I'm a reader, a baker and a papercraft maker!

You are cordially invited to view my invite!

2009-10-06T14:24:00.000-06:00

This invite was created with Stampin' Up!'s new My Digital Studio! I love it. Granted, it's not the fanciest thing ever created, but the program is so user friendly that I was able to get it created in less than 10 minutes. I can have them printed and mailed out to my customers super fast!

Also, if you are in the area and want to attend our stamp camp, please feel free to contact me. The projects we are making- and I mean it when I say this- are the cutest we've ever done. I'm part of a wonderfully creative team.

Hope you're all doing well!

Convention Swaps

2009-07-04T13:01:00.004-06:00

Stampin' Up! Convention is a month away and I do not have my swaps made. My hope is to have 200 card fronts ready to swap by then. The hardest part is coming up with the ideas. Here are some rejects. Now, when I say rejects, I want you to know that my reasoning for rejecting them are NOT because of appearance. I think the cards are darling. They are, however, intensive and when making 200 cards you want the cards you make to be both simple AND attractive.

I have 3 darling card that I will be mass producing over the next 30 days. Once we get closer to the big day, I'll post those pictures. I doubt I have many followers of my blog but I still want to protect my ideas! Better to be paranoid than sorry, I always say!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!

Cooking again!

2009-06-25T20:52:00.004-06:00

Ben and I lived in an apartment right after we married. The apartment was decent. Before the wedding, we were time crunched to find a place. Ben had been living and working in California and moved to Utah (where we live now) a month before the wedding. I definitely didn't want the responsibility to find a place without his input, especially while also doing most of the wedding planning. We didn't have a ton of time to look and we took the first place that met our needs and fit our budget. It was 1,000 square feet, 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. It had a laundry room and pantry and balcony and plenty of storage. It was in good shape. It was more than decent, I suppose, it was nice.

However, I never took pictures of it. While living there, I just couldn't get myself excited enough to document our first residence as husband and wife. I regret it now. One of my biggest complaints was the lack of windows. Natural light is a must for me and for my happiness. Also, the kitchen was small (and the only room, besides the bathrooms, lacking a window). The first few months of our marriage I planned meals and cooked because I was excited to do those "wife things." It didn't take long, though, to not want to cook in that closet of a kitchen. We started eating out. A lot.

And then Ben left for Canada. I swore to myself that while he was gone I would cook more. Exercise more. Read more. Craft more. More, more, more. It's hard to be motivated to do such things while your honey is so far away. I'd pick up fast food on my way home and then sit in front of the TV.

Next came the stresses of finding a house, buying the house, packing up the apartment, moving and unpacking in the new house. Eating out became a daily thing with Ben and me. I was so excited when we found this house because there is plenty of windows and even one in the kitchen! No window over the sink, which is a bummer, and I'm basically still facing a wall while cooking, but I'm still cooking in a kitchen FILLED with sunlight! Oh the joy!

We've been in the house nearly 3 months now and I'm just getting to planning a menu and sticking to it. And you know what? I feel better. We're eating more healthily. I'm losing some weight. It's glorious.

So, with that long introduction do you want to know what we've eaten lately? I've only taken pictures of two meals but they were tasty! One is a recipe that I tried for the first time yesterday night. I get a daily email from Martha Stewart. This was for Orange Beef Stir Fry. When I got the email I was very excited because I had all the ingredients already on hand. Except for the beef. So I made it with chicken instead. It was still delicious. It didn't have a very orangey taste so the next time I make it I may use orange marmalade or some orange peel or something. Other than that, the flavor was wonderful. Click on the link below for the recipe!

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

Tonight I made a tried-and-true Weight Watchers recipe. A few years ago my roommate and I did Weight Watchers together. We both had online memberships so I'd search their recipes and try them out. I don't think I'll make another spaghetti recipe. No high-fructose corn syrup bottled sauces anymore!

The recipe calls for carrots in the sauce, which I enjoyed. Ben wasn't a fan of carrots in spaghetti sauce. So, I added some green bell pepper. He isn't a fan of spaghetti noodles, so I boiled up some mostaccioli noodles that I had in the pantry instead. Serve it with a salad and you're set. See the link below the picture for the recipe. Love it!

Weight Watchers Spaghetti and Tomato-Meat Sauce

Now that I'm in the habit of cooking again, I should have recipes to share more regularly.

Still playing. :)

2009-06-23T21:08:00.006-06:00

Last week, my good friend Kym celebrated her birthday. Scheduling conflicts, as well as waiting for her present to arrive, made it so I couldn't give her the gift ON her birthday. I wanted to make it up to her by "wrapping" the gift in a special way. When I saw the tutorial here I knew how I wanted to package the present! Isn't that a fun bag?

I'm pairing the bag with the card from the previous post.

I'm also trying to come up with some simple, yet cute, cards to make for convention swaps. This uses the new in-colors in both designer series paper and ribbon as well as the new stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes. The set and the ribbon are so versatile. In fact, the ribbon shown here actually has polka dots on the other side. I chose the non-polka dot side for this card because I thought the solid side gave a cleaner look.

