Go Green!

No, I'm not cheering for my alma mater, Michigan State. (GO GREEN! Ok that time I was, hee hee). The title of this post refers to the other kind of GO GREEN - the kind that's good for our planet. And my silly little card reflects that theme:


I haven't stamped in far too many days. It shows. HA! But at least I shoved aside the WRECKAGE that is my stamp cave and gave it a go. This card is for this month's MFT Guest Designer Challenge. The theme was Getting Sentimental - to use the sentiment as the main focus of the card. So I chose the "Think GREEN" sentiment from WTG Goes Green and created a little "earthy" scene, with little recycle symbols covering everything. Even the clouds:


For those clouds, I embossed the little recycle symbol on them with sparkly embossing powder. Fun! The cloud die, cork for the tree trunk, grass die and button all came from MFT, too.

I've been stepping up my own recycling efforts ever since Earth Day this year. I work for a great green company, and on Earth Day they did a blog post asking readers what they do for the planet. I helped with blog moderation that day, so reading everyone's comments about all the wonderful recycling they do really inspired me! Even my husband has noticed a huge decrease in the amount of trash we're putting out to the road. Makes me feel prideful. :-) And I suppose it inspires me to make silly cards.

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: WTG Goes Green, Purrfect Treats from My Favorite Things
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft, Stampin Up blue, green, white
• Ink: Stampin Up, Memento, Versamark, Copics
• Accessories: Sparkly embossing powder, MFT cloud & grass dies, MFT cork, MFT Earth Girl buttons, hemp twine

Fun in Atlanta!

This weekend was a big deal for me. First time I was an entire plane-ride away from my sweetpeas, and first time when I was away they were staying with someone other than Daddy (bc he was with ME!). We were in Atlanta. Hello Atlanta!


On Friday we went to my husband's company party, which was the main purpose of the trip. It was lots of fun, but really you all aren't interested in that. The FUN thing from a stampy perspective was on Saturday, when I got to meet three of my long-time stampy blogging friends in person for the first time! YAY!!! We met for a delicious lunch of Cuban sandwiches and chatted away like we had known each other for years. Because, well, we have! :-) Here I am with Jacki Jones, Kim Howard and Colleen Schaan! YAY YAY YAY!!


They were all just as kind and fun and sweet and smart and wonderful as I knew they would be. After lunch I got to go on a little tour of Georgia-based stamp rooms! First up was Jacki's - you know, the Card Castle! Jacki is a girl after my own heart, her room was filled with purple! And I got to see examples of her gorgeous pencil coloring skills all over the place.


She had drawer after drawer of wood mounted stamps, but these made me smile the most!


Entire drawers dedicated to caffeine and chocolate? Jacki rocks. :-)

Next I got to see Colleen's BEAUTIFUL new studio! Oh my word it is pretty and neat and organized. I asked Colleen if I could just sleep there on the floor. She's so sweet I think she would have let me.


It was so much fun meeting these girls. I've known Colleen just about as long as I've been blogging, and we were on the Hambo Stamps design team together for a while. I think I got to know Jacki because of our mutual love of Hambo as well! And Kim - I think we just stumbled onto each other's blogs at some point, but I got to know her a little better thanks to Facebook! I'm so happy that I finally got to meet these three ladies in person. I've decided that spending time with old stamping friends is good for the soul. :-)

Another thing that's good for the soul is going out for amazing, kid-free dinners with your husband! We went to a really great place called The Iberian Pig in Decatur, just east of downtown Atlanta. We enjoyed good drinks, yummy tapas and delicious dessert. Yumminess!



The entire weekend just made me smile.


Have a great week!

What's Cookin' Wednesday!

