2011 Christmas Card Drafts

Now that my family has attended the annual cookie parted hosted by none other than the lovely J.Ho (of Mom Rocks Mealtime fame) and her sweet family, I am now able to play around and create my family's annual Christmas card. The two traditions go hand in hand. Jen sets up a photo booth and takes a picture of each family as they come in. I have been using this family photo as the photo basis for my Christmas cards.

This year, I used MyMemories Suite to create the options I will present to my husband. Remember, you can use my code: STMMMS46094 at checkout for $10 off the software, plus $10 in free digital downloads on the site. I used a set of 5x7 Quick Pages to create my cards. I added the borders to the first two.

I prefer the sentiment "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays," so I tried to tweak the landscape option:

 From the looks of things now that I've actually uploaded these, I need to shift the QuickPage a little bit so the right side doesn't get cut off. Please comment with your favorite! If you have the MyMemories Suite already and make your Christmas cards with it, post a link and I'll check it out! Even if you use other software, such as PhotoShop, or MyDigital Studio, please share your digital handiwork!

Happy Crafting!

Christmas Pressie Sneak Peek!

You may recall that a while back, I won MyMemories Suite digital scrap-booking software from Jah-JustJennifer. I've posted some of the pages before. I am happy to report that I can now offer my readers a code for $10 off the software AND $10 in free digital downloads from the MyMemories site: STMMMS46094. 


One thing I LOVE about MyMemories Suite is it is SO easy to use! I recently upgraded to the latest version and received $10 in free digital downloads. I used my credit to purchase a 2012 calendar template and was able to whip out Christmas gifts for hubby and grandparents in just a few hours. It would have gone MUCH faster if my computer was up to the task, but I'm working on that! 

Here is a sneak peak at some of the pages: 

 I needed more pics in July than the layout allowed, so Just added them in! No problem!

A friend of mine, who also makes calendars for Christmas, suggested putting a picture of the face of the person whose birthday it is on their actual birthday! Great idea,  but I wasn't willing to take the time this year. Maybe next year I'll add that little upgrade. 

Happy Crafting!

Pulled Another Rabbit Out of My Hat

...or rather, a decent meal out of my nearly bare fridge & pantry. I call it Cheater's Chinese Fried Rice:

- a few strips of bacon
- leftover onion
- brown rice
- frozen veggies
- low sodium soy sauce (sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it?)
- a few eggs or egg substitute

Get the rice cooking first (may substitute your fave kind of rice, whatever's on hand).

Meanwhile, cut the bacon into 1/2" or so pieces & cook it in another pan. Add the onions a few minutes before the bacon is done. When the onions get nice & soft, take it off the heat until the rice is done. Feel free to drain the bacon grease. I didn't because the bacon was somewhat lean, so it didn't produce a whole lot if grease. I thought it added to the flavor.

When the rice is cooked, turn the heat back on the bacon & onions. Dump the rice in & stir it all together. Add the frozen veg (about 1 1/2 cups or so).

I didn't prepare the frozen veggies. i just let the heat of the rice defrost & heat them up.

Clear a space in the center of the rice to cook & scramble the eggs. When the eggs start to cook, incorporate them with the rest of the ingredients.

Add soy sauce to you liking & serve! Presto! A cheap, healthy dinner and only two dirty pans!

Sara's SortaLike Chicken Florentine

Last week I came up with this yummy concoction, using ingredients we had on hand. This was a rare occasion because we (hubby) usually plan our meals for the week, and buy just what we need. My bff, Jen, over at Mom Rocks Mealtime is a pro at menu planning!
Anyway, this is what I had to work with:

• 1 very large chicken breast
• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Canned spinach
• Canned, diced tomatoes
• Chopped olives
• Arborio rice

Saute garlic & onion in a pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, start cooking the Arborio rice according to package instructions. It takes a while.

Season the chicken breast as desired. I think I used seasoned salt, powdered garlic & onion powder. Place the chicken in the pan with garlic & onions. Cook for a few minutes on each side over medium heat. Time will depend on how thick the chicken is.
When chicken is nearly done, add the spinach & tomatoes (drained, or it will get too soupy).  Add chopped olives. Let it all co-mingle for a while.

Once it all looks done to you, spoon some of the arborio on each plate. Put a piece of chicken on the rice and spoon the yummy spinach and tomato goodness over the top. If you happen to have some feta cheese on hand, sprinkle some on top. I tried this with a later rendition and it was DIVINE! Sorry, I forgot to take a pic both times I made this dish. I am probably  making it for my folks next weekend, so I'll snap a pic for you then.

Instead of arborio, you could also serve up some brown rice, pasta, or whatever Roni box you have in your pantry.

Enjoy!

Trick Or Treating!

Thanks for Mom Rocks Mealtime (our kiddos are bestest buds!), Free Digital Scrapbooking, Jah-JustJennifer (she turned me on to MyMemories...I won it on her blog), and MyMemories Suite, I was able to whip up this layout in the thirty minutes from when I gave up on my work project (it had already long since given up on ME!) and picking up my munchkin from pre-school.

