One Thing Leads to Another...

When I first made this Mother's Journal in lavender (below), I had a special request for a Grandma's Journal from Crystal, my DH's cousin. So this sweet little tyke (above) was brought to life. She's going to use it to remember all the cute and silly things her grandchildren say and do. What an excellent idea!

A Mother's Journal ~ Lavender

A Mother's Journal ~ Vibrant Pink

A Mother's Journal ~ Soft Pink & Green

Isn't it fun to see how one stamped image can look so different each time you use a different color palette? Have a great day everyone. :)

My Paper House :)

This past weekend I finally settled down and tried making one of these paper houses. I've run across them on different blogs throughout the past year or so and would always tell myself that I'd like to give one a try. Well, I finally did. I should have been doing housework, but opted to play instead. It was so funny, because my kids and my hubby kept asking me why I was making a paper house? "Just cuz...." That's what I told them. :)
I wanted to use some of my fun new supplies from McMahon Five Designs.

I used LOTS and LOTS of die-cuts, including my newest Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes and Hanging Sign. I turned the sign into the door and used the other part as a finial along the top of the roof. The shingles on the roof are made up of a border punch like what you see along the bottom edge of the house, which I then cut into little shingle pieces and used my Glossy Accents to glue them on individually. Painstaking, but fun and what a nice effect it made. Then there are Spellbinder die-cuts accented with Stardust Stickles.

This is the back and side view of the house.
Look and my cute little doorknob. It's an eyelet (simply glued on with Glossy Accents and a little aqua bauble added to it.) TOO CUTE!!! I can always count on Glossy Accents to adhere anything in addition to adding that shiny effect when I want it. It's very sturdy and always dries crystal clear.
I'm just loving all the texture and of course added a couple of my favorite seashells.
I took this picture with some different lighting because if you look very closely, you can see the textured walls of the house have a thin layer of Distress Stickles Rock Candy spread all over. Its a great effect and looks really neat, but doesn't show up very well in these photos. Thanks for stopping by. :)

I'm linking to these challenges:
The Pink Elephant - the color aqua
GingerSnap 70 - punches
Aly's Sunday Challenge 25 - sparkle and glitter
Southern Girls Challenge #1 - anything goes

I LOVE Green Chili!!!

I don't believe there is any better indicator that Fall has arrived, than the delicious aroma of roasting Green Chili that fills the air in all of New Mexico each year. :)

I usually buy a big bag of green chili at the Farmer's Market and have it roasted right there on site in their big outdoor roasters, and then bring it home to peel, dice and freeze. But, my sweet neighbor that shared his tomatoes with me last weekend also brought a bunch of his green chili to me as well. So this time I roasted it myself. (Never done that before).

It's very easy though. You simply wash the chilies and then put them onto a cookie sheet and broil them on all sides until the skins are blackened as you see in the above picture. (This loosens the skins).

Then you wrapped them up in some damp towels for about 15 minutes to let them steam.

Once the chilies have cooled enough to touch, you simply peel the skins from the pods, remove most of the seeds and dice them up. Then you can put them into freezer bags in portions that work for your family and freeze them. I made smaller portions this time, because this batch is a HOT one.

Now, that this yummy project is completed, I can get back to the CRAFT PROJECT I've been working on. I hope to have it finished in the next day or so to share with you.

"Life is too short, grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can't change. Love deeply and forgive quickly. Take chances, give everything. Have no regrets. Life is too short to be unhappy." unknown

Homemade Tomatoe Soups... Sauces... etc.

Step 1. Get out your Handy Dandy Tomato Press and Stock Pot.

Step 2. Prepare your work area.

Step 3. Wash tomatoes and then put them into boiling water.

Step 4. When the skins of the tomatoes split open, remove from boiling water.

Step 5. Put tomatoes into the tomato press and turn the handle. The tomato pulp and juices go into the large container, while the skins and seeds fall into the cup under the side area.

Step 6. Let all eager kids help with this part. :) Once all of your tomatoes are pressed you can follow your favorite recipes and make soups, sauces, and even ketchup.

I've never made ketchup yet, but I love to make soups and sauces. When you have an abundance of home grown tomatoes and are the only one in the house that likes them fresh, (I know, what a bummer) then a tomato press comes in very handy. I usually grow Roma Tomatoes, but didn't get to it this year. However, my elderly neighbor had tons from his garden this year and shared with me this past weekend. So, I was able to get out my tomato press this year after all. :)

We Remember

May God bring peace and comfort to you all, today and everyday.

It's Adventure Time!

