Pumpkin Treats

So I got this recipe from the Thinking Inking blog of DebbieDesigns.

She made these cute Pumpkin shaped Rice Krispie Treats, so I thought I'd try them.

They probably don't look as cute as the ones she made since I'm not as crafty in the kitchen. Anyways, making them from friends at work, since I thought I'd bring something in for the NewsRoom table for once.

I'll decorate the bags maybe if I get a change. If not, they still are cute.

Anyways, this is how they turned out.

1) Basically start with 10 oz bag of marshmallow and mix 4 tablespoons of margarine with it in a glass bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray.

2) Microwave the mixture on high for about 1 1/2 minutes

3) The stir/add about 15 drops of yellow food coloring and 8 drops of red food coloring.

4) Microwave for another minute.

5) stir in 6 cups of Rice Krispies.

6) once you can pick up the mixture shape into 2" balls, indenting the top for the stem hole.

7) for the stems and leaves/curls use green fruit roll-ups. Roll about 1/4 portion of the roll tightly to make the stems. Then take a thin slice and make the curly leaves just curling around your finger to make it curly. Add the stems and leaves where the indent on the pumpkin balls are.

8) Since I hated waiting and wasn't sure exactly when to make the pumpkin balls they started out a little blah looking, but after I was all done with the stems and leaves they firmed up a bit more, so I re-shaped them a bit, which in turn helped the stems stay inside the indent better.

Basically I had to re-shape them more than I wanted, but that is because I hate waiting for things to "dry" or "firm", so I re-shaped them after already "making" them.

It was fun, a little messy, but fun. I hope the crew likes them tomorrow at work. :)

Night.

-M

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Cardmaking in the Dark

So after about 5 minutes into my Halloween card making, our power went out. Luckily it was around 3pm, so there still was some daylight out, however it was stormy and rainy, so it wasn't a lot of light. After about an hour of the power being out and having to open the window because it was so damn hot in our apartment (we are on the 8th floor) the complex's fire alarm started to go off. So I end up gathering my purse and heading down the 8 flights of stairs to outside since you never know if something really is wrong and I would rather be safe than sorry. 

Well supposably one of the people in the apartment thought that if they pulled the fire alarm it would get the power on faster. haha. Anyways, the fire department turned off the alarm and checked everything, though the power was still off. Pouring down rain outside, I decided that now that the fire alarm was off, I might as well head back up to my apartment and get back to card making by window light and use a flashlight in the bathroom. Halfways upstairs I realized that, damn, I really am out of shape and that going up 8 floors of stairs really does suck.

Anyways, got 3 cards accomplished before I had to pick up my hubby from work. The power kicked back on as I was walking out the door. (figures).

Anyways, these are the cards I did with no power on in the apartment. I hope to make a few more Halloween/Fall cards so I can send some to family and friends and not just to a few from that list. Thank heavens the power is back on, otherwise I wouldn't be able to post this! haha, nor would I likely survive in this day and age. I need my computer and tv! Okeys, posting pictures now. :) All three have a consistant theme of the polka dotted paper which were scraps from a scrapbook page I did for the monthly contest at the scrapbook store, but each card kinda took on their own personality though used the same dot scraps. Enjoy! :)

(Welcome to the Pumpkin Patch)

(cute charm I found hiding among my scrapbook stuff when I was cleaning the room)

(31st of October Card)

(I love this stamp. Sadly my glitter brackets look weird. I had crystal stickles but I wanted orange so I put orange sparkles, however it didn't turn out well. It's ok I guess)

(I do love this cuttlebug pumpkin embossing folder that my mom got me. Thanks mom!)

(Happy Harvest! I love prima flowers)

(Like I said before, I love prima flowers)

(who needs stamps when the ribbon says it all!?)

I had fun, even if it was without power. Whipped out the ipod for some tunes since I hate being in the apartment without some noise/tv/music going on when no one else in here with me. The music helped me zone out and forget the fact that I had no power in the apartment.

Anyways, I hope to get more cards and scrapbooking done these days. Yay! :)

-M

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Type photo fun

So later today I plan to sit down and make my halloween cards (I know I know, I'm running out of time!).

But before I dive into cardmaking land, I stumbled upon this cool site:

www.typorganism.com

It takes pictures and remakes them via type. Very cool if you ask me.

Here is one picture I did: 

(Original Photo)

(Typorganism picture below)

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Re-designing stuff

So today I decided to re-design the blog. The old setup just was not what I really had in mind. I still am trying to figure out the basics of html, so right now I'm not going to attempt to change the background texture, partially because I kind of like it, even if it is a template. 

I did decide to make a new blog header. My husband asked me a few days ago if I could make his blog (on the video game World of Warcraft) a new header eventually, once he gets pictures of all his characters together, so it got me thinking about my header. My old header was kind of boring and highlighted a few of my actual designs from my old college portfolio. Since more of this blog is the crafty side of my hobbies and less of my actual portfolio work (though I will put some of that in here too sometimes) I wanted to make it more unique.

A while back when the scrapbook shop near where I used to live had classes on different techniques and such, I met a wonderful woman who helped me get ideas about my wedding (this is before I even had an idea what to design my invitations like). She helped me get through all the majors as well as make my "Bridal Bible," as my husband called it all the time through our wedding planning. 

(The Bridal Bible)

(The Bridal Bible is a bit overloaded. 

Thankfully I don't have to add anything else to it anymore!)

