So much fun!

Happy Tuesday to you'all!

Well, there are a lot of my fellow SU! demos at Convention for SU! this week and I am thinking of them all.....wishing I was with them for such an amazing and FUN event. Maybe next year! Hey, a girl can dream!!! :-)

I am posting a couple of pic's from this past weekend. Jeff, Jolie and I went up to Ossipee Lake in Freedom, NH (isn't that a great name for a town! "Freedom") to visit with a good friend of mine who was vacationing up there with her kiddos. We had a fun filled day of swimming, eating, waterskiing and lots of good company. The day ended with a beautiful and cozy fire outside. The picture of me holding Jolie was taken as we were enjoying the fire and watching the sun set for the day.

The next day we got up early and drove an hour further north to Story Land. What an AMAZING place!!!! I was soooooooooooo IMPRESSED with the whole park. I couldn't stop saying how impressed I was with the park all day to Jeff. I don't think he was very "impressed" with my non-stop talk of being "impressed" - even though I know he was too! BUT I was even more proud that our little state of NH is actually the home of such a fabulous place to take the family for the day. And I tell you, if we lived closer than 3 hours away from this park I would totally get a season's pass! So, for all of you that live within a decent distance to the White Mountains of NH absolutely make it a point to take your family to Story Land. It R-O-C-K-S!!!!!

Okay, off to give my little lamby a bath.....she is one dirty dirty girl! The sand box and a trip the farm will do that every time!

Thanks for stoppin' by,

~avril~

Yup....I'm addicted!

Hello There!

Well, I finally started playing around with the Dahlia fold technique.....and I can't get enough of it!!!! I just LOVE saying the word "Dahlia".....it kind of just roooooooooooooolls off my tongue. :-) AND it's fun creating with this technique too! Above you will see the first two cards I created with the Dahlia flower fold. I was also excited to come across the combination of Brilliant Blue with Certainly Celery. I am sure many of you have already discovered this combo - but I just realized how great these two colors go together.....I did the "happy dance" for a couple of days just thinking of them together! I know.....ridiculous I am! Oh the little things.......

Click here for a fabulous tutorial of the Dahlia Fold.

Card Recipe

Card #1

Stamp Sets: Paisley BG stamp and Fresh Cuts

Card Stock: Certainly Celery and Whisper White

Ink: Certainly Celery and Brilliant Blue

Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretties Kit, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punch, Brilliant Blue Prints DSP

Card #2

Stamp Sets: Paisley BG stamp and Fresh Cuts

Card Stock: Certainly Celery and Whisper White

Inks: Certainly Celery and Brilliant Blue

Accessories: Certainly Celery 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretties Kit, paper piercer, Scallop Edge, 1 3/8", 1 1/4" and 3/4" circle punches

Enjoy!

~avril~

Flowers and beads oh my!

Happy Rainy Day!

A perfect day to post some flower cards.....with beads too!.....on such a rainy day. I was hoping to get in some blueberry picking today but couldn't make in time before the rain started pouring down.

I made these two cards for two different occasions. The first card was created for a challenge posted by my fabulous 2nd upline, Cindy Lawrence, well over a month ago. Well, when my "club girls" saw the card the wanted to do the same technique with the Boho Blossoms punch and micro beads (adhered to the flowers with Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive). I altered my design a little bit and came up with the second card above. A fun and fast card! Just stamp out the three flower stamp from One of a Kind in a couple different colors using the Boho Blossoms punch. Arrange flowers ontop of a cute little vase made from the large oval punch and viola!

Here are the recipes for both cards -

Card #1

Stamp sets : One of a Kind

Cardstock: Purely Pomegrante, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White

Ink: Purely Pomegrante, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Sahara Sand

Accessories: Boho Blossoms and large oval punches, Green micro beads, Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive, linen thread, dimensionals and Bali Breeze DSP.

Card #2

All supplies are the same as Card #1 except the addition of the...paper piercer and white gel pen.

Fun, fun cards to make! Try it and see for yourself! :-)

Thanks for stoppin' by,

~avril~

Swimin' Time Fun!

Happy Hot Summer Days!

We have been having so much fun swimming ("swimin'" as Jolie would say)and playing in the water with all this HOT HOT summer weather. Jolie is getting more confident in the water - which sometimes makes me have to close my eyes - and will soon be a fabulous swimmer in the next couple of years I am sure.....just like her father! :-)

Colline (my sister and "Tatee" to Jolie) is in these two pictures above with Jolie. Precious times......

Thanks for stopping by!

~avril~

Blueberry Pickin' Time!

Hooray for blueberry pickin'!!!!! Blueberry picking is one of my VERY favorite things to do in the summer.....especially at Monadnock Berries where the view of the mt. is amazing and everyone is so cheerful and happy. This past Sunday we jumped in the Mustang and headed to Troy for our first pickin' of the season (which goes well into August at M.B.). Jolie definitely learned about the color blue at this outing....."only pick the blue one's" is what she heard over and over again. Wonderful way to teach a 2 year old what the color blue looks like! :-)

When we got home I started to hit my recipe books to find a good recipe to use with some of the many berries we brought home. The recipe I came across is called "Blueberry Gems" found in one of my many Paula Deen (LOVE her!!!!!) cookbooks.

