Happy "Bee" Day!

Today is my mom's birthday, so of course I had to do something to commemorate the occasion. She HATES celebrating her day with a passion, but I think I managed to find a safe solution to let her know I care.

I got her a dozen roses, and then made a custom flower pick to go with it. I freehanded the bee on black cardstock, then added the yellow stripes over the top. The wings are punched circles that I drew outlines on in black pen, and then glittered with baby blue Stickles. I wrote my note with a white Uniball Signo pen (love that pen!), so it would stand out on the black cardstock.

I'm hoping that she'll be able to show off the flowers at work while secretly knowing the occasion.

Have a bee-utiful weekend!

Memorial Day. . .

In honor of the holiday weekend, we visited a local cemetery to honor the holiday with a bit of a reflection. It was all decked out in flags to honor those that have served in the military, which I always find both patriotic and heart-wrenching. We finished out the holiday with an all-American BBQ with a few friends.

Thanks to all those that have served.

A Case of Bad Timing. . .

Why is it that I am at my busiest when all of the good ideas come? I've started a couple of classes at the local junior college this week, and true to form, fun ideas are swirling in my head, none of which I can get to until the weekend. Drats!

In the meantime, here are some things that have recently caught my eye:

Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcakes-perfect for April Fools Day.
A Healthy Casserole-perhaps for Easter morning?
Penelope Loves Lists-an organizing blog that I hope will get me motivated.
Cute Canisters- did I mention I really need to clean my craft space? Wouldn't these be fun?
The Simple Diary- I first heard about this in a Vogue article about Rachel McAdams. A clever way to note the passage of time.
Homemade Peeps!- 'nuff said.
Ice Cream Sandwiches for Easter-yum!
Cheap Healthy Good- a healthy blog to help me recover from Easter!

Back in a bit! (I hope!)

Disney Treats!

After teaching my workshop on Tuesday, I fell in love with the projects all over again. The Ghirardelli Treat Box was the biggest hit with everyone, and I was dying to make another one. So, with hours to go before I left for a weekend trip, I started up a new batch of them. Can you guess where I went on my trip?



I drew the hat shapes in Adobe Illustrator, then added each person's initial and printed them all on a single sheet. I punched them out with my yellow Marvy circle punch and layered them on yellow circles punched with my blue scalloped circle punch, and then the rest came together pretty quickly. The patterned paper was Disney-themed as well. They were the perfect treat as we sat around the airport, waiting for the thunderstorms to pass.

Hope you had a splendiferous weekend too!

Treats and Sweets Recap

One of the reasons I haven't been posting on here very much is that I have been super-busy prepping for an event that was held last week. As part of my volunteer work with Girl Scouts, I hosted a Treats and Sweets workshop for 25 people. We made a whole bunch of projects, with inspiration found all over blogland. Wanna see?

Ghirardelli Treat Box



















York Peppermint Patty Covers
















Pencil Pairs


















Treat Bags

















Hanging Hearts

















Lifesaver Matchbooks
















I simplified a lot of the projects from their original forms (for time and budget constraints), then pre-stamped all of the images, cut the papers to size, and created kits for each person. It was fun, but definitely a lot of work. Have you started prepping for Valentine's Day yet?

Ridin' the Wave. . .

This week, I've discovered several new blogs that I've just fallen in love with for design, ideas and photography.

Mer Mag
Twig and Thistle
Design Dazzle
Celeste Rockwood-Jones
Lorajeans Magazine
ArtMind
Sandra Juto


Don't you just love blog surfing?

Blog Award

Hey there!

I'm still here, just busy working on non-crafty things. Luckily, Tracy Clemente nominated me for this award:












Thanks Tracy, it's an honor to be nominated by you! And here are my responses (in a word):

