First Day of Fall....

It's the First Day of Fall, and I'm home with a sick kid. Jacob has a terrible head cold and cough and no appetite. Poor boy! For me it meant a day of crafting though.... so it could be worse.

It's my blog day over on myStampBox so I started my Thanksgiving Decor early and posted over there.. Go check out my Invitation and cute pillow box place cards.

While the kids were at school and I had some quiet time, I've also been working on some of the designs for my upcoming Holiday Card Classes. I'll be teaching at the Creative Festival in Toronto Oct 16 & 17th and I'll be in the Canandian Scrapbooker Booth too for the run of that event.

I'm really thrilled to add a new Cardmaking for Christmas Class up in Brampton... November 15th. I'm heading over to Old Tyme Country Crafts and I'd love to see you. Time are still TBA, but we're making 6 really cute cards, using lot's of techniques including: Watercolour with Tombow, Colouring with Copics, Chalking with Dove Blender, Using Die Cuts in your designs and more..... You don't want to miss out! Call Sandy now to book your spot. 905-452-1271 Suitable for all levels of crafters, bring a friend and have some fun! Samples will be on-line shortly.

And last but not least, I've been in the mood for soups lately (must be the cooler weather). I made this great Clam Chowder last night. The kids added corn to theirs, which they loved. Everyone liked the soup part, and the pototoes and the bacon..... they all left the clams in the bottom of the bowl! Oh well, the grown ups all liked it.


Clam Chowder Beauregard

6 slices lean bacon -- diced
2 large onions -- diced
3/4 cup butter
7 whole potatoes -- peeled and diced
2 Tablespoons parsley -- minced
1/8 teaspoon pepper
8 oz. clam juice
1 can baby clams
1 quart half and half
1/4 teaspoon Thyme leaves

Brown bacon. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add half the butter, potatoes, parsley and pepper. Add water. Drain juice form clams and blend in potato mixture. Simmer until potatoes are soft. Add clams. Stir until heated. Add half and half and remaining butter and heat slowly until very hot. Do not boil. Serve at once.

myStampBox Blog

Hard to believe but it's BLOG HOP time again over at myStampBOX! I was supposed to do a great sketch and a layout or project to match.. but I got called into work, and just couldn't make it! The other designers have done some incredible work.. so please head on over and check out their projects! You can see links to all of their blogs in my sidebar... but to follow the blog hop.. head over to CHERIE's BLOG and leave a comment... You can also enter to win..... some AWESOME stamps! The more I play with these stamps, the more I LOVE them! The possibilities are endless....

Here's a really quick card, simple but effective. It uses the Neighborhoods stamp set AGAIN! It's just such a cute set!..... You could use the same technique of stamping a line of images and then cutting out the top outline with many other images.. a row of flowers would be adorable! Gotta go and grab some and give that a try whe I have a minute. That's all for today folks.. happy National Scrapbooking Day.

More time to SCRAP!

Well, I don't know about you, but I NEED more time to SCRAP! I can't wait for the warmer weather and longer days..... Oh, and National Scrapbooking Day is coming soon too! Until then, I'm trying out some quick to make dinner options.... leaving me more time to? SCRAP!

I'm working on some cool projects for the Fall issue of Canadian Scrapbooker and the final Basics Book - Volume 5....

I am also prepping to go to Scrapfest in Kitchener this weekend! I'm so excited. I'll be at the Canadian Scrapbooker Booth, AND I get to take Cathie Allens stamping class...OMG she does gorgeous work! Anyone going?

This layout features some fun papers from We R Memory Keepers, stamps from myStampBox,
Vinyl Letter Stickers from American Crafts (I love all their Thickers).....and SEWING.. and yes, I know it's crooked, I did that on purpose *g*

This recipe comes from one of my favourite easy cooking websites: Menu's 4 Moms

Shortcut Chicken Cordon Blue

* 1 tbsp butter
* 2 cups diced cooked chicken
* 1 can cream of mushroom soup or cream of chicken soup
* 2 tbsp water
* 2 tbsp dry white wine
* 1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded
* 1/2 cup cooked ham, diced
* 4 cups cooked egg noodles

In a medium skillet over medium heat add soup, water, wine, cheese and ham. Heat to a boil, stirring often. Add cooked chicken to pan. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Come and join us on Wednesday for a chance to win a FREE set of myStamp BOX stamps of your choice!

Help us out by advertising our little hoppin’ adventure by attaching a blinkie on your blog:

Once you have attached your blinkie, come back here and post a link to your blinkie image on your blog for one more ballot in the hat for Wednesday’s prize of a FREE set of stamps!

Good luck and we’ll see YOU on Wednesday night!

Win a set from My Stamp Box...

Have you seen this latest set from myStampBOX? It's really cute... and I love the name too - OVAL OFFICE! The these will work great on all sorts of card, and I can't wait to try them with the Marcy Oval punches....

The best part? You can WIN a set, free, just by leaving a comment over on the myStampBox blog.... oh, and you can mention that I sent you!

If you have a blog, and you mention it on yours, you will get a second entry. Bettina's got all the info on the blog, so be sure to check it out.

Stay tuned for more give aways.. the DT has a fun day planned on the 8th of April.. details to follow.

Last chance for this weeks challenge.. common, you know you wanna submit... so share a layout about your Home Sweet Home.... and leave me a comment to be entered to win.

Happy Scrappin' everyone. I hope to have a new project to show you tomorrow. It's been a tough weekend, Jacob has been sick for the last THREE days, so that's kinda taken up most of my time.

myStampBOX

If you haven't heard of my Stamp BOX, get ready, you're gonna love them! They are a new CANADIAN Stamp company, and their designs are FANTASTIC! Made of clear acrylic, with really cute images, they also have a LARGE collection of Fonts and images that are great for titles and journaling on scrapbook layouts too! Oh, and the storage is really cool.... clear cases, and a neat plastic stand that allows you to have them sitting all nicely lined up on your workspace.

Now as if that wasn't enough....yes, there is more...are you ready?

I am thrilled to announce that I have been selected to join the my Stamp BOX design TEAM!!! I first used some of their stamps on some work I did for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine, and I loved them, so when I saw the call, I just had to go for it! Thanks to Bettina (the owner and designer) and Cathy (the DT co-ordinator) for the opportunity!

I can't wait to get more images to play with, and I'll be sharing my creations here as soon as I can.

So, what are you waiting for? .. go check out the stamps! The card above is made using the Happy Birthday Set which is a small set and retails for $11.95 CDN.

That's it for tonight, I have to go and work on some more class samples! I've got a workshop scheduled at Cut n' Paste in St. Thomas on February 28th that I need to send the sample for on Monday. We are doing 2 classes, Seeing Clearly: Working with Acetate and
an Acrylic Album: All About ____?

I'll post details and pricing etc tomorrow when I have a SAMPLE to show you.