Simple and Fun

Happy Wednesday all! Can you believe this is my 3rd day in a row to post? Yay!

This is a card that was made for March's stamp club. It uses "left over" patterned paper from the Sweet Pea paper pack and a sentiment of choice from Teeny Tiny Wishes. I chose So Saffron Ribbon but really you could use any color that is in this particular set of patterned paper or the patterned paper that you choose to use. I just love how simple this is yet special with the fancy border and bright colors. A fun card to make for sure!

Today is the last day that you can order from the SAB Catalog so if there is anything left in there that you'd like you just need a $50 order and it is yours! E-mail or call me if you have any questions or would like to order!

Did you know this week is Holy Week? It started on Sunday with Palm Sunday which was Jesus' triumphant arrival into Jerusalem. Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday. Then Friday is Good Friday which is the day that Jesus was put to death and every one of our sins was laid upon him. And finally Sunday is Easter. For me Easter is not about the Easter bunny and candy but the day that the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated. It is, without a doubt, my favorite day of the year.

Honestly, this week has been hard for me...Friday is hard...it is hard to think of what Jesus went through to save me from...myself. But, friends, Sunday is coming...and for that I'm SO THANKFUL!

Card Shark

Good morning all!

Back at Christmas time I received a notebook from my friend Dani. She had it inside of one of those really neat "jackets." When I got it I thought...I could do that. I did not, however, have the notebooks and decided that it was too expensive to just order the notebooks so...I waited. Well, recently I decided to make my grandpa, his wife, and Todd's grandma a score keeper notebook (inspired by Andrea Walford) so I went back to the place I was going to purchase the notebooks and decided I would just purchase some. Before paying for them, though, I e-mailed Dani and asked her if she wanted anything from this particular vendor as I know she likes their "stuff", too. Anyway, she didn't have anything really that she needed but did have some extra cut notebooks so she very kindly sent me some. Long story (hopefully not too boring) sorry!

So, today I get to show you my score keepers. I used Dani's notebook as a guideline for the "jacket" that it is in and the look of the score keeper that Andrea Walford made as my guideline for the outside. I used paper from the Jackpot Designer Series Paper pack, made the cards on the front, and then I had some felt letters that I used on one of the notebooks and then traced/cut out the letters for the other notebooks.

I am SUPER happy with how these turned out! They are headed out in the mail to the grandparents today. Hopefully, they will have them by Easter.

What's for Dinner Tonight?

Happy Monday everyone! Spring break is officially over for my kiddos which is really a good thing as they were getting bored. I don't have a photo of this week's recipe as I got it from Dotti's Weight Loss Zone and she doesn't have photos for her recipes.

Although I won't be making this for dinner tonight as Todd is making dinner tonight I will be making it later this week. If you try this recipe please let me know what you think!

Baked Macaroni & Beef Casserole

This casserole can be assembled ahead and baked later; if it's refrigerated,
increase baking time to 30 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

3 ounces elbow macaroni
8 ounces lean ground beef (10% or less fat)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup tomato sauce (no salt added)
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 ounces skim-milk mozzarella cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350o F. In large pot of boiling water, cook macaroni 8-10
minutes, until tender. Drain, discarding liquid; set aside. In large nonstick
skillet, cook beef, stirring to break up meat, 4-5 minutes, until no longer pink.
Remove from heat; set aside. Spray medium nonstick skillet with nonstick
cooking spray; heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook over medium-high heat,
stirring frequently, 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened. Add tomato
sauce, parsley, basil, thyme, black pepper and reserved beef; cook, stirring
frequently, 3 minutes, until heated through. Remove from heat. Add cooked
macaroni to beef mixture; stir to combine. Transfer mixture to 1-quart baking
dish; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake 20 minutes, until bubbling
and slightly browned on top.

SERVING SIZE: 1 1/4 cups

POINTS: 5.5

SELECTIONS: 1 1/2 Vegetables, 2 Proteins, 1 Bread

PER SERVING: 238 Calories, 8 g Total Fat, 3 g Saturated Fat,
41 mg Cholesterol, 106 mg Sodium, 23 g Total Carbohydrate,
2 g Dietary Fiber, 18 g Protein, 87 mg Calcium

Utah Diva's Sketch Challenge

Happy Saturday all! I hope you've had a wonderful week. Yesterday the boys and I got the living room carpet cleaned and made THESE yummy cookies! Today, we will clean the carpets in the hallways. I can't imagine how dirty those will be as the living room carpet was yucky!

Anyway, you all know that Saturday means Utah Diva's Sketch Challenge day. You can see the sketch HERE. It is a great sketch that you could use for lots of different cards.

I used the Vintage Vogue stamp set from SU! and Sweet Pea patterned paper (so wish I would have used something other than WW for the main panel!). Both of those are from the Occasions Mini catalog. The little brad in the middle of the flower is from the same mini catalog as well.