I've been a little bit crazy with the kids this past week, but wanted to take some time to share another pirate themed card. I was rummaging through my many storage bins of stamps and ran across this image that I'd picked up in Florida last summer by Cornish Heritage Farms. I understand they have (sadly) closed their store. I hadn't ever had a chance to use it yet.... until now. I just love pirate images, (kind of falls into that ocean/beach theme I SO love) and this one is no exception. This card will be perfect to give one of my boys sometime in the future. And LOOK at the super-cool TEAK WOOD PAPER from McMahon Five Designs that I used with my Cuttlebug Embossing Folder ~ Lace Door. I just pulled out the center of it to leave the opening for the image. This wood paper cuts wonderfully in these die-cuts. As always, I love when you stop by and visit me. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and stay safe! :)

Ahoy There Mateys!!!

Hi! It's been so long since I've had a chance to play along with my dear friends and former team mates over at the Midnight Madness that I just had to carve out a bit of time this week so I could join in the fun. I purchased this sweet image of Pirate Luka from La-La Land Crafts a couple of weeks ago and have been having such a fun time coloring him. The gorgeous papers are Basic Grey Cappella and the pretty vintage lace is by Prima, both of which can be found at McMahon Five Designs. Have a wonderful Monday and thanks for stopping by. :)

Ohhh... for the Love of Beads!!!

Some days the question of whether to play with paper crafts or beads is too big a question. I was going through some of my picture files today and ran across this set I made a while back, so I thought it would be fun to share. I wear these all the time. One thing for sure is I'm always drawn to this color, no matter what the medium.

Vintage Mermaid by Crafty Secrets

Well, here she is... I've been playing with some of my newest supplies from McMahon Five Designs and I must say this new Cuttlebug embossing/die-cut is SO COOL!!!! I just love the texture and intricate frame created by it. I actually started out with a plain piece of white card stock. After running it through my Big Shot to cut and emboss the piece, I sponged on SU Turquoise ink and then spritzed with Pirate's Plunder Gold from Lindy's Stamp Gang. What an excellent shimmery effect!

The image is from the Crafty Secrets Mermaid stamp set. I've never used any Crafty Secrets stamps before and I was really impressed with the quality of the images. After stamping, I embossed with clear eb powder. Then I water colored and accented with Stickles Glitter Glue. There are a couple of Basic Grey Pearls in the corners. The ric-rac and seamstress lace came from a collection of sewing supplies that once belonged to my hubby's grandmother. These boxes were passed on to me this summer and I've been sorting through it all for the last several weeks. And let me tell you that stash of goodies is a treasure trove for sure! I will using lots of odds and ends from it in my future creations. Thanks for stopping in to visit me. I hope everyone is having a great day.

Bonnie has Blog Candy!

Heads up everyone! If you are looking for a fun chance to win some AWESOME BLOG CANDY, be sure to head on over to Bonnie's blog to sign up. Have a great day! :)

I'm One Proud Mama :)

CNM Community College ~ What a beautiful campus out on the west side of the city this is! It's about a 25 minute drive, but will be easy enough to get to for my oldest son and because it's a smaller campus, there won't be any parking issues like there are at the main campus.

I took him out bright and early this morning to CNM's Westside Campus to pick up his books for his classes that start next week. OMG! I am SO thankful he qualified for the NM Scholarship program. Everything so far has been covered by it. His books for 5 classes came to over $500.00! Yikes! But, I'm so excited for him. He's decided to work toward an associates degree in Pre-Management and will be able to then transfer to the University of New Mexico in two years to continue on towards his bachelors degree if he chooses to when the time comes. He has so much ahead of him to look forward to and I just want the best for him. I'm so lucky he is such a good boy. :)

A Mother's Journal

I can hardly believe that it's been so long (almost a month), since I've had anything to share. It sure felt good to get back to some crafting. This is a little something that's been rolling around in my head all summer long and I've only now gotten to actually bring it to life. I purchased the stamp this past Spring and I've had this little journal from the dollar store in my stash for a while, just waiting to be altered.

When you are a new mom, life can get so busy. I thought a little journal like this would be a perfect gift for jotting down those precious first moments in a baby's life, like first smile, details from doctors visits... or even just thoughts, hopes and dreams for a precious new life. It's a nice small size that can be tucked into a pocket of a diaper bag to keep with you all the time. Then Mom or Dad can write little things down as they happen, making them less likely to be forgotten. Babies grow so fast and remembering their first moments is so special.

I'm entering this into:
Mojo Monday sketch
The Pink Elephant ribbon and sparkle
Cute Card Thursday leaves