Hapy Easter to you!

Not much to say but I wanted to post a picture of the yummy cake I made for Easter dessert. It is regular old yellow cake with buttercream icing and tinted coconut.

ENJOY! (I make cakes to sell if you need one!! All celebrations!)

j.

GORGEOUS Quilt giveaway!!

Do you love quilts? I do! I used to love big fluffy comforters but now I find that handmade quilts give me more "comfort".
There is a beautiful quilt up for grabs at Old Red Barn Isn't it beautiful? I have a picture of the quilt in my side bar but be sure to click on that link to check it out along with the details. If you don't win that there are 2 other prizes.. gift certs to Old Red Barn store.. I have not shopped there before but I am going to give it a good look! You know what a sucker I am for hand made things!!
Happy St. Patrick's Day all!!

Creative Escape! why do I think I am so ambitious?!

I am headed to Creative Escape in September.. Great! I can't wait for the event! Can't wait to see Heidi again, meet Tim Holtz, Kolette Hall and her husband (great inspirations! both of them!), Jenni Bowlin.. a few others.. all of them I am dying to meet!! I can't wait to see the project classes they come up with! Especially the winner of the CE teacher spot! Jessica Guthrie. She runs a great store Kits2remember I bought my Bind It All from her with a few acrylic pieces for some mini books (that I haven't made yet! lol)
ANYWAY, the reason for this rant.. There are still a few months left BUT... why do I think I am so ambitious? I signed up for every single swap, project, event associated with the CE event! lol I signed up for the bracelet charm swap.. I have done a few before and I love to show off my awesome piece of wearable artwork! I get tons of compliments on my Christmas and Valentine ones! THEN I signed up for the 8X8 page swap.. no biggie, only 10 spaces for each group on that one.. (I took 2 groups) THEN, I signed up for the ATC swap.. THEN I signed up for.. well, you get the idea!! I guess I had better start with some of them now! lol I always say I work best under pressure.. I say that because I always work under pressure! I am such a last minute person that I don't know what working with plenty of time feels like! lol I would like to find out!
Oh well, it will all work out and be tremendous fun in the end! I will let you know how it all works out!
I am going to work on the circle journal I am doing (for CE of course) now.. Having fun with that one!
Wish me luck!

more cakes, more cats and trash..

I am sooo tired! It has been such a long week! I began my Wilton 1 decorating class last Tuesday. I made my first batch of "Wilton icing" last night.. It was thick.. I tried to frost a cake and ripped the poor thing to pieces! I am going to bring the icing in with tears in my eyes and cry.. whyyyyy? lol Seriously.. I think it has been so many years of "eyeballing" the perfect icing recipe that I am just used to mine, YKWIM? I did manage to make a rose though! lol
Mishka is still kind of sick. He is acting better but I need to have him on a special acidic diet and he hates the food! Apparently cats are not supposed to eat dry food. That is hard to do.. They both love dry food. I put about 1/2 cup down for each of them a night and for them to not have it is... well.. loud! lol They are Siamese don't forget.. talkers! big time! lol Anyway, things will turn out fine.. They are strong guys and I will do what has to be done.. even through the crying..(mine!lol)
Finally the last task of the day.. Trash... ugh! WHY do I keep it all for the night before pick up? I just hauled out 5 bags of trash! My lungs are beat! It is cold and I am tired! Being a dummy though.. I put a load of laundry in the dryer.. I am one of "those" people who can not leave the house or go to bed with the dryer running. We had a dryer fire when I was little and I still recall the smell.. and I still mourn the loss of the tiny rose bud flannel might gown my Mom had just finished sewing for me! I LOVED it! I wore it for 5 night straight until she finally pried it away from me to wash.. if I had only held out a little longer! lol oh well, funny the things I remember, huh?
Well, dryer is almost off.. night!!!

Hi again! Questions, cakes, cats and cards!

I am a terrible blogger, aren't I? I made a promise to myself that I would blog at least once a week.. well, that didn't work out now did it? lol I am actually wondering if I switch to a pay site if it would "remind" me to blog.. Does anyone have any tips on how they keep up with things like this? Let me know!!
Cakes.. I am so excited! I signed up for the Wilton 1 class.. I know the basics of cake design from the "Wedding Cake Era". Mom made wedding cakes for everyone she knew when I was little. I can recall sitting at the kitchen table (on her lap!) while she made the little roses out of sugar frosting. Then they would set and I would help put them on the cakes! I still know how to do the things we used to do even after 20 years but I am dying to learn how to do the gorgeous fondant cakes I see out there. I figured I may as well begin at the beginning, right?! My first class is this Tuesday so I will let you know how it goes!
Cats.. Mishka was terribly sick a few weeks ago.. I loaded him and Mom into the Toyota and away we went to the Pet ER on a Sunday (are you seeing dollar signs yet? At the time all I saw was a sick kitty but now.. well, now the $$ signs are lining up! lol) Turns out he had a Lower Tract Infection. I had to give him 4 days of antibiotics then load them back up a week later and do a re-check. I get there to find a surprised vet.. Why am I there so soon? Well, because YOU gave me 4 days of meds and made an appt. for a re-check in 1 week.. What? It was a mistake? So now I need to pay more for more meds (have you ever tried to give a cat a pill? Ouch!) and come back in fourTEEN days... gotcha.. what? Oh no.. no problem at all.. The cat just LOVES to go for a ride (NOT). So, Monday I need to re-load my cat, my disabled Mom and my check book (re-check is free but I am sure he will come up with something that will cost me!) and drive 30 minutes away... again... Thank God for Mom! It isn't easy for her to g out but she does so she can try to keep the cat in the back seat and out from under my feet (and the brake!) If you are of the praying persuasion could you keep Mishka in your daily prayers? He seems find but at 8 he isn't a toddler anymore.. He acts like an old man! lol
Cards.. I haven't had a chance to sit down and do anything lately! I managed to do the circle journal for my Creative Escape group and 2 cards for a SU Occasions mini swap. I used the sets One Smart Cookie and Time For You. I will post the cards later on.. Now I need to get to an ATM machine.. central CT got between 5-9 inches of snow last night and our "guys" are here to shovel the walks.. I am broke so I need to run get them some $$.. Vets and shovelers.. 2 people I am happy to pay for! lol
Have great day all!

