B & W Bling...

Recently our daughter Sophie and I were in the Capital City of Concord for a dental cleaning. It's a given that a Michael's trip will take place while in the area, considering it's a hundred mile round trip! While searching out the $1 spot we happened onto some fun black and white items. Immediately... I thought of Alli over at Rubber Rambles and all the incredible black & white cards that she's always posting to her blog. Definitely worth a look see... *wink*

Home we came... with spools of this sheer white and black polka dot ribbon, along with black and white polka dot ribbon and black and white epoxy stickers to send off to Alli in the United Kingdom.

I thought I'd give it a whirl at creating one of these cards... what a challenge and no where as wonderful as Alli's creations. This card uses Stampin' Up! black cardstock stamped with Stampin' Up! Dots & Daisies in Stampin' Up! White Craft ink embossed with Stampin' Up! white ep. I then used both Marvy Uchida Scallop Punches for layering my Rhonna Farrer flower that were embossed, cut and layered with dimensionals. Accessories consist of Swarovski flat black crystals the size of the Hope Diamond and ribbon. *wink*

Items to the left along with my card are headed off to surprise Alli in the UK... hope she likes her RAK! Mums the word.... *wink*

I look forward to our next visit. Until then...

Hillside View...

The red barn pictured is located at Hillside Inn on Newfound Lake in historic Hebron, New Hampshire. This barn has been photographed during all seasons for calendars of most pictorial sites in New England.

Every year a wreath is hung on the front for Christmas.

I have the pleasure of passing this barn a few times a week... I never tire of it's beauty.

I look forward to our next visit. Until then...

SURPRISE... HaPpY cAkE n' CaNdLe DaY...

I'm inviting all of bloggyland to celebrate my best friend Mel! I couldn't start my day without acknowledging this incredibly special lady that I have the pleasure of calling my F-R-I-E-N-D all these years!!! I truly hope that your day's as SPECIAL as you are to us. Everyday is a good day to celebrate you! Who loves ya... *wink*

I will be posting a goodie or two to share with YOU later. *wink* In the meantime have a piece of cake and enjoy the celebration!

I look forward to our next visit. Until then...

TAG Your It...

There's a whole lot of tagging going on in Bloggyland! *wink* I was tagged for lurping on Susan's blog... So here goes...

A-Available or Taken: Married my best friend Dave... of twenty years.

B-Best Friend: After answer A, you know who you are. *wink*

C-Cake or Pie: Never met a piece of cake or pie I didn't like, but Tiramisu

D-Drink of Choice: (summer) Homemade ice tea with lemon. (winter) Flavored coffees.

E-Essential Item (s) Used Everyday: Hair dryer, toothbrush, computer & phone. *wink*

F-Favorite Color: Don't really have one, but do favor greens.

G-Gummy Bears or Worms: Not a household staple.

H-Hometown: Plymouth, NH

I-Indulgence: Dinner & Movie with Hubby.

J-January or February: FEBUARY-Valentine's and closer to spring's arrival.

K-Kids & Names: Sophie (only)

L-Life Is Incomplete Without: GOD & My family

M-Marriage Date: May 11th

N-Number of Siblings: None

O-Oranges or Apples: Love both (winter) Clementines, apples aren't hard & crisp.

P-Phobias or Fears: Something will prematurely happen to my loved ones, dive bombed by
birds (really happened) & mice (on my outside porch) *wink*

Q-Favorite Quote: I love quotes... I have many that rank amongst my favorites.

R-Reason To Smile: My life and all the blessings that God has bestowed me.

S-Season: Fall... offers wonderful color, sweater weather, apple picking, etc...

T-Tag 3 or 4 People: Hmmm, how about Mel, Asela & Anna plus my fourth would be you...
yes, you read me correctly. If your reading this, consider yourself tagged! *wink*

U-Unknown Fact About Me: It's UNKNOWN.

V-Vegetable You Don't Like: Not partial to Asparagus

W-Worst Habit: According to hubby, too many to list. *wink*

X-X-rays: Teeth, knee & ultrasounds (2) (hubby says this should be Xerox, not X-ray) *wink*

Y- Your Favorite Food: Italian Cuisine.