This is another swap possibility, also using new in-colors and ribbon. I just love the new Lots of Bots set! So very cute.

ETA: The layout for this card is from Keesh's sketch challenge #9

Thanks for looking!

Playin' around

2009-06-17T00:02:00.007-06:00

So, it started when I saw this wonderful idea on Mary Fish's blog. Genius! Make a topiary out of the new Circle Circus set. I wanted to play with the new Stampin' Up! in colors so I chose Rich Razzleberry along with tried and true Old Olive and Orchid Opulence. However, when I showed my husband the following card, it took him about two minutes to figure out that it was supposed to be a topiary. He was right to be a bit confused. Topiaries usually are green, not purple!

A second attempt, with an appropriate topiary color. Somewhat boring though. Ah well. I'll keep trying. Gotta love the new polka dot ribbon!

And farewell to the lovely Taste of Textiles paper and Baja Breeze in color. This just might be a birthday card for a friend. We shall see. I didn't attend SU!'s Leadership conference, but I've seen people copying a card made there, which is very similar to this.

Heart Attack Dessert

2009-06-01T13:31:00.000-06:00

Checkout what I saw online today:

Cookie Cake Pie

Wow!!

For my family.....

2009-05-31T20:33:00.021-06:00

Here is a photographic preview of what will be available at our family campout (click on any photo to see a larger version:

A large campsite for all our tents....

...bathrooms with flushing toilets...

...nature...

...grandpas...

...and grandmas...

...lunch (and dinner and breakfast)...

...bongo heads...
...jedi mind tricks...

...smiles...

...nature walks...

...WATER...

...sippy cups...

...boats (should you choose to bring one)...

...roller coaster rides...

...swimming...

... and cousins (or nieces/nephews or grandkids all lined up in a row!

It's all about the family and I hope you'll all be there!

For the men

2009-05-06T22:49:00.002-06:00

My father's birthday was on Cinco de Mayo. I made this card for him. The sentiment at the bottom says "he who has the most tools wins." I think this would also make an awesome Father's Day card. Soon I will post pictures of the card I made for Mother's day. Thanks for looking! (and thanks for not noticing the messy table behind the card)

Not a candy maker....yet!

2009-05-06T22:35:00.007-06:00

So I tried a new recipe today. It's for Oreo Truffles. You can find the recipe (as well as some prettier pictures) here.

The dough was easy enough to make, but I really am no good at dipping the truffles....yet.

For this recipe I used special edition Strawberry Milkshake Oreos. They taste yummy, but they sure don't look too pretty.

If you're a candy maker, make these! They're delicious. I'll make them again and will probably try the mint creme oreos next.

Here are the not so round nor pretty truffles (I'm only showing the prettiest, which should give an idea on how bad the rest look).

Ben's Home!

2009-05-04T15:02:00.003-06:00

And I have some pictures of projects and recipes to share with you soon.

Almost-After pictures

2009-03-23T15:41:00.011-06:00

Okay, so I wanted to wait until we were really DONE to post but I just can't help it! I'm in love with our new floors. Here are some pictures. Now, the floors were JUST installed so they are still a bit dusty. We pan to mop and shine them after we get all the moving-in finished.

Here's the living room. It used to have the yuckiest carpet. Now look at that warm, cozy room! I love the paint and wood combo.

The stair rail hadn't been re-installed when I took this picture. But it is back on now. We are still waiting for the wood trim. It is currently on back-order. Our current plan is to keep the hallway wall white, but we may end up painting it the same sand color later. We'll see.

It was overcast and rainy when I took these pictures so my apologies for the poor lighting. Anyway, this is the space between the living room and kitchen dining nook.

Our red kitchen! The trim still needs to be painted. Ben purchased a power roller to paint with and it was handy because it didn't require any real prep work (taping, etc.), which is why there are white strips in the corners and top and bottom of the wall sections. We'll be filling those in this week. Please disregard all the tools and supplies on our kitchen counters! ;)

Here's another view of the kitchen and the two red walls! It's very red but we love it! Even Ben, who was hesitant about having red walls, loves it!

Finally, here is the newest addition to our little family- PENELOPE! She doesn't look like she's very happy in this picture, but trust me, she's a sweetheart. She is all about the snuggling and was actually walking toward the camera to snuggle up to it when the photo was taken.

Her sweet profile.

I love this picture. Ben and Penelope are snuggle buddies. Penelope fills the craggy holes in both our hearts!

Before Pictures

2009-03-12T11:37:00.017-06:00

I know I posted this in the previous post, but here's the front of the house again. It's not a very bright picture since we were checking out the house as the sun was setting. But don't you worry, I'll be posting lots of pictures of the house over the next while.

When you come to visit, knock on this door. Or ring the doorbell. Both work. Can you see a red door? I can't even though I want to. Eh well. That will be decided later. These pictures, as I've mentioned before, we're taken in January when I first looked at the house while Ben was in Canada. My plan was to email him pictures just in case I needed to buy a house while he was gone. Good thing I didn't have to!

