Grocery List pad for swap

This is a grocery list pad that I made at Christmas time when I made a batch of them for Christmas gifts.  I just needed to finish decorating it.  To decorated it, I made flowers with my Big Shot and the die Blossom Party. It makes such fun pretty flowers!!!  I took this for my gift for the Secret Sista exchange at the stamping event that I went to in Jefferson, WI on Saturday.

I have been as a bee today.  Packing and getting ready for tonight's Rag Bag class.  I had to make a run to the grocery store to pick up somethings that I needed so that I could finish making the Cherry Dessert that I am serving.  I got that all made up and in the frig chilling. 
Carol stopped over to pick up a house key this morning, and to learn where all the stuff is for taking care of the cats when I make trips to Milwaukee.  UPS was here with a stamping order and I got the ribbon all cut and bagged for the ribbon share participants.  My mail lady brought me my package from Papertrey Ink and I opened that up.  I ordered some things from them with my birthday money from Diane and Susie.  I can't wait to play with it, I should have time tomorrow.  I had a little snooze until Nadine stopped in, with Pampered Chef stuff for me to give to Diane, Sandy, and Barb.  Sandy was just here to pick up her ribbon, Pampered Chef order, and pay for the new ribbon share I am starting.  I only need 2 more participants and that one will be full.  Now I need to go make a sandwich and then head on over to the church and get things set up for tonight.  Have a great night!  Elaine

Eat Chocolate Scrap book page

One of the activities at the Jefferson swap was to make a 6" x 6" recipe page of the dish that you were bringing to pass.  I decided that I was going to bring my Peanut Butter Brownies.  They are always a big hit!  And they have chocolate chips in them, so I thought it would be perfect to use my new stamp set from Colleen, Eat Chocolate!  I love, love, this stamp set and I have tons of ideas of ways to use this set for gifts of chocolate!
Lady Di and I had a fun time at the swap yesterday, and I have lots of fun things to show my stamping group this month.  We had some not so hot roads on the way home, but Di carefully guided us home.
Today I feel like I really got a lot accomplished, even though I got tuckered out and took a 3 hour nap!!!  I got 4 birthday cards done, one of them will be for Don Hollman's 88th birthday, 2 of them I am sending out to my Stamping Up! Tag You're It group, and the other one I will save and show to my stamping group, then put it in the sell box.  I also got my second project all cut and packaged for March's stamping groups.  It uses the new stamp set Bring on the cake, that it is in the new Occasion mini.  Such a cute set.  I love it!
I cooked eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon this morning, did dishes, cleaned the cat box, and took trash to the road.
I just finished making 6 sympathy cards.  I have 3 people that I need to send cards too, and I made a few extra while I was at it so that I will have some.  That is one thing I go through way to many of, unfortunately.
I made real headway on my "to do" list and I am very happy about that.  My goal is to get it all done so I can go see Baby cakes later this week!!!  Have a happy Monday!!!  Elaine

Goodies for Mason

Lucky for all of you, I ran out of "saved" blog posts today, so I had to set up the light tent, and shoot pictures of the big stack of things that were waiting to be photographed on the counter!  While I was at it...I decided to show you the new little slippers I got for Mason the other day, and the Green dog teether that his mother melted on him.  While I was at Family Dollar picking up a replacement yesterday, I decided to pick him up a set of keys and tweety bird too.  He absolutely loves chewing and playing with toys and these will be so fun to give to him when I see him next week!  And I can't wait to bark like a dog, and have him laughing hysterically again!!! Have a great weekend!  Elaine

Tags

There not too much new to report from here today.  I had a visit from Becky this morning, and had several people in and out today to pick up order's.

