Crazy Daisy!!

Happy Happy Friday to you all!! At the moment, my sweet hubbie and I are taking a much needed vacation without the kiddies. One of our friends is turing 40 this weekend and 4 other couples and us are meeting in Palm Springs for a fun filled birthday weekend. No matter it's probably 115 degrees in Palm Springs...we'll be sitting by the pool, getting massages, and having a few frosty beverages. Ahhhh...life is good.

In the meantime, I want to share with you some layouts from the August Crazy Daisy kit. Lots of FUN papers in this one...DeLovely by Cosmo Cricket, HeatWave from American Crafts...and more!

Here is my first layout, using DeLovely...so lovely!


Lots of fun flowers and brads to layer in this kit. And I liked journaling around the edge of the layout, something different for me!


And one more, this time using American Crafts papers. And don't worry...I'm still obsessed with banners.


There were some fun rub-ons in the kit. I transferred them to cardstock, then cut them out before adding to the page. And the red letters??? Target dollar spot! Oh yeah, baby!


That's it from me! I hope you have a great weekend...I'll catch up with you all when I get back. Hopefully, not TOO sunburnt...Thanks for stopping by!

On a Serious Note...

I usually don't share too much personal stuff here on the blog, but this time I've decided to. It's a very important subject, not one that is easy or fun to talk about. But it affects so many people's lives, I wanted to let you all know about a walk I am doing to raise money for breast cancer. But first...let me introduce you to Beth.


Beth and I met in 6th grade. We had every single class together in 6th grade. She was my first real friend and we became close very fast. The funny thing is, we never had another class together again! All throughout junior high and high school, we stayed close. We both went off to college, got married, had kids...and remained friends throughout. I even still have the very first letter she sent me when we left for college. That was BEFORE email, people! Fast forward to now...her mom is a 10-year breast cancer survivor. And it hasn't been easy for her mom or their family. Beth did the Avon 2-day Walk for Breast Cancer last year and she said it was an experience that changed her life. So this year...I decided to join her. She has put together an amazing team of 17 incredible women who are doing the Santa Barbara Avon 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. Our team is called Walking For The Girls! We all have to raise a minimum to be able to walk and so far our team has raised almost $28,000!!!

Here is another reason i'm doing this walk:


This is my dad. He was a great dad. He worked so hard for his family during the week and on the weekend he would shuttle my siblings and I all over the place to different swim meets. Every weekend. Being a parent now, I know how much he did for us!! He was active, loved biking and swimming, hiked the Appalacian Trail, loved to travel, drink good wine and eat good food. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and we lost him almost 4 years ago to that cancer. My mom is a 2-time cancer survivor as well. I know that even though i'm raising money and walking for breast cancer, I am walking for my mom and dad and everyone else affected by cancer.

It will be an honor to walk with my team in September for the Avon Walk. We will walk 26.2 miles on Saturday, shower in a big rig at the end of the day, spend the night in tents, and then walk 13.1 miles the next time. It's going to be hard, but nothing will compare to what Beth's family went through and what my family went through. So keep me in your thoughts the weekend of September 11th and 12th as I walk with my team for breast cancer. We are In It To End It!!

If you want to check out my sponsor page, the link is HERE. THANKS to many of you who have already supported me. I think it's a super important topic to talk about because cancer affects so many people. You can BET i'm taking my camera with me to document every mile we walk. My walking team doesn't know they have a little paparrazi on their hands, LOL!!

Thanks for listening today and stopping by everyone!

August 3 Scrappy Boys

Happy Monday everyone! I had a great weekend, the weather was beautiful and the beach was beautiful and everyone was beautiful! Ha ha!! No really, it was a super nice weekend. But now, it's Monday. Back to boot camp workout and back to work. And back to sharing some 3 Scrappy Boys work! The August Main kit features paper from the Fancy Pants Roadshow collection. It also includes Jenni Bowlin banner stickers, Kaisercraft wood frames, Jillibean canvas flowers and Hambly rubons!!

I immediately thought of these photos of my new nieces I took back in June. The papers are so pretty, without being too girly so I wanted to use them to scrap my nieces for the first time.

This is Harbour Rose...isn't she sweet???


I used some irridescent Maya Mist on the hearts for a little bit of glimmer and shine.



And here is Molly Rose!!!


I just love the banner stickers and that big felt flower from the kit!



Such a fun kit to work with! And I have the feeling you will be seeing more baby layouts in the near future. I love scrapping these two little sweet peas!!

Hope you all had a great weekend...and I hope you survive your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!!

M&M Rice Krispy Treats

Here I am again...with another M&M recipe. I can't justify to myself buying a bag just to eat...but if I have a recipe I want to try, then i'll buy a bag!! This is a classic recipe of rice krispy treats kicked up a notch with the addition of M&M's. You don't need to turn on the oven, your kids can help you, and they are super easy to make. Or don't tell the kids you are making them and hide the pan in the garage so you get to eat them all yourself. Not like I did that... *wink*wink*...


