SSNOTIME137***3-D FLOWERS***

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS -- 3-D flowers are the name of the game today. We have 3 options -- dig into your stash of purchased flowers to use on your creation, OR make your own 3-D flower using DP's and your punches or Nesties, OR you can make a 3-D flower out of ribbon -- MANY options today -- let's just bring forth some pretty and fun 3-D May Flowers!!! Can't WAIT to see!!!

I found these stacked boxes from Martha Stewart at our local Michael's and thought they would make a nice wedding cake for a bridal shower that I am going to. The boxes have a little dot embossing on them so they look like a real wedding cake.

The 3-d flowers are make following Debbie Olsen's quick tutorial HERE...

The paper is Graphic 45 and the studs are from Prima..

This was a quick project as the flowers come together quickly. A little satin and organza ribbon and a gift is made.

I also made a flower for the tag that I will attach to the gift as well.

Check out the design teams creations below as well as Sharon's details and awesome sample HERE***

AJ - THE WILLOW GARDEN
Jennifer - THE BUCK STAMPS HERE
Deb - DREAM IN COLOR
Jenny - ONE KRAFTY KAT

Barb - PAPER PURSUITS
Barb – EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER

Deb – PAPER, INK, SCISSORS, STAMPS

Teresa - ENJOYTHEVASUNSHINE

Tammy - STAMP HAPPY

FOODIE TUESDAY***

My husband is away, my younger son is working and moving his girlfriend and my older son is with his girlfriend so I made food***

I just love this recipe for Shrimp with Lemon and Pasta... I may have posted this a while back but its what I had so I did it again.



Scroll down for the recipe.




This is the easy home made foccacia off of the NOBLE PIG'S site. SO easy to put together and SO delicious***Check out the recipe HERE***

SHRIMP WITH LEMON AND PASTA***

I used two packages of 16-20 shrimp, thawed and tails left on

1 large package of spaghetti, cooked

3-4 T. good olive oil

3 cloves of garlic - finely chopped

zest of two lemons

juice of said lemons and extra pasta water if needed

a generous pinch of red pepper flakes ( I like it spicy)

Italian parsley - chopped

salt and pepper

Cook the pasta while you make the shrimp...

Pour the olive oil in a saute pan and heat... Cook shrimp until slightly pink... Add garlic and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add the zest and juice, pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook until the shrimp are pink.

Add the Italian parsely. Drain the pasta and pour into a nice bowl, add the shrimp and serve hot with the home made foccaccia... YUM!!!

My plate was empty again***

Take Time***

I love this set from Hero Arts... I stamped the coffee pot and the cup and colored them with Prismacolor and Lyra pencils and gamsol. Using up a few bit bin pieces I put the card together with the little sentiment... saying Take Time for coffee and a friend.

When you feel like coloring these are great images to do and then the card comes together very quickly if you keep it simple..

Have a great day everyone***

SSNOTIME136*** JOY FOLD CARD***

This fold for a card is just plain old FUN to do -- and super easy peasy lemon squeezy, as they say!!! It's kind of a little card on top of a larger card, backwards - LOL!!! Check out all the DT girls creations OR you can follow this tutorial written by Beate at SCS. We're sure to see a lot of fun results with this one!!!

The tutorial by Beate is for a regular 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card... I made mine 5" x 5"..

One piece of cardstock cut 8 1/2" x 5", scored at 3 1/2" and one piece of cardstock cut 7" x 3 1/2", scored at 3 1/2". The matted pieces are just cut to fit inside in any way you would like. You can mat three or four pieces if you like.

The card comes together very quickly and can be as complex as you would like. But since this is STAMP SIMPLY, I went simple and used Martha Stewarts Water lilly punch, punching it twice and layering them on top of each other with a dimensional and then added a nice big bold gemstone to accent the flower.

So the only stamping was the Birthday Wishes on the inside which is a Hero Arts sentiment.

Such an easy card to make but has such interest with all the folds... FUN!!

Check out everyone's creations and be sure to check out Sharon's site HERE for all the details!!

Tammy - STAMP HAPPY - taking this month off
AJ - THE WILLOW GARDEN
Jennifer - THE BUCK STAMPS HERE - not playing this week
Deb - DREAM IN COLOR
Jenny - ONE KRAFTY KAT

Barb - PAPER PURSUITS
Barb – EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER
Deb – PAPER, INK, SCISSORS, STAMPS

Teresa- ENJOY THE VA SUNSHINE - our guest designer for April

Thanks for stopping in and I hope you will give this card a try***

New Kaiser stamps***

I picked up this set from my local stamp store..."Stamp Art" here in London Ontario...

It is from Kaiser crafts. The leaf image was stamped with several different Cat's Eyes green and the bird was stamped with Cat's Eyes blues and purples... I stamped the bird and cut him out and just popped him up with a dimensional.

