A lot about nothing

whoa 2 posts in one day !!

2009-02-27T11:55:00.024-06:00

YAY I got the green light to post a little sneak peek of my projects going up in the Creative Memories Project Center this weekend! Make sure you check back Sunday for full instructions on these projects and more!

My new hobby

2009-02-27T07:49:00.004-06:00

My mom and I tried painting on rocks! I love gardening and my aunt told me about a book by artist Lin Wellford and I wanted to try painting some rocks for my gardens. She does the most amazing paintings on rocks!!! So, this is my first go at painting some pansies on a rock. It's no Lin Wellford but I am hooked, it was so fun!!! And I really love the idea of using my rock art in my gardens! Can't wait to paint some more.

I have been really busy doing a ton of projects for Creative Memories Project Center. If you haven't check it out yet, you should! CM's March projects go live on Sunday, so be sure to check back after Sunday!

There are a bunch of sneak peeks up of CM's new lines coming out! CM has some really exciting things going on, and some really exciting products coming out in the next couple months. I can't spill the news yet, but when I can I will post all about it. Creative Memories has some new features in their Project Center too, the Project Idea of the Day and a Holiday Idea of the Day. Be sure to check back daily for those during the holidays!

I'll be back after Sunday to post all my new projects!!

God Bless !

Bad Blogger... Good Facebooker!

2009-01-28T20:25:00.010-06:00

I apologize for being not such a good blogger as of late. I have been quite caught up in the whole Facebook phenomenon . If you haven't- come join me! :) Do a search for my name Becky Heisler and you should find me! Just a forewarning though- it's highly addictive!

So, I have been busy running my kids around and taking some classes through our church. The kids are starting swim lessons next week- so we will now be running 4 nights a week for a while. It was really nice to sit home tonight and just veg out on the couch with my hubs. Seems like we don't get to do that as often as we would like anymore.

Chloe got her costume this week for her ballet recital in the spring, OMG it's sooo cute. It's black and white and fly away furry and has a big tutu and a furry tail and a cat ear headband. She will be adorable. Can't wait for that!

So excited that American Idol has started again! Yippee, I love that show. I love everything from the most hilarious try-outs right down to the tension filled last weeks. It's fun to watch the contestants evolve over the course of the show. It's amazing when they play back their auditions how far they have really come.

I am excited to share that one of my layouts was chosen to grace the cover of Bella BLVD's first ever catalog! Bella BLVD is a new up and coming scrapbook company out of WISCONSIN and Stephanie the owner and designer is the sweetest. So I can probably share it now that CHA is over and everyone has probably seen it now. My layout is the full layout on the bottom left hand corner. Cool huh ? :) Congrats to Stephanie, I know she did well at CHA!

Let's see- what else is new.. oh yeah I have some cute little pics from when Ashley and the gang came over for some sledding-

Well that's about it for now- I am off to watch Twlight the movie for the 20th time! LOL Can't get enough of it!

God Bless!

Snow Day!

2008-12-10T10:53:00.006-06:00

We had a fun snow day yesterday. If this is a tell tale sign of how this winter is going to go... we might not see spring until June. Last year was the snowyist ( is that a word?) winter on record for WI, and we are already have 15 inches more snow than we did last year at this time! YIKES. But my kids are loving it....and it will be even more fun once the ice rink is in. Hopefully between that and the sledding and snowboarding, it will keep them busy and not driving me crazy! :)
Here's a few pics from yesterday-

I am working hard to get ready for the cookie exchange this weekend! Should be fun! :) I will post some pics next week.

God Bless!

Kreative Blogger

2008-12-02T07:54:00.003-06:00

The very sweet Ms. Jennie tagged me with this gorgeous little award!
Thank you

Jennie, you are sooo sweet!

Here are the rules:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Provide links to their blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

And the lovely award now goes to.....

Kimmi-Because the layering on her layouts and projects is amazing and she inspires me.
JenSue- Because she makes the most adorable aprons EVER.
Christine-Because she is just a total class act and she makes the most beautiful projects.
Karen-Because she keeps it real and because she just plain ROCKS.
Katie- Because she is an amazing paper artist and I want to live in her creative mind!

A Favor please!

2008-11-20T14:41:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone, I would love your support for a friend of mine's daughter. (LOL did you get that ?) Anyway, my friend Christine's young daughter made an amazingly beautiful shirt with such an important message and is in a contest. If you feel moved by this please vote for her design and leave her a little comment. http://www.c28.com/canvas/designdetails.aspx?comment=added&id=1041

Her message is this-
About My Design:Waiting for girls is tough, particularly when we're all waiting for Mr. Wonderful to come to sweep us off our feet. It's so easy, for girls of any age, to fall into the trap of the "I've got to have a boyfriend" mentality that we forget that God has someone already prepared for us. So I hope this encourages all girls to remember that true love is worth waiting for, and most importantly to put our focus on God and wait upon Him that He will provide “the one” in His perfect timing. God bless. *C* The verse reads: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14
Thanks you guys !!!

Bella BLVD and other stuff

2008-11-14T07:43:00.011-06:00

Hey everyone, Bella BLVD is having a contest! Check it out-

November 09, 2008
Announcing: Bella Blvd's First Layout Contest

All applicants are welcome! We want to see your Fall and Family scrapbooking layouts using Bella Blvd products! If you're looking to find Bella Blvd products, we have updated our Store Locator just for you! Please be sure to read complete Contest Details Here!
This contest would not be possible without sponsorship from these great companies:
Two Spotted Dogs
The Scrap Room, Inc.
Parisian Studio
Prizes:
First Place Winner will receive a $100 gift card to his/her favorite local scrapbook store. In addition, product packages from both one of the contest sponsors and Bella Blvd, your winning layout and portrait featured on the Studio Blog.
Second Place Winner will receive a $50 gift card to his/her favorite local scrapbook store. In addition, product packages from both one of the contest sponsors and Bella Blvd, your winning layout and portrait featured on the Studio Blog.
Third Place Winner will receive product packages from both one of the contest sponsors and Bella Blvd and your winning layout and portrait featured on the Studio Blog.
Here Are the Details:
1. All submissions are due no later than Wednesday, November 26th, 2008.
2. Contest winners will be posted Monday, December 1st, 2008 on the Studio Blog. Prizes will be shipped out soon afterwards.
3. Send one layout (any size) using Bella Blvd products. We challenge you to not only use Family Tree, but also try scrappin' those Fall layouts with Pack Your Bags products. A layout can be a single page or double page spread.
4. Please only send one image. There is no need for close up and detail images.
5. File should not exceed 700 pixels x 700 pixels or 700 kb.
6. Email the above along with your name, phone number and email address to art@bellablvd.net, subject line: FALL/FAMILY LAYOUT CONTEST.
7. Winners will be announced during the first week of December on the Studio Blog, and will be contacted via email and telephone.

On a personal note-

I have finally dove in and tried my hand at digital scrapbooking and I have to say, I LOVE it!

Creative Memories software called StoryBook Creator Plus is so fantastic, it takes the confusion out of layering! With this program anyone can go digital! The 100% Princess is a layout I made using all CM papers and elements. The other one is a digital layout I made using a mixture of Jen Wilson Designs and Creative Memories.

I also made a no knit scarf this week! SO fun and it's so easy! I saw the pattern in Martha Stewart's new Holiday crafts edition.

Here's a cozy yet speedy project. Cut 12 pieces of bulky-weight yarn to about 1 1/2 times the desired length of the final scarf. (We used 140-inch pieces to make an 86-inch scarf.) Divide yarn into 4 bunches of 3 strands each. Tie 2 bunches together with a square knot, leaving 6 inches of fringe at end; repeat with remaining bunches. Pin the knots to a piece of foam board. Knot inner 2 bunches of yarn together, spacing knot about 1 inch from existing knots, then knot left and right bunches together. Alternate knotting the inner bunches and the left and right ones, spacing knots evenly apart, until about 6 inches of yarn remain on the end. Finish so that final knots mirror opposite end, and trim to even the ends.

Here is a picture of the one I made, mine is made with 100% wool yarn.

Spooktacular party!

2008-11-02T17:38:00.015-06:00

Here is a picture from Halloween night

We were invited to a Halloween party last night, it was soooo fun! Had a few Apple Martini's and a hay wagon ride. Our friends thought of everything! They had a saw dust pile filed with little prizes for the kids to dig in and find. Here are a few pics of last night. Julius was with us, who is Zach's bff. He is such a character and a total joy to have around!

Every year at school, the Women's missions committee chooses a country to highlight for their missions for the year. The children experience throughout a month, the foods from that particular country, hear someone from that country come and speak to them , as well as come up with a class project to present to the WMC and the parents. So this year the missions are going to Nigeria and Zach and Chloe's class sang songs about Nigeria.

Dan's mom got me an early Christmas present. A 365 day Bible from Guideposts. I have been wanting one for so long, thanks Mom !!!

Have a great week! God Bless!

Can you say YUMMO ?

2008-10-24T17:16:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe online yesterday and made it for dinner last night... it was really good! My kids gobbled it right up ! Enjoy!

http://www.mealsmatter.org/

Lickety Split Lasagna Soup
Contributed By: SuzannesmallSuzannesmall
Here's a "soup-er" hearty meal that tastes like lasagna without all the preparation and cooking time. It's great served with a green salad and crusty bread. This speedy soup simmers in less than a half hour and tastes so good everyone will ask for more.
Ingredients
1 lb. Ground beef
1 Medium onion, chopped
2 (14-1/2 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz. ) can tomato sauce
1 (14-1/2 oz.) can beef broth
1 1/2 cups Water
1 tablespoon Brown sugar
2 teaspoons Dried basil
2 teaspoons Dried oregano
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Dried thyme
2 cups Mini lasagna noodles (American Beauty) or rotini pasta
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups Finely shredded mozzarella cheese
Preparation
Brown ground beef in dutchoven or stockpot; drain. Add onions, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Stir in beef broth, water, brown sugar and four spices listed. Bring to a boil and add mini lasagna noodles or pasta. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Garnish each bowl with mozzarella cheese. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

2008-10-15T12:01:00.014-05:00

My good friend Karen Grunberg is teaming up with NYC Scraps and coming out with a wonderful Holiday Mini book class! Karen is giving away free pass to her class to one lucky winner. So check out her blog and her class and I promise, you will not be disappointed! She is amazing! And congrats my friend, you rock! I am so proud of you! :)

On a personal note- my mom is telling me she is sick of looking at all my posts about my scrapbooking stuff (GASP! can you imagine ?) and wants to see more pictures of her grandkids. So this is for her... maybe she will stop complaining now!

Hilarious, Zach does NOT like to dig in the pumpkin. Normally, he doesn't' care about getting dirty but I guess he draws the line at oowey gooey stuff. As you can tell, Chloe doesn't seem to be bother by the slimy stuff!

Chloe can ride a 2 wheeler! This is a huge feat for this girl. She is not exactly the most athletic girl, she is a ballerina so riding a bike was hard for her. LOL we tried to teach her earlier in the spring and she was scared to death she was going to fall, so we didn't push it. It killed me to watch her running behind all the neighborhood kids while they rode off on their bikes.. but you can't make them learn these things. So we waited and low and behold,she got on her brother's bike the other night and just started riding !!!!!!!!!! I am so excited for her, this is a big deal to her! No more running behind and crying because the other kids won't wait up for her! YAY for my girl!

I want to say a big huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet hubby and my Dad. Both their birthday's were yesterday! My hubby was 40 yesterday... and honestly it sort of takes my

breath away because I never really thought I would ever be married to a man who was 40! LOL stupid I know, but it just always seemed so old and well here we are. And scarier yet, I am 5 years away from it myself. YIKES! I wish I could slam on the brakes, my life is flying by and the thought of it makes me feel short of breath and tear up. I have a very short 10 years left with my son.. that thought makes me literally feel ill. But I think God must make teenagers act the way they do in order for us to be able to let them go a little more easily.

I found this picture today while I was looking through old CD's of pictures. My hubby,he still takes my breath away and makes me stomach get butterflies. I will never love another human being like I love this man. We are perfect for each other in every way.

He took this picture of himself early in the morning before he went to work. He is holding a sign that says SHMILY, which is a little love note we share. It stands for See How Much I Love You and every so often we leave these for each other in our cars, coffee cups, ect. This was his original take on it! Melts my heart!

God Bless you and yours! Enjoy your day!

