another vintage card

I hope you like this card.
Again it is saved as a .png at 300dpi

vintage tags

I love vintage papers.
Everything from cards and illustrations to books.
Because of that I often scour antique malls and my local library for inspiration.
Recently I created some sketches after those found in an old edition of The Wizard of Oz.
Then I took these sketches and made "vintage" tags out of them.
I think they turned out quite well.
In fact, I liked them so much I put them on Etsy.

Bookworm...

I haven't updated in a while because I have been keeping myself busy reading.
I have been working my way through all of my library's David Sedaris books.
He is amazing.

Reading isn't all I've been doing.
My husband and I have been spending a lot of time at the antique malls.
During these excursions, I have found a lot of great vintage cards.
If I can keep the motivation up, I would like to scan and share these with you.

So here is the first one (saved as a .png at 300dpi)
I hope you enjoy it!

Yesterday I mentioned the Cowboy Christmas kit by Raspberry Road.
Here are two more quick pages available from that kit. While, I typically don't use them, these quick pages are definitely helping me get family pictures organized.

Again, the pictures are from a Christmas visit at my aunt's western inspired home.

I usually don't use quick pages but I found one that I could not resist.
Last Christmas, Susan, over at Raspberry Road, created a kit called Cowboy Christmas, and the theme is perfect for my aunt.
She and her husband own a horse farm and every year my aunt has a rustic/cowboy tree for their home.

This picture is of one of my other aunts and my daughter visiting on Christmas Eve.

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while.
I've been...distracted?

Nothing out of the ordinary has been going on.
However, I thought I would share a layout with you.
It's nothing fancy, but I thought the pictures were cute!
These were taken when my daughter was about 2.5 years.
She had been playing in a box.

The blue paper that I used is from the Fitting Room kit by Raspberry Road while I acquired the brown from a blog train called Spring Blossoms

Family Time

Have you visited Lizz's blog recently?
She has a new kit and a freebie available.
It is called Family Time.
The kit is really lovely.
The papers are complimentary shades of beige, blue, and sage.
Also, Lizz has included a wonderful variety of word art, foliage, as well as bows and ribbons.

Here is one layout that I made with the kit.
The photo is of mother around Christmas of 1988.
I think she looks really pretty in it, and the soft colors of Lizz's kit compliments the photo well.

Harry Potter is taking over my life.

It has been a long day in the Winter's Cabin.
My little guy was up all night last night because he wasn't feeling well.
Now, he is over whatever bug he had and of course he is full of energy.
Me, on the other hand, not so much.

While I was up last night (and through the morning) with the baby I did get some knitting done.
My husband has been asking for a Weasley (as in Harry Potter)sweater for about a year and a half now.
Well last night I got a good portion of it done.
The body and arms are done, and now I am on the yoke.
After that I will only need to put on his initial.

In addition to this Harry Potter project, I've mentioned the Lord Voldemort painting that I am working on.
Well, I found a picture of me working on it while uploading some other photos.
I thought I'd share it with you.
I'm much further along now.
All I need to do is finish modeling his head.
It's taking a while though because I am working in oils.
I hope you like it!

I spent a little more time playing around with Lizz's Easter kit today.
Here is what I came up with.

Once again I used one of my baby pictures in this.
Had I taken a few photos of my kidos I would have used one of them.

Maybe next year I will remember to get the camera out.

Hey everyone.
I promised to tell you why I've been so elusive recently.
Well, I have been busy, busy, busy!

I just started a new BA program at OU, which I am actually almost finished with.
Yay transfer credits from my BFA.
Anyway, as a part of one of my classes this quarter I have to do an internship.
This quarter I get to work at an amazing studio called Passion Works.
Everything that comes out of this studio is a collaboration between adults with and without developmental disabilities.
It's a really wonderful place.
If you have some time please check it out here.

I have also been keeping myself (and my husband busy with household projects).
We just put in our veggie garden, and things are already sprouting up well.
Also, we (well mainly my husband) pulled up the carpet from our bedroom and put in wood floors.
It looks so much nicer.

In addition to this, I have been devoting a lot of time to reading some books that have been on my "to read" list for quite some time.
I've also been working on my awesome Lord Voldemort painting.
Just a little bit more to go.
When its done I'll post a pic.

Things here are calming down, and we're getting adjusted to our new routines.
Expect more frequent posts from now on.

I have been super busy the past two weeks.
Things are settling down.
Please, give me a day or two and I will update you on everything.
I've been doing some pretty exciting things,

However, this has not kept me from playing around with a new kit by Lizz.
For Easter Lizz created Easter Blessings.
This kit can function well as a rustic kit or a whimsical kit.
Expect another layout or two in a few days.
I promise.

