Ummmm

My sister, Deanna, sent me a box of DeBrand Fine Chocolates & I have just finished eating the last one! I was looking at their catalog to see which one I liked the best & couldn't decide, so thought I would share some of them with you & give you their website. Here are a few:

European Heart - Pure milk chocolate blended with finely ground hazelnuts to make a silky smooth consistency with a nutty taste. (pure creamy enjoyment)

Apricot Cream - Tart apricot pieces in a smooth apricot cream covered in dark chocolate (exquisite!)

DeBrand Caramel - Rich, buttery caramel (almost sinful)

Raspberries & Cream - Pure, smooth raspberry, topped with tart raspberry juice, covered in milk chocolate (if you love raspberry milkshakes, you'll die over this one)

Here's their site: www.debrand.com

SWAPS

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! To make up for the lack of posts lately, here are 4 more cards that I received at a swap.

PBF

I loved my Mom's peanut butter fudge! However, neither myself nor my sister, Denise, can seem to make it come out right. It seems Deanna, my youngest sister, can. Frustrating, but I'm sure God has a good reason for this. Here's the rest of the story. The first Christmas after my Mom died, Denise & I spent Christmas with Deanna. She was such a joy! Her tree was huge, decorated & all lit up. There were stockings on the mantle for each of us. A bowl of fruit on the dining table. (can you tell that this was quite unusual for us to see?) Groceries were bought for the big meal - turkey and all of the trimmings! Cookies & pies were made. Wine and cheese while the turkey was roasting. And the best part? She had made peanut butter fudge for Denise & I - what a joyous day! There's a couple more parts to this story. Denise & Deanna came home for Christmas the year before my Mom passed away. Denise & I made the fudge. It didn't turn out. So, I said we need to make it again tonight till we get it right, because making it just once a year is not working. Practice makes perfect right? Well, we tried 2 more times & still it was not right. Of course, Mom & Deanna just had so much fun with this. To have Deanna make it just once, & have it come out perfectly was just not possible, I thought. I am pretty sure Mom was helping her. Thanks Mom. So, Denise & I were talking a couple of weeks ago & Denise was saying how she would like Deanna to come & be her personal chef. Deanna is back in her cooking/baking mode. She says it relaxes her. Can you believe that? It is one of my stressors. I tell Denise I would rather have some peanut butter fudge. Last year we didn't get any. (we did get some wonderful chocolates) Denise agreed she would like some fudge. She suggested I bring it up with Deanna. I said no way. If I ask, she won't do it. You should ask, I said. Now to the latest on this story. Last week, Deanna e-mailed pictures of her tree and fireplace from her new home so I called her to say how pretty everything looked. "I'm not seeing any peanut butter fudge in the stockings," I said. Deanna replied, no you don't. But, nice try. Last night she called & asked I had gotten my mail lately & I told her no. She then asked how I get Fed Ex deliveries. I explained, they knock & if no answer, they leave a note. I think you should go check now, explained Deanna. There it was - a delivery notice from UPS & Fed Ex. Okay, so I'll get it tomorrow. We talked a few more minutes, and then said good-bye. An hour or so goes by, Denise should be home from work, I want to call her to see if she got any peanut butter fudge in the mail today, but I know she'll be tired & doesn't like talking to people on the phone so I resist the urge. Then my phone rings. It's Denise. I pick up the phone & say hello, I was just thinking of you! She says, I have instructions from Deanna to call you & say I am eating peanut butter fudge! lol Now, you know my sisters!

Two Little Reindeer

This is probably my favorite card for this Christmas season! I was going thru a recent issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine and ran across a page that used burlap. This was back on Dec. 7. Earlier this week I tried to find it to no avail. One should probably clean out their car on a daily basis - we would be surprised at how much stuff we leave in there. Cleaning out my car, I found another magazine and located the page much to my delight!

The designer used burlap on her page and I thought it was an amazing idea. I even had some in my closet that I had bought 2 years ago for another project that never got made. The next step was to choose a sketch & that I found in our current Idea Book & Catalog. It was perfect. Then I was on to choosing the color combo. First, I decided I wanted to use this yummy ribbon. From there I went to chocolate chip cs (my fav colors this year) & then I chose the stamp yet. The button at the top was the perfect accessory.

Hope you like it!

Recipe:

Merry & Bright Stamps

Chocolate Chip CS

Riding Hood Red CS

Very Vanilla CS

Chocolate Chip Ink

Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain

Burlap

Button Bouquet

Tip: ribbon and bows? not necessarily. try ribbon instead of paper.

Merry

I promised you a card & here it is! Love, love, love the colors. I was inspired by a card from great-texan over at splitcoast stampers.

I even have another one ready to show you tomorrow using an embellishment that I have never used before! Can't wait to show you.



Recipe:
Merry Stamps
Riding Hood Red CS
Sahara Sand CS
Chocolate Chip CS
Very Vanilla CS
Riding Hood Red Ink
Chocolate Chip Ink
Taken With Teal Ink
Crimper
Riding Hood Red Grosgrain Ribbon
Top Note Die
Big Shot

ps: Thanks Lisa!

Hello

I'm back. I haven't been doing much stamping till today, I have a new Christmas card designed and almost finished. I am doing another Stamp-a-Stack Friday. I need 3 more designs.

I've been feeling kind of blue. If you could post a comment, or two, I would love to hear from you.

For those of you not in Topeka, we got a few inches of snow this morning. Too nasty for me to get out. KC wanted to look out the door this morning. I've been opening the door to get some fresh air & to see what the weather has been like, and today KC wanted me to open it. How cute!!

I have invited my friends, Nancy & Richard, over for chili Saturday evening. I would like to make a pumpkin cheesecake but the odds are pretty slim of that happening.

My sister, Denise, just got back from a long weekend in Arizona visiting some of our family there. Sounds like they had a great time!

Oh no, I forgot I have some big news. Zadie is going to have a brother or sister come next June!!! She tells her friends at pre-school that the new baby takes all of her Mom's food - that's why her Mom is so sick! How adorable!

MIA Again

Well, I have been mia again. Friday night was our monthly Stampin Up Demonstrator meeting. I got up Friday morning at 730am to work on my swaps. We were asked to make 10, but only about half showed up. Oh well.

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the craft fair at the Crestview Community Center. I think this is my last one. I'm not getting the response that I want. I sense that others are in the same boat. I did, however, enjoy hanging out with Stacy, Shelly & her friend Melanie. They all had great ideas & crafts!!! So, after the fair, I stopped at Hy-Vee for groceries, came home & made chili, went to bed & got up for a few hours Sunday morning then took a nap til the Chiefs came on at 305p.

I am getting requests for Reindeer Poop. I am happy to make them for you. I sold quite a few Saturday. They are $2.00.

Later tonight, I will post another item for you. It also has very cute poem. See you tonight!

Welcome Christmas

I'm back! I enjoyed Thanksgiving with my cousins Beth & Sherry & my Great-Aunt Clo, & their families. Sunday, I fixed my dinner at home. It was designed to eat during the Chiefs game which was to start at 3:15. The dinner came together very well. It was a relaxing and stress-free morning of cooking with no problems. Everything turned out so well. The problem? I was tired, I fell asleep watching the game & had to watch it later that night.

I finally have my printer plugged back in and can show you my last project using the Felt Flurries. I really like how it turned out. Hope you like it too.


Recipe:
Chocolate Chip CS
Whisper White CS
Baja Breeze CS
Holiday Treasures DSP
Heard From the Heart Stamps
Chocolate Chip Ink
Felt Flurries
Punches: 1-3/8" Circle, Scalloped Edge