After Christmas and Ringing in the New Year Sale at Scrapdango!

Scrapdango has an awesome sale going on! In celebration of the New Year, Scrapdango is offering a whopping 30% off your entire order on anything carried in the Scrapdango Store. Credit card orders only (no paypal) for the sale and the sale price will be adjusted before your order is processed. Minimum order is $25.00 after the sale price adjustment. Quantities in stock not guaranteed. This sale will run through January 7th! Hop on over and take advantage of the sale!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your friends and families! God Bless you!

Semi-Homemade Lollipops and Treat Bag Toppers

This is a little tutorial that I did for Scrapdango's 12 Days of Christmas with a Twist! If you join in and make it be sure to post it here to get your name entered in a drawing for one of Scrapdango's kits!

Today's project is a 2 part one! The first part is in the kitchen! We're going to make lollipops out of Jolly Ranchers! There is no twist for this first part!

Supplies for Lollipops:
*Jolly Rancher Hard Candy
*Lollipop Sticks
*Little Treat Bags
*Baker's Twine or Ribbon
*Parchment Paper

1) Preheat oven to 250.
2) Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3) Choose 3 Jolly Ranchers and place them next to each other on the parchment paper. This will become your lollipop! If you are making more than one, be sure to leave plenty of room between each lollipop...they will spread!
4) Put in the oven for about 8-10 minutes...until melted! Be sure to keep checking them! It takes a while to start melting but once they start, they go pretty quickly!5) Once completely melted, take out of oven and IMMEDIATELY roll the lollipop stick into candy. Roll the stick so the part in the lollipop is completely coated. They do harden fairly quickly so don't dilly-dally! ;)6) Let Cool
7) Place the cooled lollipops into the treat bags.
8) Tie with ribbon or baker's twine.9) Put aside and make treat bag topper below! :)

Here's part 2...the treat bag toppers! There IS a twist for this part...Use only black and white and one other color! :)

Supplies:
*Cardstock
*Border Punch
*Letter Stickers or Thickers
*Button and Thread
*Stickles
*Baggie
*Staples

1) Cut your cardstock piece 6 1/2" x the width of your baggie + 1/4" (my baggie was 6 1/2 wide so I cut it 6 3/4)
2) Fold in half the 6 1/2" way
3) Use your border punch on the front edge.
4) Trim of the back so it is just a bit shorter than the punched front.
5) Spell out Happy Holidays with you letters...but leave off the "O"
6) Thread button and adhere it in place of the "O"
7) Use an exclamation point from your letter stickers to make a your button into a lollipop!
8) Decorate your stickers with stickles.
9) Staple your topper onto the baggie****Here is one really important tip: Make sure your lollipops fit into your baggie before making your topper! Not that I know from experience or anything! :rolleyes: My lollipops were too tall for my sandwich sized baggie but of course I had already made my topper for that size baggie! So, I simply cut about an inch off of the stick! :D You could also just move the stick farther up in the lollipop when you are making them!

And one more idea...if you are just giving one to someone, just put their first initial on the bag! Gives it an easy personal touch!

I hope you guys get a chance to try these...they are so simple and fun and yummy! :D

We have a winner!

I have had a blast reading the comments that I got during the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! And visiting all the blogs during the giveaway! I hope you all had fun too! So without further ado, the winner is Breanna S! Breanna, I sent you an email requesting your address!

If you did not win, but want one of the wallets...you can find them here in my etsy store! Leave a message when you check out that you found me through the giveaway day, and I'll include a free pair of clips or a free pony tail holder from my inventory with the purchase of a hair candy wallet...just tell me your preference between clips or hair ponytail holder! This offer is good through the end of the year!

It's Giveaway Day!

If you are here for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day...Welcome! If not, it is your lucky day! I am giving away a Hair Clip Wallet and 2 pairs of my Hair Candy Clips! (seen below!)

