Homemade with Love

Love Muffins

 

I normally take holiday treats to the teachers and office staff at Abby's school. When I found this love muffin stamp at Paper Source over Christmas vacation, I immediately knew this would be part of the my upcoming Valentine treats. Yes, I usually think that far ahead to the next holiday. So, I was playing around last night and came up with this simple little card. I made about 25 or so relatively quickly once I got the design I wanted. I used Stampin Up punches, small red rhinestones (the one above is heart shaped, and oh so cute), cardstock, staples, ribbon, and this stamp.

What will make this really cute is that this little Valentine card will accompany a home-baked "love muffin" for my friends to enjoy in the morning. I have already purchased a few different types of muffin mixes, otherwise Costco sells huge muffins for a great price. And there is no work involved!

Father-Daugter Winter Ball

 

This year's Father-Daughter Dance was so nice. The theme was Winter Ball, so the decor included silver and mixed blue snowflakes. I have to start out by thanking my dear friend Lora and my mom, who helped me decorate. I don't know what I would have done without their help. Probably go completely crazy. This photo backdrop is HUGE (at least eight feet) and the gossamer "curtain" took FOREVER to put up. My mom and Lora put out tables, tablecloths, and TONS of snowflakes everywhere. It looked great. I think there were about 150 dads and girls. I think I had about 15-20 minutes to just relax before the couples started to show up. I took all the portrait-type pictures, served green beans and cake, then helped with clean-up. The dance itself only lasts two hours, but I was there for about seven. My feet ached badly, but it is so worth it to be able to do this for my husband and girls.

More Projects

Here is the last Hampton Arts board book. Funny thing is that it is NOT supposed to be a camera, but that is what it looked like to me, so I went for it.

 

 

 

The next projects I want to share with you are the ones for the CI Magic/Fairytale lines. Here is a link to the CI blog that shows the make and take I designed. I will add more pics too. In addition to using LOTS of the CI Magic/Fairytale product, I used lots of Creative Cafe product as well. Check out their blog here.

Here are the two 12 x12 layouts:

 

 

Here is the make and take I designed for the show. It had to be relatively simple, so that someone could finish most of it in about 5-10 minutes. My apologies in advance about the quality of some of the pictures. I learned alot about shooting still pieces in my pop-up lightbox, er I mean Wayne's lightbox. You can really tell what pictures I took early on vs. the projects I finished last.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

This Magic board book is the last of the projects I did. I am really proud of it. It has SO much texture. I have really grown to love board books. Alison even called me from SoCal to tell me how much everyone (who saw it) loved this book. Aw, shucks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with that, I am done. This wraps up all the CHA projects I worked on. Enjoy. M 

Stressed

That is what I have been for the last few weeks. Trying to get as much as possible crammed into as little time as possible. My 39-year-old body is sure feeling it. I am exhausted and overwhelmed. Thankfully, my schedule is slowing a bit and I WILL take time to take care of myself. I promise, Wayne.

On to cheerier news. I have been working my busy fingers to the bone getting projects ready for CHA. My friend Alison and I connected (I hadn't realized it had been five years since we last saw each other) over the holidays. She designs for Creative Imaginations and has a signature line as well as a partnership in Creative Cafe. She asked me if I was interested in making some samples for her to take to the convention held in SoCal. I said yes. Well, this past weekend was the show, so I am able to share what I created.

One of the things she designs are rubber stamps for Hampton Arts. Those of you who REALLY know me know that while I have lots of rubber stamps, I would never consider myself a stamper. These projects REALLY intimidated me, but I totally look at stamps differently now. I designed the fronts, backs, and a couple inside pages of SIX (that's right SIX) board books. I also designed four small layouts. Here are the Hampton Arts projects:

 

 

 

 

The Baby Boy board book (btw...does that baby boy look familiar? I have NO baby boy pictures. Sorry, Livi. I will make it up to you when you get older)

 

 

 

The Baby Girl board book

 

 

 

The Princess board book

 

 

 

The Magic Castle board book

 

   

 

The Princess Castle board book

   

I have another board book to share, but can't find the picture right now. I will post all the other projects tomorrow too.

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!

I am hijacking Michelle's blog to wish her a Happy Birthday!!!! So please join me by sending Michelle a birthday wish in the comments section.

Happy Birthday!!! I love you honey!!!