Bella BLVD Artista !

2008-10-03T12:01:00.002-05:00

I was asked to be a Bella BLVD Artista for the month of Novemeber! YAY so excited. Bella BLVD is close to my heart because it's located here in WI !! COOL HUH ? I want to give a shout out to my girls Hilde and Jessica Jo (also a fellow Wicsonsinite!) Congrats girls! Here is the announcement as seen on the Bella BLVD studio blog-

Jessica Jo Salber
Erin Wells
Dana DiGennaro
Becky Heisler
Paula Gilarde
Hilde Janbroers
(click on names to learn more and visit their blogs!)
Please help me congratulate these ladies!
These woman are very talented and so excited to share new ideas with you. Throughout October, November and December we will feature their work with Bella Blvd products! Thank you for all the submissions. It was so difficult narrowing down to only 6 Artistas. We received submissions from all over the world displaying such a variety of scrapbooking styles. There will be more opportunities to become a Bella Artista after the new year! Thanks to you, Bella Blvd has grown oh so much since our very first blog only 2 short months ago! Thank you again for sharing in all our excitement.

Cool book site

2008-10-02T07:41:00.002-05:00

I got an invite from Kimmi for a fabulous book site! I LOVE it. You can keep track of what you are reading,what you've already read and what you want to read. You can read reviews on millions of books and see what others are reading. There are also book chat groups for certain books. So come be my friend! HERE

Another friend Patter told me about this SITE called Paper Back Swap. Here is what Patter said about the site- "For each book someone requests, we get a book credit once we ship it to them and they receive it. Then we get to pick book(s) we want that are listed on the site. Currently, there are over 2 million books listed. You don’t pay a thing except the postage to ship your book to the requestor. I use media mail so I never pay more than $2.30. All of the books we have received have been in like new condition."

Check these out, you won't be dissapointed!

God Bless!

Hey family and friends

2008-10-01T07:10:00.002-05:00

My computer crashed this past weekend, and I lost all my info on my hard drive. SO, I lost everyone's email addresses as well. Can you all please send me an email so I can get your addresses again (same address as I have always had) ? Thank you!

Followers feature

2008-09-24T08:31:00.003-05:00

Jen just pointed out this morning that Blogger has a new feature called Followers. You can sign up for the blogs that you follow and under your blogger dashboard, it will list all their current postings. You don't have to look around and click link after link after link. HOW COOL IS THAT ? If you read my blog- sign up under my Followers! :)

By the way- you can find this feature on the right hand side of my blog- right under the Subscribe feature.

A Creative Memories card

2008-09-23T18:21:00.008-05:00

Here is another card I made using my new Creative Memories goodies! This is inspired by the awesome Becky Fleck! You can see her amazing sketches HERE !!

Some Creative Memories goodies

2008-09-22T13:29:00.008-05:00

It was so fun getting my big box of goodies! I have actually always loved CM's tools.
I got busy right away when I got my stuff- so here are a few things I made using the new CM lines.

We have fun weekend challenges that the DT can take part in so this weekend's challenge was to do a cardstock only layout. That is a huge challenge for me, that's for sure. But I did a layout just for the fun of it, here is the product of that labor.

Thanks for visiting- and just a reminder everything on this blog is copyrighted by me- nothing may be copied from this blog without my permission. Thank you!

God Bless!

Anniversary Crop at AMM !!!

2008-09-20T07:58:00.003-05:00

Do you want to win some amazing prize packages ???

This weekend it's A Million Memories' birthday! And what a better way to celebrate than to give away some awesome prizes!!! Look at these gorgeous prize packages:

You can also win a gift certificate of 40 dollars!!! For more information look over here .

And if that's not enough the owner Michelle gives you a 10% discount from now on till the 21st. Just use code 917 at the checkout. Just use code 917 at the checkout. Hope to see you there!

Creative Memories.. WHA ??

2008-09-17T07:58:00.006-05:00

Yep that's right! I was asked to join the Creative Memories DT! Now, I know what you are going to say.. WHA ?? I was emailed by the very sweet Addie asking if I would be interested in a DT position with CM. I have to say, I was a bit taken back and unsure. But while considering her offer, I went to check out the CM website to take a peek at some of the products. And while Addie reassured me that they are working hard to take this company in a new direction, and bring it into the 21st century, it was looking at the products and being shocked at how cute some of the new products really are that finally made my mind up. So, I decided to take on this challenge, and become part of this wonderfully generous company's DT. The women are all soooo nice, It feels like home already. So forget what you think you know about Creative Memories, because a change is a comin' !!!

God Bless!

A new class

2008-09-15T20:29:00.003-05:00

A SNEAK PEEK of a new class at A Million Memories - "The Perfect Day"!

You can purchase the class HERE.
And the KIT HERE. (You can use YOUR OWN supplies if you'd like)!!

COVER:

INSIDE "sneak":

JOURNALING SPOTS "sneak":

What flower are you ?

2008-09-11T17:02:00.003-05:00

I love to garden, and I was looking for some homemade garden decorations that I could make for my gardens, when I happened upon this little flower test- and here is what it says I am-

You Are a Snapdragon

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

What are you ? Find out HERE.

2008-09-05T13:04:00.002-05:00

Becky Fleck is having a sketch contest on the Page Maps Blog! I loved the sketch so much, I had to enter! Here is the sketch and my take on it-

BG Give away at AMM

2008-09-04T07:09:00.001-05:00

*Posted by: Michelle*

School is back in session. A lot of us have little ones that started Preschool and Kindergarten this year. Today was my daughter Chloe's first day of Kindergarten. I dropped her off and then walked home crying like a baby! LOL. I'm grateful for this day. I want to celebrate, so I'm going to give you all a chance to win this new paper collection by Basic Grey.

Here's the catch (yah, there's always a catch) ~ tell me something that you are thankful for. I am thankful that my daughter is in remission and that she was able to start Kindergarten on time. I am grateful that she made a few friends at school today and that she came home happy and ready to do her first homework assignment with a smile on her face.

I will choose a winner next Tuesday night, September 9th.

Easy meal for school nights!

2008-09-02T19:01:00.005-05:00

This is a recipe from Betty Crocker-

I thought this sounded so good and it's
fast and easy. Just thought I would
share! :) For quick and easy meals
check out Betty Crocker!
Easy Ravioli Bake

Prep time:10 min
Start to finish- 1hr. 10 min
Makes: 8 servings

1 jar ( 26-28oz ) tomato pasta sauce ( any variety )
1 package ( 25- 27 1/2 oz) frozen cheese-filled ravioli
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese ( 8oz)
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom and sides of rectangular baking dish 13x9x2with cooking spray.
2. Pread 3/4 cup of pasta sauce in baking dish. Arrange half of the frozen ravioli in single layer over sauce; top with half of remaining pasta saucse and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with ravioli. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Cover with aluminum and bake 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered 15- 20 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot in center. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

It was the kid's first day of school today! YAY YIPPEEE!!

Here they are in their first day clothes! :)

God Bless!

AMM's September kit

2008-09-01T21:33:00.002-05:00

AMM's September's kit went up for sale today! Go get yours, it's so adorable!
Here are my projects using this month's kit.

Twilight Fanatic

2008-08-29T14:27:00.002-05:00

yeah, I admit it. I am hooked on this series. I finished Breaking Dawn a few weeks ago and I am so sad that it's over. I want it to keep going and going. I never thought in a million years that I would like this kind of story, never would have appealed to me. Good thing I didn't really know what they were about when I started reading them! The census seems to be either, you LOOOVE these books or you don't like them at all. My mom, go through the first book and it ready to give them all back to me, she didn't like them. My Aunt Cindy, said she is loving them just like I did!
It's fun to talk to someone who loves the story and has read the books! Can't wait for her to read all of them, because I can't say to much now, or I will give a way all the good twists and turns.
They are coming out with a movie for Twilight this fall. Can't wait!

My niece had an open house for Upper Case Living last night. I ordered 2 more things ... yikes my whole house is going to be plastered with those things. I got a saying that says- " In Our Home, Let love Abide, And Bless All Who Enter Here." and then I got Zach a flaming baseball for his room.

Alright, I have to point out this amazing altered vase thingie, is this not OFF THE HOOK gorgeous ? Katie Watson created this for the Pink Paislee blog. The instructions for this beauty are right on the blog, so make sure you take a peek and leave Katie a little love.

Well I will leave you with this beauty of inspiration!

God Bless!

Oh well .....

2008-08-28T09:51:00.008-05:00

so I didn't make the CBX team, oh well. I was disappointed, but I am so happy with what I created, I felt like I did my best.. I was "out of the box"which is what they said they wanted.
I loved Lisa Garay's layout. LOVE that girl's work. Now to me, THAT is what out of the box is all about! She really deserves her spot! :-) Here are my projects I created for the CBX DT finals.

God Bless!

So much inspiration in one place

2008-08-26T11:30:00.006-05:00

WOW, now I could sit and look at Heather Bailey's blog and her store all day long! She has the brightest,cheeriest colors and patterns. They just make me happy ! Her hubby's photography is amazing to drool over as well. Man, it would just be awesome to have that much creativity and inspiration around all th time! ahhhh I guess I will just sit and drool.

Holy molely batman, the CBX DT is going to be announced today! Talk about being a bundle of nerves! So far, I haven't gotten an email.... after I took another look at that list of finalists, I am not really holding my breath. But a girl can always dream right ? I can't wait to share what I made, I was really happy with how my layout turned out and for my second choice I made jewelry out of the embellishment! I will so be wearing the items I made too, I think they are adorable! I made a necklace, bracelet, earings and a ring. I can't share yet because I am not sure I can, but I will as soon as I can.

Lots going on

2008-08-22T17:40:00.016-05:00

There is so much going on right now at A Million Memories.

Here is the sneak peek for September's kit! This was designed by our very own design team member Jennifer Findlay! I have seen the whole kit, and you are soooo going to want to buy this one!

Kimmi's class is starting and you don't want to miss out on this!
Here are all the details

Name:	AMM Online Course PROJECT KIT 2* 10 Tips for Summer Fun* by Kimmithy Achord
Item#:	9956
Price:	$27.50
Qty Avail:	3

Description:

*This does not include the price of the class. You will need to purchase the class separately. *

Includes products you will need for Kimmi's "10 Tips for Summer Fun" Class. Note that you can use products in your own "stash" for this class. The products in this kit are the products that Kimmi used for the class.

6 October Afternoon sheets of paper
1 sheet of October Afternoon journaling cards
1 Hambly Overlay
1 Scenic Route grid album
1 pack American Crafts Thicker Alphas
1 pack Jenni Bowlin Chalkboard Sticker Alphas
1 pack Jenni Bowlin Label Stickers
1 pack Scenic Route Chipboard Circles

Items NOT included in this kit that will be needed for the class are as follows:
1 sheet of October Afternoon diecuts ***not included in this kit ***
Various Buttons
Brown ink
Heidi Swapp edge distresser or a pair of scissors or craft knife
White cardstock
Adhesive
Paper Trimmer
Hole punch
Scissors

Class begins on August 25th.

We also have a new contest running this month called A Sketch a Day

We have some exciting plans and hope you will join in on the fun. So get ready! Hold onto your seats because we are about to challenge you!

We love sketches and we know YOU love sketches, so we are giving everyone at A Million Memories the opportunity to get your hands on as many sketches as you can handle! Our amazing Design Team will be designing their own unique sketches for you to use EVERY SINGLE DAY for the next month. With each sketch that you use, you will get your name thrown into a drawing, and at the end of the month, you will be eligible to win the GRAND PRIZE. You don’t have to do every single sketch, but the more you do, the better your chances are of winning. Sound fun?

Here are the details: Do a layout, card or project based upon the sketch of your choice. Post your project in the thread of that sketch in the DESIGN TEAM SKETCH FORUM and in the “CHECK IN- thread. The “CHECK-IN thread is going to be where we keep a tally of how many submissions you have for this contest. Easy enough?

So get going! GO check out the sketches and go win those goodies! The winner will be announced on September 19th! For more details go here.

UGH still waiting to hear something about the Chatterbox DT call. This wait is killing me, I just want to know one way or the other! Patience is NOT my virtue.