*All you have to do is leave a comment on this post.
*For an extra entry, visit my store, Pens and Needles and then come back here and tell me what you like best in the comments! Easy Peasy! I would love any feedback you give me as I just started the store! :)
*And I'll give you another extra entry in the drawing if you become a follower of my blog!
And as a special deal for Giveaway Day, if you buy a Hair Clip Wallet, I'll throw in a pair of Hair Candy Clips or Hair Candy for free! Just mention that you found me on giveaway day and if you want clips or the ponytail holder! (I'll pick them from my inventory!) These make AWESOME stocking stuffers for all the little girls in your life!
You have until Midnight EST on Sunday December 6th to enter to win! I'll announce the winner here on the 7th! So check back then or if your email or blog is linked in your comment, I'll give you a shout!

It's almost here!

Join us December 1-12 for our 2009 12 Days of Christmas...with a Twist!

The design team will be giving a daily project/tutorial for you to do. If you complete the project, you earn one draw for a Scrapdango Kit!

For each project, there will also be a twist...a challenge to incorporate into that day's challenge. If you choose to do the twist, you will earn another draw! So for each project, you can possibly earn 2 draws! Don't like the twist that day? Just complete the project without the twist and you still earn one draw!

Every other day there will also be a game to participate in! And of course, you can earn draws that way as well!

Sign up in the sign up thread and keep track of your draws there! You have until midnight EST on Friday, December 18 to get all your projects done!

International members welcome to play, however...a $6 shipping credit will be given. Any shipping above the $6 will be the members responsibility.

I can't wait to see the other design team members' projects! And on another note...check out my etsy store, I have loaded lots of fun stuff in the last few days! Great stocking stuffers! And check back on the 2nd for Giveaway Day!

12 Days of Christmas with a Twist @ Scrapdango

Hey ladies! Are you ready for a 12 day extravaganza of amazing inspiration, tutorials and games? We've got it coming your way! The fun will all start on December 1st and continue all the way through the 12th! Everyday you will find a new project with all the instructions you need to make it yourself! And every other day there will be a new game to try your luck at! Earn draws for winning games and completing projects! One winner will receive a wonderful Scrapdango treat! Hop on over to the Scrapdango forums and join us for all the fun!!! Stay tuned here as well to see what the "twist" is! :)

November Kits at Scrapdango!

The November kits at Scrapdango have been revealed! They are gorgeous! I had a hard time picking between the sugar (a little more girly) and the spice (a bit on the boyish side) kits! I had Carrie surprise me and she sent me the Sugar kit. It is filled with Nutmeg goodies from Cosmo Cricket, a sweet assortment of embellishments from Prima and some Thickers! I've played a little with it and I love the colors and patterns!

The Spice kit is all about Robots with Bella Blvd's Super Stud line. This kit also has some fun Thickers, glittery brads, and lots of other embellishments to play with!

Make sure you head on over to Scrapdango before all the sugar and spice is gone! :)

Progressive Blog Hop...Day 3!

Here we are again! I am sad to say that today is the last day of the Scrapdango Progressive Blog Hop! But there is still lots of fun in store today so let's get to it!

Today we are giving you another 6 ingredients...this time to use on an altered item. You can make your altered item anything you would like! I decided to make a Christmas ornament. I used chipboard as my base.

My ingredient for you today is paint. I love all the different things you can do with paint...recolor stickers, paint a swatch and journal on it, use it with a mask, add some texture, and the list goes on and on. For this ornament, I used it to soften the background. I still wanted the words from the vintage dictionary pages to show through bt wanted them to be a little more muted. After mod podging the pages on, I took a cream colored paint and dry brushed it on over the entire thing. Love the effect!

I hope you have fun playing with your paint and all the other ingredients too! Can't wait to see what you do!

Don't forget:

*Link your projects here or here.

*They are due by Monday, November 16th at midnight EST.

*Use ALL 6 ingredients on your project.

*Leave a comment here to be entered to win a RAK!

Here's the order to hop in!

Scrapdango Blog

Heather's Blog

Lynn's Blog...You Are Here!

Nikki's Blog <<<-----------You Go Here Next!

