SOCIAL MEDIA

Photo on a Thursday

4.29.2010
Peeking Out

Just sharing a quick photo of Zoey that I took over Easter break (yes, it was cold enough over our break for us to be wearing our winter coats sadly).

Things have been especially busy here this week. I've been getting ready to work at the Sayner Stampede this coming weekend which is held in Sayner, Wisconsin. I'll be helping out with the Paper Studio booth again this year and am looking forward to it as always (it's an annual event). My mom will be arriving here tomorrow to help me out with childcare needs for the Zoester...thankful that she's making the trip up for this as it would make for a long weekend for her otherwise. And sometimes nothing beats having a grandma come to visit. It just makes things better all around!

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My Latest Obsession

4.26.2010
Clothespin Wreath

My good friend Misty who also happens to be a co-worker of mine at my local scrapbook store found this fun wreath project online and changed it up a bit and is teaching it as a class this coming month at Paper Studio. I immediately fell in love with it and have been making different versions of it myself (in my head and in real life!) ever since! The first one that I made up I used some school themed papers and embellishments from Creative Imaginations but I can't share that one yet as it will be featured on the CI blog next month...it turned out soooooooooo cute! Can't wait to share! But in the meantime, here is one that I used Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety collection on and that I clipped some seed packets in. This one is pretty darn cute too!

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Be sure to check out Misty's version too which she clipped tea packets in! There are just so many ways to change up this project! I love it! And if you will be in the area this next month be sure to sign up for this class...you will not be disappointed!

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Happy Earth Day!

4.22.2010

After school today Zoey and I are planning on doing a bit of planting outdoors to help celebrate and honor this important day! Let every day be earth day!

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Orange Chicken and Rice Bake

4.20.2010
Orange Chicken and Rice Bake

Mmmmm! I tried out this recipe the other night and was pleased with how it turned out and promised my mom that I would share it. The only change that I made with the recipe was that I substituted Quorn Chik'N Tenders meat substitute in place of the chicken and it turned out just fine. For the life of me I cannot remember where it is that I found this recipe...but I found it in my recipe binder the other night and decided to give it a try.

1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, partially thawed
1 can cream of chicken soup (I used reduced fat cream of mushroom)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup un-cooked long grain white rice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups mixture of red and green pepper strips (I used yellow and green peppers)
4 boneless chicken breasts (or meat substitute Quorn products)
1 Tbsp fresh parsley

  • Set 2 Tbsp orange juice concentrate aside
  • Mix soup, remaining juice, milk, rice, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow 2 quart baking dish; spread evenly with vegetables
  • Top with chicken, sprinkle with parsley and cover
  • Bake at 400 degrees F until chicken and rice are done, about 50 minutes, remove cover and brush chicken with remaining reserved orange juice and broil until golden (about 5 minutes), stir before serving
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The Curls Are a Wee Bit Shorter

I went into my hairdresser yesterday with this photo of Audrey Tautou (I just love her and the movies she's been in, especially A Very Long Engagement and Amelie and I obviously think her hair is adorable)...



and walked out like this:

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I don't think I took a breath the whole time that she was cutting. This is by far the shortest that I've ever gone and despite the fact that one of Zoey's little friends told me that I "looked weird" this morning while I was on the playground dropping off Zoey at school (Misty, you need to talk to your daughter!) I think that I really, really like it! The photos were taken yesterday right after my appointment and today it's fluffing up a bit more and some of the wave is back...still playing around with it a bit. I did however like how it looked upon waking this morning, wish I could get that look after showering! =)

Got my Hair Cut Today!

Happy Tuesday to you!

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Some Creative Imaginations Love...

4.18.2010
No Spring Showers (CI Luminarte)

I am so excited that Creative Imaginations is now carrying the beautiful Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist Sprays by Luminarte. For our design team upload this month we were to play around with them on a project and incorporate the theme "showers." I was a wee bit stumped when it came to this theme as we have had hardly any rain at all here, therefore no fun pictures of Zoey outside playing in the rain puddles...so I ended up with the above layout titled, "No Spring Showers" with Zoey riding her bike and the brown grass pictured in the background. Pretty ingenious of me eh? =)

Close-Up CI Luminarte Layout

Supplies used for layout include:

Helen Dardik Summer Party pp # 19762
Creative Cafe Sky Canvas pp # 25298
Creative Cafe Pearl Gem Pack # 21096
Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist Spray Teal Zircon # 26408 (available soon!)