As some of you know, I like to cook. I recently decided I'd start a food blog to share some of the recipes I like - but in the end it just became yet another blog for me to neglect (*hangs head in shame*). Soooooo... I've decided instead to share recipes HERE. On WEDNESDAYS. I'm calling it What's Cookin' Wednesday. If you don't like food, feel free to avoid my blog on Wednesdays from here on out. hee hee

And for the first post - I have something TOTALLY FREAKING EXCITING to share with you!!! I've entered a little recipe contest at our local Whole Foods store! (And please read to the end to see how to VOTE FOR ME!!) I just happened to see them send out a tweet about an #ATXFoodFight and went for it! The featured ingredient in this challenge is HATCH CHILES. Don't know what a Hatch chile is? It's basically an Anahiem chile, ie a long green chile pepper, grown in the small town of Hatch, New Mexico. I don't know what's special about the soil there, but they are the yummiest peppers, we go nuts for them here in Austin every August when they show up. So Whole Foods gave each contestant a pound of Hatch chiles and a $25 gift card and said "go create!". Here's what I came up with...

SMOKY SPICY CHEESY YUMMY HATCH SPAGHETTI PIE!!!

Awwww yeah, baby! It's soooooooo good!

Here's a couple things about the recipe: First of all, even though I *do* love Hatch chiles, I'm a bit of a... how shall I say it... WIMP when it comes to spicy food. So naturally my mind thought, if we're using hot chiles (and yes, Whole Foods gave us the hot variety - you can also get milder ones) then I need to counteract the heat with some CHEESE!! For some reason I also immediately thought a spaghetti pie would be fun. Then I was chatting with my friend Lisa and she mentioned this corn spaghetti she had seen, and I thought that would be PERFECT! You can sort of taste the corn in it and it has a different texture when baked in the pie, quite a bit like the corn in a tamale. It worked GREAT for my tex-mex-style spaghetti pie! And bonus for all you gluten-free peeps, you should be able to eat this recipe! Vegetarians too! Woohoo! (Sorry Vegans. See above about the cheese.)

I'll copy the full recipe below, but here are some of the steps. I do not claim to be good at food blogging or food photography - if you want someone who's good at it go visit The Pioneer Woman. But then come back because that woman does NOT make cards! ;-)

First form your crust by mixing the corn spaghetti, egg, butter & cheddar, and pressing into a buttered pan:


I grilled the peppers and corn for the recipe. The peppers are best when roasted & peeled. I also removed the seeds. And I figured the corn could have some extra smoky flavor as well! I have two ears in the photo but I only ended up using one.


The corn was cut from the cob.


The filling is a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar, grilled corn, tomato, cilantro and cumin.


I sauteed some onions and garlic in olive oil for the topping, until the onions were nicely golden.


The roasted Hatch chile was added to the onion mixture and then went atop the pie.


Some smoky cheese went on the very top. Any smoky, melty cheese will do - but I asked the cheese guy at Whole Foods what would be the yummiest and he recommended a cheese called Brezain. He's a very wise cheese guy. This is how it looks fresh from the oven!


Then you eat it. And it's spicy and cheesy and ooey and gooey and YUMMY!


And now the full recipe. Because I know you want it!

Smoky Spicy Cheesy Yummy Hatch Spaghetti Pie
--------------------------------------------------
8oz package gluten-free corn spaghetti (regular spaghetti would be yummy too!)
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper
4oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 medium tomato (heirloom preferred), seeds & juice squeezed out & diced
1 ear of corn, grilled & cut from cob
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Hatch chiles, grilled, skins removed & chopped
1/2 cup smoked cheese (Brezain preferred), shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To prepare the crust: Cook corn spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. In medium bowl, combine spaghetti, eggs, butter and cheddar cheese. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Press into a buttered pie plate to form crust.
To prepare filling: In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, tomato, corn, cilantro and cumin. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Layer on top of the prepared spaghetti crust.
To prepare topping: Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until nicely browned. Stir in chopped chiles and heat for a few additional minutes. Spoon on top of the filled pie. Sprinkle with smoked cheese.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes at 350. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes, until melted and bubbling.

