Sassy Lil' Sketches and CupCards{togo}

The fun just keeps coming this month at Sassy Lil' Sketches.  Each Monday in October, Sassy Lil' Sketches  is posting a card sketch to inspire you.


Here is this weeks sketch.  Super cute, don't ya think?

And my take...

This card matches the banner I made for Heather last week...bet you can't guess who will be receiving it.  lol

Be sure and hop over to Sassy Lil' Sketches to link your sample.  You could win a mini kit from CupCards{ToGo}!! 

And make sure you stop by CupCards{ToGO} to see their fantastic card kits and the inspiration from the Cupcards{ToGo} DT will knock your socks off!

You can earn entries for each unique card you create and link throughout the month using the Card CRAZY sketches! Upload your card to your favorite gallery, blog or any website and copy/paste the URL into Mister Linky. 

Make sure your entries are linked by October 31st at midnight CST! We'll post a winner on November 1st!

Have fun creating!  And be sure to stop by later today for my Menu Monday update!  

Hugs.

Nancy

Food, Fun, and a Winner!

Thanks for all the fun comments on the new menu/recipe part of my blog.  I really enjoyed reading them all.  I look forward to sharing more recipes, menu ideas, successes and failures...yep, failures.  I had a big one this week!  lol  Be sure and check back on Monday to hear all about that!  lol  I also wanted you to know that my menus and recipes are not necessarily going to be quick and easy.   While I like simple as much as the next girl, that isn't my main focus.  I want something that can be held for hours so that people can come and go...so for our big salads...that means lots of chopping, and for sauces and soups, that can mean hours of simmering.  I know it isn't for everyone, but it is what works for us.


Speaking of us, life here seems to be moving at 100 miles a minute.  Life is good, albeit crazy.  Earlier this week I submitted my Special Bond layout to my gallery at Webster's Pages and was thrilled to find my layout chosen as this weeks banner.  


And speaking of banners....I made this for the Cricut Circle blog monthly challenge.  The challenge was to use the shadow feature, some type of embellishment on the die cuts, patterned paper and celebrate creativity.  I chose to make a banner...surprise, surprise, for my friend Heather.  I love making projects, but I just don't have room for anymore.  

Cricut Cartridges - French Manor, Forever Young, Christmas Card, Plantain Schoolbook, Serenade Solutions, Making Memories papers, Prima pearls and gems. Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist on seam binding.

And finally, a winner.  We had 7 comments on the post about the new menu Monday.  Ainsley drew the name, this time from my camera bag and pulled.....

Heather!

Well, off to get a few things done around the house before bed.  Swim meet this weekend.


Hugs.


Nancy  

Coloring

Lately I have been playing quite a bit with digital stamps. I received a super cute one from Digital Delights by Louby Loo and wanted to use it on a card. I love the shading that you can get with Copic markers, but haven't had the chance to invest in any yet. What I do have plenty of though, is colored pencils.  The only thing I hate about colored pencils is the lines you get....you know what I am talking about...the ones that remind me of how much I hated coloring maps in grade school.  sigh...But with my colored pencils and some odorless mineral spirits, I can get some nice shading, and get rid of those lines.

Here is what you will need.

Colored Pencils, odorless paint thinner (also known as Gamsol, odorless mineral spirits), paper stubs or cotton swabs, and your image.

Begin by outlining the area you wish to colorize. You don't need to be precise.

Apply the blending medium to your cotton swab or paper stump. You can dip the swab into the liquid or invest in a pump type bottle. Using a circular motion, drag the color from the outline toward the inside of the area.
As you can see, the center spaces are lighter than the area you outlined to start. You can continue dragging the color with your stub or swab until you get the desired effect.

You will want to change stubs or swabs as you change colors.

To color the cheeks I added the pink color directly to a swab that had the mineral spirits already applied.
If you like, you can add a shadow to the image in a similar way. Begin by coloring a line around the outside of your image.
This time, instead of dragging the color toward the center of the area, drag it out.

And here is my final project.
And, just to prove that anyone can do it....here is Ainsley's, my 9 year olds take.

All those lines, the ones we all hate, the ones that show which direction we are coloring in...gone!  She hasn't really figured out the shadowing part, but she is getting there.  

Hope you have fun with coloring.

Hugs.

Nancy

Menu Monday

As promised, I am back today with a new feature.  Menu Monday!  woo hoo!!!!  


As you have probably gathered, I am crazy busy these days with driving kids.  Ainsley is the first out to the pool, quick run back to the house (45 minutes round trip) to feed Brighton and Mackenzie dinner before running Mackenzie to the ballet and then back to the pool to get Ainsley dropping Brighton for his practice..  Finally home and dinner for Phil, Ainsley, and I. 


I leave with Ainsley at 3:45 and make it back to the house for my dinner at 6:30.  Phil and I alternate between picking up Mackenzie at 7:30 and Brighton at 8:30. Well, needless to say, the crock pot, salad bowl, soup pot, and casserole dish have become my best friends.  lol  


And, you may or may not know that we are really picky eaters.  Not picky as in we don't like certain foods, but picky in that we try to only eat whole foods.  So, that means I need to get creative.  And I thought I would share my successes...and failures.  This is a whole new way for us to eat.  In the past we have always had dinner as a family fresh cooked each day.


Since we make our menus on Saturday and shop the farmer's market and grocery on Sunday, I thought on Mondays I would share our menu from the week before.  And, I will share one of the recipes that the whole family loved and enjoyed.


