Ravioli

Last night for dinner I asked the girls if they had any ideas of what they would like. And surprisingly they asked me had any Ravioli. Now the reason this is surprising is because we have NEVER had Ravioli! But as it turns out I had bought some frozen pre-made Ravioli to try sometime! But I still needed to make a sauce for it.

So for dinner last night we had Ravioli stuffed with cheese and Ravioli stuffed with meat with a side salad. The sauce I made to go over it turned out really well.

Ravioli Sauce
2 lg. ripe tomatoes, peeled & chopped (you can use a can of stewed or diced tomatoes)
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil (you can use dried Basil just half the amount)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Now combine everything together and put over low heat to just warm up a little. Then pour sauce over pasta.

Ravioli was a big success in our house! My kids really surprise me at times. :)

Mother's Day Album

For Mother's Day I made my Mother-in-Law a 6x6 album. We went down to Richmond on Friday and I had my little sister take some family pictures of us. It had been awhile since we had done some family pictures. It was actually quite fun taking the pictures, but it did get a bit chilly. Here's the album I made [Now I do have to apologize for the quality of the pictures of the album. I completely forgot to take pictures before we left and when I realized that I hadn't was in a big hurry right before I gave it away. :) Terribly sorry] :




There are two little poems I added to the album also:
on p19

"Ten Little fingers, Ten Little toes..."
Ten tiny toes that always want to play That never stop exploring the wonder of today. Ten tiny fingers that from the very start Will reach out for tomorrow, yet always hold your heart.

p23

"Little Girls..."
By Karen Barnes

Little girls are made of daisies and butterflies and soft kitty cat purrs
And all the precious memories of times that once were.
Little girls are made of angel's wings and giggles and a firefly's glow
And all the happy feelings, deep inside, that we all know.
Little girls are made of cinnamon and bubbles and fancy white pearls
and snowflakes and rainbows and ballerina twirls.
Little girls are made of sunshine and cupckaes and fresh morning dew,
And these are the reasons, little one, why everyone loves you.

Supplies: All supplies from Stampin' Up!

Bunny Cupcakes

I found these adorable cupcakes! I thought they were perfect for Easter! They were actually really simple to make! I found these cute Bunny Cupcakes on Betty Crocker's site. I just used a white cake mix to make the cupcakes and then I used some little circle and flower "sprinkles" for the eyes and nose and then added some whiskers by using a small zip lock baggie, I just filled it with black frosting and then cut a tiny hole in a corner so I could just squeeze out small thin lines. Here's the recipe I used for the frosting

Thick Vanilla Frosting
1 cup shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
4 tablespoons milk

Beat together shortening and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar a bit at a time while beating. Then add 2 tablespoons milk. Slowly add in the rest of the powdered sugar and the rest of the milk until you get the right thickness for your frosting.

FINALLY.... The Album!! Yeah!

Well I finally got pictures of the album I had told you about that I had made for my brother, Luis, to give to his girlfriend, Vanessa. Who is now his wife!! It has been a long time since I last posted!! I always say that I know but WOW! It seems like I every time I post more and more time lapses between posts and the worst part is I keep swearing I'm going to update more frequently!! I just need to get on a schedule. ;)

Alright, the album I used was a Stampin' Up! 6x6 Black Leather I loved that I was able to directly stamp on it! I used White StazOn on it and it doesn't come off! Even when wiped! The pictures are mostly of ones I took of them here at my house the rest are ones they have taken themselves

Making Changes...

Well hello! I know I've been horrible at updating....why does life feel like it can get in the way all the time!!?? The very nerve! LOL Anyway, I've decided to make a few changes to my blog. First of all I've changed the look a little. Second it will still primarily be a place for me to post my crafts and stamping but I will begin including a little more about my family and third of all I REALLY hope to be able to post more regularly.

Well since it has been so long since I have posted anything I will share a quick card that I made last fall. I really fell in love with the new In Color Purely Pomegranate from Stampin' Up!


I hope everyone's new year has so far been good!

More Frames...

I thought I would share some frames that I made a while ago. These frames were made for a show that I had a booth at, I had to demonstrate a project on stage and decided I would show how to use stamping in your home decor. I actually only demonstrated this one, "Hope". I found the frame at Walmart, printed the word "Hope" on vellum off of my printer. It was actually a very fast and easy frame to make, I think the most time consuming was cutting out the Monogram H which "Imagine".actually only took me about 5 minutes. I then came home and decided I wanted to hang it in my scrap room but I wanted some more to go along with it so I made one that said "Dream" and this other one that says I couldn't believe how easy they were! And how much fun I had making them. It did take me a while to come up with what exactly I wanted but once I got going it was super easy!









Hope Frame-
Stamps: Monogram H & Dots and Daisies
Paper: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst Cardstock & Vellum
Ink: Certainly Celery
Other: 2 Black Brads, Hemp twine, White Signo Pen, Distress Wheel, Flower punch, SU! Font "Harry Paul" and frame from Walmart

Dream Frame-
Stamps: Monogram D, Polka Dots & Paisley
Paper: Bashful Blue & Whisper White Cardstock
Ink: Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink & Regal Rose
Other: Hemp twine, SU! Font "Woodward Script", White & Navy Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon

Imagine Frame-
Stamps: Monogram I, Canvas, & Doodle This
Paper: Whisper White, Marigold Morning, Vintage Violet & Rose Red
Ink: Basic Black & Vintage Violet
Other: 2 Silver Brads, White Narrow Grosgrain & Vintage Violet Stitched Ribbon

Name Frames

I have been working on name frames for my daughters. I finished Adara's way back but finally got around to doing Senedra's now I've got one more to do! Yeah! They have actually been a lot of fun to work on and just let my imagination roam with them. I pick out a stamp set that best suits their personality and let them pick one color and then I just go from there. I never really have a plan when I begin. But I overall I really liked the final outcome!

On this one I wheeling the Flitting By Jumbo wheel across the Perfect Plum to create a background I then cut out Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and the Confetti White Cardstock to layer over each other. I also used the Color Spritzer with a Perfect Plum Marker to spritz over the entire thing once I was done.

All Supplies from Stampin' Up!:
Stamps: Bold Butterfly Stamp set & Flitting By Jumbo Wheel
Paper: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, & Confetti White Card stock
Ink:Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Other: Silver Brads, Narrow White Grosgrain, Narrow Eggplant Grosgrain, White Organdy Ribbon, & Black Frame from Walmart

This one I really had fun with! I think in doing the first name frame I was feeling a bit intimidated but after seeing how easy it was to make one I really just had fun with this one! I used these fun animals on this one because my daughter absolutely loves animals. So I stamped them and then cut them out and used an exacto knife to cut around the elephants ear and the lions head so I could put them thru the letters. The two Flower brads that are on here I have no idea where I got them.....I am a horder! There I've said it! LOL Now that, that is in the open I've had them for years and just kept them for the "perfect" project, I'm sure many of you can relate to that! Anyway, I used the White Gel pen from SU! to make middles on the flowers...can I just say I LOVE that pen it works so well all the time!

Most Supplies from Stampin' Up!:
Stamps: Monogram S, Monkey Business, Wild about You, & Big Deal Alphabet
Paper: Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Old Olive & Whisper White Card stock
Ink: Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Going Gray, Pumpkin Pie, & Close to Cocoa
Other: Silver Brads, Narrow Apricot Appeal Grosgrain, Narrow Tempting Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon, flower brads (unknown origin) & Black Frame from Walmart

Have any of you done name frames? I would love to see pics of them if you have any!