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your hair? Black
3. Your mother? Short
4. Your father? Deceased
5. Your favorite food? FroYo
6. Your dream last night? Forgotten
7. Your favorite drink? Snapple
8. Your dream/goal? Skinny
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Crafting
11. Your fear? Cancer
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hometown
13. Where were you last night? Party
14. Something you aren't? Opinionated
15. Muffins? Yuck!
16. Wish list item? Silhouette
17. Where did you grow up? San Rafael
18. Last thing you did? E-mail
19. What are you wearing? Scarf
20. Your TV? Oversized
21. Your pets? None
22. Friends? Changing
23. Your life? Exhausting
24. Your mood? Mellow
25. Missing someone? Jackie
26. Vehicle? Yellow
27. Something you’re not wearing? Makeup
28. Your favorite store? Scrapbooking
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? Morning
31. Last time you cried? 10/24/09
32. Your best friend? Mom
33. One place that I go to over and over? Target
34. Facebook? Hooked
35. Favorite place to eat? Chevy’s

And because I'm shy, I'm not going to name names for this award. Instead, I nominate YOU (yes, you reader!) for this award. Your comments keep me going and are always over the top.

So if you'd like to play, consider yourself asked. Just leave a comment here if you do post it, 'cause we all want to see your answers!

Where I've Been. . .

Really, a better question would be where HAVEN'T I been. As I mentioned in a previous post, we had a couple of visitors come from Japan, and of course we had to show them the sights. The only catch is that they only had two weeks to see it all. So, we did it very efficiently.

The day they arrived we took them around San Francisco:


















Two days later we threw them an All-American BBQ, and the day after that, we flew to Vegas:



















On Sunday, we got on a bus at 6:15am and took off for the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. We were gone until 11pm, but we did get to see this:








Monday, we recovered from our bus trip just in time to catch a plane ride back to the Bay Area, and Tuesday, we went wine tasting in Napa:















Friday, we were back out on the road, one night in Yosemite:
















And a night in Tahoe, where we caught the first snow of the season:














All in all, some great adventures were had. Now back to stamping!

Not a Card. . .

My evening schedule has gotten pretty booked up, so I'm probably not going to have a chance to make any more cards this week. But, before I go running, I thought I'd share a simple paper craft that I came up with for Girl Scouts.

















I know I know, not a card. But hopefully equally cute!

I adapted this design from a kit developed by Paper Source and shown on their blog. Unfortunately, the rest of the things I'm working on are not quite as fun or cute: writing out directions for the owl, working on a newsletter and labeling things for a Used Rubber Stamp Sale at Stamp on Over. Keep your fingers crossed that I get through all this stuff quick so I can get back to STAMPING!

Hope to see you soon!

Halloween Tag. . .

Oh, Wednesday. You started off so promising (I actually got out of bed ON TIME!), and then you just came up short. Everything was cloudy and gray, and then I was faced with a vehicle crisis which culminated in me in tears on the phone to my husband. Yay for husbands. Boo for big car repair bills and tough decisions. And onto today’s card.

Today’s card isn’t a card, but in fact a tag. I’ve been making so many Halloween cards lately that I had a lot of strips of patterned paper lying around my workspace, so I figured I’d try and use them. I just stacked them on top of one another, added a scalloped edge, and voila! a tag was born.


















Here’s hoping for a better Thursday. Actually, I KNOW it’ll be a better Thursday because it’s someone’s birthday. See you tomorrow to find out who!

That's It! I'm Keepin' Him!

Well, after seeing the cute mysterious man twice around town, I couldn't take it anymore. He had to be mine! So, I asked him if he liked camping. He said he loved being out in the forest (less direct sunlight, of course), so I invited him to come camping with me.

Wanna see?















We were sitting around the campfire the other night, and he said this:

"After falling for Bella, it was clear to me
That the girl I really love had a name starting with T!"

Awwww, thanks Eddie! I like you too!

Uh, I Think He's Following Me. . .

Man, that vampire sure gets around. I spotted him again later in the day. Look!













He waved as he passed, and then he said:

Tony Bennett loved this place so much he wrote a ditty
About leaving his heart within this city.

Now That's More Like It!

This weekend finally felt like summer. The temperatures went over 100 degrees both days, and the days were filled with activity. I didn't get a chance to make any cards, but here's what I did manage to do.

On Friday, we did something I've been meaning to do for the longest time--we put up lights in our backyard! I always love dining al fresco under lights, and I thought it would be fun to bring the same experience home. So, we put up 5 strings of lights. Now we just have to find the time to eat outside and enjoy them!














On Saturday, I went on my annual blackberry-picking excursion. We drove 2.5 hours down the coast, almost to Santa Cruz to Swanton Berry Farm. We picked almost 8 pounds of berries, and then jumped over to their new strawberry field and picked little green baskets of those. I love picking my own produce!



































