A little Love.... A little HOLIDAY!

Thought this little stamp set was appropriate as we load up the truck & head out to visit my family (and meet my new nephew!!) today. A ferry ride & a really great drive up to the Okanagan. We are all SO needing a break (although it's hard to step away from the house with so much going on right now)... still at times we need to FORCE ourselves to take a break, breath in that fresh air & play. So we are off for a week to do just that -- PLAY. :)

Crazy Monday.

Today is going to be crazy. Hubby is already at the house working & I'm putting supper in the crock pot (what a lifesaver that little machine can be!!), letting the kids sleep in (oh to be a kid again!!), and getting lunch & snacks put together while we're working out there. I've got some major painting I have to get done before the cabinet maker comes in tomorrow morning. Not to mention a little thing called PACKING for 5 people for our trip... TOMORROW!!

I saw these great storage stamping units online that I thought I'd share today before heading out the door :) Have a great week everyone.
.j.


SWEEEEEEEET!!! I'd love a cabinet like this one. Of course everything wouldn't fit in there (SHHHHH!) but what a great little set up for your basic supplies so you can be set up in the living room or family space but close it all up pretty! :)

It's by a company called For Keeps Sake.
They have lots of cool (and pricey!) storage goodies :)

Watermisting 2

This card was CASED with a few simplified changes ;-) I really like the soft look of watermisting -- be sure to try it at least once -- not sure why I didn't before now. I stamped the background with French Script (one of my favorite background stamps!!) I thought this would make good Sympathy Card. "Good" might not be the right word, but you know what I mean.

We leave on Tuesday for holiday time -- YEAH!!! So I won't have pics but I may try to post now & then... we'll see.

So have fun, enjoy your summer... and I'll see you in a week :)
-j.

Watermisting

White isn't a *color* that I play with very often. I find its starkness hard to work with, but in this instance I wanted a simple card & I think it works. I also have a number of these notecards with scalloped envelopes in my drawer!! :) I FINALLY tried out on of the easiest techniques - water-misting. I LOVE IT! It gives you an amazing watercolor look (without ANY of the work! - sweet!). I took the flower from Petal Prints - I know it retired, but it will still be well-loved by me - fabo set! -- anyhoo.. grabbed some markers (rose red, more mustard... maybe a little chocolate chip) and colored on the stamp. Grabbed my mister of water and gave it a spray (not too close) - then stamped on watercolor paper (that of course is KEY - it would just run off of whisper white). I then took the outline stamp and did the same :) It will work well with the little package of stamped cards I made.

One more sleep 'til hubby comes home! I'm so excited -- 14 days is a LONG time :(
have a great weekend!
.j.

I've been awarded :)

Charly has nominated me -- what a wonderful surprise this morning as I pulled on my paint clothes & thought to myself... I don't wanna paint (perfectly mimicking a 3 yr old! LOL)!! :)



OK, now I get to nominate 5 :).... I can't say I know these ladies personally, or even internetlly (OK, new word!! LOL), but I do love to peek in on what they've made!

Thinking Inking
'Eh'mazing Stampers (Kerry!!)
Inking Around (great gal I met on the cruise!)
321 Stamp!
Captain Crafter

Have fun checking out their sites!!
I'll go grab a coffee & post a card for today :)
.j.

Pork Roast with Garlic & Rosmary

Raining again today... is summer over already? *sigh* The positive is we can bake & cook and not worry about heating up the whole house. :) So blueberry banana bread is in the oven & it's starting to smell marvelous in here... (I should maybe post that amazing recipe too -- let me know if you'd like it in the comments section). I have a fabulous recipe from one of my all time favorite books How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

It's so yummy & I love to cook it up in the morning & then have it cold to use throughout the week. Great in quesadillas, sandwiches & wraps.... yum, yum, yum!

The Stuff:
salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 Tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves (or 1 tsp. dried rosemary)
1/4 tsp. cayenne (optional, but good!)
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 (3-4 lb.) pork loin - bone in OR 1 (2-3 lb) boneless roast
1-1/2 cups dry white wine or stock
1 Tablespoon butter (optional)

The How-To:
1. Preheat oven to 450F. Mix a liberal amount of salt & pepper together with the rosemary, cayenne, sugar & garlic & rub it all over the roast. (Mmmmm!!) Place the meat in a roasting pan (use a rack if it's boneless) and put in the oven. Roast, undisturbed, for 15 min.
2. Open the oven & pour about 1/2cup of wine or stock over the roast; lower the heat to 325F. Continue to roast, adding about 1/4cup of liquid every 15 min. or so. If the liquid accumulates on the bottom of the pan, use it to baste; if not, add more.
3. Start checking the roast after 1-1/4hrs of total cooking time (it'll probably take 1-1/2hrs). When it'd one - an instant-read thermometer will register 145-150F - remove to warm platter.

ENJOY!

A rainy day.

We had a rainy day here on the Island. Kids were going a bit squirrely being pent up in the house. We ended up going to the library for awhile & picking up books, doing some reading & watching a movie together. My son REALLY wanted to go to cyber-city (toned down arcade type of place for younger kids), so we went & played games there for a little while :) They have so much fun -- we had a good day. :)

This is a card I cased from KRISTIE REYNOLDS. I don't know her but I'm a blog surfer! ;-) Mine is a bit different, but the idea was hers :) I don't know who she is, but liked her bella card! I made these on Monday's stamping day. Got a few of them done. Used my aquapainter & wondercrayons to color in the image. Still practicing with my prismacolor pencils... thinking I need the much talked about GAMSOL (sp?) to work with them and a much better black ink as I hate "dragging" or *smearing* the black into my vibrant colors. I've heard of NOIR BLACK PALETTE HYBRID INK so I'm thinking I'll have to get some to try out. There's *always* something to add to my wish list :)

Off to clean the kitchen & slip into my stamp room before PJ time :)
.j.