My Stampin Up Party

I have some of the best friends in the world. 

They were willing to come out in the rain and cold 
on a week night just for one of those "sales" party. 

Why? you ask...

 Because it was all about scrapbooking!!

 That's why they are my favorites! 

 Don't they look like a fun bunch!

These are some of the girls that I go away with twice a year to spend 3 glorious days of

 nothing but scrapbooking.

After watching a ton of Youtube videos of scrapbooking techniques,

I thought it would be fun to host a "Stampin Up" party.  This is a wonderful company that offer a ton of scrapbooking and card making products.

 I thought it might give us some fresh ideas and inspire us before our trip in a few weeks.
And it did!

Now these pictures are really terrible but I am going to share them anyway.

I just loved this card that our Demonstrator Kathy made for one of her card classes.

It was so cute and don't you just love the little owl. 

It is actually a punch. 

Of course, I just had to make one...

Isn't he cute?

I really had no idea how many wonderful products this company offers until this party.  

You can check them all out for yourself

 HERE

They have stamps, inks and all kinds of tools to make your scrapbook pages beautiful!

Something new that I learned about at this party was how to emboss paper. You can turn any plain card stock into something really special just by embossing it with a beautiful pattern. 

Now I must have one of these....

My Smash Book Is Here!!

Okay, I couldn't wait for 40% off so I settled for 20% off. lol
I was going to wait, but thanks to my sweet Mother, I didn't have to! 

Thank you Mom, you are the best!

Not only did I buy a Smash book, but I decided it was a better deal to buy the Smash Book kit! 
It cost little more but it comes with a few extra pieces that I loved and was cheaper than buying them all separately.

I decided on the pink one. It just seemed to fit my style the best.
 I didn't know there was that big of a difference, but there is. 
Be sure to flip through the pages before purchasing to make 
sure you get the one you will love.

I started smashing last night, and I love it!! my junk drawers are getting thinner by the minute!
 I will post some photos later.
(as if you really care about the stuff in my junk drawer, haha)

The whole process made me think and has inspired me to do this with my recipes.

 Now, I am not one of those organized people who neatly writes all my recipes on those cute little cards and puts them safely in those plastic sleeves.  No, my recipes are written on every thing from note paper to scrap envelopes from old thank you notes.

Here is what my recipe pile looks like right now....

and that's not even all of it.

That's right, just stuffed into an old cookbook notebook. 

My project for the next few days?....

Make this my recipe book a smash book!

I will post pictures when I am done. 
This is going to be fun!

SMASH Book from K&Company

Look what I have found!!

I know,

I am so far behind, this video is a year old, but I am finally getting it! 

 This idea of this book just soooo fits the way my brain works. 

I see ideas, little things everyday I want to keep.  I have notebooks in my purse that I scribble ideas in, drawers filled with tickets, old drivers license and cards  that I just can't bare to part with. I also have 2 whole books shelves filled with magazines that I won't throw out because of  maybe one idea inside. 

With this book, I could go through all of them and tear out the ideas I love and have a place to keep them all.

I knew a single page from a magazine would just get thrown in the trash after a few months of laying around in a drawer.

This book would help me organize those thoughts, ideas and memories that are not scrapbook worthy.

The Smash books are available at Michaels  for $12.  That isn't a lot, but I am waiting for one of their  50% off coupons. $6.00 sounds way better to me, especially since I will probably will have to buy more than one!

Oh and they have a ton of accessories you can buy to go with them and since I know I will want some of those too, I will wait for a coupon!

If you don't have a Michaels near you,  you can purchase one here...

Amazon

My Potato Soup.....Perfect for a snow day

It has snowed pretty much all day today, and nothing sounded as good 

as a big bowl of  potato soup.

Here's the recipe....

2 strips of bacon (as lean as possible)

1 Tbs butter

salt to taste

black pepper

1 onion

3 stalks of celery

5 pounds of potatoes pealed and diced

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can cream of chicken

enough water to cover potatoes

Chop bacon, onion and celery and saute in bottom a soup pot until 

bacon is cooked and onion and celery are soft.

 Add butter until melted

Add potatoes with enough water to cover potatoes.Add salt. Cook until potatoes are soft. 

Add both cans of soup until thoroughly blended.

Easy and soooo good!