For some reason, I love doilies right now. And i'm not a doilie type of girl. You can get them in the baking section of Michael's and Joann's, they are $1.99 for a pack of 12 or 20...I can't remember. Use them to dress up your treats or on your scrapbooking projects. They are the hot thing right now!!


The recipe is the same that you remember making with your mom...

6 cups rice krispy cereal (I am cheap and get the Target brand)
1 bag mini marshmallows
1/4 cup butter
1 cup M&Ms

Melt the butter and marshies in a big bowl in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Add rice krispies. Mix well. Fold in the M&M's. Press the mixture into a buttered 9x13 pan. Cool, cut into big fat squares, and eat!


We took these camping with us 2 weeks ago. They are a great hiking incentive. As in...when we reach the next waterfall, kids, you can have a rice krispy treat! Keep moving!! Yes, I bribe my kids sometimes when we are hiking.


So if you want a sweet treat this weekend, but don't want to turn on the oven...this is the perfect thing! Think of all the other things to mix in...chocolate chips, crushed oreos, peanut butter cups. Why does it all come back to peanut butter cups with me????? I might need a 12-step program.

Have a great weekend!

Croppin' Paradise Week #4

WooHoo, Week #4 of Croppin' Paradise Summer Camp!! My challenge this week is all about the Campfire. And it's all about sitting around the campfire at night, with all your friends, telling ghost stories. Well, maybe not scary spooky stories (unless you're really brave, ha ha!!), but good campfire stories. My challenge this week is to choose 1 photo that really tells a story. The create a layout and journal about that story. Easy, huh!!

Here is my layout. I use the Jazyme collection from Bo Bunny. This is a photo of me and my friend Beth. I met Beth in a scrapbook forum about 2 years ago and we became fast friends. This spring, I had the opportunity to meet up with her, her kiddies and her hubbie while they were in Los Angeles for spring break. My journaling is about how we met and our day together.


I love all the coordinating 3-D stickers and buttons and gems in the Bo Bunny collections. It makes it super easy to dress up your layout!


And here is the story!! Using journaling strips is my favorite way to journal at the moment.

There you have it, easy peasy! I can't wait to see your photos and read your stories!!!

Thanks for stopping by...

Pretzel M&M Blondies

Have you tried these yet???


Pretzel M&M's. I love M&M's, especially the peanut butter ones. SO good! Almond ones are also good and the plain are just a classic. They seem to be coming out with more and different flavors lately, and these pretzel ones are the latest. When I saw THIS recipe for Pretzel M&M blondies, I knew I had to buy a bag to try them. I convinced my son he wanted to make them and I turned him loose in the kitchen.


I am the first to admit that i'm pretty controlling in the kitchen. I rarely turn the kids loose on a recipe and let them go for it. I'm always hovering, making sure the flour is measured and actually gets into the bowl, the eggs don't crack on the counter, the baking powder doesn't go flying, etc. But I decided to step back and let Kevin do this one all on his own. Plus, he doesn't have long hair (like my daughter) that I constantly freak out about getting caught in the mixer (I know, weird).


I think he thought I was kidding or something when I told him he could turn on the mixer, scrape the sides of the bowl himself, etc. He did an amazing job following the recipe and mixing up all the ingredients. He lined the pan with foil and poured the batter into the pan like a pro.



All the while i'm running around the kitchen with my camera, trying to get good shots of him. He thought I was crazy. What's new. We used a round 8 inch pan instead of a square one (where is that pan, anyway???) and they turned out great!!


Now here's my review on the M&M's. Not that good. SHOCKER! I thought the pretzel-to-chocolate ratio was too high. Not enough chocolate for me, but in these blondies they were just fine. We dressed up the slices with a little whipped topping and mini chocolate chips. Just because.



The kids enjoyed picking what piece they wanted depending on how many red or green or blue M&M's were in each slice. And we definitely enjoyed eating it!


So I decided I need to 'let go' a little more in the kitchen. I need to find some easy recipes and let the kids just make them with no hovering going on. I mean, that's how they learn...right? And then they can learn to clean up all the spilled flour on the counter, too. Hee hee!!

Thanks for stopping by, friends!!

Quick Monday post

Hi Everyone, Happy Monday!! It's back to reality for me today. We were on vacation all last week (so glad I can schedule posts) and I was back at work today. At the moment, I am trying to finish up dinner dishes, get the kids clean and in bed...because tonight is The Bachelorette finale and I can't wait. So...this is going to be a quick post. I wanted to share a card I made with some leftover Jenni Bowlin goodies I got from the Croppin' Paradise store. The papers were too pretty to waste any scraps!


I bought a pack of doilies in the cake aisle at Michael's and love them! I thought they went well with the flower papers and the Jenni Bowlin butterfly.




And I made a matching tin, super easy. Just created a little band for the tin and cut a flower on my Cricut. This will make a cute little gift!



Can you guess how long those peanut butter cups lasted in that tin?? NOT very long...when I want to give it away, i'll have to buy more. Hee hee!!

So, are you watching The Bachelorette tonight??? I can't wait to see what happens!!