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....

A great day in October (part 1 )

Two weeks ago, my friend and I had the privilege of taking classes from the wonderful and talented Wendy Vecchi of Studio 490 fame. Please, if you are unfamiliar with Wendy , Stampers Anonymous or Ranger Ink products...run....do not walk to her website at : http://studio490art.blogspot.com you will be amazed at the creative mind that is Wendy Vecchi. I have been following her blog for quite awhile now and could not wait to sign up for classes at the Queen's Ink : http://www.queensink.com in Savage Maryland. We have no local scrapbooking stores, only chain craft stores so it is quite the treat to visit such a beautiful store that is literally packed to the rafters with treats for the eye as well as every supply needed to carry out any artistic vision. Love the people, love the store... LOVE this hobby.

We signed up to take two classes. The first, a great tag book of techniques.We inked and stamped and perfect pearled our way through four hours of FUN and had some great tags with descriptions of the technique so that we will always know how we made that cool effect.
The second class was a home art piece showcasing Wendy's new line of art parts. This four hour class was smaller and more relaxed. We had lots of stories and laughs shared during these four hours. Not to mention really cool art at the end.

I will post those projects another time. For now, I wanted to get  the photos of her art, and class time and a couple very special photos with her onto this blog for your viewing pleasure.

Here is my friend Wendy ( and partner in scrapping crime), Wendy Vecchi and myself

Wendy was just as cool in person as she appears on her blog. She was very gracious, and fun, sharing some funny stories of her work and a little bit of her personal life with us. I was really thrilled when we went up to say hello and she asked me if I was pixiedust ( my online moniker) from the blog. " Yes" I must have squealed and she gave me a big ole hug. Now that is someone who really does take the time to read her blog comments. It made my day !

Halloween treat

Wilton makes the coolest things....don't you think? Here they have done it again and made these great molds for Halloween....but these are not just mere candy molds...oh no... not at all.... for they contain something very special indeed....in the middle of all that candy coating... is a .... wait for it.....
oreo cookie. Hallelujah.... one more way to get the wonderful chocolate sandwich cookie filled with creme all dressed up for trick or treating....
I'm sorry the photos are so poor.... I couldn't seem to get a decent one....by the time I noticed that they were blurry and glaring....well..... there weren't enough to photograph properly....but aren't you glad SOMEONE thought to take a bite out...ahem....to show you the inside of the cookie?