If you are in Nebraska you are probably hunkering down for giant snow storm.  I went out yesterday and did my shopping  just in case we would be buried for the week.  It was an amazing weather day.  57 degrees in Big Red Country.  I went downtown and walked up and down the sidewalks popping in and out of the specialty shops.  The groundhog says I won’t be doing that again for another 6 weeks so thank goodness the mailman stopped by yesterday and left me some goodies to keep me occupied.

Namely the i-Rock Tool.

I have been wanting one of these for quite awhile.  It heat sets your bling.  You can order several different packages of bling.  Once you have them placed on the item you want to decorate you flip the switch and heat set the rhinestones with the tip of the iRock Tool.  No more messy glue.  It sets them in about 10 seconds flat. (I will have a video soon so you can see what I mean about the iRock)

My next delivery was a Extra Thick Large Size Senior Splat Mat.  I had used some cheap place mats for my work surface but they didn’t last under heat guns nor do they repel glue or stickles or anything really crafty so I ended up pitching them pretty frequently.  I used the mat today wiped it off and it looks as good as new.  I think I might need a couple more to cover the kids work areas.  (I will have a video of the mat soon too).

So this is the project I worked on today.

I recycled the frame yet again.  I embellished the wings, the hair and the bow with  embossing powered.  I put the embossing ink down using a pen.  I added some heart rub ons and quotes.  The white hearts are brads.  I also added a little red glitter to the wings and a some ribbon for the sash.

The arrow was  set with my new iRock tool.

Now the cupid sits on the shelf and the rosette banner I made a few days ago hangs across the front.  My mantle is starting to come together nicely.  A few more projects and it should be ready for my bunco party next Tuesday.

The cupid is a cutting file.  I have it available for free download in MTC, SCAL, PDF and SVG formats.

Starting on the banner for my fireplace.  I am still working with the Die Cuts With a View Be Mine stack.  I just love it if you can tell by the previous posts.

I had a bunch of scraps from Be Mine and I had these clothespins.  So I decided to combine the two with some modge podge so I could hang my rosettes on my garland.

Next I started to build my rosettes with  1 and 1/2 inch stripes.  I accordion pleated them using my Martha Stewart Scoring Board.

From there I also cut 14 circles,  1 and 1/2 inch in diameter and 7 designs from my “Bird Cage” SVGs, 2 and 1/4 inch in diameter.  I pieced one circle and one Bird Cage cut together with my GlueGlider Pro.

I edged circles with the glue glider and also added a generous drop of Aqua Glue to the center.  Do this first so you can quickly sandwich the rosette between the circles and put a book or some other heavy object on top until they dry.

I finished the rosettes off with the words BE MINE.  I cut them using the Second Breakfast Font.  I used some DCWV glitter paper for the letters.  The heart was from Make the Cut Library.  I added a little rhinestone to the heart to bling it up a bit.

 Tomorrow everything should be dry enough hang.  I will post pictures along with my reclaimed Mt. Olive Pickle Jar project.  Until tomorrow craft like there is no tomorrow.

Bird Cage

This is a set of background images fo banners, flowers, large scrapbook pages. The set is in svg, pdf, mtc and scut format

Price: $2.50

My dad has a birthday this week so I it was time to come up with another card.  You know those sayings “Old ____ never group up, they just keep ________.”  Well I had that thought running through my head all day.   My Dad has been on a farm or farming all his life so I was trying to put the thought and the practice together.  I grabbed my sticker and rub on stash and fumbled through.  I knew I had some farm related stuff in there somewhere.  I came up with some farm related Creative Memories stickers and this newer, “On the Farm,” rub on.  So this is what I came up with.

The saying finally came together when the stickers went on.  The front says, “Old Farmers don’t Grow Up.”  The inside of the card, which I didn’t take a picture of, says, “They just keep playing in the dirt.”  So there you have it my original saying perfect for my dad.