On a personal note:

We took the kids to the Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee. It was sooooooo fun but so hot it was almost unbearable. Here are a few from that day-

We had a really great time in the U.P. of Michigan, on the beach of Lake Superior. The weather was gorgeous the whole time we were there. We did some swimming,some reading ( well I did alot of reading.. darn that Twilight Series anyway, I couldn't put it down) and some hiking in the Porcupine Mountains. We took a tour of the Quincy Mine in Hancock, MI. It was a very nice 5 days. I even beat my dad once in cribbage, which is no easy feat. So over all it was a wonderful vacation! Here are few of my favorite pics from the week-

Thanks for visiting !! God Bless!

AMM's August kit and giveaway!

2008-08-07T14:59:00.004-05:00

This month's kit from A Million Memories is so gorgeous! If you haven't gotten yours yet, go quick before they're gone! Here are my projects using the kit

Also if you love giveawyas, you will want to go get in on this one-
Basic Grey's new Ambrosia line giveaway- Go to AMM HERE.
The giveaway winner will be announced on Monday August 11th.

If you haven't already, check out Creative Therapy's
Catalyst this week- "Your First Memory of Love"-

Also the AMAZING Wilna Furstenberg

is the Guest Designer this week. Check out her blog!

this is
my interpretation -

journaling reads-

My first memory of love is one I would
rather not think about. Teenage love

gone very bad. I can’t tell you how

Lucky I am to have found my husband,

He is the only love I want to remember. July 2008′

That's all for now! :) Thanks for visiting !

AMM 's AUGUST KIT SNEAK PEEK

2008-07-24T22:17:00.001-05:00

AUGUST KIT Sneak Peek !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't this gorgeous ? I am stalking the mailman for this kit let me tell ya! I love me some Hambly! And I am a total sucker for flowers too, and those are gorgeous flowers! So if you want one of the kit's, sign up now before they are gone.. they go fast! A Million Memories.

Also, AMM has a ton of CHA summer give aways going on right now! Don't miss out!

American Crafts in da house !! Check it out ! Also the new Graphic 45 line -Graphic 45
Botanicabella.

On a personal note-
My mom and went to the mall the other day to look for a present for Dawson and we just happend by this new store- Libby Lu's OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have young girls this is the place to be. It was a sea of pink foo foo, make up and sequins! The music was so loud, playing songs from High School Musical, it was just a complete Diva atmosphere ! LOL Perfect for Chloe! I can't wait to take her there! A fun girly day.. I love my son but man I am so glad I have a girly girl too!

Kitchen is coming along good. The floor is in now and we finally got a new table !! We so needed one, our old one came from Dan's mom and they boys had actually bought that for her from aliquidator's.
So certainly paid itself off in use that's for sure. We had mix matched chair because

they kept breaking. It's so nice to actually have a quality piece of furniture! It's similar to this one - not exactly but very similar. Ours is counter height, the chairs look very close to that and in the middle under the table it does have storage like this one. It's not this dark either. I will have to take a picture of it one of these days!

That's about it for now, time for bed!

God bless and thanks for visiting!

Love for Webster's Pages

2008-07-22T17:19:00.004-05:00

Oh my gosh, I have such a looooove for Webster's Pages, still ticked they didn't run an open DT call so I could have tried out, but oh well such is life. :( But, on a positive note Terri Conrad did whip up some amazing designs for the summer 08' CHA release! Ohhh and ahhh all around please! They are so gorgeous, I can't wait to get my hands on these!

Wanna win stuff from summer CHA ?

2008-07-21T15:11:00.003-05:00

Then come to A Million Memories!!

Just make a post here on what you think the hottest new trend is ~ whether it be a certain color combination, using lots of ribbon on a layout, or using owls. Just make a post here and we will draw a winner on Thursday night.

Here's the prize:

OR how about the new SEI Poppy line ?

Post a recent layout in our gallery and in this post and enter to win a free pack of SEI's Poppy collection, along with a surprise chipboard album. We will draw a winner on Friday.

Chatterbox has made a comeback!

2008-07-20T09:55:00.002-05:00

YAY, CBX has always been one of my favorite companies! So, you can imagine my excitement about them starting again and making a comeback! Go CBX and YAY for Melody Ross, who in my book, has been through hell and back and is just an amazingly strong person because of it and deserves CBX to be successful.

Here is CHA 08 release from CBX-

The NEW "Together" Collection


12x12 2-sided Paper	12x12 2-sided Paper	12x12 2-sided Paper	12x12 2-sided Paper
12x12 2-sided Paper	12x12 2-sided Paper	12x12 FLOCKED Paper	12x12 FLOCKED Paper
Chipboard Stickers		Stitched Felt

Journaling Labels with FOIL
Fabric Stickers		Metal-Rimmed Tags
Wooden Brads
Cardstock Die-Cut Assortment


NEW Doodle Genies! Comics, Fly Away, & Wings

More yummy releases

2008-07-18T16:01:00.003-05:00

I think these bicycle papers by Hambly are sooooooo adorable, don't you ?

Also the new Victoria line by Jenni Bowlin

Photoshop Friday! Font-o-licious! 24 FREE fonts

Jessica Spargue Has a list up for The Sprague Lab
of her favorite most used fonts this week! Make sure you check it out, there are some really awesome fonts on that list!

God Bless!

Camping and New Ebay store

2008-07-13T20:52:00.009-05:00

Omg, if you have a young girl, you MUST look at Ann Loren!
Absolutely the cutest clothes I have ever seen.

I ordered this dress for Chloe, isn't it the CUTEST ?!! I got it on Friday and I have to say, it's so adorable and it's really made well.

CAMPING
We went camping this weekend with my niece, we had a really nice time. Too short though, but it always is when you're having fun. Here are some pics I took this weekend, my favorite is the one of Ash and Dawson. More camping pics to come!

CHA GOODNESS

So I am dying with all these gorgeous sneak peeks that are coming out for the upcoming 2008 summer CHA releases! Creative Imaginations is always a favorite of mine, because seriously.. how can you not love all this yummy goodness by Karen Russell ?

My favorite thing is the die-cut paper below that looks like old doiles (I've been trying to get this paper to market for over two years now - so excited to finally see them).

And (for the first time) acrylic stamp sets through Creative Imaginations...

ahhhhhh OMG for REAL ???? wooohooooooo

I really like this one from Heidi Swapp too -

Dream Dining Room Collection

New Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous.

LOOOOOOVE these new stamps!

One more favorite for tonight- Maya Road's new Sheer Cupcake and Owl ribbon!!!

That is it for tonight! Thanks for visiting and God Bless! :-)

It's raining it's pouring

2008-07-11T07:29:00.016-05:00

and I love it! Sitting at my computer with my hot cup of coffee, it's unusually dark. There is thunder in the distance, and it's getting closer. I can hear the rain falling hard outside. It's relaxing, I could wake up every morning to this.

I have also been doing a little scrapbooking.. very little these days, but I did get some scrapping in with AMM's July kit.

I have some exciting news to share! I made the call back list for Chatterbox !! Out of 438 entries, I made the call back list. YAY ! Even if I don't make it beyond this point, I am still happy I made it this far. To be on this list with all these amazingly talented women, just makes my day.

We have been so busy with summer things, like birthdays and going to the Drive-In theater.
We saw Wall E. Popular back in the 50's and 60's, it was a favorite pass time for teens and families. I believe it's making a comeback into American Pop Culture.

We had a great time over the 4th. We went to the local parade and city picnic. We came home and swam with the kids and went to a cookout at our neighbors house and then went to the fireworks. SO much in one day, but it was fun.

That's all I got for now! Thanks for visiting and God Bless!

Creative Therapy

2008-06-17T22:37:00.002-05:00

Here is my layout for Creative Therapy's #13 catalyst!
The catalyst was- To Thank Someone, and I wanted to thank my good friend Karen. I talk to her almost every single day.
Here is what I had to say about my layout-

Becky Says:

I talk to Karen almost every single day, we’ve gotten to know each other and it’s amazing to me that you can create such a bond of a friendship through cyber space,but it happens all the time. I wanted to thank her for her friendship because I have come to rely on her constant source of support and advice. Love ya girl!

Journaling Reads:

I am so glad I got a chance to “meet” and know you. You are such a genuine person and so giving. Thank you Karen, for being a great friend and such a wonderful person!

It is also the new amazing Cosmo Cricket Hello Sunshine line, isn't it gorgeous ? You can get some at AMM if you are interested! :)

God Bless! Thanks for stopping by! :)

DT call, AMM & Creative Imaginations Contest

2008-06-07T13:35:00.001-05:00

Come on ladies !!! AMM is looking for International Designers !!! No US residents need apply! :)

We are looking for 2 NEW Design Team Members who are Non-US Residents. We will be accepting applications through July 31st, 2008.

We will announce the two new designers once they have been contacted and have accepted their posts. The design team position is a commitment through January 31st, 2009.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

We are looking for two energetic, outgoing, talented, versatile and creative individuals. Strong photography, digital scrapbooking and class experience is a plus, but not required.

Interested applicants must register and post on the message boards at AMM during the DT call. We want to spend the next few months getting to know you and we want you to get to know us and our community. Your design team experience at AMM will require daily activity on our boards.

We keep our Design Team Members busy with all sorts of activities, i.e., monthly kits, manufacturer kits, newsletter, message boards, chats, classes, kit designing, etc., so when considering whether you would like to apply for the DT position, please take into consideration the amount of time that will be required to fulfill your DT requirements.

A Million Memories’ Designers are exclusive to our team. Our designers cannot hold design team positions with any competing kit club or online scrapbooking retailers. Manufacturer design team appointments and teaching at your LSS are acceptable. Your main function as a Design Team Member for AMM is that you will help us to market our store and kit club, whether it be through your designs of the product that we provide for you, word of mouth, etc., We do not want our designers to advertise for a competing online business.

The following criteria must be met:

*Consistent and frequent message board participation is required.

*DT members are required to post at least four items per kit - 2-4 layouts, the altered item included in the kit (if there is one), and a card.

*Complete manufacturer sponsorship projects

*Actively participate in a monthly newsletter and blog posts.

*Actively participate in challenges, organizing contests and vendor advertising.

To apply, submit two new (not previously posted or published) original layouts (12 x 12 is preferred) and one altered item. Altered items are considered anything that is not a page or a card and using mostly scrapbook materials that can be found in our store.

WHAT DO OUR DESIGNERS RECEIVE?

*A free kit every other month containing the industry's latest and greatest products, plus extra supplemental products as compensation.

*Special sponsored manufacturer's kits every 3-6 weeks. These projects are completed and posted on our boards and then we send the projects directly to the manufacturers, who may in turn, use your projects on their site, catalogs, etc. This is direct access to having your work seen by manufacturers.

*Product discounts (more detail will be provided to those who are selected for the team).

*Free product for special limited edition kits that you may (on occasion) design yourself from items in our store.

*Free product for special class kits that you will design yourself.

*Miscellaneous perks - free passes to CHA, opportunity to design with our kits, etc.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE e-mail the following information to: michelle@amillionmemories.com:

• Name, mailing address, phone number

• Links to other online galleries that show your work (as well as your screen name)

• Link to your blog, if you have one

• A bio of yourself

• 2 new (not previously posted or published) original LO's and at least one altered item. Altered items are considered anything that is not a page or a card.

Include the answers to the following questions in your email:

1) Why are you interested in a DT position with AMM?

2) Site commitment and participation: We'd like to know your thoughts regarding the message board and site participation. We are looking for designers who are team players and are committed to being involved and posting daily on our message board. We'd love to see how you would go about increasing general participation on our message board.

3) Have you ever designed for another website/company? If so, who?

4) Are you currently designing for another website/Company? If so, who?

5) Are you active on any message boards? Which ones? (please provide a few links to your posts and your user name)

6) How long have you been scrapbooking?

If you have any comments or questions, please email us at michelle@amillionmemories.com

Also, Here is the June kit... OMG run to get this beauty! It is so gorgeous!
Papers:
1 Marah Johnson Paper
1 Daisy D's Paper
4 Narratives Papers
2 Making Memories Noteworthy Papers

Embellishments:
1 American Crafts Thickers Alphabet - Black Poolside
1 pack Daisy D's Rubons
1 pack Narratives Epoxy Stickers
1 sheet of Carolees Tiny Whoopsy Alphabet - Teal
2 Making Memories Noteworthy Clips (styles will vary)
1 Woven Butterfly Applique
1 Woven Scroll Applique
1 yard Cream Vintage Trim
1 yard Soft Violet Blue Velvet Ribbon
1 Vintage Lace Hanky

AMM AND CREATIVE IMAGINATIONS CONTEST!

