Life first.

Been away a few days -- life got busy. Hubby working tons of overtime, sniffles from my middle guy (he's home with me today), lots of baking.... you all know how it goes. Anyway, I finally got some cards uploaded. Need to start thinking about V'day cards for my youngest's class... simple will be key for me! Joshua had a birthday party last weekend, so this is the card I made up for him. It was for a boy turning 10... always struggle with boy cards... maybe because I don't have many stamps that *work* for that age group. Anyway - jazzed it up a bit with cut out starts, buttons, a brad, stitching & even a little ribbon! :)

Hope you're all having a great week!

.j.

Weekend + Congratulations!

Well the weekend has arrived... along with a windchill of -41 this morning. That temperature hurts the skin. I'm so looking forward to summer!! However, I will enjoy the weekend. I'm even "coaching" my son's hockey team tomorrow night. yes, that will be funny. Guess the coaches are trying to encourage Mom's to come out (I don't see too many other mom's out there!!), so has asked for Mom's to come "coach" (sit on the bench with the boys!!) to generate some female fans! LOL.

I got some stamping done yesterday so over the weekend I'll try to get those uploaded to start showing you. I made the congrats card below for Kim. She had a baby boy - :) yeahhh!! Too funny as she was buying some punches from me and was saying she might want to add to her order, but couldn't think too straight as she was having contractions! WHAT?! Too funny. Shopping for stamping supplies while in labour.... love it!

blessings to you Kim!

Enjoy your weekend!

.j.

cupcake mouse

Just got in from shoveling the walks & driveway. WHEW. It's cold out there. I think the windchill is making it -32 and I'm frozen. brr. I sure loved last weeks surprise of warm weather. HA, when in my life did I EVER think that plus 3 was warm!! LOL.
I made this birthday card for the birthday bin and it was gone the next day. :) Megan loves this little mouse and thought it perfect for her birthday last weekend. Complete with a mini pom-pom on the hat!
I think I will try to get some stamping done today -- with this weather, I think hibernation is in order! Hope you're having a great (and warmer!) week!
.j.

Tso's Chicken

I've been trying really hard to have menus planned a week or so in advance. It's been going great! It's so nice to flip open my daily agenda and see what we're eating for dinner. It's easier to go grocery shopping as well.... love it. Just need to keep it up. So easy for me to get lazy in this, and then have the "ack, what are we going to have for dinner tonight?". On the menu this week is a new-found favorite. A lighter version of Tso's Chicken. YUM!! Give it a try & let me know what you think - we all loved it!

Lighter General Tso's Chicken

• 
  
  1-1/4 cup brown rice (we love brown rice!!)


• 
  
  1/4 cup cornstarch


• 
  
  1 pound of snow peas, trimmed & halved crosswise


• 
  
  4 garlic cloves, sliced


• 
  
  2 tsp. grated, peeled fresh ginger


• 
  
  3 TBSP. brown sugar


• 
  
  2 TBSP. soy sauce


• 
  
  1/2 tsp red-pepper flakes


• 
  
  2 large egg whites


• 
  
  course salt & ground pepper


• 
  
  1lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into 1" pieces)


• 
  
  2 TBPS. vegetable oil

1. Cook rice (I love to cook it in the oven & forget about it!) MEANWHILE... in a large bowl, stir together 1 TBSP. cornstarch & 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add snowpeas, garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes; toss to combine & set aside.


2. In another bowl, whisk together egg whites, remaining 3 TBSP. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/4 tsp. pepper. Add chicken; toss to coat.


3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil over med-high heat. Lift half the chicken from the egg-white mixture (shaking off excess), and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden (6-8 min). Transfer to plate & cook rest of chicken - then set aside.


4. Add snow peas mixture to skillet. Cover & cook until snow peas are tender & sauce has thickened (3-5 min). Return chicken to skillet (with any juices); toss to coat. Serve with rice.

So yummy! Enjoy.

.j.