So, you know how this works. You can hop on over to Max's blog to see what she made with this sketch or you can head back to the UDI blog for the list of sketch players.

Whatever you decide to do...I hope you have a wonderful day! See you Monday for the What's For Dinner Tonight post!

Rag Quilt Purse

Good morning everyone! Did you know that tomorrow is Friday? Yeah, this week has totally thrown me off. We went to Seattle with Kyler and a friend Sunday and Monday and it has totally thrown me off. Today I'm off to Care Net though so that should help me to get back on track.

Remember when I told you about the crafting retreat I went on? It was a wonderful time filled with friends (and new friends) from my church. Well, one of my goals for that weekend was to make a Rag Quilt Purse. I'm sure you've seen them all around the different crafting blogs (there are video directions for free on THIS blog) but basically it is a purse that has different squares (cut with the scallop square in the big shot) sewn together and then snipped and washed for that rag quilt look. Well, with the help of my very talented (and patient) friend Jen I made the above purse AND it really is as easy as everyone says...well, I did whine a little but I did it! I think I'm going to make another one for a gift, too. Hopefully I can remember everything that Jen showed me! Oh, and sorry about the picture...I don't know why it turned out so shaky.

Honestly, I wasn't sure if I'd actually use the bag after I made it as it is a bit small and unstructured for me but I've used it the last couple of days and I really like it. It probably won't be my all the time purse but it sure is a happy purse to me!

I'll be back on Saturday with my Utah Diva's Sketch card. In the meantime I hope you'll take a few moments to see the Glory of God all around you!

UDI Sketch Saturday

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend! Just so you know...I'm posting this on Monday night as I will be spending some dedicated time to crafting with some friends of mine for a couple of days.

Anyway, today is a Utah Diva's Sketch Challenge day and we were given a super fun and simple sketch this week with a bonus...use your Pretties Kit. I really don't have a Pretties Kit, just a couple of pieces that we, as demos, could purchase in bulk so i was a little limited to what I could use. I have to say that I really like this though!

The paper is Thoroughly Modern with the flower from the Pretties Kit. I wanted a little bit of color on the flower so I just sponged some Rose Red (one of my favorite colors) on just the ends and it gave me the look I wanted. The sentiment is from the Vintage Labels SAB set.

I think you know how this works. You can go onto the fabulous Max's blog HERE or you can head back to the UDI blog by clicking HERE.

Whatever you decide to do...have a wonderful Saturday!

Another Abundant Hope

Morning everyone! I think it is so interesting how the first couple of days of the week go so quickly and then the rest just fly right by. Today is the day I leave for the quilting/crafting retreat that I'm participating in for a couple of days. My plan is to make a quilt purse (I'm sure you've seen these on different crafting blogs) and work on my scrapbook kits...especially the Disney Kits so that I can get our Disney pictures put on the pages and finished.

Anyway, today is another Abundant Hope card. This is the card we made in stamp club last Wednesday. It is a really simple card but I think it looks just lovely. I won't go into details but if you have any questions just e-mail me.

I'm off to get my day started...lots to do before I leave for the retreat!

Have a great day all!

Wedding Bells

Morning everyone! My oldest son, Scott, has a friend that is getting married this coming weekend. Todd and I were invited to the wedding but we will not be able to attend. We did, however, purchase gifts for the couple so I just had to have a card, right?

Funny story...I text'd my son to see what the wedding colors are. His answer...purple and blue. Okay, great...which shades of purple and blue? *Sigh* So...I just went with what I thought looked nice and this card is what I came up with. The image and sentiments are downloaded from a digital stamp company that I've been acquainted with in the past. A little bit of coloring, some glitter pen and a beautiful length of ribbon (can you tell I love this ribbon?) and it was all pulled together. I decided to add the "for the newlyweds" sentiment after it was all put together and I didn't quite get it placed where I wanted so you can't see if very well...darn it!

We have two gifts for the newlyweds so I wanted to make a tag for the second gift as I'm sure they will get separated. That is what you see laying in front of the card.

Anyway, the other photo is what I have inside the card. I'm pleased with how this turned out and I wish David and Lisa many happy years together!

See ya tomorrow with another Abundant Hope card! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Abundant Hope

Happy Tuesday everyone! I trust you had a good Monday and are already looking forward to the weekend, right? :)

For the next couple of days I'm going to be sharing some Abundant Hope samples. I got this stamp set from the SU! Occasions Mini and wasn't real sure what to do with it until I started looking around on the net and boy there are some pretty cards out there with it.

Today's card is one of the above mentioned cards as I CASE'd it. I wish I could remember where I CASE'd it from but I can't. The paper is So Saffron, Whisper White and the check is from the Pawsitively Prints paper pack. The daffodils themselves are stamped in Sahara Sand and popped up with Dimensionals. I'm loving the punch you can get for FREE from the SAB catalog called Scalloped Trim Border. And, of course the beautiful Organza ribbon just finishes this card off.