Monday - It is always meatless Monday.  This week, burrito bowls.  Pinto Beans and lots of yummy toppings.  The kids love this one.   I will have to remember to take a photo and give you the recipe for this soon.

Tuesday - Taco Salad

Wednesday - Baked Rigatoni

Thursday - Red Chili

Friday - Baked Potato Soup (another meatless...well, almost meatless dish)


And, since my good friend Heather already asked...the recipe for Baked Potato Soup.


Baked Potato Soup


Ingredients 
6-8 slices bacon, crisp with drippings
1 c. onion
1 clove garlic minced
2/3 c. flour
2 c. heavy cream (warm)
6 c. chicken stock (hot)
4 c. diced peeled baked potato
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp dried basil  
1 1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1 c. grated cheddar
1/4 c diced green onion.


Saute onion and garlic in bacon drippings.  Add in flour, stirring to combine.  Cook for 5 minutes, not enough to brown, but getting rid off the flour taste.  Add in cream and stir till thick and bubbly.  Begin adding in stock a bit at a time.  Once all is combined bring to a boil and add seasonings and potato.  Top with cheese and green onion.  Yum!!!!!

As you can see....I didn't get photos of every nights meals. But, this was a bit of a last minute idea.  And why?  My life is crazy and I thought it would be good to share how we cope; and because last week Michael Pollan game to Google for a talk and gave everyone a copy of his latest book Food Rules.  

Well, being that I love Michael Pollan and already have this book, I thought I would give it to one of my followers.  So, here is the deal.  Be a follower of this blog and leave me a comment and on Friday I will pick someone to send this book to from the comments.  Sounds like fun, huh?  


Hugs.


Nancy

Weekend at a Glance

It has been quite a week, followed by quite the weekend.  lol

We have been really struggling with Ainsley and separation anxiety.  I don't know where it is coming from, but lately she just seems to be very clingy.  And I mean CLINGY!!!!  She cries when we leave her at the pool if we don't stay till she gets in the water (once she does, she is all smiles), she cries at night and tries to put off bed because she wants someone to lay with her.  sigh.....Her needs and inability to sleep are definitely keeping me busy.  That coupled with the crazy hectic schedule.  Oh...which reminds me...I have a new plan for Mondays, so be sure and come back!


Ok, now for the good stuff....I know you want to see some of the things I made, right? right?  lol


I told you on Friday that there was a fun crop going on over on Inspired to Scrap.  You still have time to play in the challenges...so go on!  Whatcha waiting for?


Here are a few I made.


This first one is the children when we were on vacation in August.  They look like they actually like eachother here.  lol  I used some of the new Webster's Pages Hollywood Vogue paper I won on their blog.  This is also for the Cricut Circle Weekly Challenge.  Using the French Manor cartridge and pearls or bling.  And for the Ally Scraps/Pagemaps challenge.

Webster's Pages, Hollywood Vogue.  Cricut, Pearls

And some photos of Mackenzie.....

 Webster's Pages Hollywood Vogue, Prima

And Brighton at the Google picnic.  Not sure I love this.  May need to add something in the lower left corner. I don't do white space well.  lol  And I stink at scanning white backgrounds.  I promise, there is stitching all the way around.  lol

Webster's Pages Sweet as Cherry Pie

I also have a few things to share that I did earlier in the week.  My friend Sarah invited me to a crop at Memories Live On last weekend and since she hadn't had a chance to play with these papers, I did a sample for the store.  I think I may do some more projects for the store soon.  Thanks Sarah for hooking me up.

Bo Bunny Olivia

And some more orange...seems to be a trend lately.  This one is for the Sassy Lil Sketches, September 21 sketch.

Echo Park papers, Chatterbox embellishments, American Crafts Journaling block.

Well, if you have any ideas of how to deal with 9 year olds suffering from separation anxiety, be sure and let me know.  And, try and stop by tomorrow for my new feature...including a RAK!  woo hoo!!!!  

Hugs.

Nancy

Inspired to Scrap?

I know I am!  And right now there is a fun Fall Crop going on at Inspired to Scrap.  There are challenges, prizes and lots of inspiration all weekend!  So, if you haven't had a chance, hop over there and join in the fun!  The challenge starts today (going on right now) and you have till Tuesday to complete and post your projects.

Did I mention the great prizes?  Let me give you just a peek at the fun things Stacey has to offer.

Hope to see you there....


Hugs.


Nancy

Great New Sketch

There is a great new sketch today over at Sassy Lil' Sketches.  Cherie always has some great sketches and this one is no different.

And here is my take.

Bo Bunny Paradise Paper, Platinum Stickles, Martha Stewart Border Punch, American Crafts Thickers.

These are more photos from our trip to Oceanside this summer.  I have been loving the Bo Bunny papers for this trip.  Just about every night we walked the beach at sunset.  Such great family time.

Remember, we have two more generous sponsors for September!

Our paper prize is a Cricut cartridge from Memory Miser.*

Our digital sponsor is a $10 gift certificate to Digital Delights by Louby Loo.*

I had a great time playing with the digital images from digital delights.  I made this birthday card for one of Ainsley's friends.

Digital Delights image, colored pencils and mineral spirits.

You really should be sure and check out both of our awesome sponsors!

Remember, to be eligible for the September prizes your layout needs to be uploaded via Mr. Linky below by October 5th at 11:59 PM EST.

*The paper prize is open to US residents only. The digital prize is open to all US & International residents.

Another busy, busy day here!  I hope to be back later to post some more goodies.

Hugs.

Nancy