Happy Monkey

I love this adorable monkey!! I found some metal edged tags in my sorting/cleaning/organizing of stamping supplies & seeing as I'm in the "USE IT UP!" stage, I did just that! I thought it went great with the browns of the monkey & tree.
Taking Joshua to the Dr's after school - new Doctor. One of the things I hate about moving to a new place -- finding Doctors & Dentists!! So... hopefully it all goes well. Hope you're enjoying your day. The sun is shining & it has warmed up here SO MUCH - amazing. LOVE IT! I know, snow tomorrow & thursday, but today -- I'm enjoying the big blue sky & hovering zero degrees!
.j.

Dropping a line?

My oldest loves to get mail! Every day after school she'll ask if I've gotten the mail yet... and if I say yes... the very next question? "Was there anything for me?" :) With moving so much, Megan has made friends and has a pile of pen pals. Honestly, she writes them MUCH more than they write her. All of them are on the computer so want to do email or facebook or MSN. I will let Megan email, but that is IT! If she wants to talk to her friends, PICK UP THE PHONE! Plus, facebook you have to be 18 years old.... not sure how all these little ones are getting on there. *sigh* I still laugh when I think when I was growing up... no computers... we actually played! Anyway - I thought I'd make megan a card for her stash to mail out to her friends. She had picked out this stamp set from Clear Stamps on one of our visits to a stamp store in the Okanagan this past summer. Cute little set - and only a couple bucks! :)

She loved the fact that I used google-eyes! :)

New week is here -- hope it's a good one!

.j.

London Fog

My friend Julie got me HOOKED on these! I've always been a tea-granny :) I remember as a little one having tea with our breakfast before school! Well... this is a whole new cuppa tea! LOL

You can go to Starbucks ask for a London Fog or {uh-hum} an earl grey vanilla misto.... BUT... you can make these beauties right in your own kitchen!

Grab a mug (a nice big one!)

Put an Earl Grey tea bag (some people like two... depends HOW BIG a cup you found!)

Pour some vanilla syrup in there (or a little vanilla & sugar)

boil up the water.... pour over tea bag... about 3/4 full.

grab another mug, pinch of sugar & about 1/3 cup milk, microwave for about 30 sec.

I don't have a fancy steamer... so I do the microwave & then grab a hand whizzer.... (not the correct term, I'm guessing!) It allows you to foam up your milk... lovely!

pour that over your tea.... enjoy!

whooooops!

How do you fix a whoops! You drop the stamp before it's made a full impression... or what I usually do... smear the ink before it's dry! argh!! (Stampin' Up! classic pads are amazing if you're like me... they dry in an INSTANT!!) -- but, I don't like their black ink, so...I still sometimes spear. I made this card using the nestibilites... love doing these! I think they're a great size for making little V'day cards!! Anyway... I smeared the 'y' in You'll..... Didn't feel like throwing it out and starting again... so I tried to make it "part" of the card. Unfortunately there's no "ink eraser" out there. If you're coloring with Copic Markers, there is something called the "blender pen" that will allow you to "push" the color back into the coloring area. Sweet! Simply wait for the ink to COMPLETELY dry and then, starting away from the mistake, press your marker down... the ink will saturate the paper and as it hits the "color" it will push it away. very cool. I tried doing this with the black ink (Brilliance Graphite Black)... no luck. So I took a Grey Copic marker and highlighted a few of the letters... I think took my pink stamp pad and dragged it across the edges... thought if I "grunged" the whole card up it might "work" ??

yeah? no? :) Even managed to split the heart eyelet -- that's when I know it's time to STOP! LOL.

Hope you're relaxing & getting refreshed this weekend! blessings,

.j.

Weekend.

Yes! The weekend has arrived. I love the slow down... no rushing to school... having the kids home! AND... it's suppose to WARM UP! That makes it even better. We may ACTUALLY get outside. Weather & windchill has kept us indoors most of the winter thus far. We're BC kids!! .... this -30....-38.....-43.... yeah.... not working!! The thought of -8....0....+3 ??? YES!!!! and a big HORAAAAWWWW from us! So, we'll see.
I got this stamp back in October & it's *finally* seeing ink. I got to a stamp store in Edmonton, but they hardly had anything my "style".... I saw this, and kept coming back to it... so I thought I'd get it (I seriously DON'T need anymore flowers... but there you go!) I love those dew drops! I have a couple clear ones on this card and I'd love to get a set of blue/greens.... Again, I was using up snippets of DS paper.... Nothing much to explain on this card. Straight cuts. Colored with Copics....there you go :)
I got my new stampin' up catalog in the mail the other day... There is a set in there I'd love to get my hands on.... birthday is coming up... might ask for that one! Trendy trees it's called. Quite funky - like that! I'm planning to stamp a bunch of images & color this weekend. Got a few cards done yesterday & trying today -- but laundry keeps calling me.... :)
Enjoy your weekend!
.j.