My Memories: No Faces Challenge

I recently won a copy of the MyMemories Suite digital scrap booking software from a contest at Jah-JustJennifer.

I became a fan of the MyMemories Facebook page and have been having LOTS of fun learning new techniques. The one I'll share today is from the blog. It's a No Faces Allowed Challenge! Let me know what you think! I am thinking I might go back and put a frame on the black and white image. There's just so much WHITE from my wedding gown, I think it's a little distracting. Feel free to give me feedback! I'm learning. 

My Top 10 Stress Busters

I recently read Top 10: Ways to De-Stress. It made me think about the stress in my own life right now and how I'm dealing with it.  Here's my top 5 ways to de-stress (in no particular order):

1. Read: I used to love love LOOOOOVE to read! I would read anything I could get my hands on. Sometimes that was the back of  a cereal box during breakfast. Now that I read all day at work, I have sort of lost interest. I recently started picking up free and cheap novels for my Kindle app on my phone. I have fallen in love with reading again. Having books on my phone makes it really handy to sneak in a chapter here and there! 
2. Exercise: It's amazing what a quick workout on my Wii, or a walk around the neighborhood can do. There was a day recently where I was really down and beating myself up mentally pretty badly. I finally stepped away from my computer, got up and did my Just Dance II workout for about 20 minutes. It was TRANSFORMING! 
3. Get Creative: Whether it's making cards, scrap-booking (digitally or old school), quilting, or knitting (which I pretty much gave up when my daughter came along, but hope to pick it up again someday), getting creative is a great for me to de-stress. It takes my head out of whatever is stressing me out and time just seems to FLY by. I have a couple of upcoming PTO days specifically for this purpose. I'm going to visit my BFF and we're going to spend the day making cards together. I can't wait! 
4. Snuggle: Whether it's snuggling my hubby, my daughter, or both, I believe stress busting endorphins are released when snuggling! Especially when I sniff the top of my daughter's head!
5. Date night: Our daughter's daycare offers monthly "Kids Night Out."  One Friday a month, we drop her off with her pajamas and don't pick her up until 9:00 or 10:00 at night. They entertain the kiddos with movies, crafts, and dinner. When we pick her up, she's in her jammies and ready for bed. She usually requires a little snuggle time after such a long day apart, but that has stress busting qualities in and of itself! 

My Digital Studio (MDS) Monday (a day late!)

I have been studying the My Digital Studio community website and user guide. I also FINALLY found my Sale-A-Bration content CD that I had stashed somewhere! Naturally that was AFTER I started this spring time card for the MDS Monday challenge over at Utah Divas International. 

This card came together so quickly! I picked out my paper, grabbed a couple punches, couple stamps, added the ribbon and voila! The hardest part was getting Miss M's cute little face into a circle! I finally figured it out though! The stamp set is Easter Blossoms and the Designer Series Paper (DSP) is from the Springtime Vintage Collection. It's in the Occasions catalog that ends April 31, but I think it will still be available for MDS after that. I'm still learning the ropes about how retired sets work when it comes to MDS!

If you have your own program for digital scrapping and stamping, you can still use Stampin' Up Images. There is an option to download them as a JPG file instead of an MDS file!

March Swaps!

My swaps this month were inspired by Martha Stewart, over at Seasons of Stamping!

Supplies:
Base- Old Olive Card Stock
Layer 1- Daffodil Delight Patterns DSP
Layer 2- Whisper White Card stock stamped with:

• For All You Do Stamp set
• Old Olive Classic Stamp Pad
• Daffodil Delight Classic Stamp Pad
• Pumpkin Pie Classic Stamp Pad

Embossed using the Big Shot & Square Lattice embossing folder.

Embellished the centers of the flowers with Basic Rhinestones. 
Sentiment punched with Decorative Label Punch.

Some Things Have to be Believed to be Seen

I am building up a stash of positive and encouraging cards to give my mother in law over the next 6 weeks or more. She lives in Costa Rica, but she is staying with us while she undergoes radiation treatment.  I thought it would be nice to have at least one card for week, plus more for days I think she might need an extra boost.

I made extras for a swap I am in. Actually I have two swaps to finish but I haven't decided which one this is for yet: my monthly swap with a group of other stampers or a masculine swap.

Here are the Stampin' Up supplies that were used to make this card front:

• Just Believe stamp set
• Big Shot & Top note die
• Old Olive card stock & DSP (Designer Series Paper)
• Decorative Label Punch
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents (I think that means I need to use this for my stamper swap, not my masculine swap! Mind officially made up!)

There are other factors in my life right now causing stress. Nothing major, but the combined total of it all is taking it's toll on me. I have found stamping to be very therapeutic. It gets me into the creative side of my brain, where everything else just disappears. It also feels good to do something nice for someone else.

I also received some swaps in the mail this week. Just looking at them, gave me a lot of peace and happiness. I'll share pics of those in another post.