Jenna had told me last night that she had melted the new dog teether I gave Mason on Saturday which he absolutely loved.  She put it in some baby sanitizing bag in the microwave!  YIKES!!!  So she wanted to know if I remembered where I bought it as he loved it.  Fortunately for her, I got it at Family Dollar in town and they still had some.  It has a cat and dog and they are a perfect size, he can hold on to them good, and chops on them like a cookie!!  LOL  So grammie got him some more.  Mason and I will have to make sure that his mommy doesn't get her paws on them!  LOL  She is so fanatical about all his stuff being clean, and I keep telling her that I can't wait till she calls me up to tell me that he has been eating dirt!!!  LOL  I am bad.....  :-D

I made Pat Sorensen's casserole from the old PTO cook book tonight for supper.  It is so simple, but I sure do love it.  You brown a pound and one half of  hamburger (I used my last pkg. of elk in i tonightt) with one chopped onion, then add six peeled and chopped potato's and six peeled and chopped carrots with four cans of tomato soup and put it in a greased nine by thirteen pan, and bake it at 350 for two hours.  Delish!!!  And it freezes well too, and tastes the same reheated as the first time you make it.   I liked it so well because you can keep these staples in the house and make it when ever you feel like it.  It doesn't call for any special ingredients.  If you try this...let me know how you like it!!

Other than that, I really haven't accomplished a thing today.  I slept from about 10:30 till 1:30 today after I had already had a great night's sleep, but my sciatica is a little better today.  It is out of the foot and calf, and now starts from about the knee up so all the laying still and sleeping probably helped things.  I have been messing around on the computer today.  I made my own digital paper for card fronts with the Sew Sweet Digital paper.  I had read on a blog where someone had taken the pick sheet that looks like embroidering on the corner, and they had cropped the paper down so that you had that corner left.  I decided that it would be fun to try and do this as that corner makes such beautiful cards and it turned out really good, plus I made a sewing card front with My Digital Studio.  I took some digital sewing stamps that I bought and played around with them in MDS till I got them all the size I wanted.  I resized them, flipped them around, and kept arranging them until I made a nice layout.  I saved it and will be able to print it out over and over, then I will just have to color it and I will have a nice card front.  So it was fun to be playing and learning new things.  I sure do love my computer!!!  Elaine

Running in circles

Today was a run around day and I felt like I was running in circles, even though at the moment, with my current back problems, I can barely walk let along run....lol  It started out with a trip to the bank, post office, pick up a prescription, and dropping off a Tastefully simple order at the Community Center.  Then I headed to Mauston and stopped at the new Vinnie's store.  It is nice, reasonably priced too.  I found Mason a brand new pair of slippers to grow into that had the original price tag still on it for only a dollar.  And I bought 2 bags of embroidery floss for $2.00.  One bag had 40 new skeins in it and the other 35.  A real bargain that is for sure!!!  Then I was off to Mile Bluff Clinic for my two doctor's appointments, and lab work, plus trips up and down to get my next appointments scheduled.  I ran into Walgreen's to pick up some of the erasable pens that I like, then headed home as it was snowing.  Fortunately, the roads were dry and it was just swirling around.  Then I headed back to Pamida with two new prescriptions, ran into Nancy Breezee and had a chat with her, talked with the pharmacist awhile then got a phone call from Mile Bluff that my labs were good.  My current medications haven't damaged anything.  One more stop to Family Dollar where I ran into Anita Wilson, and we had a visit, and then I headed home.  By that time, I was one hurting scooter, my back is really giving me problems at the moment.  It is good to have the running around done and I should be able to stay home for a few days now!  YEAH!  Have a good one!  Me

Bunny Towels

 

This is a new bunny towel pattern that I have been making right now.  The flower on the rabbit's belly is felt.  Spring and Easter will be here before we know it, hopefully!!!  Karen was just here to pick up her stamping order, and Di was over earlier to get hers too, and to visit.  I finished decorating a grocery pad list for Saturday's swap, so I now have all my projects ready for that.  I also made up about 20 flowers to give away to show and tell participants with the Blossom Party  Die today.  They make a great focal point on a card.  So start working on your show and tell projects so that you get to take one home!!!

I just read that Border's bookstore is going through Chapter 11 and will be closing 200 of their stores across the country by April 2011.  These are the stores that are showing up on the list for Wisconsin.

Fox Point, WI Riverpoint Village Shopping Center 8705 N. Port Washington
Greendale, WI Southridge Mall 5250 S. 76th Street
Madison, WI Village of Shorewood Hills 3750 University Ave
Milwaukee, WI ASQ Center 101 West Wisconsin Avenue

I am very sad to see that the one at Greendale will be closing, and  Diana will be sad also as it is her favorite Borders Store.  I took her there last summer, I have been to it many times.  It is right near Antonio's Olive Garden, the one that Jenna first worked at in Milwaukee.  Such sad news.  Take care.....Elaine

Still snowing.....