AMM IS HAVING THE MOTHER OF ALL CONTEST, IN CAHOOTS WITH CREATIVE IMAGINATION, YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS OUT ON THIS!HERE ARE THE DETAILS- YOU COULD WIN A GUEST DESIGN SPOT ON THE CREATIVE IMAGINATIONS TEAM!! WE WILL BE HAVING CHATS WITH CREATIVE IMAGINATION DESIGNERS ALL THROUGH THE MONTH OF JUNE TOO.TO KEEP UP ON WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS MONTH WE HAVE A SPECIAL FORUM HERE!

We are having a layout contest that will end on June 30th. The winner will receive a guest spot designing for Creative Imaginations in the month of August, a 3 month AMM kit membership beginning with the August kit and will be the AMM featured Guest Designer for the month of August. How does this sound? Interested? Here is what you need to do:

Your layouts must consist of 80% Creative Imaginations products ~ any line! You can mix up the lines, or do whatever you want, just make sure that 80% of the products on the layout are by Creative Imaginations. One layout per entry and the layout may be any size. If you would like to look at all of the products that CI manufacturs, you can look here: http://www.amillionmemories.com/shopbycom.php?id=250 or you can look on their site here: http://www.creativeimaginations.us/stor … ndList.php

Post your project in our gallery and post a link in this thread. That's it!!! Easy peasy, right? Now get to work and most importantly, have fun!!!

GOD BLESS!

Time flies!

2008-05-13T07:14:00.014-05:00

Wow I can't believe it's been that long since I last blogged! Sorry !!! It's been really crazy busy with the kitchen remodeling and work and all the kid's end of the year stuff. I can't believe they only have like 2.5 weeks left! LORD help me,please start praying for me !! LOL nah not really, I will be working this summer for the first time since my kid's were born, so it will be interesting. Zach's best friend's mom and I are swapping free babysitting so that will be nice. I was stressing about that!

Listening to my kid's fight all morning, I am thinking work will be a real blessing this summer! LOL I am so looking forward to not having a schedule though, no early bedtime, no homework. Just fun, I can't wait! We have some fun stuff planned this summer, so it's going to go by really fast! But, it always does!

These pics are of the kid's at the Cub Scouts Rain Gutter Regatta. They made their own little boats and raced them in rain gutters! They had a blast. It was fun to watch them. Boy, my kid's are competitive! LOL
Here are a few recent pics of my kiddies and some of my recent work.

We had the amazing Graphic 45 sponsor our DT at A Million Memories, LOVE these papers! I finally dug out the old time pics I have of my Grandma Sipe (my mom's mom),they were so perfect for these papers. Also, a layout and a card from the May kit from A Million Memories.

Thanks for visiting! God Bless!

This and That and AMM's May kit

2008-04-30T06:48:00.007-05:00

The lighting in the picture isn't the greatest, but the kit really is beautiful !!!! There is the cutest little blue bird sewn finding! I think that is what sets AMM's kit a part. Michelle always has unique embellishments.

This is the layout I did for Creative Therapy's catalyst #6. Something that frustrates you.
My son has a Gameboy and that's it,
and even that irritates me. Well it's actually not the game itself, it's his attitude
when he plays it that frustrates me.LOL I don't
see any Wii's or Playstation's in
our household's future that's for sure.

On a personal note- we are remodeling our kitchen !!! WOOOOOHHHHOOOO! Sooo excited about that. I have been waiting for
this for 9 years!
The cabinets in this picture are almost the same
color our cabinet's will be. And the flooring
is called Fiberfloor, really cool stuff!

There's a lot more, but I have to go get ready for a funeral. My mom's uncle Shorty died. :-(
Thanks for visiting!

*** Oh yeah, a little side note about the video games- My son was playing rocket with a bottle of ketchup this morning !! ahahahaa now
THAT is a product of a no video game house!
Easily amused and very imaginative! ***

God Bless!

MAY 2008 Monthly Kit * SHABBY VINTAGE & BEAUTIFUL *

Papers:
7 Melissa Frances Papers - Ambiente Line

Embellishments:
1 American Crafts Chipboard Thickers Alphabet - Roller Rink Glitter White
1 pack Prima Rubons
1 pack Melissa Frances Designer Stickers
1 sheet of American Crafts Silver Thickers Accents
1 Maya Road Sheer Mini Album
1 Melissa Frances White Resin Frame
1 yard Cream Vintage Trim
1 yard Light Blue Velvet Ribbon
1 Vintage Lace Hanky
1 Maya Road Wings Keychain (features 4 sets of wings)
1 Small Round White Lace Floral Finding
1 White Butterfly Woven Finding
1 Blue Bird on Branch Sewn Finding
1 Prima Clear Journaling Stamp

AMM's first online class !!!

2008-04-17T21:30:00.002-05:00

YAY I am so proud of my good friend Karen Grunberg! She is starting the first online class at AMM called The Album of Me- 6 Easy and 6 Not So Easy Thing About Me!! Go get in on the fun !!

Name:	AMM CLASS By Karen Grunberg The Album of Me: 6 Easy and 6 Not So Easy Things About Me*
Item#:	9072
Price:	$10.00
Qty Avail:	23

Description:

Title: The Book of Me: six easy and six not so easy facts about me.
Come join DT member Karen Grunberg in creating a memorable and unique
album to celebrate yourself.

This album will guide you to make a minibook containing 6 easy and 6
not so easy facts about you. Each page of the minibook will be a list
of six things on a particular topic like songs you like or places
you've been. There will be six pages of easy and fun facts about you
and then six pages of deeper, more meaningful facts. A total of 14
classes will be spread across three weeks to give you plenty of time
to catch up.

Each class will contain an example page from Karen's minibook with
alternate ideas, photography tips, journaling tips, and lot of other
inspiration. You will have access to a private bulletin board where
you can ask questions, show off your minibook pages and share the joy
of creating a memorable and meaningful album for yourself and your
loved ones.

The best thing about this class is that you can use your own stash
and your own, unique style to create your book. It will be 100%
authentic to you, or you can purchase a limited edition kit at AMM made specifically for the class.

*Class begins May 5th.
**Note that you will be refunded for any shipping charges on this item.

My first class kit

2008-04-16T07:29:00.000-05:00

This is my first exclusive class kit project! You can buy this kit with the instructions for making this sign or you can just buy the instructions. I hand drew the template for the flowers and that is included in the kit as well. I have a mini album coming up too :)

Name:	AMM Exclusive Class Kit * WELCOME SPRING Sign * By Becky Heisler
Item#:	9054
Price:	$25.99
Qty Avail:	5

Description:

Includes full color instructions with various photos and template for making your own flowers.

6 Fancy Pants Papers
1 Hambly Butterfly Paper
1 pack American Crafts Poolside Thickers in Pink
1 Jenni Bowlin Transferware Rubons
1 Creative Imaginations Scalloped Wooden Sign
A few Maya Road Chipboard Piecs
A few gold buttons
1 yard of pearls
1 sheet scalloped paper

Thanks for visiting and God bless!

AMM's new DT !!!!!!!

2008-04-13T07:07:00.002-05:00

Hurray !!! We have a new team at AMM !!! I am really excited about Michelle asking me to me the new Design Team Coordinator too! This team is filled with amazingly talented women, and I couldn't more excited! This is going to be a really fun year and I think we are all dedicated to getting AMM to #1 ~ :) CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME TO THE TEAM!!!!

Becky Heisler is our Design Team Coordinator

And here is the Design Team:

TONYA DIRK

KIMMITHY ACHORD

KITTY FOSTER

PATTI HUTCHENSON

KAREN GRUNBERG

JENNIFER FINDLAY

HILDE STOLK

GRETA BAKSA

Creative Therapy Catalyst 4

2008-04-06T21:16:00.003-05:00

Creative Therapy's Catalyst 4 is up !!! The designers for this challenge blog are sooo talented and amazing! There is sooo many more amazing guest designers in upcoming months! Keep your eye on us! And PLEASE come create some art work and memories with us!

Here is my take on Catalyst 4

Journaling reads-

I’m still this girl. The girl with the brown eyes and long brown hair, although I don’t sport pigtails too too often anymore. I still love the outdoors. I am still an easy forgiver. I still have an attitude at times. I still don’t like to be told what to do. I am still happy and I still wear my heart on my sleeve.

There is still 4 days left to get in on the DT call at AMM !!!!!!! Not only is Michelle the owner the most amazing women, but AMM is just such a supportive creative community! Get your submissions in ladies !!!

XOXOXOX
God Bless!

Sharing some recent work :)

2008-04-03T09:14:00.011-05:00

Mornin' everyone! I hope you all have a blessed day! It is feeling like spring here, I plan on taking a walk, doing some laundry, cleaning out my Blue bird houses and maybe making something really nice for dinner. Hopefully I will squeeze a little scrapping t here too! We'll see.

Here is some recent work from the April kit at
A Million Memories.

Here are a few cards using the new Pageframes clear acrylic cards! These are the cutest stinkin' things around!!!! You can go HERE to see more of the DT's work using the new releases!
I also, used the Scalloped Square from Magistical Memories on the Thank you card with the red bow.

God Bless, have an amazing day!

Team in Training

2008-03-31T12:17:00.002-05:00

My friend Suzy or better known as Bucket, is running a marathon with Team in Training. It is a group that raises money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Suzy is looking for donations for this cause. This is obviously so close to my heart because my online BF Michelle's little girl Chloe was diagnosed this fall with Leukemia. There is a large RAK full of amazing scrapbook supplies up for grabs, the details are on Suzy's blog HERE.

So many people's lives are affected everyday by someone who has cancer. Please consider supporting this cause. The money goes to help all cancer patients, but what gets my heart the most are the children who have to endure this disease. Let's help them find a cure !!!!!

Thanks so much!

God Bless!

This and That

2008-03-28T09:38:00.006-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!

I have lots of stuff to share today !! :)

I hope you all had an Happy Easter ! We had my dad, step-mom and step-sister over for Easter dinner.We had a very nice day. I always love going to church, but on Easter for obvious reasons it's extra special. The service was just phenomenal!
The Easter bunny came in the morning, left the kid's their baskets and some eggs hidden around the house. They had fun!

Over spring break we took the kid's to a hotel for a night. We just had a blast. It was really nice to get a way just the 4 of us, spending some quality family time together.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creative Therapy's Catalyst #2 "Where do go to find your center ?"
Here is my take on the catalyst

Journaling Reads:

Sometimes, I lose sight of what’s important. I may over react to little things, or be impatient with my family or friends. When I begin to complain, gossip, or just act ungrateful I know that I can take my daily sins to the foot of the cross and leave them there and be forgiven. That is the beauty of the Christian life. I’m not perfect, not even close, but I have a Savior who died to save me from my sins. What could be better than knowing that at the end of the day, after all life’s daily garbage you can go to Him, lay those burdens down and be renewed and refreshed and best of all forgiven? With my Lord as my center, what could ever be that bad in life? Nothing will ever be as bad as what HE endured for ME, to save me from my sins. Everything else in life pales by comparison. The reminder of what he did for me is what keeps me centered and focused on what is good and important in my life.

First - AMM's April kit is up !! WOOHOO this one is so gorgeous! Well, they all are, but I looooove Webster's Pages so this is one of my favs. Get one before they are gone !!!

God Bless !

Creative Therapy and Got Sketch ?

2008-03-17T20:42:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine- Karen Gruenberg started a new challenge blog called CREATIVE THERAPY. I am so happy and excited for her, but I am also excited because she asked me to join a very talented group of designers to work the weekly catalysts. This challenge blog is really different from the others out there in that, the designers are very diversified. We all design with different mediums and Karen plans on doing different medium challenges at well. So please come and play along!!!! The catalyst for Week One is now up and it is AMAZING! YAY! Congrats Karen!

I had the privilege to work one of Valerie Salmon's sketches this week for her blog Got Sketch ?
I did a layout about my neice's little one Dawson. She says he sits at the fridge all day and begs for food! LOL Typical boy! He is a little stinker, pushing his own chair over and crawling up onto the counter to reach food ! She caught him in the act and got some pics! ahahaa it just cracks me up!