Carly's Blog

Lisa's Blog

Kerryn's Blog

Progressive Blog Hop...Day 2!

Welcome back for Day 2 of the Scrapdango Blog Hop! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can catch up here!

Today we're doing a layout! For the ingredients, each of the 6 designers picked one of their favorite things to use on layouts. I chose to do Journal Spots. I use a journal spot on almost every layout that I do, and some cards too! Journaling for me, does not come easily. Before journal spots, I always felt like I wasn't saying enough...wasn't filling up enough space on the layout. Journal spots allow me to make it part of the design and they come in all sizes! I don't know what I'd do without them! :) Here is my example using all the ingredients.
Here are the important things to remember:

*Use ALL 6 of the designers' ingredients on your layout.

*Link it to the blog or forum.

*You have until Monday, Nov. 16 at midnight EST to do them!

*Leave a comment on my blog to be enterd into a drawing for a RAK!

Here's the order to hop in!

Scrapdango Blog

Heather's Blog

Lynn's Blog...You Are Here!

Nikki's Blog <<<--------You Go Here Next!

Carly's Blog

Lisa's Blog

Kerryn's Blog

And we're hopping!

Welcome to stop number 2! If you have no idea what I am talking about, you'll find all the details on the Scrapdango blog!

The new Fall 09/Spring 10 design team was just announced over at Scrapdango and I have the privilege of being co-leader with Heather! To welcome and introduce the entire team to you, we are doing a hop through the blogs of the entire team! This is a progressive blog hop, which means at each blog you will learn one ingredient of a recipe challenge that you will have to include on a card, layout or altered item depending on the day!

Today we have a DANGOS card recipe challenge! At each of the dt members' blogs you will get an ingredient that corresponds with a letter in DANGOS. You need to include each of the 6 items on your card (additional items are fine, just make sure you have the 6!) and then provide a link to your card in the comments section of the Scrapdango blog or on the Scrapdango forum! For each challenge you complete, you get 1 draw for one of Scrapdango's kits! Your projects are due by Monday, November 16th at midnight EST.

You can also win a RAK right here by leaving a comment on any of the blog hop posts on my blog through Monday!

Alright, the details are out of the way...here we go!

A is for...Alphabet Stickers

Here is my example that uses all 6 ingredients. Any guesses what the other designers chose? :)

Now hop on over to Nikki's blog to get your next ingredient to add to your card! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for the layout challenge where we'll share some of our favorite things!

Here's the order to hop in!

Scrapdango Blog

Heather's Blog

Lynn's Blog...you are here!

Nikki's Blog <<<-----------You go here next!

Carly's Blog

Lisa's Blog

Kerryn's Blog

Progressive Blog Hop!

Mark your calendars...Scrapdango is having a Progressive Blog Hop this Friday-Sunday! Start at the Scrapdango blog and hop through all the new design team members' blogs! At each blog, you will be given an ingredient to add to your creation! Use all 6 ingredients and you get your name put in a drawing for a wondersul prize! Create a card on Friday, a layout on Saturday, and an altered item on Sunday and get 3 draws! Invite a friend, leave some love, and learn some things about the design team to earn even more draws! :) You will have until Monday the 16th to get your projects posted. Hope you get a chance to play with us!

A New Design Team!

After my term at A Walk Down Memory Lane ended last May, I decided to stick with just Concroption over the summer and then maybe try for another dt in the fall. After Concroption closed in September, I decided I would go ahead and search some out. I had played in the Crowned competition and then the School's In Challenge over at Scrapdango and really loved the feel of the boards. When the dt call cam up last month, I knew I wanted to try for it. Carrie (the owner) called me on Tuesday to offer me the position. I was thrilled! And to top it off, she asked me to be Co-Leader with Heather! One of the best things about this for me is that Carrie is in Hillsboro and Heather is in Vancouver! I can't wait to meet them in person! I hope it happens soon! :) The other girls on the team are fantastic too! Their blogs are now in my sidebar! Check them out! And don't forget all the fun stuff going on at the Scrapdango message board! We'd love to have you!

