FWF #37 - "Quick" is the word of the week

Hi, folks! Hope everyone's week has begun on a good note! Over here in SoCal, the heat is back, along with the humidity. Soccer and softball games begin this weekend, woohoo!

I didn't have much time to craft this week (having discovered what an incredible mess the girls' room was, and having to weed the backyard), but here's a tag I made (one of those shipping tags Unity includes with their "free" gifts) - colored by Sharpies. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the colors popped. :) Stamps are from Unity's Whole Wonderful World kit (love it!).

And of course I have to cook, or else everyone here would starve, so I was still able to try out a new recipe: Crock Pot Sausage and Cheese Tortellini. It was one of those days where I didn't have time to run to the grocery store, so I had to figure out what I could make - with what was in the house. I'd be the first one to admit I was a bit skeptical about putting tortellini in a slow cooker, but THIS WAS REALLY GOOD! I didn't even have the right kind of Italian sausage (I just cut up some leftover frozen hot links) and it was polished off (everybody had seconds or thirds). I am sure, however, that it was very high in calories, though. LOL!

Hope everyone has an awesome rest of the week and a fabulous weekend - thank you for visiting! :)

CC Design Team Valentine's Day Tag Exchange

The Cropchocolate.com Design Team organized a Valentine's Day tag swap (as we did for Christmas) and once again, this was a lot fun! Here's the beautiful tag (below) I received from my fellow DT member, Karen N.! Isn't it gorgeous? I love it!!! Thanks, Karen!!!

 

And (below) here's the tag I sent off to DT member Corrie. I'm having such fun using my Unity Stamps and Tim Holtz dies/inks!!! I'm especially enjoying submitting my work to Friends with Flair - and, of course, getting more Unity stamps... oh, dear... how does anybody know when to stop?

CC-items: Fancy Pants silver glitter paper, patterned paper (Teresa Collins), Carta Bella kraft paper, EP paper, Bazzill cardstock, MM trim (brown ruche & red glitter), FP trim, Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder, TH distress ink (festive berries, walnut stain, aged mahogany, tea stain), AC white Zing! embossing powder, MM bling gems, Stickles (Icicles), adhesive (Scrappin' Supplies); non-CC-items: TH heart & flourish dies, Unity stamps (It's All About Love), black ink (Memory), butterfly & charms (unknown)

 

Last but not least - a big thank you to all of my new FWF friends last week, who kindly commented with advice on coloring markers. I went and stared at a lot of Copic markers this past week and finally decided that a beginning step was to buy a couple of sets of Spectrum Noir markers. This will help me get my feet wet and decide which next direction to go, without breaking the bank! Wish me luck! :)

Merry Christmas!

patterned paper (Teresa Collins), cardstock (white = Carte Bella, green = Bazzill), kraft #8 tag (purchased frm LSS), glitter rub-on sentiment (Making Memories), rhinestones (My Mind's Eye, Making Memories), poinsettia embellishment (Petaloo), Tim Holt distress stain (festive berries), TH crackle paint (Rock Candy), glitter (Stickles), ribbon (Making Memories), chipboard, snowflake, trees, house dies (Tim Holtz), book label die (Sizzix) 

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! We were a little slow this year... most Christmas cards went out (last-minute! Christmas Eve and since I was sick last week, I didn't make any hand-made Christmas treats. Oh, well... I keep hoping I'll plan more efficiently next time. We'll see! :)

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Tag made for a Secret Santa tag exchange amongst the new Cropchocolate.com Design Team (Jan-June 2013). My first "real" tag!

Butterfly Tag - Working with Inks

 

CC-items: BG pearls, TH distress stains (broken china), TH rock candy crackle paint, Icicle Stickles, MME trinkets (#19 & #33), FP lace, MME ribbon (Stella & Rose/Lost & Found), rhinestones (Scrappin' Supplies), FP Lilac House stickers, MM colored staples, FP Baby Mine chipboard, Glue dots;
non-CC-items: distress stains (walnut stain, worn lipstick), gold acrylic paint (Delta) 

Cropchocolate.com's Weekly Challenge #39 involved using ink/paint to make your background at least 2 different colors. This was really challenging for me, because I haven't worked with inks very much. However, I liked how this turned out - and discovered that you can use makeup foam wedges to apply Tim Holtz distress stains - how cool is that?!