I put the saying in a pdf for free download in case you have a farmer in your life that fits this quote.

Whew what a week.  Lots of kids stuff, lots of craft stuff, lots of work stuff.  In between I found time to make these yummy recipes that were Weight Watchers Plus Friendly.

Number 1.  Big hit with my oldest girl.  Raspberry Stuffed French Toast.  She had 2 helpings before school, made me pack some to give to our favorite school bus driver and finished the rest off after school.  I don’t know of a better endorsement than that.  She isn’t counting any points, but for those who are this is  a 6 pointer according to the recipe nutrition info at Eat Better America and the Weight Watchers Plus Calculator.

Stop number 2 this recipe tour is Taco Casserole.  I think I came across this recipe on Pinterest.com.  This is a 7 points plus option.  I took this to Wednesday night church potluck supper.  I always plan on taking a helping home for lunch the next day, but my plan was foiled.  There wasn’t a scoop to be had.

Last stop is Potato Broccoli Soup.  This is a 7 point soup.  I made a double helping thinking I might put it in the freezer for another day.  Instead I just we ended up eating both portions.  Not at one meal but for the next 3 days of lunches.  I could make this every week.  Skinny Tastes Web Site always has fantastic recipes and this was no exception.

Sometimes, in my case most of the time, your day doesn’t go quite like you planned.  For instance LB (little boy) stayed home from school.  He has the cough, the aches, the pains and just feels like crud.  That meant a day of rocking in the chair.  While I’m happy to do it, it does change my day.  While rocking away the morning we heard a pretty big thud upstairs.  Oh, here we go.  The wind is blowing like crazy today so I wondered what the damage was.  Unfortunately is was death by Windex.  A bird did a kamikaze straight into my living room window.  Needless to say he left some of himself on the window and the rest of himself on the deck.  Yuck.  So cleaning that was diversion number 2 for the day.

After the diversions I still had to come up for a birthday card for my daughter’s friend.  My day had be less than inspirational so I am glad that I have sites like Mojo Monday that have card sketches and stacks of DCWV that make your projects work when you don’t have a truly creative moment.

Today’s card is from Mojo Monday Card Challenge 225.  Paper by DCWV Rock star Card stack, bling and brads, and stamp from Walmart.  The Rock Star Stack is flocked and had glitter and shiny paper.  It is a great stack to work on teen projects.

A couple of days ago I showed you my L on a Shelf.  Well today I finished up the rest of the the word.  I used my “Bird Cage” cutting files to finish up my Valentine home decor project.  I used paper from the Die Cuts with a View Be Mine stack, Tattered Angel silver glitter mist, chalk, my heart Cuttlebug embossing folder and a little embroidery thread for the bows.  I love a good DCWV paper stack because you don’t have to worry about selecting papers and hoping the colors go together.

L is for the way you look at me . . .

L

O is for the only one I see . . .

O made with Bird Cage cutting files

V is very, very extraordinary . . .

Made with cutting files from the Bird Cage collection

E is even more than anyone that you adore  . . .

E with Bird Cage cutting files

Love is all that I can give to you.

The cutting files are found in the Adams Acres Store.  The Bird Cage collection.  The cutting files are available in SVG, PDF, MTC and SCAL.

Bird Cage

This is a set of background images fo banners, flowers, large scrapbook pages. The set is in svg, pdf, mtc and scut format

Price: $2.50

My adventure to the dollar store the other day netted me more than frames for my Love signs it also allowed me to adorn my mantle with a  little foo foo too.

dollar store vases

This is my upstairs mantle.  The vases are from the dollar store the one in the middle was a Goodwill find.  So my total is

Vases $4.50.

I also grabbed some of those pretty glass beads to fill the small square vases.