W

Top Ten Tuesday

Things are crazy busy for me right now. So busy that I am dictating this blog post to my handsome husband Wayne, he is really hot!!! No seriously, I am talking male model hot. Anyways, here are the top ten things on my ever growing to-do list:

1. Finish the top secret projects I am working on. I think they are only top secret to me, but It adds a little mystery. ;)

2. Work on my homemade version of this Valentine's Day chairbacker. I really like it, but I think I can make something similar for much less. It is so cute and I have already purchased all the materials for it.

     

3. Take Valentine pictures of my girls. Not sure where I am going to do it or what they are going to wear. I guess I should add that to my to-do list too. LOL

4. Come up with more Top Ten lists for upcoming Tuesdays. Apparently this is harder then I thought!

5. Visit and comment on my favorite blogs. So sorry Misty, Michelle, and Mary Carol. I plan to stop by soon!

6. Work on Abigail's Valentine Treat Bags for her class. I am sewing 30+ little felt pouches. I'll post a picture when those are completed. They are a much smaller version of my heart felt bag from yesterday's post. I will probably fill them with Hershey's kisses and tie a bow at the top.

7. I totally need to scrapbook some pages for myself. I am behind TWO Christmases. I can't even begin to imagine how many pages that will be. 60? 80? 100? I am getting a headache just thinking about it.

8. Put together a mini Valentine's Day class for some friends. It will be like a "gifts from your kitchen" kind of class. I have done two. The last one being completely over the top. I think we made 300+ peanut butter balls and at least 150+ truffles. It was candy chaos in my kitchen. Say that three times. This time it will be different. I will make ONE batch of each thing, show how to package it, and then have recipes/instructions for them to take home and do later. Maybe Super Bowl Sunday?

9. Have a great time this weekend in Monterey/Pacific Grove. One of my very favorite places. I get my new lens tomorrow, so I will take that along to play. We will visit some favorite shops, maybe go to the movies (after that stinkin Marley & Me disaster, I am ready for Depereaux, Bedtime Stories, or Hotel for Dogs), and just hang out.

10. Finish up the details for the Father-Daughter Dance. It is 10 days away and I am already getting excited. Did I mention I take all the photos? I also need to figure out what Wayne and the girls will wear. Hmmm.

Sorry for the lack of links or photos. I will update again soon. W M

Happy Monday.

   

Hailee received a sewing machine as one of her Christmas gifts and let me tell you, this girl has not stopped sewing since. Here are a few of her creations. I should mention that she has made all these freehand. No pattern. Just a pair of scissors, some felt, thread, her sewing machine (of course) and an amazing talent. She is TWELVE! She totally rocks. The fish is for her dad, the owl is for me, the orange adorable "ugly doll" is abby's, and the red "ugly doll" is for herself.

She has also made me a couple of other treats too. The owl is so sweet. It's feathers are individually sewn on. She gave this one to me Saturday night and Abigail had been wearing a fake mustache on Friday. Don't ask. So the mustache was in my office and I put it on the owl's brow and told her it was a Jonas Brothers Owl. She was less than thrilled with that. The I love you sign was one of the first things she made for me with her new machine. Have I mentioned she has only had it for 19 days?

I showed her a few owls found on etsy and you could just see the her wheels turning. She is inspired.

    

Okay, I have a project to share, but it is simple and pales in comparison to my baby's work. I had made bags similar to this one at Christmastime for friends. They were Christmas green, lime green, and red. I cut out a holly leaf on the front and attached red pom-poms for holly berries. I similarly attached the small rolling pin and some coordinating ribbon. Inside the bag is a package of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix and a small container of sprinkles.

 

I changed the bag for Valentine's Day with colors of red, brown, and pink and appliqued a heart on the front. This is SOOO simple and if you need a cute and quick gift (for about $5), I recommend this one. The steps are:

1). Cut and sew heart to front bottom corner of one piece of felt

2). Right sides together, sew three sides of two 9 x 12 felt sheets to form bag. These are on sale right now at JoAnn's for 8 for 96 cents. Turn bag out.

3). Fill with bag of BC sugar cookie mix and sprinkles. I purchased a package of tin canisters from the wedding favor section at Michaels and filled two canisters with one container of sprinkles. I taped the canister just in case and if you like, add a sticker to the clear top.

4). Tie coordinating ribbon and mini rolling pin at the top. I would have pinked the top edge, but I can't find my good pair of fabric pinking shears. Grr.

Hmmm. What else? This little cuppy-uppy cake turns one today, but had her cupcake-themed birthday party on Saturday. She did not want to look at the camera at all. Little booger. She looked so sweet in her cupcake outfit and almost gave me a heart attack when she grabbed the lit candle from her first cupcake. I yanked it out of her hand and scared her. Poor baby. Sorry Livi.

