Back from the dead

Well it's been AGES since my last crafty post! My poor neglected craft room literally has cobwebs! I needed to show my gratitude to my employees for stepping up and covering me over this weekend (due to some personal reasons) so I decided to wipe the dust from my craft desk and get back in the swing of things. I'm hoping it won't be so neglected in the upcoming months:) I used Card Patterns Sketch #136 for my card



I'm really happy with my return to the craft world:) I hope that everyone appreciates it as much as I appreciate them:)



thanks for stopping by!

Holidays

We just got home from our holidays on Vancouver Island and we had a wonderful time. We were able to enjoy Jesse's family's cabin on Hornby Island for 5 days then carried on to Campbell River for a wedding. We didn't have the best weather, but there were a couple of days of decent temperature before the rain set it. I was hoping to ride my bike every day we were there, but apparently I'm a fair weather biker:)

While we were in Campbell River we were able to cross something off of my 2011 list of things to-do: ocean rapid rafting! It was fun, but not the huge adventure thrill I was hoping for. Jesse and I will have to do a river rafting tour for that:) We did get to see a lot of wildlife though which was very cool! I didn't get any pictures though because I wasn't really sure what to expect with the tour. I think I was scared I'd be holding on and the camera would go over board or something like that:) Here are some pics of the holidays:


Jesse fishing off the point


Me in the Beach-gloo that Jesse built for us


Jesse and I at Helliwell Park


Cliffs at Helliwell


Deer in the front yard


And Finally, we need your help:) Jesse and I have started a Hornby tradition of visiting the free store each year and competing in our own Free Store Challenge. Last year Jesse's hand-made batman mug beat out my advice book for Most Useful item. Here are the rules set forth for this year:
1.) Item must be able to fit into a bread box
2.) Item must be useable
3.) Item must be "bad-ass"

Here we are holding up our items (mine is the "biker-dude" onesie and Jesse's is the Elle Macpherson workout video


Please Vote for the winner!

thanks for stopping by!

2011 List

It's time to get back into the blogosphere:) I thought the perfect way to do that (considering I don't have anything crafty to share) would be to update everyone on my progress with my New Year's List. Here's my list as a reminder:)


1.) Bake a pie from scratch
2.) Make a spinach salad from my own garden
3.) Read 24 books:
4.) Sell a card on etsy.com
5.) Teach Attaboy to roll-over
6.) Learn to can tomatoes
7.) Lose 10 pounds
8.) Bake 12 new recipes:
9.) Make a romantic meal with Jesse from scratch
10.) Ocean white water rafting
11.) Learn to play tennis

I haven't been doing a great job with this list so far and need to get my butt in gear if I plan on completing these things. Some are too late (ie. there's no garden this year, so I won't be able to cross the spinach salad off the list, but we have been enjoying our little herb garden.....mmmm fresh basil....) Even with my lack of success so far I was able to do something I've been wanting to learn for awhile now. I made my very first pie, all by myself, from scratch! I was so proud:)







Betty Crocker taught me this technique:) How do other people transfer the crust?



Finally putting my rolling pin to good use:)



MMMMMM....strawberry rhubarb:)




Not the prettiest pie in the world, but it tasted delicious:)



Nothing but crumbs...must be a good sign:)

SSSC102

yay, an excuse to play in my craft room! Since Christmas I haven't really had much excuse to spend a lot of time in the craft room (and these days it seems like I need a specific project in order to get my butt in there!) until now:) My niece just turned 2 on the weekend and I made this card for her:)



It's cute and girly, just the way I like them:)

Supplies:
-pretty in pink, whisper white, basic black, and melon mambo cardstock
-melon mambo ink
-"fox and Friends" stamp set
-Cricut cartridge

thanks for stopping by!
Jenna

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years everyone! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the holidays spent with family and friends. It's always a busy time of year, but it's nice to take a few moments and just have fun:) With 2011 upon us, I thought I'd see how I did with my list of things to do in 2010:

1.) Sing Karaoke in Vegas

Done and Done! And without the help of alcohol I might add:)

2.) make a romantic meal with Jesse from scratch
not so much.....maybe Jesse and I need to spend more time together in the kitchen this year:)

3.) finish 12 books
Easy Peasy! Here's what I read:
My Sister’s Keeper
Twenties Girl
Her Fearful Symmetry
Still Alice
Yes, My darling Daughter
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Loving Frank
Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Poisonwood Bible
Vanishing Acts
The Slap
Reading Lolita in Tehran
River of the Broken hearted
Mockinjay
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Sarah’s Key
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

I'm going to up the anty next year

4.) Bake something new each month:
carrot cake

cinnamon rolls

squash muffins

black and white muffins

Not a favourite for me or Jesse:(

zucchini/chocolate chip muffins

peanut butter cookies

pumpkin chai loaf

chocolate/peanut butter brownies

caramel filled chocolate cookies

These are delicious!

So 9/12 isn't so bad, but with my new kitchenaid mixer that I got for Christmas I'll have better luck next year!

5.) Eat carrots grown from my own garden

I had high hopes for my garden this year. We even planted these chrysanthemums in the hopes that they would scare away any pests, but alas my first garden did not succeed. Next year I resolve not to neglect it!

6.) Make applesauce from the apples on our tree


Success! Althouth it tastes a lot more like apple pie filling than applesauce...oh well....still delicious!

7.) Make my own pickles


these were a blast! Thanks Amie for all your help! Next year we'll use smaller pickles so we can get more than 4 in a jar:)

8.) Teach Attaboy to "roll over"

we didn't succeed.....most of our training sessions turned into cuddle sessions, but I'm not complaining:) Maybe next year

9.) Sell a homemade card at a farmer's market


The farmer's markets were a blast this year and I did manage to sell a few cards! Amie's mother-in-law was my first customer:) We will definetly do it again this year:)

10.) Lose 10 pounds.
Not so much....'nuf said:)

So....some success, some not so much, but for those that I didn't do, I've added them to this year's list:)

Bake a pie from scratch
Make a spinach salad from my own garden
Read 24 books
Sell a card on etsy.com
Teach Attaboy to roll-over
Learn to can tomatoes
Lose 10 pounds
Bake something new each month
Make a romantic meal with Jesse from scratch
Ocean white water rafting
Learn to play tennis

Looking forward to 2011!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Jenna

Couple of Christmas Cards

I managed to get a couple of cards made this weekend, but I have a lot more to do:) I was lacking inspiration of my own so I cased a couple of cards. This first one I cased from the current stampin' up mini catalogue.


Supplies:
-cherry cobbler, very vanilla, chocolate chip cardstock
-perfect polkadots embossing folder
-scalloped edge punch, ornament punch, and fancy label punch
-"delightful decorations" and "four the seasons" stamp sets
-real red and versamark ink
-white embossing powder

this second card has been in my "to-do" file for awhile and I didn't keep the name of who I cased it from, but if you recognize it, please let me know:)



Supplies:
-garden green, whisper white, and chocolate chip cardstock
-scalloped edge punch
-real red satin ribbon
-"Patterned Pines" and "warm words" stamp sets
-real red and basic black ink
-Merry Moments DSP

thanks for stopping by!

WMSC #24

Even though I have tons of christmas cards to make I also have to pump out a few birthday cards too:) Here's one I made using the new waltzingmouse sketch challenge and my new favourite Decorative Label Punch:)



Supplies:
-pacific point, whisper white and real red cardstock
-Decorative Label Punch
-real red satin ribbon
-basic black ink
-"Garden Greetings" stamp set
-Celebrations DSP

thanks for stopping by!
Jenna