A Stamping We Will Go…

My daughter took a kid’s class at our local scrapbook store & they did a 12×12 layout. Isn’t it cute? See, my daughter at least has been productive this weekend!

Yesterday my daughter & I celebrated World Cardmaking Day at my friend’s house, 4 of us plus my daughter (my hubby had been fighting a “low grade” flu bug so I decided to take my daughter with me) got together for about 4 hours & talked, did a LITTLE bit of stamping, had a yummy lunch, we all brought some food for a Potluck lunch, it was soooo good. I believe we were all trying to focus on Christmas cards, but, I certainly didn’t! I didn’t get much done actually, I finished off stamping my Halloween treat bags for my kid’s school classes & that’s about it! Oh, & I stamped a couple of images to make into cards hopefully sometime this week. My daughter was productive though!

Nancy our lovely host.

The mess that 4 woman can make.

All of Nancy’s Christmas stamps…shocking!!!

My daughter’s Christmas card #1.

My daughter’s Christmas card #2.

I went to see The Women last night with Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith & a whole bunch more, it was a great chick flick, not ONE SINGLE MAN in this movie! & of course I think Meg Ryan is sooo sweet!

I finished up another book last night: Second Calling (finding passion, & purpose for the rest of your life)

My hubby found this book at Chapters for me for less than $5 & it’s hardcover, he thought it would be good for me because I have always wondered what exactly my purpose is. What am I destined to be “great” at?  My son will be in Grade 1 next year, that means that I will have ALOT more free time to do what I want, for me this doesn’t mean staying at home. When we decided to start a family it was very important to me that I become a Stay at Home Mom until both my kid’s were in school full-time, I have been a Stay at Home Mom for almost 9 years & I wouldn’t trade it for anything but, when the school year approaches next year I want to be somewhat prepared for what I want to do, & my schedule will still have to be somewhat flexible because I will still be picking & dropping my kid’s at school & running them to classes & events.

This book is about how to live the 2nd part of your life with passion & purpose & making the 2nd part of your life the best ever. The book is really geared to 40-50 year olds but, I was able to get alot from this book, well worth the read.

Peanut Butter-Brownie Pie (Serves 12)

from Kraft What’s Cooking Magazine Fall 2008

1 pkg (450g) brownie mix

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 pkg (4-serving size) Jello-O Vanilla Instant Pudding

1/2 cup Smooth Peanut Butter, divided

1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package; pour into greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake 30 min. Cool completely. Scoop out centre, leaving 1/2-inch-thick rim around edge and thin layer of brownie on bottom. Reserve centre pieces.

Beat milk and pudding mix with whisk 2 min. Add 1/3 cup peanut butter; mix well. Stir in whipped topping. Spoon into crust; top with reserved brownie pieces.

Microwave remaining peanut butter in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min.; stir. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate 2 hours or until pie is set. Refrigerate leftovers.

NOTE: I used a Low-fat brownie mix, 1% milk, Fat-free pudding, light peanut butter & light cool whip.

TIP: I use a blender to mix the Fat-free pudding as I find with Fat-free pudding you tend to get “lumps” if only using a wire wisk.

This dessert is FABULOUS!

Last night was workshop night with my regular gals, we had lots of fun & laughs!!! I decided to do a Christmas Card & a Thanksgiving Card, well my version - a Gratitude Card.

I used the same layout as my Thomas Kincade card but, I used mostly all SU supplies for this card, I love the bling! I find that when I use this ribbon you need to NOT tie it in a bow as I find it to be quite bulky, & I can’t seem to get it to lay flat but, than again I am no expert bow maker!

You can’t tell really on this card but, I colored in the stamp with markers than spritzed with water, my customers were really able to achieve the watercolor look on the flower, one of them even looked like there was water on the petals. Felt ribbon - yumm-o!

Thanks for visiting & have a great weekend! I’m now going to leave you with a quote:

“a hug is a great gift - one size fits all, and it is easy to exchange.”

- author unknown

Have you heard of them? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this group. My hubby found them & now I walk every AM listening to this album.

Oxford Comma is my fav, fav song, you can listen to it here, there is the “F” word in the song two or three times, so if you find this offensive than listen to the second song, Oxford Comma is the only song with a swear word in it.

Oxford Comma

A Punk

Really, you need to listen to the whole album, it just ROCKS!!!! I haven’t loved an album from beginning to end for a long, long time! Their music has also been featured on Beverly Hills 90210.

My daughter & I took a weekend trip to Vancouver to visit my best friend, we have been friends for 22 years (since Grade 8), & it’s been 19 LONG months since I have seen her & her fiance who I have known just as long, I love these two dearly, they are part of our family. It doesn’t matter how long it has been since we have seen eachother we pick up right where we left off & it’s just a very comforting feeling. Friendship is so important to me.

It was dark & dreary when we arrived Friday & Saturday it rained all day, but, Sunday AM before we left to come home we were able to go for a walk around the New Westminster Quay. There were still tonnes of flowers & not many trees were changing to Fall colors yet, not like here at home (which I just LOVE!).

Here are some pics from our trip:

Sending HUGE HUGZ & KISSES to you both Aunty Kara & Uncle Jim - thanks for a sweet time!!! We miss you already - hope to see you in November!

Sorry, for all the pics but, I love taking pics! I’m trying to improve all the time & what better way than to take tonnes & tonnes of pics! These pics were some of the flowers I captured on our weekend getaway.

I bought this stamp at Paper Pastimes last weekend & was anxious to do something with it, the store had some samples up using glitter which I instantly fell in love with, I really love the Thomas Kincade stamp line that CHF brought out but, at first I thought it seemed like a lot of work until I saw more & more stampers using them with just one ink color - I thought I can do that!

I like how this card turned out, I also used Stampin’ Up!’s new felt snowflakes that are in the Holiday Mini, I love snowflakes so, of course I love these, they are fun but, I wish that they were self adhesive. I also used some of Stampin’ Up!’s new Alpine ribbon, love it!

It was a little hard taking a pic of this card straight on, sorry! & I’m in a bit of a rush now, the 2nd pic shows the close up of the stamp & the glitter.

I am heading out on a jet plane shortly, heading to Vancouver with my daughter to visit my best friend for an all girls weekend - woo hoo, I am sooo excited, it’s been 19 mos since I have seen her - far too long, I miss her dearly.

Thanks for visiting & have a great weekend, it’s suppose to be gorgeous here!

Brushchetta Chicken Bake (6 servings, 1 cup each)

from Kraft What’s Cooking Magazine Fall 2008

1 can (19 fl oz / 540 ml) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg (120g) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless, chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp dried basil leaves

1 cup Mozzarella Shredded Cheese

Heat oven to 400F. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened.

Layer chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing in 13×9-inch or 3-L baking dish.

Bake 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy now or cover and refrigerate. To reheat, microwave each serving on HIGH 2 to 3 min.

This is a very tasty dish, we had it with salad.