In the mean time here is what I've done so far.
My husband took an amazing pic of our son, and I just had to share it

Hey everyone,
This is just a quick post.

Lizz has a wonderful new kit out called Sisters and Friends
It's perfect for Spring with plenty of pretty pastels and neutrals.

Here is a quick preview.
I promise to post more tomorrow :)

365 Project - Day 8

Sorry for the late post.
I have been frantically searching my house for my Ipod Touch.
However, I can't find it :(
D'oh

I did take a break from searching long enough to create a new Wedding Proof page.
I found two more exterior shots of the Athenaeum where we had our ceremony and reception.
It is a really neat building.
Before the Ohio Historic Society bought the space, it functioned as a Masonic Temple.

Once again, I wanted to create a layout which highlighted the historic nature of the space. I found that Lizz's kit Aged Love, was just perfect for this. It is full of papers and elements that have that antique or aged feel.

I am having a lot of fun going through old family photos.
It is nice to have a break from the Wedding Proof book.

For this layout I used one of my baby pictures.
Once again I used Lizz's You Are My Sunshine kit.
It is a really nice monochromatic kit with a variety of papers ranging from vintage to mod.
Also the elements are nice because she has a variety of items ranging from buttons, strings, ribbons, decorative flowers, as well as spring blossoms.

Hey Everyone!
I am excited today!
"Why is that?" you ask.
Because I get to create layouts for Lizz Gasaway Designs.
Have you viewed her work yet?
If not you really need to stop by her blog.
She has many wonderful kits that encompass all styles from whimsical to rustic.

In fact, as soon as I got her new kit, I couldn't wait to make a layout.
I took a break from the wedding proofs, and decided to work with an old family photo.
I found the most adorable baby picture of my brother, and just had to do something with it.

The great thing about Lizz's You Are My Sunshine kit is that the elements have subtle details, so its really easy to make an eye catching layout with minimal elements. However, if you do want to layer elements and create clusters, everything fits together well. I think you'll enjoy this kit.
In fact, I can't wait to work with it more

365 Project - Day 7

How about that!
I have made it one whole week.
I only have 51 more weeks of layouts to complete before I meet my goal!

I am still working on my wedding proof album. However, I have moved on to some of the detail photos.

The photographer, Evan, was running back and forth between the two dressing rooms and catching all of the activity and chaos.
He shot these two images in the Groom's room, and I just love them!
What you are seeing is my dad's stein as well as a detail of his beret.
While in the military he served as a Marine, and he had a number of his pins showcased on his beret.

Because the shot focus on the beret and stein, I wanted to move away from the pastels,
However, I still wanted to stay in the neutral realm so that the layout would tie-in with the rest of the album. Lizz Gasaway's Rustic kit worked well for this. It had the neutrals I wanted as well as the ephemera that I have already incorporated. I think this page will fit in quite well.

365 Project - Day 6

Unfortunately I couldn't post this layout yesterday.
We had problems with our network, and I was unable to get online.
Obviously, that is now fixed.

The pictures I used show a detail of the exterior of the building where our ceremony and reception was held.

Once again, I used quite a few elements from Raspberry Road. The paper is from Garden Rose. The ribbon can be found in Swanky, while the frames are from Java Joe and Endless Ephemera. The only item that did not come from this was the lace which was designed by Lizz Gasaway and is part of her Rustic kit.

365 Project - Day 5

I know I'm late in getting this layout posted today.
So Sorry!
I had dinner guests tonight.
What more can I say.

Today I moved away from The Priory, and I am now working on the exterior of the Columbus Athenaeum.

To create this layout, I primarily used Kristin Aagard's Garden Delights. The only elements that were not found in this kit were the stitching (Raspberry Road's Away In A Manger) and the lace (Raspberry Road's Vintage Doll).

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

365 Project - Day 4

For today's layout I actually made two different versions.
Originally, I made the red page. I love this one because it makes the images pop.

However, after viewing it with the other pages, I was afraid that it may not fit in with the album. I decided that the green would look nice, but would also be more subdued.

I am still working with images of the chapel. These are probably my favorite shots because they are so dynamic.

Because, they are more dynamic, I felt that they needed a layout that was more vibrant but still referenced a Victorian or antique layout. In the first (red) version I used papers from two of Shabby Princess' kits. The red is found in The Dinner Party kit while the cream beige is from Seasonal Sampler. The frame is actually an element that I created, but I enhanced it by layering it with Tempus Fugit's Black Foto Overlays as well as The Rose Photo Corners that were created by NBK.

