Thursday, January 29, 2009

Sunshine on a Brrr Kinda Day

I thought I'd share this lovely photo and warm up some of my iced over and frozen friends......Photo is courtesy of my hubby - just one he happened to snap when we were in Aruba last summer.
And in honor of the warm photo that has you thinking about your toes in the nice, warm tropical sand, listening to the crashing waves and smelling the salty air, I thought I'd share a recipe I came across that sounds fabulously yummy! I always love new recipes and for some reason salad recipes are particularly interesting to me.
Grilled Chicken Salad Cosmopolitan
1/4 cup jellied cranberry sauce
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon flavored vodka (you could use lemon juice here instead)
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon lemon pepper (regular pepper if you don't have lemon pepper)
1 (10 ounce) bag European blend salad greens (Salad greens of your choice)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 cups diced orange segments
2 tablespoons orange zest strips

I'd add in some pecans too as a finishing touch, but that's just me.
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cranberry sauce and orange marmalade. Warm and stir until melted and well blended. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice, orange juice and vegetable oil. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside in the refrigerator for later (this will be your salad dressing).
Allow the mixture to cool then stir in the lemon vodka and transfer to a large resealable bag. Season the chicken pieces with salt and lemon pepper; place them into the bag with the marinade. Seal the bag and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, turning occasionally.
Preheat a grill for medium heat (if you can actually get to your grill through the snow & ice). Remove the chicken from the plastic bag, discarding the marinade.
Place the chicken pieces on the preheated grill and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, or until firm and no longer pink in the center. If you have a meat thermometer, it should measure 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) when measured in the thickest part. Remove chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. While the chicken is resting, combine the salad greens, cranberries, and orange segments. Pour the reserved citrus marinade over the salad and toss lightly to coat. Divide the salad between four serving plates. Slice each piece of chicken crosswise into 1/2 inch strips. Arrange over the tops of the salads and sprinkle with orange zest strips.

YUM-O! Enjoy!
Happy Sunshine today!
Min

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

ABC Album......SUPER PHOTO HEAVY!

This was a scrapbook I did a few years ago as a gift, but wanted to share it with my friend Debbie who is new to scrapbooking and is a recent addict to the cricut & design studio! :) This was actually the first project I did with my cricut. If I can remember back that far, non-printed paper is cardstock, printed paper I believe was a Scenic Route line from a few years ago that I loved. Quotes were ones that I've collected over the years printed on the computer and matted. Flowers were Daisy D's I believe. Thanks for looking & happy craftin'! Min

























































Marie Antoinette Blog Award - Thank you Cindy!


I wanted to thank Cindy for this "Marie Antionette a real person, a real award".
Check out her blog All Things Crafty!. She does fabulous work - her cards are gorgeous and she's created some awesome mini-albums too and has some GREAT tunes to listen too while you browse too!!
Thanks again Cindy!
Happy Scrappin'!
Min

Monday, January 26, 2009

With Sympathy

This is the Sympathy card I finished yesterday after the stickles finally dried. I thought I'd share with you today. Sorry about the yellow hue - I took the photo last night, well after it'd had gotten dark and did it in the dining room.
This was for the Tuesday Unique Fold Card Challenge over at Scrap-Friendzy. I love the way it turned out. It's a neat fold I'd never done before. I used some stuff I had in my stash too - beginning to notice a pattern here? I'm on a mission to use up some of the stash so I can pick up some of the new stuff coming out!
Flower and sediment were stamped on vellum. I colored the flower with colored pencils and highlighted with Starry Night stickles. Purple papers (dark & light) are both World-win cardstocks. Seafoam green handmade paper has a gold design on it (kind of Asian) that I'd picked up for another project at Michaels and had some 'tovers.
Thanks for looking today! Hope it's a creative one for ya!
Min

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Way too fast!

Happy Sunday! This weekend has flown by WAY TOO FAST!!!
Of course this morning I couldn't sleep in, so I spent the better part of the day working on a family album, a few cards and some other odds & ends.
So, because I'm not finished with the album yet and because the stickles are still drying on the cards, here's another layout I had finished. It's KIND of a repeat - it's a bit like the 2 I did for our parents for Christmas, but it was just such a great layout and photo that I had to put one in our album too.
Thanks for looking! I hope you had a great weekend! If you're anywhere where it's cold, stay bundled up and happy crafting!
Min

Friday, January 23, 2009

I'm STOKED!