Now the important part! I NEED YOUR VOTE!! If you think this recipe looks yummy (or even if you don't) please go to Twitter and tweet this:

RT @stampinlibby Pls RT so I can win? Hatch Spaghetti Pie http://bit.ly/99dj7L @WholeFoodsATX #ATXFoodFight

Don't have a Twitter account? It's really easy to set one up, tweet your vote, and then disable your account. Just kidding, I'd never ask anyone do THAT! (Yes I would. Please go do it right now.)

By the way, I'm @stampinlibby on Twitter. Follow me! Say hi! :-)

And if you try my pie - let me know what you think!!



PS... If you gained 5lbs reading this blog post, I am sorry.

Taylored Expressions Blog Hop Time!

I've had so much fun doing the previous Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past blog hops, I decided to sign up for another! Plus it was the perfect excuse to bust out my super sweet Elephants in Love stamp that I adore...


I paired it with a greeting from A Year of Sweet Sentiments. I tried to make the card cute and cheery because I think I'm going to send it to a friend who recently learned her daughter has leukemia. To let her know we're thinking of her and sending love. I just can't imagine one of my babies being sick like that. :-(

Ok don't mean to bring down this blog post - to brighten it back up again, let's discuss my sweet and adorable friend Sankari!! Everytime I get a comment or email from her it just lights up my day, she is always so positive and happy and fun! Love her to pieces - now I just hope I get to meet her IRL one of these days! (Funny how much you can like someone you've never even met, isn't it?) :-) The reason I bring up this bundle of sunshine is because she designed the sketch for us to use on this hop:


And now it's time to get hopping...

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Elephants in Love and A Year of Sweet Sentiments from Taylored Expressions
• Paper: Hero Arts kraft note card, American Crafts DP, white cardstock
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: Bazzill paper border, buttons, embroidery floss, velvet ribbon from Mike's, staples

Crafting with Carter!

Yesterday my son Carter told me he wanted to do an art project, so I thought it was the perfect time to do something I've been wanting to do for ages (but of course keep forgetting) - I told him about the Children's Challenge Corner!

The current challenge for kids is to make a card with animals. Carter loves animals more than just about anything, so it was perfect! I pulled out a bunch of his supplies - paper, ink, an old stamp set that's now part of HIS stash, scissors, markers, glue - and encouraged him to create whatever he felt like making. Here he is hard at work:


After a while he got really sick of me asking him to look at the camera...


And here's his finished card!


I suggested he write "hello" on it, and then we could mail it to someone. He decided to add "Carter" because writing your own name is about the most fun thing there is when you're four! And as for the mailing - sadly he's just like his mommy, he opted to hoard the card. It's now hanging on his bedroom wall! Which is cool, actually - shows he's proud of it. :-)

Big thanks to Julie, Emma, Anna, Ethan, Aaron & Owen for giving us this fun challenge to do! We love your blog - such a wonderful idea.

Lawn Fawn and Cards for Kids Blog Hop!!

Hello and welcome to the Lawn Fawn Hearts Cards for Kids Blog Hop! We have all come together today to make cards for a wonderful cause, Cards for Kids! If you arrived from Ashley's blog, you're in the right place. If you just happened to pop in here, head on over to the Lawn Fawn blog to start at the beginning - it will be lots of fun and there are prizes along the way! Unfortunately I'm a bit under the weather and unable to get my card made - boo! Actually I'm sick as a dog tonight, I don't know what's hit me but it's not fun. :-( I'm so sad to miss out on this fun hop for a good cause!! I will be back really soon with a card in a separate post, but I didn't want to break the blog hop chain. From here, make sure and hop on over to Sherri's blog to continue on!! Thank you so much for hopping along with us today!

