Project 12 Share: May 2010

Have you been following along with Project 12?  What's Project 12?  I blogged about it HERE but in a nutshell it's a easy monthly sketch challenge that will result in a complete “year in review” album at the end of the year. I've been working diligently on mine and have a bunch done but will be sharing them on a monthly basis.  Here is the sketch from the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog...

 And here is my May 2010 layout...
Have you been keeping up?  Share yours!

Spotlight: Bazzill Basics Matchmaker

Ever been stumped trying to match colors to your patterned papers?  Well check out the Bazzill Matchmaker site.  Bazzill Basics Matchmaker is a website that "help(s) you find the perfect Bazzill cardstock to coordinate with your favorite patterned papers."  They have a great selection of manufacturers and paper lines.

Hide & Seek

An all day crop, wi-fi and a sketch challenge...I love to scrapbook with a sketch and a challenge in hand.  This past Saturday was no different.  I had brought minimal supplies with me to an all day crop and was stumped.  I decided to search for a sketch online...one of the blog's I visited was Tiffany's blog.  There I found this sketch challenge from the blog Sketches in Thyme.

Here's my interpretation of it...

No quite happy with the journaling...strips are fine, it's the story-telling I'm not happy with.  It's easily remedied so I'll work on it later.  Check out the websites and take the challenge.  Leave me a comment if you do ;)

What's Cooking?

Chicken Dumpling Soup...perfect for a cloudy, rainy and cold day like today (or week).  A recipe I discovered a couple of years back and is a hit with even my pickiest eaters.

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 onion, finely diced
2 packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Preparation
1.  Place chicken, butter, soup and onion in a slow cooker.  Fill with enough water to cover.
2.  Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on LOW.  About 30 minutes before serving, place torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker.  Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.
3.  Shred chicken and serve :)


When I make this...
- I leave out the butter and onions.
-  use only 2 chicken breasts
- use only 1 package of dough and I quarter the biscuits instead of tearing.

Enjoy!

Just Scrappin' Weekend in Westboro

Deposit deadline extended to end of May...seats still available, reserve yours now!!!

 Join us for a scrapbooking weekend filled with scraps, laughs and friends

at the Doubletree Inn, Westborough, MA

from September 9 - 11, 2011

Your crop fee includes…

• Crop Room open beginning Friday at 4pm and close on Sunday at 4pm.
• We will close the crop room from 3am -7am to get some sleep.
• 2 night accommodations
• Saturday morning breakfast
• Saturday dinner buffet
• Sunday brunch
• A  6’ x 30” table all to yourself
• Full use of Tool Table – 2 Cricuts, Big Shot, and more!
• Free Make and Take
• On-site shopping
• Welcome gifts, door prizes, games and daily challenges
• On-site massage therapist (for an additional fee)

Rates:

$375 single occupancy

$275 per person, double occupancy

A $75 non-refundable deposit will hold your space!  

**Deposit is due by May 31, 2011

Full payment is due by August 1, 2011.

For more information, contact:

The Crop Shop - Jean Laporte    jean.lee@snet.net, 860-490-0463

Time2Scrap – Siewleng Hiraldo   sluvs2skrap@yahoo.com, 508-363-3836

Spotlight: Split Coast Stampers

Are you a stamper?  I wasn't until I discovered acrylic stamps and card-making.  I've since learned a lot and teach monthly card classes at the Holden Recreation Center.  One of the websites that got me started and that I still go back to for ideas, tutorials and inspiration is the Splitcoaststampers website.  This site is..."A gathering place for stampers - meet and talk with other members of the stamping community, check out the gallery where you'll find tons of paper craft project samples, share your own rubber stamping creations, catch up on the latest stamp and craft news, tips & techniques, or find out about upcoming events and happenings."

One of my favorites is their Wednesday tutorial...where they feature a new project or technique tutorial, featuring step-by-step instructions and lots of pictures!  Go HERE for a list of all their tutorials.  I am thinking this cute card purse will make a great year-end teacher/aide gift...here's my version of it :)

Share your favorite tutorial link.

What's Cooking?

At a loss for a recipe to share...there's been a lot of evenings spent at the ball field. I know I've said that a lot and if you would like proof of exactly how many evenings, go HERE.  There has been a gazillion quick and easy meals but most are the "open a jar" variety as well as my go-to's that have been featured here already.  I do have a few in mind that I will get to in the coming weeks.  For today, I'd like to link/share a recipe from Becky Higgins for Pesto Chicken with Vegetables that I came upon just this morning.  Planning on picking up the fresh ingredients at the store later today and using up the last of my frozen pesto...yes I freeze my own, recipe found HERE. 