   

   

I have one more thing to tell you. Well, I can't really tell yet. It is a secret and I have been working VERY HARD on it for a couple of weeks and I am not done yet. I will share what I have been doing in less than two weeks. Once CHA starts.

Happy Monday. M

Top Ten Tuesday

Okay, I am going to try something out. It may only last a week or two. Heck, it may only be this post. But, I was thinking that, in addition to my normal posts, I do a random top ten list each Tuesday. So here is my first one.

The last ten things I have purchased online:

1. A 50mm fixed camera lens for my D60 from amazon.com. Wish me luck, as it does not auto-focus with the D60, and I will actually have to manually focus. YIKES!

 

2. A remote for the above mentioned camera. I am SO sick of having to run to get into a family picture. Way too stressful! Also from Amazon. While I was browsing the site, I asked Wayne if I could buy a Kindle, to which he remarked "read a book." I am thinking he meant a real book. Bummer.

3. A new camera strap from an etsy shop. Do you notice a pattern with my purchases? This one is cute and long.

4. Clothes for Abby from Gymboree. They get me all the time with those stinkin' Gym Bucks. I get to finally redeem them next week!

5. The Anne of Green Gables trilogy on DVD. Have you seen any of these movies? OMG! The first two are awesome. The first one is the best. Hailee and I cried. Purchased this from BN.com

6. I am going to lump a few things into #6. They were also from Barnes and Noble. Hailee got the hardback Jonas Brothers book "Burnin' Up" as well as three other Anne of Green Gables books. I also ordered Abby a few AG books that she hadn't read. When she opened them up on Christmas and I explained how those were the ones on her Accelerated Reading list, she gave me a look and said "homework for Christmas?" Yep, that's right child, now go read.

7. I ordered some things for the girls for Christmas from American Girl. That included a new Ruthie doll for Abigail. She is beautiful.

8. I purchased two copies (one for each of the girls) of the Chicago Sun-Times from the day after the election and there is a picture of President-elect Obama on the cover and the caption reads "Mr. President." They are special editions and I thought they might want to have them one day.

9.From the activerideshop.com, I ordered two Girl decks and a couple of Active t-shirts for my nephews Brandon and Justin. I am no stranger to this website, as I have purchased stuff before for the boys. I am getting used to the brand names and types of things they carry. When a catalog came in the mail, I got all excited and showed Wayne. I explained how the guy on the cover was a a skater and his dad was comedian Paul Rodriquez and that he has all kinds of products out and his nickname is P-Rod. Wayne just looked at me, kind of puzzled, and said that I shouldn't know all of that.

10. I have also been purchasing some things from ShindigZ, Oriental Trading, and PartyCheap for the Father-Daughter Dance I am co-coordinating for our local Girl Scouts. This is the 6th year for me and it is so much fun. The theme this year is Winter Sweetheart Ball and it is only a couple of weeks away. I ordered this for the photo backdrop.

These are the last ten things I purchased on line.What have you bought?

More from December

Christmas Day was awesome, relaxing and fun. The girls enjoyed their gifts and Wayne and I played Shaun White on Wii for a good chunk of the day. I totally rock that game! Just kidding. I am not at "respect" level, but I do okay. The names of the tricks are so funny: Backside Misty, Gorilla, Flying Squirrel, the Nose Grab, the Melon, Frontside Rodeo, etc. The funny thing is now I want to go snowboarding, but my confidence on a real snowboard might be grossly inflated and overshadowed by my lack of actual physical ability and talent.

Some pictures of Christmas morning:

 

 

This year we took my in-laws to the Nutcracker Ballet in Modesto. I took a picture of us all before leaving. I have seen the Nutcracker only a couple of times before and this year I got seats in the 2nd row center stage. Awesome, right? Well, in my other couple of times of seeing it, I guess I was far enough back to really not notice any "details" on the gentlemen ballet dancers. But, wow, being that close made me realize three things: 1). my daughters got a quick lesson in male anatomy; 2). If they can make stretchy pants for men to lift and separate so well, there has to be a better bra out there for me; and 3). Eww. Nobody needs or wants to see that. I paid good money for those tickets and I walked out of the auditorium feeling a little dirty.

 

The last little tidbit from December I wanted to share was our trip on the Jamestown Sierra Railroad. We went on a short train ride and visited their museum. The Santa was only mildly convincing, as Abby would put it, but the fiddler was pretty awesome. My mom was able to come with us on our trip. Later that night after dinner it started to snow. It really added to the magic of the day. I wish I could have taken pictures of that, but it was dark and the flash would have really killed it. Of course, I took the opportunity of being in a new place and took some pics of my girls.

