Decadence

Have I got your attention? I'm sure you're wondering, what the heck is that! It's my favorite meal of all time. Some heavenly, delicious, decadent Chocolate Bread Pudding made at Harry's Seafood, Bar and Grill here in Lakeland. It's definitely my favorite food and we will often (ok not too often) forget about having a meal and just go get some yummy dessert. My husband and I will go out for dessert on our anniversary and I am always requesting to go to Harry's on my birthday. I have never made the bread pudding (why bother when they make it so exquisitely) but there are many recipes to be found on the web. The bread pudding is a rich chocolate, custard style bread pudding and drenched in a white chocolate bourbon sauce. Served with vanilla ice cream. It is way too much for one person so we share a serving with some ice cold milk. What a cheap date, huh?
Thanks for popping by!
Michelle
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Card Sketch Challenge #18

Here is my submission for card sketch challenge #18 over at 2 sketches 4 You There is no stamping or inking of any kind on this card, just lots of pretty paper. The rose is from one of the prints included in the Bella Rose Designer Paper from Stampin' Up!

Stamps: None	Ink: None
Paper: Riding Hood Red 4 ¼” x 8 ½” folded to make card 1 ½” x 4” Bella Rose green print 3 ¼” x 4” Bella Rose pink print 1 ½” x 4” Bella Rose floral print 1” x 4” Kiwi Kiss ¾” x 4” Bella Rose large flower print ~ cut out flower	Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon Pretties Kit Crystal Effects Dazzling Diamonds Scallop Punch Paper Piercer Glue Dots Dimensionals

Use your Scallop punch on the bottom edge of the Bella Rose green print and layer it and the Bella Rose pink print onto your card base. Use your Scallop punch on the strip of Riding Hood Red and adhere to the lined up, scalloped Bella Rose green so just a bit of the green shows through. Adhere the strip of the Bella Rose floral print onto your scalloped Riding Hood Red. Wrap the Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon around the Kiwi Kiss strip and adhere to the floral strip. Glue on the three half pearls and create a hat pin with a bow on top. Adhere the hat pin to the card using glue dots. Using your dimensionals, add the large flower. Cover the flower and leaves with Crystal Effects and spinkle some Dazzling Diamonds onto the wet flower. Let dry and tad da! What a pretty card

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

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long winded

Today I'd like to share a bit of our fun filled life. The story involves my daughter, Ciara, our pup, Liyah and a stray dog that Ciara named Ewok. ~ Ciara brought Liyah for a walk and didn't get too far when two lose big dogs, one being a pit bull, decided they didn't like Liyah. Luckily for both of them, Ciara was able to get the dogs off of Liyah, picked her up and ran home with her. I don't know who was shaken up more, Ciara or Liyah. They were both very lucky! Liyah only had a one inch puncture wound behind her ear and a very swollen neck. We called Animal Control who took pictures and Ciara gave her statement. What happened to the dogs after that, I have no idea but I haven't seen them in a week. Liyah has just finished her pain meds and most of the neck swelling has gone down. So I decided it's a good day to go give the owners our vet bill. Boy was I a nervous wreck! I could barely get my words out, but it looked like the owner was just as nervous. I think she was relieved, when I gave her the bill, that it was only $80. She said she would bring the money to me after lunch...well it's 4:15, do you think they are still eating?? So back up a bit. About three days after 'the incident' the dogs owners 10 year old daughter knocked on my door. So I answer and she has a small dog with her that is in some major need of a grooming and asks if I know who's dog it is. I've never seen it an I am wondering why on earth she has come to my my house. This girl was actually outside when the attack happened and was able to pull one of her dogs away so I'm sure she knows that our family is not that happy with her family. So I tell the girl, I have no idea who's dog it is but we'll take it inside and call Animal Control. Boy, I'm out of breath writing all this and I'm sure you are getting bored. So to make a long story short, we got to play animal groomer while we waited for the Animal Control to come. We gave him the name Ewok because Ciara thought he looked like an Ewok then gave him a nice bath and combed out his fur. Hopefully by now he has been reunited with his owners, if not I'm sure he is making someone a wonderful pet. ok, I'll stop blathering now. I hope you're still awake!
Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle
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Another sketch challenge

Today's post is from another challenge over at 2 Sketches 4 You. Here is a link to the actual challenge. It took me awhile to create the card. You know how you have something in your head but it doesn't want to come out. Well I guess it was my turn. I'm glad I finally got through my lack of creativity and have completed the challenge.


Thanks for popping in :-)
Michelle
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2 sketches

Today's posting are from a couple of sketches I found over on 2 Sketches 4 You. The girls are conducting a Design Team call and I thought I'd give it a try. The first sketch uses the stamp set Eastern Blooms with Tangerine Tango and Ballet Blue. I also added in some black embossing to pop it a bit. I used Crystal Effects to cover the main flower and it dangles from some black grosgrain ribbon.

I used the set Say it With Scallops for my next entry along with some of the new Stampin' Up! designer paper. It's an interesting color combination but I think it works quite well. Orchid Opulence (which I hate) and Regal Rose.


