December 24, 2008

Snowy Louisiana

Thought I'd share my Christmas Card this year. I decided to make these notecards using one of the images I took from our rare Southern Louisiana snow day. Snapfish had a special on notecards.

When the cards arrived they didn't look nearly as impressive compared to the actual day they were taken. A last minute decision to embellish them with my Baroque Motif stamp set and black Staz-on ink proved to be very successful. Even the husband agreed!

The cards are more black and white than what you see here. This sepia color (which I think looks even better) is a result of not using the flash on my camera while taking the photo.

So, here it is, my "Merry Christmas" to all of you! Have a safe and blessed Holiday.

December 23, 2008

Baking, Mel's way

I took some time this past weekend to bake a little. I dont' really have the pateince any more to do much baking, unless it's quick and painless.

I'd be more than happy to share the recipes with you, but don't count on me to tell you what goes in the bowl. The recipes were useless to me really being that I didn't follow ANY of them correctly. That's what I get for rushing.

Let's start with the "No Bake" Orange Cookie Balls. Here we have a box of crushed vanilla wafers, coconut, orange juice concentrate, pecans and powdered sugar all in one bowl.




Once the ingreds. are mixed, I stuck it all in a ziplock bag to get cold (b/c the recipe said so...that much I DID follow). Below is the hard cookie dough plopped on a plate.




Below I've created semi-round balls with a melon scoop (aren't I clever). These no-bake cookies are placed neatly (somewhat) on a baking sheet for placing in the oven.



I am trying to complete these cookies by memory. What the heck is this extra powder sugar for? It must be for rolling the cookies in b/c they look completely boring like they are. Let's dump the rolled cookies 5 at a time in a ziplock bag (more if you're ImPaTieNt!), shake and turn to coat them and place them back on the baking sheet.



It is just then I am realizing that these are ~ NO BAKE COOKIES. So why in the heck am I using a cookie sheet?

Hum. These sure dont' look like they used to. Wasn't there coconut on the outside of the cookie last time I made them? Oooooooooooohhhhhhhh yeahhhhhh! The extra powdered sugar was used to make a thin icing which held the COCONUT to the outside of the cookie. Oh well, it's all going down the same shoot, so who cares if the coconut is inside or oustide; it all taste the same in the end.



Now, on to Magic Cookie Bars. Yum, don't these look good?



Here's what I did: Crush graham crackers and 1/2 stick of butter; pour butter over graham crackers. Pour a can of condensed milk over this.



Add chocolate chip morsels, pecans on top.



Coconut on top of that.

Hum. It looks wrong. I think the chocolate chips and pecans were supposed to go first and then the condensed milk..then the coconut. Oh well, it's ALL going down the same way. No one will ever no!

Look at that dog waiting for us to drop something.


I made some dough the week before for Choclolate Chip Cookies. It was DISGUSTINGLY salty (I think b/c I used salted butter). I only had 1 cup of flour and was trying to make it work. Well, it didn't, so I had to get more flour and other 'things' to try and correct it. I mixed up 'stuff', put it in a ziplock and put it in the fridge till I had time to deal with baking it.

Here it is out of the ziplock ready to be made into chocolate chip cookies. UGH. This dough is really hard. I don't feel like standing here making cookies. Let's just chop it up and....

mush it in this pampered chef pan. There! All done. That was really quick!

These cookies still tasted a little salty but the men at the office eat ANYTHING!


I'm being kicked off the computer yet AGAIN! This is why I never post to my blog; competing with a husband and 3 children for computer time! Mommy wants her own computer for Christmas!

December 16, 2008

Love You Much pouch

Here's a little sneak peek of something I made for fun. They were created with the Bigz Petal Die and the new stamp set from the 'Love You Much" stamp set being released December 23rd.



December 12, 2008

More winter photos

Well, the snow lasted for only a few hours but it was fun while it did. Here are a few shots I took before I found out the office was actually open.











A fallen tree from Hurricane Gustav.


A huge live oak.


What would snow in LA be without a Mardi Gras snowman?

The farmer snowman was my fav.

December 11, 2008

It's SNOWING in Louisiana!

The kids woke me up at 5:30am (OK..I'm supposed to be up anyway) screaming in the hall with excitement because it's SNOWING!

I think the last time it snowed here was 5 years ago. Most of you in the northern states are probably rolling your eyes, but remember, here in the south we rarely get snow. We'll enjoy it before the sun comes up, before it starts to melt. Here are a few quick shots (most blurry...due to lack of coffee before taking them).










December 10, 2008

My latest creations....

Here are a few things I've been working on. What do you think of my little wine bottle apron? I think the corks make it super cute, but I have other prints waiting to be assembled that will look just as nice.

These little babies are available for $6.00 plus S&H.




Here is a singing reindeer gift bag, made entirely with punches. Thanks to Laura Lipe for the great idea. My kids LOVED this bag. Had to hide it so they wouldn't snatch it.





Last, but not least, my lovely Fleur De Lis note cards. I love this Fleur image, it's so bold. These Fleur note cards are hand-stamped on crisp white cardstock and come in a set of 10 for $12.00.




Christmas is coming waaaaaaaay to fast for me. Luckily I have a husband who has taken on the job of getting all the gifts for the kiddos. My only job is to wrap everything. Not sure I'm getting the better end of the deal.

Decorations on the house this year is very sparse, so little in fact that we have only half a length of garland covering the left side of the front door (typically I do both sides). I'll chalk it up to "busy with the kids", when I really know I'm busy with the house and trying to fit in my studio time. Never-the-less, we must move forward.

I am currently preparing for THREE large shows coming up the first 3 months of the new year. The February event is Crop Celebration. The girls have updated the website and are taking sign-ups NOW. I enjoyed myself immensely at the first annul event this past fall. The people were wonderful and it was an overall great experience. All proceeds go to the Restoration Pregnancy Center, so I'm really trying to help the girls promote it....after all, it's such a great cause.

OK. If I'm blogging it means I'm NOT creating...so, I'm off. If you're planning on heading out to parties this weekend, be careful, don't drive drunk and don't let your friends drive drunk either.

Blessings.

December 3, 2008

Darting In....

Greetings, from the monthly Blogger, LOL! Yes, I know. Busy, Busy. It's the holidays and perfectly acceptable.

Here's something I've been working on. It was created using the Serif Essentials die cut. The letters were cut out of red polka-dot fabric. LOVE it!




This beauty was stamped with the Together Forever set in Chocolate Chip and the "K" is from the Just Right Stamp Set "Special Occasions" at Croppinsville (curretnly 25% off if you order online. I made these Thank You cards for some friends who recently were wed. Aren't the colors great...and SO easy to do. Gotta love those punches!

Have a great week everyone!
Melanie