Happy Holidays to you all!

Gosh, it seems WAY to early to start saying that, but alas, here I am announcing it to anyone who casts a glance in my direction. To say I love this time of year, is a gross understatement.  Which brings me to telling you a little bit about myself;

I moved to Idaho five years ago after a career as a 911 dispatcher and perpetual Administration of Justice student in northern California.  My husband, who is also in law enforcement, and I were expecting, and decided that two parents working shift work was not the way to raise a child.  So we re-located (along with some other family members as well, because who wants to raise a baby without grandparents around right?  My parents and my husband’s mom also moved to Idaho around the same time frame). 

After moving to Idaho, I became crafty.  I opened a bakery, and got a few stamp sets from my cousin, Lena, who was selling SU! at the time.  After she got me addicted (yeah, that’s the word) she opened me to a world that I had never imagined possible.  Inks and stamps, markers and pencils, and every type of paper and scrap you could glue to another!  I never looked at any item the same again.  Then one day it happened, we were online together searching for something new, something fun, and I found TGF!  Oh happy day!!!

I enjoy collecting TGF stamps.  To me, they are sort of like adopting children.  They look at me with their big eyes and just beg to be taken home and loved.  So it do! he he he!  I do EVERYTHING with my beloved stamps.  So much so that my mother (yeah my mom!!!) suggested I get Cheekie Rockabilly tattooed on me (that’s just how much I use her!)!!! Perhaps… we’ll see…. maybe…..

It occurred to me that I was limiting myself too much by just using these adorable kids on paper… I mean… there’s got to be more!  And being a baker… my natural instinct was…CAKE!!! After baking 3 different cakes, and frosting them, I would wake up to crumbs on the plate (my husband works graveyards mostly, so I either had a very big mouse, or a man with a very early morning sugar addiction, I’ll let you decide!) So, I needed to be even more creative…. hummm…… CHOCOLATE!!!!!

I present to you…..drum roll please… CHEEKIE CHOCOLATES!

I made a double layered chocolate bark with milk and white chocolates, then I spread a very thin layer of milk chocolate (next time I’ll use Dark so that it shows up a bit better) on parchment paper and “inked” my stamp.  I pressed the image, very carefully, onto the hardened bark (yeah, I broke a few in the process) and broke it into pieces.  The other stamps you see here are a SU! set I purchased from my cousin.  And there you have it, Cheekie chocolates! Hoe fun is that?!?!?!? (Notice my fave girl is front and center, yet again!)

Check back often to see what else I come up with. Who knows…. I may even break down and make a card or two… hahahahha

Happy holidays Farmers and Friends! Enjoy your families and your selves this season!

And a HUGE thanks to Jess and Marie for honoring me with this Guest spot on the Farm, to say I’m Elated could never express how very excited I am to be here! HUGS girls!!!!

(for more sweets or to place an order, visit www.think-cake.com and to see where I buy these awesome stamps, go to www.thegreetingfarm.com)

Happy Sunday to you all!!! Are you still in a turkey and Stuffing induced coma?  I think I am… just sluggish still I guess.  Although I will say that I weigh less now than the day of the feast, so go figure! ha ha ha

 

Last night I decided to surf TGF Challenge blog, and I saw that there were two that I hadn’t done that were still open.  So I called my Pal and asked her to play along.  After our first card, she ran out of glue… so I had to fly solo.  So, the first card was a sketch, here’s the results:

And here’s the inside:The next project was to make a tag… I don’t believe that I’ve ever just made a tag.  hummm… Here’s what I came up with:

So, those were my projects last night.  I hope that you enjoy.  I have a cupcake order to get working on and I think that I need to find something to eat before my stomach calls the authorities on me.  (it’s growling a lot!!)

 

I’ll see you all tomorrow, I have a SUPER DUPER big announcement!  HUGE!

Ok, so it’s been quite some time since I’ve posted.  I’ve been a busy girl… sick too.  I hate when the entire family gets sick, then passes it around like a white elephant gift at a bad Christmas party. Ha ha ha No body really wants the gift, but they take it and pass it along just to play nice. 

 

My busy week started with a run to the horrible place that sucks the life from you before you even get into the parking lot.  Yup, Wal Mart… and seriously… I have one checker that I LOVE, she’s the best.  things scan right, if they don’t she fixes it, and she’s friendly, and perceptive, and efficient, and FAST!!! She’s the only bright spot in the entire place… Trust me, I know, I’ve looked! hahaha Anyways, I ran out of powdered sugar to make Butter cream frosting, and so I had to run there to grab some ($64 later, I was finally checking out) and as I walked back to my car, this is what was parked next to me….