The paper is again from my bit bin. I always try to use at least one piece from my VERY LARGE bit bin.

I also used a little Pumice Stone distress ink around the egdes...

Thanks for stopping in!!!

Blooming Good Day***

I love these little chicks from "My Favorite Things."

I stamped her up with Memento Black ink and colored her with Copics. The grass is a stamp from Art Impressions.

The sentiment is from the same set... She is matted onto ink polka dot designer paper from my bit bin and chocolate brown cardstock from PTI...

The prima flowers are also from my flower stash with a copper brad holding two together.

I hope you all have a blooming good day!!!

RECIPE MONDAY***

Hi there!!! I put together this quick dinner last night but forgot to take pictures. So I had a leftover lunch and took a pic***
Grilled flank steak, roasted potatoes and a chickpea, tomatoe and feta salad.
( I left the potatoes for my son and hubby)



I seasoned the flank steak with salt and lots of freshly cracked black pepper and grilled it over high heat for about 6 minutes per side. Don't overcook it or it will taste like shoe leather.
Slice it across the grain and thinly.. You can get two decent sized flank steaks at Costco for about $15.00 ish dollars.
The potatoes were parboiled and then tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and a little chili powder, then roasted ina 400 degree oven until nice and crispy.

Here is the recipe for the chick pea salad... I ALWAYS have 10 or so tins of chickpeas in my cold cellar. They are cheap and always ready for salads like this, homemade hummus, vegetable burgers etc.

CHICKPEA SALAD

2 tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 red onion, diced
two handfuls of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
a good handful of Italian parsley, chopped
zest of one lemon
juice of said lemon
lots of salt and cracked black pepper
good extra virgin olive oil
about 1/2 cup or so of Greek Feta cheese

Toss all the ingredients except the feta with the oil and taste for seasoning. Add the crumbled feta and toss carefully. I sometimes have to add a little red wine vinegar for a little "oomph".

I will sometimes add a few tins of tuna to this salad for a nice lunch.. I always use tuna packed in olive oil too. I think the ones packed in water taste awful.

This salad will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.





Lunch was GOOD***


Thanks for stopping in and enjoy your week!!

SSNOTIME135*** A COLOR CHALLENGE

ETA: My card is 5" x 5"...

A STAMP SIMPLY COLOR CHALLENGE***

Sharon loves color challenges and I do too!! Sharon's STAMP SIMPLY CHALLENGE this week is to use Purples, Lavenders, Browns and Ivories. What a beautiful combination of colors.

My card is a thank you card for friends who very graciously fed us a fabulous meal and gave us a place to lay our heads when we were in Rhode Island.

The card base is ivory PTI cardstock, brown mat from PTI and Purple cardstock from my bit bin... I roughed up the edges on all the pieces and used Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord distress inks on the smaller piece of ivory cardstock before I stamped the image (which is from Inkadinkado) in Vintage Sepia ink with a little glitter thrown in for good measure.

The ribbon is from Sharon's store!! Gorgeous royal purple and ivory silk ribbon...

Check out all the details at Sharon's site HERE and link up your colorful creation to Mr. Linky!

And do check out all the fabulous work from out design team...

Tammy - STAMP HAPPY - taking this month off
AJ - THE WILLOW GARDEN
Jennifer - THE BUCK STAMPS HERE
Deb - DREAM IN COLOR
Jenny - ONE KRAFTY KAT

Barb - PAPER PURSUITS
Barb – EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER
Deb – PAPER, INK, SCISSORS, STAMPS

Teresa - ENJOY THE VA SUNSHINE - our guest designer this month

My Montreal Weekend***

Hi everyone*** I just arrived back from my long weekend away in Montreal visiting my friend Monica.. We have known each other for over 30 years and always try to visit at least once a year.
I also had the wonderful pleasure of seeing Lilly and Andrea, two of Monica's sisters... We spent the weekend on the family farm in Brome County.

The weather was horrible so we spent the majority of the days cooking, eating FABULOUS food, drinking great wine, talking, talking and talking some more...


Lilly was always the Chef de Cuisine!!






Here she is icing the Buttercream cake... 7 layers!!!
I cut the cake for her... It was very stressful!!

Three of the five Schaefer sisters...

Monica, Andrea and Lilly!!

Monica and Andrea...

Me*** cutting the cake into as many layers as I could!!!

It was yummy!!

Setting the table for dinner!

We had a fabulous weekend...

No TV, no cellphones, no computers***

Just lots of good conversation, lots of laughing and memories made!

Thinking of You***

This card is done for two very special people!!

MY MOM AND DAD***

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

58 years and still going strong!

