winner winner chicken dinner............

yay - i did the random.org generator for the first time ever. Much easier than writing names down and drawing out of a hat! Here is the winner:

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Here are your random numbers:12
Timestamp: 2009-10-30 20:52:41 UTC

I don't know how to copy and past the screen - but if you can't tell - it was poster number 12! Mara - congrats! Email me your addy and i will get this box sent off! Thanks so much to everyone who entered!! bhurd1976@msn.com

So tomorrow is Halloween and i think i've talked the kids into staying home and passing out candy! Yay - is that horrible. We have been in costume 4 times this week - we've done Trunk or Treat twice and have enough Candy for an army - soooooooo we are staying home to see what others have dressed up for Halloween!! Here are a few layouts i did for GCD Studios.

This spiderweb was cut out using my sillouhette. (LOVE IT). The white background paper and the black glitter border are from the new Artsy Urban collection by Melody Ross. I just finished up a layout I LOVE (because it has my family picture on it) with this line - can't share yet - but will soon.

Hope everyone enjoys thier weekend - i am done with assignments for the month and am going to be packing up scrapbook stuff - printing pictures and typing up my journaling for a scrappy weekend getaway next weekend. Is it crazy that it takes that long to get ready - i just want to make sure it get lots accomplished - and if i just throw things in a bag and go - that doesn't happen - i spend too much time looking through stuff and finding the perfect picture! My goal - 5 layouts - I know its not alot - but its been the most i've done up there. We watch like 7 chick flicks and eat lots of food too - can't wait!

hugs

B

giveaway pics and Crocheting

First of all - isn't this vintage photo frame so cool. Its by Rhonna Farrer and i just bought the kit over at two peas - inspired by a layout done by Kelly Goree using the same frames. Anyways- the story behind this picture - i was asking my grandma a while back if she knew how to crochet and if she could teach me because i had just bought a 'how to' book at JoAnnes and really really want to try it - the vintage trims and flowers - love them. She said she didn't know how - but my grandpa Grant (her second husband) who had passed away DID crochet. Well yesterday - my dad came over and brought me a sack from my grandma of Grant's old Crocheting things. Needles, books, yarn.............look how old that Mcalls book is - its from the late 50's to the mid 60's. THe other one is from the 50's - the open side on the left. SO COOL. So now i'm inspired - if i can just figure it out now!!

Those of you who havn't entered the giveaway yet - you still have a few days - make sure you do it on the post below - but this is just a fraction of what will be in the box. The paper in this picture includes the entire line. 2 dream street lines and on Pink Paislee - there is more paper (American Crafts, MME.............i'm not going to tell you EVERYTHING that's going to be in there -some of it needs to be a surprise - right?). Also some exclusive stamps from Label Tulip, Scarlet Lime and Studio Calico. Ink, Ribbon, Rubons, Cardstock, Stickers, Stamps - i've gone through and the value of this box is going to be WELL over $100.00 and none of it is used - so ENTER ENTER ENTER! Here is a fun layout i did using the Audrey line for a post over at the Lily Bee BLog. Go check out a fun Mini album by Jill Sprout and a layout be Katrina.
I used Maya Mist and glimmer mist on those cardboard alphas by Jillibean Soup! Love them. The leaves were all cut out with my Sillouhette. LOVE IT>
Card was made using Audrey too! - that Coffee Stain stamp is from Studio CAlico - my fave!

Thanks for stopping by - i will be back on FRIDAY with a WINNER! So make sure you enter!

xoxo

Brenda

a giveaway-CLOSED

just because i feel like being nice - and i have WAY too much stuff! I have been going through things trying to get ready for my scrap weekend away next weekend - and i have SO MUCH STUFF. Lots of duplicates too. Another thing i don't ever think about when i buy buy buy - is that i have 3 design teams that i have to do assignments for - so most of my time - is using these manufaturers product. But i still have a problem buying............its time to let go of some if it and make room for all of things that don't fit in my drawers and cupboards. I will fill a flat rate box FULL of goodies (lots of newer stuff too) if you'll just leave me a comment and tell me what your going to be for Halloween!! I'm not being to creative this year - a 'tavern lady' - bought the costume at Target! I'm kinda going more of a gypsey/pirate route with the dress. Real creative right! So what are you dressing up as?? Leave me a comment and let me know - i will do a drawing on October 30th - the day before Halloween!
We had a family Halloween party at my parents last night and one tonight with Dean's family - lots of dressing up for us the week - we have school parties and trunk or treats - so thier costumes will definatley get good use!
Here are a few layouts i did for Fancy Pants this month. The first one is with the Christmas Magic line which I LOVE! The ornament thing at the top is a glitter cut - i cut the top of this one off and adhered it to the bottom of the layout. The circle in the background is one of the circle 8x8 mixed media albums. Rubons, chipboard, stickers and buttons are all Fancy Pants too.