According to the news at 6 tonight, Arkdale recorded 12 1/2" inches of snow, and I believe it is true that we got that much.  I looked out a little while ago, and it looks to me like we have at least two more inches since the driveway was plowed and deck shoveled late this afternoon.  The poor UPS man hoofed it up the driveway through the snow to bring me my stamping order, laughing away, saying "I hate winter!"  Susie Bartel ventured through the snow filled driveway an hour or so after that.  When I apologized for not being plowed out yet, she replied, laughingly, the things we will go through to get our order!!!  After I got plowed out, I went to the bank and zipped over to Pamida to pick up some hairspray and then came back home as I knew that Sandy Wellumson was planning on stopping to pick her order up.  I started working on my 6" x 6" recipe pages for a swap I am going to and I just finished all 14 of them.  I am happy to have them done.  I need to decorate my Sista gift and then I will be all finished with the swap stuff and can move on to something else!  I have a whole pile of stuff on the kitchen counter to photo graph, so soon I will have some new things for you to look at.  I hope you are not getting sick of looking at tags!!!  Elaine

Snowing in Wisconsin.....again....unfortunately!!!

We had a big snowstorm here today and I guess it is suppose to continue tonight and tomorrow morning.  I canceled my rag bag class for the second time.  I was suppose to have it tomorrow night.  I am going to reschedule it for the 28th.  My mom was teasing me that I should wait till summer to have it!  But hopefully next week will be okay.  I haven't looked out the window for hours so I don't know what it is doing out there at the moment.  But I need to take trash out to the road yet, and I am not looking forward to trudging through the snow to do that!

I got 18 cards made today.  So I am happy about that.

Stay warm and dry, and in the house if you can, they are saying not to attempt to go anywhere till afternoon tomorrow.  Have a good one!  Elaine

A very happy birthday party!

Today was my birthday party that the girls and my family had for me.  It was a lovely party and I enjoyed it so much.  They had the hall decorated so pretty in red and white balloons with a 50 balloon on top of each bunch of balloons. The balloon bunches were each anchored with  a pink heart shaped Guiredelli Candy box..  Red, white, and black streamers decorated the tables, and there were two bouquets of flowers that matched the decorations so nicely.  One of them was from Jerry and Vicki Dallman, Sarah's inlaws, and the other one was from my sister Lenore and her family, and her's had a balloon with a kitten attached to it, plus a teeny tiny miniature blue kitten was attached to the card.  The food table was so bright and colorful, it looked like a picture out of a magazine.  It was all so delicious and everyone loved it.  The real big hit was Antonio's guacamole.  It was to die for!!!  Sarah had a gal in Reedsburg make me an adorable chocolate cake.  It had spools of thread in one corner, needle in thread in another corner, and flowers that looked just like flower's I would make scrapbooking.  It was adorable and very good.  They actually put 50 candles on the cake.  I asked Brooke if she would help me blow them out and she wouldn't as she told me that would be bad luck.  Being that I couldn't get them all out....I was told I had some boyfriends....LOL  Sarah had spare balloons for the kids to play with and Ben, Brooke, Diana, Campbell, and Kellyn had a ball bouncing them back and forth to one another.  Mason had a ball watching them.  He was good as gold through out the whole party.  I was holding him when people first started coming in and when they would say hi to him, he would sit up straight, smile a big smile for them, and charm the pants off of them!  It was like he knew that first impressions are important!  :-D  He let any one that wanted to, hold him.  It was so wonderful to see him, that in itself was a gift!!  I received many beautiful gifts from my friends and family, and was totally spoiled rotten today.  Thank you to everyone who came and made my day so special!!!
You should see my house with all the batches of balloons and flowers!!!  The cats don't know what to think of it all.  When I was unloading the van, I came back in the door, and here is Taffy jumping off the counter as she heard me coming and she knows she is not suppose to be on the counter, but she couldn't help herself, she was up on the counter, checking out the bouquet of flowers from Gerry and Vicki.  I think Molly was actually scared when I came in with all of the balloons and the sounds that they were making.  After I got them all situated where I wanted them, Taffy was having a high old time chewing on the ribbons.  I am sure this will be great entertainment for both of the cats this week! 

