December Daily

 I finally started my December Daily.  I am trying to use my stash.  I have had this paper for a while.  I scrapped Christmas 05 with it but I still had a bunch of stuff left over.  Perfect for my December Daily.  Since I am doing Project Life this year I wanted to stay with that theme.  I have made 31-4x6 cards with every day in December on them.  Then I made a bunch of 3x4 decorative cards.  I created a word document were I will do my journaling on 3x4 cards.  I then cut up some pattern paper at 4x6 and plan on using them to mount my photos on.  I am going to try hard to take at least 3 photos a day.  I know some days I will have more and some less but I hope to keep up with at least what we do on a daily basis. 

 Here is my stacks of cards.  I used up some letter stickers and other stickers.  I stitched on all of them. 

 I slid my cards in my Project Life photo sleeve just to give an idea of what I plan on doing.  The only problem with these photo sleeves is that some of the 3x4 pockets are not exactly that size.  I also am not sure if I want to stick with this layout.  So I am going to try and stitch on my 6-4x6 photo sleeves to make 3x4 pockets.  If Ali can do it I can sure give it a try.  I will keep you posted.

I cut out some snowflakes on the Cricut and misted them with silver.  I plan on putting them on my daily cards and will post that photo once I finish.  I hope to keep you updated on the whole process.

Bad Bad Blogger.

 My daughter is turning 4 in December.  We are having a Robot Birthday Party.  These are the invitations I did for the party.  I used the Robot cartridge.  I scratched out my personal info in photoshop.  My stepson told me it looked horrible but I didn't know how else to cover it up.  I used googly eyes and stamped a #4 on the robots screen.  I also used pinking scissors on her skirt.  There are a lot of pieces to these robots but they turn out so darn cute. 

Just a simple page I did.  I was feeling rather uninspired for this page but it turned out okay. It was a Martha Stewart pack I got.  So far I have stuck to my personal promise of not buying anymore stacks.  I love the paper when I buy it and then after doing a few layouts with the paper I am tired of it and want it to go away.  I am also not buying anymore white core cardstock.  I don't like the way it looks when I cut it out on the Cricut.  Bazzill paper only please.  Quality not quantity.  I have a lot of stuff I have to use up though.  Okay enough of my boring talk.

Check this out!!!!!

Look at what I got this weekend at an estate sale.  Are you jealous or what?  $5 for the letter press drawer and $0.50 for a bag of wooden spools with more than this pictured.  I am thinking of doing the Ali Edward's project with the drawer.

I DID NOT SCRAP LIFT THESE

Yes, you heard correctly.  The girl that likes to scraplift did not scraplift these ones.  I looked through my magazines for inspiration and got some ideas.  This one started with the idea of an Advent calendar or Ali's December Daily.  I sewed a grid on the page and then filled them up with journalling.  The journalling was from 2007 so I didn't keep up on it as well as I do these day.  There are some missing spots.  The paper is from We R Memory Makers-MERRY January.  The colors are so perfect together.  Greys, blue, tan, mustard...  I had a happy accident with my snowflakes.  I punched them out then sprayed them with some silver mist then dusted some clear embossing powder on them.  While heat gunning them they started to get darker on the edges.  I really like the way they look.  Kind of like dirty snowflakes. 

One craft I could get into in quilting.  I refuse to get into another craft.  I can't afford it and I don't have the time.  So here is a good option.  I just quilted on my page.  I just cut down the pictures and then pieced it all together.  I frayed the edges of my paper then sewed each piece down.  I also sanded the edges of my photos.  I used glossy accents on some of the words and picket fence on the others. 

I actually had fun with the cards.  They were easy to do with the big chipboard words.  I love that snowman.  The "Thanks" card is another chance for me to quilt.  I want to do this again.  I love the way it looks.  The "Unique" card is a bit of a late night I don't know what to do card.  I don't know if telling someone they are "unique" is an insult or not. 

I wrote my journalling in pencil then wrote over in pen.  Can you tell the difference between the writing at the top and the writing on the bottom?  I always have the overwhelming urge to put little lines on my letters.  I think it looks better.  What do you think?  I guess it doesn't matter because the journalling on top looks better to me.  It is a bit of work especially when I have this much journaling

A close up of the quilted page.  I attach the paper to the cardstock with just a tiny bit of glue in the center so I don't sew over the glue.  That will gum up your needle. 
Thanks for dropping in. 

