Monday, June 29, 2009

Yummy Homemade Ice Cream...

We got an ice cream maker this week for our anniversary (thanks Mom & Dad!) This is something that we have wanted to do for several years, we just never got it done so we went out and bought this one. It is a dual-use ice cream maker....it can be electric OR it can be a hand-crank model. It also makes a ton of ice cream...4 quart capacity! 

We started it out with the electric crank on it, but then someone thought that it would be okay to let Kat help with the water (I'm not saying who...I think that the photo speaks for itself) and she wasn't quite as careful as she should be so we decided that it would be prudent to let the motor dry out before we used it....

She was VERY handy with the ice...

This one spent most of the time crushing the ice on the patio with the hammer...LOL! 

Then the cranking began. It actually wasn't that bad at all and only took about 1/2 as much time as the book said that it would.

And darnit, there is supposed to be another photo here, but if I add it in now, then you won't be able to click any of these to make them bigger so you will just have to take my word at it and imagine how cute  the photo is... 

The maker was very squeaky when it was being cranked and Kat truly thought that it was music. She danced and clapped almost the entire time it cranked. So funny and sweet!!!

And here it is done! It was so good. We wanted it fairly soft so that we could drink it like a shake (much less messy with a 2 yo!) 

...and everyone enjoying their shakes...

...thumbs up from Jacob...

He liked it too! 

We still have a huge tub of it in the freezer leftover. Unfortunately Ben made the mistake of looking at the nutritional content of the cream this morning...5 fat grams/Tbsp and there are about 3 cups in here. And that's not including the half and half, 5 eggs, or milk or sugar that is also in it. I think that the rest will be eaten by the kids since I am not sure either Ben or I can eat anymore no matter how good it tastes...LOL!
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So last night, I felt like making something to go along with my ice cream theme for the blog this morning and just happened to have that cute Retro BBQ kit still sitting out on my table. Since I will be heading home next week, I felt the need for a new summery bookmark for my travels (I am thinking positively that Kat will let me read on the plane...I can at least hope, right?)

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ
*October Afternoon paper
*Fiskars border punch
*Marvy Uchida scallop oval punch
*ribbon
*watercolor pencils 
*Memories brown inkpad


Have a fantastic Monday!!!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

...summertime fun...

Warning: Today's post is liable to be a long, rambling one so I hope that you don't get bored. Lots to report on from the Snow household this week...
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First a card. This card was inspired by a new tradition that we have implemented for the summer on Friday's. The adult version of Shake Friday...i.e. Cocktail Evenings. 

A couple of weeks ago, I received a book that is so much fun, MixShakeStir. It's a beautiful book full of recipes and gorgeous photography of cocktails. We are die-hard wine drinkers around here and rarely do anything else, so we thought that it might be fun to change things up a bit for the summer (and I am really inspired right now by all things retro...soon I may even become domestic...or maybe not...LOL) and so we have started Cocktail Fridays.


We are only 2 weeks (and 2 drinks) into the experiment and so far, haven't been bowled over by any of the drinks, but I am hoping to report some positive results for you soon.

I had these evenings in mind when I created this card this morning using Unity's new kit, Retro BBQ.  I have no idea what drink would gradiate from green to red, but I am sure there is one out there that does...LOL!


Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ
*K&Company Raspberry Collection
*Fiskars border punch
*watercolor pencils 
*ribbon
*brads
*Bazzill Kraft paper
*StazOn Jet black inkpad
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This week has been record hot for us in the Midwest with heat indexes ranging anywhere from 105-115 degrees during the daytime. Of course, this just happened to be the week that Jacob was at Scout camp living outside with NO air conditioning. We visited him Thursday evening for Family Night and sweltered right alongside him.

Do you see that look on her face? We had just gotten to camp and he had just picked her up for the first time. I think that she missed her big brother last week!

Trying to stay cool with an ice-cold gatorade...and no, it really didn't help.

Within about 15 minutes of being there, this little one was drenched in sweat. We did not pour any water over her. That was just how truly sweaty that she was...her hair was literally dripping.

Ben took off with my camera and took this (and several other) gorgeous shots while I was chasing the 2 yo. Isn't it a beautiful photo?

For these photos, you really need to click on them to see the full impact of the photography (which is again Ben's work.) The night that we were there they had the Order of the Arrow ceremony. It was done in this little inlet of the lake with the boys lining up on one side, and the parents sitting watching on the other.

There was an Indian on a boat in the middle of the water that was helping with the narrating and then fire everywhere...a couple of bonfires (one on land and one in the middle of the lake), a path of smudgepots leading out of the woods that the boys followed. It was an absolutely gorgeous ceremony and the most exciting part of all was that Jacob was called out during it to become part of OA (a big honor in Scouts.)

Another big honor for Jacob for the week was that he won a "Golden Arrow" award for the entire camp. He won that for having the highest archery score in the camp which is saying quite a bit because this camp easily had 500-800 boys there. :o)
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Scout camp ended yesterday morning, but we weren't through with the heat yet. Late yesterday afternoon, Ben's office had a tailgate party at the Gateway Grizzlies game (our local minor league baseball team.) It was again sweltering, but a lot of fun.