ETA: Well, hopefully better late than never, I'm adding a card to this post!! I went to bed at 7:30pm last night!! I spent all morning lying on the couch, my hubby took the kids to preschool for me - and I'm starting to feel better. So I sat at the desk for a bit and whipped out this card. I feel really terrible for not having a card on time - I only knew about this hop... FOR WEEKS! Why do I always wait until the last minute?? Argh. Anyway, here's my card:


I used the super duper cute Lawn Fawn Critters in the 'Burbs set. I spelled out the sentiment with my good ol' Karen Foster snap stamps. I think this card is begging for some stitching, but alas, I could not add any. Did I tell you about my sewing machine?? I broke the power cord!! You know how much I love stitching on cards! I am lost without it. Sigh. To make up a little for the lack of sewing, I added a little liquid applique to the bunny tails. That always makes me smile.

Ok, enough blabbing - as I said above, hop on over to Sherri's blog and see what sort of cuteness she's cooked up for you! Happy Stamping!

• Stamps: Critters in the 'Burbs from Lawn Fawn, Karen Foster snap stamps
• Paper: Kraft (Hero Arts), white, DP (Amuse)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: square punch, PTI scallop border die, Liquid Applique, some fun ribbon I bought on Etsy, button, twine

Texas Tuesday with an old Texas relic...

Howdy y'all! It's time to shine up yer boots and crank up some Lyle and hang out fer a little Texas Tues-steppin'! Ok, ok, I know, I really shouldn't attempt to talk Texan. Even though I've been here for about 15 years, I'm still too much of a yankee at heart. But even if I wasn't born in Texas, I got here as fast as I could! hee hee That's a popular Texas bumper sticker. I couldn't resist. BUT ENOUGH SILLINESS!!! Let me show you my card!


Ok, I apparently wasn't done with the silliness because this card is completely silly too! First of all, I used a Deadbeat Designs image that completely cracks me up! Well, sort of anyway - I pulled this one out because I'm feeling like a bit of a (transplanted) Texas relic. I'll be "celebrating" my first annual 39th birthday this Sunday, and I am none too pleased about it. The clock has begun ticking - only one year left to become 40 and fabulous! ACK! Or not, if I just start celebrating my 39th birthday annually...

As for the sketch for this card - I used Maria's Mojo Monday idea but took it in my own somewhat silly direction:


Check out the historical marker, does it kinda sorta look stonelike? I tried the technique where you pour a little Copic colorless blender solution onto a rag and smoosh it onto the image you've colored. It gives it a fun look. Of course, I think all the historical markers I've seen have been metal not stone. WHATEVER!


Since I mentioned cranking up some Lyle, I feel it's my civic duty to provide some Lyle to crank. Here's a favorite, since... that's right... I'm not from Texas...

And be sure to check out my fellow Texas crafters - Mark, Betty, Tina and a new member of our merry little group, Karen. I believe a few of my other Texas friends are taking this week off - but Jennifer may have a post a little later. And of course if you ever want to join us with your own Texas-inspired creations, you're welcome to!

Until next time - Happy Stamping!

• Stamps: J-242 Historic B-Day from Deadbeat Designs, S5215 Clouds from Hero Arts
• Paper: Cardstock from Stampin' Up, DP from American Crafts
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise, Copic markers & Copic colorless blender solution
• Accessories: Cork, grass die from My Favorite Things, scallop die from PTI, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Spellbinders oval nestabilities, ribbon, brads

Paper Pretties Blog Hop WINNER

It's time to announce the winner of the cute Imagine set from Paper Pretties featured in my last blog post! I used random.org to choose lucky comment #44, Kathy S who said:

"This little dragon is sooo cute- and I love your card and the colours you used. I would love to add a dragon to my family I don't have any yet."

Congratulations Kathy S! Please email Heather at hlrcrafts@hotmail.com with your mailing address, and she'll get that set right out to you!

Happy Stamping,

Paper Pretties Grand Re-Opening Blog Hop!!!