Not only is it Friday, but last night we got a new printer - WOO HOO!
Not sure about all of you, but BOY was this 'short' week LLLLLLLOOOOOONNNNNNGGG!!!
This weekend includes a few family chipboard albums I neet to get working on this weekend in between projects we've got planned around the house as well as joining my friend Amy for her Taste of Home party she's having on Saturday.
We'll likely be busy, but hopefully we don't have to go outside too much. While it's closing in on 40* today, we're suppoed to be back down to the single digit and 0 tonight, only a high of 15* tomorrow. Brrrrrr! Prefect for inside 'stuff'.
Here's another layout from Monday I thought I'd share. This was our Easter Egg decorating from 2007 (yep, I'm that far behind and MORE!!!)The printed paper I think is some older Doodlebug that I had in my stash - Black, Yellow and Green are cardstock from the stash. Bunny is from the Paper Dolls Card, photo corner is from Jasmine, Filmstrip with the photo in it I think is from Mickey & friends and the title, Hmmm, I think it's Alphalicious, but I could be wrong. Little O easter eggs are from DoodleCharms.

Thanks for looking - I hope you have a super productive & crafty weekend!
Min

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Broken

Here's another layout I finished this weekend. After 4+ years, I was actually able to scrap a few photos of when Glen was 'Broken' as we so affectionally call it. After 4+ years, we both still cringe at this terrible situation he went through--the break, surgery, plate & screws, blood clots, hospital stays and months of therapy (in the winter no less).
The Layout was based on a sketch Amy posted over at Scrap-Friendzy. Head over there and check out all the creative challenges they have!
Materials Used: MME papers (the green & brown), blue paper is from my scraps - all papers were from my stash. Buttons from my stash, Band-aid eyelets from my stash, stickles & some doodling as well as stitching around the photo mats. Scallops were cut using Design Studio and Accent Essentials, Title was cut using DS and Stamped.
Thanks for looking & Happy Craftin!
Min

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

One Lovely Blog Award - Thanks to Tammy!

Thank you Tammy for the One Lovely Blog Award! Check out Tammy's gorgeous cards and Layouts over at her site! She does fabulous work!
Happy Crafting!
Min

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Meatloaf Recipe

I realized when I woke up this morning that I forgot to include the Boston Market Meatloaf Recipe in yesterday's post. DOH! It's off the wall things like this that wake me up in the middle of the night.
Well, here it is - If you like meatloaf, you will LOVE this one. It was the most moist meatloaf I think Glen and I have ever made.
Boston Market Meatloaf
1 cup Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 TBSP BBQ Sauce (we used a bit more)
1 TBSP Sugar
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin (we actually used a mish-mash of ground turkey, beef & pork)
6 TBSP All Purpose Flour
3/4 tea. Salt
1/2 tea. Onion Powder
1/4 tea. Ground Black Pepper
dash Garlic Powder
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together the tomato sauce, BBQ sauce and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until it begins to bubble, stirring often and then remove it from the heat.
In a large bowl, add all but 2 TBSP of the tomato sauce mixture to the meat. Mix the sauce into the meat, then add the remaining ingredients. Mix again. Pack a loaf pan with the meat mixture, cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove foil, drain any fat. Cut the meatloaf while in the pan in to slices. Pour remaining sauce over the meatloaf. Return to oven and cook for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Allow to cool a bit before serving.
Enjoy!
Happy Cookin' & Craftin!
Min

Monday, January 19, 2009

Squirrel? Where's the Squirrel?

Today was a wonderfully productive day! I got 5 Layouts AND Journaling finished, started two long over due cards and am working on sketches for two albums I'm working on. WHEW! Add that to grocery shopping, a dentist appointment, trip to the scrapbook store, laundry, dishes, cleaning the kitchen and stripping & remaking the bed, it was a BUSY DAY! I even got to have lunch with my hubby. We had fabulous leftover meatloaf sandwiches (we got the recipe for the Boston Market Meatloaf and made that last night......recipe further down).
Anyway, here's one of the layouts I finished today.
Because we don't have any 'human' kids, our cats entertain us. Gizmo, our big furball is facinated by things that move out on the deck, leaves, bugs, shadows, wildlife, including squirrels. So, when you say to Gizmo, 'Gizmo, where's the Squirrel?' he automatically runs to the sliding glass door off the deck and looks for his Squirrel. And the funny thing? This darn squirrel just LIVES to tease both kids. He comes up on the deck and sits on the railing on the deck and fluffs his tail. Hence the Layout.
Materials Used: Papers from my stash, including Basic Grey printed paper (I think it was last years Figgy Pudding). Squirrels were cut out using Cricut and Animal Kingdom and Squirrel was cut out using Base Camp (I think). Journaling was printed on the computer and inked.
Thanks for looking! Happy Crafting!
Min