The paper is from K & Company, the flower and leaf images from Whipper Snapper Designs... designed by Anna Wight***
Colored with Copics and the flower is covered in Sugar Beads. They are just the weeniest little beads.. A few steps up from glitter***
The sentiment is PTI***







I stamped and colored the flower twice and popped one up with a dimensional...



Have a wonderful day Mom and Dad! We love you TONS***

P.S. That's my brother in the picture too!! We love him too!!

SSNOTIME134*** GRADUATION TREATS***

Today's challenge is to make a graduation card.

I realize not everyone will need a grad card this year, so the ALTERNATE challenge is to make something to be used at the end of the school year -- a note of thanks or treat for teacher or even treats for the kids on the last day of school. NO students or teachers in your life? Then make a card of congratulations or well wishes to someone ending or entering a new phase of their life -- new job, retirement, move, etc. We are easy here -- LOL!!! Just have fun!!!

Our younger son will be graduating this year from university and this is the card that I made.

It uses Giga Guidelines paper from PTI as well as a Limited Edition set from PTI called "Simple Little Things" stamped in Pure Poppy ink and Encore Gold. Red and gold are the school colors.

The Giga Guidelines paper has faint lines on it and helps with the placement of the stamps so that they are in a straight line. Well relatively straight!!

Check out all the details on Sharon's blog HERE*** and all the other wonderful creations this week by the design team...

Tammy - STAMP HAPPY
AJ - THE WILLOW GARDEN
Jennifer - THE BUCK STAMPS HERE
Deb - DREAM IN COLOR
Jenny - ONE KRAFTY KAT

Barb - PAPER PURSUITS
Barb – EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER
Deb – PAPER, INK, SCISSORS, STAMPS

Teresa - ENJOYTHEVASUNSHINE - our guest designer for April

Thanks for stopping in everyone and have a fabulous weekend!!!

New Home***

A quick new home card for friends of ours! The stamp is Hero Arts and each house is inked with a different color... They are all on one stamp so I had to be careful... Took a few trys***
I popped up two of the houses, added a sentiment from PTI and a button with twine.
I used the treading water punch for a little hit of interest at the bottom..

Enjoy everyone and thanks for stopping in***

So Sweet****

This card is an almost exact replica from Nichole Heady's blog... I loved it so much I had to re-create it... The only things I changed were the sentiment and I added black spica pen dots instead of stitching!!!

I love the dahlia and it is colored with Copics... with a little glitter thrown in the middle!!!

See Nichole's card HERE***

Enjoy everyone and have a fabulous day!!

Spring Swap***

A little bit ago I was surfing blogs and found "Maryland Pink and Green" ..

Lots of wonderful things to look at on her blog!!

She started the 1st Annual Spring Swap and those of us who signed up were paired with a partner and we had to send something to them... Something springy.. something we thought they would like.

I was paired up with Kristina Krieger of "Looking 4 Lilly" and she sent me all these wonderful giftys... An interchangable watch, headbands(which I always wear) and a little wallet for my purse..

It was like Christmas in April!! On April Fool's Day no less!! What a TREAT!!!

Thanks Kristina!! Take a look a Kristina's blog... Lots of wonderful things in her etsy shop!!

SSNOTIME133***CHIPBOARD CHALLENGE***

I have a box of chipboard that I rarely use. This week's STAMP SIMPLY CHALLENGE is to choose a piece of chipboard that you have and design your card or project around that piece.
If you don't have any chipboard then use a nestabilitie and cut one out of a thicker piece of cardboard or recycle a cereal box or cut it out free hand.

Since it is going to be an absolutely GORGEOUS WEEKEND here in London Ontario for Easter I decided to stay with a spring like theme so I dug down into my box of chipboard pieces and found all these flower shapes. I also used something else I don't use often and that is Adirondack acrylic paint dabbers. I used light yellow and terracotta and dabbed the paint all over the pieces and let them dry.
Then I applied a little glitter on the edges and a gemstone in the middle. Super SIMPLE!!!

My designer paper is from my bit bin, ribbon from PTI and sentiment from PTI as well...

Check out Sharon's site for all the pertinent details HERE *** and link up to Mr. Linky to show us your chipboard creation!!!

We say bye bye to Marlene Bender of Heart Spring and hello to Teresa Kline of "Enjoy the VA Sunshine" who is our guest designer for the month of April***

Also check out all the design team member's contributions to this week's challenge..

Tammy - STAMP HAPPY
AJ - THE WILLOW GARDEN
Jennifer - THE BUCK STAMPS HERE
Deb - DREAM IN COLOR
Jenny - ONE KRAFTY KAT
Barb - PAPER PURSUITS
Barb – EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER
Deb – PAPER, INK, SCISSORS, STAMPS

And last but not least have a HAPPY HAPPY EASTER!!! from our home to yours.