Happy Easter!

I want to wish all of you a wonderfully Happy Easter! Enjoy the time with your family, and take time to reflect on the reasons we are celebrating.

I made this card with Sweet n' Sassy Stamps I'd Pick You set. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I love the sharp contrast of the black against the pastel colors!

Enjoy the day, and if you have a minute click over and check out my all time favorite Easter song. :o) It gives me goosebumps every. single. time. I hear it.

Just Buzzin' By...

Here are a few more new cards using the Dress Up Sweet Pea set from Pink Cat Studio. How do you like my crooked sentiment up there? Argh. I hand wrote that, but obviously thought I was on some kind of incline. I hate it when that happens!

The background paper here is from SU!. I never would have thought to put those colors (bashful blue and old olive) together, but I really like the retro 70's look it gives. The sentiment on this one is from SU!'s Curvy Verses set. I love that set to pieces because you can be a little inclined and you can't even tell! :)

Guess what? I finished book three of the Twilight series!

This was my least favorite book so far... except for the ending, in the clearing. I enjoy the action there. Now I'm about 50 pages into the final book. I am dreading the whole thing coming to an end, but at the same time will be kind of glad when it does so I can catch up on all the things I've been putting off! lol! I still have my theories about what's going to happen... or what *could* happen at least. I keep waiting for Jake to imprint. She talks about it so much, it's inevitable. And I feel like it's gonna happen with Angela. Or maybe Renee. Eww. How wrong would that be? Probably no worse than the guy who imprinted a 2 year old. *shudder* I know, I know, it's not like that... but still. Eww.

Again - no spoilers in the comments please!

Wednesday Weigh-In #11

Wow, I can't believe how close we're getting to the end of this challenge! Everything winds down on May 5th, and you have to report your weight loss on or before that day to have it count for the pounds of food donated. Do you think you'll meet your goal? I'm feeling more and more confident that I will, though I've been known to cave and eat everything in sight at the drop of a hat, so I guess you really never know. lol! (seriously though, I have...)

I lost 1.4 lbs this week, which brings me to an even 25. I'm kinda bummed that every week can't be a 5 lb week, but 1.4 really is a much more realistic loss, so I'll take it. I have to be honest with you all though, I don't think I could have done it without the accountability of posting this weekly, and hearing all of your comments and encouragement, so thanks for sticking with me!

Ice Shoves

We live a few blocks from the shore of Lake Winnebago, one of the largest inland lakes in the country. As long as I can remember, it has been a ritual every spring to go down and look at the ice shoves. As the ice melts, the waves push the broken ice to shore, and it piles up almost like a snowbank. Sometimes the shoves are taller than the nearby houses. This year they're actually pretty low, but still fascinating (at least I think they are!).

Here is a picture of Henry sitting on a chunk of ice. You can see how thick the ice still is (about 15") when it shoves up on land.

Another picture of Henry in front of a larger pile. This tree root is right on the shoreline:

The ice breaks off almost like shale, in these long, thin, pieces:

The shoves are strong enough to push boulders inland:

Here you can see the shoves up against the shore. Beyond that, you see some open water and what looks like flat land. That part that looks like flat land is actually more ice waiting to come to shore. Just past that you see a darker line that might look like a treeline far off in the distance. That's the shore on the other side of the lake.

We took these pictures on Sunday, and when I was out at the park today, as far as I could tell all of the ice that had still be in the lake had now either melted or come to shore. The piles are melting fast, but are still pretty substantial.

Interesting, or no? I think so!

It's Bee's Birtay!

On Sunday, March 29, Henry woke up and came downstairs to a house filled with Winnie the Pooh. The first thing he saw at the bottom of the stairs was our table, all decked out (sans food, at that point):



In the cutest, most amazed, voice a child of two and three quarters could muster, he said, "It's my birtay!!" :o) hee hee. I said, "No honey, it's Jack's birthday!" I thought maybe he'd be sad that all of the fanfare wasn't for him, but instead he just repeated in the same voice, "It's Bee's birtay!" Seriously, a.dor.able!