The only difference between the first and the second versions of this layout is the paper. I got the green from Raspberry Road's Fitting Room Collection and the beige came from Butterfly Dreams which is also from Raspberry Road.

Crockpot Burgandy Beef

I love this meal.
It adds a nice sweet and spicy flavor to the meat
Also, it can be made for very little money.
First, you don't need a really good cut of meat since it is going to roast and tenderize for 8hrs.
Secondly, use whatever left-over red table wine you have on hand.
If you are uncorking a new red, just grab a cheapie like Tisdale.
The sugars in the wine are going to caramelize and get rid of any bitterness

Ingredients:
4oz meat per person (more or less, to your family's needs)
1 medium onion, (i prefer long. slender slices - term?)
2 c fresh, sliced portabella mushrooms (or whatever your favorite may be)
2 cinnamon sticks
5 dried allspice berries
8 whole black peppercorns (or just use regular pepper to your tastes)
1 1/2 tbsp of thyme
2 cloves of garlic (more or less your tastes)
pinch of salt
1/2 c broth (whatever you have on hand)
1/2 c red wine (originally this recipe calls for Burgundy, but I use whatever red we have on hand which is usually a Pinot Noir or Shiraz).

Directions:
1. Slice your meat into appropriate portions. You can either make fillets or cube it. Place in crock pot
2. Add wine and broth until the meat is just covered.
3. Add all spices and herbs, stir
4. Slice your onions and place in crock pot
5. Slice your mushrooms and place in crock pot
6. Cover and cook on low for 8 hrs. Avoid opening the lid more than once or twice to stir. Opening the lid more than that will increase your cook time and allow moisture to escape which can then dry out your meat.

As I said earlier this can be a very frugal meal.
I found round bottom roast for 2.49. After cutting it into 4oz fillets I got enough two -three meals.
So that breaks down to:
$1.20 for meat
.15c onion
50c mushrooms
30c for organic chicken broth
7c for two cloves of garlic.
I am not including the price of the herbs or spices bc I already had those on hand. Additionally I am not adding the price of the wine bc it was leftover from the night before.
Using these prices this main dish cost me just under $1.75.
That is a frugal and tasty (gourmet) meal!

Banana Muffins!

This is how I make banana muffins

For this recipe you will need:
2 c flour
3/8 c sugar (the recipe originally called for 1/2c, but I am decreasing our sugar intake)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 medium banana
1/2 c milk
1/3 c unsalted, melted butter
1 egg.

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Combine all ingredients into a large mixing bowl
3. Mix on high for 1-2 minutes. Your dough will be thick and sticky - not runny!
4. Spoon dough into muffin pan (this yields 12 muffins)
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Or until the muffins are lightly brown and a tooth pick comes out clean.

The muffins will be more bread-like, and not super moist cake-like, but don't worry they aren't dry and powdery!

Super Easy Yeast Bread

This is the recipe I always use when I make a yeast bread.

Ingredients:
2 2/3 c flour
3 tsp / 1pkg active dry yeast
1 1/4 c lukewarm water (if it is too hot it will kill you yeast!)
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter or oil
1 tsp of sea salt

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast in water
2. Add all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. Mix on medium for 30 sec, and then turn to high for an additional minute or so. This should make a sticky dough, but not runny!
4. Scrap the sides of your bowl, and form a ball out of your dough. Allow this to rise (covered) for 30 minutes in a warm place.
5. Transfer your dough into a greased or silicone bread pan. Make sure your dough is evenly distributed, and then lightly dust with flour. Cover and allow to rise for an additional 45 minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

You can freeze this bread for several months or store it in an air tight container for 6 days.
Enjoy!

Mmm....

I must say my house smells delectable!
I spent half of the day in my kitchen, and I have tons of goodies to show for it.
My original plan today was to bake a loaf of bread.
That I did do.

However, before I got started with that I noticed some bananas that were to ripe to eat.
Of course I did the natural thing - baked banana muffins!

After I was done with the baking I also assembled a crock pot meal.
My crock pot and Kitchen Aid mixer are probably my two favorite appliances!
How do people do it without them?

So what did I put in the crock pot?
I decided on Burgundy Beef, and I will serve this with asparagus, broccoli, and brioche.
Yum!

365 Project - Day 3

Well I am getting a late start today, but better late than never, as they say.

This particular layout is still a work in progress.
I haven't decided whether or not I want the frames to be blue or beige.

Here are two more shots of the chapel. I just love that space, and it is even more beautiful in person. What you aren't seeing is a fresco on the walls and ceiling featuring scenes from the crusades.

