Now THAT was hot! - FWF #26

Hello, everybody! Hope everyone enjoyed a good Father's Day last Sunday with the family...we didn't have a lot of time (Mika had three softball games that day) but we were able to give DaddyDude his cards and presents before we left the house...at 5:30 am...!

I thought this would be a great sketch to make a masculine card... but I found it a little stark afterwards, so I added some fun hearts with pop dots...

This All About Dad kit (Stamp of the Week) is great, because there are FOUR stamps! All are great sentiments.The hearts are from a Unity kit, but for the life of me, I cannot remember which one (this is what happens when you keep a stash of miscellaneous Unity stamped items on your craft desk - it's very handy, but if your collection is as large as mine, good luck remembering which one it came from!).

We just returned from Scottsdale last Friday,where it was really VERY hot.  How hot...? Well, there's an idea - this is a screenshot of DaddyDude's phone on our last night there (at 9:17 pm).

It was very relaxing, though, and the girls enjoyed playing at the pool on most days. They also went ice skating (can you believe there's an ice rink there?!) while DaddyDude roasted on the golf course (scored an 83, not bad for not having played golf in three years!).

Gosh, I just love having a good camera! Marika kept asking her father to flip her in the air and asking me, "Did you get that?! Did you get that?!"  Yes, honey, I did...!

We also finally took our first family photo in two years. I am getting really tempted to get one of those selfie sticks - is that a bad idea?

Unfortunately, on our drive back, we saw the effects of a semi-local fire. This is the Lake Fire (south of Big Bear Lake), burning after about 48 hours (June 17) - and as seen at least 60 miles away (in Indio) from the fire itself. Today is June 26 and the fire is still only 19% contained and almost 30,000 acres have burned.

But wait! I have another Unity project! Marika was invited to yet ANOTHER party (a "Teen Beach 2 Movie/Pool party" today) and since I didn't want her to go empty-handed, we tried out a new doggy biscuit recipe (the mom has 3 huskies and a Chihuahua - and the grandma has a German shepherd). Our dog, Bo, watched dutifully from the second I opened the peanut butter jar, to make sure I did everything correctly...(and yes, he loved the treats!)

This tag was based on a Viva La Verve sketch (June 2015, Week 3) and I used Unity's Thanks stamp and their Puppy Ruff Itty-Bitty. Gotta love how the googly eyes add some fun character to the puppy!

I made a simpler tag version for Max, since he's an only fur baby...

And because I don't want to take the chance of risking food allergies, I always include a list of ingredients/recipe on the back so the owner can decide whether to feed them to their dog...

Last but not least... my recipe of the week. At long last, I decided to make some stuffed mushrooms. I love to eat them at restaurants, but never understood why they were so pricey. And now, I know - they're very labor intensive! I spent a long time making a dozen and DaddyDude and I polished them off in 5 minutes! Yes, they were very good. Although I didn't have any ground Italian sausage, so I cut up some hot links instead. I also had tons of stuffing left but you know what? It was AWESOME to eat for breakfast the next morning, topped with my homemade salsa. Who knew? So, I'll have to try this recipe again, but do the full amount, instead of halving it. Yum yum!

Thanks for bearing with the long post  - don't forget to shop Unity for their first "buy one get one free" sale! There is also free shipping over $20 and you get free stamps for orders over $35!

Graduation - Moving on! FWF #25

It's that time of year, when the residents at DaddyDude's hospital graduate and spread their wings to other places. He had four residents graduating this year, so here is the selection I made...

 

I chose a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches (#36) and paired it up with a generic black/white graduation printed paper and Diploma Cap & Gown from the Wit & Wisdom line.

 

 

This awesome OWH sketch appealed to me, because you could dive into your scrap stash!

 

 

So, I made a feminine and masculine version (Congrats 1 stamp from Paper Smooches). I simply adore the font that Paper Smooches uses, and the large stamp size.

 

 

This was another wonderful sketch to use scraps on...and using stamps from the Happy Day kit and From Head to Soul (KOM 3/12). 

 

And here's another masculine card, using Mojo Monday Sketch #400, along with From Head to Soul (KOM 3/12) - with the popped up embossed graduation cap.  