So much talent out there

I was just blog surfing.  It is incredible how many talented people there are out there.  It is overwhelming. 
Well I haven't kept up with my recipe a day.  I guess I just wasn't ready.  I have a few recipes to post and some pages and cards that I did for Paper Pals.  I know I have already posted them on the Paper Pals Design Team blog but I want to put them on here too.  Is that okay?  Good. 

Let's do the recipes first.

{RED CHILE-CHEESE ENCHILADAS}

¾ cup fat-free cottage cheese
2/3 cup (2 ½ ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups Red Chile Sauce
Cooking spray
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
½ cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced fat extrasharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process 1 minute or until smooth. Combine cottage cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, onion, and salt, stirring well. Spread ¼ cup Red Chile Sauce in bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 tortillas over sauce, overlapping slightly. Spread ½ cup cottage cheese mixture evenly over tortillas; top with ½ cup Red Chile Sauce. Repeat the layers once with 4 tortillas, remaining cottage cheese mixture, and ½ cup Red Chile Sauce. Arrange remaining 4 tortillas over sauce, overlapping slightly; spoon remaining ¾ cup Red Chile Sauce over tortillas. Sprinkle evenly with cheddar cheese. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 squares.
CALORIES 162; FAT 5.4g; PROTEIN 8.8g; CARB 20.1g; FIBER 2.1g; CHOL 14mg; IRON 0.6mg; SODIUM 30.5mg; CALC 201mg
From: Cooking Light

{GARLIC-HERB MASHED POTATOES}

1 pound Yukon gold potatoes
¼ cup light garlic-and-herbs spreadable cheese (such as Alouette Light)
½ cup fat-free milk
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Scrub potatoes; prick several times with a small knife. Place on a microwave-safe platter. Microwave at HIGH 6 minutes or until tender. Mash potatoes with a potato masher. Add cheese and remaining ingredients, and mash to desired consistency. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: ½ cup) 2 points
From: Weight Watchers

Starting on the recipe a day again-ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

{OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN POT PIE}

2 serving’s butter-flavor cooking spray
1 tsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
¼ tsp paprika
1 tube reduced fat crescent rolls dough, unroll 4 rolls
¼ tsp dried thyme, crushed
½ tsp salt, or more to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
½ cup fat-free evaporated milk, divided

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 10-inch round shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Coat a large pot with cooking spray. Add butter and melt over medium heat. Add onion and mushrooms and cook, until tender, stirring frequently, about 5 min. Stir in paprika, thyme, salt and pepper. Add vegetables, broth and chicken. Cover and simmer 15 min. In a small cup, combine flour and ¼ cup of the evaporated milk; stir into chicken mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly, about 2 min. Stir in remaining ¼ cup of evaporated milk and cook until mixture is slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes more. Spoon chicken mixture into prepared baking dish. Unroll crescent rolls and arrange dough around inside edge of baking dish to form a border with a hole in the middle. Bake until rolls are golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.
5 points per serving
From: Weight Watchers

I really liked this one.  I had never made chicken pot pie before I made this one.  I don't use many frozen vegetables.  When it asks for them I will just get the fresh stuff.  I only like the taste of frozen peas and spinach.  Everything else taste frozen to me.  We all have to have our quirks.

Spooky Pages

I love this paper.  It is basically done you just have to add the pictures.  I didn't do much on this page.  I did pop open the doors and add some glossy accents. 

 I got the whole pack of these Halloween papers because they are so cute.  How can you resist?  I love the little people and the little pumpkins.  This was a scraplift but I don't have the magazine right now.  Pretty simple and easy grid. 

This one is not a spooky one but I had to add it. This was the page that I started and then took apart and redid.  I am okay with this page.  Not anything that spectacular but it is done.  My goal is to scrap every single picture I took of my daughter in her first year.  I am getting closer but there are some pictures like these ones that I find harder to scrap because I don't remember much about what was going on. 

I'm back

I haven't posted for a while.  I need to get back into the recipe posting.  I do have a few scrapbook pages to post.  I had a scrap night last night with a friend but I really dislike the page I started and I am going to redo it.  So please excuse me for my little break.