Loveable moose!

Trying to always be a month ahead in my card making.... At least that's usually the goal. Doesn't always happen though. I've got a great book I got for Christmas one year (thanks Ang!!). It has all the months with a pocket, so not only can you record everyone's birthday for that month, but I can make the card ahead of time, and tuck it in the pocket! Perfect! Then when I'm out I can pick up a gift card and even stick that in there so I'm prepared for the mail-away cards! So... I thought I'd get a jump start on my Valentine Card! :)
I know everyone these days are pinching pennies... well I know I AM!! One thing I do is SAVE all my scraps. Even scraps I think are useless. When I mat images I try to use those pieces that's I've punched out. check it out below:
Here's a scrap piece of paper that I will use to mat my adorable moose with :) Isn't he cute?!
You'd never know there was a punch-out behind him. If you know you'll use the pieces, punch it out if it's solid and save them!! It's all covered up anyway... it will stretch your paper!!

Then pull out one of my MUST HAVE items... the perfect layers ruler. Even mat EVERY time!And the end result! Finding bits & pieces to use. The next few days you will see cards that are using up scraps -- and it's working! :) I'm getting stuff used up... and getting cards on hand - a win, win! :)
I was thinking of making V'Day cards with my youngest for her class this year. We usually think about it.... procrastinate and then run out & buy the "usual" princess ones.... might try to be prepared this year! :)

Eat Cake

Megan has a birthday party this weekend & so I need to make a few birthday cards... not sure why I always make a few, but I do... let them pick, and stick the "rejected" ones in the pile for next one. She walked in yesterday, saw this one & was like "awww.. this is so cute mom! I like this one"... so maybe I won't need another?? :) As I continue to go through my stuff, I'm determined to USE up what I have... so I'm finding bits of designer papers, tags here & there... so that is how this card ended up what it was. A little piece of this & that....

Stamps - Penny Black for the chicken, Sentiment is by Hampton Art I think.

Accessories - Ribbon is SU's grey taffeta (by far my favorite.. love that ribbon!), metal edge tag (Stampin' Up! ... remember those?!) LOL, button (stash!)

Used the cuttlebug on the regal rose cardstock, design paper is also SU and the doodling around the edge of the tag & image was freehand - by me :)

I have a Valentine to show you tomorrow :)

Enjoy your day... mid-week!

.j.

cards.

I did get some stamping done yesterday & the plan is to get some more done today :) I'll post a photo later today.....

.j.

Start Clean.

I thought today would be a big stamp day. Kids at school, hubby at work, a day off from the gym.... but the messy space... ack! When I stamp, I need order. OH YES, my place is a complete disaster by the time I'm done (and even during the process), but I have to start clean. I cannot be the *only* one?!! Anyone? BEFORE, when I had a stamp room, it was fine to quickly tidy up and get at it. NOW, I'm in the kitchen (open concept) so for some reason there is stuff everywhere. Drives me insane! Stacks of stuff I'm selling, stuff boxed up for post office drop-off, kids textbooks (why are they here & not at school?? HMMM??).... so I thought I'd tackle it and get it cleaned up so I could stamp. HA. It's starting to look better.... but I think I should move all my for sale stuff upstairs so it's not all staring at me! And how does one incorporate ROCKBAND into the living room furnishings.... ?? Oh the joys of a small space! Going from 4700 sq.ft to ... MAYBE 1300?? Challenging. BUT... must say I rather cosy & close that lost & spacious. Just need to get rid of stuff so I'm not feeling cluttered and crammed. SO... if you haven't gotten anything of my sale list, drop me an email and I'll email you an updated list so you can take advantage of a few deals! I've got everything from colored wire (have you seen those adorable handmade coat hangers on cards?), paper clay, punches, vellum tags, colored vellum, idea books and of course STAMPS! ;)

So today I am looking for inspiration. I've been very tired lately... so now I need to get my creative juices flowing.... what is inspiring you these days? I found these blogs with card sketches.... might give them a try. Check them out:

http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/
http://www.making-birthday-cards.com/card-sketches.html

K -- off to do 15 more minutes of cleanup (anyone else here a FLYlady?) and then I will hopefully have an hour & half to stamp before picking up the kids from school & in the middle of the afternoon rush! :)

.j.