 

 

For this week, I have a couple of small items that I tried new recipes for - Creamy Garlic mushrooms and Homemade Chicken Gravy. The mushrooms recipe was okay, but lacked jazz - I would have liked it cheesier, at the very least - and I missed the taste of wine in the sauce (how I usually make it). The chicken gravy recipe was pretty good - we liked that it was thick (however, my child didn't like that it didn't seem to reheat so well when she wanted to eat the leftover mashed potatoes the next day). Still, it was much better than gravy from a packet!

 

Thanks for stopping by to visit!



More farewell cards... FWF #24

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm so excited, because the kids are FINALLY out of school. Woohoo! Speaking of excitement, did you check out Unity's new website? Don't forget to update your password...they'll email you a big fat promo code!

 

The first card I made was for DaddyDude's colleague, who is heading back to the Windy City (his hometown). I decided to just make it a "wish you well on everything" kind of card, so it covered all of the bases...

 Here's the sketch I used (again), from Viva La Verve sketches..

 

And here's the front of the card...love the Everything Wonderful kit!

 

As well as the inside sentiment (from Bunches of Love Sentiment Kit, February 2014)...

 

Next up is a sympathy card for my older brother's family, since their beloved dog passed away from age old. I know it was especially hard for him to take, since Buddy was his very first pet. Hopefully this card will bring them some comfort. I chose this sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge to showcase the big paw print.

 

 

I've already used this kit (Dogs Leave Pawprints) twice this year - it's perfect for dog lovers. I used the sentiment for the inside (which of course, I forgot to photograph).

I made a third card for Marika's teacher, but completely forgot to take a picture of it! ARGH!

 

Last but not least, I have another yummy recipe to share - "No-Fry Italian 'Fried' Chicken". My youngest loves drumsticks and batter. She loved this new recipe with breaded drumsticks topped off with a tangy honey/vinegar sauce - it's another winner!

And speaking of the youngest kid, here she is - we spent the weekend at the soccer park. I really thought they were going to win their last tournament, but a weekend is a long time and by the end of it all, half the team just didn't have their game on (I think they had gotten so used to winning, they had forgotten what it's like to work for it). It came down to the wire (1-1 tie) and then the team lost during PKs. What a bummer! But, at least they got some hardware to wear home. It's been two years since she started playing club soccer and now, at the ripe old age of 10, she looks seasoned (and no longer frail and dainty).

Thanks for visiting! Don't forget to check things out at Unity and have a great weekend!

And the End is Near - FWF #23

Can you believe it's June already? My, how time flies... only four days left of school for my kids! Unfortunately, though... it was time for some sympathy cards. Bo and I have befriended many people on our walks, one of which is a mother/daughter duo - the mother's husband was recently diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer (the same thing my father died from 13 years ago) and passed away a couple of days ago. The diagnosis was a huge surprise but the rate of decline was depressing and tragic. It's always sad when somebody dies, but this really hit close to home, remembering back to watching my own father suffer through it all.

As you know, Unity has some wonderful sympathy cards, so I selected sketches that would showcase those images. I really liked the sketch below from Viva La Verve, but I took some liberties with the placement of some elements...





 

And here's my take on it...I wanted to keep it simple, since the idea was to just send my condolences. With my awesome stamp-ma-jig, I used the shape stamp from Everything Christmas {November 2013 Sentiment Kit} with a sentiment from Beautiful Life, Blessed Memories {February 2015 Sentiment Kit}. This card will go to the mother.

I also really liked this sketch, although I'm not sure of the original source because it is in a foreign language...

 

...and used it to showcase two stamps from the Everything Wonderful {June 2013 Sentiment Kit}. This card will go the daughter and her family.

 

 

Inside sentiments were chosen from the Beautiful Life,  Blessed Memories kit again.



 

And for my recipe of the week, DaddyDude asked me to make lasagna, for the first time in several years (the kids aren't big fans). After some searching on Pinterest, I decided upon this recipe, the World's Best Lasagna. The recipe was very good, but heavier on the sauce than I am used to (so I guess that made it more "restaurant-like"). Next time, I would just add more layers of noodles in between all that sauce...but that probably means I need to get a deeper dish! My 9x13 casserole dish was pushed to the limit!

Thanks for visiting, hope you all have a wonderful weekend!