If you try it out, let me know how it goes.  And if you have any yummy recipes to share, you know where to find me ;)

Spotlight: Get It Scrapped

Get it Scrapped is a "is a resource with lots of information about the creative AND practical aspects of memory keeping.  It’s like the Home Repair book my husband goes to when the ice maker breaks and he doesn’t want to pay someone to fix it. He also goes there when he decides to do a project to pretty up the place.  The thing is — Get It Scrapped! is not a static resource like that book of my husband’s. We’re continually adding to the information here–so it’s like a magazine on top of a how-to manual!"

I've been exploring this website for a bit and find the information/articles very eye opening.  On top of information, there are classes as well as sketches and a neat forum that I have yet to delve into.  Two articles on scrapbook design that I found interesting are "Tap the Power of Three" and "The 4 patterns that make mixing scrapbook papers a snap".

And this article on 2-page layouts led to this...

What's Cooking?

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!  This is a recipe I discovered at Shaw's, one of their free recipe cards that I have since lost.  It's a recipe for a TACO CASSEROLE that no one in my house complains about when I place it on the dinner table :)  It's a quick, simple and yummy meal that's cooked in the oven.  I've also prepped it in advance and come home to slip it in the oven.

Ingredients
12 Taco shells
1lb ground beef or turkey
1 cup shredded mexican mix cheese
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 12oz can diced tomatoes
1 4oz can chopped green chilies
chopped fresh cilantro, to taste

Preparation
1.  Cook ground meat until no longer pink.  Add seasoning, 1/3 of diced tomatoes plus juice and cook following instructions.
2.  Mix together refried beans, remaining diced tomatoes (drained), green chilies and cilantro.
3.  Spray 9x13 pan with a little oil and spread bean mix evenly in the pan.
4.  Heat oven to 400F
5.  To assemble casserole - sprinkle cheese in the bottom of taco shell, spoon in meat and stand taco in the bean mix. Continue until pan is full :)
6.  Sprinkle more cheese on top of tacos.
7.  Cover with foil and place in oven.  When mean mix is bubbly (about 20 minutes), remove foil and cook for another 5 minutes, or until tacos are crunchy.
8.  Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with sour cream and guacamole if you like.  Enjoy!!!

May Scrappy News

Hi all!

Spring is finally in full bloom here and life has gotten even busier.  Baseball season started and we're spending every evening and weekend at the ball field.  The vegetable garden is in, the yard needs work and the house needs cleaning *sigh*...it never ends, does it?  Scrapbook retreat season is winding down, memory making season is ramping up :)  That seems to be how it goes with us, how about you?

A few things to go over...
1.  Just Scrappin' Weekend in Westboro
Seats for our weekend crop has been filling at record speed.  If you would like to save your seat, please send in your deposit ASAP.  We are extending the deadline to May 30th and have a few seats available.  For more info, go HERE.  The flyer and registration form is also attached for your convenience.

2.  Just Scrappin' All Day Crop in Sturbridge
We have two dates left before we take a break in the summer...May 14 and June 4.  Both dates have seats available if you would like to attend.  $40 gets you a seat, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, a welcome gift, free Make n Take as well as awesome games with prizes to be won.  Contact me for more info.

3.  Card and Layout classes at the Holden Recreation Department.
I have been teaching at the Holden Rec for over 2 years now.  The place is great, easy to get to from I-190 and the people in the office very helpful.  If you've been thinking about taking a class with me there, please do not hesitate.  If you would like more info on the classes, feel free to contact me. 

Going Bananas Card Class
Get your very own stamp set and learn to crate 3 different cards using just the one stamp set.  These cards are so cute, you'll go bananas over them!
Class date: 5/12 (6:30 – 8:30pm)                Cost: $20

A Stitch in Time Layout Class
Ever wante to try stitching on your layouts?  We will stitych our way through 2 two page layouts using several different techniques using fake and real stitching.  We will be using the lovely Basic Grey Kioshi line for gender neutral sping themed layouts.
Class date: 5/26 (6:30 – 8:30pm)                Cost: $20

4.  Relay for Life Scrap Therapy Fundraiser
I'm headed to Pittsfield, MA for a great cause...spreading the news for the crop. 