Day 10, 24 & 25.... completed.

Well, the project is finally done. OK, I still have a little journalling to do, but other than that I'm done. I'm happy with how it turned out (for the most part). I like all the different page sizes, that really helped me get outside my creative box, so that's always a good thing. I'm looking forward to this again next year. I will look throughout the year now for bits & pieces to stick aside for the project. I'll also maybe try using a small album (although I think I'd miss the assorted page sizes....) but I do like the idea of PROTECTIVE SHEETS... we'll see.Below is Day 10. That one I set aside as I wanted Megan to pick out the photos. In the end, she didn't really care so I picked them & just got it done. She is my Polka Dot girl so she specifically chose this background design paper! I hand doodled the "title" on this page as well. On the back I made a little pocket to hold the program for the night and I will also add my journalling & slip it into the pocket as well :)

day 24 (above) the kids did a little talent show. We typically go to the Christmas Eve service, but it didn't work out this year & so we created our own :) The kids each did a little something & even sang us a couple Christmas songs at the end. They always love putting on little talent shows!

Day25. I thought this picture was adorable. I went to the library and got an armload of magazines and they had Scrapbooks Etc. there. So I found this sketch (well, altered it a bit) in there and that was great inspiration to finish up! Check out your local library, it's amazing what they have in there or even what they're willing to bring in for you!

OK - hopefully now I'll have some card creations to show you.... Hope you've enjoyed the {long} process of this December journal.

Enjoy your Monday, and your fresh new week -

.j.

Finishing Up...

I am finishing up the album this weekend -- then I will be DONE. It'll get packed up in the Christmas box, and brought out December 2009. It'll be fun to look back & see what we're done - and who knows where we'll be this winter... hmmm? I hope to do this again next year. Although a ton of work... it sure has been a fun project. It's been what I've needed to get me scrappin again. NOW, I need cards!! Kids had a couple birthday parties this weekend, more next... need to get my supply back and cards that are needed for next month. PLUS, I've got some new stamps to play with, so I'm looking forward to switching gears for a bit. Hope to show you my final 3 days tomorrow :)

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend,

.j.

My take on the granola bars...

Someone asked for my revamped recipe of these granola bars... so here's what I did:

I got out my cookie sheet (with sides) and put the following:

2 cups oats
3/4 cup Wheat Germ
1 cup almonds (that I roughly chopped up)
mix them a bit, right in the tray (why dirty another bowl?!)
Toast in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. STIR often (like every TWO MINUTES... or it'll burn on you!)
MEANWHILE... grab a pot. and dump in:
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Honey
4 TBSP Butter (which is 1/4 cup)
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt.
Bring this to a simmer, stirring constantly.
Prepare a 11x13 (9x13 would work just fine!) pan, line with wax paper & spray lightly with non-stick spray. DO this. I didn't the second time i made these, forgot, and that wax paper was ripping to get off... spray helped a ton!!
Now I grab my kitchen scale (yes, I do have one & yes, I do use it).... and I added dry fruit to it (raisins, craisins & chopped apricots) until I hit the magic 8oz weight. I'm thinking about a cup. Then I added 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds.
STIR IT ALLLLLLL together until it's really well mixed. Dump it into your prepared pan. Grab some wax paper for the top (keep your hands clean) and press it down into the pan. Let it sit for 2-3 hours before lifting it out and cutting it into bars. I also wrap them individually so they're handing to grab when we're on the run, or else all ready for school lunches :)
enjoy! It'll be one that I make again & again!
enjoy your weekend.
.j.

day 23

The color is a bit *off* on this photo. I got those shimmery 'thickers' for Christmas.... oooh... love 'em! Hubby did awesome in that department!! We had our Christmas on the 23rd... so I titled it "our Christmas morning" :) I'll do some journaling on the back... still have a few pages to journal on. Back to school, back to sports, back to music lessons.... homework... time is getting gobbled up!! :) But I am determined to FINISH this project. :)
What are working on these days? Today I hope to get the kids to finish signing Christmas thank-you cards so I can get those out & into the mail before the weekend is upon us.
Enjoy your day,
.j.