Rooster Towel

This is a new rooster towel that I have been making.  I love the folk art look to him!
Last night I had my Thursday night stamping group.  Some of the gals in that group are new stampers and had never done embossing with the heat gun.  It was fun to see their faces as the button's on the card raised.  As many times as I have embossed, I still think it is a WOW every time to see it magically change and rise up and it is always fun to see people and their reaction to embossing for the first time!
Diane and I went to see Breezy yesterday at Villa Pines.  He has terminal brain cancer.  It is so sad to see him like this.  Please keep him and his family in your prayers!
I found a new ponytail pattern on line and have been busy crocheting them this afternoon and evening, while watching TV.  I watched the old movie April Love, and I am in the middle of another one, Love is a Many Splendid Thing.  I also fell asleep watching one.  I am tired out today, and had a nice nap.
Dana Diorio and her mother were over this morning.  Dana's daughter is getting married and she wanted some ideas for invitations.  She knew I had been through this before with my girls, so I showed her some things and gave her a bunch of ideas.
Tomorrow is the big day.....my fiftieth birthday party!  I am so excited, it will be so fun to see everyone, and I am especially looking forward to seeing little Mason.  That is a present in itself!!  Have a great weekend!  Elaine 

Still celebrating....

 

Good Morning...that is EARLY morning...yes....this crazy girl is still up!  I just finished cutting one of the projects for March's stamp camp, and I am Iming with Colleen right now.  It is 2 hours earlier in Oregon, and she likes to keep me up past my nonexistent bedtime....lol  Gotta try and blame someone...and she is a good sport!!!  I probably would be in bed if I hadn't spent a zillion hours on the computer today.  I decided that I am going to make a card sketch book to have at my work station, so I have been downloading sketches all day on to my external hard drive, and then I will print them out.  It will be so nice to have some inspiration right at my finger tips all the time!  

I had an early morning visitor.  Doris was over this morning to bring me a birthday present and to visit.  Thanks Doris for the lovely presents!  I love them!  And while I was drying my hair, I didn't hear Sue Paape come, but later found a box of polar fleece that she told me she was going to give me.  What a pleasant surprise, and it will be great when I get started sewing mittens.  

Diane was over in the afternoon while Bernie was getting his haircut.  She is trying out the new groomer in town.  She was playing with Taffy and Molly with some of my baker's twine while she was here, much to Taffy and Molly's delight!!!  She really had them going!  I was working on the rest of my garden gloves.  I had picked up 6 pair in Tomah on Tuesday.   I put the tags on them that I had made with I was working on the last batch so now those are all finished and ready for sale.  

I am going to head off to bed.  Make it a great day!  Elaine

Love Wall Hanging

This project was made for Karen as a thank you gift for having her party.  It was all made with the Big Shot.  I used the scalloped square die to cut one square out of the white card board that comes with our designer paper, and then I cut a square out of Real Red card stock and adhered it to the card board.  Next I took a sheet of Love Impressions designer paper and cut it in to 3 3/4" squares and adhered that to each scallop square.  Next came Going Gray card stock which was ran through the big shot with the Scalloped Circle #2 die and adhered.  To cut the letters, I used our new red glitter paper that is in the Occasion Mini and ran it through with the Serif Essentials die.  I hot glued the squares to our Red and White striped ribbon, flipped the top of the ribbon down to form a loop, and used a separate piece of ribbon to tie a bow, and attached that with hot glue.  I am really happy with how it turned out and Karen loved it!  It was a big hit last night, and could be done with different colors and different papers for the different seasons.  A quick, fun, inexpensive gift (once you have the dies...LOL), but so versatile, and so many things you can do with these particular dies that I think they are a good investment.  I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day!  Show love to the people you care about in your life!!!  Elaine

Love my bind it all!