Anyway, to create this layout I primarily used the Fitting Room Collection from Raspberry Road. The only items that did not come from this kit are the flower and the beige frame. The flower can be found in the Butterfly Dreams kit from Raspberry Road, while the beige frame is from Kristin Aagard's kit Daddy Day.

365 Project - Day 2

Well here is my second layout.
Only 363 more to go!

Once again, the pictures are of the chapel where my ceremony was held.
Just like before, I wanted to create a layout that complimented the building's history.

I really love Raspberry Road Designs for the "vintage" elements, so once again I used Susan's kits. In particular I used papers from the Passing Thoughts paper pack. The ribbon can be found in the Vintage Doll kit, and the blue stitching is from Sally Ann. I also incorporated torn newsprint and ads from the Fitting Room and Endless Ephemera collections. The frames are from a freebie called Raspberry Treats, that can be found on the Raspberry Road blog.

New Begining. 365- Day 1

Here it is my new shot at 365 days of layouts.
Wish me luck.

The pictures feature the chapel where my wedding ceremony was held.
Because the building was so beautiful to begin with it required very little decorating.
That's a wonderful perk for any bride.
Also, because of its historic nature, I felt that a simple antique or Victorian look would create a flattering layout.

Susan's designs, from Raspberry Road, really fit that bill.
Specifically, I used paper from her Butterfly Dreams Paper Kit, and the blue matte and stitching came from her Fitting Room Kit.
In addition to using elements from Raspberry Road, I also incorporated frames from Kristin Aagard's kit Daddy Day, and a flower out of Shabby Princess' kit Promise

failure!

That is right.
I am a failure!
I have not been creating and posting a layout a day.
D'oh!

Well I am going to give it another try.
I have also decided to redo some of the pages I have already done.
Truthfully I wasn't all that happy with some them.
In fact, they are probably going to be removed from here too...

Part of the reason why I haven't been keeping up with scrapping is because I have been a knitting fiend lately.
John wants a Weasley (Harry Potter) sweater.
I have the body complete and I am now working on the arms.
I can't wait to see how it turns out.

being frugal and cooking

After making bbq chicken yesterday I decided to take the frugal course and make my own stock.
Usually I spend between 60c and 75c on a 15oz can of organic broth.

Last week I spent $7 on 5 large bone-in breasts
That works out to $1.40 ea for organic fresh chicken breasts
After cutting the breast from the bone for last night's meal I had three carcasses left, each with remaining breast and rib meat.

To make my stock I placed these carcasses in a stock pot.
I added:
8c water
2 dried bay leaves
1-2tbs of dried parsley
1-2tbs of dried thyme
1 small quartered onion
3 ribs of celery
appx 8 whole black peppercorns
2 cloves of crushed garlic

I allowed the stock to simmer for about 4 hrs
Boy, did my house smell wonderful.
I placed the stock in the fridge over night
I recommend this because its easier to remove the fat and gunk if its solidified.
Plus the flavors can marry longer.

This yielded appx. 5 cups of broth and 3cups of diced/shredded chicken (after removing leftover breast and rib meat).

I am only calculating the cost of the onion and celery into this bc I consider the shredded chicken/broth to be free since they were leftover from another meal and carcasses would usually go straight into the compost.

For about 40c-50c I got 5 c. of broth. Usually this would cost me between $1.80 and $2.25. Plus I saved about 3c of chicken which I can use for other meals!

365 days of scrapbooking, maybe?

I have been visiting a digital scrapbook board at ivilliage.
A few people have committed themselves to 365 days of scrapbooking.
I may jump on board.
Well sort of.
I have two large projects hanging over my head.
These are my wedding album and my Disney Album.
I think I am going to try to commit myself to doing a layout a day.
Hopefully I will have one of the albums done soon.
Should I kick it off today?
Sure
Can I keep it going
We'll see...

Anyway, I must say that I love, love , love my slow cooker.
If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't cook nearly as much as I do.
It isn't that I don't enjoy preparing meals.
It's just that by the end of the day I don't feel like cooking.
I am a morning person, and prefer to complete my "to-do's" before noon.
That's where the slow cooker comes in.
So what is on the menu tonight?
BBQ chicken in the slow cooker, steamed broccoli, spinach salad, and stovetop.
I know that is not a very creative meal.

Maybe I 'll get around to baking a loaf of bread and share that on here sometime soon.
I make the best bread.
Seriously....

I haven't posted for a while.
Why is that you ask?
Well I have been keeping myself busy with a new painting.
I decided that an 18x24 canvas of Lord Voldemort deserves a spot in our pop culture home.
As soon as we saw the image of Voldemort in the black suit (HP V), my husband and I fell in love with it.
Well after about two weeks I have about 2/3 of it completed.
Look for the finished product in a month or so.

