Trying to focus on the positive

It's really difficult to know that someone has passed away. It's even more disturbing when the person who has passed is young. A 12-year-old boy was killed this week when he fell into the road and was run over by a school bus at the middle school. Although I did not know him, it brings up a lot of feelings of loss.

So here's a list of 10 things that make me happy:

1. Books... the current series is House of Night but I plan to go back through all of the Twilight and Harry Potter novels in the next year or so.
2. My cat Sushi. Although he drives me absolutely insane sometimes, he is always happy to see me and wants my attention.
3. Rubber stamping. If you can't tell from this blog, I have a blast making cards. I've gotten away from scrapbooking lately.
4. Getting mail. Actual mail. The last few things I've gotten that were exciting were from my swap partner Donna. I got some really cool crafty stuff.
5. Getting my credit card bill. Seriously! I have it paid off and I am hella proud of it!
6. Cory. I know that he will always be there if I need him and we have fun together.
7. Chocolate.
8. Compliments from my students, other teachers or *gasp* even parents of students! Teaching can really be a thankless job sometimes. It's awesome to know that you are appreciated.
9. Going out for sushi. I love hanging at the Ichiban in Coplay. I've gotten to know the Yu family really well and the food is great.
10. The smell of Love Spell lotion. I have always loved that scent.

Cute Card Thursday challenge -- "valentine"

For this week's Cute Card Thursday challenge, I took a totally random spin. Being that I am single, I don't really need to make lovey-dovey valentines. Instead, I made my friend Pam a card. I'm totally loving it! The scan didn't come out really well, but it says "forget love. I'd rather fall in chocolate". If you click to enlarge you can see the liquid glass, crackle glass and (of course) stickles. :)

Daring Cardmakers challenge -- "heart"

Here is my submission for the Daring Cardmaker's challenge this week. I have to admit that I really thought this card stunk until I finished it. I was glad to find a use for this awesome spool of ribbon I bought forever ago. What do you think?

Just Christmas and Birthday sketch challenge

Here is my submission for the Just Christmas and Birthday blog. No offense to the blog, but I'm boycotting Christmas for awhile and focusing on birthday. Why you ask? Well, I am sure to lose my Christmas cards before Christmas rolls around again. No doubt about that!

Dutch Dare challenge -- "mosaic"

I am totally late on this challenge, but it's okay! I finally finished my mosaic card. I saw something in a magazine that reminded me that the challenge was happening. I was too late for the challenge but I still love the card (and the stickles of course).

Step Outside Your Box challenge -- "one word"

Here is my submission for the SOYB challenge, "one word". I think one of the words I need to remember the most is RELAX! The stamped image is a Bella I got from Donna in the mail a few days ago. I am soooo hooked on these stamps!

Created By Hand challenge -- "pink"

Here is my submission for this week's challenge at Created By Hand. A friend from work is having a little baby girl and I thought this would be perfect! I just got the little animal Sizzix dies today at AC Moore (50% off!).

Papertake Weekly sketch and Wednesday Stamper "handbag" challenge

This card fits two challenges: the sketch at Papertake Weekly as well as the "handbag" challenge at Wednesday Stamper.

CPS sketch challenge

Here's my card for the CPS sketch. With four inches of snow on the ground, I was feeling the wintery cards! The stamped image is something I just got in the mail from my swap partner, Donna!

My First Chinese New Year

Betrayed

I just finished Betrayed over the weekend. My mom bought me the book a few weeks ago. Little did either of us realize...it's book 2 in the House of Night series. Besides the little gaps in the story (which I thought was odd as I was reading haha), I really liked the book. Would I rank it with Twilight? Not really... but it was pretty good. I just bought the next book in the series so I can see what happens next! One thing that I didn't get into too much is the fact that it's really teeny-bopper-ish-- they text each other and talk about watching Moulin Rouge... it's very modern. I'll let you know how the next one works out!

Stamp Something challenge -- "birthday"

I bought sock monkey paper about a month ago (I think). I couldn't think of what on earth I would ever do with it. Today I looked at it and thought it would make a fun birthday card. This opens up nice and big....so big that it doesn't fit into an envelope. Drat.

Papertake Weekly sketch challenge

Sketch challenges are always a ton of fun. I got to use my new House Mouse for this one. What do you think?

The babies are growing up...

Just for fun

This wasn't a real challenge... I just went blog jumping a few days ago and saw a beautiful card posted. I used the layout. To see the original card, go to this site: http://sunflowerstudio.typepad.com/sunflower_studio/

The jar is super cute.... I stickled the lightning bugs and then covered the whole jar with liquid glass.