I went shopping today for some new clothes for my new job- I fell in love with Lane Bryant! It's a women's clothing sto re for women's sizes only. I believe it starts with size 14 up to size 28. They have some really cute stuff! I am totally addicted now! I found two really amazing bra's... Victoria Secret bra's having nothing on these babies! LOL My mom and I were both so amazed by ho w much they slim your upper body. They really do their job.. seriously! I loved it so much I bought two ! Ahhhh it felt so good to walk out with s ome new clothes, it's been a really looooong time since I've went out and bought clothes for myself!

Well that's about all the news I have for today! Have an awesome
night!

God Bless!

Tagged

2008-03-09T07:53:00.002-05:00

I am finally getting around to listing my 7 weird or different things about myself. I was tagged by Mia. Thanks Mia !!!! :) I always struggle doing these things because I am like the least OCD of anyone I've ever met.

1. I really don't like anything on the dining room table other than my center piece.
2. I can't stand clutter, it makes me very crabby
3. I am very much about everything has a place and everything in it's place
4. I love to cook and really hate doing dishes
5. I have to have little night lights on through out the house at night and DH leaves the closet light on until I come to bed because I really don't like the dark. ( there is a story about why, that's another day)
6. I don't fold clothes or towels like my mother taught me, she is way more anal than me. That must be why she hates it and I don't mind it.
7. I can't stand it when my kid's have a dirty face... food dirty that is, not dirt dirty.

Thanks for Tagging me Mia ! :)

The little things

2008-03-06T10:59:00.002-06:00

You know what, the little things in life are really the big things !! My husband leaving a love note in my coffee cup so I will be surprised in the morning, my kid's coloring me a picture that says you are the best mom in the whole world. Those are really small things that have a huge impact on my day. However, on the flip side of that, one little word or action can lead to huge problems as well.
Those little things left un-dealt with or swept under the rug can eventually cause huge repercussions in relationships. I personally refuse to let the little things in life good or bad pass me by. When you love someone the little things ARE the big things.

Here are some of my favorite little things and my not so favorite little things

Good-
Finding a love note in my coffee cup
Waking up to freshly brewed coffee compliments of my thoughtful husband
a picture colored by my kids
a clean house
when I tell my kid's to do something and they actually say Ok and then actually DO what I asked them
New scrap supplies
cuddling on the couch watching a movie with my hubby
kissing my kid's on their sweet sleeping faces
Hearing from a friend, and knowing that they were thinking of you

Not so much-
Hypocrites
presumptuous people
Selfishness
unwanted or unwarranted advice
whining
back talk

2008-03-04T09:54:00.010-06:00

LOL I have so much to blog about I am doing to separate posts.

We have been working on our house, you would be so amazed at what a little paint and taking down a cabinet and how it can make such a huge change.

Here are a before and after look at our little kitchen remodel.
Also little snippets of my favorite details in my house! I should have put down the toilet seat before taking this picture, ahaha sorry about that. Hey, at least the kid's didn't leave a little "present" in there right ???

Slowly, we are changing things in the house making it more like we want it. The kitchen still needs new cabinets, which really I would just be totally content with new doors to my cabinets, new flooring which I want to get wood flooring and take the kitchen flooring all the way out past the dining room table so it feels more like one room. You can see in the first "before" picture that the carpet starts before the dining room table. That poor carpet has seen it's better days too. All in good time. Next is the full bath downstairs. We are starting that already. We stripped and refinished our cabinet in the bathroom and we have the flooring already, it's just not in yet. As soon as we get our taxes back we will be replacing the tub/shower and surround. SOOO excited! Then after that is onto our bedroom! WOOHOO that is the most neglected rooms in the house. I did get a new comforter set though that I just love !!

My neighbor thinks we should strip our kitchen cabinet, get new cabinet doors and paint them a cream color. What do you think ????

God Bless, hope you all have a fabulous day!

Kit layouts, lovlies in my home

2008-03-04T07:42:00.011-06:00

Here are my layouts using the March kit from AMM.
If you haven't gotten yours yet, you better hurry, they don't last long!

Some exciting news- AMM is having a DT CALL !!!
You can read about the details HERE.
If you are in the market for a design team and you love getting LOTS and LOTS of free products, this is the place for you! Besides the gorgeous kit's, AMM's Design Team gets sponsored by leading manufacturers in the business. If you are interested in seeing who we have been sponsored by in the past, you can check them out HERE.

AMM's March Kit

2008-02-24T20:55:00.002-06:00

WOW isn't this gorgeous ???? I can't WAIT to get this !!! Love the colors and all the butterflies and birds... and who doesn't love Thickers ????

Anyway, you can get yourself one too HERE !!

God Bless!

Molten Chocolate cakes and glasses!

2008-02-21T21:49:00.005-06:00

OMG, these are like heaven on earth! When I made mine, it wasn't quite as runny as it is in this picture but it is "molten" in the middle. Doesn't that just sound rich ? Say it slow ... MOLTEN CHOCOLATE..hmmmmmmmmmmm. It's so delish, just add a small dollop of Cool Whip on top.

If you don't already, you should get Kraft's Family and Food magazine. It's FREE!!!!! and they have the yummiest recipes . If you don't want to get it in the mail, they do archive issues on their website!

Molten Chocolate Cakes

Prep Time:
15 min

Total Time:
30 min

Makes:
8 servings, one half molten cake each

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

6 Tbsp. flour

1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

PREHEAT oven to 425Â°F. Butter four 3/4-cup custard cups or soufflÃ© dishes. Place on baking sheet.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter among prepared custard cups.

BAKE 13 to 14 min. or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 min. Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately, topped with whipped topping.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Size-Wise

Looking for the perfect chocolate dessert? One serving of these indulgent molten cakes will hit the spot.

How to Bake Cakes in Muffin Cups

Prepare batter as directed; pour evenly among ten paper-lined medium muffin cups. Bake at 425ÂºF for 10 min. or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 min. Makes 10 servings.

Make Ahead

Batter can be made a day ahead. Prepare batter as directed; pour into prepared custard cups. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before baking as directed.

Look at this super duper little cutie pie !!! LMAO I just laugh when he poses like this! He totally thinks he is so cool! He was having frequent headaches so I decided to get his eyeballs checked and sure enough, he needed glasses. He was really excited! UGH he doesn't know what he's in for. At least he likes them so I won't have to fight with him to wear them. For now anyway!

God Bless!

Mini Album

2008-02-16T18:51:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to share a mini album I made lately!

Thanks for visiting! :-)

A Few New Projects

2008-02-16T08:22:00.017-06:00

Valentine's Day was fun ! The kid's got lots of goodies from their party at school. Here's a picture of my little sweethearts.

I have been hard at work and I have a few new projects to share. Hope you like them!

Thanks for visiting and God Bless!

NEW Pageframe Designs !!!

2008-02-10T06:33:00.000-06:00

Keep your eyes peeled on the Pageframe Blog because Tara might be putting up more sneaks over the course of the weekend!

Here is what Tara had to say-

All of our products - as well as new products and shapes! - are now available in 7 patterns! We also have clear and patterned cards, and all of our products are also now available in white or black chipboard! SO FUN to Mix and Match the clear with patterns and chipboard! You can also now buy our patterns by the sheet to die cut your own! The possibilities are endless and we can’t wait to see what everyone does with these.

Thanks for looking and we hope to see you at CHA!

- The Pageframe Designs Team

I believe these things were all made by Tara too.

NEW - PATTERNED CLEAR ALBUMS!

NEW - CLEAR AND PATTERNED CARDS!

NEW - PATTERNED SHAPES!

AMM's Valentine’s Online Crop and 25% off SALE

2008-02-08T09:49:00.000-06:00

We are putting the challenges sometime tonight, so check the site tonight so you can get started because there are some SMOKIN' hot prizes !!

I am going to host an online scrappy scavenger hunt- it's going to start tomorrow morning at
9am PST and you will have until 1pm PST to email me your answers at beckyscraps4fun@yahoo.com !!!

AMM is having a huge sale right now too! Starting today, (Feb. 2) Take 25% off your entire order in the AMM Store until February 11th!!!

Enter Code: 2143 at checkout!
HINT: Chatterbox, Scrapworks, Heidi Swapp, and Prima are already on sale!!! Save even more with the additional 25% off!!!!

Here are the details-

Come celebrate CHA with A Million Memories!!! In honor of the Scrapbooking industry’s biggest event, we will be hosting a Valentine’s Online Crop!

WHEN: February 8th, 9th, and 10th

THE CROP BEGINS ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8TH AT 7PM PST, AND ENDS SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10TH AT MIDNIGHT PST.

We will post the challenges on Friday at 7pm, and will pick winners following the end of the crop on Monday, February 11th!

WHERE: Online Crops Forum

We will be hosting a myriad of challenges, and giving away prizes to the winners!

Prizes include two of our monthly kits, other fabulous prizes, and one special winner will receive goodies from CHA itself!

Here is a sneak peek at the prizes!!!

The prizes include product from: Inque Botique, Creative Imaginations, Sassafras Lass, Rusty Pickle, MAMBI, Cosmo Cricket, Making Memories, and much much more!!!!

Join us at 6pm PST in the Online Chats forum, for a chat with the members of AMM!

We hope to see you there!

Party Like a Scrap Star!

THe AMM DT!

AMM's Feb. kit

2008-02-02T16:48:00.000-06:00

Here is AMM's Feb. kit !!! Isn't it gorgeous ? It's been snowing here for what seems like forever.. so these spring colors are a welcome distraction!

You NEED to see what the DT girl's did with the kit this month, GORGEOUS work!
Heather Preckel was the a Guest Designer with AMM this month, you can also view her work there as well!

We are also having an online crop at AMM for those of us poor saps left behind from CHA!
Here are the details- watch this link for more details and during the crop!

Here is a list of everything in the kit-

Papers:
3 A2Z Papers
2 Scenic Route Papers
2 Autumn Leaves Whirligig papers

Embellishments:
1 box of Fancy Pants Chipboard
1 American Crafts Green Vinyl Alphas
Pearl shell flowers
1 pack Basic Grey White Rubons
Coordinating Prima Flowers ( 1/3 box)
1 Collage Press Ledger Journaling Sticker Sheet

1 Maya Road Blossom Chipboard Book
1 yard Green Lace
1 yard light Blue Ribbon
1 yard velvet orange Rik Rack Ribbon

Sneak Peeks

2008-01-30T13:47:00.000-06:00

Hey everybody! I had a fantastic weekend at the scrap retreat. I did get some things done, which is pretty miraculous for me because I never get anything done at those things.
Here are things I got done over the weekend-
I think I was on a pink and black thing this weekend! You can see the whole album here if you'd like.

I posted a challenge on the Pageframe Designs blog- check it out so you can get thrown in for the Pageframe's RAK !!!
Speaking of Pageframes- I talked to Tara this morning and I think she will have some sneak peeks we can post hopefully by the end of this week!

WOW the sneak peeks have been popping up all over the place. Have you seen the new Piggy Tales ?? It's awesome !!! And they are going GREEN with all their products, you can read about it on their blog!

Holy poop has it been cold here. It was -25 below this morning WITHOUT the wind chill figured in. They canceled
school because it was so dangerously cold today. So the kid's and I have bee n hanging out!

Excited to watch American Idol tonight! LOVE this time of year.

Well that's about it for today!
Have a great night and God Bless!

2008-01-27T18:02:00.001-06:00

YAY lookie here !!! I am fabulous ... LOL well for this week anyway! Check it out HERE
on Terri Conrad's blog !!!! Rumor has it
Webster's Pages has 2 new lines coming out for CHA !!!!! The names are Feather Your Nest and Rasberry Truffle ! I can't WAIT to see a sneak peek !!

Thanks again Terri, you made my weekend !!!!!

God Bless!

AND THE WINNER IS.................

2008-01-24T06:45:00.001-06:00

THANK YOU ALL FOR PLAYING ALONG IN MY GIVE AWAY! I THINK WE ARE ALL THE SAME PAGE- BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS,CLEAR AND SHEAR, GLITTER AND DIFFERENT SHAPED PAPERS!!!!

AND THE WINNER IS................

KERRI N !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOHOO KERRI, EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS !! CONGRATS!

Thanks everyone! Have a great day and God Bless!

2008-01-22T08:35:00.000-06:00

OK, as promised... here is a picture of my lil' RAK! So leave me a comment about what you think is the hot trends coming for 2008, on the post below and you could randomly be chosen for this package!

