Photo Card

What do you do when you have no time to stamp a card? Well... have you tried just grabbing a photo? K, my photo OF the photo isn't great... but you can still visualize the idea, right? Matted photo on some design paper. Eyelets, taffeta ribbon (Stampin Up! love that ribbon!!)... done. :)

Been a very busy few days.... still working on this wedding scrapbook (I'll get those photos uploaded here soon).... so just popping in quick with a VERY quick card!! And no, my {older} brother doesn't typically walk around with a bottle of rum around his neck, my Dad's 60th birthday party was pirate themed (you can see how well me and my younger brother participated in that! LOL) Hope your week is going fabulously! Drop me a line.

.j.

Pecan Bars

OK - these are amazing. Seriously, candy! My daughter loves baking and she's terrific! She made these and the pan was nearly CLEANED OUT by the end of the night!

Pecan Bars

1-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cup brown sugar, packed & divided

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup pecans

2/3 cup butter

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter - beat 2-3 minutes.

Pat into ungreased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

In a saucepan, combine 2/3 cup butter & remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar. Cook until bubbly & stir one more minute.

Pour over crust & spread.

Bake 18-20 minutes until surface is bubbly.

Remove from oven & spread with chocolate chips. Let stand 2-3 minutes & then spread. Cook & cut. With the heat, we ended up putting the pan in the fridge to firm up the chocolate :)

ENJOY!

.j.

Calgary Zoo

I had so many photos I wanted to use on this layout. I had to keep Ali Edwards' words in my head - YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SCRAPBOOK EVERY SINGLE PHOTO! Do you struggle with that? My Mom had asked if I was going to just do a small album on the zoo. Now I could have, I had that many photos, but there was NO NEED. I decided I would simply print the photos and put them in a flip album so the kids could go through and see all the creatures & moments and just do a 2-page spread in my album. Here's what I came up with:

The full spread:

I reprinted my photos to wallet size so I could fit a lot on my pages.

I used chipboard from my stash, already colored, and used them for a colorful title: Calgary Zoo, creative aren't I! LOL.I used my cuttlebug die for all the circles, and the threading water punch for the scallop along the bottom. The design paper had polka dots, so I went with it! :)

I used SU's punch for highlighting a couple of the favorite creatures - prairie dog here... ...and the red panda here.

I'm looking forward to scrapbooking the adventures as they arrive....

.j.

simplicity works.

This is a *VERY* simple card. And...it works. Some sponging, some layering, a little paper piercing at the bottom - done. When I need a card quick, this is the type of card I can make in under 10 minutes -- perfect! :)
I've been very busy scrapbooking the last few days. I'm doing a scrapbook for my Mom's co-worker. She wanted to scrapbook her son's wedding (in Hawaii) to give to them next month for their Canadian wedding reception. SO... I have been offline for awhile and pumping out the pages. I will post them in the next couple of weeks. Been quickly snapping photos of the pages (so quality will be questionable!), but I do still have a few pages of my own to share with you.
How's your summer going?

Curried Rice Salad

I made this for the reunion, I loved it. Rice was a bit mushy (would use a different kind next time).... but the overall TASTE was Mmm-Mmmm-Good! ;-) I love salads in summer weather... cold dinners are delish - let me know if you have a salad to share, I'll try it out FER SURE!!! K, try this one:

Curried Rice Salad

2 cups cooked rice (best made the day before)

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped celery

1 Tablespoon vinegar

1 tsp. curry powder

2 tablespoons salad oil (I used olive oil)

2 cups frozen green peas

1 cup mayo

Mix rice, celery, onions, frozen peas, salad oil, vinegar & curry powder. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Add mayo. Can be pressed into a mold and when chilled turned onto a large platter (can't do this... grosses me out for some reason to have MOLDED salads.... dunno??), served on lettuce leaves or just as is (I'm an AS IS kinda girl, LOL!)

Enjoy!

.j.

Father's Day Page

We celebrated Father's Day a week early this year. It was great to scrapbook recent photos... I'm loving this *new* way of doing things! LOL.

The quote on top: "Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy!"

That big Happy Family on the bottom photo is actually a beautiful rub-on. The arrows directing the eye to follow Simply The Best are punched out using my cuttlebug and arrow plate.

Don't want to spend a fortune on metal edged tags? Check out your local Staples or Walmart. I got a package of about 25 for $2.50! Sweet deal. I just take off the metal ring on top, and replace it with lovely ribbon! And, yes... I finally added a touch of my own handwriting!!

I love Thickers, and these ones I got for Christmas, vinyl. HOW COOL IS THAT?! I used a sticker to go on top of a SU metal edged tag and loved adding a few dew drops, they're so yummy and I need, need, need more colors!!


We also went & played tennis this day so I did a page that co-ordinate with this page, but didn't treat it as a two-page spread. I'll share that page with you soon...

Enjoy your day,

.j.

Broccoli Salad

My Mom had a little family reunion last weekend and she wanted everyone to have a break and asked me to cook a ham and make some salads & deliver them to everyone on Saturday for dinner :) What fun! This is always a favorite at our house, so I thought I'd make it for the group!

Broccoli Salad

1 head broccoli

1 bunch of green onions

1`-1/2 cups chopped celery

1/2 cup crumbled bacon

1-1/2 cup green grapes

toasted slivered almonds

sunflower seeds

raisins

Dressing:

1 cup mayo or salad dressing (Miracle Whip)

1 Tablespoon Vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

Mix all together and enjoy. :)