Color Me Daisy Reveal

What comes with beautiful textured paper from Black Market Paper, an awesome chipboard album from Scenic Route and fuzzy brown zig zag ric rac?? The September Color Me Daisy kit...Chocolate Dreams! With a name like that, how can you refuse??? I had a ball playing with this kit, so many rich colors and fun textures. Here are a few of my projects:




You cannot go wrong with this kit! Come on over to Color Me Daisy, we have weekly challenges with prizes, a big monthly contest with prizes and lots of fun chit chat. And...we are having our FIRST ONLINE CROP!!!! Come say goodbye to summer at our online crop, September 19th-21st. We'll start posting challenges Friday afternoon and you will have all weekend to scrap your heart out. I hope to see you there!!!

Back to School!!!

This week was it...both kiddies going to school! Kevin started 1st grade and Kayla started Kindergarten. Craig had to work on the first day, so I took both kids (plus 30 pounds of supplies) to school Wednesday morning. Kevin was so brave waiting for his 1st grade teacher while I checked Kayla into kindergarten. They both had fantastic days...in fact they both said it was the Most Awesome Day EVER!!! Seriously. They both loved it. The rest of the week went pretty smoothly as well. Kevin really likes his teacher and Kayla is getting the hang of school. Looks like it will be a good year!



Had to get a photo of the new shoes!!



I can't believe Kayla is already in school. Time sure flies, but she is so ready and is really loving it. She's making new friends and I think will thrive at school. Kevin loves it as well, he gets to carry a backpack and has his own desk and pencil box. Does it get any better than that?????

Card and a Bag

I don't have anything earth shattering to share. I am tired after a long weekend, not much sleep (damn dreams!) and the fact that i'm getting back into running again after a long hiatus dealing with a strained calf and pulled achilles tendon. SLOW getting back into it. I want to share this little bag and card I made for a friend at work for her birthday. Threw a handful of Hershey's miniatures in the bag and a nice little gift!! You can find the tutorial for the bag here. It's really a very easy project and is such a cute little gift! You can fit a handful of candies, a gift card, a pack of mints or gum, or something small and fun in this little bag!

Thanks for stopping by! I just got my GD kit from Moments 2 Remember AND the reveal for Color Me Daisy is just days away!!! AND my kiddies start school on Wednesday! Woah! What a week!!!

Guest Designer Toot!!!

I am thrilled and excited to be picked as September's Guest Designer over at Moments 2 Remember!!! The contest was to use a DT member's layout as inspiration. Her layout featured a big prominent heart, a big bold title and one photo. Those elements were my jumping off point for this layout:

I swear I can't take a straight photo of my layouts lately!! That is one of my favorite pics of my daughter and sister. Love it! I am actively stalking my mailman to get the kit in the mail. I can't wait to play! I already have a few projects I am thinking about. Thanks Robin and everyone at Moments 2 Remember!!!

Featured Scrapper!!!

I am really excited, one of my layouts was picked for featured layout of the week at Moments 2 Remember!!! Scroll down and you will see my layout. It's a great site, lots of fun members and chatting and great challenges. I'm so glad I found it and joined in the fun. Thanks Robin and everyone over at Moments 2 Remember!!!!

Pandamonium!!!!

I am loving my new cupcake book, Hello Cupcake, and decided to make some more goodies with the kids. I needed mini and normal sized cupcakes, oreos, chocolate chips, black and white frosting, and fruit loops (couldn't find any oreos-O cereal that apparently exists somewhere). Oh, and 2 very eager helpers who promised NOT to lick their fingers during the assembly process.

We made the panda faces using the mini cupcakes, white frosting, fruit loops, black accent frosting and chocolate chips. The kids picked what color to make each panda's ears.

We then used crushed oreos to make the fur on the bigger cupcakes.

Two very focused and diligent helpers assembled the body and heads.


And here they are!!!! Very cute panda creations, all with different colored ears. Some are more perfect than others, but we had so much fun!!!


Thanks for stopping by!! Grab a panda before you leave...

Back from Vacation!!!

We just got back from our last big summer vacation. Geez, where did the summer go?? My hubby starts work next week and the kids go back to school in 2 weeks. We had a fabulous time visiting my mom and family this past week. The kids loved staying with their Baki (that's grandma for all you non-native polish speakers). We went to Smith Farms for some fresh produce...



...the community swimming pool for some chicken fights...


...and to AT&T Park for a Giants/Dodgers game where the kids got to run around the bases after the game was over!!



Here is Kevin's favorite player, #16 Andre Ethier. I had fun taking pics with my zoom lens!



We also went Geocaching. Which consists of a GPS device and coordinates to a treasure. You then have to find you way to the treasure. My BIL showed Kevin how to navigate with the GPS and yes...we found the treasure!



We also went White Water Rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River with my sister and BIL. We navigated Class IV rapids with names such as Cold Cup of Coffee, Last Chance, Tunnel Chute, Chunder, Parallel Parking, and 3 Queens. FANTASTIC time! I just ordered photos off the web so stay tuned for those!

And a huge big thanks to Baki who we stayed with and had fun with the kids while we were rafting!!! We love you!!!

Come Swim with the Teddys!!!

I've been tossing this idea around for a bit. I saw this idea on my favorite foodie blog Bakerella and just had to try it!! We are going to see family this week, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make some cute little swimming teddy bear cupcakes. I gathered up the ingredients. The most important one is the helper!!!

I cheated tonight and used canned frosting. Doesn't taste the same as homeade buttercream, but it's super easy to work with, tint, and spread. And easy was what I was looking for!! We also needed Teddy Grahams with 2 arms in tact. Kayla lined them up for me.

I used premade red frosting to make little bikinis and board shorts on the teddys. My little helper wanted to try too. She was determined to do it, it was a bit tough squeezing out the frosting. But don't tell her that.

We are ready for assembly!! We have freshly made cupcakes, floaties (gummi O's), sprinkles, and dressed bears. Let's go swimming!!


Steady hands and the ability to keep the frosting/sprinkle covered fingers out of the mouth is KEY!!

Now we have a nice group of floating, swimming teddys. Don't mind that their swimsuits have gotten squished in the process of shoving them into their floaties. It's a learning experience!!


Thanks for stopping by!!! Grab a cupcake if you can before they are gone...

My Final Cake

So, I decorated my final cake for my cake class. I had so much fun and really did learn alot. I am a visual person, so seeing our teacher do some of the techniques was all I needed to get me started. It was well worth the $17 it cost for the class!! Here's my cake, everything handmade. I'm still getting the hang of frosting the cake super smooth before decorating, but I like how it turned out. I have BIG plans for my daughter's birthday party in September!!



My favorite technique by far is the shell border around the bottom and top rim of the cake. It really gives it that professional finishing touch. So remember, if you need a cake in the near future, i'm your girl!! You can pay me in scrappy supplies!!! Or a nice raspberry lemondrop martini would be good too...