This one was fun - my boys racing eachother. I used the Rough and Tough line - the circles are made by using paint and a toilet paper roll. I cut the arrows from the 12 x 12 sticker sheet. The title is handcut from one of the patterned papers!!

Hope everyone has a great week filled with lots of fun Halloween parties! I will be back once more this week before i do the drawing! Thanks for stopping by - and don't forget to post for the giveaway!

xoxo

B

the mighty deer hunter (viewer discretion advised)

I know i'm taking a chance posting these pictures - but at the moment - i'm a proud deer hunter who wanted to share! I've deer hunted since i was old enough to get my hunters safety permit. I can't remember if it was 12 or 14 back then - but my dad has hunted all of my life - so it was perfectly normal that i wanted to do the same thing - right. I've shot quite a few deer in my life - more than 10 and a cow elk - but i think this deer takes the cake for me. Thanks to my hubby who is a big deer hunter too and my dad. We had a great day on WEdnsday, riding around in Terex and doing ALOT of unecessary walking (didn't see any deer on our long hike)! But my dad shot his deer and lucky for me - this big deer stood up and i got to take a shot. My dad and Dean doing the happy dance was put a big smile on my face. And its not all just for the hunt - we do like to meat. My kids LOVE deer steaks and i love to make stews and casseroles - so its not all in vein.

So don't judge - hahaha - love me for me - even if i am i hunter. Funny thing now is - in the beginning it used to be a big long 3-4 day camping/hunting trip. Now - with kids - i get 1 day - maybe 2 days a year to do it. I'm sure my sister won't appreciate me telling you this - but my dad took her hunting last saturday and she was pumping in the truck 3 or 4 times that day - new baby at home. Its just hard for mommy's to take the time away - but its something we love and get to do with our dad so we make the time. I remember pumping in the truck a few times back in the day too.

Now i'll share something crafty to take your mind off of it. I did this layout the day of my CF crop - the only layout i did the entire 12 hours i was there. So its very simple and i pretty muched just used EVERYTHING from Basic Grey's Indian SUmmer release - which took alot of the though process out and allowed me to take less to the crop because i knew i wouldn't be doing much scrapping.

So now i'm here Baylee - who still seems to be sick - she's a very ornery negative 3 year old right now and i'm hoping its just because she's not sleeping well right now with all of the coughing because we are not getting along so well. She's very mean and has been saying alot of hurtful things, she's full of threats and goodness i dont know where my Baylee went. They say girls get this way - but i hope its not to stay because i don't deal with it well............so i've told her if she's nice - and helpful around the house i would let her scrapbook with me and that seemed to put a smile on her face so we will see how the day goes!

Have a great day!

xoxo

B

Pumpkin Muffins.......and some Lily Bee

Remember those pumpkin muffins i told you about - wow!! They were amazing - and i will be making them lots more. Here is the blog i got the recipe from and then i will also post the recipe in case you don't want to go to that blog.

RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN MUFFINS

From Gourmet November 2006

Adapted from the American Club

Makes 1 dozen

Active time: 15 min.

Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup canned solid-pack pumpking (from a 15-oz can) (I accidentally put the entire 15 oz. can in, with no ill effects at all)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)

1.25 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

i put Milk Chocolate chips in after scooping out half of the batter.

Equipment: 12 foil or paper muffin liners; a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups
DIRECTIONS:Put oven rack in middle positiona nd preheat oven toe 350F. Put liners in muffin cups.
Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1.25 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then spinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wodden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Then i made homemade breadsticks.

Here is the Chicken soup - isn't that Cambells soup pot just the cutest. I got it for my wedding 12 years ago and this is maybe the 3rd time its been used - The mugs below came with it are just as cute - there are 4 different designs. And now for a Lily Bee Layout. Nicole did a skecth post on the Lily Bee Blog and i did this layout like a week ago and never emailed it to her - i had intentions of doing it last night - but my Baylee girl was up throwing up all night long - literally - all night. It was so sad. She's napping now so and no throw up today thank goodness. And i have to say how grateful i am for a husband that is willing to clean up throw up. Everytime this happens at our house - Dean is the one who cleans up the mess. It was a big one last night too - and he stayed up till 1:oo am washing sheets and comfortor while i slept in my bed with her between throwups. Ugh. Enought of that............... here is my take on the sketch - its not up on the blog yet - but will be later hopefully. This is the Vintage Poppy line.
I used my wide format printer for the journaling for the first time since i got it almost a year ago. How sad is that - I will be using it more often - i really liked the outcome. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully the yucky flu stays away from your homes!