Here is the recipe.......

Blueberry Gems

2 c. self-rising flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 c. fresh blueberries (the recipe calls for 1 c. but I like to add more for a "fuller berry muffin")

Mix together flour and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, oil, milk and vanilla. Make a well in the middle of the flour/sugar mixture and pour egg/milk/oil/vanilla mixture into it and mix just until blended. Carefully fold in blueberries.

Place cupcake liners in regular muffin tins and fill with filling.

Bake @ 375 for 23-25 minutes....or until golden brown on top. Makes 12 generous muffins.

So so so yummy!!!
Let me know how they come out......

Blueberry Smiles,

~avril~

Tag Punch Basket

Hey Sweetie Pies!

Yup! - can you believe it this adorable little basket was made out of an envelope and the large tag punch!!!!! Wicked (can you tell I'm from NH?) easy peesy to make. Just seal envelope, score an inch in on 3 sides (all sides except the top sealed side) and punch away with your large tag punch. Let me know if you'd like to learn how to make this adorable little project and I'd be more than happy to show you in person.....book a workshop or join one of my clubs or even just come over to my house for a little stampin' fun!

Happiest of smiles,

~avril~

Gift Card Holder

Ahhhhhhh......a little gift card holder! So fun and easy to make! I can't reveal the directions quite yet for I am hoping to make this in the new future with some of my fabulous customers. I made this G.C.H to hold a Border's gift card for my friend Kylah's BDay present.

Here is the recipe....

Stamp Set: Live Your Dream, It's Your Birthday

Cardstock: Groovy Gauva, Sky Blue, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea DSP

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Wild Wassabi, Blue Bayou

Accessories: Groovy Gauva Double Stitched Ribbon, paper snips, dimensionals, paper piercer, Pretties Kit (pearls)

Happy Day to you ALL!

~avril~

Birthday card for Kylah

Happy Sunday friends!

Last week I made this card for my dear friend Kylah - who absolutely adores this stamp set and DSP to match it (who wouldn't!). So sad that it is gone, gone, gone, gone! Will the set appear in the new catalog????? - most likely NOT but a girl can always, always hope for the best!!! :-)

This is a 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 card. Here's the recipe.....

Stamp Set : Live Your Dream, It's Your Birthday

Paper : Groovy Gauva, Sky Blue, Afternoon Tea DSP

Ink: Wild Wassabi, Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou

Accessories: Double Stitched Blue Bayou Ribbon, Paper piercer, dimensionals, pearls from Pretties Kit, 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" square punches.

Froggy Thank You

Here is the Thank You card that I have made and am in the process of sending out to all those amazing friends and family that spoilt Jolie with presents for her birthday. She is so lucky to have such loving and generous people in her life!

I used punches galore to make this fun card. Large and small ovals, 1 3/8", 3/4", 1/2", 1/4" circles and 3 the flowers punch. Googlie eyes added the last needed touch. Yup....had to pull apart the mini glue dots to attach those googlie's....but it was well worth it. Jolie just can't get enough of frogs when she comes upon one outside thus the card is very fitting to her.

Hugs to all!
~avril~

Tagged!

Goodness I've been tagged! How very, very exciting indeed!!!

Okay, so 7 random and/or weird facts about me.....
#1 I collect and read cook books. I have just as much fun thumbing through a cook book (that has pictures) as I do cooking and/or baking.
#2 As you may have already guessed.....I ADORE cherries! Along with strawberries too. YUM-O!!! Oh and one of my most favorite things to do in the summer is pick blueberries. To me picking blueberries is just heaven! I can't wait to take Jolie in just a couple of weeks once the berries start really getting ripe.
#3 My dream job would be to become a Wedding Planner - I love to plan, organize and orchestrate parties. Even though I've never been a bride myself I LOVE weddings!!!!
#4 At the moment my favorite show/series on TV is "Weeds" - so much drama, comedy and "edge of your seat" suspense. LOVE IT!!!! If you haven't seen it go out and rent the series!!!!
#5 I am the oldest grand-daughter on my maternal side of the family (there are 7 grandchildren). And I adore and cherish each and every one of my cousins - as I do with my whole family. Family is my most cherished and treasured possession in life (along with all my friends!).
#6 My middle name is Simera - no one can ever guess that one I am sure! It comes from the Bible as the name of a Jewish princess. My Dad picked it out.
#7 I LOVE the water (ocean, lakes, ponds, streams and rivers)......but.....I hate swimming. I adore vacationing near it, sleeping close by to it (nothing better than hearing water coming up against the shore or beach) and sun-bathing beside it. Don't get me wrong I can swim! - I just won't go out purposely and swim laps for enjoyment.


7 blogs that I can't get enough of! (BTW - this is a list of ONLY a select few....there are too many blogs that are just amazing that I can't list them in just seven spaces)

Kylah
Jen H.
Kerin S.
Sarah G.
Carol M.
Jan T.
Cambria T.

Happiness to all!
~avril~