Kat never has the chance to be around other kids her age and there was another 2 yo old there to play with.

Kat was so excited. She just kept petting her and hugging her. It's going to be fun in a couple of weeks when we go home and she gets to know her cousins Mia and Emily.

The kids in the stands. Kat was less excited about this part of the evening esp. since it didn't start until after her bedtime. It has been a week of late, hot evenings!

And today on the agenda we have homemade ice cream in our new ice cream maker (an anniversary gift from my parents- Thanks Mom & Dad!!!) and then if we are feeling up to another hot late night then a jazz concert in the park which sounds like so much fun, but I am not sure that any of us wants to do another late, hot night...

I hope that you all are staying cool in your area these summer days and nights!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Merry Christmas Hip Hop Style...

~~~Hip Hop Bells~~~
~~~Hip Hop Bells~~~ 
~~~Hip Hopping All the Way~~~
~~~Oh What Fun it is to Play with Stamping Everyday-hey~~~

Merry Christmas with this Unity Hip Hop!!!


I did a layout using today's new release, Merry & Bright. I have had these photos printed since last Christmas, but haven't been able to figure out exactly what I wanted to do with them. Finally, when I got these gorgeous stamps on my table, I knew what I wanted to create. Love it when inspiration finally strikes like that and if it takes new stamps to make it happen, well then that's a sacrifice I am willing to make! ;o)

All of the stamping on here is just simple staight forward stamping...so easy and fast! The only place that I did anything more was on the ornament and then I just added a bit of watercolor pencil coloring to it.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Merry and Bright
*Jenny Bowlin die cut paper (base of the layout)
*October Afternoon paper
*watercolor pencils
*Marvy Uchida scallop punches
*flat backed gems (in the center of the snowflakes)
*ribbon
*small circle punch (to create the ticket corner effect on the "have a holly jolly Christmas" piece)

Now you need to hop on over to...




Tuesday, June 23, 2009

A bit of tricycle fun...

Hello from sunny, balmy Illinois. See that's what happens when we complain about the over-abundance of rain...it stops and then we get freaking HOT!!! Wow is it ever muggy out there. Jacob is at Scout camp this week in Missouri and I hope that they are staying hydrated because this is killer! I can't even imagine what it must be like trying to sleep in it...

But for a bit of summer fun, I made a card using the Unity Stamp Co. kit, Everyday Adorable. I love this kit and haven't given it enough inky love yet so I thought that I would try to change that some today. I just love this little tricycle image...so fun! 

{I am really hoping that Kat will be big enough for a tricycle for Christmas and then I will be able to use this stamp for layouts too!!}


Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Everyday Adorable
*Fancy Pants papers
*MM eyelet trim
*StazOn jet black inkpad
*watercolor pencils
*Bazzill scallop cardstock
*Marvy Uchida scallop square punch

I hope that you are having a fabulous week!!!

Monday, June 22, 2009

A bit of Masculine creating fun!

It's official...I am addicted to Facebook (the games) and am seriously wasting my life away (or at least all of my computer time) on there. Restraint is in order so I am trying to put a blog post together for you...LOL! I promise to try to be better from here on out!

I have some masculine projects to share with you today that I have been working on lately. 

This week, Jacob is at Scout camp so I have been making him cards to send while he is gone. This first one is a small 3 1/2 x 6 1/4. When I made it, I was thinking that it would be fun to take the front off and then use it as a bookmark...

The basic layout of it is from last week's Mojo Monday sketch. I just never got it uploaded until now.
Supplies Used:
*Unity Stamp Co. This is the Time (star and oval numbered background in main frame)
*Unity Stamp Co. Bliss & a Birdie (You Rock sentiment)
*WRMK sports paper (pennant background)
*Cosmo Cricket Jack paper (orange plaid and striped)
*Fancy Pants paper (blue and orange)
*orange seam binding
*Marvy Uchida punch
*button
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This is another card to send to Jacob at camp and this one was based off the SCS sketch from last week (SC213)....


Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Hullabaloo
*Unity Stamp Co. Sentiments O' Simple
*DCWV Green Paper Pad
*Martha Stewart seam binding
*MME adventure ticket
*copper brads
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Finally, for the cards...this is a card that I made for Ben for our anniversary (which was Saturday)/Father's Day card. The outside says "Confession" and then the sentiment inside says, "You stole my heart". Both of those stamps are from the Confession: I luv Unity stamp kit. The grill is from the retro bbq kit that was released last week.

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Confession: i luv Unity
*Unity Stamp Co. Retro BBQ
*DCWV Green STack
*Stampin Up Top Note die cut
*corner rounder
*copper brads
*watercolor pencils
*Memories brown inkpad
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And finally, I have something to share that is a bit out of the ordinary. The older Scouts in Jacob's Scout troop are going to a High Adventure Philmont Scout camp this summer, Double H in New Mexico. They were looking for a design for their shirts so I played a bit with some clip art and layering and came up with this design that they chose...

How fun is that?!?!? I am so excited...almost feel professional...LOL!  You can click it to see it better, but the quote is from Thoreau and says "Let your walks now be a little more adventurous" which I thought was appropriate for this event. 

