Mailboxes, Marks and Meals

I just realized that I promised my Eggplant Parmesan recipe last week and never gave it! I'll post it right now. This is my most favorite meal EVER! My 6 yo loves it - has since he could eat food. The other two....well, they won't try it, but they don't really like stuff using pasta sauce so maybe when they are older.



Eggplant Parmesan

1 eggplant
Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Spaghetti sauce

Breading:
2 eggs
2 T water
Salt
Oregano
Pepper
¼ c flour
1/3 c parmesan cheese

Wash and peel eggplant. Cut into ½ inch slices. Mix middle ingredients together to form a runny pancake batter. Dip eggplant into batter, then cook in hot oil. (4 to 6 minutes)
In large baking dish, pour thin layer of sauce. Place eggplant on sauce, sprinkle with sauce, parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until all eggplant is used.
Bake in oven at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes. (I usually double or triple the recipe - and it is just as good warmed up for leftovers, and I hate leftovers!)


So I know I have talked about how much I hate to have blood drawn. Well, I finally went last Wednesday for my follow-up bloodwork that the rhuematologist wanted. It was awful. I went to a cruddy lab - only to find out there was a nicer one closer to my house. I had to wait an hour. Then they tried to tell me they needed spinal fluid - um no, I've already had this test once and it NOT spinal! I think I'd remember that! Finally get it done and it HURT! I mean really hurt! This is a picture of the nasty bruise I got. Kinda hard to take a picture of your own arm, but I tried. I took this pic today and the bruise is 5 days old. I am such a baby.



And last but not least, another mailbox! I did this one with more basic grey blush papers, but I used those Li'l Davis chipboard letters to monogram it for one of the teachers. Alex and Andy wanted thiers done this way. Okie Dokie, that's fine with me! I think it turned out cute! Now I just need to finish the rest of them!










Don't forget, the 100th Color Challenge for Splitcoast is TOMORROW!!!

What did you do during the Super Bowl??

Actually, I watched it. WOOHOO COLTS! But before it started, I managed to squeeze this in. I have had these Target $1 spot mailboxes for a few weeks now, but I have not made the time to do them. I even had paper all ready to go too. Anyway, I got these two little stamps at Recollections that had a heart stamp (postage stamp) and these little postmarked looking squiggles with hearts in them. I thought they would be perfect for making a little accent for the flag. I put this together for one of the boys' teachers for Valentine's day. I am making them for the boys' teachers and for my nieces. This one used Basic Grey's Blush papers, Joann's stamp, grosgrain ribbon, and O'So sticky tape. I think I will mod podge (under and over the papers) on the ones for my nieces - so they will be a little bit more durable. I have not decided what I will put in them, for the teachers, but I'll let you know!
I cut the blush paper 4 x 12. I put the seam under the mailbox and used the o'so sticky tape on the edges. I held the paper against the mailbox where I wanted it and kinda smooshed it against the screw on the handle. Then I used my 1/2 inch circle punch and punched where it had left a mark on the paper. I then cut a slit from the edge to the hole so I could put the paper on and slide it over the handle. You can't really even see it once it is all put together. I think this worked well. I used glue dots to put the ribbon around the front and back - and started on the underside so the seam would be underneath it. I'll show some more hopefully tomorrow!

Beaded Pen Tutorial

Okay, here it is! These are so easy to make, and they are a great gift! I will let you in on where I get most of my supplies for this before I start the tutorial. The pens you can get a lot of places. Easiest is Walmart - a 2 pack is $1.06. You can get them at office supply stores in larger quantities and they are most likely cheaper that way.

The microbeads themselves you can also get a lot of places. I prefer one place for both my beads and my O'So sticky tape/sheets. I go to PennyWiseArts for all these items. Not only are they a great price there, but they are super nice and helpful too! I have been extremely please with the items I have gotten from them. For the pens I used 1/8 inch O'So sticky tape, 6 x 8 O'So Sticky Paper Backed Sheets, and Mini Micro Beads Clear - CB-1000. I could not recommend this store more, their products are the best, and they have the best prices too!