I hope this will inspire you to make a couple of Easter cards! Have a wonderful day!

What's for Dinner Tonight? -Dessert Edition

Good morning! With St. Patrick's Day coming up I thought I'd add a corned beef recipe of sorts but then I saw this wonderful dessert recipe and thought...why not?

I LOVE bread pudding and hope you'll enjoy this recipe!

Bread Pudding
POINTS® Value: 3
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 60 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

This pudding can also be cooled to room temperature for a custard-like consistency or served cold. Complement with fresh berries and a cup of herbal tea.

Ingredients
2 slice(s) raisin bread, crusts removed
2 tsp spreadable fruit
2/3 cup(s) nonfat dry milk
2 cup(s) water, boiling
2 large egg(s)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg, or to taste
Instructions

* Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Coat a 4-cup capacity ovenproof baking dish with cooking spray.

* Spread bread with jelly and cut into squares. Layer into dish.

* Combine milk powder, boiling water, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. Pour over bread and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

* Place baking dish in a larger baking dish. Fill larger baking dish with boiling water, halfway up the side of the bread pudding dish.

* Bake for 1 hour or until set. Brown under broiler if desired. Serve hot.

UDI Sketch Saturday

Good morning everyone! Who's happy that it is Saturday? I sure am! Two of my boys are fasting for 30 hours in participation with the 30 Hour Famine through World Vision so my husband and I thought we'd support them and fast as well. One question...who's hungry? I'll go to the church this afternoon to help make a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for the kids to break their fast with...I CANNOT wait!

Anyway, I'm sure you know that today is Utah Diva's Sketch Challenge day. This week I went really simple with the card/sketch. You can see the sketch HERE. As is the new tradition with the sketch challenge you can easily go from blog to blog by the link in each of our posts.

Again, this week you'll go see the lovely and very talented Max.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

Thanks Punch Card

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope your Monday was a great one!

Today, I just have a quick post for you. I needed to make a couple of thank you notes for Todd to use so first I decided they needed to be yellow as that is his favorite color. After choosing the color the card fell together quickly especially with my new Thanks punch. Isn't that punch fun? I'm not sure why I put the button where it is but I think it adds an interesting element to the card.

Well, tomorrow is stamp club so I'll show you one of our projects then. I have to say that one of them is a complete CASE from Becky Roberts and and our 3-D project is from SCS. My brain just is not working this week. We have stamp club three months in a row this time (we are usually every other month) so I better get out of this fog, huh?

I wanted to tell you guys that we had the Steak Hash recipe for dinner last night and while it was good and everyone liked it...I think it could have had a bit more taste to it. I'm thinking I'll add more seasonings to it next time. Tonight is Dirty Rice (Zataran's) with Turkey Kielbasa. It is actually a large serving for not a lot of points and everyone likes that dish, too. Yay!

Anyway, have a SUPER Tuesday and I'll see ya back here tomorrow!

What's For Dinner Tonight?

Morning friends! This week I'm featuring a Steak Hash that can be served with scrambled eggs (don't forget to use egg whites). Although this very may well be a breakfast recipe I do believe we'll be having it for dinner tonight. Breakfast for dinner...YUM!


Steak Hash


POINTS® Value: 5
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 12 min
Cooking Time: 35 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Super on its own or served with scrambled eggs. Cut corners by using leftover steak or thick-cut deli-style roast beef.


Ingredients
1 spray(s) olive oil cooking spray
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cup(s) onion(s), finely chopped
2 medium green pepper(s), chopped
3 cup(s) frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
12 oz cooked lean flank steak, sliced and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces*
1/4 cup(s) parsley, fresh, minced
1 tsp dried thyme, fresh, minced or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions

* Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. When hot, add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to skillet. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.

* Move onions and peppers to side of pan; add remaining tablespoon of oil. When oil is heated, add potatoes; cook, stirring occasionally so potatoes don’t stick, about 20 minutes. Add steak, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper; toss well. Cook until heated through, about 2 to 5 minutes. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

Notes

* *To cook a 1-inch-thick flank steak, coat a grill pan or broiler pan with cooking spray. Preheat grill pan or broiler (with prepared broiler pan in broiler) to high heat. Rub both sides of steak with a smashed garlic clove; discard garlic. Cook meat, turning once, about 4 minute per side. Remove steak to cutting board and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow steak to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

UDI Sketch Saturday

Yay, it's Saturday which probably means that I've slept in (I've posted this Friday night) this morning. Ahhh...it is wonderful!