quilt related blog candy

WOW! I knew it had been along time since I posted but I had NO IDEA it had been so long! I found some great blog candy on Quilt Nut Creations Go check it out!
I PROMISE I will begin posting with more regularity. I also promise to start putting up some blog candy o my own! I am Clean Sweeping out my home this Spring and what doesn't go is going into a dumpster.. Harsh but I need it! I have thins that I don't recall even liking before never mind not recalling the buying process! I have an illness.. an addiction.. some people say that jokingly but I don't think it is a joke with me.. I have way too much "stuff" to have purchased rationally.. Lucky for you! You guys will be the recipients of the fruits of my illness! So, keep an eye out!
Speaking of keeping an eye out! Don't forget it is nearly SAB time! I you don't have a SAB brochure be sure to drop me a line to let me know! I will get you one right away!
Have a blessed day!

Stampin' Up! Sign Up Special!! Choose your Own Family!

Wow, Stampin' Up! is doing it again...if you sign up to be a demonstrator between August 10th and September 30th not only do you save nearly 40% off retail by purchasing the kit, earn future discounts and all the other benefits of being a demonstrator BUT during this limited time you'll get an entire Classic Ink pad color family of your choice - ABSOLUTELY FREE! for more information check my Become a Demonstrator page over on the right and be sure to link to Stampin' Up! here and click on "choose your family".
Happy Stamping!

SU Holiday Mini catalog!!

I got a goodie box from Stampin Up today! I actually haven't opened it yet! I have been trying to stave off a migraine fro a few days now so I laid down for a "few minutes" this afternoon... SIX HOURS LATER! I woke up..
I am about to break into that box to peek though.. Maybe even mount a few sets from the Holiday mini.. what? How can I do that so late at night? Why the answer is simple... the mini sets are all DIE CUT from now on! Only the minis though.. Still hoping for the main catalog one of these days but for now I don't mind cutting stamps.. it is part of my process I guess but I do like the break! lol
You can order from the mini (and see it online if you don't have a hard copy) from Sept. 1-Nov. 30 Email me if you want one.

Could I post any less frequently? / lot's of stuff to say!

Well folks, I am still here. It has been truly crazy these last few (two) months. I won't get in to any of the boring details but I will share some great stamp stuff! I have been creating but most for swaps I took to convention July 24-30 in Denver. What a blast I had! Next year will be even better! only 1 SU convention session! It is the 20th anniversary so they are holding only 1 session so we can all celebrate together!
Anyway.. more to say but I am going to post it in separate posts so every great item can have it's own space!!

The strange lighthouse card post from the other day..

I should explain that one I guess.. I was editing my cards in Photoshop Elements for the first time. I was having a rough time trying to figure out how to resize the photos. I normally use the software that comes with whatever cheap printer I have at the time. I figured I have had PSE for a few months I may as well learn how to use it right? I am used to seeing pixels.. the PSE showed inches and picas... WHA? What the heck is a picas? evidently a picas is like a pixel but not really ?? anyway.. I pressed a button and pixels showed up! I did as many cards as I could because not knowing what button I pressed I couldn't do it again I am sure! lol So, that card was made last week for my uncles birthday. The recipe is: stamps: Coast to Coast (retired) , It's Your Birthday and Linen background
ink: Creamy Caramel
paper: shimmery Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
I also used a bookplate and 2 brads from the pewter Hodgepodge Hardware set and brown grograin ribbon. I distressed the edges of the focal point with the SU cutter kit.
TFL!

Fall Winter SU catalog 20 days away!! YAY

I wanted t share a few cards I made using the new sets from the SU catalog preview. I have only done a few so far. I actually did 53 but only 3 different styles! lol I am busy with swaps for SU convention which is actually 43 days away!! YAY

Anyway here are a few cards I did yesterday.. darn.. I keep forgetting they show up at the top of my post.. If anyone can tell me how to fix that I would be very grateful! lol So, I will post the recipes down here in the order the cards show up (I never know how that will be either!)

recipe #1: stamps: Baroque Motifs, Hugs& Wishes

paper: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi

ink: Purely Poegranate, Wild Wasabi, Basic Brown

flowers are up on dimensionals

recipe #2

I called this card Hungry Hungry Cute Hippo but I Was informed it is a Rhino.. I knew that but for some reason Hippo just was what my mind was calling it! lol

stamps: Zoofari, Holidays & Wishes

ink: Timber Brown stayzon

paper: Kraft, Whiper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky designer paper

rhino is colored with watercolor crayons and blended with blender pens, twill ribbon is held on with silver brads. For this particular card I just cut by hand the sentiment tag but I plan on using a Cuttlebug tag die cut on the next.

recipe #3

stamps Baroque Motifs, Holidays &Wishes

ink: River Rock, Purely Pomagranate, Timber Brown Stayzon

paper: Whisper White, River Rock

flower is up on a dimensional and has a brad in the center.

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I have to tell you the new InColors are GORGEOUS! I really did not care for them in the catalog but I will tell you they are awesome in person! Just gorgeous! If you are not sure about them try the combo pack!