Art Philosophy Cartridge by Close to My Heart and Cricut

Check out the NEW CLOSE to MY HEART'S Art Philosophy Cartridge by Circut



This new cartridge is packed full of all kinds of goodness such as fonts, tags and and the cutest 3D items ever. Best of all, there are 3 sets of coordinating stamps and chipboard that come with the cartridge when you purchase it.....if that wasn't enough there are also even more items available in the catalog to go along with the cartridge. It's pretty impressive! And don't worry because they tell you the exact size of the cuts to match the stamps right on the stamps.

This cartridge is available here starting on AUGUST 1st. While you're there don't forget to check out ALL the NEW CATALOG and the WHILE SUPPLIES LAST for some GREAT DEALS!

Tearific Time

I've had a little time to get some scrapping done in between Retreats so I thought I would share them with you.

I need to run I'm going to a fund raiser in Bakersfield tomorrow so I have to get all the beds made,dust,laundry and the menu planned for this weekend.

A Day at the Park

I got to spend the day with my two youngest grandsons yesterday at the park. We got a surprise visit from my oldest grandson. It was nice to get to visit with him just the two of us while the boys played. He is thinking of go in the service : ( I sure don't like that he grew up so darn fast.














from there we went to the Frazier Park Museum. The boys loved seeing the animals,learning about the Indians that lived in this area,grinding corn, and going in the log cabin....they didn't think the bed looked comfortable or living with a dirt floor would be much fun. So much for being a pioneer LOL! I forgot to charge my battery for my camera so it died at the park so we got no pictures at the museum : (

Look where we went next




Tyler

Josh






YUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!There was chocolate and ice cream from the tips of their noses to their elbows :0 What a fun day!!!

Surprise Party

Mark and I

The Big 50 Surprise Party is over : ) It was a total success. Mark didn't find out until the night before his party. His nephew let the cat out of the bag around 9:30 Friday night.

Your never going to believe this but I didn't take any pictures. I can't believe it either LOL. I have two friends who where here with cameras and they took pictures for me. Here are a couple I have so far

Josh trying to break the Pinata









Foster and Jessica






Mark and his Posse
Lisa(thing1)Lisa(thing2)Mark and Shelly




Thanks to all of you who came and made the day extra Special for Mark.

This week I got to keep three of my grand kids : ) so we've been busy cooking, baking,playing cards and of course doing some paper piecing. My grandson Tyler has been busy making some of my new files from Creative Kuts and KaDoodle Bug.

Today we're making Biscut and Gravy (don't you wish you where here Jess?),homemade Pizza and Tyler and I will be working on the 50's Rock & Roll file form Creative Kuts. I am so in Love with this file. Go over and check out their files WARNING it could be very HAZARDOUS to your WALLET LOL





The kids are starting to stir so I better run.
Have a great day!
Bonnie

Pollen take over

The pollen is taking over here. I can wipe down the counter and turn around and it's yellow again. I washed the table last night after dinner got up this morning and it was covered in yellow dust. The red truck now has a nice yellow glow to it. I'll tell you what I will be so glad when all our pine trees are done!

Even with the pollen take over I've been busy making some new layouts so I thought I would share them with you. Had to blow the yellow dust off first LOL


Aren't these skunks to stinking cute? My family is going camping in August so I couldn't resist making this.....now I just have to take the pictures LMBO. They were a give away from KaDoodle Bug Design. If you missed them she now has them for sale on her site. Let her know I sent you over. Watch out your going to fall in love with her stuff!


My grandson's love to ride so when I saw this I had to make it. This file is from Treasure Box Designs. I just changed the title from Mud to Dirt. Can't wait to add the pictures.



Wait until you see what I'm working on now........it's to cute. Here's a hint: You all know my DH is turning 50 in a few days and I'm making it in his honor. Can any one guess? Let me know I might make one for you too. You know your going to want them when you see it! I tell the girls at Creative Cuts they're killing me with all the great files they have put out this week. Be sure you check out all these sites. They all have some fantastic files!