Seriously... I've had my fill and a RAK

2008-01-21T18:41:00.000-06:00

I have totally had my fill of snow for the year! CRIPES, it has snowed here, like significant amounts of snow every week for weeks! I am so tired of complaining children- Ii don't like boots, I hate this thick jacket, it's to cold...ect.. ect ..ect and snowy roads and a snowy slippery driveway and a snowy dog, and on top of that it's been colder than crap here, we're talking -24 below last night with the wind chill. OK, I am done complaining now I promise!!

My DD ( who is 5) and I were watching A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff they other day,
and the end where they did that little skit about her in front of the whole school, and she is on her bed crying ... my DD starts crying! awwww she is a chick flick movie lover just like her mom!
She looks at me like... OMG what is happening to me.. why am I crying ?? LOL She said "Mom I feel so bad for that girl... I don't like to see people crying". I swear that girl is going to be the next Mother Theresa! My good friend Michelle from AMM, her daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia about 3-4 months ago and we started praying for her daughter Chloe every night during dinner, and every single time my Chloe would just start bawling at the dinner table, because she felt so bad for her. She makes my heart just melt! She is so sensitive to others feelings.. well except her brother! LOL I guess you can't have everything!

OMGosh have you see the CRATE PAPER SNEAK ??? ohhhhhh my it's gorgeous! We were talking HERE about what we think will be the hot trends this year.... and butterflies came up a lot... and sure enough, they are showing up in a lot of sneak peeks !!! If you are looking for a great place for sneaks AMM has a ton - go check them out!

Tell me what you think will be this year's hot trends and you might get picked for a sweeet RAK! Leave a comment here and I will do a random drawing Thursday morning!! I get a picture of the RAK up tomorrow, so stay tuned!

God Bless!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2008-01-20T21:16:00.000-06:00

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE OUR BELOVED BRETT FAVRE THROUGH AWAY OUR CHANCES AT THE SUPER BOWL BY THROWING FRICKIN' INTERCEPTION !!!! I THINK I AM GOING TO GO CRY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

My throat is raw from screaming and my stomach is in knots. I am so disappointed for our Pack and for Brett Favre because I really think this will be his last year........... :-(

We're off to the races!

2008-01-19T21:14:00.000-06:00

The Pinewood Derby races that is. Zach and the Cub Scout Dens had their annual Pinewood Derby races today. Dan worked so hard on these cars for the past few weeks. He did an awesome job, Zach took 1st place in his Den and won Best Of Show overall !!!! It was a blast, and to tell you the truth I think Chloe was just as excited about the races as Zach was. Her car took 1st place once and 2 seconds places. All the kid's who didn't take a 1st,2nd or 3rd got a blue

ribbon anyway, just for participating. So cool and fun to watch the kid's get so excited. So our cars are the red,pink and camo ones. And excuse the pictures... the lighting in the gym was so terrible I had to use my flash! ick!

On a scrappy note-here is my latest layout! I used Magis tical Memories SWAK and the circle with the hearts is from the Starry Eyed Skulls collection. I had to do a layout about Zach's cute little kissing/note thing last week. LOL

Have you seen THIS...a sneak peek of the gorgeous work of Terri Conrad, the Designer for Webster's Pages! I can't wait to see some full sneaks !!!

Oh and I am so excited to have gotten my Wedded Bliss mini album using Pageframes and Webster's Pages picked up for publication in Scrapbook Trends Mini Album III idea book!
YAY that was full of pics from my niece's wedding !!! It will be so awesome to see that in print!

Well, thanks for visiting and God Bless!

Good Morning

2008-01-16T06:36:00.000-06:00

Good Morning all! Hope you are all doing well. I have been busy getting assignments done, and my son is sick with a sinus infection so I have been playing nurse.

Funny thing about my son- he is visiting his grandpa's store the other day and playing with the typewriter there.. so he types out this message - iloveyoumyraIfeltfuneewhenwekistIloveyou
LMAO all one sentence !! If you can't figure it out here is a translation- I love you Myra, I felt funny when we kissed, I love you .... LORD HELP ME! The boy is 7 and kissing girls at school !!!
He so did not want me to see the note though, I was kind of a bad mommy and peaked when he wasn't around. I knew it was something funny because Dan told me he had to show me something later and then forgot. I didn't tell Zach I peeked though, so he has no idea that I saw the note. It was soooooo cute! And funnier yet, I think Myra the little cutie... showed her mom the note!!! LOL

So on the scrapbooking front- I have been a busy girl! Webster's Pages sponsored out DT at AMM and I just fell in love with their stuff. It's so "me"! Thank you to my beautiful niece Ashley
for having such cute kids and letting me steal pics off her blog to scrap! (which she didn't even know) bwwaaaaa LOL The layout Best Pals is of her son Cameron and was taken by her.
So here are a few layouts using the Webster's Pages papers.

a little side note - on You're Learning layout and the Thank You card ( which was inspired by a card done by Celia King) there are some very pretty Magistical Memories frames! The Fancy Bookplate frame and the Fancy Frame.

Thanks for visiting! God Bless!

Sneaks

2008-01-10T14:21:00.000-06:00

Are you not SO excited to start seeing some awesome sneak peeks ? I know I am. I am holding an awesome secret about Pageframes that I want to scream from the roof tops... but I am sworn to secrecy. It is going to set the acrylic world on fire, even more than it already is! CAN'T wait to show everyone! Did you hear that Prima is coming out with a Hybrid line ?????????? Rea d about it here!!!! That is such exciting news for those digital scrappers out there!

Here are a few of my favorite sneak peaks so far-

Scenic Route's Spring line- Lynden

And these from Tattered Angles-
OMGosh these are just adorable!

And 5th Avenue from Making Memories looks so cool with the retro colors and the cherries!
I can NOT wait to see what new lines Webster's Pages are going to come out with. I am sooo totally in love with their stuff right now!

I am working on some Webster's Pages stuff right now because they are sponsoring our DT this month. I will be posting more work using their paper soon. If you love them as much as I do you can find them at AMM!!

Another sneak I can't wait to see is from Collage Press! Their last lines just blew me away. LOVED it!

Well that is about it for today! God Bless have an awesome day!

Pageframe Designs heart album!

2008-01-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

I used the clear heart album from Pageframes for this album. This is all pictures from my niece's wedding, she was the most beautiful bride!

God Bless!

AMM giving away goodies!

2008-01-06T16:16:00.000-06:00

Here is what Michelle had to say, you check it out here !!

Hi. We are doing a giveaway for the new SEI Jolie Chocolat line. The papers are SO beatiful. Some of them are embossed, some are foiled, some are glitter ~ they are all SO pretty!

Answer this question and win: What are you looking forward to hearing about at CHA this year? It is only about 4 weeks away!

We'll draw a random winner on Wednesday!

Kit layouts and kids

2008-01-03T17:40:00.000-06:00

Here a few pics of my kids over the Holiday's! My Step-Dad always reads the bible story of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus being born. I love that!
Here is Chloe with my Step-Mom. And Zach was his friend Julius, they did a ton of snowboarding while he was here!

I have been really enjoying my peace and quite the last couple days! Yesterday I didn't feel very good but I did manage to get all my Christmas stuff taken down as well as the tree. It feels so nice to have my house back to normal. I have all my laundry done and I am lovin' life!
The article came out in the newspaper today about me and making the cover of Flip Spin and Play !! I have the sweetest friends and family, they have been calling me all day to congratulate me !!!!

So, what are your New Year's resolutions ? I usually make the same one every year- lose weight. This year I am taking a little more time to dig a little deeper than that. I want God to really use me this year. I want to make a difference in someone's life this year, a REAL difference. I want to bless and be blessed. I want to relax more this year, play more- yell less. I want to achieve my weight loss goals and change my lifestyle this year, not just lose weight. I want to read my Bible more and make excuses less . I want to get more advanced in my photography and really sit down and read the manual and understand my camera and how to use it. I want to set goals for my scrapbooking and achieve them. I want to get more organized. And just for kicks and giggles- I would really like to win the lottery! LOL

Here are some new pages I did with AMM's January kit.
AMM's kits are always so gorgeous, if you haven't check it out you should!

Thanks for visiting! God Bless!

Christmas and AMM

2007-12-27T17:06:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! How was your Christmas ?? Ours was... well, it left a little to be desired! It was one thing after the other this year. First our coffee pot died in the morning on Christmas Eve, than I had to take Chloe in to Urgent Care for a spreading rash( which turned out to be a viral rash??) then we couldn't decided when or what or how to do Santa.. the kid's couldn't do their school church program because of Chloe's rash but we did go to our own church where their weren't to many kids to contaminate with the rash LOL and then Christmas morning, we wake up to no HEAT, we ran out of fuel over night. That's a whole separate issue that I won't even go into, so needless to say... I am glad it's over.

Have any of your kid's gone through a phase where they weren't excited about anything they got for Christmas ? Is this a phase or are my kid's just THAT spoiled ? I mean we were spoiled when we were little during Christmas for SURE, but I don't remember being so nonchalant about what I got. It was really disappointing !!! I worked so hard to get them the things they wanted.. well, some of what they wanted. My kid's have expensive taste and they are 5 and 7! Lord help me !I don't know... this Christmas was so off for me. :(

Anyway, on a much happier note, AMM has their full kit peek up already! Hope you all had a very blessed Christmas !!! God Bless!

25 Days of Recipes Day 21,22,23,24 and 25

2007-12-24T08:34:00.000-06:00

OMGosh I did it. I made finished all 25 recipes !!! WOHOOO Thanks for stopping in each day to check what's new.. I hope you all stay around after this !!! Please don't forget about my contest!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 25 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This one if for the seafood lovers out there.. (which is not me) but I can't discriminate! LOL

Seafood Omelette

(4 servings)

8 chopped green onions
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped imitation or real crab meat
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
8 eggs
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
6 cooked medium size shrimp -- halved lenghtwise

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Sauté onions and mushrooms over medium high heat until liquid has evaporated. Reduce to low; stir in crab meat and sour cream until heated through (sour cream should not boil); set aside.

Beat 2 eggs with 2 tbsp (30 mL) water; season with salt and pepper. Spray an 8-inch (20 cm) non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the egg mixture. As mixture sets at the edges, with spatula, gently push cooked portions towards centre. When eggs are almost set on surface but still look moist, sprinkle 2 tbsp (30 mL) cheese over centre of omelette. Lower heat to medium-low and place 1/3 cup (75 mL) crab meat mixture over half of the omelette. Fold the omelette in half and slide onto a warm plate.

Day 24

Breakfast Wassail

64	ounces cranberry juice
32	ounces apple juice
12	ounces frozen pineapple concentrate, thawed
12	ounces frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
3	cinnamon sticks
1	quart water (optional)

In a large saucepan combine juices, concentrates and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Add water if desired. Serve hot or cold

Day 23

Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups each of the following-
crushed graham crackers
powdered sugar
peanut butter
1/2 c. butter

Mix well with your hands. Chill for at least 1 hour.
Melt milk chocolate chips. make small balls of
peanut butter mixture. Put small amount of
chocolate in bottom of the liner. Put in peanut butter and
top with more chocolate.

Day 22.

No Crust Quiche

1/2	lb sliced bacon
1	cup shredded swiss cheese
1/3	cup chopped onions
2	cups milk
1	cup Bisquick
4	eggs
1/4	teaspoon salt
1/8	teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Fry bacon until almost burnt. Crush into little pieces.
Lightly grease pie plate with butter.
Sprinkle bacon, cheese, and onion in pie plate.
For extra bacon flavor sprinkle a little bacon fat onto pie pan.
Beat remaining ingredients until smooth.
Pour evenly into pie plate over other ingredients.
Bake until top in golden and knife comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Day 21

Oreo Truffles

1 hour 1 hour prep

1	lb Oreo cookies (3 sleeves)
8	ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2	teaspoon vanilla extract (using different extracts allows for subtle flavour changes...I've used mint extract, upped to 1 tsp)
1	lb milk chocolate
1/2	lb white chocolate

Using a food processor, grind cookies to a fine powder.
With a mixer, blend cookie powder, cream cheese and vanilla extract until thoroughly mixed (there should be no white traces of cream cheese).
Roll into small balls and place on wax-lined cookie sheet.
Refrigerate for 45 minutes.
Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.
In double-boiler, melt milk chocolate.
Dip balls and coat thoroughly.
With slotted spoon, lift balls out of chocolate and let excess chocolate drip off.
Place on wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.
In separate double boiler, melt white chocolate.
Using a fork, drizzle white chocolate over balls.
Let cool.
Store in airtight container, in refrigerator.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL! I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

25 Days of Christmas Day 20- and The Season of Giving

2007-12-20T20:53:00.000-06:00

A New Year contest

I love giving to others, it happens most often during Christmas, but I really love giving all year. Whether it's just an email to say I love you and I 'm thinking about you, kind words, a simple hi to someone that might look like they are having a bad day, inviting someone over for dinner or sending a card. Every single one of us likes to be acknowledged by someone,to not always feel invisible or that others just don't seem to have time for us.