Sunday, January 18, 2009

In Need of Photos.....

So, it's been a productive scrappy weekend, I think I've finally found my missing mojo.
I guess we need to get 6-8 inches of snow more often to snow in the mojo.
So my question for you today - do you usually print out all your photos as 4x6, and size & scrap them from there or do you determine your layout and then size your photos accordingly & print?
I usually figure out my LO's first & then print the photos out so I don't have multiples of the same photo in several different sizes.
How does your creativity work?
I'm looking forward to posting a few more LO's tomorrow as I have the day off and hope to spend part of the afternoon scrapping!
Happy Craftin'!
Min

Monday, January 12, 2009

How lucky am I....?

To have a 20 pound furball as my own personal crafting assistant?
His fee?
A sip of Mt. Dew from my blue glass (yes, he for some reason Gizmo likes Mt. Dew, but only from the blue glass when it's on my table) and some ribbon that I just happen to be using to chew on.
Maybe this is why I have such a tough time getting projects finished?!
What do ya think? He does take up a 'little' space!
This weekend wasn't too creatively productive - do you ever start one of those layouts that for some reason just takes you an infinite time to finish?! Well, that's what I started last week and it's still in need of some assistance. Though it wasn't creatively productive, we were productive in other areas. Laundry was nearly finished, I finished a blanket I was knitting AND Glen and I were able to do a little Tiger Woods golfing. And on top of that, I got to meet my girlfriends Amy & Sue and God Son Colin for lunch on Saturday to celebrate our Christmas.
It was a wonderful day, even with all the snow.
This week will be a productive week! Productive and indoor since its supposed to get downright cold - I half saw something on the news this morning while I was still sleepwalking about, a temperature being minus 5 (as in 5 degrees below zero, as in HOLY BRRRRRRRR). This temperature isn't including the wind chill either.
Sounds like a good week to get some scrappin' done, doesn't it?
Happy Craftin!
Min

Sunday, January 11, 2009

I {heart} U!

So, I'm finally able to show you the I {heart} U album that Colin and I put together for his mommy & daddy for Christmas. He gave it to Amy yesterday when we had our 'Christmas'.

How cute did it turn out?
Materials used:
Papers from my scrappy stash
Threading Water Punch, Round punch
Cricut - Cutting Up, My Community, Paper Dolls & Stretch your Imagination
Cricut Design Studio
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders for photo mats
Microsoft Word
Stickles, Inks, Brads & Flowers
Ribbons from my stash
Thanks for looking!
Have a fabulous crafty & creative day!
Min

Monday, January 5, 2009

Thank you Lynn - Kickin' off 2009 Right!

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2009!

And to get 2009 kicked off right, Lynn, from Beautiful Delights http://beautifuldelightsblog.blogspot.com/ gave me my FIRST blog award! If you get a chance, check out Lynn's blog. She's amazingly talented & I just love the work she does!!

Okay, so the rules are that I must list 5 addictions and 5 fabulous blogs.
Here we go -
My Addictions:
1. Creativity - in the form of Scrapbooking, Card/Invitation Making, Knitting and any other creative project I can come up with!
2. My Family - I'm so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life!!
3. My crafty girlfriends! What a creative blessing!
4. The BEACH!!!
5. Mt. Dew and Iced Tea!!!!! - yep, I'll admit it, I'm addicted to both!
And 5 Fabulous Blogs I visit on a regular basis:

Beautiful Life http://amygaskins.blogspot.com

Sonia Scraps http://skscrap.blogspot.com/

Monique's Blog http://moniquesweblog.blogspot.com/

Amy's Blog http://amychomas.blogspot.com/

Sophia's World http://www.sallison.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year & Happy Craftin!

Min