Saturday night we went to the Sonoma-Marin Fair to see Bret Michaels. I have to admit, I know him more for his show Rock of Love than for his original band, Poison, but he really won me over. He was energetic and seemed to be genuinely happy to be performing and he even sang a couple covers, like "Sweet Home Alabama." Of course, he did also sing, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."


















On Sunday, Phil and I went up to a college art show (mandatory for the class he's taking), and then went to the mall to grab some lunch and pick out my anniversary present, a new pair of *fancy* sunglasses. Then it was back home to bake the blackberries into pies (7 pounds equals 6 pies!), and then drove around delivering them to family and friends. It's one of my favorite summer traditions.














We rounded out the weekend by celebrating our second wedding anniversary a day early with dinner at the Melting Pot.

Unfortunately, my posting will probably be a bit sporadic the next couple of weeks. Between the 4th of July and camping and prep for summer camp, I don't anticipate much time for stamping.

So, happy summer and hope to see you again soon!

Bring It On, Monday!

Bam! Pow! Shazam! I am attempting to tackle my Monday with both hands.

After a very relaxing yet productive weekend, I am pumped up and ready to go this week. We're all caught up on our 3 Netflix discs (a constant battle), we helped my mom pick out a new couch, grilled burgers and shishkebabs, went grocery shopping, and washed my car.

On top of all those things, I actually had time to make several cards, and here's the first:















I CASE'd this card from this post on the Hero Arts blog. (Scroll down--it's the fifth picture in the post.)

The squares are actually made of origami paper that I found on a recent trip to Japantown in San Francisco. The kokeshi doll is part of a set of three by Hero Arts, and the sentiment is by A Muse.

All right, off to get some things done around here. See you tomorrow!

It's Bar B Que Time!

Hello and happy Saturday! I am thrilled to report that I survived the week, and I have no plans for the weekend (for the first time in a while!). So, that leaves me plenty of time to stamp and play with my latest obsession: our new O-Grill! Have you seen this cool little grill?


















It's little, but for two of us, it's perfect! It also inspired my Square Challenge Card.

















I know, I know, the colors are different than our grill, but to me, grills are always in red and black. The stamps are of course by A Muse, the patterned paper too, the red cardstock is by Bazzill, and the base is a Licorice Memory Box card.

I hope to be back on Monday with lots more cards. Have a great weekend!

Gettin' Back on the Horse. . .

Well, it never fails. Just when I get into a good rhythm of making cards and doing daily posts, something happens. In this case, it was the stomach flu, provided by my mom.

On the flight back from her worldly adventures, she started feeling ill and ended up throwing up the last two hours of the flight. . . and in the airporter bus. . .and in my car on the way home. I couldn't IMAGINE how awful that must've been, away from home and a familiar bed and surrounded by strangers.

But within two days, I was sick too. After that, it was a lot of 7Up and bland foods and not a lot of stamping. I did manage to make one card with the newest A Muse release.
















I love this little snorkel guy, and I have a bunch of ideas for him, but this is a simple start. The patterned paper is by Cosmo Cricket and it's all over blogs right now for summer. I love the circles, and I tried to replicate them in his circular shape and in the round tag. Here's a close-up:















I did color the starfish with Spica Clear, but it's always so tough to photograph the sparkle.

All right, off to face the rest of the week. I hope to be posting more regularly now, especially because there are some good challenges up on the A Muse blog.

Hope to see you soon!

Blog-Inspired Baking. . .

Well, it's not all fun and cards around here. Sometimes I like to mix it up and do other crafty/creative things, like baking. Here are a couple of recipes I picked up around Blogland.

I've been following Posie Gets Cozy for a couple of years now, and her photography always amazes me. From simple pictures of food to life in Portland, Oregon, she's a great source of ideas and inspiration.

