soon as I finish getting settled into our new (to us) place with the great window views!

Wanted to share with you some of the wonderful nature in my area of Oregon.  Until next time.....  happy scrapping!
 

PUMPKINS AND SCARECROWS - STAMP OF THE MONTH!

I promised I'd show you the September Stamp of the Month. Here is is! And so cute....it's called FALL FAVORITES and it's yours for $5.00 with a $50 order in September! Don't you just love the scarecrow, the pumpkin patch, acorns and tag? I sure do. Wish I had a Cricut machine so I could cut those tags out. One of these days I'll definitely get one! I'm going to get this My Acrylix Stamp Set for sure and use some of the new exclusive markers to color in the pictures.  As you know, I just LOVE to color!

These are so cute!  and look at the little sayings: "pumpkin patch", "hayrides", "corn maze" and "pumpkin pie". 

Here as some ideas for using the Fall Favorites My Acrylix stamps along with a supply list. This can be seen on pg. 140 of the Idea Book on my website.

The Moonlight paper packet is used for these above designs.  Using the Slate and Goldrush papers in that packet really adds a nice mellow touch to these projects. And if you look close, you can see how the scarecrow has been colored with the Honey, Olive and Autumn markers.

Another great product that I just love, is the My Acrylix Monogram stamp set.  How fun would these be to use as little gifts, favors, stocking stuffers, and special thank-yous?  At $2.95 per monogram, it sure doesn't break the bank!  I would like one for each of my family member's names so I could use it for place card settings during the holidays.  I also love that I can use a 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" Circle Punch to cut out some cardstock, and then stamp a monogram on it with whatever color ink I want, and use it as a cute little embellishment on a gift, card, package or tag.  Love these!

Great ideas for using the Monograms and using the Cricut Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges carried by Close to My Heart.

Well, that's all the great ideas for today..... HAPPY STAMPING!

I JUST MOVED TO OREGON!

Hi all!

My husband and I just made a move to beautiful La Pine, Oregon and everything has been pretty hectic! So.... I haven't posted on my blog for over a week! Sorry about that. I love this blog, but was without a computer for a few days and SO BUSY packing (and now unpacking). After living at our Washougal house for 9 years, I had forgotten how chaotic and time consuming and EXHAUSTING it is to move with all the sorting and packing, and having to try to pare down and giving away precious things! I am such a sentimental keeper-of-everything and it is hard to part with "things" I am attached to. I did manage to pare down some. Of course, I did also manage to bring all of my Close to My Heart supplies with me on this first trip, plus all of my beloved sewing supplies and fabrics. 

We still have to go back to Washougal to pick up another load of "stuff". As soon as I get settled in this new home, I'll get back to my crafting and sewing. Here is a picture of what I saw the other day as I looked out my new office/craft room window! How awesome is that? I loved Washougal and the wetter climate west of the Cascade Mountains, but the rain can get pretty tiring. I think I will really love this drier climate as I love the high dessert and everything about it.. the smells, the sage, the pine trees, the distant snow-capped mountains, and the unbelievable huge skies and nighttime stars and moon. I'm sure I will be getting out my camera to do some outdoor photo shoots! 

Isn't she lovely?  She was joined shortly after I took this picture by another sweet lady and they eventually moved on.  This must be a normal resting spot for her and she seemed so calm and relaxed.

Here's the view outside my kitchen window.. the little cabin that the family who built this house lived in.  I love all those pine trees!!

In a day or two, I'll post the September stamp of the month, which is called Fall Favorites.  You'll love it!..... just in time for pumpkins, scarecrows, hayrides and Fall!

Until then, happy scrapping!