Anyway, The house had been owned twice when we bought it. The original owners rented the house out, and there's some cosmetic problems with it because of the renters. The second owners, who we purchase the house from, were corporate. They pretty much went in and painted the whole house and maybe fixed some stuff (but not a lot, judging from the things we need to fix- anyway). They purchased it about the time the housing market started to crash in Utah. So- it went unoccupied for a long time. The paper you see taped on the front door basically says that the house has been winterized and not to run any of the water.

I pan to eventually put a small bench or chair to the left of the door.

When you walk in the house, you walk directly into the living room. It's a smaller room, but I like that. It's a more formal room and we won't be doing anything too major in it. Our plan is to rip up the carpet in this room and down the hallway and replace it with wood laminate. We will also replace the laminate in the kitchen (which you will see in a few pictures). Hopefully doing so will actually make the front room seem larger. I hope to also hang a large mirror on the wall across from the stair rail.

Ben has already started to paint this room. We are painting it a pale sand color but keeping the white trim. You'll see some after pictures of the painted room (hopefully with better lighting) soon!

This picture is of the dining area of the kitchen and was taken while standing in the front room. I like the bay window. (realtor cameo on the left!). We will place our round kitchen table in the bay window area.

The wall on the right will be painted the same sand color as the living room, and the wall on the left will be painted red. I'm so excited to have a red kitchen!

The two walls in this picture- stove and refrigerator (which we need to buy) will be painted red.
And the flooring will be replaced.

The picture below is of the master bedroom. The side wall is all closet and on the right is a window. The room will fit our california king-sized bed, which is nice. No walk in closets, which is sad, but it does have a master bath. I can't believe how many houses I looked at did not have a master bath! The current plan is to paint the walls blue but put beadboard paneling on the lower portion of the wall. You can see a sample here but just imagine, instead of yellow, a seaside blue paint! I think it will look really pretty.

This next picture is the downstairs living room. The tile is very nice although not professionally installed. It is pretty though, even if it isn't something I would pick out on my own. This room will be the "entertainment room" and on the far wall there are 10 outlets! I can't imagine needing them all since we aren't too big into gaming or TV or whatever.

In the picture you can see (L-R) our Realtor, Jennifer Gilchrist, and my step-mom and my dad. They came with me to look at houses while Ben was in Canada. When we have more money, we plan to buy a sectional couch and some area rugs.

This next picture is of the same room, but the other side. The open doorway to the far left is the door to go upstairs (where the kitchen, living room and and 3 bedrooms are). The hallway in the middle-right of the picture goes to the other two bedrooms- one of which is the craft room- as well as the 3rd full bath.

Below is the 3rd bath. The shower is a mess, even if it does look pretty. Whoever did it was not a professional and hence did not slope the floor. That means, water does not drain. So, we have to redo the shower. We want to salvage as much of the tile as we can, but we will make it not as deep. We'll tear out the wall on the right- thus extending the laundry room (Do you see that little closet to the far right? Yeah, that's the laundry space.) The tile you see for the shower is just the entrance. The shower goes all the way to the left wall.

This is the craft room closet. The picture does not do it justice! The thing is huge and all shelves. I guess there will be no excuse for the room to be messy, right? :P

This last picture is just one of the corners of our backyard. In fact, it is the smaller corner. The shed was there when we purchased it and we have plans to finish it (before the wood rots) this spring. You can see a peek of the RV pad and "patio" under the snow. Ben plans to build an awning over the cement this spring as well. This picture was taken from the master bedroom window. We are so excited to have a yard in which to entertain and garden!

There you have the before pictures! I haven't taken any pictures of the other bedrooms yet but if I do I'll post them. There are 3 upstairs and 2 downstairs. Our plan is to make one of the upstairs bedrooms an office and keep the 3rd open for now. :) The two downstairs will be the craft room and a guest room. I also didn't take any pictures of the bathrooms. Bathrooms are bathrooms. You can imagine what they look like.

More to come! Thanks for looking.

Why I haven't posted

2009-03-10T10:17:00.003-06:00

Happy News! Ben and I bought a house! It all happened so fast and we are currently trying to make a few cosmetic changes before moving in.

Ben and I knew we wanted to buy a house whenever it seemed fiscally possible. That seemed so far away. However, with the higher pay each time he went to Diavik (Canada- Arctic Circle- Diamond mine) we were able to have a good down payment. While he was away I was in charge of looking at houses. Our realtor was absolutely fabulous, so if you're looking for someone, let me know! Anyway, Ben returned on Friday, February 6th. That weekend we went up to Midway to spend some quality time together after his long absence. The following Monday we spent the day looking at some houses, one of which I fell in love with and hoped he would too. And he did! Immediately after looking at the house we made an offer! This was Monday, February 9th. The offer was accepted on the 11th and then we started going back and forth working out contract details with the seller. We received the final contract on Thursday, February 19th and closed on the house Tuesday, February 24th!! How fast is that? It was meant to be!

What's funny is that the house is in an area we didn't originally want to live. We were hoping to find a house closer to my sister and brother-in-law, who live in Sandy. Our house is much more west. Conveniently close to my work (the drive is like 3 minutes!) but inconveniently farther away from my beloved sister and niece. *Sigh* What is distance when it's family, right? But, I've digressed. Even though we originally didn't want to live there, as I was looking at houses I would drive past the neighborhood on my way home from work and the thought kept popping into my head "I NEED to look in that neighborhood for a house." Day after day the thought would be there and I never did look. Fate made sure I got there when the house we bought showed up on a list our realtor sent. Imagine my excitement when I realized it was in that neighborhood!!