Studio J Free-for-All

It's a Studio J Free-for-All with TWO Chances to WIN!
FREE = zip, zilch, nada, absolutely NOTHING!!!! All this month, we're having a Studio J Free-for-All! We're giving EVERYONE a free Studio J JPG file - absolutely NO purchase required! Simply log onto Studio J, create a layout, then order one JPG file of your layout. It's as easy as that! Download and save your file so you can post your layout online, email it to family or friends, or print them.

If you already have a Studio J or MyCTMH account, just log in and start creating. If you don't have an account, creating one is easy. Just head over to my Studio J website to get started.

Now, what about these TWO chances to WIN? Read on for all the details...

Win a 12x12 Quick Pic Album: Simply take advantage of the Studio J Free-for-All before June 30th and you will be entered into a drawing for a FREE 12x12 Quick Pic album. Once you order your Studio J JPG file send me an email to let me know, I will verify your order and enter you into the drawing!

Studio J Personal Consultations: I am currently offering 30-minute Studio J Personal Consultations. In 30 minutes, I will help you create your first Studio J layout using your pictures. Let me show you how easy it is to create gorgeous scrapbook pages with Studio J. As an added bonus. Everyone who joins me for a personal consultation this month will be entered into a drawing for 5 FREE custom-printed Studio J layouts (a $55 value). Invite a friend to join us for the consultation and your friend will get an entry and you will get a bonus entry! Call or email me today to set up your Studio J Personal consultation - spaces are limited.

This month I invite you to discover how quick and simple scrapbooking can be with Studio J - and get a FREE JPG file!

We've been very busy around here with retreats,weed abatement and our grandson graduated from high school last week. Here is a picture of my son and grandson.

It's finally starting to feel like summer here. It's been in the mid to high 70's all this week. I've been enjoying the nice weather until I went to the gym this morning and someone said it's suppose to cool off again. Ok that's not so bad I can handle cooler weather however they said that we have had snow here in July....now that is more than I can handle I would really have to move back to the coast then LOL!

With the yard all cleared you can really see all the wild life. We've had the cutest baby bunnies out running all over and playing. They are so cute chasing each other. I also saw a couple of baby blue jays on the deck yesterday. We also have a couple of dove that come by everyday and sit on the rail and look in the window they are to funny.

If you don't have any plans for 4th of July weekend we still have room for you to come so come spend a fun 4 day weekend cropping and be back in plenty of time for the 4th festivities. If your interested shoot me an e-mail we'd love to see you.

Spring Cleaning

I've been busy trying to organize my craft area and while I was looking for some help I found this and I thought I would post this list I found on Just A Scrappin'


Organizing Your Craft Room - Here are some tips to organize your space

1. Separate your work area

If you do not have separate room for hobby/crafts then try to partition off an area of the room with a screen or by arranging bookshelves or furniture in such a manner that it creates a physical separation to the room. This will help restrict THE MESS (as others commonly call our craft addiction) to one area.

2. Think about storage

Have a place for everything and everything in its place. This will make your work time much more fun and efficient.

Get yourself some cardboard file boxes or the more expensive see-through plastic Rubbermaid boxes and organize your embellishments, fabric, ribbon, flowers, etc. Group things with common themes.

3. Easy Access to Tools

Have your scissors, glue gun, sewing machine, etc all close at hand. Make holders for your markers, your glue gun and your scissors. Get in the habit of always replacing these valuable tools BACK where they came from. This will save valuable time and reduce your stress level.

4. Lighting

Don't forget to spend some time and give thought to proper lighting. It is essential to your health as well as your mental attitude.

5. Worktable

Purchase an old table from the second hand store and it will be well used and you won't have to worry if that paint or glue that spilled will come off. If you do spend a lot of time crafting, an investment in a higher table will result in fewer backaches. You can raise the height of a display table if you cut four pieces of PVC pipe. A display table is the kind that you can buy at your local home renovation store. Their legs fold up and lie flat on the underside of the table. The length of the pipe depends on the distance you will need to raise the table to the right height for you. Fit the table leg into the PVC and tape on.