Beaded Pen Tutorial

Supplies:
Pentel R.S.V.P. ball point pen
O’so Sticky Sheets – piece cut to 2 ½ in x 3 ¼ inch
O’so Sticky Tape (or red liner tape)
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Bowl or Container long enough for a pen
Patterned paper (or Stamped paper) cut to 1 3/8 x 3 1/8 inches
Microbeads


Step 1:
Put red liner tape along both edges (lengthwise) of your patterned paper. The side you want to see on the pen should be facing down.









Step 2:
Removed one of the red strips and stick that part onto the barrel of the pen. Then wrap the paper around the pen very tightly. Remove the second red strip and adhere the end of the paper to the pen. Your paper should overlap slightly.















Step 3:
Remove one side of backing from your o’so sticky sheet. Very carefully (when it is stuck down, it is hard to move!) stick this onto your pen. I try to line it up on the opposite side of the patterned paper seam.






Step 4:
Very carefully, adhere the sticky sheet to the pen. When you reach the first edge of sticky paper, start there and remove the other side of backing. The end of you sticky paper should overlap your beginning seam. If they do not over lap, or there is a gap – this is easily fixable. Just cut another strip 3 ¼ inches long and just wide enough to cover your gap. Then stick it on the pen over the gap. This won’t be noticeable when the pen is finished, but a gap would be!


Step 5:
Pour microbeads into container. Drop sticky pen into beads and roll around to completely cover sticky paper.



















Step 6:
Hold bead covered pen over container and roll between your fingers. This helps to get any loose beads off the pen and also kind of “set” the beads into the tape a bit more.








Step 7: (optional)
Hold beaded pen over container of glitter. Sprinkle glitter all over pen as you roll it around in your fingers. You want to really coat the pen with the glitter. Then tap it off several times (or thump one end with your other hand) to shake off excess glitter. I like the glitter because it fills any tiny gaps left from beads. Plus it just makes it sparklier!





That’s it! You’ve got a gorgeous, sparkly, beaded pen!

I made a few more just to show off different papers. In my experience, the darker designs or inks will look better with the beads on top. Lighter ones tends to get a little washed out by the beads. Have fun with it!

**ETA** I was asked how many pens you can get from one container of beads. I purchased a 5 oz bag at least a year ago. I still have over half of it left. I have made at least 30 pens so far as well as a few other projects. A little goes a long way with microbeads. And no, the beads do not fall off when the pen is used. I have some that are two years old and the beads are still on there!

Monogram Post-It Holders

I love post-it holders. My dad gave me a huge stack of post-it note pads when he was packing up to move, so I have lots to make them with! Well, I had several things I was mailing today and I just love to tuck one of these in a package. I mean, you can't be a paper crafter and NOT send a little something, right?!?!

I decided to make these monogram post-it holders. I love chipboard letters for this. But I am cheap and lazy. I didn't want to buy several packages of chipboard letters and then re-cover the letters to match the holders. So I found these chipboard letters by Li'l Davis Designs. They measure about 2 inches in height per letter. But since I am cheap, I didn't want to actually use my letters on this project quite yet. So I laid the letter I wanted to use (in this case, J) chipboard (or undecorated) side up on a piece of chocolate chip cardstock. I traced the letter with a pencil and then cut it out with my paper snips. This way I had a lovely chocolate chip "J" to use and I still had my chipboard too. Which was good because I had 4 "J" note pads to make!

The rest was pretty simple. I used cool caribbean cardstock for the base of the holder and for the scalloped circle. I stamped paisley in versamark for the scalloped circle and then put the "J" on with dimensionals. I tied a little piece of ribbon around the "J" and then also ran some under the scalloped circle. I think they turned out pretty cute! Here is a link to the tutorial on how to make the post-it holders.

That's it for this morning! Off to workout and get some other stuff done. Wonderful stuff coming later. A recipe: Eggplant Parmesan for dinner tonight! (This is probably my favoritest food EVER!). A card: I will try to get the sketch challenge done later today as well! Have a great day!

Coaster Gift Boxes and CC98...

Okay, the newest tutorial on Splitcoast is a good one! Another use for all those restaurant coasters that I got a few hundred of. Here is the link for it, please check it out! Taylor VanBruggen wrote this one, and these little boxes are too cute! I'll probably do them as teacher gifts for Valentine's Day.

