Friday, September 24, 2010

{Belated Giveaway Winner Announcement!}

Oh. My. Goodness. I can’t believe it was almost a week before I realized I forgot to announce the winner of the LiveTeachCreate giveaway! I. Am. So. Sorry!

I numbered all of the comments and used random.org to get our winners. So, without any further delay, the winner of the Teresa Collins Documented Envelope Album Kit is……

envelope kit

Mamatha!!

And the winner of the Teresa Collins Family Matters Clipboard Cover Kit is…..

family matters

Carrie Duvall!!

Congrats ladies! Please click on Contact at the top of the page and email me your snail mail address to receive you prizes!

Thanks Everyone for participating!!

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

{Operation Reorganization: Kitchen Pantry}

Remember this post where I ranted about my pantry and told you that it was all going to change? Well, the next day I thought about how I was going to tackle the reorganization and when I got home from work, I emptied out the entire contents of my pantry, filled my dining room table and sat in the middle of my kitchen on a step stool trying to figure out how to put it back together. My first thought was that the contents in my dining room could not go back into the same cabinet they came out of so this is what happened.

Pantry-Before&After I relocated my bake ware to the pantry and moved the pantry contents to where the bake ware was. It was closer to the stove microwave so it made sense to me. Also the cabinet is not as deep as the pantry so hopefully food won’t get lost in it’s new location.  :)

Pantry-Relocation This is the contents AFTER I sifted through and pulled out the food that was expired. Forgot to take a picture of all that but I filled an entire garbage bag (and felt extremely guilty for throwing out that much food.) There were things in there that expired in 2006!! Eeewww!

Ok. So I did a little switcharoo and you would think that would be the end of it, right? Well, it wasn’t. I also had spices and ingredients for baking in the pantry and when I went to put those items in their proper places, I was again sickened by the lack of organization there too so I emptied the cabinets where I had the spices and baking stuff.

Spices-Before&After The before pic is after I sorted through my spices. I had 5 of some things! Seriously people, it was ridiculous! Those racks in the after pic pull out & down which is great because that cabinet is above our microwave that’s over the stove and I’m short so any little help I can get so I don’t have to use a step stool is wonderful!

Before I show you where the baking supplies and spices were mixed together, let’s check out the “overflow” pantry that we have in our laundry room.

Overflow-Before&After Well, it looks just as crowded but it’s a little more organized than before. My hope was to move the doggie stuff to a cabinet above our dryer but those bins didn’t fit. Plan B is to put it all in the cabinet under the sink in our laundry room but hubsy is going to have to go through that stuff because well, it’s all his crap under there. Remember how I said the paper plates, cups & stuff was suppose to be in this cabinet? Do you notice in the after pic that it all made it to it’s originally designated place? :)

Ok, now let’s go back to the kitchen and check out that cabinet with all my baking supplies. Before, all my spices, baking supplies, some random dishes & disgusting bugs were residing in this cabinet. After a thorough cleaning, I managed to put it all back together. I so wish I had taken a pic of the before when it was all in the cabinet.

Baking-IngredientsThis is, hands down, my favorite part of the reorganization project (even though I had no intention to touch this cabinet originally).  In the after pic, on the top left are all my extracts, food coloring, baking spices (like nutmeg, pumpkin spice, etc), and cupcake liners. On the right are all my oils and cooking sprays. The middle shelf is all my dry goods like sugars & flours. If I had extras, I placed it behind the jars. The bottom isn’t baking stuff, it’s pasta, beans & tea bags. All my pasta was where the spices are now so I had to relocate them somewhere.

Label ItOk, so if you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my tweet about how giddy I was that I got to use some labels from my {embellish*ology} shop! Many of you wanted to see them in action so here ya go! All I did was add the ingredient of each jar, printed & cut them out and ran them through my Xyron. Want some customized labels for your organization project? Let me know, I’d be happy to customize some for you!

So what do you think of Operation Pantry Reorganization? I hope you are inspired to use {embellish*ology} products now.  :)

XOXO,
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Monday, September 13, 2010

{My First Sketchy Thursday Challenge}

Ever since Diana became one of my DT lovies, I was determined to participate in one of the challenges on her Sketchy Thursdays blog. Since I was on a digi scrapping kick this weekend, I thought now was as good a time as any.

Here’s this week’s sketch:090910 Sketch

 

And, here’s my take on the sketch: My Paradise

Hope your Monday was a good one…mine kinda sucked.  :(

XOXO,
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{LiveTeachCreate Giveaway and a Coupon Code!}

Jenn, one of my good twitter friends and vendor of {embellish*ology} has put up some goodies for two lucky readers to win! YIPEEE!!

One lucky winner will win this Teresa Collins Documented Envelope Album Kit.envelope kit And another lucky winner will win this Teresa Collins Family Matters Clipboard Cover Kit!

family matters

For this little giveaway, we are going to do a scavenger hunt through Jenn’s online scrapbook store.

To Enter the Giveaway:
BE SURE TO LEAVE 1 COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY/ITEM FOR MULTIPLE CHANCES TO WIN.
*Participate in our little scavenger hunt. 1 comment per clue.
*Follow Jenn on Twitter @liveteachcreate.
*Follow her blog.
*Blog about this little giveaway.

Are you ready for a little scavenger hunt?

Ready. Set. Go! http://shop.liveteachcreate.com/

1. Name one adhesive carried at LiveTeachCreate?

2. Name 1 die cutting machine Jenn carries in her shop.

3. Name one {embellish*ology} product that LiveTeachCreate currently carries?

4. What is your favorite item on this page?

5. If you could have anything from the LiveTeachCreate store, what would it be?

Winners will be announced Monday, September 20th. Good Luck!