Z-Zodiac Sign: Cancer

Whew... I made it! It's your turn to play if your lurping out there in Bloggyland? When your finished be sure to let me know so that I can come pay you a visit. *wink* Susan, thanks for including me and your blog is wonderful... now that I've outted myself, I'll be sure to leave a comment or two when I come to visit.

I look forward to our next visit. Until then...

...Dots. Dots. & BLOOMIN' Dots...

Finally a moment to sit and play. My newly acquired brown floral paper by Diecuts With A View was my inspiration for this card. The base of the card consists of apricot appeal cardstock stamped with Stampin' Up! On the Spot in chocolate chip along with Stampin' Up! Aida Cloth in apricot appeal ink. The brown floral border was punched using the Stampin' Up! slit punch to create scallops. In lieu of a ribbon border, a strip of certainly celery cardstock stamped with Stampin' Up! All In A Row in chocolate chip ink was applied. Happy Birthday sentiment, stem & vase are by Inkadinkado from their new acrylic set

Special Florals. Flower layers were cut out of real red & brown floral paper using the Cuttlebug

2 X 2 Flower dies by Provocraft and layered with dimensionals. Flower center was stamped using Stampin' Up! Seeing Spots and punched out with Stampin' Up! 1/2" circle punch. Finishing touches consist of Stampin' Up! apricot 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and pearl accent. These are not colors of choice or norm for me, but I was pleased with how this creation turned out in the end.

I look forward to our next visit. Until then...

Finally...

Our forecaster was telling us to brace ourselves for a good 8 inches of snow by Monday; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Once again... it appears that it's going to be a wintery mix that's going to create some seriously bad traveling for folks. We might only see three inches by tomorrow. Safe travels everyone. I guess we won't be needing our shovels afterall...

I look forward to our next visit. Until then...

Update as of 1/16... We didn't reach the estimated 8 inches as forecasted. We experienced a severe wintery mix throughout our day making the roads rather messy for traveling. As of 5 AM this morning we are expecting windchill factor to reach 30 below zero. The southern part of New Hampshire experienced an ice storm that left upwards of 24,000 people without electricity... as the old saying goes... "Wait five minutes and the New England weather will change!" Stay safe and here's to the return of power soon. I'll take snow any day over ice!

*If anyone out there in bloggyland knows how to remove these borders around my smileys I'd sure appreciate the help... thanks!*

ALL Lurker's...

It's National De-Lurking Week!

All visitors are cheerfully encouraged to introduce oneself...

Long after de-lurking week has passed I hope you will continue to leave a post or two...

So what are you waiting for... post your introduction here! I'm always interested in meeting new faces. *wink*

I look forward to our next visit, until then...

A Bit ZoO-y...

I was approach-ed just prior to Christmas by our school's secretary, Mrs. J on making her granddaughter's first birthday card. So, it was without hesitation that I agreed!

Fortunately for me, I was the lucky recipient of the Stampin' Up! Wild About You set from my good friend Ang for Christmas. *wink* On the other hand I was unfortunate when my creativity decided to take a longer sabbatical than agreed by the two of us. *rolling eyes* However...not only did I come up with one, but make that two cards for Mrs. J to choose from today. So without further a do...

For my first card, I chose to use a square design using certainly celery cardstock stamped with On the Spot background. The ticket punch was used on the corners of the birthday paper by Diecuts With A View. The elephant was stamped twice in going gray and cut-out and layered using dimensionals onto the scalloped punched circle. The dots were applied within the scallops with a white gelly roll pen. Final touches consist of white organdy ribbon, wiggle eye and punched Bazzill flower.


