Feeling Chippy - FWF #22

Hi, folks! Happy Friday! Be sure to check out the latest and greatest sale at Unity Stamp Co!

Marika was invited to yet ANOTHER birthday party tomorrow (is it just me, or is the new trend to give less 3-5 days notice???), so it was time to get crafty. At least it wasn't a soccer teammate, so I didn't have to try and incorporate a soccer ball!

The current sketch from The Deconstructed Sketch (#202) was perfect for the stamp I wanted to showcase...

And here is the front...using Candles and Cake {Wit & Wisdom}... love this stamp! I also used the smaller butterfly from Today is a Lovely Day... (when you adhere only the body of the butterfly, it pops up really nicely for a 3-D effect)...

I prefer my cards to have no sentiment stamped on the inside, but with little kids, you never know. So, I used All Kinds of Happy so Marika would have less room to write ("you're welcome, kiddo!"). I hope she has fun - they're going blueberry picking after school and then back to her friend's house for cake and a pinata. :)

I have two vegetable recipes that I tried this week -

Szechuan Eggplant - this was yummy! I know, I know...most of you can't stand eggplant...so...

Maybe you should try making some kale chips. I've heard about them for years, but finally bought some at the produce store. Everybody liked them but they were gone too fast!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Happy crafting/cooking! :)

Time Flies When You're Having Fun - FWF #21

 

Fun times ahead! Friday is our 16th wedding anniversary - we're pretty proud of that number, but we were together for eight years before that. SOOOO... we've been together for a mighty long time, more than half of our lives! Funny how when I look at my husband, he still looks like the same young man I fell in love with all those years ago. :)

 

 

Naturally, I wanted to make him a card to celebrate. I found a new sketch blog (Feeling Sketchy) and really liked their most recent sketch, which you can find here.

 

Here's the front... I used Happy Happy Anniversary and I Loaf You. The bread loaf with the extra slice was a little too big for this sketch, so I cut the slice off...

 

 ...and put it on the inside, with another sentiment from I Loaf You. Since my husband likes to bake bread (from scratch) in his spare time, I thought he would get an extra kick out of this card. We'll see!

 

 

For my new recipe of the week, I made some Chili Lime Chicken. I couldn't make up my mind on how to cook it (slow cooker? skillet?) but finally decided on skillet - and then the rest of the family ended up going out to the local minor league baseball game (see pic below), so nobody else tasted it. BUT - it was really tasty! I used red pepper flakes instead of the jalapenos (for the sake of the kids - before I realized they wouldn't be around to eat it anyway), so it still had a small jolt. The flavoring was VERY good. I will definitely be making this again soon... :)

 

So here the kids with the baseball mascot, Bernie. I gotta say, it's pretty amazing how good some cell phone cameras are getting - I was thrilled when DaddyDude sent this picture! Bernie is usually an elusive creature, so the girls got really lucky he posed with them.

 

Hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for visiting!



Teacher Appreciation Week - FWF #20

It was Teacher Appreciation Week at Marika's elementary school this week, so it was a good time to get crafty.

 I chose sketch #122 from CAS(E) this sketch...

 

As any of you know, Unity Stamp Co has many wonderful sentiment stamps. I used Thank You Teacher and You Make the Grade. The butterflies came from the newly released Butterfly Endearment kit (I used the small ones and cut two of the three out).

The inside sentiment is A+ Teacher but I cannot remember (again) which kit the note on the left belongs to. I don't know about anyone else, but I have a glass jar full of already- stamped "extra" Unity sentiments. However, after awhile, I can't remember which kit they belong to!

 

Today, the kids were supposed to bring in something sweet for their teacher. I used an old Quickutz die (mini takeout box) to make a cute box, stamped and embossed it (Thanks for Teaching), and then assembled it. I could stuff ten Andes mints inside, which was surprising. The tag is also from Unity Stamp Co...somewhere...





 

Last but not least, here's my new recipe for the week - One Pot Penne Pasta with Tomato & Basil. Except, of course, you notice that there's no penne pasta! I started out with tortellini, but then panicked that the water wasn't evaporating fast enough, so I threw some linguine in there, too. I did have to cook things quite a bit longer than I had expected BUT... this dish was a fabulous surprise! I was very skeptical about this whole "one pot" idea - but I had to try it before I knocked it - and the flavoring was REALLY good! The original recipe is vegetarian, but I added some shrimp (only because I forgot to buy some chicken breasts at the store) about 3 minutes before I turned the heat off. I will definitely be making this one again!

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend - thanks for visiting! Happy crafting! :)



FWF #19

Hope everyone is enjoying some springtime weather! We've already had days of 90+ degrees (the air-conditioner was going off in March!) but last night, we had a rainstorm and this is what we woke up to...

Yup, that be snow, folks! Those mountains represent the Lake Arrowhead/Big Bear region. It's May! Can you believe it?! Freaky weather!

It seems this is also the time for soccer girl birthday parties - another one of Marika's teammates is having a picnic party tomorrow, so it was time to make another soccer card.