6. Music

Place your sound system within easy reach. Select your own music, don't just get in the habit of listening to the local station. If you choose your own music you can set the tempo and really increase you output. Try it and see if it works! Take advantage of all the information now available on CD. There are many motivational books and seminars. Learn while you work. (My personal favorite is right on my laptop - Pandora.com.)

7. Use your walls for storage

Get things up off the floor and off the counter tops. Invest in some shelving units or place pegboard on your walls.

8. Be realistic

Do you have craft supplies from BC (Before Christ)? Perhaps it would be a good idea to do a thorough cleaning and donate your old and unused craft supplies to a day-care, retirement center or community arts council.

9. Put it back!

My mom taught me this one, and it's so important it's mentioned twice! Now that you’re organized, once you're finished with it – put it back.

10. Tidy up

Spend 10 to 15 minutes at the end of EVERY day cleaning up. Set a stopwatch if you have to. Leaving your workroom clean and organized for the next day will make your more motivated to start.

Now you have some tips, here's the bad news. It is impossible to simply rearrange one area of your craft room. You must organize everything. Just as you go about clearing one area you will need to have a place to put things. Before you clean one mess it will take making a bigger mess. But it will be worth it. Remember to break down the job into smaller parts. "The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time." Good Luck!

I have to thank Linda for the help. I am getting there slowing but at least I can see some progress.

Snowing Again

Can you believe it! We got 3" of snow last night. The weather has sure been crazy around here.One day we are in the high 70's and the next it's snowing. Come on Mother Nature what gives? I can't take much more of this. Are you having hot flashes one minute it's cold and the next it's hot. Poor Mother Nature I think you may need some hormone therapy LOL! Anyhooo this is what it looked like this morning. Thank goodness it is all melted now!








With Mother's Day and National Scrapbooking Day the same weekend I kind of skipped over Cinco De Mayo. Look at these Margarita Cupcakes I made the girls for dessert on Cinco De Mayo to go along with Mark's Enchilada's YUMMMMM. I have to say this was one jam packed weekend with Cinco De Mayo, National Scrapbook Day and Mother's Day all in one weekend!

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Lemon Dressing

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day and a great time on National Scrapbook Day. We had a lot fun both at the retreat and on our fan page. There where giveaways,contest and prizes!

As many of you know I am always looking for new recipes. I tried this one this past weekend and the girls loved and wanted the recipe so I thought I would share it with you too.

Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Lemon Dressing
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Cups cherry tomatoes,halved
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 (15 1/2 oz) can chickpeas,rinsed and drained
1 garlic clove,minced
1 (7 oz) jar roasred red peppers,
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
drained and thinely sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (6 1/2 oz) jar artichoke hearts,
1/4 teaspoon pepper
drained and queartedred
1 small head romaine lettuce,
tron into bite size pieces (6 cups)
1/2 Cup crumbled feta

6 pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 medium English cucumber,peeled and diced



DIRECTIONS:

1. Whisk the lemon juice,oil,garlic,oregano,salt,and pepper together in small bowl.
2. Arrange the lettuce on a large platter; top with the diced cucumber,tomatoes,chickpeas,peppers,and artichoke hearts.

Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with the cheese and olives. Server at once, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. I hope you enjoy this....let me know if you try it. I'd love to how you like it.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day. Don't forget we are having a drawing on our fan page later today for a 3 day weekend to Scrap-N-Away.

Happy National Scrapbook Day

Happy Nationsl Scrapbook Day everyone! They are having a giveaway on the Cricut Circle Blog. You have to post a picture of you in your scrapbook room so here it is.










You can't see much of my scrapbook room but here is a picture of me in it. Happy National Scrapbook Day.

Spring has finally hit Frazier Park

Well it's finally starting to feel like Spring around here. The weather is warming up during the day, however it's still chilly at night. The buds are popping out on the Lilac trees. In fact the Lilac Festival is in a couple of weeks. Mark wants to go every year maybe we will actually make it this year!

I'm not sure what happened to the Poppies this year but we didn't have any in our yard and there where very few a long the 5. We didn't get a chance to go out to the Poppy Reserve this year. I'm really disappointed I didn't get any pictures. I love taking pictures of them especially when they cover the whole hillside.