Today, is a UDI Sketch Saturday. Please check out the sketch HERE. I got this stamp set in a trade off of SCS recently. I decided that I finally needed the stamps to go with the Jackpot designer series paper that I've had sitting here for sometime. I bought this particular paper and now stamp set to make little gifts for my grandpa and Todd's grandma. They both love to play cards so I figured it would be perfect for them. Anyway, back to the sketch. I always have a hard time using a large main focus area but I think this works. The sentiment "You make me Laugh" is just so sweet that I had to use it.

Anyway, you know the drill...you get to hop around to all the sketch challenge designers blogs today (I LOVE being able to do that...so much easier!) and from here you go to the fabulous Max's blog! I know she has something wonderful so ENJOY!

Now, I hope that you have a wonderful Saturday! See you back here on Monday for another installment of What's For Dinner Tonight?

Home

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful week. Big plans for the weekend? I've got a couple of things going on but nothing too big. I like those types of weekends.

Well, today I show you the plaque (?) I made for my grandpa and his wife for their new house. I picked up the lacing cards, letters, and patterned paper a couple of weeks ago and thought it would make a neat happy new home gift. This is made to set up kind of accordion style but I knew I wouldn't get a good picture of it that way so I just laid it down. The letters are chipboard with pre-cut patterned paper over top, I found it interesting that the colors ended up being same right next to each other. I really wanted them to alternate. So, while it is nothing over the top involved I know they will love it.

If you are wondering how the adoption hearing went it went very well and very quickly! I think we spent more time taking pictures than the signing of the papers took which is kinda funny! A couple of people were super sweet to bring gifts. My friends, Stephanie and Debby, got Todd balloons...a congrats, smile, and It's A Boy balloons. How funny is that! They also got Kyler a CWU t-shirt with AMES on the back. So sweet! Thanks so much you guys! A couple of Kyler's classmates got him some small gifts, too. Now, we need to make thank you notes!

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful day! See ya tomorrow with my UDI Sketch Challenge card!

Today is THE day...

Morning everyone! Today is the day. Are you wondering for what? Well...

Some of you may know that my husband is not the biological father of any of my three boys (wow, that sounds bad!). My two oldest boys have their dad in Wisconsin and have a relationship with him but Kyler's dad died 10 years ago. Todd and I have been married 8 1/2 years now and we (Todd, Kyler, and I) have decided that it is time for Todd to adopt Kyler and today...today is the hearing where the adoption papers will be signed by the judge! We are all very excited! We will have about 30 people, including Kyler's class, at the hearing to share this special time with us at the court house tomorrow.

The card you see is the card we'll give Kyler tomorrow. He is also getting a little gift with his new initials and the date engraved on it...just a little momento of the day.

So, now you know why the card and cupcakes and it is pretty neato, huh?

Welcome Neighbor

Good morning everyone! As I sit here typing this it is almost 7 a.m. and very daylight out...I love when it starts getting daylight earlier!

I was going to show you this card with the project that I made to send with it but I got stuck on the project and thought I'd show you the card first. You all know how much I love my grandpa. Well, he and his wife bought a new house, a condo actually, and I have yet to send them anything as a house warming gift. So, I made this card along with a little gift (which I'll show ya in a couple of days). What's most wonderful about this card is that the sentiment is the only thing that is stamped on the card. The rest is from the SAB paper pack called Welcome Neighbor. I thought the houses, clouds, and hearts were just perfect for the card and the Bermuda Bay the perfect "guy" color. It is pretty self explanatory but if you have any questions just e-mail me.

Tomorrow is a pretty special day in our house but I'll tell you about it then. I'll tell ya now that I need to make a card and some cupcakes in celebration!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

What's for Dinner Tonight?

Happy Monday morning everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Sunday! Today's recipe sounds soooo good and i do think we'll try it this week!

Chicken Teriyaki with Broccoli

POINTS® Value: 5
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 13 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Works with Simply Filling

We paired this Japanese favorite with a side of broccoli for a burst of color and a huge nutrient boost. Grab some chopsticks and dig in.


Ingredients
1 spray(s) cooking spray
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 medium scallion(s), chopped (green and white parts)
1/2 cup(s) fat-free chicken broth
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 cup(s) cooked brown rice, regular or instant, kept hot
4 cup(s) broccoli, fresh, florets, steamed*
Instructions

* Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add garlic; cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add chicken; cook until golden brown on all sides, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

* Add scallions; cook until soft, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add broth and teriyaki sauce; simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.

* Spoon 1/2 cup of cooked rice into each of 4 shallow bowls; spoon about 1 cup of chicken mixture and 1/2 cup of broccoli over each serving.

Notes

* *To steam broccoli, place florets in a microwave-safe dish, add about 1/2 inch of water and cover dish. Microwave on high until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Or to steam in a saucepan, set broccoli in a steamer basket or colander over simmering water, cover and steam until crisp-tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.