Aside from that, we have also been planning a month of birthday parties.
Well maybe not an entire month, but over a 9 day span 3 of the 4 people in our home celebrate their birthdays.
Two have since passed, and it is hard to believe that my little girl is four now.
Crazy.

Because I have been busy painting and planning get-togethers I have not been working on any of my digital scrapbook projects.
D'oh.
Well to get myself back into the swing of things I decided that i would actually participate in one of the challenges at Raspberry Road.
I chose to make a page using one of my wedding photos.
For this layout I used items from the Fitting Room Collection (Parts 2,3, & 5). If you like it you can buy it here.
Also here is the information on the challenge.
Unfortunately I couldn't submit mine to the forums. At that time I was unable to register for an account.

Now I am off to scrap another page and join my daughter in playing with her awesome new Lite Brite.

Enjoy!

Disney Album

My first layout shows some pictures taken in the Mexico part of Epcot. For this page I used paper and elements from the Sassy Lass and Pick of the Patch kits both available from Raspberry Road Designs.

This second page shows some of the Winter decorations at Epcot. The elements and paper are all from Raspberry Road (unfortunately I'm not sure which kits other than mystic winter).

Raspberry Road Designs can be found here

The past weekend was a super busy one for me.

Friday, my husband and I took my father out to see Flogging Molly at the House of Blues.
It was a lot of fun to do something with my dad and the music was great!
Saturday was also busy because my cousin got married!
Congratulations to her.
The following day, Sunday, was a little more relaxed.
My husband and I love antiques so we drove up to a wonderful antique mall about 30 minutes away.
We spent the afternoon buying great locally roasted coffee (Hocking Hills Roasters), and looking at collectibles.
The cool stuff we "just had to" buy included a Rick Astley vinyl (now we rick roll our friends without youtube), and original apple press of the Beatles Abbey Road, the Thundercats viewmaster reels, and a 1960s-70s fold up Barbie Deluxe House.

Even though I was busy do those things I did still manage to get several pages of our Disney Scrapbook done. I'll post those by themselves.

Enjoy the chilly day!

Yesterday was the bi-weekly trip to the library.
I decided to check out an old copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
After reading a few chapters and admiring the illustrations I decided to sketch my own rendition of the characters.
Once I have the modeling complete I intend to make .png files.
So look forward to that.

Now, for those who don't know me,
I am an '80s kid.
There is no getting around it.
Well this 80s kid still has a lot of her toys.
Some that I found include Strawberry Shortcake.
Love 'em!

I love them so much that I decided to make some .png files out of old greeting cards.
That is my treat to you.
I will place the links at the bottom of the post.

Also if you digg that I spent an evening transforming greeting cards into digital files for scrapping, card making, etc., please consider donating. :)

Ciao!

http://www.4shared.com/file/88366435/c10100e5/Strawberry_Shortcake__1a_.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/88379134/d5cecb7e/Strawberry_Shortcake__2a_.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/88379472/5e0a69a4/Strawberry_Shortcake__3a_.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/88380260/52ca9d20/Strawberry_Shortcake__4a_.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/88380961/29984257/Strawberry_Shortcake__5a_.html

As mentioned in a previous post I am committed to creating a photo album of my family's recent trip to Walt Disney World.

I have completed a few pages.
Here is the first album page.

The images are stock photos that I got from Walt Disney World Resorts' website.
Their images are much more captivating than those that I could capture.
In this layout, all of the elements came from Raspberry Road Designs.
There are some great kits there, so if you haven't visited the blog or store please do.
The link will be available at the bottom of this post.

If you're interested in getting these elements yourself, the paper I used came from the Bubblelicious kit, the clips can be found in the Sassy Lass kit, and the photo frames are from the Earth Day kit.

If time permits I will post more pages later today.

Ciao!

Raspberry Road Design link:
http://www.raspberryroaddesigns.blogspot.com/

Busy, busy, busy...

Busy...

Now that describes me to a "T."
Between buying a house, family vacations, holidays, and projects I have had little time to gather my thoughts.

Beginning tomorrow I will start a new degree.
Classes to keep me busy between art projects.
Women and Gender Studies to be precise.
Quite the intellectual stimulation.

Between the classes, home improvements, and projects I am committing myself to a few other projects.
(1). Editing and creating albums of our children's first trip to Walt Disney World.
(2). Preserving our wedding memmories
(3). Chronicling my hectic, and at other times mundane, life here.

Cheers!