 

 

I chose this sketch from The Deconstructed Sketch (#200) because the circle was perfect for the soccerball stamp I love to use. I also decided to try something different and make a two-sided card (like a postcard). Again, I used the royal blue color, since it's the club colors (Pateadores).

 

So here's the front...I was delighted to find some soccer washi tape while trying to organize my craft room...the takeout box on the right has a soccer charm necklace I made (since Jenna likes everything soccer)... (Wish With Your Heart {Sentiment Kit August 2014}). For the life of me, I cannot remember the kit from which "...make a wish" comes from...


And here's the "back" of the card...again, I cannot remember the Unity kit from which the "happy birthday" sentiment comes. Argh! It's been one of those days!

 

For my new "recipe of the week", I made Cream Cheese Wontons - a variation of crab ragoon. My mother rarely used to make crab ragoon and I remember that when she did, each of us only got one or two! Oh, the agony when you're a little kid! :)

 

 

DaddyDude really liked the recipe - I thought it was a pretty clever variation (not being fried!), though it probably would have been better if my wonton skins hadn't been sitting in the fridge for a few months. If I can figure out how to stop them from leaking (I'm sure this was my fault - there's a reason I don't bake, I usually forget to keep an eye on the oven), these would be great for a party appetizer. :)

Thanks for visiting my blog and happy crafting! 



Homemade is Better - FWF #18

Happy Friday, folks! Time for another Friends with Flair card - this past week, DaddyDude celebrated his birthday, so I made him a card.  I liked the cake in Damn You're Old, but didn't think he was ready to appreciate either of the accompanying sentiments, so I chose two sentiments from Wish With Your Heart (August 2014 Sentiment Kit) and Blossoming Thoughts and Wishes (March 2015 Sentiment Kit).

I liked the cake in Damn You're Old, but didn't think he was ready to appreciate either of the accompanying sentiments, so I chose two sentiments from Wish With Your Heart and

 

I found a fabulous new recipe for this week! Every other week or so, I cook a whole chicken in the crockpot and use the meat and stock for 3-4 meals. Not only is it economical, but it is super easy and delicious. I had half of a chicken left, so I searched Pinterest and found a recipe for Chicken, Broccoli, and Pasta Skillet Casserole. Perhaps even better, this recipe called for "Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup" (which you can use for many other dishes) and provided an easy version of it. The only changes I made to the skillet recipe were to omit the broiling step (to brown the cheese) and I added green onions for garnish. The kids and DaddyDude LOVED it. What a winner - easy and delicious! 

Thanks for visiting! Don't forget to check out the birthday sale at Unity Stamp Co! :)

Big sigh of relief - FWF #17

Happy Friday, folks! Hope everyone has had a great week!
At long last, our house is ours again. Yesterday, the last light issue was fixed and the lockbox (containing our house key) was removed. This morning, our designer came with a professional to photograph our kitchen in its uncluttered glory, so FINALLY we can begin moving things back downstairs. I will post before/during/after pictures of the remodel next week.

 

Marika is going to her first sleepover for her soccer teammate's birthday tonight. Half the team will be there and she is very excited to be "camping out" and making s'mores. Soccer friends and chocolate - how much better could it get for a ten-year old? :)

So, it was time to make a birthday card! I liked this sketch from My Favorite Things, because I wanted to showcase a soccer ball (when I did it for the last teammate, she was absolutely delighted). I have my fingers crossed that one day, Unity will create a soccer girl and a softball girl. :)

This stamp of a soccer ball isn't from Unity, but the awesome sentiment is from the March 2015 Sentiment Kit - Blossoming Thoughts and Wishes - carefully selected by Marika herself. The royal blue is for her team color. :)

 



For my recipe of the week, I chose to make Chicken Enchiladas with Sour Cream White Sauce. It was another winner with the family - everybody wanted seconds! I didn't change anything about the recipe, except to omit the final browning step (I'm always afraid I'll forget and things will burn up to a crisp). I used chicken that I had cooked in a slow cooker (I can usually make 3 meals from one chicken) and will surely be making this recipe again - it was also very quick and easy!

 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy crafting and cooking! :)

Finally using the hood - FWF #16

My friend had a bit of a rough weekend, which is making it feel like a bumpy week, poor thing. So, I wanted to make her a card to let her know I was thinking of her and would be there to help in any way...I used Sweet Sunday Sketch #237...

Although I will admit, I wanted to use Change is a Good Thing stamp set, but I couldn't find it! The upstairs is still a mess from the remodel, but we'll begin moving things back downstairs within the next week... :)

So, I opted to use Tree Love instead...it's a very cute stamp...and I had fun paper-piecing the image together...

For my new recipe this week, I was able to use the new range hood (yippee!) to make Italian Sausage Tortellini, which was posted on Kevin & Amanda's blog. In case you're not familiar with this blog, you might want to check it out - not only does she have delicious recipes, but for crafty peeps like us, she often posts FREE (adorable) fonts and she is a FANTASTIC photographer. But back to the recipe - it was quite yummy! The kids got seconds! I did, however, skip the spinach (to make the kids happy) and I used a whole package of 19 oz tortellini - there was still plenty of liquid in the pan. 

Hope you all have a crafty weekend! Thanks for visiting!