Presents for a Princess

My niece Katie turned 3 a couple of weeks ago but her birthday party is this Saturday. I decided to incorporate her favorite color which she told me was purple into the gift bag and the princess theme into her card. Sorry I can't reveal her gifts because she likes to look at my blog and I would hate to blow my cover!

I decided to "spruce up" the plain purple gift bag that I bought for her gifts. I wrapped the gifts individually and then put them in the bag so she could have a little fun unwrapping all of her goodies. I then brought out the Big Shot and used my new alphabet die set to personalize the bag for her. Simply pick out the cardstock and roll it through the Big shot which does most of the hard work.

Then I just adhered the letters to the bag to spell out "Happy Birthday Katie!"

(Please disregard the fact that the rows aren't in alignment - it's already driving me nuts but I have to just let it go, I don't think Katie will mind)

Then I filled it to the brim with gifts that any 3 year old girl would love.

Then it was time to move onto the card fit only for a little Princess. I decided to use pink instead of the purple this time - please forgive me Katie.

Supplies Used:

• Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Melon Mambo
• Ink: Melon Mambo
• Stamps: Princess Time
• Punches: Scallop circle, eyelet border, circle
• Accessories: Bazzill ribbon, ribbon metal embellishment, rhinestones, big shot with polka dot texture plate

Our Little Surprise

We had quite the surprise on Saturday - not only did we go from 65 degree weather on Friday to a snowstorm on Saturday but this little snowman magically appeared in our front yard. Notice it's facing the house and not the street. We followed the foot prints and saw that they led to our neighbor's house. When you ask the twins next door who made the snowman you get two different answers. Liam says that "gypsies" built the snowman but Emily tells us that "these guys" built the snowman while pointing to her brother and dad. I have to say it put quite a smile on our faces. Isn't the snowman cute?

So spill the beans....have you left a little surprise for your neighbors? We are trying to brainstorm and come up with a little something for our neighbors as well. It has to be rated G so get those dirty ideas out of your head.

Tanner's First Bike Ride

Tanner - Cruising in Style!

At work we have a recognition program where you can turn in points earned for really cool stuff. I used some of my points recently to get this black North Face jacket and also this dog bike carrier for Tanner. Stop laughing - I can hear you! I love my pup to death and we hate leaving him all of the time especially since he LOVES the outdoors and fresh air. Dave attached the carrier to my bike and I've been anxiously waiting for the snow to melt and for a decent day to take him for a little ride. Dave kept saying, he's going to hate it and it will never work but I was determined to get him comfortable and slowly take him for longer and longer rides. Tonight after handling a late afternoon crisis, I said come on Dave, we are taking Tanner for a ride. He reluctantly went into the carrier, I strapped him in so he's safe and can't jump off. Amazingly he calmed down and we took off - HE LOVED IT! David was amazed and I was so happy that we could now enjoy bike rides together as a family. I went around the block and let me tell you, heads were turning and I never saw so many smiles on peoples faces. What's not to love about an adorable little pup going for a ride attached to the front of a bike.

P.S. Please forgive me for not doing my hair or make-up, it was a work from home day. Also I always wear a bike helmet, just not for the pics - promise!

Playing around with my blog...

My blog and I are friends again and she has convinced me to give her a bit of a make-over. I'm playing around - do you love her new banner or what? Do you like the big pictures? If not don't worry, we are still playing around.....

Best Wishes Card Creation

On Sunday I had a group of my gal pals over for the afternoon to make some cards using Stampin Up products of course. With David out of town, I really enjoyed getting ready for the party and creating some unique cards. I wanted to make sure that the cards would allow the girls to try different techniques but also fun for those at different levels of experience with card making. We made 2 cards and this was the first one.

Can you see all of the texture yumminess?

Polka dots and texture – it’s just too much!

