Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! Here's a great photo of my dad who was a gunner in the Navy. Isn't he the most handsome man you have ever seen? I just LOVE all the old time photos of my family from way back then. I am so blessed to still have my dad with me as he is now 85 and he has this same great smile. My dad served in WWII but was lucky enough not to be in the middle of all the fighting. He was a gunner on a ship that brought food and supplies to where ever it was needed. Even though he didn't see any fighting he did get to see the world so when they say "Join the Navy see the world" they really meant it for my dad!



To day Dave and I are going to spend some time with my dad at St. Gert's and then we are off to have a picnic cookout at a park. I will post pictures and a great recipe later!



Enjoy your day and don't forget all the men and women who are and have fought for our freedom!



Lynn

My Nephew's Graduation

I am sorry that I have been missing for some time but life has been going in the fast lane for me lately!

My Nephew graduated from college with honors and an ITT degree! We are all so very proud of him! Here he is looking all handsome in his cap and gown proudly displaying his honors!Here he is with his girlfriend Tara, don't they just make the cutest couple? I sure do think so and Erick, she's a keeper!!! :-)

Here's Erick with his proud parents, Wendy and my brother Terry.


Now that Erick has his degree we all wish him the best in finding his dream job! Good Luck Erick!

Zuppa Toscana

Well it's been too long between updates so I thought that I had better get on the ball and post something fun.


I recently went to a Pampered Chef party at Anita's, one of the girls that I work with, and she served a salad, soup and homemade bread.

The salad was very good and it was a Pampered Chef recipe that had lettuce, red onions, cucumbers, carrots, strawberries and blueberries and the dressing was a mixture of orange zest, orange juice, honey, rice wine vinegar and olive oil. This is what the PC lady demonstrated.


Anita also made homemade bread served with REAL butter! Now we could just stop right there as I am a butter fiend but haven't had it for quite a while since I found out my cholesterol is a little on the high side but that's another story. She made a rosemary flax bread and fresh baked white dinner rolls. Both were equally great!


The soup was really the star of the party though! This soup is called Zuppa Toscana and my friend said she found it on the Internet. I liked it so much that I asked if she would share the recipe with me and she said yes, so of course I had to run out and buy everything for it and make it. My man absolutely LOVED it as it is a tad bit on the spicy side and he is all about spicy! Don't get scared by me saying it's spicy, if you know me you know I can not handle any real spice but this soup is has just the right amount of spice for me. I thought I'd share the recipe with you!


Zuppa Toscana


1 lb ground Italian Sausage
1 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers
1 large white onion, diced
3 slices bacon, cut small
2 tsp Garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes Chicken Bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb russet potatoes sliced
bunch of Kale, chopped and discard the stem

1. Saute sausage and red peppers in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while preparing other ingredients.
2. In the same pan, saute the bacon, onions and garlic over low-med heat. (about 15 mins or until soft)
3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the post and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add sliced potatoes and cook just until soft, about 20 minutes.
5. Add heavy cream, cook until thoroughly blended. Stir in sausage and Kale, heat through.
Note: I used mild Italian Sausage and only used 1 tsp of the red pepper but if you like it more spicy use the hot sausage and all the red peppers.

Here's what it looks like:

I hope you try this and like it as much as we do!

S'More Cupcakes

What would you give to take a big bite out of one of these? My man works at an exclusive country club and they have the most amazing baker/candy maker. Harrison is truly the most creative Pastry Chef I have ever seen. Not only does he come up with amazing desserts like this he also does all of the ice carvings for the buffets and weddings that they do for their members.

Dave brought these home from work and they are truly too beautiful to eat! Believe it or not I just want to sit and look at these rather than eat them!


Now that you are all dying get your little hands on one of these I will have to see if I can get my man to get us the recipe for these. Keep checking in I just might be lucky enough to get it but until then, enjoy the daydream!!!

Technique Tuesday

I was surfing the web and came across this paper flower tutorial and I just had to try it. You can click here and you too can learn how to make this great flower. It was very easy to do and the photo just doesn't do it justice. It is gorgeous in person. If you try this technique send me a picture of it and I'll post it for everyone to see!

I used Tulip ink and B&T from That's Amore paper packet to make this card. I can't wait to give it to someone very special!

Cherish the Moment is the May Stamp Of The Month and it's really a versatile stamp set. You can use this for any holiday or occasion or that may come up. I made a few cards using this great stamp set and here they are. If you are a member of my stamp club this is what we will be making. The first card here is a gift enclosure card. You can add a gift card or put cash in this for a gift and card all in one!

This card I used to make an Anniversary card. I didn't take a picture of the inside but it says "Happy Anniversary". I used the new paper pack called Passages for this card, which would be great for a guy's birthday card too.

This last card is a graduation card for my nephew, who is graduating from college this month. I sure hope he will like it!

This great stamp set can only be purchased this month and you can either buy it out right or get it at a discount or get it free with a qualifying order. For more information you can see the stamp set and the purchasing options on the last page of the new idea book or you can call or e-mail me for that information too.

Have a great day!

Last Two Techniques From Art Day

These are the last two techniques from our fun Art Day!

This is Heather and her technique was a product technique. She used the brand new Splendor Designer Brads as the middle in the flowers. These brads are really cute and come in green and blue colors and in several different sizes. These will bring a touch of whimsy to any project you are working on.






























