Little Red Wagon #191

It is a Red & White Wednesday at Little Red Wagon this week! In honor of Canada Day, Carolyn has challenged us to use only red and white on our creation.

I had fun with this challenge as I pulled out all my red and white washi tapes and made this awesome card!

A little red twine, a red button and a simple sentiment and my card is all ready to give to someone special!

Now pop on over to Little Red Wagon and show us your red and white creation! We would love to see what you make :)

So Excited!

I am so excited to say that one of my layouts was picked up for publication in the Summer Issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today!

The issue just came out in stores yesterday and it is so awesome to see my layout in print!  This layout, All is Gift, was a design I did for a Two Scrapbook Friends Blog Hop at the beginning of the year.  You can find my blog post describing it in detail HERE. 

It feels good to have my creative work recognized and to see it in one of my all time favorite scrapbooking magazines!  Thank you Scrapbook & Cards Today!

This One Is A Keeper!

I just tried a new muffin recipe that I will definitely be adding to my Recipe Box of favorites. 

Tomorrow is Spencer's birthday and he asked me to bake something that he could share with his co-workers.  I wasn't sure what to make so I started browsing the internet and I came across a recipe for Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins.  Well, if that didn't sound fabulous, I don't know what did!  So, I baked up a couple of dozen and then did a taste test.  All I can say is Y-U-M-M-Y!!

Here is the recipe if you want to bake them for yourself.  And if you have family around, be prepared to have them gone by the next day.  They are that good!

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
5 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the egg, sour cream, butter and vanilla.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients just until moistened.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
6. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Little Red Wagon #190

It's Wednesday!  Yippee!  It's time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon :)

This week Jayne has asked us to use only cardstock on our creation - no pattern paper.  No problem!

Here is my card using only cardstock.

 

And there you have it!  Now it's your turn to create something using only cardstock.  Then be sure to link it up over at Little Red Wagon - we always love seeing what you have made :)

Inspiration Elevator - June 2013

Welcome to our June Inspiration Elevator challenge.  Each month our group is challenged to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.  Be sure to check out our Inspiration Elevator Blog, to see all of our previous challenges.

This month's challenge is issued by the super talented, Sue Sykes. Here's what she had to say in her own words:

"I have all of my parents' photos stored at my place.  Shortly after I began scrapbooking, my mom and I spent hours removing her photos from those dreadful magnetic albums and documenting dates on the back of them all.  So I will often sift through them and marvel at how much things change - and yet, they also seem to stay the same.

This month, I'd like to challenge you all to create a comparison layout or project - THEN and NOW. It can be any topic; just document the parallels and differences between an event/person/place from the past and a modern likeness.  REMEMBER TO JOURNAL!! :)

Can't wait to see what you all create!"

For my 'Then and Now' layout, I decided to use photos of my niece, Emily, and her best friend, Megan.  These two sweet girls met in first grade and have been the best of friends ever since.  They have also been in the same class at school each year and this year they graduated from High School together.  I have never seen a friendship like theirs at such a young age and I wanted to create a page to document this special relationship.

I started with two photos of Emily and Megan - then and now :)  And then I just had fun creating!

I tried to bring in some techniques and elements that would compliment the fun, girly feel of the photos, without overwhelming the pictures themselves. 

For the background I began with a simple ledger style paper that I layered on top of white cardstock.  I cut out a middle section from the paper, distressed the edges and fit the piece back into place. This gave the background a nice focal point to work my design around.  I then added some ink splatters, did some stencil work and created a thin white border using a glaze pen.

I used a mix of papers, but most of them are from the new Crate Paper line, The Pier. The colors and designs were perfect for the look I wanted to achieve.

 

One of my favorite elements that I used is the cheese cloth behind my photos.  It adds such a wonderfully understated feel of texture to the page!

For my journaling, I decided to print my story on a tag that I then tucked into an embossed glassine bag.  I love how it looks on the page :)

Some twine, hand stitching, small wooden bits and messy machine stitching completed my design and I am really happy with how it all came together.