Homemade delish-ious-ness!

I'm on the hunt for a fabulous homemade granola bar recipe. Well, I have one that we all love, but it contains peanut butter so the kids can't take them to school. I really hate buying the premade "granola" bars which are more like a sugar saturated chocolate bar (YES... I'm one of THOSE Moms! LOL!!) Well, I stumbled across THIS granola bar today while blurfing (that term always makes me smile... blurf. ha) Anyway... I made a few adjustments (took out the peanuts obviously and used chopped up almonds instead)... also added pumpkin seeds (yum, yum)... for the dried fruit I used raisins, craisins & dried apricots. I also have dried cherries, but they were frozen... so I thought a dried cherry and white chocolate DRIZZLE, would be yummy.

Let me know if you try these beauties.... They are so good!

enjoy your day,

.j.

Day 21 & 22

When Sarah came home and put her gingerbread men on the fridge, I knew I HAD to incorporate it into a page somehow. I figure our gingerbread house building would be the perfect time. I was able to slip in a bell on a previous page that Joshua had made so I was happy to get a little something from Sarah on here. The page has a bit of an "old" feel to it and I was happy how it all turned out. It really felt "scrappy" to me :) Which was perfect. Even used my new punch on the bottom of the main photo!

Day 22

I used an envelope here. I still need the kids to write for the first envelope, but I thought I'd have them say maybe 3 things they loved this year and 3 things they hope happen in the coming year. Things they'd like to do, see, learn.... I think that would be very interesting! :) And fun to look back on & read.

This day was our Christmas Eve. Grandma had brought some special reindeer food (I put the little package {emptied} in the envelope) and the kids sprinkled it outside before going for a very chilly walk.

Enjoy your day,

.j.

The Sale has Started!!

OK - I've started to list some items.... I'll be slowly adding more & more & more.... :)

First off - EVERYTHING is at least 50% off of the original price - some items are up to 80% off (time to clear out!!) Everything comes from a smoke-free, pet-free home. OK, we have a little fighter fish... but I'm sure he hasn't been into the stamps! SO... if you want to view the growing list, please email me at:

jdgray94@shaw.ca

also, let me know if you'd like to be emailed when I've added more items :)

Thanks everyone....

Jennifer

Day 18, 19 and 20

What would I do without GOOGLE! HA. Was able to fix the glitch with photoshop by googling the issue and then following step-by-step. Whew. So... playing a little catch up:

Here's Day 18.

Super simple!!

I saw Joshua looking out the window on the landing and seeing the digger hard at work removing the snow hills left by the grader. Awww... poor guy. He had been playing that week on those hills, carving out "slides" and jumps. He was sad as he watched them destroy his hills.

Day 19

Here I cut and used an old trading card photo page. It worked perfect! It was the day Grandma & Grandpa arrived. I loved all the little pockets I cut fill with design paper & photos.

Day 20

I thought I would journal a sporadic idea I had on another day that was too cold to go out and play. Grandma & Grandpa were not used to those -35 days! Neither were we!! We played tons of games, but the kids were getting a little antsy! So I went upstairs and grabbed a little gift, and wrapped it. Put it in a bigger box and wrapped again... and yes, I did this a few times :) I brought it downstairs and told the kids we were going to play a game. They had to roll a one... then they had three SECONDS to start unwrapping ... then they would start taking turns and whoever rolled a one was allowed to unwrap for another 3 seconds. Wow... did they ever have fun!!

On the back, I journalled the 'event' :)

Few more pages to show you (a couple more to do) and then I'm done with this project! :) Then I'll have to play with some of my new Christmas toys!!

.j.

day 17 + an error.