Today I am soooo excited to be part of the Paper Pretties Grand Re-Opening and New Release Blog Hop!! If you’re arriving from Jen's blog, you’re in the right place! If you are just joining us on our HUGE PARTY TRAIN, you can head back to the Paper Pretties Blog to start from the beginning. Check out all the information in the blog post too, there are PRIZES galore and different GIFTS WITH PURCHASE, you don’t want to miss out!

When my friend Heather emailed and said she was re-opening the Paper Pretties store and asked if I'd join her team in this hop, of course I said yes! I had no idea what stamp set I'd be working with. Well if you know me at all, you know I completely SQUEALED when this cutie patootie set arrived at my door!!


I love dragons. I especially love CUTE ADORABLE SWEET dragons, like the one in this set called Imagine. I adore this sentiment that he's paired with, too! (and there are two others in the set as well!) Since I used the one about dreams, I thought it would be fun and dreamy to have him sitting in some clouds in a swirly night sky. And of course blinged up with lots of rhinestones and glitter, as every good dragon should be!

You’ve likely heard by now, but Paper Pretties is releasing TWELVE brand new sets today, along with the big Prettie Boutique Re-Opening. All of the new sets will be available for purchase in the Prettie Boutique beginning no later than 7 AM CST today.

It’s our party, but the PRESENTS are for you!! Leave a comment right here on this post to enter to win this fabulous stamp set!! I will take comments until Sunday, August 15^th at 6 PM CST, and then one Prettie Lucky stamper will be chosen at random to receive this set!! Can’t get a better deal than that! And you can shop now without fear, if you happen to win a set you already purchased (you know you can’t resist these amazing new images!), you may substitute a different set of equal or lesser value in its place.

If we’re going to have a party, we’re going to make it a REALLY GOOD PARTY. Here are the purchase specials for all purchases from the Prettie Boutique:

• Every order placed during release weekend (now through Sunday, August 15^th) will receive a free Paper Pretties “Hand Stamped” stamp!
• All orders that total $25 or more (before shipping charges are applied) will receive a free stamp set (Paper Pretties’ choice) in their package!
• Any orders that total $100 or more (before shipping charges are applied) will receive a free 6x6 paper pad (Paper Pretties’ choice) with their order!
• The older Paper Pretties’ stamps are still on sale! Up to 75% off, with many of the Sophia and Cooper sets selling for just $5! WOW!!

Thanks for joining us today. We hope you love this release as much as we do!! Your next stop on our Blog Hop is Jana's wonderful blog. Good luck and Shop Prettie!

• Stamps: Imagine from Paper Pretties
• Paper: Green, black & silver cardstock from Stampin' Up
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, black Glaze pen (on his eyes)
• Accessories: white felt, rhinestones, Diamond Stickles, wired ribbon, PTI scallop edge die, Tim Holtz Swirls embossing folder
  

Texas Tuesday featuring Deadbeat Designs!

Hey Y'all! It's the first Tuesday of the month so you know what that means - time for a little Texas Tues-steppin' with some of my fellow cowpokes! This week I have something special to share. If you've been following along, you know that Mark from Deadbeat Designs is part of our little Texas Tuesday team. Well, for this week's post he was kind enough to provide one of his brand spankin' new stamps to all of us to play with! Yeehaw!!


The new stamp is that gorgeous Texas Our Texas collage on the left. I paper pieced it, first stamping it on some old light blue polka dot paper from my massive stash, and then again on kraft. The star is colored in with a white gel pen. Then I decided I simply needed to add more Deadbeat goodness to my card! The red panel is patterned paper that I stamped with Mark's Bandana Flower, and the sentiment is called Big and Bright. Mark has a really excellent selection of Texas-themed stamps (and lots of other fun stuff too!), so all you fellow Texans, cowboy junkies and even you lonestar wannabes really need to check out Deadbeat Designs! ;-)

Now be sure to check out what my fellow Texas Tuesday buddies did with this wonderful Texas-y stamp: Jennifer, Tina, Betty, Geeta, Linda, Shannan and of course Mark himself! (ETA: Mark is giving away a Texas Our Texas stamp to one lucky commenter, so make sure and leave him some love over there!!)