Some of you are already having 80 and 90 degree weather so if you need a break from the heat you should come up. We have some great specials going! Speaking of Specials have you joined our Fan Page on face book? We are giving away a free 3 day weekend to Scrap-N-Away on Mother's Day! All you have to do is become a fan.

We have had some many animals this year I thought I would post a picture of the dove. They have been coming up and sitting on the rail of the deck. This is the first year I've seen so many......usually we are lucky to see one or two all Spring and Summer. Not this year I've been seeing them daily and they are even coming right up to the house.


I'm still waiting to see the baby quail. Last year we had two covey of about 18 each. They are so cute waddling across the yard.....and they grow so darn fast. If you don't see them for a few days they are almost all grown. I hope I get to see at least one covey of babies this year!

I hope you are enjoying the nice weather....have a great day!

Happy Easter

Easter Story Cookies

Here is a great way to share Easter with your childern Easter Story Cookies go over Tiffany's blog and she has the recipe and the story.

I also found these adorable rice crispy treats....I can't wait to make them both!

It's been a very busy day today. Fixed brunch,got the girls off,made DH cookies for his lunch tomorrow (he is starting at a new store),found some of the Easter recipes I wanted,finished a couple of projects around the house and I just put dinner in the oven and decided to sit down and start this post.

I brought my scrapbook supplies into the living room so I can work on some projects after Mark goes to bed. I've got some more Easter die cuts I want to get made and I need to finish up my Easter cards so I can get them in the mail tomorrow.

Here is a layout of my grandson. He was excited about turning 7....he is growing up way to fast! It seems like just yesterday he was learning to walk.














Here are a couple of easy craft projects for the kids to make with egg cartons aren't they adorable?



Have a great evening, Bonnie

More Easter Layouts

We are leaving on Friday to see the grandkids for Easter so I've been busy making Easter layouts. I thought this year I would get a little a head of the game and have some of my layouts done before I take a million and one pictures over Easter weekend.

My grandson is waiting to color eggs until I get there so I made this layout. I can't wait to get his picture to put on it. I also have some Easter charms and flowers I want to add after I have the pictures

Here is the other side....isn't that the cutest little rabbit in the cart?



This week I'm also going to be busy making Easter Candy. I'm going to paint some chocolate and make these adorable little chicks and peeps





I better go make dinner. Hope you have a wonderful day. Leave us a comment we'd love to hear what your planning for Easter.

Layouts

These aren't the greatest pictures but I wanted to show you the adorable Snowball fighting Penguins and the Monarch Butterfly boarder I found.

I really need to get my scanner hooked up so I can scan these layouts. I will work on that this coming week. I have more layouts to show you but I think I'll wait until I get the scanner hooked up.

Easter Eggs

Do you remember these adorable Easter Eggs?


I thought I would make them again this year.
Here's what you need to make them
1 dozen eggs
Food coloring
Sharp Knife

Directions
Hard boil your eggs and peel. Place in food colors of your choice. Leave until they are the desired color you want. Let dry then cut jagged edge with sharp knife and fill with your favorite deviled egg recipe.

We took a mini-vacation and got out of the snow for the past 4 days. It was so nice to be in warm weather....short sleeves and flip-flops :-)

I got to have lunch with girl friends I haven't seen in awhile. It was a great time. Now it's back to the Retreat and back to work!

There was no snow when we got back yesterday....in fact the weather is beautiful today. It's still a little brisk out but the sun is shinning and the sky is a beautiful shade of blue.

I best go get ready for the Retreat. Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Easter Layouts

Here are a couple of the layouts I made for Easter. Sorry the pictures aren't better. I still haven't figured out a good way to take pictures of layouts. Anyone have any suggestions?

It's snowing again today. Right now it is coming down pretty good here is a picture of just before I started to write this and here is one about 5 minutes later. It sure didn't take long for it to turn white! One thing about this cold weather I love to stay inside and bake. I'm off to make some cookies and banana nut bread. Have a great day!