Here's a picture of the front. I have some other pictures of the house, which were taken while Ben was in Canada, but Ben's made notes all over them. Once I have some (without the unnecessary notes) I'll post them. I want to do a before and after post anyway, since we'll be changing the flooring and painting. I'm so excited to decorate!!

Cute, huh? I hope to paint the front door red. The house is on a little less than a 1/4 acre lot, is 2,135 sq ft, 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths. The downstairs has the most awesome bedroom with a huge closet FULL of SHELVES!!! CRAFT ROOM! Yippee!

So that's what we're spending our time on. It's really hard to make projects in our cramped office right now when I know there is a huge room that I will soon have all to myself with triple the space!

Oh, and what's even cooler is that one of the girls in my demo group lives in my neighborhood! She has her own blog and you should check it out! She's awesome!

Lotsa Cards

2009-01-29T22:47:00.014-07:00

Remember how, in my previous post, I made the promise to stay productive while Ben was away? Well, I have been! I was released from the RS Presidency about two weeks ago. The president, knowing I will be moving out relatively soon (Ben and I are in the process of buying a home), wanted to get my replacement all settled in before I depart. She recently asked me to make a bunch of cards for her to give out to the sisters in the ward. So, here are some that I've made. Enjoy!

Home Decor

2009-01-07T12:53:00.003-07:00

I had originally promised to make stuff while Ben was away. Yeah, that didn't really happen. In fact, the only things I made were specifically for classes. I didn't even make or send out any Christmas cards this year! GASP! And when he came back it was just so nice to spend time with him that I didn't make anything either. We hardly even cooked! Bad us!

Anyway, Ben left again for the arctic yesterday. He will be gone for 30 days this time. I am determined to keep my self productively busy. So, last night in my first night of solitude, I made a home decor item. I've seen a lot of these floating around, so I give credit to all of you who made them first. The sentiment in the middle says "The season of friendship lasts forever." The picture really doesn't do it justice. Especially the spring tree- the camera didn't pick up the light pink petals. Oh well. Also, the frame actually does come with glass I just decided to take a picture without the glass to eliminate the glare.

Thanks for looking and I hope you're having a WONDERFUL New Year!

A Wonderful Christmas

2009-01-03T13:11:00.006-07:00

I'm a bit late, but what a wonderful Christmas Ben and I had! It was quiet- just the two of us. We were cozy in our new pajamas (Christmas Eve tradition) and we watched it snow from the warmth of our home. Anyway, the happy news for this blog is that Ben bought me:

A NEW DIGITAL SLR CAMERA! How fun is that? I'm still getting to know all it's bells and whistles but there will be much better photos of the projects from now on.

Speaking of better photos, here is a photo of my holiday decorations. We don't have a lot of space right now, so I'm currently only decorating the top of a bookshelf. When we buy a house (which we are currently in the process of finding one) there will be much more space to decorate!

And here are some cards that I've made recently:

Yes, it's ANOTHER punched flower card. They are so easy and cute to make. They are also a great way to use up scraps of paper.

Anyway, it's time for me to finish cleaning up the after-the-holidays mess. Ben leaves again for the Arctic on Tuesday. I'll try to keep myself busy again while he's gone. Until then!

Last Minute Christmas Gifts

2008-11-21T14:43:00.010-07:00

On December 6th, two other demos and I will be hosting a "Last Minute Christmas Gifts" class. It will be in a Open House/Super Saturday format where you can pick which projects you would like to make and how many you would like to make. Below are the projects which will be available that day and the prices. If you would like to come, please RSVP to me by Monday, December 1st via email to stampinelisabeth at gmail dot com.

All Occasions Plate: $12 without easel; $18 with.
Holidays include Valentine's Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas
Created by Cindy Petersen

Glass Block and card: $12
Created by Elisabeth Bellville

Card Pail (includes rubons): $25
5 cards which are blank, and the rubons allow you to choose the sentiment. All you have to do is rub! Very easy!
Created by Sheila van Uitert

Merry Banner: $8
Created by Sheila van Utiert

2009 Calendar:$10
Created by Cindy Petersen

Candy Tin: $6 without candy $8 with
Created by Elisabeth Bellville

Tea light Centerpiece: $15
Created by Elisabeth Bellville

I can't imagine anyone NOT loving gifts like these! And you can receive the added bragging power of saying you HAND MADE it for them! Who can beat that?

You gotta love the web!

2008-11-11T11:50:00.004-07:00

While taking a break from work I did my usual perusing of the favorite blogs. One blog leads to another and viola! I come across a cooking blog (a beautiful blog at that with pictures that make me want to eat my computer screen) that is created by a girl I went to High School with! I haven't seen or talked to her in over 10 years. It's a wonderful blog and you should check it out. Here's the link.

