what's for dinner?

i'm currently pondering the answer to this question on this lovely November day.

i could quite possibly be leaving you soon for a little bit of take-out, or maybe i'll be inspired by my fridge selections. who knows?

anyway, i hope you have been enjoying some of the fall things happening now... i feel a little out of sorts with the season changing, because today in WA we had 70 + degree weather--totally record breaking! so different from our normal downpours :D

the card i made has a really simple design--the main sentiment panel is a Cosmo Cricket label from "early bird" collection, i believe. the yellow heart patterned paper is Sassafras, and it's perfect. i tucked a doily and a Bazzill flower behind the upper portion of the label, and added vintage buttons topped with pearls--so pretty, huh?

this card would be perfect for a busy mom or grandma who's always running around getting things done. do you ever feel like that? hehe, i KNOW you do. anyway, i really think that's it for today, other than to say that...

1) i'm still doing NaNoWriMo, which makes me crazy, and busy, together.

2) i got my own internet!!! *yay* this happened one day ago. i should be commenting more, and posting more too.

3) i go on a scrapbook retreat for 3 days on nov 12-14... so super excited for dedicated craft time!

and i hope you all have a lovely night! XOXOX

all shapes and sizes

still posting some of the older projects from my computer. today's comes from an afternoon when i made some zuchinni bread and muffins to share with other teachers at school. this tag was for the cheerleading coach and the home ec teacher... (and it was actually in the shape of a triangle flag--a leftover that i had from a banner project for school.)

this little baggie was for my co-teacher, and it housed three of the muffins i made. i used a group of papers from my 'red scrap' pile. since i've been in love with banners lately, i thought that one would be cute to put on this bag with some bling in between.

oh, and another thing, i'm in love with doilies. like, hardcore in love. so much it's almost sick. i love how this doily looks with the Cosmo Cricket "hey there cookie" panel. i just do.

and that's that for the zucchini bread. i love making bread. especially banana bread. i have some bananas waiting to be transformed that i've been saving in my freezer... maybe i'll dig up some free time this weekend to work on a loaf or two :D

thanks for stopping by, and also for leaving your encouraging comments! they mean a lot to me. btw, i think that you'll like some of the projects i have coming up. at least, i hope you will! ta ta, have a lovely day!

you are special...

you really are. i can't believe you stop by and read my blog. it makes ME feel special. but really, we're still talking about you here. (how do i get off on tangents sooo quickly? it must be a disease *le sigh*)

today's card comes from the vaults and crannies in my computer.

i am reorganizing my craft room which is sort of out of commission (making way for a bigger table, which means i'll now have 3 work surfaces to crowd with paper, etc!) and i haven't posted a lot of the projects i have on my computer.

this card was made specifically for a teacher that had to leave our school because her military husband was moved to a different base across the country. i was originally going to give her a smaller card, but realized it wouldn't hold all of the signatures/ well-wishes that my staff would be writing, so the card is HUGE (i used a whole 8.5 x 11 sheet)!

and that's it. i have a proverbial pile of projects that need to be posted, so look for them later.

thanks for stopping by, i hope your weekend is fabulous!

the new busy

**EDIT: as i look at the 'scheduled date' on this post, i notice that it's about three weeks late. and since i figure you deserve to know what i was {{GOING}} to say, i'll just publish the old post part in RED. so then just look for the regular 'now' stuff in black at the bottom. cool? good.**

oh hey. yeah, so i think i owe you an apology. i've been absent from the blog as of late.

it's one of those things... school started, swim coaching continued, practice times got changed, the internet i'm mooching off of someone else in my apartment complex has been UBER splotchy and sketch lately, and then there's the fact that i've been doing more baking and cooking recently which has to do with a budget crunch in my world... should get better after October (which is still a long ways away!), and i just haven't been around.

so i guess that's my excuse? which, i hate getting as a teacher, but i figure you all should know what's been going over here.

moving on.

i made a quiche on sunday night! (this was after i made three homemade pizzas... crust and everything to have as a lunch option this week.) it was lovely. i didn't follow a recipe really, but i looked online at a few places to give me a starting point for portions. i took a picture. i know it's cheating to just show you a picture and not the recipe, but frankly, i'm too tired to link it up.

so how 'bout you search 'quiche' in Google-land and do what i did and make it up? i bet it'll taste awesome! i mean, it has eggs and CHEESE, right? right. so yes, we're good.

oh, and random fact #23: i still have sand in the front pocket of my hoodie from a trip i took to the beach this summer. VERY recent discovery, btw. i've even washed this thing a few times (well, maybe just one). so, i put my cell phone in there to keep it toasty (well, actually, more like to keep it handy) and i pulled it out a minute ago and it had all these little specks of sand on it. grr. annoying! (said like Gru from "Despicable Me" would say, "LIGHTBULB!!!" hehe... makes me smile every time!) just thought you should know.