All Scrap Addicts Welcome!
Relay For Life Scrap Therapy Fundraiser
Scrap Doctor's Orders:
Diagnosis: Scrap Addict's Syndrome
Treatment: Attend Scrap Therapy!
Doors open May 21st at 8 a.m. and close at midnight.
$45 'Co-Pay' includes: lunch, dinner,
Non-alcoholic beverages, giveaways and...
(4) Relay For Life Luminaria Bags (value $5 each)
Everyone gets their own table!
Call today to confirm your appt.
Jody - 413-464-3098 or email jody@rockbusiness.net

Last but not least, if you haven't yet, head over to facebook and "like" my Time 2 Scrap page.

Spotlight: Cool Crops

Cool Crops hosts the ultimate scrapbooking weekend retreats.  It's run by Cris and Cara. 

I have had the pleasure of attending/working at half of their events throughout the course of my traveling scrapbook store career.  I spent this last weekend with them at the Bayside Resort on the Cape and had a wonderful time.  When you're at Cool Crops, you can expect yummy treats...
Special services by Cara...

Great shopping...

And crazy, laugh your a$$ off games...

Head over to their website and check out their upcoming events.

Project 12 Share

Have you been following along with Project 12?  What's Project 12?  I blogged about it HERE but in a nutshell it's a easy monthly sketch challenge that will result in a complete “year in review” album at the end of the year. I've been working diligently on mine and have a bunch done but will be sharing them on a monthly basis.  Here is my April 2010 layout.

Do share yours with a link or a pic in an email.

Spotlight: My Creative Classroom

My Creative Classroom is an "online arts and crafts learning center. Our interactive and in-depth courses are instructor led and filled with wonderful projects and techniques to help you get the most out of your supplies."  Head over and check it out. They have classes from beginner scrapbooking to how-to use your gypsy to copic coloring, etc. 

I've only heard good things of them and in fact, am just finishing up a course with them...Sketch Support with Allison Davis and had a great time.  Everything went smoothly, I got a ton of pages done and learned a LOT about sketches and how to get the most out of them as well as some great scrapbooking tips.  We were given a sketch at the beginning of every week along with a sample page by Allison.  She talks about what she did to change the sketch, the thought process, photos placement, embellishment choices, paper choices etc.  Each week was a different topic with an assignment and challenge.  Once we have finished our assigments, we shared in an online gallery and got feedback from her and everyone else in the class.  Sharing and finishing assignments wasn't compulsory.  Here's an example from week 4...learning how to embellish.

My interpretation of the sketch...assignment was to create a layout and adjust the title, journaling and/or embellishments to fit what you want to use. 

And here is my assignment challenge layout.  The challenge was to "create your own embellishments!"  I had a hard time with this and finally settled on stamping the turtle, cutting out a shell from patterned papers and making the turtle x-ing sign from an embellishment I had on hand.

Happy Scrappin!

Spotlight: The Perfect Title

Ever been stumped for the perfect title for your scrapbook page?  Hah!  I'm always stumped.  I browse through magazines, layouts etc and there are always such cool titles.  A website that I head to over and over for title ideas is The Perfect Title.  They have titles, quotes and sayings.  AND the best part is everything is categorized.  So easy to search/browse for the perfect title.  Enjoy!

What's Cooking?

Rav'n Ravioli...a yummy meatless meal that my family enjoys.  It's also quick and easy to pull together.  It's a recipe from an old Pampered Chef recipe book...Main Dishes (copyrighted in 2000).

Rav'n Ravioli

Ingredients:
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 (26-28oz) jar of spaghetti sauce
2 packages (9oz each) refrigerated ravioli
1 1/4 cups water
12 French bread baguette slices
1/4 cup butter, melted.
4 oz mozzarella cheese
1 oz fresh parmesan cheese




Preparation:
1.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Chop bell pepper and onion.  Heat olive oil over med-high heat.  Add bell pepper, onion and garlic.  Cook 2-3 mins or until veggies are tender.
2.  Stir in spaghetti sauce, ravioli and water.  Bring to a boil and let it simmer ~10 minutes.
3.  Slice french bread, melt butter and dip bread slices into butter, tossing to coat evenly.
4.  Spoon half of the ravioli mix into a baking pan.  Top with mozzarella cheese and the remaining ravioli mix.
5.  Arrange bread slices, slightly overlapping around edge of the baking pan.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over bread and ravioli mix.
6.  Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until ravioli is heated through and bread is crisp and deep golden brown.