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Special Day at Work

4.17.2010
Paper Studio

Today Zoey got to come and visit me at work because we arranged for her Daisy Troop to have a little field trip of sorts today so that they could make a little project for Mom and so that they could also have a fun little outing. It was so neat for Zoey to get to come in and see me at work and while I was working. She's been at the Paper Studio with me many times but this was the first time that she was a "customer" and got to show off to her friends that she knows about this place...all the girls were all on their best behavior too, I was really impressed at how intently they worked on their projects.

Daisy Troop Outing to Paper Studio

The basket below is what they made along with the little card. We filled the baskets with some special little treats.

Daisy Project

After their project they walked to a local ice cream shoppe and got a special tour and learned how it is that the ice cream cakes are made (important stuff!) and then of course got to sample some of the ice cream for themselves as a special treat. They then walked to a nearby park and ended their day with some playtime.

Zoey's Daisy Troop

Made my day all the more brighter to have the Daisy's visit me while at work!

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Still Here

4.16.2010
Playing Dress-Up

It's been a crazy week...kinda wish that I could skip out of dodge and disappear for a bit by wearing a wig, some scrubs and a string of pearls. Probably not going to happen for me, Zoey though...she just might be able to pull it off. =)

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Something to Remember

4.13.2010
Last night after dinner while driving in the car to the library...

Zoey: Mom, do you want to go to Egypt?
Me: Sure.

Zoey: I want to go to see the camels.
Me: That would be really neat wouldn't it?

Zoey: Would we have to fly in a plane to get there?
Me: Yes.

Zoey: Soooooo, how long do you think we should go for?
Me: Maybe a week?

Zoey: No, mom! I wouldn't have enough room in the airplane for all the clothes that I would need to bring, how about two days...I think that sounds better and I'd be able to bring the dresses that I want.

She makes me smile. And makes everything, right.



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DIY : T-Shirt Flower Tank

4.12.2010
T-Shirt Flower Tank

I am just beyond tickled that I can actually do this! I met a gal at my local scrapbook store the other day that was wearing a funky t-shirt that had some ruffly florals stitched on it and when she shared with me that she made it herself I asked her to share with me how...and she did! She actually just cut several hearts from an old t-shirt and then starting at the top shoulder area of her shirt, she simply started sewing on the hearts with just a bit of stitching in the middle to her shirt (she hand-stitched with embroidery floss). For Zoey's tank here I didn't even cut hearts, I just cut haphazard circles and using my sewing machine I zig-zag stitched the circles to her tank in a cluster and look what I ended up with! I am now furiously digging through our closets looking for old t-shirts to cut up! I Googled corsage t-shirts and floral t-shirts and came up with a ton of tutorials on making these as well. Here are some of my faves: Corsage Tee by Enchantresses 3, t-shirt refashion by Little Birdie Secrets and fabric flower tutorial by Hey Jen Renee.

Enjoy!

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Mosh Posh : Layouts Using the April Kit

4.09.2010
Here they are! I had so much fun playing with the kit and the add-on that's being offered this month for Mosh Posh.

soccer

I can't even tell you how much I am loving the cardstock sticker sheet by Sassafrass Lass that has all those fun flags on it...super cute!

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The dainty flowers on the patterned paper by Sassafrass Lass inspired me to pull out some photos of Zoey and I from when she was just a wee little one. If you look closely you can see that she's got a little Morning Glory held tight in her hand.

things i would have told you...

The layout above was based on this month's sketch that the design team used (we'll share it soon on the Mosh Posh blog). The photo is of me when I was about Zoey's age and was taken while in Florida.

summer bliss

Loved the above photos of Zoey and her pals playing at the beach last summer...summertime is "bliss" right?

pure joy

The above photos are of my mom and Zoey while at one of Zoey's soccer games...it was so fun for her to have her grandma there! Having a hard time believing that it's almost time to think about signing up again.

Now and Again...

