The *Twilight* Zone

That's where I've been this past week!! Yes, I finally gave in and decided to start reading Twilight!!

After a year or so of friends saying how great of a series it is and that I should read it, I was finally convinced and gave in! I'm not much of a reader, not much can hold my attention for so long, but I'm so glad I gave it a go!! Such a fun book to read and no, I couldn't put it down and when I had to, I couldn't wait to pick it up again and start reading!! I was up until 2:00 this morning reading!! I couldn't stop. I just have the epilogue left and the sneak peak of New Moon, the next book in the series.

I'm amazed at how captivating the book was, how you could feel every emotion and I got butterflies in my stomach when Bella talked about how she felt about Edward. The magnetisma and electricity between them is so exciting! Very tastefully written book! Although, I must admit that I enjoyed the first 2/3rds of the book much better than the last 1/3rd. I loved reading all the parts of them getting to know each other and the deep connections they felt for each other. Although there's always complications in a good story, I didn't want the bad guys to be in there getting in the way of their relationship. I'm excited to read the next book in the series but I just hope the deep connection is still there and jumps out from the pages like in the first book.

So, consequently, I haven't been stamping much, surprise, surprise! I even have A Muse's amazing new Bridal/Floral release stamps waiting for me to play with them, but sadly they're un-inked. I'm in one of those phases where I have a bunch of different projects I want to work on; making baby blankets, jewelry projects, scrapbooking, cards for an upcoming class and many others, that I just don't know where to begin! I did manage to make an anniversary card for my mom and stepdad last week:

I tried to keep it clean and elegant, I hope they liked it. I got to use one of my new EK Success thin border punches from Michaels. It's a cute punch, but was difficult for me to line up well and because it has the embossing, it left marks where I didn't want them. I think I was able to conceal them in the end, but took some getting used to.

Hugs to all of you! Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you're all wearing green! If not, consider yourself pinched! :D

I don't usually do much for St. Patty's Day, mostly cuz I don't believe in luck, but I think Ireland looks like a beautiful place and I do think it's fun to see how many things we can make green for the day and make a good Corned Beef and cabbage dinner.

I made these little shamrocks this morning for my kids plus a couple extras to have on hand for the day.

They were super quick, I made them before they left for school and put them in their lunch boxes with a little note on the back.

I was inspired to make a card last night. Not sure it turned out how I expected, I think I missed the mark on the sentiment:


I was inspired by Peter Rabbit stories. I was trying to think of how to incorporate clovers and bunnies and the idea of a spilled pot stuck out. Then I thought it would be cute if the pot was his little home. Although, the idea of the sentiment is not to have a small house necessarily, but lots of friends to fit in whatever size home you have. I was also thinking about the fact that bunnies multiply so quickly and that this little guy would have tons of friends. Maybe I shoulda made the pot bigger and added a bunch of bunnies all over!! LOL! Oh well. I used brown fun flock for the dirt, a tiny pom pom for the bunny tail and Lime Green Stickles on the clovers.

Last but not least, here's a delicious Glazed Corned Beef recipe that we've used in our family since I was a kid. Not sure where the recipe came from, but it's DELICIOUS!! The glaze makes the top layer of the corned beef taste like candy with a tang!! I'm super picky about my meats, so I always cut off as much of the fat on the corned beef as I can. I'm sure it takes away flavor, but it just icks me out!! :D

Glazed Corned Beef

3 lbs corned beef
1 cup Dark Orange Marmalade
4 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
4 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Boil water in large pot, add corned beef, simmer for 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, mix marmalade, mustard and sugar. Glaze corned beef, bake for 30 mins or until glaze is crisp and browned.

Have a fantastic day!!!

Hugs and blessings,

A-Muse-a-Coladas

"If you like Pina Coladas, and gettin caught in the rain...." (pretend you can hear me singing that song, only it sounds good in your head, k?)

:D

My friend Cheiron recently made a Hula Girl A Muse card and it got me thinking about Hawaii, lounging on the beach (or by the pool) and sipping Pina Coladas and Lava Flows and how I wished I could go there. I asked her if she wanted to join me, but since I'm broke and we can't realistically go, I had to send her a thinking of you card with A-Muse-a-Coladas on them:

This card also qualifies for Jennie's Monthly challenge on the A Muse Lounge this month, Stamping to the Music, to make a card inspired by music. I was singing that Pina Colada song the whole time I made it, so it inspired me for sure!! I got to use my new Fiskars Apron Lace border punch on this card and try something new by punching half circles all around the edges of the main piece. I also had fun playing with my copics to get the pina colada drinks to look pina colada-y. :D All stamps and papers used on this card are from A Muse Artstamps.

Thanks for stopping, enjoy your day!!

Hugs and blessings,

Project Hero Mail

Hello!

Have you seen the recent Hero Mail post on the A Muse blog?? So exciting! The A Muse Addicts on the A Muse Lounge pulled together (with the help of Geeta coordinating it all) and made 1001 cards to send to the troops for Project Hero Mail!! What a blessing and great way to help encourage some of the soldiers that are fighting for our freedom!

I made a few cards to contribute (only 35), but every little bit helps!


It's tough to see the blue stars on the red cards in this picture, but they're there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Bear

Hi Everyone! Happy Monday. Did you have a nice weekend? Mine was pretty good, other than having a cold. I got to go out with my sister Saturday night. I haven't seen her in several months since she lives down in Portland, so it was a special treat for me. Sunday afternoon was nice, got to go out to lunch with my in-laws after church, then I came home and took a much needed nap!

Not a whole lot going on here stamping wise the past few days (I've been making earrings for my youngest DD) but I did make this card the other day and thought I'd share. I cut these pink polka dot PLP's up, for my class last month, and didn't have the heart to throw them away so I thought I'd put them to good use and make cards with 'em. It was tough thinking up a fun layout but worth it so I didn't have to toss them! :D


Thanks for stopping by today!

Blessings,