Take a minute and think of someone who might need some cheering up this season, and nominate them for an awesome scrapbook RAK, which I will be sending them as a surprise! So if you know someone who has had a really rough time and needs some cheering up, send me their stories to beckyscraps4fun@yahoo.com . No one will be reading these stories but me. I will announce the winner as the person who sent me the story and as a surprise I will send the nominee a wonderful prize package with a little note saying that you nominated them for this contest and they won!

Deadline for the stories is Dec. 31st. I will announce the winner on Jan.1st!
If you are the winner please email me the address of the person you nominated so I can send their package out ASAP. Thanks! I can't wait to hear your stories!

NOW the recipe of the day-

Holiday Cheesecake Presents

Makes:
32 servings, one bar each

1-1/2 cups HONEY MAID Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/3 cup butter, melted

3 Tbsp. sugar

3 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

3 eggs

decorating gels

Colored sprinkles

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Mix crumbs, butter and 3 Tbsp. sugar; press firmly onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan.

BEAT cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until blended. Pour over crust.

BAKE 30 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Cut into 32 bars. Decorate with gels and sprinkles to resemble "presents." Store leftover bars in refrigerator

Good Bless, now starting sending me your stories !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;-)

25 Days Of Christmas Day 19

2007-12-19T13:07:00.001-06:00

Michelle at AMM is being her usual generous self- She's giving away product !!! She is giving away the new Daisy D's Christmas line! All you have to do is leave a comment about what your favorite part of our newsletter is. The link to the newsletter is HERE !!

I would love to hear from all you ladies checkin' out my recipes... let me know if you are using any of these and what you think!

Today's recipe is a great crock pot recipe, enjoy!

Fiesta Chili
3-4 tbsp.chili powder
1 lb. beef stew meat, cubed
1 c. chopped onion
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 ( 14.5) cans diced tomatoes,undrained
15 oz.can tomato sauce
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 med. bell pepper, diced
15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Prepare Fiesta Ranch dip by Hidden Valley

Combine first 7 ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on low
for 6-7 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender .Stir
in bell peppers and beans. Uncover ; cook on high about
15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve topped with prepared
Fiesta dip. Makes 6-8 servings.

25 Days of Christmas Day 18

2007-12-18T17:20:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from The Recipezarr .

It sounds soooooo yuumy !!!!!!!

Kelly's Gingerbread Pancakes W/ Raisins Recipe

pancakes

35 min 15 min prep

1	large egg
1 1/4	cups flour
1	cup milk
1/2	cup molasses
1/2	cup raisins
4	tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1	tablespoon baking powder
1	teaspoon vanilla
3/4	teaspoon cinnamon
1/2	teaspoon salt
1/2	teaspoon ginger
1/4	teaspoon nutmeg
1/8	teaspoon ground cloves
1/4	teaspoon baking soda

In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and baking soda.
In medium-sized bowl, whisk egg until fluffy.
Whisk into the egg, the milk, molasses, melted butter and vanilla.
Stir in raisins.
Pour wet ingredients over dry and fold until all is moistened but batter is still lumpy.
Scoop batter,(I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup for easy pouring), onto hot non-stick griddle over medium-low heat and cook/bake pancakes until brown on both sides, turning once.
Serve with softened butter and warm maple syrup.
Makes 10 pancakes.
*These pancakes are a bit delicate, DO NOT try to turn them over too soon, or make them too big, lol. You’ll end up with a mess! Turn them when edges are dry and bubbles stop forming on the top.
**These are a deep, dark, rich brown color and taste just like gingerbread!

God Bless !!!

25 Days of Recipes Day 16 and 17

2007-12-17T13:32:00.000-06:00

It's going to be a crazy week so I am just going to post these real quick!

Day 17- I think this recipe would be fantastic for Christmas Eve dinner !! My MIL emailed me this recipe a while ago and I just haven't gotten around to making it yet, it does some delicious though! Let me know how it is if you make it !

Margarita Chicken Breasts

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Margarita Marinade:
1/4 cup tequila
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small fresh jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a nonreactive dish. Mix the
Marinade ingredients together, and pour the mixture over the chicken.
Cover the chicken, and refrigerate it 8 hours or overnight. Turn it
At least once.

Fire up enough charcoal to form a single layer of coals beneath the
Breasts, and heat the coals until they are covered with gray ash.
Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade in a small saucepan. Cook
The chicken, uncovered, over medium-hot coals until it is cooked
Through, basting it with some of the marinade. Let the chicken sit
For 5 to 10 minutes after it cooks. Meanwhile, bring the reserved
Marinade to a boil, and boil it for at least 4 minutes, reducing the
Liquid slightly. Taste it, and adjust the seasoning. Cut each chicken
Breast into thin slices, arrange them on a platter or individual
Plates, and top them with the sauce made from the marinade. Serve the
Breasts hot.

25 Days Of Christmas Day 15

2007-12-15T17:48:00.000-06:00

hmm I got this recipe from Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I haven' tried it yet but I think I will try Christmas morning. Sounds so yummy !!

Herb and Cheese Quiches

Prep: 1 hr.
Bake: 25 min.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese (1 ounce)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup half-and-half, light cream, or milk
1/4 cup finely shredded Gouda or Havarti cheese
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon snipped fresh tarragon or 2 teaspoons dried tarragon, crushed
1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Roasted red pepper, finely chopped
Snipped fresh chives

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. For pastry, in a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Beat in the flour and Asiago cheese until a soft dough forms. Press 1 rounded teaspoon of the pastry evenly into the bottom and up the side of each of 48 ungreased 1-3/4-inch muffin cups.

2. For filling, in a medium bowl, stir together eggs; half-and-half, light cream, or milk; Gouda or Havarti cheese; pine nuts; tarragon; the 1 tablespoon chives; and the black pepper.

3. Spoon about 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling into each pastry-lined muffin cup. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool slightly in muffin cups. Carefully remove from muffin cups; place on a wire rack or serving platter. Top with chopped roasted red pepper and additional snipped chives. Serve warm.

4. Makes 48 mini quiches

5. To Make Ahead: Prepare, bake, and cool quiches. Place in freezer container, seal and label. Freeze for up to 3 months. To use, thaw in refrigerator overnight. Arrange quiches on baking sheet. Heat in a 325 degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until warm.

Enjoy!
God Bless!

25 Days of Recipes Day 14 - and other schtuff

2007-12-14T13:08:00.000-06:00

The recipe for today is..

Sweet Potato Souffle'- this recipe is from my Aunt Cindy and it's to die for!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

1 40 oz can sweet potatoes- drained and mashed
1 1/2 c.sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1/4 tsp. nutmet
1/2 tsp.cinnamon
6 T butter, softened
Combine all ingredients with electric mixer. Pour into a greased bakin gdish. Bake 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until firm. Add topping and bake 15 min. more.

TOPPING:
6 T butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. crushed cornflakes
Melt butter and brown sugar. Add nuts and cornflakes. Spread over the top of the soufflé.

God Bless!!

Well, THAT day..the day every Mother dreads, the day when your child comes to you and asks you not to kiss them in front of their friends ... that day was today :-( sniff sniff. My son Zach was cuddling on the bed with me this morning before getting up for school and I was giving him lots of kisses and he said " Mom I like it when you kiss me, but can you not kiss me in the classroom when you leave today? The kids laugh at me" awwwwwwwwwwwww breaks my heart that 1. he has to be worried about that in1st grade already and 2. that I can't kiss him goodbye anymore and 3. my babies are growing up to fast. Makes me cry, where does the time go ?
I just don't like leaving them anywhere without at least a hug and preferably a kiss. Isn't to early for this ? :-(

On a brighter note, the local newspaper called yesterday, they want to do an article in the paper about me and scrapbooking and making the cover of the MM idea book. How cool is that ? I have to get cleaning.. the editor is coming to my HOUSE! ahhhhhhhhh my scrap area is a disaster!!!! You know what I'll be doing this weekend!

I have some work to share today, we were lucky enough to have Scenic Route sponsor our DT at AMM. We used the Roxbury line, and I LOVED it! It's classic with a twist!

25 Days Of Recipes Day 12 and 13

2007-12-13T12:13:00.000-06:00

Holy smokes... I think I should have done the 12 days of recipes instead of 25 !!! LOL Things are getting C R A Z Y !!!!!!! I will try and keep as best as I can. I think I will double up the recipes a few days before Christmas Eve because from then on I won't be around until after Christmas. So please bare with me! :)

Day 13's recipe is-

Cheesy Olive Ball

8 springs parsley
1/2 c nuts ( walnuts taste best)
8 oz. cream cheese, cut into pieces
1/3 c. stuffed olives( green), well drained
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/3 c. black olives

I am an olive lover so I use a full can of both green and black olives in my dip.
Mix all ingred. together and chill for at least an hour before serving.

Day 12's recipe is:
This is a yummy twist on regular kernal corn. Make a great side dish to any meal!

Herbed Corn

12 cups frozen corn
1 c. water
1/2 c butter
2 T minced fresh parsley
2 tsp.salt
1 tsp. dill weed
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp. dried thyme

In a large saucepan, combine corn and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 4-6 minutes or until corn is tender. Drain; stir in the remaining ingred. Yields 10-12 servings.

I am off to start wrapping!

God Bless and Merry Christmas !

25 Days of Recipes Day 11

2007-12-11T08:50:00.000-06:00

Keeping in the breakfast or brunch theme here's today recipe :

Cherry Cheese Coffee Cake:

2- (8oz.ea.) crescent rolls
1- Pkg cream cheese soften
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling

Glaze:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2-3 tsp milk

Unroll crescent dough, reserving 4 triangles. Separate dough into 12 triangles arrange in a small circle on 15" round baking stone with small points toward center and wide to the outside. Roll dough to 14" circle, pressing seams together to seal and leaving a 3" hole in center. For filling- combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla.Mix until smooth and spread over dough.( If it's to runny- put in refrig. until it's a little more solid or it will run off of dough). Top with pie filling.Cut each remaining triangle into thirds-starting at the wide edge and cutting in the point. Arrange dough strips evenly in spoke like fashion over filling. Press ends to seal at center and outer edges. Bake 25-30 at 350 degrees. Cool drizzle glaze over all.

Enjoy !!
God Bless!

25 Day of Recipes Day 10

2007-12-10T07:42:00.000-06:00

Good Monday morning everyone !!! Hope you all have a great week and try and find a little peace in this very busy and stressful time of year! :-)

Today's recipe is an egg dish perfect for Christmas morning or even for brunch.

Egg Casserole

frozen hash browns
6 eggs
2 cups of milk
8 0z shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp. of dry mustard
4-5 sliced of bread- tore into small pieces
1/4 tsp. salt and pepper
1/2 pound of any of the following ham, bacon,sausage or frozen asparagus
1 med. onion and green pepper

- Line bottom of pan with frozen hash browns
-layer bread cubes,cheese, meat and veggies
-Mix eggs, milk, dry mustard,salt and pepper
-Pour over top and refrig overnight
-Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour uncovered
** It is important that this sit overnight**

God Bless !!!!

25 Days Of Recipes Day 8 and Day 9

2007-12-09T07:54:00.000-06:00

Sorry I didn't post yesterday ladies, I was gone all day! But I am listing 2 recipes today to make up for yesterday!