Here's a close up of the faux brads. Whenever I add them to my cards I love the way they turn out. And they are so easy! Just punch out some small circles, I used my crop-a-dile, glue them to your card and add a glob of Crystal Effects onto them. ta-da! ain't it pretty?
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Freebie Friday

This digitally page is my submission for the week over at Digital Freebies. This is a cool place to find a lot of inspiration..and freebies! The set was designed by the talented Maria LaFrance and I just love the colors.
thanks for popping by,
Michelle
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Goody Goody Gumdrops

Two posts in a day...wahooo! Well it's only because Blogger was having some major issues yesterday. I'm glad to see they are fixed and all the Stampin' Up! sneak peaks are rolling in. My favorite is that SU is going to get into the digital world. It sounds like it's going to have ~ drag and drop SU embellishments, eyedropper color changes, crop, zoom, drop shadows, fonts from your computer, resize elements, premade templates if you want them. Very exciting stuff!
Now on to the card. ~ I used Regal Rose for the base, Very Vanilla for a smaller than normal mat and then the gorgeous new Designer Paper. I also did the same for the band with the yummy Kiwi Kiss ribbon. The image is from the yet to be released Goody Goody Gumdrops set...shhhh.


Here's a close up of all the 'faux' brads. SO easy to make!
Thanks for stopping by...hey leave me a comment or two!
Michelle
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Mercy's sketch

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! Today's post is from a sketch challenge over at Mercy's site. It's also the weekly challenge at Late Night Stampers. The design team at LNS challenged us to make a manly Valentine card. Since my husband likes glitter and pink, I did not find that challenging at all. So I challenged myself not to use them.

Here is Mercy's sketch and the card I made following the layout. I wasn't thrilled with it so I changed it a bit. I used Real Red for the card base, followed with Black then some of the yummy new DP from SU. All the layers were outlined using my silver marker. I then cut out the scalloped rectangle nestie out of black, used my swiss dot embossing folder and then outlined the scallops, again with the silver. I embossed the heart from the Always set with silver embossing, cut it out with my colozzule, outlined in silver and popped it up with dimensionals. I also through in a ribbon, 1" black circle (outlined in silver) and a button.

Ain't it cute :-)
Thanks for stopping by
Michelle
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Moving on in history

I finished two more pages of my scrapbook. Again I used Carrie Stephens elements. For dimension, I printed out the buttons, layered a few of them together to make them thicker, then covered them with crystal effects. I also dug out my embroidery thread for a few of the buttons but then realized I could just use a marker for the same effect. Lazy girl, huh.

I also added glitter to the scroll design so it's much more sparkly in real life. All the pictures that I have been using were actually developed by my Dad. He had an old fashioned dark room in our basement. He also had some Playboy centerfolds hanging in there. First naked ladies I ever saw.
Thanks for visiting :-)
Michelle
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Bella and Liyah

How about a change of pace. Today I'm sharing my pets...aren't you lucky! This is Liyah. She is a 7 year old Jack-a-poo. What is that you ask! She is a Jack Russell ~ Poodle mix. Here she is relaxing after have a nice bubble bath.


And here's my kitty, Bella. We just adopted her from the SPCA last week and love her to death. In the picture you can see her pretty pink nail caps. Nail caps cover her claw tips so no damage occurs when she scratches. Which is a good thing for Liyah.


Aren't they the cutest!
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New Years card

Happy New Year...I'm just a little late, but I do have an excuse. I'll get to that later because I'm sure you're here for checking cards.
This beauty started out because of a fabulous card that I came across at Scrapnextras, which you can see here. The flower is stamped with Regal Rose using the large flower from the retiring :-( set Fabulous Flowers, three times. I then cut them out, used my trusty glitter glue on the petals, then popped them up with dimensionals. I cut out two circles using Whisper White and Regal Rose with my coluzzle. Next I used my scallop circle nestie with Old Olive. Whisper White was ran through my cuttlebug with the Textile Texture folder which almost matches one of the new SU designer papers that I used here.

The cute corner pieces were cut out using a punch from EK. Everything was matted onto Old Olive then onto the Regal Rose base. And of course we can never have enough bling, so I added some rhinestones in the corners and the center of the flower. I think the card has a bit of a Victorian flare. I love it!


My excuse...I had a trip to the ER on Tuesday. I woke up around 4:30 that morning with bend over make you cry cramping belly...I don't want to go into gory details but I spent the whole day in the ER. Got home about 9:00Pm with the diagnosis of colitis. uggg. Just a month ago I was diagnosed with a stomach ulcer. I don't know what's going on with my digestive trac but it doesn't sound pretty. So there's my excuse.
Anyway ~ I hope you like my card :-)
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Totally Cased

Ok, right up front I am saying this card is totally cased. Isn't it gorgeous!? You can see the original gorgeous card here. The main image is one of the blooms from the upcoming hostess set called Echos of Kindness. I water colored the flowers using Regal Rose and my aqua painter. I love how the water coloring makes the flowers light and dark. I also used the gorgeous new designer paper called Raspberry Tart. I paper pierced all around both pieces of the designer paper and then popped all the layers on dimensionals. ain't it purty?


