Happy birthday to me.....

Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! After a year of wanting, wishing and drooling, look what I received for my birthday this year. Da da da.... Tim Holtz's dream machine, the Vagabond. I fell in love with this cute suitcase, all ready for travel and ready to fulfill all my cutting and embossing needs. Let me tell you this baby is a powerhouse. I have cut out grungeboard and soda cans like running a knife through room temperature butter . Embossing with Tim's texture fades gives a gorgeous, deep, beautiful embossed image. I am in love with this machine! I am working on a special birthday card with the birdcage die, will post that when it is finished.

And, of course, because all occasions call for cake, here is a photo of my birthday cupcakes complete with butterfly rings as decorations.

Coffee and cream

Here is my submission for this week's challenge over at SimonSaysStamp.com. The challenge was to use the colors of coffee and cream.... and it dawned on me that maybe the reason I crave coffee so much is that it really is the color of CHOCOLATE ! What could be better than that?

Ingredients: DCWV paper from the At Home collection,Technique Tuesday paisley stamp and life sentiment,Celebrate stamp by Autumn Leaves, dragonfly by Inkadinkado, all inks by Color Box, glossy accents on dragonfly, Tim Holtz flowers, assorted gems

This makes me ridiculously happy

How I do love getting "crafty mail". This was truly a bonanza of happiness. http://www.cricutmachine.com
had a lovely sale. Lots of Cricut cartridges on sale for $15.95 and others for $17.95.... couldn't help myself....a few older cartridges I have been wanting..... Now, I get to pour over the little books that come with the cartridges (one of my favorite things) then it is on to cutting and layering. I am really loving the looks of Rock Princess so far....so fun!

wish me luck

In January, I was inspired to resume journaling as a daily activity. I used to be a devoted journaler but life, children and seemingly the loss of the written word dulled my resolve to document life's daily events.
I found a journaling primer here : http://www.chookoolonks.com/blog that freed me from my conventional ideas about documenting....I was inspired enough to start looking at other journals. art journals... then I found  : http://www.violette.ca WOW! I had been missing out on an entirely different experience....I was never an art student, but she made me wish I were one.....
I have been journaling since the new year and today...... I bought....gulp.... an honest to goodness, 11x14 inch art sketch book....it is a bit intimidating to look at but I hope to fill it with....yes....ART! Art of my own....wish me luck in my new adventures.....

Valentine goodies

A bit late, but here is the little goodie bag I put together for my children for Valentine's day. Purchased cellophane treat bags filled with Hershey chocolates, chocolate covered fortune cookies, chocolate cherry bark, and white chocolate covered pretzels. Then to jazz it up a bit, I put together a few hearts cut out on my Cricut Expression, taped them to a lollipop stick and used my Martha Stewart fringe scissors to cut a band of silver metallic paper to create the streamer effect. I think they came out pretty darn cute! The idea could translate to many holidays or occasions... little bears for a baby shower, bunnies or eggs for Easter, stars for the 4th of July etc.

Polar bears and winter...

Life, computer woes and just plain old lack of motivation has made this the first blog post of the year.
My youngest turned 9 last month but didn't have her party until last weekend. So naturally, I made.....yeah....cake....and not just any old cake ( although nothing wrong with that in my cupcake book)....but very, very special ( the kind that always leave me wondering why I thought it would be a good idea to make ) polar bear cupcakes from What's New Cupcake by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson , check it out here: http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/ .
My 12 year old and I spent about four hours decorating these little beauties after which at least a third of the children wouldn't eat ( including the party girl herself) because they have coconut fur.....AUGH! I reminded my daughter, that she does indeed like coconut....she still doesn't believe me.... oh well....more bears for me....

I apologize for the poor quality of the lighting....I couldn't get it right....