I tried two today. The first one I did using Basic Grey Urban Couture. I used mod podge to adhere the paper to the coaster (I did find that painting the paper with mod podge and then laying that down on the coaster worked better - the coasters sucked the mod podge up so fast it dried too quickly!). Then I used the crop-a-dial to punch the holes. On this box, I mod podged over the paper as well. I like to do this because I feel it makes it a bit sturdier....then the paper isn't going to peel up - ever! And it won't get snagged on anything either. I used several different ribbons to tie up the sides. Then came the hard part. For me, sticking the bottom on was hard. For the mod podged one, I used the E6000 glue Taylor mentioned. This stuff smells awful. And my stamp room doesn't have the best ventilation and it is small. Stank up the room for hours. And it was kinda messy. I tried something different on the second box. But it did stick.

For the second box, I used the rest of the Basic Grey Urban Couture sheet I had out. (I love that you can get two boxes out of one sheet! - I used a different coordinating solid piece for the bottom square.) The only difference with this box is that I did not mod podge OVER the paper this time. I took them outside and sprayed them with Clear Acrylic Sealant by Plaid. I wanted to seal them a bit, so I tried this. I have to say, looks wise, it is really hard to even tell them apart. We'll see how they hold up. I used Crystal Effects (SU - it's clear strong glue, not sure what other companies call it) to adhere the bottom coaster. It stank a little less and seems to hold just as well. So I say you can use either. I know some people used glue guns for theirs....personally, I hate glue guns and I think stuff falls apart when I use them. But that's just me.

Anyway, thanks Taylor for the fantastic idea. Great present boxes. I love the idea and I think I'll be teaching a class on it in a few weeks.

CC98 was today. I used a color challenge by MyPrecious. Night of Navy, Brocade Blue and Bravo Burgundy. I made a card really quickly last night and it's not so good! It was very late by the time I got done cutting out my new rubbah though. Anyway, I did get to use some new stamps and that was fun! Here's what I made. I'd tell you what I used on it, but I am too tired. If you wanna know, just ask me!

Two More Samples

I made these for some of my blog readers. The Basic Grey Blush holders were made for the two ladies who participated in my diamond fold book contest. The Skate Shoppe holder was made for the SWEETEST woman who mailed me Target $1 mailboxes. Thank you for being so supportive! I cannot express how much it means to me to hear that people like my work (and my cooking!). Thank you!

Post-It Note Holder Tutorial

So here it is! This is my tutorial on post-it note holders. I learned how from this thread on Splitcoaststampers.com. Please let me know if there is anything that doesn't make sense!

Supplies:
Cardstock
Paper trimmer with scoring blade
Post-it note pad
Embellishments (optional)

Step 1: Cut cardstock to 7 ½ inches long.

Step 2:
Cut cardstock to 3 ½ inches wide.

Step 3:
Score cardstock at 3 ½ inches and again at 4 inches.

Step 4:

Fold cardstock on score line. Then flip it over and fold the other side, both sides should be folded in towards each other.

Step 5:
Put adhesive all around the back of the post-it note pad.

Step 6:
Place post-it pad on cardstock with even border of cardstock all the way around. It should fold together like this once it is in there.

Step 7:
Embellish as you like! I used narrow organdy ribbon, my mega scalloped circle punch, dimensionals, Happy Harmony from SU, and a sentiment from Wordsworth.

And here is the final product! These are really simple, make great gifts, and can be dressed up many ways!

I will be giving this one away to one lucky blog reader. All you have to do is post a comment on this tutorial and tell me what you would like to see me do a tutorial on! Please, let me know what I do (or may what I can learn to do) that you would like to see a step by step tutorial on. I will choose a winner Wednesday, January 17th at 10pm. Your suggestion must be posted before 9pm CST.

Enjoy!

Blush Journal

Most of you have probably heard of Mamakimberly. She is my sister, Kimberly, and that is her SCS name. She is my blogmaster/photographer/computer techie guru/etc. She is also probably my best friend. And she's leaving me!

She is actually moving overseas. Instead of living 5 minutes away, she will be oceans away. I know it is for good reasons and I know it is what she has always wanted. But I don't want her to go! I am living in a complete state of denial. We don't discuss the move at all, lol! Good way to deal with it, huh?