Ok, so forgive me a cruel chuckle… I know that the truck was there second as the red car was there when I went into the store.  I’m guessing Mr. Ford truck here was either being funny, or is older than dirt and has no depth perception.  either way, funny…. not if it was my car… but funny…. hahahaha… I’m sure the truck is not hurting anything… but that’s a close park job… I wanted to write on a piece of paper “who taught you to park? Stevie Wonder?”  Mean, funny, and totally appropriate! ha ha ha Ok, so it made me giggle (obviously) and I just had to share.

 

So after I got my sugar, It was time to bake.  I’ve told you all that I’m seriously addicted to Pinterest.  It’s a time warp for me…. I sit down to see if there is anything new, and three hours later, I’m wondering what just happened! hahahaha So I found a recipe for Peanut butter muffins with peanut butter and chocolate chips!  who can pass that up??  So laptop and 5 year old in tow, I went to the kitchen….

Evan and I whipped these up in no time, and they are sooo delish!I was impressed.  Even my super critical mother loved them… and she’s hard to please as far as baking goes.  hahahah I love her for every criticism, it makes me better at what I do, but when she takes a bite and closes her eyes and says “MMmmmmm…..”  you know you’ve hit the mark.

 

Ok, so I was side tracked, I had a cake that I needed to make… geeze… get on it…. oh well, I guess I had time to make it in the morning… it was for a baby shower after all and the start time was not until 2.  So…. Yeah, I decided to bake it in the morning.

 

When what to my wondering eyes should appear….????

SNOW!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah baby!!! It snowed!!!! Ok, so it only snowed for like 15 minutes… but I don’t care… it was snow dang it, and it was AWESOME!!!!

 

Ok, Focus… it’s cake time.  My assignment was… jungle.  That’s it, that’s all I got… a jungle baby shower… that’s what I had to work with.  Simple, and cute… ok… here it goes:

Generally, I like it. ha ha ha  A dozen cupcakes on top of a 12” and 8” stacked cake.  They wanted simple, so I think I achieved that. 

 

Now it’s time to clean my house and get the laundry started (I think I have Mt. Everest growing in my closet) .  I say “started” because I’m sure I’ll never finish it!! 

 

Evan and I put up the 4 Christmas trees that will serve our house this season.  2 in the living room, one in the playroom and one in my master bedroom.  What can I say? I LVE CHRISTMAS.

 

Thanks for reading… and I promise these will get more interesting as I get a little more time to be creative.  As for now, I’m off to watch RIO with my boy and drink hot cocoa and maybe stamp a bit with my Pal.  It’s been so long since I’ve made cards that I think I may have forgotten how.  Hopefully it’s like riding a bike…. I have a lot of projects to pick up where I left off at.  ha ha ha

 

See ya all soon!

A little TGF prior to Caffine...

So, it’s been a while since I have made a card… I’ve been so darn busy with baking for the Seasons Boutique (happening right now!!!) that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to sit at my stamp desk and create something that is not made from sugar! ha ha ha
Ok, so, my subject matter didn’t stray too far from the kitchen…. but I have to ease back into these things!! Geeze people! ha ha ha  I was surfing online this morning and one of my fave spots to go is www.thegreetingfarm.com.  I noticed their challenge for today, tossed my laptop aside, and went in to stamp at oh dark thirty, even BEFORE my morning coffee… go figure! I’m fairly certain that every scrap of paper I used today was provided to me by my bestest Pal, Lena, so shout out to her and a big thanks for all the wonderful scraps you always send my way!  Also, LENA… are you so proud of me??? Look at this card and notice what I left off… just for you…. yup… finally I made a card with NO RIBBON!!!! You must be SHOCKED! hahahha

Ok, well I have to get moving, I must go work at the Boutique today for a bit, and I still have a sick 5 year old and a sick hubby… ugh! Maybe one day soon I’ll actually get some sleep.. until then, thank God whoever invented the Keurig Coffee Machine, I’ll forever be in awe of your outstanding contraption! Muah!

It's a Big 'un!

Ok, let me start by saying I totally intended to post on here way more regularly…. but I’ve been soooooo busy!!!! Ha ha ha  here’s how my last two weeks have been.

