Gratitude

There are so many ways to say Thank you.

I have tried lately to think outside the box.

I made this card for my parents.

I wanted something that felt like spring since we had such great weather for a couple of weeks.

While we have the beautiful sunny days the temperatures are more normal for late March!

We were spoiled with those 80 degree days!

Thanks Mom and Dad for all you do!

Enjoy!

Blog Hop for Janelle

Laurie put together a blog hop for Janelle.

I meet Janelle via the internet several years ago when I found her blog.

She has amazing craftiness and always has kind words for everyone.

You can find Janelle's blog here

Here is the card that I made for her.

Janelle I send you lots of love across the miles and pray that the Lord continues to give you and Ken the strength that you need.

Birthday Wishes {across the miles}

My husbands Great Aunt had a birthday this week. 

She is such a dear. 

She sang opera in Italy for 25 years before making her way back to the states. 

We unfortunately don't get to see her very often but we talked to her all the time. 

She is such a delight and she has the most incredible stories!

My daughter just interviewed her for a school project and the story is amazing!

Here is the card I made for her.

She loves butterflies, so this was easy peasy to put together!

I know it will bring a smile to her face across all of the miles!

Happy Birthday Genia...we love you!

Butterflies....Sympathy

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a terrific weekend, I sure did!

Today's card is a simple one layer with butterflies.

I really like the how even though it is one dimensional,

it still feels like the butterflies are floating out of the card!

Have a  great beginning to the week!

Enjoy!

Spring Break

I have been on Spring Break this week.

So it has been a huge catch up week for me!

While the kids were in school, I was able to go out to lunch with friends, move winter clothes out and bring spring clothes in and make a bunch of foods to put into the freezer.

We are so busy these days, usually over the dinner hour that it is easier for us to eat an early dinner and have a big snack after everyone is showered.

So this is what I made:

This is one of our all time favorite recipes.

My daughter loves to grab these for a treat for her lunch.

It is from Cooking Light.  We have made it for years.

I love that I can adapt it by using brown rice.

Rice Pudding

Next I made these yummy treats!

Of course I found the recipe on Pinterest.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

These are delicious and not fried!

I baked them and then froze them, easy to grab and reheat.

I also made Calzones and Baked Mac and Cheese.

Both are homemade recipes that I put together after experimenting and that work best for our family.

I had some other things I was going to make but just didn't get to it!

Lastly, I froze a huge tray of banana slices, which we use in smoothies.

It has been a great week of sun and fun! 

Goodness I hope the weather is this great where we are going for Spring Break!

Now time to clean....we are having a St. Patrick's Day party tomorrow night, after all of the other festivities are done.

Homemade corn beef and cabbage and of course pastrami fresh off the smoker!

Have a great weekend!

Wood Crafts

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

The weather here was fantastic!

The kids were outside all weekend!

I am trying to get a few things done inside the house before we move outside to start our landscaping.

So instead of papercrafts, you get a view of some wood art!

I was inspired by this sentiment that I found on Pinterest....Sentiment Idea

Here are my steps:

I gathered some wood, glued and nailed it together, then stained it in a dark walnut. 

I sanded the edges and spots on the top and worked in some Martha Stewart metallic paint.

While the stain dried, I cut out some stenciled letters with my cricut.

I used several different fonts.  This took some time to figure out what would work!

Next I taped my stencils down and used a cream and teal acrylic paint.

Before the paint was completely dried, I pulled the stencil off to make sure no paint leaking underneath!

I had a few spots where the paint leaked, so I quickly removed it while it was still wet.

Once the paint was dried overnight, I took my sand paper and sanded over the paint to distress it.

You can do this as much or as little as you want!

Once everything was completely dried and how I wanted it, I sprayed it with a coat of clear acrylic.

Lastly, I added a twine flower, I found the tutorial on Pinterest, and teal button.

Here is my finished product hanging in my mud room!

Enjoy!

Peace

Hello Spring!

Well I like to think that at least!

Yesterday the temperatures were in the 60's!

Boy did the kids have fun outside!

Todays card has multiple uses.

I was looking for something springy without using pastel colors.

I opted for canyon clay and chartreuse.

I love the feel this card gives me.

Enjoy!

Teacher Treats

Once every other week several parents rotate and

supply our teachers with yummy treats in the morning.

Tomorrow it is my turn!

It is such an honor to provide our teachers with treats.

This past fall we were named a Blue Ribbon School.

The only parochial school in Indiana!

So after school today we made peanut butter and jelly bars, how appropriate!

I made the tag using Mat Stack 4 and Teacher's Apple.

 The second treat we made was Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

A favorite in our house!

This tag was made using the Library Card Die.

Hope you are having a great start to the week!

How are you?

 Hello long weekend!

My kids don't have school tomorrow, so we are all about finding something fun to do!

Yesterday it hit 64 degrees and was beautiful. 

Today not so much, we barely made it into the 40's!

Todays card was a huge mesh of die cuts.

I decided to pull out many of my favorites and blend them together.

I also used an impression plate and of course twine!

The butterfly is from the new butterfly set at PTI.

The sentiment is from one of the flower fusion sets.

I really like all the Kraft and brown together.

I will have to do this again soon!

Enjoy!