P.S. If you don’t want to wait to win the goodies, Jenn has also offered a coupon code for 10% off purchases of $25 or more!
Use coupon code 10EMB25.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

{It’s a Pantry Raid!}

This post was inspired by Katie over at Cleared for Takeoff.

Ok, so tonight I went grocery shopping….which is bad enough but what I dislike more than grocery shopping is putting up the groceries once I get home. Tonight was no different. I strongly dislike putting up groceries because I am not happy with my pantry situation. Let’s take a little tour and I’ll show/tell you why.

(Pics aren’t going to be pretty because I snapped them real quick with my iPhone)

Ok, this is my official “pantry”. Doesn’t look so bad, you say? Well, can you see that stuff in the back? No? well that’s because it’s like 2 feet deep! There is probably stuff back there that has been there almost as long as we’ve been in this house (10 years). There’s a bottom part to this pantry but I have things like plastic containers, appliances we never use, etc.

photo 5 

Because the pantry in our kitchen is so inadequate, we purchased a free standing cabinet to catch the overflow. Not being utilized very efficiently, huh?

photo

Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
This is the top two shelves. The top is mainly Ziploc bags because I bought them in bulk at Sam’s due to the fact that it seemed like we never had any when I needed them. That shelf was designated for things like that along with paper plates, cups etc. Notice that some other things have snuck up there and the paper plates have decided to party with the chips on the second shelf.

photo 2 

Ok so you’ve seen the top two shelves of the “overflow pantry” lets take a look at the bottom two shelves. These shelves have been designated for the dog stuff. That’s a lot of stuff for a dog that does nothing but lay around and sleep! Oh, and no, those aren’t really dirty dish rags & towels…I just haven’t re-labeled that basket yet.

photo 4

My little tirade tonight while putting up groceries has led to my weekend project….organizing this pantry so figuring out what to make for dinner doesn’t give me  a headache LOL.

Now that you’ve seen my pantry in all it’s glory, head on over to Katie’s blog and link up your pantry.

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

{Wordless Wednesday}









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Friday, September 3, 2010

{Make it up as I go Chicken & Pasta}

So, today I spent all day cleaning and was still in cleaning mode when hubsy came home from work. I wasn’t too worried about having dinner ready because he likes to do his P90 workout before dinner so I pulled a couple of chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw having no idea what I was going to do with it. About an hour later, this is what I came up with.

Chicken & pasta 

Here’s what you’ll need:
Chicken Breasts
Rotini Noodles
1 can Crushed Tomatoes
1 Squash – Sliced,diced or however you like it.
Italian Seasonings (Garlic, basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram)
McCormick Garlic&Herb Seasoning
Olive oil
Garlic Breadsticks

In a saucepan, warm the crushed tomatoes & Italian seasonings (to taste). Add squash & zucchini. Cover and let simmer.

While the sauce is simmering, start cooking the Rotini noodles.

In a skillet, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (enough to cover the bottom. While oil is heating, season chicken breasts with the Garlic&Herb seasoning, add to skillet. Cook on med-high heat until cooked through.

Right before chicken is done, warm garlic breadsticks in oven and mix the tomato sauce & pasta.

Serve to hungry family.  :)

If you make this, I’d love to hear what you thought. Also would love to hear any variations you try.

XOXO,
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Thursday, September 2, 2010

{A Mini Tutorial}

Hi! Have you been to the shop to see all the Halloween goodies that have been added? What do you think? Got any ideas on how you can use them?

Well, have no fear, Diana is here…..to give us a little tutorial for this super cute mini album!

Diana Halloween Mini

Diana had a great idea and combined the Little Monster embellishments with the Fright Night embellishments! She used the Fright Night Halloween Cut-Outs, Little Monster Journaling Strips, Little Monster Journaling Cards, Wood Grain Tags-Halloween Colors, and the Little Monster Embellishment Tags.

Below are the step by step instructions.

Step 1: Fold a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper or card stock in half. Glue together for a more sturdy book, or use double-sided paper and leave unglued for more pages to decorate.

Step 2: Cut into thirds.

Step 3: Punch two holes in the top of each sheet.

Step 4: Decorate pages and thread ribbon through the holes.

Step 5: Hang and enjoy!

And for those of you who need visuals, you can download the PDF, HERE.

This is super cute Diana! I think I may just have to make one of these for myself!

If you decide to try your hand at one of these, send me a pic and I may just feature it here on the blog! [Extra points if you use {embellish*ology} products. ;)  ]

XOXO,
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

{A Chance to Win Goodies!}

Hi ya’ll! Just wanted to let you know that The RikRak Studio is giving away lots of goodies including $25 in products from {embellish*ology}! She’s giving away 3 prize packs each valued at $100!! What are you waiting for?! Get over there and enter to win!

Oh, and spread the word!  :)

XOXO,
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{Introducing Fright Night}

Fall is coming, can you feel it? The weather is getting cooler, the days seem to be shorter and college football officially starts this weekend! Halloween is just around the corner and I have the perfect embellishments for you to document the occasion!

Fright Night Full Reveal

Fright Night will be available in the shop this evening. If there’s something you want and it happens to be sold out when you go to the shop, no fear, I will have it re-listed soon.

The Design Team girlies have been working on lots of projects using {embellish*ology} products, including Fright Night, so check back because you are going to love what they’ve come up with.

Tomorrow, Diana has prepared a fun & simple tutorial for a mini album! Here’s the cover. Isn’t it adorable?!

Diana-Halloween Mini Cover

Would love to hear your thoughts on the new products!

XOXO,
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