I love the internet! Even with all it's possibilities to harm, it connects us with people we haven't talked to in years, gives us information to help improve and beautify our lives and is all around awesome.

It looks like Ben will be leaving next Monday, November 17th. We'll see though since they keep pushing it back. Until then, I'm trying to spend as much time with him as possible. When he's gone I'll be filling my time with cooking and creating and reading and will have lots to share! Take care!

Grandpa's Funeral

2008-11-05T15:55:00.027-07:00

My dear Grandfather passed away on Friday, October 24th, after a painful battle with Alzheimer's.

My grandfather was a true family man- always putting the needs of his family first- and it was wonderful to see so many of our family members putting him first and attending his funeral. I was able to see cousins and other relatives that I haven't seen in nearly 10 years.

The funeral services were lovely and my Aunt April, cousin Lisa and I sang a musical medley of "On My Honor" and "I Am a Child of God" (arranged by my lovely cousin, Katie Keil). I lost my composure during the opening hymn and thought I was a goner when singing the musical number. However, we all held together well. Grandpa must have been helping us.

Grandpa Davis served in the Air Force and was a BYU football season ticket holder for over 40 years. At his internment there were military rites and the pall bearers wore BYU baseball caps in honor of "papa." Here are some of the pictures (which I took with my dad's camera since I was a dummy and forgot to bring mine):

The sign on the street let us know where to go

My youngest cousin, Paden, putting on his baseball cap

Taking the coffin out of the hearse

The trumpeteer (?) who played taps.

Laying

boutonnieres on the coffin

My father and his mother

The grandsons (minus Tyler Keil who is serving an LDS mission in Georgia)

Expressing how I feel in writing is somewhat difficult for me. I hope that even though my wording is simple that doesn't take away from how much my grandfather meant to me and how much I will miss him.

Second time is a CHARM!

2008-10-22T09:53:00.003-06:00

If you remember the flower card from this post, you'll also remember that I nearly despised the card. Not because of the flower itself but because I couldn't create a card to beautifully house the flower. Last night was the breakthrough. I had to make a card for a co-workers birthday and I really wanted to use that flower technique.

If you know me well, you know that it is as rare as a blue moon for me to really like one of my own cards. I truly love this card (it was hard to give it away) and that is also a breakthrough. Two breakthroughs in one night!

Here's the card:

Have a great Wednesday!

A post before a break.....

2008-10-20T11:31:00.009-06:00

Ben is going to the Arctic Circle (NOT the restaurant) for up to 6 weeks. He leaves on November 3rd and might come back as late as December 15th. More than likely he'll be home earlier- thank goodness- but it could take the full time.

That doesn't give us much time together before he leaves so I'm going to take advantage of it. While he's gone, however, I'll be busy cooking, reading and crafting.

I think in a previous post I told you that I get together once a month with two of my good friends, Casey and Kym to make crafts. Casey usually lets me know what she wants to make and I put together something for them. This month, Casey wanted to make and explosion box, a sour cream container and a card. Here are some pictures of them:

This is the outside, with the lid on (the lid is the patterned paper):

When you pull the lid off, the box falls open, or "explodes". On the various layers you can put pictures of your family and/or friends or it can be used for journaling.

And, just for fun, here's a picture of the box and lid side-by-side.

The card Casey wanted to make has a paper bow. I originally found the idea on Jenn D.'s blog. I had to go by memory what she did and after looking at her original I'm a bit humbled by my own creation. However, it taught Casey the method to folding the paper bow so that she can create her Christmas cards.

And here's the sour cream container. Simple and cute. Not fancy at all. There are caramel apple hershey's kisses inside though!

Stamp Camp rejects....

2008-10-09T09:57:00.012-06:00

Okay, so they're not really "rejects" but instead are not the best options for the Stamp Camp I will be co-hosting on November 1st (as well as November 8th). There are four of us who will be demonstrating 6 projects so it only makes sense that only 1 or 2 of my projects will be made. NONE of these are the 2 that will be made during stamp camp. You want to be pleasantly surprised, right?

This first one is a box made out of chipboard coasters. It could easily hold treats or be a desk organizer for your pens, pencils, etc.

This next one is made out of half of a file folder. I think it would be a really sweet little present for someone you love. You can write some of your favorite Christmas memories on the little tags, maybe even attach a picture like my friend Casey did, and then send it to that person.

I made a bunch of these, with different decorations, as my 3-d swap for convention. I was playing around with a Christmas version of it and this is the first try. Not my favorite, but it is a start.

Save the worst for last, right? Anyway, this is my least favorite- but only because I rushed the decoration of it. The idea is super cute. It's simply a clear envelope folded in half and then attached to some cardstock. I've filled it with candy and used a velcro dot to keep it closed.

Wait until you see the CHOSEN stamp camp projects! Let me know if you want to come. It will be on November 1st at the SLCC campus.

Flickr Mosiac

2008-10-07T13:01:00.008-06:00

All over the blogsphere people are posting their own flickr mosiac. It's pretty simple to do actually. Wanna play?: Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr's search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the Mosaic Maker (4 columns, 3 rows)... Enjoy!