So, above you can see the little luncheon we had. That was only about half the food. I kept forgetting to put stuff out. Doh!

See those bumble bee cupcakes? I made those! Here's a close up:

They are actually "diet" cupcakes (one box of cake mix + one can of diet coke, then make and cook per package directions) with non-diet toppings. The base frosting was tinted yellow, then I piped the three brown stripes on. The wings are made of white chocolate. I drew a template on a piece of paper, and then put waxed paper over the top and traced over the template with melted chocolate to form the wings. I let them dry all afternoon (the day before), and then peeled them off and stuck them in. It was a little tricky, and I did break a few (in case you're wondering the broken pieces went in the garbage - if there's one thing I won't eat, it's white chocolate!) in the process. The white part of the eyes is a miniature marshmallow (cut in half) with a little more chocolate frosting piped on top. Cute, no? I was happy with how they turned out!

Unfortunately, our camera battery died after only a few pictures. We did get quite a few pics from my mom, but they're all from a film camera, and I don't have the patience to scan them, so all you get to see are the few we got before the battery died, and one that my cousin emailed me.
Jack and Mum:

Here we tried to blow out the candle, but Jack was more interested in dipping into the taco salad:

And my favorite, Jack's great-great-great (!!!) Uncle Dan jammin' out on Henry's "ahtar"!

Howdy little Partner!

Here are a few more cards from Pink Cat Studio's new Sweet Pea (Plate 2) set. Don't you just love these babies? I think they are adorable! I'm really pleased with how this top card came together, too. The cow paper is actually wrapping paper, and it's double sided. It has a cute little kids cowboy print on the other side, and that is what I was intending to use on the card. But then I had this red/white/black idea (one of my favorite color combos) and voila! I have to say I'm impressed with my shading on this one too. Maybe I'm finally starting to get the hang of these dang Copics. Could it be?!

I love the simplicity and clean white space on this card. :) I hardly ever use white as a base, but maybe I should rethink that in the future? I just love this set. And it helps that so many people I know seem to be having babies right now. lol!

Ok, now on to a few books I've finished this past week. Yes, you read that right. Two books in one week. About 1000 pages total, give or take:

I've made it through the first two books in the Twilight series. I love them both. I'm about half way through the third book right now, and am trying my best to read slowly so as to prolong the story as long as possible. I find myself wishing that the whole thing was being made into a tv series. We rented the movie last week after I finished the first book, and it was alright. My dh enjoyed it more than I did, but probably because he hadn't already seen another -better- movie in his head while reading the book.

I'm totally enthralled with the entire story, and am forming some theories about how this is all going to end, while simultaneously trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible so please don't leave any in the comments!

Have you read these? If not, you really should. I know a lot of people I've talked to are put off by the idea of a "vampire book", but it's really not like that. I mean, sure they're in there, but to me it's really more of a love story than anything. I'll post more about my thoughts after I've finished all four books. I don't want to say what I'm thinking (my theories) and look foolish for being wrong. :) hehehe.

Big Dreams

Today is day 2 of the Sweet n' Sassy Stamps blog hop for their new April releases, and the card I made for today features the new Dream Silouettes set. As much as I love coloring with my copics, it's so nice to have some of these block image sets. Just stamp and go! Well, sort of. *wink*

I used the brayer technique for the background on the main image, then stamped the wild flowers over the top using SU's Chocolate Chip ink. All of this is stamped on Glossy White cardstock (I've found that works best for the brayer technique). The base ink is from a Kaliedacolor pad. I think it's called Taffy? I can't remember for sure, but if anyone really wants to know, leave a comment and I'll check it and email you.

My blog is the last stop for today's hop, but be sure to get back in the swing of things tomorrow:

Friday, April 3 hop over to the following blogs: Courtney, Korin, Deb, & SNSS

And in case anyone is wondering, I did finish reading Twilight today(!!), and we rented the movie tonight. I'll post my thoughts next time I blog. I want to keep this post as dedicated to SNSS as possible! :)

Wednesday Weigh-In #10

Good morning, friends! How are you all doing this week? Have you had nice weather and been able to get outside and do some walking? We haven't. :o( It's still cold, and (lately) overcast. Blech. I love me some winter, but I can't wait for warmer temperatures now. Enough is enough!