My husband...errr Santa brought me a light box to take my pictures of the cards I make. It comes with this pretty blue background, but I'm not convinced on using it yet. He also brought me a new flat screen monitor, which I am definitely convinced on using. :-)
Let me know what you think of the blue and the card.
Thanks,
Michelle
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Cuttlebug Highlights

Here's another technique that I learned from the October 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. It's called Cuttlebug Highlights. Didn't it come out beautiful!! I used Elegant Eggplant and Almost Amethyst for my card stock. I embossed the raised part of my card with gold embossing powder. And then I made the sides of the purple ribbon and around the Elegant Eggplant piece gold, using my gold leafing pen. I must admit this is very elegant! What do you think?


Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle
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Disney Chrismas Lights

I thought I'd share a little non crafty blog entry today. My husband and I live about an hour away from Disney and have season passes that will be ending in a few weeks. We decided to go last night to see all the lights. It was beautiful!! The first picture is the two of us. Aren't we a happy couple :-) The next one shows we are a crazy, happy couple.


We got these fun 3-d glasses at the gate and they made a huge difference in how we saw the lights. We were so happy that we found them, it made a wonderful experience even more wonderful. In the Disney fashion, everything was jaw dropping gorgeous.

You can't see it in the pictures, but snow was falling around us and the lights were synchronized to the Christmas music. Gorgeous!!!

My happy man ~ he deserves a kiss xxx

lucky man :-D
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Color Pop

This unconventional Christmas card uses the color-pop Technique from the newest December 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. You must click on it to make the image larger. I promise you won't be disappointed.
First I made the background using Regal Rose and Rose Red on Whisper White with the color-pop technique. I then cut out a large square three snowflakes out of the color-popped piece . I then punched out an additional three snowflakes out of Whisper White and mounted the two colors together.I added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds for some glitter. The Season's Greetings is from G Studio is stamped on Whisper White mounted on Regal Rose then onto Rose Red. Then onto the color-popped piece which was mounted on Whisper White. I used the corner rounder punch on most of the layers and all the Whisper White pieces were sponged along the edges using Rose Red. All the pieces were then mounted onto Rose Red, Whisper White and then the final card piece of Regal Rose.


What do you think...I'm putting it right out into the mail now...who's gonna get it, eh?
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Swirly Santa

Isn't this the cutest idea using the cuttlebug? I came across this card idea on SCS by Heather Freeman. Sorry Heather, I've lost the link to your stuff. It's a fast and easy card and oh so cute!!
I started with the base card using Very Vanilla. Using my finger, I added his rosy cheeks and lips using some chalk. His beard, mustache and fur trim are Whisper White run through the cuttlebug. His red hat uses Real Red card stock then I added some red flocking to it. His eyes are Black circles that I cut out then blobbed crystal effects on them. His nose was cut out using the 1" circle punch popped up on a dimensional. Ain't it the cutest!
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Digi-scrap book two page

Here are the next two pages of my hybrid-digi scrapbook.
Again I'm continuing with Carrie Stephen's wonderful paper and elements.

After printing the pages on my printer, I added some primas, half pearls, corner punches, glitter and crystal effects. I love how easy this is and how gorgeous the pages turn out. The text on the first page, is a copy of my actual birth certificate. I have left some blank space, on the second page to add some journaling.

Let me know what you think :-)
thanks,
Michelle
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Be Merry

I guess it's time to start rolling out the Christmas Cards. Here's one that I created using the Christmas tree from the Fun and Fast Notes set and the sentiment from the Warm Words set. If you look closely you can also see that I used the Canvas background stamp on the main part of the card. I paper pierced the green strip, used the cuttlebug on the red square and did my faux brads in the corner. (you know, the blobs of crystal effects on small punch out circles)
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and not stressing that Christmas is creeping up on us very quickly. arghhhh
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Hybrid-digi

We are up to Nine Ladies Dancing on the 12 Days of Christmas challenge over on Paper Craft Planet. Today's take on the verse, was to make a card (or paper craft) that has a girl on it. I decided I would change it up a bit by throwing in my hybrid-digi page that I have been working on. There's a girl on it, right?
My page was created using the brilliant designs from Carrie Stephens. I then printed it out and added some flowers, glitter and crystal effects. You must click on the pictures to see them close up. You won't be dissapointed ~ I must say, I LOVE how it came out!

Thanks for stopping by! Leave me a nice comment :-)

Challenge #7 @ Paper Craft Planet

Ok, well I missed a few days of the Twelve Days of Christmas Challenge at Paper Craft Planet. They were finally getting tired of birds ( you know, a partridge, calling birds, french hens, turtle doves...) so they decided that Swans are elegant, right? Create a card (or any paper craft) that is all black and white - think of "high formal" weddings. Feel free to toss in a dash of color. Phew, I can do that! I decided to try out a black flower using the Fabulous Flower set. I must say, that flower looks gorgeous in any color!