B

Being a good Person

My mother in law sent out Halloween invitations to our anual Halloween party and it had the cutest poem on it so i thought i would share with my friends!

Being a good person is like being a
pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in
and washes all the dirt off of you.
He opens you up, touches you deep inside
and scoops out all of the yucky stuff,
including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed
etc. Then He carves you a bright
smiling face and puts His light inside of
you to shine for all the world to see!

So there is my happy thought for the day. I also did this layout - kind of a tribute to buddy - i was really happy with the way it turned out. I love the wooden letters -so fun. This was one of those - i can use whatever i want on it layouts. No Design team assignments, no challenges, or submission guidlines - just whatever i wanted - it felt good. I need to scrap like that more often! If only the time would allow - right!
I'm finally feeling a little better - sound like crap because i havn't completley gotten my voice back - but better. I'm actually in a very domestic mood - wierd i know - but i'm off to bake some pumpkin muffins, make homeade chicken noodle soup and homeade breadsticks. Its only like 55 degrees here today - so i'm feeling all cozy i guess - movie on for kids. I always bake in the winter - not good for the waistline - but love the yummy smells! If the muffins turn out well i will share the recipe - never tried this one before!

Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

xoxo

B

its October.......

first off i just wanted to say thank you for all of your love and concern for our family after Buddy died. Its still so strange - just like tonight - Dean is out of town so i went out just like i normally do when he's gone to put animals away and lock up and started walking towards the kennel only to realize he wasn't there. Dean has left everything the same - still hasn't cleaned anything out yet - but we are doing better - moving on! The kids are already asking for a puppy!

So anyways - like i said - ITS OCTOBER - and I LOVE IT. My favorite time of the year - i love the fall - the holidays - the atmosphere - all the surroundings the come with the season - ecpecially the smells...........so I did my yearly batch of salsa the other day - started at 9:00am and finished at 1:00am - yeah - you read that right - by the time it cooked down, i bottled it and processed it all - it was 1 in the morning. UGH! I'm glad its done though - and i got 34 pints out of the deal - which is alot.

Also got the hair darkened. I usually have blonde highlights in the spring/summer months and then go darker in the fall/winter. I was a little early this year - but was ready for the change. I like the way it turned out. Did some scrapbooking with my fun new Fancy Pants products - This is the new Little Sprout line and it went so perfectly with my little neice Corinne's dress. Isn't she a doll. The Kraft background is from the girl kraft line. I got a little crazy with the mists and paints - but i was fun! I also created the flower with a strip of paper, a strip from an old book page i tore out - and then i stamped the circle center with a grid stamp to give it a little texture. The Precious title is one of Fancy Pants glitter cuts.By the way - i'm lovin the floss by Karen Foster - i bought like 6 colors - it adds the perfect touch to cards and buttons like this one. Okay - this cat glitter cut has to be one of my faves. It was fun doing some halloween stuff. I used the new Trick or Treat line for these next projects. The scalloped circle is torn out of the Trick or Treat journal notebook. The title is cut out with Sillhouette. Another card using Trick or Treat from Fancy Pants. The ribbon, stickers, rubon's and patterned paper are all from the new line. The glitter letter stickers are Pink Paislee!This project was so fun - and the kids LOVE it. I bought this tree last fall and never got around to doing this - and i'm glad i waited because these papers were perfect for it. I cut the little monsters out of the patterned paper - used rubon's, chipboard and stickers to create this fun little tree (which happens to be on the top 10 list by views over at 2peas). Not voted on for faves or anything but people are looking - thats good enough - right! I was pretty excited when i went to the gallery and saw it.I put it on the end table right when you walk in the front door - the kids just think its the funnest thing. We've pretty much decorated the house - i've got a few things missing that must be in storage that i need to hunt down - but other than that we're done.

I should probably head to bed - i've got the flu - or strep - or something. I was pretty much out of commision all day yesterday - MIL and my mom took care of the kids - I couldn't move - my body hurt sooooooooooo bad, i still have the swolen glands and a sore throat but feel much better. Today is WORLD CARD MAKING DAY and i managed to do a few cards - I will post them tomorrow! Dean has gone Deer Hunting for 5 days - which means - if i feel better - there will be alot of scrappin going on here. YIPEE!

Thanks for stopping by....

Hugs

B