Scraps and Ink: November 2009

So I spent last weekend in a beautiful 2700 sqft. cabin up in the woods at Tamarack Resort with five really amazing ladies- Aimee, Lisa, Priscilla, Holly, and Joni. We had so much fun scrapping, chatting, creating, crafting and really getting to know each other. I barely knew a couple of them, and one I had never even met, but i feel like I made friends for life with these women. Even though we were different ages and from different bckgrounds, we all came together and had a really awesome time. Everyone was so open and we all learned so much from each other. I think women really need these get-a-ways with other women on a regular basis just to remind ourselves that we are people other than the wives and mothers, co-workers and such that we strive so hard to be. We work so hard to be all that society needs us to be, but in the end we are all just a bunch of girls that want to have fun at a really great slumber party! We need to re-connect with the amazing things that make us girls and we should celebrate that in each other.

Did I mention that this cabin had a hot tub outside on the giagantic deck? Oooooh yes!!! I found it after digging down through a foot of snow. AHHHHH!! I thouroughly enjoyed hanging in the hot tub while it was lightly snowing on my head- definitely a unique experience. Very relaxing and peaceful.

Oh, and these women were all chefs extrordinaire!!! I have never ate so well in my life!!! I contributed a little breakfast dish of my own that I have honed to near perfection, if I do say so myself! Fresh stawberry crepes with whipped cream and confectioners sugar. Mmmmmm!!!! It took me nearly a year of trial and error to get the cooking process right, since they need to be super thin, lighly browned, and cooked perfectly even, but I finally figured it out and I am thankful for the ladies giving me the opportunity to make these crepes for them and especially to those who came back for seconds!

Here is a photo for your drooling pleasure!

Aimee being a Russian supermodel:

I want to thank them all for a FAB weekend of fun and laughter, tears and friendship. I will remember it always!!!

later,

nancy

Hi all!!!
Wow it has been soooooo long since I have posted! Naughty me- I have so much to share! The hubs was gone for a couple weeks on business and it was all I could do to keep things here running semi-smoothly while he was away. I learned that the trash really does not take itself to the dump while I sleep in on Saturdays (besides other things), and if I needed something quick picked up on the way home from work- there was no one to call to do that for me either. I have a laundry list of things I seem to take for granted when he is home being my Super Hubs. Speaking of laundry, he usually does that too, and while he was gone, I don't think I ever got caught up! Don't get me wrong, he is so much more than the trash man and errand boy, but he has always done these things without me ever having to ask, and without complaint, or needing a gold star for his forehead (some husbands require fanfare for every little thing they do, and Andy has never wanted that- thank goodness!!!!) I love him dearly and I vow that I will do a better job of letting him know how much he means to me.
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So anyways, then there was Halloween....a crazy weekend for us since both my girls had parties here at the house on both Friday and Saturday night. This was the first year that Ashley was not deathly afraid of scary decorations such as skeletons, spiders and such, so I went all out! I normally do just "Fall" stuff, so this year was lots of fun adding the scary stuff and dressing creepy rather than just being boring old mom in something "cute".
I will spare you my mad scientist outfit, but lets just say, I made a couple 13-yr-old boys scream like little girls. Hahahahaha!!! Good times, good times.....

A couple pics from the parties:

My beautiful little Greek Goddess! Trust me, this was not much of a stretch for her. She had the personna down pat!!!

A few of the party invites. Why yes, of course they are hand-stamped by me! ;)

Some fun decor:

I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and made these "potions" myself. I filled with dyed Sprite and other various sodas, printed off labels from an online site and attached to various bottles I found at the thrift store. These are just a couple of the bottles I ended up making. There were 8 in all, made from bottles in all shapes and sizes with labels such as Swamp Fog, Snake Oil, ACID, Cyanide, etc. Lots of fun! Being the mad scientist/bartender at the party, I also dropped gummy eyeballs into the glasses as I served all the kids. You should have seen their looks of horror! CLASSIC! Needless to say, I referred to each drink as a "suicide" and they all had to be convinced that they would not really die if they drank it.

Brain soup anyone? Really not as gory as it looks! it is just cauliflower in water and red foodcoloring. Not edible- for effect only.

So anyone that knows me, knows that this next photo is really sub-par compared to photos I would normally share, but this was taken in the dark, no flash, hand-held and I was in as hurry. Need I say more? At least you get the general idea.

No pics of the rest of the house, or Miss Ashley. She refused to pose for the camera. I know, dissapointing, but you have to pick your battles when you are the mother of a moody 13-yr-old girl.

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So now this brings us to all the projects I have made for various mfrs that I need to share!
Up first is a Halloween wall hanging using a wooden ProvoCraft pumpkin thingy that I covered with papers by Graphic 45 and then Glimmer Misted to make the pumpkins a bit more orange and glittery (the glimmer in the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist never shows up well in photos).

Now a Fall decor box also using Graphic 45 papers and Glimmer Mist:

Covered balls: (no jokes please- and you jokers know EXACTLY who you are!!!)

All of the above projects were made using products by Graphic 45 and Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.

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Next up is a shout out for another company I design for- KaiserCraft- my FAVE Aussie company ever! They are always coming out with the best products and I just LOVE working with all the goodies they send me! When I find a box from KaiserCraft sitting on my doorstep, it is like Christmas! And speaking of Christmas, it is right around the corner and the little elves at KaiserCraft are not wasting any time! These cards that I created were featured on their blog today, along with several other talented artists' cards. So go check it out! KaiserCraft blog

These next two cards are not on the blog, but still use FAB papers from KaiserCraft's Dear Santa collection.

Phew!!!! That was quite a bit of stuff to add in one swoop, but tomorrow is another day and I still have oodles to share! So come back and visit soon! ;)

Thanks for looking!

later,

nancy