My second card was made using tempting turquoise cardstock stamped with Dots & Daisies in tempting turquoise ink. Flower centers were applied using a white gelly roll pen. The oval was cut using a Coluzzle cutting system and embossed using the happy birthday embossing folders by Cuttlebug. Lavendar lace cardstock was punched using the Marvy Uchida scalloped oval. Scallops were pierced and then glittered using Art Glitter Ultrafine transparent Angel Dust. Elephant was stamped twice, cut-out and mounted using dimensionals. Final touches consist of white organdy ribbon, wiggle eye and punched flower. All items used are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated.

... another happy customer! *wink*

I look forward to our next visit, until then...

Simply *LeT iT sNoW*...

It's a rather unusual year here in New Hampshire without any snow to speak of. So I decided that I would conjure up a little snow with this Christmas thank-you card. I must say that it's much nicer in person. The glitter made it a bit of a challenge to photograph. *wink*

One down with the rest requiring some assembly prior to being mailed this week. Then it's on to the next project!

Supplies:

Stamps: Aida Cloth, The Snowflake Spot, Merry Holiday Borders

Paper & Ink: Ballet Blue, Certainly Celery, Confetti White, Real Red, Shimmery White

Accessories: 3/4", 1 1/8" & 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Ultra Fine "Angel" Dust Glitter, Dimensionals, 3/16" Red Gingham

"Clearly Impressive" Stamp Sampler...

$33.00 - 1 year/6 issues

$62.95 - 2 years/12 issues

$91.95 - 3 years/18 issues

This year marked my subscription renewal with Stamper Sampler. Generally I take a one year subscription. However... I was "Clearly Impressed" with the offer of a FREE limited edition set of acrylic stamps by artists Christine Adolph, Julie Van Oosten, & Michelle Ward. Not to mention a savings of twenty dollars and forty-five cents with a two year subscription. This deal couldn't be sweeter... unless your husband's as wonderful as mine. *wink*

Take a peek over at Stampington & Company. Enjoy your visit!

"Great Cookies For A Great Cause"...

Friday; January 5th began our troop's three weeks, of door to door sale of Girl Scout cookies. Be supportive of your local troop by purchasing cookies so these girls can earn their way to camp this year.

Update as of 1/29... Sophie sold a total of 119 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. Those of you who purchased cookies from Sophie... Thank-you!

Mile HIGH Favorite...

Today was a good
day for baking a
family favored recipe.

This isn't just a fav of
family and friends.
A few of the AES teachers
(past, present and future) are sure to mention
that apple week is coming and you will be making apple crisp again this year!?!

Well Dave decided to stop at the local grocer on his way home
looking for a 'sweet' treat (unsuspecting of the treat that lay in wait
of his arrival). Dave was staking out the Pepperidge Farm cakes...
when Mrs. S (Gr.1) mentioned that he wouldn't need to spend his
money on a cake when he had a 'mile high' apple crisp awaiting him at home. Then without skipping a beat... Mrs. S told my husband, "maybe your wife didn't make you any!" Do I know him or what... *wink*

Mile High Apple Crisp...

4 C. peeled and sliced, Cortland apples (approx. 3 lbs.)

3/4 C. brown sugar, packed

1/2 C. all-purpose flour

1/2 C. oats

1/3 C. butter/margarine, softened

3/4 t. ground cinnamon

3/4 t. ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375. Arrange apples in greased 10 inch pie plate. Mix remaining ingredients; sprinkle over apples. Bake until topping is golden brown and apples are tender, approx. 30 min. Serve warm and, if desired, with cream or vanilla ice cream.

Guaranteed to bring a mile HIGH smile... indulge your tastebuds... ENJOY!

Springing Into A New Year...

Yesterday was officially New Year's and me without a computer! Unfortunately, our household awoke to a phone outage due to the snow and freezing rain we experienced throughout New Year's day. Our family wishes you and yours a blessed New Year in 2007.

This card was created using Stampin' Up! Petal Prints and Hero Arts 'hello' Sentiment. The card front consists of mellow moss with leaf image stamped in old olive. Tags are created using a marker and second generation technique with blossoms of eggplant envy and more mustard mounted with dimensionals. The organdy ribbon is loosely threaded and knotted as a finishing touch. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of spring that is yet one of nature's promises.