1. What is your first name? (Elisabeth)

2. What is your favorite food? (Chinese Food)

3. What high school did you attend? (Governor John R. Rogers- Puyallup)

4. What is your favorite color? (red)

5. Who is your celebrity crush? (Robert Downey, Jr.)

6. Favorite drink? (milk)

7. Dream vacation? (London, England)

8. Favorite dessert? (brownies)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (Teacher)

10. What do you love most in life? (family and friends)

11. One word to describe you? (stubborn)

12. Your nickname? (pumpkin)

Pictures used:
1. Queen Elisabeth, 2. Helen's Gourmet Chinese Food, 3. Puyallup Fair Swings, 4. `paint the town red., 5. Robert Downey Jr。, 6. Pouring fresh cold milk, 7. England v. Portugal 7/1/06, 8. Chocolate Brownies 40/365, 9. Still Life For Teacher, 10. FRIENDS HOME FAMILY, 11. Stubborn, 12. the pumpkin patch by pinhole

Sister's Crafts

2008-10-07T09:43:00.010-06:00

For my birthday my step-mother and sister bought me this pan from Williams Sonoma (you can find the link to their website here):
Super cute, huh? And it's supposed to make a cake that looks like this:

Again, super cute. Anyway, during priesthood session my sister and I got together to make this cake and also a craft. Before we started, however, we started to talk about jeans and how Old Navy was having a sale. We decided we would take a "quick" trip to Old Navy and check it out. That "quick" trip turned in to an hour and a half. We had a fun time talking and although neither of us bought jeans, I did find a sweater I really like.

When we got back to my apartment we had to hurry and get the cake in the oven. Luckily, when they gave me the pans they also gave me the ingredients to make a pumpkin chocolate chip cake with cream cheese frosting. All the ingredients were measured out for me. All I had to do was put them in my kitchen aid and pour the batter in the pan.

The recipe asks that you cook the cake for 35-40 minutes. It assumed your using a 9x13 cake pan and not a deep pumpkin shaped pan. My cake needed to cook an hour before it was done. By that time the husbands were hungry and tired. Angie and I let the cake cool for about 10 minutes and then decided to put it together. This was not the best idea. The bottom part of the pumpkin started to give below the weight of the top part. Once we put the frosting on top it looked like a big gooey mess. It tasted delicious though! Here's a picture:

Doesn't really look like a pumpkin, does it? That's okay. I'll be making it again. And maybe next time I'll just bake the cake without the frosting because the cake itself was delicious, moist and rich. The frosting made it a little too rich for my tastes. Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup solid pack canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Garnish:
2 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels
2 tbsp finely chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar and butter; beat until creamy. Beat in eggs and pumpkin. Gradually beat in flour mixture alternately with milk. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 baking pan. Bake ad 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack. :)

While baking, combine cream cheese, b utter and vanilla extract, beating until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar; beat well. Frost cake. Sprinkle with garnish.

Now, while the cake was baking we made some treat jars. The jars were purchased at Target for about $8 and the vinyl was purchased at The Quilted Bear for about $3. Pretty cute, huh? Oh, and we definitely gobbled the cake until we couldn't wobble anymore!

We were going to make another craft too but we ran out of time. All in all it was a very fun time and a great family tradition!

30th Celebration, Part 1.

2008-09-30T11:49:00.023-06:00

Friday, September 26th was my 30th Birthday. I wasn't looking forward to it until a few days before. My husband did a lot to make the day wonderful and he even made the celebration last until Saturday (which will be part 2).

Friday morning I woke up to a path of rose petals from our bedroom down the hall to the kitchen. Our apartment is nice enough but I am looking forward to buying a house when our lease is up. Anyway, here's a picture of the path....

.....to the kitchen where he had left a few of my presents. Last winter my favorite pair of boots were ruined so he bought me some cute new ones as well as some delcious chocolates.

Along with the presents, Ben left this note:

While at work, Ben had my favorite flower - gerbera daisies - sent to me. Aren't they lovely?

I left work a little early and so did Ben. When he walked through the door he was holding these:

More flowers! He thought that I would leave the work flowers at work and wanted me to have some at home as well. However, I couldn't leave my beautiful flowers at work where I wouldn't be enjoying them for two whole days. I brought them home.

We then went out to dinner and then on to my sister Angie's house for cake. It wouldn't be a complete birthday without spending some time with my precious niece, Abby.

Here's Abby grabbing her feet and doing the splits. Isn't she adorable?

The cupcake cake created by Angie.

I was more interested in watching Abby watch the cake than blowing out my candles. Go figure.

I love this picture. It totally looks as though she's holding the camera herself and taking a sassy picture for her facebook profile! I really hope she doesn't grow up that fast though.

Yes, I'm a mean aunt who tempts her infant niece with chocolate and icing.

But she's happy when she eats her healthy cereal!

Still hungry. Stocking feet don't taste that good but it sure is nice to be flexible!

Noses taste better than feet! Especially Mom's nose!

More flowers! These are from my Aunt Cathy.

All the flowers together. Such a happy kitchen table!

All in all it was a very happy birthday. Saturday was also a celebratory day and I'll be posting pictures from that later.