 

Good Morning!  I realized last night after I was in bed and had the computer off that I forgot to post yesterday!  Well...I guess a gal is allowed to forget now that she is officially OVER THE HILL!!!!  Yesterday was my 50th birthday, and yes...I am a Valentine's baby too!  I had a very nice day yesterday.  It started out with my mom stopping over and she brought me 2 pieces of chocolate.  She said that I have to wait till my birthday party on Saturday for my present.  If you are around and would like to stop in, my party will be on Sat. Feb. 19th at 1 pm at Immanuel Lutheran Church.  I am sure little Mason will steal the show!!!  LOL  

After Mom left, I was Iming with Colleen and talking with Di on the phone and the Christmas/Birthday package that Colleen sent me arrived in the mail.  It was full of goodies that I loved and I was dieing laughing at all the little notes she had on the packages.  My favorite two notes were the ones that she had on the stamp set Eat Chocolate (something about her not being able to stand it that I didn't have the stamp set) she knew I wanted it and on the package of Hershey's candy bars (that I could wrap my own candy bars but she knew they would never make it that far, with a stick person drawn rolling on the floor laughing!)  And then there was the 50 and Fabulous key chain, and the Maxine book about growing old Disgracefully...LOL plus lots of other goodies.  Even though you couldn't be here Colleen, it was like you were, and it was so fun to open all the little packages with the notes attached to them!!!  I also had electronic birthday cards from Tastefully Simple and one of the gals on Late night stampers, plus between 40 and 50 birthday messages on facebook, I lost track of the count...they just kept coming :-D, and birthday cards and Valentines in the mail on the weekend.  Right before I left to go to stamping Debi Wehby dropped by with my birthday card.  She is coming to my party on Sat. but felt I should have my card on my birthday, and Sandy Wellumson felt the same way and gave me a beautiful card at stamping that she made for me.  PLUS.....Di ordered me a birthday cake that was at stamping last night.  It was so cute.  It had black balloons on it and over the hill candles on it. (at first I thought they were tombstones, lol...until I looked closer and read all the letters!)  I was also tickled to receive a beautiful bag of fabric scraps from Sandy Wellumson and a stack of patterns that she no longer wants.  I will put them to good use Sandy!!!!  Thank you to everyone, you really made my day special!!!  Hugs!  Elaine

Scrapp'n Nana: Awards I sent out

Scrapp'n Nana: Awards I sent out: " &n..."

Friends like quilts give comfort when needed

 I love the scissor back ground that I stamped for this card.  It gives the illusion that it is designer paper but it is not, yet I can make it over and over...what ever color my little heart desires!

Neighbor Debi was over and got 7 post a note for Valentine's gifts this afternoon.  It is very warm here today.  Every thing is melting and huge chunk of icicles are falling off the roof.  Every now and then I hear one crash and it sounds like the sky is falling...lol.

I finished packing up my stamping stuff for tomorrow night so that is already to go.  I also cut out a dozen microwave potato bags out of fabric and batting.  So those are all ready to start sewing on now.  I think I am going to head upstairs to get some barrettes, and felt and finish assembling them.  Always something to do around here.  I always have 80 million projects in progress and have about a zillion more that I want to do.  I probably won't live long enough to make them all but I will die trying.....LOL  I guess it is better to be busy than bored.  Enjoy the warm weather!  Elaine

Working away in Mayberry...

Hello!  Here are some pictures of some more skinny scarves I finished.  Today I have been working away on those cards that I started a few days ago.  I got all 25 of them finished today and I am so very happy about that.  Otherwise, not much else is new around here.  I really should vacuum before I head to bed, it really needs it.  I get so wrapped up in my crafting projects that not much cleaning gets done around here!  :-D  Have a good one!  Elaine

Pretty Packaging

 

Good Morning!  I received this little bundle of prettiness in mail yesterday from Corrinne and Gus.  I wanted to rip into it right away to see what my birthday present was, but it was packaged so darn pretty that I decided that I should shoot a picture of it for you so that you all could see how pretty that she had it packaged!  I just adore that little tag and am definitely going to try and copy that idea!  LOVE IT!  Thanks Corinne.  I hung the little bluebird sun catcher up in the kitchen window.

