Thoughts of a Grasshopper

This is one is super easy to do. Especially seems easy when you CASE it. No clue what blog I was at that I saw it, but I loved how quick it looked. Indeed it is and it is a perfect card to share with the ladies at church. I've had to come up with very simple cards and for the most part there isn't coloring on the five cards I have. Mostly stamping and sponging on two and coloring on two. Not even watercoloring. You can't get any easier. This card uses artichoke, river rock, pomegranate and vanilla CS.

Very simple card to do. I love the wide grossgrain and the DP is gorgeous and fun for Christmas. I've been looking for simple cards to do this year. I have 41 cards made so far, which is just over 1/4 of what I will be needing. So many people are moving right now. It is surprising at this time of year to hear of people moving. The good thing is they are moving to somewhere better for them and their family. It is when you are working side by side with them that you realize how much of a void will be there when they are gone.

This recipe was in the October issue of Southern Living. It is yummy. I ended up adding a can of corn to the chili. Prep: 15 min.; Cook: 1 hr., 15 min. Pick up smoked chicken from your favorite barbecue restaurant to make this dish, or use a barbecue-flavored rotisserie chicken from your local supermarket. Ingredients 2 poblano chile peppers, chopped 1 large red bell pepper, chopped 1 medium-size sweet onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 (14 1/2-oz.) cans zesty chili-style diced tomatoes 3 cups shredded or chopped smoked chicken (about 1 lb.) 1 (16-oz.) can navy beans 1 (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained 1 (12-oz.) can beer* 1 (1.25-oz.) envelope white chicken chili seasoning mix Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, chopped fresh cilantro, sour cream, lime wedges, baby corn, sliced bla...

This is the book club book of the month. The book is a quick read. I woke up at 3 a.m. Saturday morning and having slept for several hours already, I didn't have any hope of going back to sleep so I read until I needed to get up and make breakfast at 6 a.m. I finished reading it while watching the Red Sox kick the Colorado Rockies out of the park. I must admit I was so engrossed in the book at one point that I missed three runs and the excitement over it. My husband was stunned that I could block it out. What was the book about? Claire is a single mother. She is a Christian author. Her mother lives 3 doors down and she depends on her mother to help out with her kids and do the extra "mom" type of things while she works on her books. She ends up needing surgery on her wrist which will make it impossible for her to work for 6 weeks. Her mother moves to Texas to live with her brother's family just before Claire's surgery. She is on her own. Claire makes a l...

Stampin' Up! recently had a Holiday Blitz promotion. I love the textured cardstock. The designs were fun and while I didn't have all of the stamps that they used, I was able to improvise on the "JOY" card and basically do what they did. Very fun Christmas cards. What I liked most was being able to whip out so many cards in a short amount of time.

Every Wednesday after school we go to the library and then I drop off the older two at piano lessons and I take the twins to park to pass an hour of time. This past week was no different. While they were playing on the playground equipment I sat on a bench and looked through a book that I had checked out. While reading, I felt something on my arm. I went to brush it off and lo and behold, it was a tarantula! I'm horribly afraid of spiders but a tarantula! I made some sort of squealing noise and one of the girls asked why I screamed. The first swipe wasn't enough, it was still there but after several quick swipes it was gone. I wanted to see where it was on the ground just to be sure it really was off of me. I couldn't find it in the grass. In all honestly I didn't look too hard. I really didn't want to see it again. I switched benches and continued to be freaked out for a bit. I checked in my pocketbook a couple of times to be sure I wouldn't be car...

A couple of days ago I was talking with a friend and by the end of the conversation there was no way not to look at yourself and see your faults and how you respond to certain situations. It wasn't a time where you would be patting yourself on the back, but instead asking, 'why am I like this?' After pondering the question for a bit I thought I figured out the why and I called her to talk more. We both ended up feeling better and know of yet another thing we need to work on. I made a card for her. I was going to write the many reasons why I love her to help her feel better about herself. She seemed bothered by her internal analysis and, like so many, she can beat herself up over small faults. I used her favorite colors on the card and it had lots of bling. It was rather simple looking, just a square card. I had a large flower that took up most of the card, which I pulled apart and made a flower center with a few layers, using the True Friend stamp from Stampin' ...

I like the colors, some watercoloring doesn't seem to be showing up as well in the photo. I always have trouble coloring the city. I wish I could give it more of a glow. The sketch is from Splitcoaststampers today. I like it and plan to try later with another set. The kids are in Halloween mode. One of the twins would like for Skinny Cows to be handed out for Halloween. I told her it would melt and have to be eaten right then. "Maybe we could use a small freezer to give them out with." "That would be heavy to carry around. " " I mean a small one that would only hold one Skinny Cow." "That would be nice then you could take them for a treat to school after lunch." "I wonder why nobody has invented it yet?"