Why I shouldn't make cards when I can't sleep

2008-09-24T12:47:00.006-06:00

I was sick with a terrible cold for nearly two weeks. I'm finally over it, but it seems I have a new surge of energy. And last night was the worst so far. I couldn't fall asleep and after trying for an hour I got out of bed and started to make cards. That was a bad idea. Even though I had the physical energy, the mental capacity to recognize what looks good and what doesn't was obviously sleeping quite deeply.

Anyway, here are the results of my insomnia:

This one actually isn't so bad. I feel like it's missing something. Maybe the chocolate chip mat should have been larger? I don't like the placement of the ribbon either. Oh well. I still think the brayered sky turned out quite nicely and that's why I feel alright with posting it here.

Okay, next is the ugliest of the two....I wanted to try the punched flower technique that was in the Stampin' Success magazine but I just couldn't get the colors and layout right. By 1:45 a.m. I decided just to finish the darn thing and accept that it's ugly but it's a start. I'll be trying this again for sure, and it will look BETTER! That is my challenge.

the card still needs some sort of sentiment but I'm not going to worry about it right now.

My other challenge is to actually make a card without chocolate chip in it! It's a nearly impossible challenge.

Oh, and I finally fell asleep at 2:30 this morning. Surprisingly, I still have a fair amount of energy. I wonder how long it will last?

Weekend Projects

2008-09-23T09:18:00.005-06:00

On Saturday I had my friends Casey and Kym come over to play with stamps and paper. Together we made a quick card- one I had already made for a co-workers birthday. I love the new pocket silhouettes stamp set! I am sad, however, that soft sky has retired. I absolutely love that color. I tried and tried to get the happy birthday to stamp on straight but it just didn't happen and I've lost my stamp-a-ma-jig! Here's the card:

We also made a bag-in-a-box. You can find a wonderful tutorial here. I was all out of my bashful blue ribbon, which I think would look a lot better. Once I get some more I'll replace the chocolate chip ribbon.

Lastly, on my own I attempted this backpack. I feel as though it's missing something...more embellishments, perhaps? Anyway, here it is. You can find the tutorial here.

Anyway, that's it for today. I'll be playing around with some more 3-d projects because I have a demo swap coming up as well as the Holiday Stamp Camp!

A Card for Casey

2008-09-16T11:01:00.002-06:00

Sunday, September 14th was my dear friend Casey's birthday. I was super sick with a cold so I wasn't able to attend the party at her house. However, I sent my husband to drop off her present and this card. I used a technique that I saw at this website. The card is a little more simple than I would want to make, but hey, I was sick. We do the best we can, right?

A deliciously easy dessert

2008-09-16T10:51:00.004-06:00

When my old roommate, Nisha, came to our house for dinner with her boyfriend Tim, she made this delectable dessert. When she told me how she did it and how easy it was, I couldn't wait to try it out on my own in one of the numerous variations. Here's the recipe:

Ice Cream Pie

1qt ice cream, softened (Nisha used chocolate, I used vanilla)
Candy or cookies of choice (Nisha used grasshopper cookies, I used peanut butter cups)
1 graham cracker pie crust

Mix cookies/candy in with the softened ice cream. Save some to garnish the top. Pour into graham cracker crust and freeze for 1-2 hours.

So easy! So delicious! I forgot to take a picture before Ben and I cut into it last night but here are some pictures of the pie!

Not as pretty as it would have looked if it weren't cut into. But Ben and I really enjoyed the pieces we ate together! Yumm!

A slice of the pie! Seriously, this couldn't be easier and the options are ENDLESS!

Good Books

2008-09-16T10:33:00.007-06:00

This is a great book. I was a bit nervous starting it, afraid it would be a sort of fluffy cotton-candy sort of book. I was wrong. Although it does have a bunch of teenage girls fighting to become a princess, it is about much more than that. Miri, the main character, is a strong, smart and has a wonderful sense of humor. She is a wonderful role model for young girls who read this book as she tries to build relationships with her family, her friends and those in her community.

I've really enjoyed Shannon Hale's writing. This is the second book I've read of hers (the first was Austenland which is not nearly as lovely and deep as this book, but still fun) and I can't wait to read more of her books.

Another super cute book is Ida B by Katherine Hannigan. Ida's youthful imagination had me laughing out loud many times. She talks to the nature around her, and they talk back:

Some people might stop me right there and say, "Ida B, you could wait for eternity and a day and you're not going to hear one of those trees talking to you, let alone a brook. Trees don't have mouths and they don't speak, and you might want to take yourself to the doctor's and get a very thorough check-up real soon."

And after I took a minute to give my patience and forbearance a chance to recover my mouth from the rudeness that was itching to jump out of it, I would just say this: "There's more than one way to tell each other things, and there's more than one way to listen, too. And if you've never heard a tree telling you something, then I'd say you don't really know how to listen just yet. But I'd be happy to give you a few pointers sometime" (8-9).

Things aren't all humor and conversations with Ida B. The trees tell her of trouble on the horizon and when it comes and threatens to destroy the life she's grown to love, she strives to save it. Not necessarily in the best way, but she learns and grows from it. I absolutely loved this book and recommend it highly.