Remember last week how I said I was starting to count calories to get past the plateau I was on? WELL! Let me tell you! It worked! I lost 5 lbs this week. Can you believe it? I'm not sure I can. lol! And the exciting part is that I'm really not finding it *that* difficult to stay within my 1800 calorie per day allotment, so I'm going to try to stick with it. I counted every day except Sunday, because we had Jack's birthday party that day and well, I'm human. I wanted to graze on all the goodies! So I grazed my little heart out over lunch, and then skipped supper - certain I'd fulfilled all of my calories, and then some.

How are you doing?

Hello

Here is a quick card I made tonight with some fun supplies from i {heart} papers. I was browsing through my blog the other day, and saw a card I made with this same layout a year ago, so I thought I'd try it again because, well, I like it. :) I like how you can really show off a piece of DP on the left there.

Anyhow! That DP I'm showing off is called Carnival Flowers. Isn't it a fun print? I have it paired up here with SU's Garden Green and So Saffron. I love when I find non-SU papers that match SU colors so well. It makes me happy. :) The stamp and sentiment are from the Spring Fling set that I just can't seem to get enough of lately. After coloring the image with my Copics, I added some yellow Stickles to the center of the flowers. Then I cut the circle out using my Nestabilities, and layered it on another scalloped circle also cut with my Nesties. I love those things! They take up so much less space than all of my punches.... and yet, I can't seem to part with my punches. I love those, too. I'm addicted, I tell ya!

I also have to tell you about another book I recently finished reading:

Yes, that's right. I read Hillary Clinton's Living History. All 539 pages of it. Why? Well, first and foremost because I have a fascination with our First Ladies. I have a growing collection of all the books that have been written about them (or that they have written, in this case), and am slowly making my way through all of them. Second, I like her. There. I said it. This moderately conservative right wing blogger has a soft spot for Hillary. Third, I'll be perfectly honest: I wanted to hear (well, read) her side of the Lewinsky thing.

As for the book.... eh. Most of it was fascinating, as far as the stories of where all she traveled and who she met, etc. were concerned. Some of it was long and drawn out. It took me a longggg time to finish this book. I've been working on it here and there for about two years. The problem is I didn't really feel like it flowed. It was almost as if every chapter was its own short story, so when I came to the end of a chapter, I had no overwhelming urge to continue on to the next one, and so the book would sit for days/weeks/months between chapters as I read other stories.

I believe this book was released before she made any announcements about running for President. I had the distinct impression while reading that the book was written in such a way as to shed a positive light on her and set her up for a favorable run. I don't know how to explain it, I just felt like I was reading a campaign pitch occasionally. So anyhow, if you're into history, or even a fan of Hillary, it might be worth the read. Otherwise, you can probably live without it.

Now I'm reading Twilight. I finally got sucked in. HA. Get it? ;)

For My Friend

Here's a card using one of the February new releases from Sweet n' Sassy Stamps. The set is called I'd Pick You, and the main images is of this bunny giving the flower to the mouse, but I saw a card with this layout a few weeks back (thanks, Cassie!) and thought I'd try it on this set. What do you think?

I used some SU! rub ons on the base (which, by the way, I am still not a fan of), and some blue gingham that I picked up at JoAnne's.

I also wanted to share this Pepperoni Bread that I made recently:


Doesn't it look yummy? It was! You can find the recipe >>HERE<<, but I would recommend eliminating the seasoned salt (it was too salty for my tastes), and adding a little minced garlic or garlic powder. You can also experiment with the toppings you use inside the bread. I think our next one will be filled with Canadian bacon and pineapple. Oh, and I'd double the cheese next time, too... Other than that, it's perfect! :o)

Hungry for dessert? Try this amazingly sinful Oreo Delight (scroll to bottom of post for recipe) I made for my Mom's birthday this week!