This is Ann and she showed us how to do Faux Stitching! This was really cool and I for sure will be doing more of this on my cards and projects. I had seen this technique many times before but never knew how they got their "stitching" to look so straight, well Ann showed us how to do that using our CTMH desk pad as a guide! Very easy and very cool, thanks Ann!

Thanks to all my CTMH sista's for making this art day so much fun! I just love going home from that and looking at all the things that I have learned.

I can't wait to show you and your friends how to do all of these techniques so remember if you want to learn about any of these, give me a call or drop me an e-mail, let's set something up!

More Techniques and Cards!

This is Jen and her card. Her technique was The Jumbo Scallop Technique. She took CTMH's new circle punch and showed us a great way to use the circles as a scallop! Her card uses the new paper pack called Cherry O and it is the cutest paper ever, it actually makes you smile when you work with it because it is so very cheerful!

This is Lynn and her technique is called Paper Ruffle. She showed us the tricks to making paper look just like ribbon! This technique is going to take some practice for me to get it perfect. Check out her card, doesn't that paper look just like ribbon? I think so and I just LOVE the card that she came up with!

Happy Birthday Sheri and David!

This is my friend Sheri and today she celebrates a milestone birthday! I won't tell you which one but it's a pretty significant one. Happy Birthday Sheri, may all your birthday wishes come true today!! Check out this beautiful cake we got for her, the butter cream frosting was to die for!!




















She was also at our art day and she did the technique called Cross Hatching, and let me tell you she is the Master at doing this! You can see on her card how great she is at this technique. For this technique all you need is a ink pad and your cardstock, then holding your ink at a 45 degree angle you swipe it against your cardstock in one direction and then go back the other direction. That gives you the cross hatch look! It isn't as easy as it sounds and it takes a lot of practice to be as good as her, so get out your ink pad and card stock and give it a try!

Sheri shares her birthday with my man Dave! He is also having a milestone birthday he turns 45 today! Wow where has the time gone? I feel like it was just yesterday when we first met and became fast friends. Who new that we would be together for 10 years! Wow I guess time does fly when you are having fun! Happy Birthday Dave Baby!!!

This isn't the best picture of him but it is my most favorite one! He always wears his sunglasses but never really "wears" them! Ha ha ha We took a walk at the nature center right by our house and I snapped this little photo when he really wasn't ready. Sometimes those kinds of photos are the best!

More Techniques and Cards

This is Liz and her technique is Paper Flowers. Isn't this a cute idea? You could use these flowers to decorate a variety of things such as bags to match your cards, photo frames and scrapbook pages to hang on your wall! They are very easy to do and fun to make!

Next up is Rachel. I didn't get a photo of her holding her card but I did mange to snap one of her making one of her cards!

Her technique was Glitter Dots! Glitter Dots are made with glue dots and glitter. Don't they look great on her horse card? By the way, she used the new stamp set Howdy and paper from the paper pack Zippidee.

Keep checking in for more techniques!

More Techniques and Cards

Here is Kate and her technique is the Baby Wipe Technique! Wow what people won't come up with huh? Who would have ever thought about using a baby wipe and reinkers to make a great color pad? I sure am glad someone came up with this idea because it was very fun and easy to do!

Here is Nicole and she taught us how to use Shrinky Dinks! D0 you remember them as a kid? I never got to do those since they came after my time, but it sure made me feel like a kid making this button. It is amazing watching it shrink right before your eyes and if you haven't tried this you have too! All you need is Shrinky Dinks and a heat tool! Just be careful that you don't burn yourself!

Art Day Techniques and Cards!

We had our annual Summer Art Day on Sunday and boy did we have fun! For those of you who don't know what art day is, let me explain. At the release of each new catalog our group, The Super Sassy Swappers, get together and do an art day. Each of us find a technique, make a technique card and prep a card using that technique for everyone to make. We go around to stations and learn about how to do the technique and then we get to make a card learning how to do it and get to take a technique card home with us so that we can show our customers how to do these great techniques!

So keep checking in on my blog and you will see all the great cards and the people that made them!

First up is Tammy and her card, her technique was Faux Alligator

She used the new stamp set You're Great. The technique is on the green paper behind the stamped image and let me tell you the photo does not do it justice, you need to see this one in person, it really looks like Alligator!!

Here's me and my card! My technique was Handmade Dew Drops

The Dew drops are in the upper left hand corner of my card and they are really fun, inexpensive and easy to make. For my card I used the new papers from the paper pack Passages and the July Stamp Of The Month! Both of these are a must have item and I am sure will be on your wish list too! Passages can be used for a variety of scrapbook pages and cards and are great not only for travel but will make some fantastic guy cards.

I will be showing both of these techniques to my current stamp club and if you would like to learn how to do them, why not have a party? I would love to come and show you and your friends how to do them and you will go away with some really cute cards to send to someone! Call or e-mail if you are interested in doing that.

Supersassy Swappers Art Day is coming!

Well once again the Supersassy Swappers art day is fast approaching and boy do we have fun at these get togethers! Not only do we have a great time but I ALWAYS come away with a TON of great techniques and ideas that I can use and teach you how they are done.

Art day is on Sunday and my technique is called Handmade Dew Drops. I know you are thinking "Handmade Dew Drops? What the heck are those?" Well you will just have to wait just like everyone else! I will be posting my technique along with some of the others that I learn so stay tuned!