And here are my adventurers modeling their new shirts...

Ben in his very manly pose and...

Jacob in his! I love these guys!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

HipHop...It's all about Creating!!!

HiP HoP!!!

Good morning to all my Hip-Hopping Peeps!!!

Today I have a quickie little wall art piece that is simply fun! For Christmas, I created some wall art and needed some frames a certain size. I found sports frames that were the perfect size at Hobby Lobby. They included these plastic mats that were set up for a photo of the team and the individual's photo. I have been saving them thinking that they would be something fun to alter and this is my first one...


The piece measures about 6x12 and works perfectly to hang off of one of these little craft hangers.

The stamps are one of the quote stamps and Wish Sticks from Unity. You could do this with any quote stamp and color scheme to suit your decor. I think that this would make a fun little hostess gift whenever you are attending a party at someone's house or visiting overnight.

 Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Create Yourself
*Unity Stamp Co. Wish Sticks
*Making Memories Giggle Kids paper collection
*Bo Bunny (green)
*Making Memories eyelet trim and Vintage collection pin
*Flat back pearls
*Martha Stewart butterfly punch
*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
*old dictionary paper
*Sports frame insert

Now you need to hop on over to....

Blogger is having some issues this morning, so if Amber's post still isn't up, hop on along to...

My normal blogging should resume tomorrow. We are slowly starting to get into our summer routine...

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A Quickie Challenge Card...

I threw together a card this morning while Kat was napping for a couple of blog challenges. This card was put together using this week's CPS sketch (#120) and Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9.


Supplies used:
*October Afternoon paper collection
*MM paper collection
*Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
*cardstock
*Marvy Uchida scallop punch
*brads

I hope that you all are having a fabulous weekend. It's been a bit crazy around here. Ben finally got home late last night, a full 24 hours after he was supposed to be home (MULTIPLE airline delays on the East coast) and Jacob just got home from a weekend backpacking trip a full 2 hours early today. 

Friday, June 12, 2009

Friday night...

...and it's very quiet around the ole homestead! Ben was supposed to be home tonight (he's been out of town since Sunday, but he had flight delays so is still stuck on the East coast.) Jacob is out on a Scout backpacking trip and Kat is sound asleep. 

So here I sit all alone listening to a bit of classical music (it's that kind of mellow night), drinking a bit of French Cotes du Rhone, and playing on facebook. I should be stamping, but I may still do some of that later.

For right now, I have a layout to share that I finished late last night.


This is a photo that I took one day out at the park of the family last fall (I am thinking September timeframe) and every time I look at it, it cracks me up. You can just see that they are all thoroughly sick of the camera so I went with the title, "Happy...not so much!"

I used this week's sketch from the 52 Sketches site (#23 I think.)

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. June kom  ("happy" banner)
*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration (journaling block)
*Cosmo Cricket paper collection
*Heidi Swapp chipboard alpha
*Martha Stewart seam binding
*brads
*pop dots
*Memories brown inkpad

Thursday, June 11, 2009

It's a Father's Day Hip Hop!!!

Wow! It has been a crazy week here...

DH out of town.
 Kat sleeping (or not sleeping) crazy hours.
 Storms that send us to the basement on a regular basis.
 Power surges.
  The weather channel on all through the night. 
and all of that means....

 that my creative time has been severely lacking this week...

So today I just have one simple little card to show you, but it is using that fun new barbeque kit that is being released today. I love this kit...so perfect for summer and Father's Day projects.


Supplies Used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Retro Barbeque... Sweet Summertime
*American Crafts paper
*Bazzill cardstock
*brads
*watercolor pencils
*Signo Uniball white writer
*Fiskar's Apron Lace border punch


Now you need to Miss Krafty Queen's blog...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

My Little Fashion Plate...

Well, in someone's book she would be a Fashion Plate. LOL!


My mom sent her these socks from Alaska that are covered in bears so of course, she had to put them on. 

She also has on her shoes that we bought yesterday that are 2 sizes too big. 

I should know her well enough by now to know never to buy her shoes that are not the right size yet because she is obsessed and refuses to take new shoes off no matter how many times she trips and falls over the toes of them. 

So this is the fashion statement of the day... she calls them her boots and yes, they are on the wrong feet in this photo... Jacob helped her with that. She is still wearing the ensemble (4 hours later), but the shoes are now on the correct feet. 

{and yes, that is old Flopsy and new Flopsy in her hands. Mom bought us a replacement for emergencies (thanks Mom!!!) Who knew that old Flopsy was so disgusting looking compared to how he looks new?!? Maybe I should wash him more which hopefully won't be as traumatic now that we have two. Hey, I can think positively here! }

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I spent 2+ hours in my stamp room last night and this is the only thing that I have to show for it (oh,  and I watched the movie Bride Wars.) The sad thing, it was almost 3/4 of the way done when I went in there. So not much to show for the time spent... a VERY simple card!

Supplies used:
*Unity Stamp Co. Birdie Inspiration
*Little Yellow Bicycle Zinnia paper collection
*ribbon
*brads
*pop dots

I'll be back tomorrow for hip hop!
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