I was particularly motivated by the pictures in this post to try out the Cherry Clafoutis. The recipe is listed in the post, and I used about 2 cups of cherries for mine. It was really easy to make and turned out pretty much how I expected it would, except that the crust looks bread-like more than custard. Nonetheless, cutting it open revealed a gooey texture that fit Alicia's description. Here's a terrible picture of my Cherry Clafoutis to prove it:















My other project was a bit more artistic than actual baking. Have you seen Bakerella's blog? My, that lady can decorate cupcakes like I've never seen! I have a laundry list of things I want to try off her blog, but I figured I'd better begin with the basics and tried out her Cupcake Pops. She was actually featured on the Martha Stewart show to demonstrate how she made them, can you believe it? Amazing.

Well, these were a little more time-consuming than I had anticipated. I suppose it didn't help that I started them at 8pm on a Sunday night, but between the baking of the cake, the cooling of the cake, the chilling of the "dough," the forming of cupcakes and the dipping in chocolate, it took four solid hours, plus overnight for hardening.

I'll be honest, I tried to use supplies that I already had at home (including sorting out Christmas sprinkles to get colors I like!), so they're not perfect. But, they're a start.


















After making them, I have a newfound appreciation for Bakerella's talents. As you can see, my pops (which were stickless) came out lumpy and imperfect. I think I'll have to go through a few more rounds before baking them up for friends and co-workers. A super-cute idea though.

Well, we can't live on French desserts and cupcakes, so I guess I'd better get out of the kitchen and let my husband get to cooking some real food. I hope to be back tomorrow with a new card to share. Have a great day!

Dear Mom. . .

Dear Mom,

Greetings from California! While you're away on your worldly adventures, I stuck into your house and borrowed some of your stamps. This cherry one by Denami Designs is particularly cute. Look what I was able to do with it:














I CASE'd this card from a card that I saw at our LSS, Scrapbook Territory. Isn't it cute? I embossed the sentiment (part of a clear set by Hero Arts) with black ep. Oh my goodness, it had been so long since I embossed anything that I had almost forgotten how to do it! But, I think it turned out well.

Then, I went back to one of my go-to layouts for a simple card using your cherry stamp.















The sentiment is by A Muse, and I just love it. Isn't it cute? I'm sure you can't tell, but the "o" in "top" is a cherry, and I colored it in with a Blush Copic marker just to give it some zing. I also colored over the cherry with a couple of Atyou Spicas. Can you believe they're coming out with 12 new colors?! I know! I'm so excited.

Anyway, hope you're doing well and enjoying your trip. Be well!

Love,

Teresa

Groggy. . .

Well, after three days off, I have absolutely nothing to show for my efforts except a lack of sleep from being yelped awake at 5:30am every morning.

I started about five different cards, but with the puppy chewing everything in our backyard, I never got more than 10 minutes to work on any one project. I'll be back tomorrow with something new. Promise.

To tide you over, here's a pic with the troublemaker himself:














He knows who serves him dinner. Only 10 days to go!

Seattle Recap

A few weeks ago, I took a quick weekend trip up to Seattle with my mom. I had heard about the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and I wanted to check it out for myself. Plus, on previous trips to Seattle I've discovered that there are a TON of cool craft places up there, so of course we had to check those out too.

First, the Tulip Festival:















The Tulip Festival was cute and had a great hometown feel. We started at the Street Festival, had lunch at Calico Cupboard (a bakery/sandwich place, yum!), and then went out to the fields. They weren't quite blooming yet, but we got the effect at the two show places that were open. I also managed to get lost driving around the fields, but we eventually found our way out!

The next day it was all about touristing around Seattle. We went to the original Starbucks store at Pike Place Fish Market:














And then drove across town to Trophy Cupcakes to try some of their delicious beauties:



















But of course, my favorite reason for going up to Seattle is the crafty culture. It seems to me that Seattle has more rubber stamp stores and other craft stores than the San Francisco Bay Area, so of course when I was in town I had to take advantage. In all, I think we hit up about eight craft-oriented stores (including four that we hit up on the way to the Tulip Festival). I think my mom would point out that I did too much shopping!

There is one store though, that always has my heart:














A Muse! We got to check out their new digs and see all the fun new stuff they're coming out with. I also spent waaaaayyyy too much time playing with their AccuCut die cutting machine. Luckily, Linda's mom Vi was there to keep me company and we had a great time chatting. I wish I'd gotten a picture with you, Vi!

It was a great weekend trip that was over too quickly. I can't wait to get back up there to see and do more!