What a weekend!

2008-09-09T09:49:00.007-06:00

Things did not go as planned last weekend. I thought my holiday mini preorder would have arrived on Friday or Saturday but it didn't arrive until yesterday (Monday)! I was frantically trying to get my swaps done for a for a demo meeting and didn't have the time I wanted to be creative with it. The result is more plain and simple but as my friend Casey reminded me, that's the point- to Keep It Simple, Silly (aka KISS). And hey, if it's simple it will more easily be demonstrated in classes which is the point in demo swaps. Here's the swap:

It uses the new stamp set Season of Friendship which I fell n love with the first moment I saw it! The set is very versatile because it comes with different stamps for each season. Our swap assignment was to create a card for one of the upcoming holidays- Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. I figured there wouldn't be many Thanksgiving cards and hopefully that will be the case.

Supplies: Season of Friendship stamp set; chocolate chip and more mustard cardstock; chocolate chip, more mustard and really rust ink. All Stampin' Up! products.

A few years ago, while our men went to the Priesthood Session of General Conference, my sister and I got together and made "eyeball cupckaes". She had the idea that we should start a tradition for the women in the family to get together and do some sort of craft/activity while the men are away being edified. We didn't do anything last year but after attending SU!'s convention I knew I wanted to be sure to get together this next conference. There were quite a few awesome holiday ideas but a fair number of them are not cost-appropriate. There is one project, by Carrie Cudney, that might work. She purchased a glass plate at walmart and created paper "discs" for each holiday. You change these discs when the new holiday is coming up. The plate at walmart was on sale for $1 (regularly $1.50) so I'm thinking each of my sisters can create a simple yet darling project that is good for every holiday for under $5 (my best guess). How awesome is that? This is what I created late Friday night. It's not my favorite and it may not be what we actually do, but it has potential nonetheless.

Here's another picture, close up of the skyline:

This used a few retired things: the pumpkin patch spectrum ink pad and the spooky skyline wheel. There is a new wheel in the holiday mini which could work really well (makes me wish I had ordered it and I still might!) and you can create a similar sky effect with ink pads, a brayer and some sponges.

My goal was to also create a disc for Thanksgiving and Christmas for my sisters to see and decide if it's something they would like to make. Hopefully I can find time to create some more Wednesday night.

One of the highlights of the weekend was having my old roommate, Nisha and her boyfriend, Tim over for dinner. I made Thai Peanut Chicken, a recipe I received from my sister. When my sister, Angie, made it for Ben and I it was absolutely delicious and I craved it for weeks afterward. I still haven't mastered it (which is silly because it really isn't that difficult of a recipe) but even still it is amazing. Here's the recipe:

Thai Peanut Chicken

Dressing
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup oil (I use olive, but any will do)
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/8 cup soy sauce

Chicken
1 lb chicken, cubed
3/4 cup carrots
3/4 cup onion, diced
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp peanut butter
8 oz angel hair pasta
crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Garnishments- optional
Peanuts
Lime
Cilantro

Directions:
Mix ingredients for dressing. Use 1/4 cup to marinate the chicken and marinate 3 hours.

Cook chicken. Drain of excess liquid and brown the meat. Cook vegetables until tender. Add to chicken. Add honey, peanut butter and red pepper flakes to remaining dressing. Cook Pasta. Mix everything together. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts as well as squeeze lime juice over the dish, if desired.

Yummy! The peanut sauce is to die for!

Thats all for now! Take Care!

It was a success!

2008-09-05T09:58:00.006-06:00

Ben and I really liked the recipe we made last night. Next time, however, we are going to make our own pizza dough and pizza sauce. Last night I used store bought simply to save time. The next time we make it we will use the dough to make calzones instead of the ring. The ring could be pretty (even though mine wasn't) but calzones are just as fun and pretty. Now I'm going to try to insert a picture of the finished product. Well, just a slice of it anyway.....

Yay! It worked. Anyway, I know it looks somewhat like a slug but it tastes really good. And all that spinach is good for you! "I'm strong to the fin-ich cause I eats me spinach!"

If you're looking for the recipe, it's on the pampered chef website.

Be prepared for another post this weekend in which I will share the books I've read recently and LOVED as well as some crafts. Currently I'm creating something for a sisters night next month during the priesthood session of general conference as well as some holiday projects for our Holiday Stamp Camp on Saturday Nov 1st. Pictures of those should be posted soon. Hooray!

I'm a reader, a baker and a paper craft maker!

2008-09-04T15:09:00.002-06:00

Well, I've jumped on the blogging bandwagon. I've absolutely loved reading the blogs of my friends and have hated saying "no" when asked if I have a blog. Now I can say "YES" (which is much more fun to say)!

As of right now this blog will be my way to share my three passions: books, food and crafts. The latter made almost exclusively with Stampin' Up! products. I'm a demonstrator and you can check out that business webpage here.

In the meantime, keep a lookout for book suggestions, delectable recipes and fun creative projects! Tonight I will be making a Pampered Chef recipe - stuffed spinach and sausage roll - and reading Pulitzer Prize winning 1776. Have a great night!