Anyway, she told me she wanted a journal for her purse. We had gone shopping together after Christmas and she had purchased one at Barnes and Noble. She tried altering it and it didn't take. (Wrong kind of surface for mod podge, I guess!) Anyway, I decided to make one for her using the Blush Basic Grey to match her little notebook. Well, apparently there was a run on the Blush paper at Recollections...they only had a few designs left. And of course, not the one I wanted!


So I went with another sheet I had and made this for her. I used Basic Grey Wholy Cow and Making Memories rub-ons as well. I try to mod podge over the rub ons, just to make sure they won't peel off later. I ran some black grosgrain ribbon along the seam to make it pretty and that's it! Oh yeah, I got the journal at Target - I wanna say it was about $3.99 or something. It has pocketed dividers inside as well.

It's UP! It's UP!

I am so excited! I've been working on this for awhile and now it's up! I did a tutorial on how to make altered picture frames. I used frames that I purchased at Michael's for $2.99. They are fairly easy, wonderful to personalize, and usable! Fits all my qualifications for a great handmade gift! Anyway, I will put the tutorial on my blog as well, but not til later this week. Here is the link for the one posted on Splitcoaststampers.com.

Jackie G inspired me with these frames. She brought one as a door prize to a stamping event here in the DFW area. I fell in love with it and decided to try my hand at it. I have made several myself and I taught a class here at my house on them.




I also wanted to share two more that I did for Christmas gifts. I made these for my little brother and sister. Since my brother is in college, I wasn't sure if he would really use anything I could make for him. I figured that if I made it kind of "manly", and put a picture of my boys in it, he might put it out in his dorm room or something. He seemed to like it, not that he would tell me if he didn't, but at least he acted like he did! I think the paper I used on his was Arctic Frog - although I have had it for a long time and I am not entirely sure.



I also made this one for my little sister. I absolutely LOVE how this turned out, if I do say so myself! You can't really see it, but it has so much sparkle! I found a use for stickles that nothing else beats....I outlined the flowers on this Basic Grey Lilykate paper with Stardust Stickles! I did it AFTER I modpodged the paper. I tried using Dazzling Diamonds glitter from SU, but it just kinda flaked off.....the stickles stuck on there much better. I am happy to say I found a good use for the stickles - Thank you again, Jackie G! Beth seemed to like her frame as well. She loves lime green and I figure what 17 year old girl doesn't like a little sparkle?!?! Since her frame was kinda girly, I didn't put a picture of the boys in it. I left it open so she could put a picture of her and her friends or something in it.


Anyway, I am so excited to have my tutorial on SCS. This is the second tutorial I have done for them. I always feel like I have learned so much from that website....it's weird to teach something there. In honor of this event.....I have a FREEBIE! I am going to send one of the frames that I made to a lucky blog reader! Here are the details:


Respond to this post by 10pm (CST) Friday, January 5th.

Tell a friend about this giveaway!

My husband will pick a number from the replies and that will be the winner!

This is the frame you will win!

Another Letter

I made this for my sister-in-law.......actually, she's my ex-step-sister-in-law.....so I'll just say I made this for my friend. Cause that's what we really are now. Anyway, she is moving into her new house this month. She'll have her very own stamp/crap room! Of course she is doing a pink motif.....so I made her first little decoration for her new room! I am finally seeing her today so I can finally post this. It was her Christmas present, but we haven't been able to get together until today. I hope she likes it!

I got this T at Recollections. I mod podged it and adhered the polka dotted paper. I did the paper so the lines would be diagonal - this way there would be more room for error when lining it up. I then painted the sides and back gray (and the edges) using Making Memories scrapbooking acrylic paints. (I cannot love these more!) Then I mod podged the whole thing and added some embellishments. I made sure I got a nice large jewel in the center of the flower layers, Tiff loves her bling. I used different sizes of primas to layer for the flowers and then some ribbons. I stuck them down with a combo of crystal effects and Pop Up glue dots, I didn't want those suckers coming off! And that's it!

Hope y'all have a great day!

Now that Christmas is over....I can share this! I made it for my Mom and Stepdad. I wrote a lot about the year+ that we lived with them while my husband was deployed to Iraq. I wish that we still lived close to them instead of several states away. We really enjoyed their visit this week, but it is never long enough.