Chili Cheese Snacks

2 pkg (3 0z each) cream cheese, softened
1c.( 4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c.chopped green chilies
1/4 c. chopped green olives, drained
1/4 c. chopped ripe black olives, drained
2 tsp. dried minced onion
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (optional)
2 tubes (8 0z each) refrigerated crescent rolls

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese. Add the cheddar cheese,chilies, olives, onion and hot pepper sauce. Separate each tube of crescent dough into four rectangles;press perforations to seal.
Spread cheese mixture over dough. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut each roll into 10 sliced;place on greased baking sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Yields 80 appetizers

Tropical Winter Warmer

1 quart apple cider or juice
1 to 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick ( 3 inches)
12 whole cloves
2 cups grapefruit juice
2 cups orange juice

In a large saucepan, combine cider and brown sugar. Cooke and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Add cinnamon and cloves;bring to a boil.Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add grapefruit and orange juice; heat through (do not boil!)Discard cinnamon and clover before serving. Yields 2 quarts.
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I am hoping to get some baking done today and work on cleaning out the basement so we can make a small gaming area for the kids. I hope you all have a wonderful relaxing Sunday!!

God Bless!

25 Days Of Recipes Day 7

2007-12-07T07:55:00.000-06:00

Today's recipe is soooo delish, it's one my absolute favs!

This is a copy cat recipe for Olive Garden's Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip !!

Olive Garden's Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip

1 80z pkg. light cream cheese ( the texture is better for this recipes)
1 can 14oz Progresso Artichoke hearts, drained, coarsely chopped
1/2c spinach frozen chopped or steamed
1/4 c. Mayo ( do NOT use Miracle Whip)
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. Romano cheese
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp. Basil dry OR 1 Tbsp. fresh Basil
1/4 tsp. Garlic salt
Salt and pepper to taste

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature. Cream together mayo, Parmesan, Romano cheese, garlic,basil, and garlic salt. Mix well. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach( careful to drain this well) , and mix until blended. Store in a container until you are ready to use. Spray pie pan with Pam, pour in dip, and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until the top is browned.Serve with toasted or sourdough bread. ( sourdough is my fav with this recipe)
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For my guest DT gig at Pageframes, I did a Christmas Home Decor grouping and a mini album using the luggage/bookmark tags. Here they are-

A Million Memories has their December kit up and it's a BEAUTY !! Michelle amazes me every month with the beautiful things she comes up with for AMM's kits! Be sure to check it out before they are all gone !! You can also see some the DT's kit projects HERE!!

Have a great day everyone!
God Bless!

25 Days Of Recipes Day 6

2007-12-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

This is a great gift idea for teachers or anyone else!

Cookie Mix In A Jar
1c.all purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. raisins
2c. rolled oats
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c.white sugar

Mix together flour, ground cinnamon,ground nutmeg, baking soda and salt.Set aside.

Layer ingredients in the following order tinoa 1 quart wide mouth canning jar.
Flour mixture,raisins, rolled oats, brown sugar and white sugar. It will be a tight fit, make sure you firmly pack down each layer before adding the next layer.

Decorate jar and attach a tag with the following instructions:

Oatmeal Raisin Spice Cookies
1. Preheat over to 350degrees.Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl.Use your hands to thoroughly mix.
3. Mix 3/4 c butter, softened. Stir in one slightly beaten egg and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Mix until completely blended. You will need to finish mixing with your hands. Shape into balls the size of walnuts. Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet 2 inch apart.
4. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 5 minutes on a cookie sheet on a cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.

Enjoy!
God Bless!

25 Days of Recipes Day 5

2007-12-05T13:01:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, are you guys liking this ??? Leave me a comment !!

Ok here is today's yummy and EASY recipe!

Angel Food Candy

1 c. sugar
1 c. dark Karo syrup
4 tsp. baking soda ( crush out the lumps)
12oz. nestles chocolate chips

Combine sugar and syrup. Soil until candy thermometer reaches 3oo degrees. Remove from the burner and fold in baking soda. Pour out on a lightly buttered cookie sheet. Break into piece when cool. Dip in melted chocolate chips.

Hope you like it !!!

If you have recipes that you would specifically like me to post about let me know !!

God Bless!

25 Days Of Recipes Day 4

2007-12-04T11:17:00.000-06:00

This yummy recipe is perfect for Christmas morning !!!!

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
3 can (7.5oz.ea.)refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 stick of butter, melted
4 oz. (1/2 of 8oz pkg) Cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tbsp. milk

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl;set aside. Cut each biscuit into quarters; roll in cinnamon- sugar. Place half of the biscuits pieces in greased 12 cup fluted tube pan;drizzle with half of the butter. Top with remaining biscuit pieces, then drizzle butter . Sprinkle
with remaining cinnamon- sugar.

BAKE 40-45 min. or until golden brown. cool in pan 5 min;invert onto serving plate.

BEAT cream cheese and powdered sugar in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add 1 Tbsp. of milk;beat until blended. Beat in enough of the remaining milk until glaze is of desired consistency. Drizzle over warm bread. Serve warm.

God Bless! Have a wonderful day!

25 Days of Recipes Day 3 and other news

2007-12-03T17:38:00.000-06:00

Heath Bars

35 saltine crakers
1 c.butter
3/4 c. brown sugar
12 oz real milk chocolate
chopped nuts- walnuts or pecans ( I use pecans for a more rich taste)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Butter the foil, line foil with saltine crackers. Boil together butter,and brown sugar for 2-3 minutes. Pour mixture over cracker and bake for 6 minutes or until bubbly.Remove from oven and top with chocolate chips and let melt, then spread evenly with a spatula. Top with nuts and cool in refrig until chocolate hardens. AT least one hour, break into pieces once cool.

This is sooo yummy and so easy, it makes a delish chocolate toffee treat!

This Thursday at A Million Memories: THE Becky Fleck will be chattin' with us, come and join the fun !!!!!!! Here are the details..
Hey there all you sketch lovers....
This is a Scrap*Star Chat you won't want to miss. The amazing Becky Fleck will be here Thursday, December 6th at 6pm PST to chat with us!

Becky is the owner and designer for PageMaps.com She does sketches monthly for all sizes and styles. Her sketches are so versatile and inspiring! Becky also has a new book coming out titled Scrapbook PageMaps: Sketches for Creative Layous.

I know that so many of you use PageMaps so be sure to come out and chat with Becky and ask her everything you have been dying to know about her awesome sketches and inspiration!
AND Friday we have the awesome Wendy McKeehan and Kitty Foster:

Hi there AMM!

This Friday we have an amazing Scrap*Star Chat set up with Kitty Foster & Wendy McKeehan... authors of the hot new book Find Your Groove: A Guide to Discovering Your Scrapbook Style. This book is a must-have! You can check out the book review by DTM Becca here:
http://www.amillionmemories.com/forum/v … hp?id=7614

You can visit Kitty and Wendy at their blogs to get a little more information on them and to start thinking about what you would like to ask these Groovy Ladies.

Be sure to come and join us Friday at 6pm PST to chat!
Kitty Foster: http://kittyf.typepad.com/
Wendy McKeehan: http://www.wendymckeehan.typepad.com/

Michelle has an awesome RAK to give away here too.. CHECK IT OUT !!!!

25 Days of Recipes- Day 2

2007-12-02T04:18:00.000-06:00

Good morning everyone !!!
We had quite the little snow storm yesterday ! The kid's are going to have such a blast today playing around and sledding. It was a fluffy snow yesterday but it turned warmer and now the snow looks more wet, so the kid's should be able to make a snowman !!

Here's today's recipe :

Christmas Wreaths

32 marshmallows

2 tsp. Green food coloring

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 tsp. Almond extract

1/2 cup butter or margarine

4 cups corn flakes

Red cinnamon candies or diced red cherries

Heat first 5 ingredients until melted. Add corn flakes. Shape into wreaths on waxed paper with buttered hands.

Top each with a few red cinnamon candies or cherries.

Hint: If you want a lot of these, don't double it. Make separate batches. You have to work quickly before they harden. One batch is plenty to handle at a time.

These are seriously the yummiest most buttery treats, one of my favs at Christmas! This recipe actually comes from my step-mom. Thanks Jo!

God Bless!

25 Days of Recipes Kick Off !!!!!!! Day 1

2007-12-01T06:37:00.000-06:00

Good December 1st morning everyone !!! Today is the kick off of my 25 Days Of Recipes, remember if you make one of my recipes be sure to take a little picture and leave me a link to it and you will be put into a drawing for an awesome RAK !!!

The first recipe is for Caramel Corn, this is seriously the best most addictive caramel corn you will ever taste!

Caramel Corn
----------------
2 cups Brown sugar
2 sticks butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup white Karo syrup
peanuts(optional)
Boil these ingredients for 5 minutes

Remove and add 1 tsp. Baking soda, pour over
2-3 patches of popped popcorn.
Mix together well,Bake at 225 degrees
for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Place popcorn on wax paper and
spread out to cool!

Happy Holiday's !!!!
God Bless!

P.S. you will get thrown in the drawing every time you leave me a link to any recipes of mine you make!! So get busy ladies!

PAGEFRAMES here I come !!!

2007-11-28T21:44:00.000-06:00

My friend Kim Moreno asked me to be part of the Pageframes DT today !!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhh YAY I am so excited !!! I seriously LOVE Pageframes so much! wooohoooo! I can't wait to get my goodies so I can start playing !! Thanks for letting me share :-)

This and That

2007-11-27T12:13:00.000-06:00

Starting Saturday, Dec. 1st I am going to be doing 25 days of Christmas Recipes !!! I am going to post a recipe everyday until Christmas,and here is where ya'll come in.... if you make one of my recipes and link me a photo you will be into a drawing for a really awesome RAK!! Some will be baking some will be Christmas morning or brunch and some might be yummy drinks. So stay tuned and check back everyday. :-)

God Bless!

Whoa..

2007-11-25T14:41:00.000-06:00

I have been a very bad blogger! It seems there is never enough time in the day to get everything done that I need to! But I swore I was going to sit down today and make a post in here !

We had a nice Thanksgiving, we went to Dan's sister's house. We went and got our tree yesterday and decorated it today. I am finally sitting down to take a break and it's so nice and relaxing. Zach is at the neighbors playing and Chloe and Dan are taking a nap together. It's just me and the the beautiful Christmas tree all lite up! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Christmas time !!!

I want to take a minute to say that if you are a praying person, please say a prayer for my friend and the owner of the online kit club I design for Michelle and Mick Quinn. Their little 5 year old girl Chloe was just diagnosed with Leukemia. She is in the hospital right now getting her first round of chemotherapy. They are very strong people but prayers are still a must!! So thank you for taking a minute to say one for them! If you feel like you would like to do something for them, light a virtual candle for Chloe here .

I have some beautiful inspiration for you! I learned about this site from Amy on the AMM DT. I love looking through this site! Purlsoho They have beautiful fabrics and awesome colors!
Oh the circle tote is so beautiful and cool ... I am so going to try and make one of those! Hope you enjoy these and find a little inspiration from these! I sure do!
God Bless!

Nov. kit is up

2007-11-04T07:13:00.001-06:00

and it's a dandy !!! A Million M emories has their Nov. kit up and it is so gorgeous! If you want one you'd better run because they go fast! Here are my layouts using the Nov. kit.
I have been working my tail off lately with all kinds of Manufacture sponsored kits. I really need to update this thing more often!

First is my layout for the Newsletter at AM M , it had to be inspired by clothing. So, I used this photo by Anna Marie Horner, I just love going to her blog, she is so.inspiring! She made the skirt as well as the painting !!! I drew my inspiration from the skirt. I have a ton more work to share but I am going to do it in 2 posts so that it isn't a mile long post. I do however have a pictures of my lil'

Trick-or-Treaters. Zach was a cowboy and makes a very handsome one at that! Doesn't he just look like he could be a real cowboy ? And Ms. Chloe was a Monarch Butterfly. Yeah, that black face paint stuff... doesn't work for crap and it kind of looks like crap. Not at all how I wanted it to turn out. But it's so greasy I didn't want to do it all down her neck, I had a hard enough time getting it off. I also wanted those white spots on her cheeks to be way more pronounced, but that didn't work either. But either way she is a cutie pie!

Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween! I can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner and then Christmas comes all to quickly after that! I did start my shopping though!! woohoo for me!

Here is something I wanted to share- please do not take your children to the movie The Golden Compass- staring Nicole Kidman, Kevin Bacon and Sam Elliott. It is based on a trilogy series of books by an atheist author. The movie is about killing God so the children can do as they please and in the end they do kill God. Here is an article explaining it http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21595083/from/ET/ . It states that this man actually did this intentionally around Christmas time- the movie releases Dec. 7th or 8th something like that, in the hopes that unsuspecting parents will take their kids to see this movie and they will want the books for Christmas. What a sick man!

God Bless!