End of Soccer

Isaac's first soccer season has officially ended. I have to say I was a little sad to see it end. We loved his coach and all the parents were great as well! Out of all the games, we only had rain during one! Kind of a small miracle here in Oregon! :) Can't wait until next year! I was the parent in charge of the end of the year party. I made 2 cakes for it...WAY overkill! And, because it is what I do, I made each kid and the coach a layout with pictures I took throughout the season! Then I framed them with Dollar Store frames. I liked how they turned out...very simple! I had wanted to find some patterned paper for them but I am glad I didn't...I think it would have been too busy!

Here are the cakes I made:And one of the layouts pre-frame and then one in the frame.

For My Wall

I did these 2 layouts to hang on the wall in our playroom/scrapbook room. I also made them to fit 2 different challenges at Scrapdango. Plus they sort of had to work together AND look good with my blue and orange walls! Let's just say it was harder to do than I thought! :)

This first one was for the November guest designer contest. I had to use something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. My pp is super old. The photo turn and buttons are new. I "borrowed" the idea of the button ring from Heather. And I think you can see the blue!

This one was a dt challenge. Alyssa challenged us to use fussy cutting. I cut the little blue column out of an old patterned paper.
All the pictures are from Isaac's first day of school. Erin wanted in on the action too! The school is such a cool looking school, it made a great backdrop!

Every Other Day?

Looks like I should have said that I would post 2 cards every other day! :) Here are a few more I did for WCMD! I love this first one...it was a scraplift challenge. This was a lift of Kerryn's card and I did it pretty close to hers including the Thank U!

This was a recipe challenge but I can't remember what exactly was in the recipe...I think it was scallops, stamping and bling.

This was for Alyssa's Monochromatic challenge. I love the challenge! I seem to have a lot of green stuff so I went with that!
That is the end of my WCMD cards. I have some layouts to share probably on Monday! I hope you have a great weekend!

Oops...Where did Tuesday go?

I somehow missed yesterday! So here are 2 cards for today! This first one was for Heather's Buttons and Bows challenge, which I think is pretty self explanatory! :) This is a stamp set from Papertrey Ink called Everyday Button Bits. Every stamp has a place for buttons! I love it! They have a new one coming out tonight that is a Holiday Button Bits! Tempting, very tempting!
This card was for Kerryn's Shape Challenge. I made it to use as a little note in Isaac's lunch box. He only eats at school every other Wednesday and last Wed. he was home sick and today is his day off! So it is still here waiting to be used! This was a template I bought and downloaded from Paper Popsicles!

Here's another card...as promised! We'll see if I can make it through the week with this! :) Most of these that I'll post were challenges on the Scrapdango site. I forgot to say yesterday that the Halloween card was doing double duty...make a holiday card and do a Halloween card without any orange, black or purple which wasn't that easy! This card was made for Heather's journal spot challenge. It was to simply use a journal spot on a card! And since I am slightly addicted to journal spots I had plenty to choose from!
See you tomorrow with another card!

A Card a Day!

My goal this week is to post a card a day all week long! It shouldn't be that hard since I made so many on WCMD! Isaac came down with something on Monday and had to stay home from school ALL week so I haven't been able to share them yet! :) I'll start things off with some little monsters because my kids were little monsters after being cooped up all week! :)

And the winner is...

Random Number Generator gave me #9! That means Christine is the winner!

Cocoa Daisy World Card Making Day Blog Hop!

Welcome! I hope you are having fun so far on your tour! I have made 3 cards for today. When signing up for the blog hop I asked if there was anything special we needed on our cards. Sue (missusem) said no, but she liked my pun cards. Well, that was all I could think of when making these cards today! So, here you go Sue...3 more "punny" cards!




Be sure to leave a comment and I will enter your name in a drawing for a little blog candy. I'm not sure what will be in it...I just decided to do it! But I promise it will be good!

Where do you go next? Right here to visit Laura over in the UK! And I just took a sneak peek at her card...GORGEOUS!