Notes:
- I usually leave out step 1 entirely...my picky eater takes too long picking out all the greens.
- I've left the ravioli on the stove (turned off) and continued with the rest when we got home from practice/game/etc.
- To save a step (and a dirty bowl), I don't melt the butter...just slather it onto the bread slices ;)

Spotlight: Imaginisce

Imaginisce is one of my favorite scrapbooking manufacturers and at Winter CHA, I think they outdid themselves with these TWO lines...Happy Camper and Berrylicious.  Both lines have yet to hit the stores and I can't wait to get them in stock.  Click on the links and check them out...then come back here, leave me a comment on which one you like better and if you would like to be able to pre-order either of these packs.

Besides the two really cool line, they have a great tutorial on their blog on how to use clear stamps.  Very informative. 

Spotlight: Sketch Savvy Blog

     Another sketch related spotlight...Sketch Savvy.  Can you tell I love sketches?  This blog is maintained by Susan Stringfellow and looks like she posts a sketch plus sample layouts on a daily basis.  Occasionally there are also SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) cut files that can be used with the cricut machine.  

I have been scrapping at home the last few weeks and am going to attempt a layout today using Sketch Savvy's sketch for today.  I'll share here once I get it done.  update:  layout done.  I managed to even dig through my stash and use some really old stuff I've been hanging on to for way too long!!!

Just Scrappin' Weekend in Westboro

 Join us for a scrapbooking weekend filled with scraps, laughs and friends

at the Doubletree Inn, Westborough, MA

from September 9 - 11, 2011

Your crop fee includes…

• Crop Room open beginning Friday at 4pm and close on Sunday at 4pm.
• We will close the crop room from 3am -7am to get some sleep.
• 2 night accommodations
• Saturday morning breakfast
• Saturday dinner buffet
• Sunday brunch
• A  6’ x 30” table all to yourself
• Full use of Tool Table – 2 Cricuts, Big Shot, and more!
• Free Make and Take
• On-site shopping
• Welcome gifts, door prizes, games and daily challenges
• On-site massage therapist (for an additional fee)

Rates:

$375 single occupancy

$275 per person, double occupancy

A $75 non-refundable deposit will hold your space!  

Deposit is due by April 30, 2011

Full payment is due by August 1, 2011.

For more information, contact:

The Crop Shop - Jean Laporte    jean.lee@snet.net, 860-490-0463

Time2Scrap – Siewleng Hiraldo   sluvs2skrap@yahoo.com, 508-363-3836

Project 12 Share

Here are my Project 12 layouts as promised.  What's Project 12?  I blogged about it HERE but in a nutshell it's a easy monthly sketch challenge that will result in a complete “year in review” album at the end of the year. Here is my January 2010 layout...

February 2010 layout ...

and March 2010 layout ...

I'm looking forward to seeing your layouts.  Leave a comment with a link or send me an email with the layout attached.

Siewleng's April Scrappy News

Good Morning all!

I know it’s not quite April yet but I am going to be away at Cool Crops Portland on April 1^st and wanted to get a jumpstart.  I have been scheming and plotting for a month and am bursting to tell you guys all about it.  Are you ready for it?...*drumroll please*...Jean and I are hosting a...

Just Scrappin' WEEKEND CROP 
September 9 - 11 at The Doubletree Inn, Westboro, MA

For more info, email me (sluvs2skrap@yahoo.com)

Now back to the regularly scheduled program...

1.  I have one class at the Holden Rec Center this month.  A sneak peek of the class can be found HERE.

April Showers Card Class

Let’s create 5 unique all occasion cards using paints and mists.  Be prepared to get your hands dirty.

Class date: 4/14 (6:30 – 8:30pm)                Cost: $20

2.  Bazzill Bulk Buy
10 colors, 5 sheets of each = 50 total for a great price of $23.00.  Deadline to order is Monday, April 4 at noon.  Colors are Evening Surf, Mexican Poppy, Lime Sherbet, Maraschino, Cashmere, Citrus, Smokey, Cream Puff, Dawn and Impatiens.  More details can be found HERE. 

3.  Just Scrappin' in Sturbridge

Our next crop is April 9 and there are limited seats left if you'd like to attend.  $40 gets you a seat, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, a welcome gift, as well as awesome games with prizes to be won.  Future dates are May 14 and June 4.  Contact me for more info.

4.  Special Requests

This month, I can be found at two Cool Crops events, Portland and the Cape.  I will also have my store at our Just Scrappin' event in Sturbridge and at the Scrappin' Sistas crop in Plymouth.  If there is anything you need or would like to have, feel free to email me and I can get it for you or have on stock for you for that event.  Not attending any of these events?  Stop by to say "HI" if you're in the area.  

5.  Last but not least, if you haven't yet head over to Facebook and like Time2Scrap.  We'll have a fun giveaway when Time2Scrap reaches 100 likes!!!