I have a funny little story to tell you today.  Last night when I was talking to Jenna, she was telling me that Mason was crabby last night during his bath.  He usually loves them, and loves splashing in the tub.  Any how she says that he had been fussing, and crabby.  Then when she took him out of the tub and laid him down on a towel, he peed all over himself.so she was going to have to wash him all over again.  She said to him frustrated....Mason Antonio Dominguez.....What did you do!?!?!?    and.......he starts LAUGHING at her!  She says to me, Can you believe that mom!?!?!  He laughed at me.  Oh boy mom....I think I am going to have one little boy full of mischief!!!!   

Mason is only six months old and his personality is really showing through!!!  LOL  Grammie can hardly wait to see her little mischief maker next week!  :-D  Have a wonderful weekend!!  Elaine

Bind it all note books galore!

Good Evening!  I am taking a break right now from working on cards.  I have 25 in process at the moment.  I have all the base layers on them and I am now in to the decorating part.

Wisconsin is not the place to be today with 20 below temps today.  YIKES!  But I guess it is suppose to  warm up soon.  I am glad that I could stay in today.

These are little notebooks that are filled with index cards to write notes on.  I made them with my Bind-it-all.  I sure do love that little machine.  It punches holes and then you put the wires in and it crimps them into a perfect little coiled book (if you do it correctly...hee hee....ask me how I know).

I have been snacking on some thin mint cookies that I made tonight.  For those of you that are new to reading my blog, you take Andie's mint chips and melt them slowly on low power in the microwave, take them out, stir, and then dip Ritz crackers in them, and then the last step is to lay them on wax paper to dry.  They dry very quickly and the first one's you set down are ready to eat by the time you have laid down the last ones on the wax paper.  Wahlah....you magically have Thin Mint cookies that taste just like the ones the Girl Scouts sell.  I love them!!!  So yummy and so easy.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these little notebooks, I am selling them for $5.00.  They also make a great little gift!  Have a great night!  Elaine

A little breath of spring....we need it!

 

I thought that we all needed a little breath of spring today.  And the only way I can give it to you is to show you the dozen flower pins I finished last week.  I had made these in the fall but didn't get the buttons and pin backs put on till last week.  Don't they have a springy feel to them!?!  Let me know what you think, I love to hear your comments.  They really make my day!

I just got home from Diane's about an hour ago and boy has the temperature dropped and quickly.  I am not a glove wearer and boy were my hands freezing by the time I got things carried in to the house.  I went to Practical Cents and found a nice thick set of King size flannel sheets which I will cut up for lining for bags, table runner's etc.  Any where that I would normally use Warm and Natural batting.  I love that batting but it has become so expensive.  I think I am going to have to save up and buy a huge roll of it when Joann's put's it on special but in the mean time, flannel works great for most projects.   A lot of yardage in a king size flat sheet, fitted sheet and 2 pillow cases for $6.00!  I also bought a small ball of yarn, and that was it for today.  I saw some people at the check out with some nice yarn that I missed out on....:-( .   But Diane was so kind to give me two rolls of very pretty variegated yarn that she had down stairs that she did not want.  I finished 2 more towels today, so I now have 3 new styles to shoot pictures of to show you.  I also am crocheting the teeniest little hearts.  They are piddly, but oh so cute!  Stay warm!!!!  Elaine

Spoiled little pets....lol

 

Hello-  I am writing on my lap top from out at Di's house.  I have spent the afternoon out here, and currently have a chicken rice casserole in the oven that I brought out for supper.  I got a dog food sample in the mail today and brought it out to give to Bernie.  I was throwing him dog food and he was gobbling it up, and so was Charlie, Di's cat.  Between the two of them, the cat and dog, they have been pestering me all afternoon.  Either for more to eat or to go out to go to the bathroom, or just because they think they need more attention....lol  Di finally hollered at them to cut it out, that they had pestered me enough!  :-D

I did manage to get a new rooster towel stitched this afternoon, in between monkeying with the animals.  I am going to started another one right now.  These are some more tags that I made.  The bird and coffee cup are from the stamp set Fun and Fast Notes.  A cute set!  Try and keep warm....it is freezing here....AGAIN!!!!  Elaine