First of all, let me show you a picture of my and the one who I call “Pal!”  She is my cousin, Lena, and a mere 11 months older than me.  Everyone says we should have been twins, because we have a bond like that; so close that we are eerily on the same page at all times! ha ha ha  I love her to pieces and we rarely get to spend any time together.  This picture was taken on my recent trip to California. 

Now… let’s get down to it!  The past two weeks have been rought with illness (just colds, thank goodness!), birthdays, baking, and even a few cards.  Let’s start with the illnesses off of that list, shall we?

Evan got sick… not super bad sick, just that “Momma I’m miserable,” type of sick.  For my 5 year old to hang out on the couch for 3 days… that’s like WOW!  But really all he did was snooze and cough, cough and snooze.  My husband went to the store and purchased Cars 2 foe him, so he watched it a record 5 times in a row that day!  Then took it upstairs and put it in his DVD player and watched it again all night long!!!! to say it’s his new favorite movie I think is a gross understatement.

Evan isn’t a bad sick kid, he’s not super needy and takes his medicine well… however, his gag reflex is posted on the back of his tongue I swear!!! He coughs 3 or 4 times in a row and he’s gagging like he just drank a carton of chunky milk!!! Of course he falls asleep on the couch at night, and I pick him up to take him to his bedroom upstairs, tuck him in, and he starts hacking in his sleep…. ugh.  So, this mommy totaled about 7 hours of sleep for that 5 days.  Lovely.

Now Bear is sick.  He’s going to work, but stiffly and coughing and all of that good stuff.  Funny enough, he’s harder to take card of than the little man…. you have to create and elaborate Ponzi scheme to get him to take some dang Nyquil, and heaven forbid you request he take some Robatussin or something like that…. Gasp!!!

On to better things; BIRTHDAYS!  Yeah, I’ve been busy making birthday cakes for kids all week.  Here’s a few:



I’ve been a busy girl huh?  Also, on the 2nd, I turned 30! yuppers, the big 3 0!  Although I don’t feel any different…. I … well… I just don’t FEEL any different! hahahaha I’m still me, I still do the same stuff, I still have the same issues…. only now, I’m no longer in my 20’s! ha ha ha Guess it happens to the best of us.

I did manage a dessert buffet for my birthday party.  We watched the UFC fights (immensely disappointing as GSP got hurt and didn’t fight!!), and just hung out and gorged ourselves on sugar!  That’s why people like me, if I invite them over, there’s usually sugar involved! ha ha ha  I sent everyone home with bakery boxes FULL of stuff, and we still had enough to cure even the most persistent of sweet tooth cravings for a week! Ha ha ha!  Go big right?!?

Now, I’ve been baking for the Seasons Boutique.  It’s a crafters show in a model home over in Rockwell Village here in Nampa.  They are expecting a cubic ton of people, so I haven’t left my kitchen for a loooonnnnggg time!  Here’s a few things that you can find at the Think cake booth:

Along with a gagillion truffles, and chocolate dipped gummy bears and cookies.  Right now my car is like Willie Wonka’s factory on wheels! So, if you value sugar more than money, go on and break in, I dare ya! ha ha ha!

After doing all of this stuff…. My Pal and I decided we needed a mental health moment… so we broke out our smart phones and ink and participated in a long distance ink session.  She is making some cards to sell at the Think cake booth at Seasons (look them up on Facebook if you want to see hours and location).  So, we decided to have some Christmas card Show-downs!  here’s a few that I made;

Not too shabby for not having made a card for like a month!  It was fun to spend some time with Lena, even if it is long distance… but we still get to craft together, and that’s what’s important here!

I have a super duper big secret that I’m holding inside, and I’ll let you all know soon… you have to keep reading my blog though and you’ll know by the end of this month!  It’s exciting (for me) and I’m giddy about it! ha ha ha No, it’s not a kid! geeze people, get your brains out of the gutters!!!! ha ha ha
Well, I better get my day started.  I have 11 thousand pounds of candy to label and price and I need to make sure I have everything for this Boutique! 
I hope you all have a wonderful day, and enjoy the frigid temps! It’s stinking coooolllldddd out there!  Grab a cup of Joe or Cocoa and think snow!!!!  See ya all soon!!!!
Oh and one more thing… there’s blog candy in the near future… and with me… blog candy is… actual CANDY!!! ha ha ha so, check back soon and bring your friends!!!