And until we meet again...

Happy Stamping!

• Stamps: Texas Our Texas, Bandana Flower and Big & Bright from Deadbeat Designs
• Paper: Kraft (Hero Arts), white, DP from My Mind's Eye (light blue), Bo Bunny (red), The Paper Studio (denim)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger), white gel pen
• Accessories: Twine, boot charm, machine stitching

Out of this World!

A week or so ago, Melanie Muenchinger asked me if I'd like to join her and some of her other past guest designers & friends in a little blog hop, highlighting some of Melanie's stamp sets for Gina K Designs. Since I happen to think Melanie is out of this world, I happily said "YES!".


I was honored when Melanie asked me to guest design with her wonderful Wee Tees set over a year ago! You can see all of my other Wee Tees cards HERE - I had lots of fun with them! For today's card, I had planned to make a sweet little baby girl card. I even NEED a baby card to send to a new mommy. But then I started looking through various blogs for inspiration, and the latest Play Date Cafe "colour splash" challenge made me think of Melanie's CUTE little flying saucer image.


Black and white with a splash of color. The specified color splash is GREEN! A splash of green? How about a little green alien?? hee hee!

For the sketch I played along with the CPS challenge:


One fun detail I wanted to point out - I used a little Ranger Glossy Accents for the "bubble" on the flying saucers, and added a little Diamond Stickles for zing.


Melanie asked several other designers to share cards tonight as well, please make sure and check out what they did!

Brenda Turner
Carla Suto
Carolina Buchting
Geri Utterback
Karen Knegten
Linda Payne
Melissa Shultz
Selma Stevenson
Shari Seffens
Sue Van DeVusse
Tina Gilliland

And of course make sure you see what the creative genius herself, Melanie, created tonight!!

Thanks for stopping by. And thank you Melanie for inviting me to play along!

• Stamps: Wee Tees by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K Designs
• Paper: Black, silver, white cardstock (Stampin' Up), DP from American Crafts
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 3 die, 1" circle punch, nailheads (Mark Richards), embroidery floss, Glossy Accents (Ranger), Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop!! I'm so excited to be here hopping along with Julee, owner of Verve, and all of her other adoring fans! I remember the day Julee first announced her new little adventure on her blog - I really cannot believe it's been three years already! (Sidenote: I also cannot believe I've been blogging this long!) :-) If you've been hopping along, you arrived here via (my idol!) Jen's fabulous blog. If you just happened to stop by my blog today, head on over to Julee's blog for all of the info on how to win prizes and start hopping from the beginning!! And if you get lost along away, head on over to the Master Hop List to get back on track. Now that all the formalities are out of the way, how about I show you my card?


Not only is it Julee's anni-VERVE-sary, but yesterday was my wedding anniversary! So I decided to make an anni-VERVE-sary anniversary card for my hubby. :-) I busted out a couple oldie but goodie Verve sets - Wild Thing for the heart, and Feeling Groovy for the sentiment. As you all know, Julee's stamps have THE BEST sentiments - love them so much!

It's kinda funny that you came here from Jen del Muro's blog, because I used her fabby sketch for my card.


Ok, that's enough chit chat, you have A LOT more hopping to do! It's time to hop on out of here and check out another wonderful Jen - Jen Cuthbertson!

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Wild Thing and Feeling Groovy from Verve Stamps
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft notecard, Stampin' Up black & vanilla CS, DP from AMuse (red) and Pink Paislee (blue)
• Ink: Ranger Distress Ink (Fired Brick, Vintage Photo), Palette Noir
• Accessories: Cork (MFT), Scallop edge die (PTI), circle dies (Spellbinders), pewter brads, machine stitching