Anyways, after some of those classes got done, she mentioned that she would be doing a digital scrapbooking class. All excited, I jumped at the chance to do digital scrapbooking since me being a graphic designer and also working in Photoshop everyday for my job. Sadly however, the class was canned due to the scrapbook shop being sold, bought, re-located and things got all re-done. Luckily I got some great stuff she sent me to try it out on my own before that happened. Hopefully they will bring it back and I can make it to the classes at the new place. Due to the wedding, I've been keeping it all on the back burner, but decided to whip the materials out and try them when making my new header. And Tada! New header. See the old vs the new header below (well and the new header is up top as well).

(old header)

(new header)

It was fun, and I can't wait to try my hand at more digital scrapbooking stuff. :)

Happy craftying!

:)

-M

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This site is becoming a favorite. Now to figure out what awesome things to use it with!

:)

Check it out at: 

http://wordle.net

Hugs all!

-M

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Return of the Scrapbooking

So scrapbooking has been one of those things I LOVE to do, however often I don't have the time, the money to make it look how I want. You name it, I come up with an excuse to put it off. However when I actually sit down to do it, I enjoy it a lot.

My mother came to visit a week or so ago and one of our things we like to attend is "crop nights" at the one scrapbooking store. Sadly I moved about 1/2 hour away from my beloved scrapbooking store, but sometimes I actually get my butt over there to do stuff. My mom and I enrolled ourselves in a 8-hour scrap-PINK crop (the proceeds for paying for it went partially towards breast cancer since it is breast cancer awareness month). I had a great time to say the least. It was a crappy day outside (weather wise) and they had plenty to keep us entertained besides actually just working on scrapbooking stuff. There was door prizes on the hour given away by playing bingo and "special surprises" in select bags (goody bags given to each of those who attended) as well as lots of food and beverages. It was a fun day to spend on a rainy Sunday. I also won raffle prizes later too! I won a cute pink 2-picture frame (totally going in the pink and brown bathroom), a cute handmade teddy bear, as well as the raffle prize of a Letter stamp set, clear block, pink stamp pad, and much more other stuff. 

I had a fun time, and it actually forced me to scrap for once. It was a chance to get away, immerse myself in photos and crafty stuff, and come home with cute pages and fun prizes.

:) Yay for crop nights.

-M

(below is the outcome of that day)

(A single page dedicated to our dinner at PF Chang's. It was the last dinner we had on our Honeymoon, which was spent in Atlantic City at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. I know I know, I still have to write on the journal box.)

(Hanging out in the Tropicana on our last night of our Honeymoon. The inside of the hotel is setup like Old-style Cabana feeling. The writing box still needs to be written on found inside the clear envelope)

(Our night at Starter's bar and restaurant with our friends and family. This was right after the wedding, so basically it was the after-party after the reception party of our wedding)

(Our first day of our honeymoon we went and saw "Avenue Q" in NYC on Broadway)

(Sparkle Q!)

(on our Honeymoon, 1st day tag)

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Our wedding: hooray!

(yes we walked across the street, a lot. Our hotel was across the street from the location for the wedding, why would we need to get transportation when we can walk! This obviously is after we got married. We decided to stop traffic in the middle of Bethlehem, PA for this)

So the wedding has been done with for a little bit. I feel bad since I havn't been blogging since right before then, however things have been, well, a little crazy. Also I forgot my password to blogger and spent many times trying to figure it out to reset. Anyways, excuses, excuses.

So things for the wedding turned out awesome. Every event has some moment that are wonderful, as well as a few moments that were "interesting" to say the least, but all in all it went great. It is kinda sad to look back on all of those great couple of days and the following week (the honeymoon) and to realize now that it is all over. Going back to work and "everyday" stuff was hard enough to do after the wedding. Now I actually have free time and it is scary.

Anyways, in this post is a few of the things I made and how they turned out, such as the programs, the table cards, menu cards, place cards, centerpieces, the cake (I didn't make that, I just had the idea what it should look like), etc. I probably will do another post on some of the scrapbook pages I have started with honeymoon picks since most of our wedding pictures haven't been printed yet and are just digital versions at the moment, hence the watermark on a lot of the ones taken by our wedding photographer, the non-watermarked ones are taken by friends and family, since obviously I didn't photograph my own wedding. 

I hope to get back into the swing of designing and doing crafty things,  so bear with me as I attempt to get back on the art horse.

:)

-M

(My hubby and I being silly)

(the front of the program. They were in the style of a newspaper to go with the theme of "what is black and white and red all over: our wedding!")

(candy bar time!)

(traditional wedding pins made by my mother-in-law and her family)

(the menu cards, which on the back had information about the reception)

(the ceremony programs rolled up and ready to go)

(The setup of the tables during the reception)

(the bridal party table during the reception)

(My mother made hankies out of her first wedding dress for all the mothers, grandmothers, and me. I thought they were very sweet)

(How our main table's setup turned out. We were the skunks in love. I give Cat credit that her drawings worked out great. I helped with the coloring of them and the idea and the design of the card in total, but her actual drawings made them wonderful. Each table had an animal that is black, white, and red to go with our "black and white and red all over" theme)

(our table setting and our matching placecard 

(like we really need one, but I wanted to make one. Hehe))

(We had a candy bar instead of alcohol, since it was an afternoon reception)

(the placecards all setup at the Banana factory gallery)

(the table cards during prep: designed by my maid of honor Cat and I, the clips just have dot ribbon covering the black part (super easy to make!))

(My bouquet: red gerber daisies, white roses, white stephanotoes (sp?) and greenery)

(My husband and I pouring our Unity Sand since we didn't want candles)

(I made ring boxes to keep our rings safe: this it the one that my maid of honor had with his ring in it)

(This is the one that held my ring in it that one of his best men

 (all his groomsmen where his best men) held)

(How the cake turned in our wedding)

(One of the table's centerpieces and table cards)

(Our florist did a great job in picking the gerber daisies for the centerpieces)

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