 

   

 

 

 

Happy New Year (Long Post)

All of the Christmas decorations are in the shed. We did that Sunday. What a job that was! Taking down that stinkin' Christmas tree is such a huge job. It took hours. It feels so good to get everything packed away and get the house back in order. I get so excited to decorate for Christmas, but I am so ready for it all to be taken down Christmas night! I remember one year we had a fresh tree (note: In our 17 years of marriage, we have only had a fresh tree twice) and it drove me nuts to have the pine needles drop EVERYWHERE, so on Christmas night we took the tree down. There it was on the curb and the holiday hadn't even passed. Our neighbors probably thought we were nuts.

I sent Wayne and the girls out for a few hours on Tuesday, so that I could clean. Really clean. I love starting the new year with a clean house. It makes me feel like the new year is a time to start fresh. I can't describe it.

I have so many things to catch up on, so I will start by listing them (in no specific order):

 

1. Here was our Christmas card photo that I took at Disneyland. We went the first weekend in December and we had a great time. Next time we go to Disneyland I am bringing a tripod. I know that sounds a bit strange, but going to Disneyland is a lesson in patience. You start to think that you have to stand in line just to stand in line. KWIM? So, I will be ready with my tripod when I need a good shot, because I deserve an extra 30 seconds with Santa or Mickey or Tinkerbell or whoever. Because I have stood in line for 45 minutes (that was for Tinkerbell, by the way) and had to deal with the meltdowns of tired 3-year-olds and their cranky parents, so they can wait an extra 30 seconds for me to set up my camera and take the perfect shot sans artificial light. ;)

While we were there, a candlelighting ceremony was going on AND John Stamos was the master of said ceremony. Hailee was only excited about hearing that when she realized that John Stamos was Uncle Jesse. Anyways, we couldn't get close enough to see him without having to circle the ENTIRE Main Street area, as the Disney cast members nicely directed the foot traffic like cattle out on the plains. The morning and early afternoon were awesome. The crowds were so manageable and we were able to ride EVERYTHING we wanted. Once the sun went down, however, the park just exploded with people.

Oh, and there is no more Ariel's Grotto. It is now called Pixie Hollow. Not that I cared really, because Little Mermaid is so last millenium. The big buzz is all about Tinkerbell and her friends-Rosetta, Iridessa, Silver Mist, and Fawn. Once we got to the front of the line, I saw a girl in a yellow costume. I thought who the heck is she and why did we stand in line for her. She was actually sweet, sweeter than the ADHD Tinkerbell the girls met who kept looking off in the distance when I was trying to get a good shot. Um, excuse me, my camera is over HERE. <-------me, waving my hand to get her attention away from some riveting conversation between her and another cast member.

Okay. So, I truly had a wonderful time and the fireworks were spectacular and the "snow" was magical and the music was perfect. I thought I better mention that because the more I write, the snarkier I sound. Not intentional. Here are a few more shots:

 

     

 

 

 

 

2. A couple days before Christmas, we headed to Berkeley/Oakland for an overnight trip. Just because. We did some shopping on Fourth Street in Berkeley and went to Zoo Lights at the Oakland Zoo. That was really cool. The animals were put away and there were thousands upon thousands of lights all over. You walk around in the dark, with hot chocolate in hand, and hear the Christmas music playing throughout. Awesome. After the girls took their picture with the zoo Santa, we all rode the train. Boy, was it chilly. But the view of San Francisco all lit up was worth it all.

   

 

 

 

3. Christmas Eve was awesome. We spent the afternoon and evening with my family at the home of my cousin Brandie and her husband Gerardo. They were great hosts and we enjoyed spending time with our extended "regulars".  We took a family shot with the tripod before leaving for Brandie's house. The lighting was kind of suckish though. Have I mentioned that I REALLY need a remote for my camera. I am totally tired of running to get in place for the picture. The girls got so many awesome gifts from their aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I am just going to share the group picture where we are all doing something goofy. It is just easier that way. ;)

   

My girls and their handsome, always photogenic and camera-cooperative cousins, Brandon and Justin.

 

These people are nuts.

 

Hailee, Abby and Olivia

 

My girls with their new bears.

  

   

 

Right before bed and right after leaving a cupcake, some homemade candy and milk out for Santa. Yeah, a cupcake. We had no cookies in our house-WTH?

 

I need to write more about Christmas, the Nutcracker, and the Jamestown train, but I am getting tired. Happy New Year to you all. I wish you a happy, healthy and blessed 2009. M