Glass Beads $2

and some silk/nylon flowers.  2 bunchs

Flowers $2

Glass beads $1 each vase

What to do about filling the other vases that won’t cost a fortune.  Viola Candy Corn.  Wally World aka Walmart had pink and white candy corn for $2.50 per tub.  It took 2 tubs to fill all the vases.  If the candy is in the vases it is not on my hips and that as Martha would say, “Is a good thing.”

Candy Corn $5

Candy that Won't Go on the Hips

So the total for my new mantle decor is $13.50.  That is a really good start to my mantle decorating on the cheap.

(I’m not counting the candles I had those on hand)

I have a few more projects up my sleeve to add to my mantle.  Check back to see how the mantel turns out.

Well we have all hear of “Elf on a Shelf,” but today I am talking about “L  on a Shelf.”  Let the Valentine decorating begin.  I made a run to the local Dollar Tree today and came back with a few sacks full of frames, flowers, glass vases, potpourri and some of the pretty glass fillers.  I have this one shelf on my built in bookcase that I have designated as the holiday shelf.  Each holiday it is getting some new holiday foo foo.  This month I have it in my head to transform some white photo frames into my main attraction.

L on a Shelf

So here we go.  The first letter I worked on is the letter “L” of course.  I took papers from the Die Cuts with a View  Be Mine collection.  I embossed the based page with a heart Cuttlebug Folder.  The cutting files for the L the heart and the border are FREEBIES and you will find them below ready for download.  The frame the heart and the L all received a spritz of Tattered Angel.  The Black Letter received silver and the frame and the heart received pink.  I looped embroidery thread together tied it with another thread and cut the edges to fit.  I attached the thread with a silver brad.  Everything was popped into my dollar store frame and put on the shelf.

L cutting files are found in the Adams Acres Store

Please download the cutting files below and check back as I will be sharing the O, V, and E in the next few days.  The files are in MTC, PDF, PNG, SCAL AND SVG formats.

I do not have the mindset to make New Year’s resoltions. I know there is no possible way that I would stick to any of them. I have started to eat better and get on the treadmill a little more often but that has to do more with vanity. Lots of big family events coming up that will require me to be in photos. I usually like to stay behind the camera. Well that is not an option so turning the big 4-0 in December and the thought of being in family pics in May has given me a little more drive to eat better and work out a little harder. While  perusing Pinterest I came across these soda cupcakes.

Soda Cupcakes

There are promoted to be 2 pts on the Weight Watchers Plus program.  Knowing a little about the program I know that 2 pts is pretty darn good.  So if it is good enough for Weight Watchers they are probably good enough for me.

Soda Cupcakes 2 pts

I used a super moist Pilsbury boxed cake and a 12 oz bottle of Dr. Pepper.  The batter was a little darker but tasted good.  I baked them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  The original recipe mentioned you could get only 17 but I was able to get a full 24 cupcakes.

Cupcakes

My 11 year old said they were good.  My 14 year old said they tasted like Dr. Pepper.  No butter, no oil, no egg added to you are saving yourself a ton of calories as well as a ton of fat.  I think you can use just about any soda for this.  I don’t know if you can or can’t use diet soda.  I haven’t tried it yet but maybe that will be my weekend activity.

I hope everyone had a good time going through the blog from the “Based on a Book Blog Hop.”  The next blog hop will be the “Word Wide Marriage Hop,” on February 12th.  My darling niece turned 15 this past weekend so the card I have for you today did double duty.  For one it is my submission to Mojo Monday Card Challenge 223 and it was sent with love to wish my niece an amazing 15th year.

Made with file from the Bird Cage Collection

So here is the recipe

• Cutting Files from “The Bird Cage Collection”

Bird Cage

This is a set of background images fo banners, flowers, large scrapbook pages. The set is in svg, pdf, mtc and scut format

Price: $2.50

• Patterned paper from DCWV Be Mine Stack
• Ribbon from my stash

I edged the paper with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I also used chalk and rubbed it on the die cuts.  The effect gave the die cuts more depth.

The stamp was a $.99 stamped picked up from Walmart.