Well, I apologize for the unedited and fairly poor photo. For some reason I have a strange glitch in my photoshop 5.0. I can upload all my photos, but they will not allow me to edit them (and save that edited version). So... here's the uncropped page! :) I am nearly done the album, so it feels good. I will upload some more pages for you tomorrow (I'll just see if I can figure out the glitch, but.. you may have pics like this!)
I focused on traditions for this day. Some of our family traditions during the holidays. One of those is my making Orange Cinnamon Swirl Bread. I only make it at Christmas time, so it's extra special :) We make french toast out of it for Christmas morning. YUM!
My goal this week is to start going through the stamping/scrapbooking supplies, so I will hopefully have a "for sale" post soon! :)
.j.

A Special Box on Day 15

I love it when I find a useful tool for a buck! :) Back when I was in school {lol, can't believe I can say that now}... when there were no computers or Internet {my kids cannot imagine how I lived like that!} and we went to the library, I loved that little stamp the librarian used to stamp my card inside my specially selected book so I would know when to return it. I remember when I helped out at the library and got to use that stamp. Making sure my date was right, turning the little dials just so.... Well, I found one of those stamps at the dollar store awhile back. My littlest loves to play with it. I thought it would work great to use on this page (on the tab) to incorporate the date. I simply stapled the tab on. This was a nice quick page, that mostly focused on the photo (all the journalling is on the back). It was a special box that arrived from Grandma & Grandpa Gray - there were wrapped packages & goodies, but what caught the most attention were these little Christmas bags that Grandma must have sewn & made.... you could feel the treasures inside. They each had a little wooden tag with a scripture verse {that fit each of us perfectly} and our names. The kids carefully put their bag under the tree to be opened later... it was a special box indeed!
.j.

day 14

Day 14 I focused on teacher gifts. I used the slit punch to make the scallops down the edges, but I'm excited to say that I got the threading water punch by Fiskars for Christmas! YEAH! I was so pleased with the scrapbooking stuff I got for Christmas -- Santa did an amazing job! All the Copic markers I had on my list -- THRILLED! Absolutely the yummiest Thickers I ever did see... cool vinyl, amazingly sparkly blue, and glossy silver.... yahooooo!!! SO... no more slit scallops for me... simply punch, punch - done! It will be wonderful! What goodies did Santa bring you this year? Do tell!!
Almost time to pack up the tree... dread that part. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is setting up the Christmas tree. My mom sends the kids a Christmas ornament every year and as we set up the tree we take the time to remember each ornament & often think of the year it represents. We are so blessed. Even though the stresses of life are at an all-time high for us, I still need to step back & remind myself how truly blessed I am. When I do that, I'm simply amazed.
.j.

Happy New Year

Are you one to make New Years Resolutions? In years past, hubby & I have sat and written down "hopes" for the coming year. Things we hope to better ourselves in, a few adventures to try.... then we seal it in an envelope & open the following year. The funny thing about this is, we usually lose the envelopes and have no idea if we accomplished those items. Guess at the top of my list ought to be ORGANIZATION! You would think with the amount of times we've moved in our marriage {14yrs + 13 moves!!}, I'd be organized!! I have a goal for the first part of this year... it'll take a few months, but I want to go through all the boxes, and ... the big one -- go through my stamping/scrapbooking items and pair it down to half {gasp!}.... Not sure if that's possible, but... need to try. All those half started projects, those items I bought for a reason which now escapes me, magazines & books that are ready to inspire someone else.... it's time! Guess it's early Spring Cleaning! So stay tuned for some good deals -- I'll post on my blog here before heading to ebay. The snow & cold will be here for another number of months {sigh} so it's the perfect time. Hubby & I are working towards an extremely exciting {and I'll admit scary for me!!} goal this fall and we'll need to be organized. Hope to let you know details on that one day.This week I hope to get the kids to write up their thank-you cards to send to Aunts & Uncles, Grandparents & friends for the gifts they received this year. They were spoiled!! The Wii was a hit (videoed them SCREAMING in excitement! Very cute!! when they opened it). So, even though it's freezing outside they've been playing baseball, golf, tennis.... LOL. I know you've seen this image a lot... I thought it was perfect for our thank-you cards! Need to get creating again soon. Hope to have a day this week to play & stamp.... stay tuned.
Happy New Year!!
.j.