Enjoy the rest of the cards! And here's the links for everybody in case you lose your way! Sam, Me, Laura, Vee, Gina, Olivia, Caryl, Elina, Sue, Audrey, Christine, Aida, Janis, Ronda and Jacqui. Go get inspired!

Pretzel Rolo Turtle Thingies

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes! Everyone loves them and they are SO easy! A little time-consuming just because you have to unwrap all the Rolos but I just put the kids to work! They work very cheap...a rolo each and all the broken pretzels they want! :)
Here's what you need:
RolosPretzelsPecan Halves 1) Line a cookie sheet with pretzels. I fit about 70 per sheet.
2) Unwrap rolos and place them on top of each pretzel.3) Bake for about 3-4 minutes @ 250. They need to be melted but not goo! They get a bit shiny when they are ready.4) After taking them out of the oven, immediately squish a pecan half into the Rolos. This pushes them down and spreads them onto the pretzel.5) Cool and eat! I needed mine to be pretty firm quickly for transport so I popped them in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

I made about 150 of these today to give to Tadd's runners. It took probably about an hour but you could probably cut that to half an hour if you didn't have 2 little helpers! :) But aren't they cute!?!?

Homework! (week 4!)

I love doing these types of challenges for the simple fact that they get me scrapping! I have made 6 layouts and a tag for School's In since September 1 and I have one more layout that I hope to get done by the 30th! Thanks to all the design team members at Scrapdango for their great challenges.

This is the Week 4 Assignment...Handstitching! This is something I had never done on a layout and I have to admit, I really had fun doing it!Here is the M-R extra credit. I had to use Masking, Notebook paper, October Afternoon, People we love, Question Mark, and Ribbon. One of the best things about these challenges for me was doing things I wouldn't normally have done. On this layout I have to say that it was probably the monsters! They are from October Afternoon and had I not had all my OA stash on my table, I probably wouldn't have thought of the monsters! And they are my favorite part of this layout!

Published and More Extra Credit!

Last May I submitted my first creation for publication and it was picked up! It is a card in the magazine Cards. (that link is still showing the Sept. issue) I have been waiting and waiting and the October issue is finally out! How fun to see my card in there! (Even if it is a card I don't really like!) If you happen to get that magazine, I am on page 34! :)

Despite waking up sick today...I managed to complete another extra credit assignment for Scrapdango. This was the S-Z one so I had to use...Staples, Tearing, Us, Vellum, We R Memory Keepers or Webster's Pages, X stitch, Yellow, Z was our choice. I did a zig-zag stitch. I knew I wanted to do this one but I had no We R Memory Keepers or Webster's Pages paper. I had just given some scraps of We R to Sta'Cee who it turns out is also doing the challenge! :) I also had just recycled a ton of vellum because I hadn't used it in recent memory! Had to go buy a piece! All in all I really like how it turned out...turns out I really like the vellum in the center of those flowers! :)

Now I just have to get to the last challenge (due Monday) which is to handstitch on a layout. I also have 2 more extra credit assignments if I can find the time!

{scrap} Lift Me Up!

Ronda started a great challenge over at Cocoa Daisy. We signed up in groups of 7. The first person was sent a layout to lift and then that layout was sent to the next person and so on. So only the first person on the list saw the original layout! I was first on the list this time. It was a lot of pressure! :) Here is my layout and here is the reveal of the original and all the rest!

School Pictures

Better late than never I guess! Seems everything has been a whirlwind of activity here with school starting, Isaac playing soccer, Tadd coaching xc, me doing a bunch of scrappy stuff, and Erin falling teeth first onto hardwood floors! ;) Isaac has loved school so far (all 3 days of it!) and has also started taking the bus!

Here he is in front of his school. He looks so little! (but don't tell him, he thinks he's pretty grown up going to school!)

Just some fun posed shots that both kids were game with so I took full advantage!On the first day in his class. He got right to work and almost didn't even say goodbye!On his third day I let him ride the bus to and from school. He loved it of course!