Supplies Used:

• Paper: very vanilla, old olive, bermuda bay, patterned cardstock
• Ink: chocolate chip, regal red (used markers instead of inkpads)
• Stamps: oval all
• Accessories: corner rounder, pink ribbon (American Crafts), big shot with polka dot impressions texture plate

Note: all products used are Stampin Up unless otherwise noted.

Creating collages

was playing around in Picasa and was really liking how easy it was to make a nice collage. What do you think? Do you like the look of a nice little collage or are you a one photo at a time type of person? I like that I can include all of my favorite pictures from the last few months all in one snapshot and then blog it right from Picasa - I think I love you Picasa and I'm sorry I have neglected you for the last month. I'll visit you more often, you too blog - I miss you too!

Oatmeal Crispies – Pioneer Woman Style

  CHOP the pecans.

 MIX the butter and sugars.

BEAT the eggs and vanilla.

 MIX the white ingredients with the brown ingredients.

 POUR in the oats and pecans and mix.

Roll it into a log and wrap it in waxed paper.

BAKE & EAT!

I love all of Pioneer Woman’s recipes and had to try the Oatmeal Crispies out with my friends that came over on Sunday for my card-making party. It makes 2 large logs and I kept the other in the fridge until my husband got back from his guy’s weekend. He felt extra special arriving home  to freshly baked cookies (bonus points for me). He then rewarded me with a gift that came in a little blue box – you win honey, you can go on another guy’s weekend next year!

Check out the recipe here. What can I say, her photography kicks my @$% but I still had fun snapping some pics of my labor of love.

Bulls vs. Mavericks Game

David and I headed down to see the Bulls play the Mavericks at the United Center. We got tickets from some friends at the last minute and they were awesome seats! We sat on the floor behind the basket in the 8th row. We also had aisle seats so I was able to take lots of pictures in addition to cheering the Bulls on. We didn’t cheer loud enough I guess because they didn’t win but we sure tried.

Here’s a few pictures of our fun date night.

David – brought out the Bulls hat for the game.

Me – waving my “brick” sign and balloons to distract those shooting free-throws. It worked once!

 At the beginning of he game, Coach Lovie and his new recruits showed up at the game and waltzed right by me. I wasn’t quick enough to get a picture with them but this counts I guess. Chicago welcomed the new players to town with a round of applause – hopefully they’ll live up to that next year.

Did you watch the game? Did you see me waving my sign and balloons? Probably not but that’s ok, it was an awesome game but best of all I spent it with David.

It’s Official – I’ve Completed the 30 Day Shred

It’s official, I have managed to complete the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, and I’m alive to talk about it- barely! There are 3 work-outs on the DVD and I’ve managed to successfully complete the 1st and 2nd work-outs. Wow – they get progressively harder and more boot camp-ish if you know what I mean. When I was working out to the 2nd work-out I always told David to have the phone close by in case he needs to call 911 quickly. Seriously, it’s hardcore and intense. Also I’ll never make another bet like this again, committing to 30 days was the dumbest bet I’ve made and many nights I was working out at 10:30 on a work night. I’m also stubborn so I had to do it no matter what and that made me mighty grumpy at times.

Ok, enough about the bad stuff and on to the good stuff. I won the bet and David is treating me to Joe’s Stone Crab, my favorite restaurant in the US – seriously, it’s that good and I’ve been to some great places. The other upside is that physically I am so much stronger and it’s slowly starting to show. My waistline is whittling down but at a slow pace. Jillian says you can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days, I wish I could tell you those were my results but they weren’t. I’ve struggled a bit with doing the diet and the exercise at the same time. Working out intensely makes you very hungry but I still managed to lose 7 pounds. Good start I guess but so much more to go. Many are wondering – will you continue to exercise? Absolutely, I didn’t kill myself for 30 days for nothing and this was the jumpstart I needed.

P.S. I’m not sure when we will have our dinner downtown at Joe’s but don’t worry, I’ll take pictures! I want the best table in the restaurant and planning on going all out that evening including wearing a new dress I bought for the cruise.