These photos are from when Zoey was a teeny-tiny tot (back when I apparently didn't take the time to do my hair after showering, hey...getting a shower was even a treat back then!). Even though the photos aren't perfect they are absolute favorites of mine just because you can see the love between Z and I and when looking at them I can totally feel it.

What a fun kit to scrap with! Now I'm itching to make up some cards using the scraps...because that is all that's left of this fantastic kit here!

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I Have the Best Blog Readers...

4.08.2010

I got an email this morning from Stacy Milford letting me know about this fun project that she found that she thought Zoey and I might have fun doing. Thanks so much Stacy, this is a GREAT project...can't wait to try it! It's so cool how I have all these different blogger connections with people I've really never even officially "met." Thankful for you all!

This evening I'm helping out with a workshop here in town (at the Minocqua public library) where I'll be teaching people how to make different kinds of paper flowers and then will show them how to assemble them into a bouquet (pictured below). I think we have just one more space available for this FREE workshop so if you're local be sure to sign up today (contact details are on the library's website linked above).

Spring Bouquet

Right now I'm finishing up cutting kits for a scrapbooking workshop that I'm holding next week at the Frank B. Koller public library in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. We'll be creating a 12 x 12 scrapbook page that will hold 4 photos. More details on this workshop coming soon!

Times sure are busy but I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Mosh Posh Sneaks for April

4.05.2010
sneak peek

Having fun creating with Mosh Posh's April kit, Rain Boots. Ethan and Zoey spent the afternoon at the park which allowed me to get some of my pages done and allowed for some "me" time as well which is always a good thing. Lots of goodness in this month's kit and I had some fun playing with the add-on, Spring Clean as well. I have a feeling that this month's kit is going to go fast so be sure to sign up for yours today!

sneak peek

Really loving those cardstock sticker banners by Sassafrass Lass...they are adorable and such the trend right now in scrapping.

sneak peek

Loving the bright combos of the papers and embellies in this kit...totally getting me geared up for scrapping those fun spring and summer photos!

sneak peek

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Can't wait to share my layouts in full...our gallery reveal date is this friday so stay tuned!

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The Easter Egg Adventure

4.04.2010
This year the Easter bunny decided to do something a little different around here. He decided that instead of hiding Zoey's Easter basket here at home to be found right upon waking he would instead leave clues and send her on an adventurous scavenger hunt around town to find her basket! Right away when Zoey woke up she found a "mini" basket with a whistle in it and a note from the Easter bunny saying that she had to think of her four top favorite places around town to go to and play at and then after writing them down and making a list she had to then alphabetize them and then she would have to go to each place and look for one egg and upon finding it and opening it, she would then receive her next clue that would lead her to the next egg (that would hopefully coincide with her choices on her list).

After breakfast and after church we went out to location number one which was her school playground and she was happy to discover egg number one right where her Kindergarten class lines up for recess every day. (Upon finding an egg she blew her whistle).

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The eggs were a wee bit tricky to get open but determination eventually won out...

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Next on her list was a favorite local park and the hint was a favorite place in which she "swings away to outer space." There are two play areas at this park and at first she was heading towards the wrong one...

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and then she screamed out, "I tricked you!" and turned and ran to the other play area where she eventually found egg number two.

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The clue in egg two read "a favorite place that was a house of books" and amazingly enough, next on her list was the library!

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Where after a bit of poking around, she found egg number three (that's Ethan's mom a.k.a as Grannie Annie pictured below with a congratulatory hug for Zoey).

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The next clue led us to another park where "high fives are given at the slides."

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I didn't get too many pictures at this park because it just so happened that one of the Easter bunny's "helpers" was there while we were hiding eggs for some other lucky kiddos so I was steering attention elsewhere in lieu of taking photos! The last egg however was found (and the Easter bunny's reputation is still in tact) and the clue led Zoey back home.

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Where the bunny (if you can believe it) actually had hid Zoey's basket right in her bedroom!

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What a fun adventure for all of us! It was so fun to hear her squeals of delight upon discovering eggs and I'll tell ya...it was a bit nerve racking for us too as we were hoping against all hope that nobody else had found and taken Zoey's eggs before us!

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And after all that, the best part of the Easter basket? Why the Easter grass of course!

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Such a beautiful day here! Hope your Easter was a special one!

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