fun fact #57: a little seventh grade boy cut his hair because of me and what i said in class. i felt bad. for about a minute. and then i realized it was beneficial to both of us that he could now see out of his eyes instead of swiping them to the side every 3 seconds.

that is all.

so back to the regularly scheduled program. ha! so swimming ended yesterday--we had our last meet of the season, and now all that is left to do is have an end of the year banquet and send out the lettering certificates, etc.

i have a project for you (well, kinda a project). i made a whole bunch of fall leaves from my Cricut. i used the "Stretch Your Imagination" and "Wild Card" cartridges. i cut a HUGE pile of leaves out of a HUGE stack of paper (patterned and sort of matching). they're now hanging around my apartment making my place look more fall-like. i went to the thrift store the other day and picked up all the ribbon/ bias tape that is holding all the leaves together.

doesn't it make my curtains and blinds look awesome? i thought so.

oh, and did i mention? i'm participating in NaNoWriMo again this year.

you might remember from last year how i took on the challenge of writing 50,000 words in 30 days (about 1,667 words/ day). this year is going to be bigger and better! i'm getting a lot of students involved at school, and they're super excited about it... so great to see young minds trying something 'new' and 'hard.'

oh, besides the leafy garland, i've been doing some prep for a scrapbook retreat i'm going on in Nov. i went last spring with my co-teacher Jen, and we had a BLAST, and i got sooo much work done, and i'm totally looking forward to it this year. we're leaving school to go straight up to the Hilton in Seattle a few weeks before Thanksgiving to get productive (or not! :D hehe!) last year, i totally loved getting to know some new girlies and getting a new nickname 'Tonic.' ha! i think that all crafters have a magical bond, don't you?

anyway, that's it for today, sorry again, and please feel free to harass me next time i'm gone so long... i DO succumb to peer pressure in that regard! :D

DeNami Blog Hop Cuddly Critters

welcome to the DeNami Design blog hop! every stop you make on the way is featuring some of the cute cuddly creatures that everyone seems to love, including me! so let's see what's going on...

if you're following along, you should have come from Anne Harada's blog, and now you're here! if you didn't start at the beginning, you can go back and start at the DeNami blog here!

i hope you're having as much fun as i am as we look at all the lovely creations that DeNami lovers have made :D so here we go, on to my cuddly creature project!

i was thinking of using a 'spring' chickie, but couldn't come up with a solid idea, so i switched gears and pulled out the cutest little snow chickie... he seriously makes me smile :D

i tried to make things a little vintage-y and i pulled out some Cosmo Cricket papers. i also tied a few ribbons together--satin and seam binding/ aka crinkle ribbon.

you can see i made a matching envelope (decorated both the front and back with some simple borders and ribbons) and i think it adds a ton to the project...

this card is completely in non-traditional 'Christmas' colors, but i absolutely love it! a few flowers here, some glitter there, oh! and don't forget the bling! :D

alright! thanks for stopping by today, i hope you have fun... be sure to hop on over to Teresa E's blog, and see what loveliness she's created!

i love you x2!

okay, you remember yesterday? super quick post and multiple cards (in different colors)? yeah?

well... same thing here :D

yeah, i was on a roll when i perfected this design... the tags + ribbon + button = too cute to only make one card! :D

so...

here we have the same basic idea, except that you can't really see the stamping along the bottom strip of the orange card stock... there are little hears like the yellow one on the tag, the filled heart is from SU! and the outline is from PTI's Tiny Treats set. (same with the sentiment and the circle frame.)

oh, and if you didn't catch it yesterday, i'm kinda addicted to pleated paper as a new border strip. i think it's pretty sweet :D

thanks for stopping by, and also for your lovely comments... they sure cheer me up when i get back from a long day at school (or the pool!)

hope you have a great day!

beautiful blushing dahlias

really quick post today! hope your week isn't hectic like mine... i've been at school SOOO much this week and last getting all prepped for school--things are coming together in my classroom, but i still have lots to do.

here are some cards featuring PTI's Delightful Dahlia set... i used some of the flowers and leaves as background on the bottom of the card, and then stamped them on the tags that i tied off with ribbon and buttons!

i also used MM Girlfriend paper (the pink polka dots) and pleated the paper to create a fun border strip along the bottom...

i think that if you follow my blog at all, you know that i like to make multiples of the same design/ card so that i have something handy when the need for a gift or card arises... these were made for those 'just in case' times :D

thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments... it's so good to hear from you! i'll do my best to post again this week, but no guarantees as i'll probably be trapped at school--hehe :D