Thanks for a great challenge Sue!  Now, I hope you will stop by and see what the other designers on this adventure have created:

Sue Sykes
Lisa Moen
Christa Uttley
Cathy Harper

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

 Laurel Seabrook

Jodi Wilton

Michelle Hernandez

Ann Jobes

Laura Whitaker

Little Red Wagon #189

Our Little Red Wagon challenge this week comes from Rosanne!  She wants us to use 3 or more patterned papers on our project.

This challenge was easy peasy!  I made up a quick Father's Day card and I used exactly 3 different patterned papers :)

 

I also used some twine, wooden stars and some layered cardstock.

We hope you join in the challenge this week and show us what you can do with your patterned papers!  I will see you over at Little Red Wagon ~

A Night Out

With this past month being really busy, my two sons have been waiting patiently to celebrate Mother's Day with me.  They decided that tonight would be a good time to go out to dinner as a family and just enjoy each other's company, so that is exactly what we did!

We went to a really fun place called Beertown and we had a great meal along with a sampling of some very interesting beer.

Each of us decided to get a Sampler Paddle that has 4 different beers on each.  I tried the Sweet and Light Paddle and I was pleasantly surprised at how good each of the beers were!

My paddle included a pear and apple cider, a gluten free pilsener, a citrus beer and a delicious white beer/strawberry juice blend!  Can you say yummm?

The beer was then topped off with some great food. 

We had a great time!  The beer sampling made us a bit silly, but it felt good to go out and just have fun. 

Thank you to my wonderful boys for a special evening out!  I love you both so much and I am privileged to have you call me Mom.

Bye For Now

It feels like I have lived an entire lifetime in the past couple of weeks. So much has happened since Mr. B and I returned from a fabulous trip to Punta Cana at the end of May. We were just settling back into our daily routine, when I received a call that my mom was being taken by ambulance to the hospital. She was in an unresponsive state.

I tried to remain calm as we threw some clothes into a suitcase and jumped into the car for a very long 4 hour trip home. My wonderful siblings kept in touch the entire time we were driving. I was kept updated on the reports from the doctors and was even put on speaker phone when the priest came in to give Mom the Annointing of the Sick. It was one of the longest trips home I have ever taken.

By the time we arrived at the hospital it was determined that Mom had suffered a deep brain bleed and would not recover. There was nothing they could do to help her. With all of us at her bedside we kept a 14-hour vigil that included many prayers, sharing of memories, words of love spoken to Mom, heartfelt tears, and a final letting go as she took her peaceful last breath.

How does one possibly say good-bye to the person who gave you life, who taught you to love, who exemplified steadfast faith and who shared the wisdom that she acquired over the many years of joys and sorrows that she lived?

This is one of the last pictures that I took of my Mom as we celebrated her 85th birthday in April.  She was so delighted to have her family with her on this special occasion - the best gift we could have ever given her.  Mom was not a woman of material wealth, but she would say she was the richest woman on earth with her family nearby.

It is only with much heartache and sorrow that I can even begin to imagine my life without my Mom.  And it is only with much faith that I realize our parting is not a final farewell, but simply a 'bye for now' as my Mom would always say whenever we ended a visit or phone conversation.  I know that she is resting in the loving arms of Jesus, reunited with my Dad, and enjoying the heavenly banquet that has been prepared for her.   

"Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God."

The Beatitudes

I love you Mom.  May the Lord bless you and keep you until we meet again.

Little Red Wagon #188

It's Wednesday and time for another fun challenge at Little Red Wagon!  Regan has challenged us to use metal on our project.

It was perfect timing for this challenge as I had this adorable little patterned clipboard - with a metal clip! - that I wanted to use.  I made up this little birthday greeting clipboard for someone who will soon be celebrating her 25th birthday :)

I added a few bits and pieces of paper, buttons and stickers that I had in my wagon.

It feels good to get creating again after a short absence.  I hope you pull out your wagon of goodies and join in the fun at Little Red Wagon!  See you there ~