I used Basic Grey fruitcake papers on this. Along with primas, mini brads and Basic Grey Wholy Cow rub ons. I think they really liked it.

Hope you are all enjoying the last of the holiday break. I am still sick......I think it might be time for the doctor. After 9 days on mucinex and sudafed every 4 hours, shouldn't I be better? I don't think I should still feel like my face/head might explode from all the pressure. Of course, the doctor isn't open until Tuesday. So I'll have to wait until then. Or pay a $50 copay to go to an urgent care place...I think I can wait it out!

So are ya shopping today??

I am a true glutton for punishment....I took the 3 boys out shopping bright and early this morning. We got all the sale Christmas goodies. Lights for the house, wrapping paper, ornaments, etc. The boys each got something with a bit of their Christmas money. They were really really good too. And poor Adam was even a good sport about it. He tripped and fell into a dining room chair last night and bit almost through his cheek. He's ok, just a little puffy today. Really freaky though, you know how mouth wounds bleed so much.

Anyway, I had another Christmas gift to share with you all. I made these for my stepmom. I had intended the C to be for her office/stamp space at home and the H to be for her classroom at school. I made them with paper from the same line in case she wanted to display them together (which she said she does, so I am glad I did it that way!)

They were plain white wooden letters I bought at Michaels. I traced the letters onto the back of the patterned paper. Cut them out and modpodged them on to the letters. I sanded the edges and then sponged classic ink on to them. (I used vintage violet for these.) Then I sprayed them with sealant. (I use Plaid clear acrylic sealer - matte.) After that I just decorated with ribbons and flowers.

Please remember the diamond fold book contest ends tonight at 10pm CST. So far there is only 1 entry!

Okay, I am off to take my cold remedy cocktail again....I am really tired of being sick!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We have been up since 6:30am....the kids were a bit excited! We've had coffee cake, opened presents and now we are watching the burning log channel (the boys find this very boring - they do not get why we like it, lol!)





I thought I would share another Christmas gift today. My Dad asked for something to keep his cards in (I am always giving him extras from stamp camp, etc for him to use). Of course I had to make him a tin! Now, I've never made a Man tin before....I really didn't know where to start! I picked some "manly" basic grey papers and painted the top navy blue. I put ribbon around the tin, but use a bit of hemp as well. I also knotted hemp on the handle instead of lots of ribbons.






I've never done dividers for inside a tin, but I whipped these up late the other night. Very, very simple. I cut cardstock to 4 1/2 x 6 1/2. Then I used SU's large oval punch. I wrote the category on the oval and glued it one the cardstock. Quick, easy, and serviceable.



I am going to take my cold cocktail (mucinex, sudafed and tylenol - yes, I am still sick) and then start on some of the cooking. I promise to wash my hands lots and lots. I'll make Matthew make the stuff I actually have to touch.

SORRY!

I am having issues with the way the tutorial posted...I am working on it though!



Ok, fixed now! I hope it is viewable now! Here's another one I made for my husband for Father's Day last year.

Diamond Fold Book Open

Okay, for some reason when I had this picture in the other post, you couldn't click on it to enlarge it. So I gave it it's own post. Now you can make it bigger! Tutorial coming SOON!

Diamond Fold Book Teaser

This is what I made at the Diamond Fold Book class I taught last month. I have been promising a tutorial on these and it will be here today or tomorrow! Here's a sneak peek at the finished product. This one was made for the boys' great grandmother.

Happy Shopping Days!

Teacher Gifts

I got teacher gifts ready for Alex and Adam's preschool teachers today. I am giving them decorated lunch tins with 10 cards and envelopes inside. The cards are various ones from stamp camps, swaps I made extras from, and other random cards I had. This is the tin Adam chose for his teacher. Since he loves red, he decided that his teacher does too. And this was the only tin I had with red on it. I won't get into how I made the tin, because I already wrote a tutorial on it. You can find it here.






Alex chose this tin for two reasons. He said it had to have green on it (his favorite color) and he liked that it looked like a rainbow. Ok, whatever works! He chose not to have prima flowers on top though.


I hope that they like these, I am always nervous about giving gifts that I made. I mean, I like these, but who knows if other people do! I have sold them in the past ($35 with 10 cards and $20 without) so I guess that means some people like them, right?