Poetic Artistry sketch challenge

Here is my submission for the Poetic Artistry sketch challenge. I got the stamp set from Close to My Heart. Love it! You can put all different stamps into the little jar. I think this card will make a nice valentine even without traditional colors.

Mmmm.... dinner

Baked potato and bacon soup (Weight Watchers....woohoo!)



French bread with gorgonzola.

Easy as...well... pie

I love to make yogurt pie. It takes about 5 minutes and always gets rave reviews. My mom gave me the recipe (I think).

Here's all you need:
1 pie crust
2 yogurts (I get fruit on the bottom so it has pieces of the fruit in it)
1 container of Cool Whip (NOT LOW-FAT....the pie will not set right if you use low-fat)

Can you believe it? Couldn't be any easier! Just mix the yogurts and cool whip together in a bowl....pour it in the crust...refrigerate for at least a few hours.

This is dessert for tomorrow night's dinner. That way I know it'll be totally set and ready to go. I made one with blueberry yogurt and one with strawberry.

Another great thing about the recipe is that it is CHEAP!
pie crust = $1.29
2 yogurts @ 50 cents = $1.00
cool whip = 89 cents

A whole pie for a little over $3...can't beat it!

Bacon-Wrapped Salmon

Here's what I made for dinner tonight:


I printed out an online recipe but now I can't remember where I printed it from. I usually take a look at what the recipe calls for and then change it up a bit. In this case, I added dill to the top of the fish and used turkey bacon instead of smoked bacon.

Tomorrow's menu: Baked potato and bacon soup.... french bread with gorgonzola... and yogurt pie.

You learn something new...

Okay... so I've been meaning to figure this out for awhile (and you probably already know it, but humor me). When I go to the comments on challenges, I like when I can just click a hyperlink that takes me directly to the posting that has the card that I'm looking for. I did some research and practiced by leaving myself comments and I think I have it figured out.

Send me a comment with your e-mail address if you want the code. I tried to put it in here but then I get an error. Ugh.

Just Christmas and Birthday sketch challenge

I think I've mastered messing up challenges lately. I totally drew all my sketches out for the challenges and then started making the cards. I made a valentine with this sketch.... it's for the "Just Christmas and Birthday" blog. What a silly girl I am.

Regardless, this card is super fun. It will probably go to my grandma because it came out really nice and took for-ev-er.

I used a masking technique to get all the little candies in the jar. This stamp set came with the jar and little things to fill it with. I wanted it to have a realistic look so I stamped some of the candy hearts onto post-its. Then I cut them out carefully. I stamped a few hearts into the jar and then covered them and stamped over the post-its. It gives lots of depth! I have to credit my stamp lady, Jes Ballas for that one!

Here's a close-up of the candy jar. It is covered in liquid glass.

Cupcake Craft challenge "glitter"

Here is my submission for the Cupcake Craft challenge of the week... glitter!

I absolutely LOVE the quote on this card. If it's kind of hard to read, here's how it goes: "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." -Ralph Waldo Emerson.

You may wonder where all the stickles are for this card since I put them on everything. I decided to try something different. I used chocolate paper from Close To My Heart and sponged galaxy gold ink on it (one of those little dewdrop pads). It's a subtle glitter but I definitely like it. I sponged chocolate on the cream piece and then did the glitter over it as well.

CPS sketch challenge

Here we go with more FABULOUS valentines! I made this card for the CPS sketch challenge. When I went shopping at Memory Lane PA for some new craft stuff (and new bottles of Stickles of course), my mom found BoBunny paper that is beautiful. (It's the stuff with hearts on it). The paper has a really nice sheen to it. Anyway, I only have one sheet of it so I've been seeing how many different cards I can use the sheet on. If you look at the circle cutout from the middle of the paper, you may recognize the hole as an accent on another card I made. I was tempted to throw out the scrap but am really glad I saved it!

One thing I was kind of upset with for this card is the fact that the "adore" stamp was much darker before the Stickles touched it. I don't think it looks terrible but the magenta color matched better.

Papertake Weekly challenge "spots"

Here is one of my first valentines. Papertake Weekly's challenge is to use spots.... I had just made this card and then saw the challenge. Fun! It looks kinda stupid all small and stuff. Click on it and you'll be able to see that the candy dish is covered in liquid glass. Soooooo much fun!

PCP sketch challenge (or not)

I just joined Paper Craft Planet. It is a fun website where you can post all of your fun stamping creations. Here is my first challenge submissions. I actually did two cards for the sketch. :)

Okay...I'm an idiot. I thought that the sketch below that says "sketch challenge" is the sketch that they are currently using. It's the icon apparently. Duh.

Anyway...here's a few cards that I made that don't fit any challenge but I love them just the same.