Tag #6

Yes, believe it or not, we are still working on our 12 Tags of Christmas 2011.  Don't want to rush into anything here, lol!  We, meaning mainly myself, didn't like the tag for #6 last year so we opted to do Ted's version of Tag #9.  There weren't many instructions for it so we improvised. Tim didn't use the new lamp post die cut in any of his tags last year and I, for one, was quite disappointed.  It was my favorite of all the new dies so was sure he would use it just for that reason, lol, ya right! So, he left me to my own devices and this is what I came up with.  My friend Gloria came over yesterday and we finished up the last remaining tag using the lamp post!

I really like how it turned out.  We clear embossed the 'christmas carol' stamp and the holly leaves and added some red stickles in various places.  For the 'light' in the lamp post, I cut out a piece of clear packaging and covered it with Sunflower Yellow alcohol ink, looks pretty authentic, hugh?  Then we shaded the outskirts with faded jeans, broken china and tumbled glass, working toward the center.  We left the center open and shaded in a little bit of one of the new spring series colors, squeezed lemonade.  It was just the perfect color of yellow to make it look like the lamp post is brightly shining.  Added some foilage and some scrolls, some bells and a snippet of red netting.  After it was glued down to the base, we put some clear rock candy stickles in different places and 'scattered some snow' around.  The streamers are broken china.  I think Ted would be proud of our rendition of his creation!

I had just realized that I hadn't put up photos of two of the others that we did.  At least I couldn't find the photos that I took of them.  So if this part is a duplicate, let me apologize now.  Tag #8 was the steampunk one and anyone who knows me, knows that that is not my style at all.  However, my friend Gloria is quite the steam punk gal.  She convinced me that I should do the steampunk card so, VOILA', I did it, and I have to admit, it did turn out pretty good.  She gave me a little light bulb to put on it and I put it in a special place so I wouldn't lose it and and guess what, it was lost for many moons, lol!  I had to go buy a package of them myself just so I would have one for this tag.  AND, as my luck would have it, I found the one she gave me just days after I bought my own!!!  Isn't that how it always goes, lol.  Anyway, here's Tag #8-SteamPunk

And the last one that I haven't put up yet, was Tag #11, the Santa and Merry Christmas one using the photo paper.  I didn't care for this one much either but I managed to get through it.  The leaves and branch were die cut from shrink film and then shrunk in the utee/melting pot.  That was a pretty cool technique and I have used it a few times since then. 

Well, that's it for today.  Hope you have a great Memorial Day and please do remember,


All Gave Some, Some Gave All, We Will Never Forget!

Hugs,
~Jody

Just love me some Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I remember years ago, an old green wooden ice cream maker my father had.  It was the hand crank model and we all had to take turns if we wanted any ice cream.  It was soooooooo good.  I have my father's recipe for it but have never had a machine with which to do it. 

My ex-husband's dad had an electric ice cream maker we used to borrow once in a while. And I almost bought an old green hand crank model at a flea market a couple of years ago but my boyfriend at the time convinced me that I didn't want that old thing.  Should have swapped him for the ice cream maker, lol!!!

Then last week, Tracey over at The Cottage Industry blog has been making different kinds of ice cream in her new ice cream maker and she has inspired me to go get my own finally.  I did a little research online and found that Target had them on sale so I raced over there to see if they still had one and they did, had 2 left, YEAH!!!!

 

 I also picked up some heavy whipping cream to go with the sugar and eggs that I already had.  Some rock salt and some plastic cups and spoons so I could share with the kids that run around the neighborhood.

Got it all washed up and set up and churning in about a half hour.  Froze the metal canister while I was mixing up the ingredients and then poured it all in with about 6 cups of milk.

 It took a bit longer to start setting up because I had it outside and it's pretty warm here in ol'FL.  About 90º+ today so this was going to be a pretty good treat on a hot afternoon.

Couldn't hardly wait to get the dasher out of it.  I had already taste-tested a couple of times but I wanted a dish of it right now, lol!  I did eat a little cup of it but it needed to set up some more in the freezer.

Unfortunately, it was a bit too late to share with the kids tonight, but it will be good and ready tomorrow.  Of course, I've had several little cups of it already tonight and it is SOOOOOOOOOO Good.  It tastes just as good as it did way back then! YUM!!!!

Hope you get some yummy treats this weekend too!
Hugs,
~Jody
 

Another Birthday gone!!!

I turned another year older last Sunday and was able to take a trip to Miami with a girlfriend.  We had a great time.  We drove down in my new little black truck, yea!  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Miami,  where I won a three day stay at our company Christmas party last year. It was in downtown Miami.  We were on the 23rd floor.  We could see the pool from the window out of the lounge on our floor.  I was a bit disappointed that the pool did not ever get any sun.  The other hotels all around it are like 40 floors tall or so and the only sun it can get is over head around noon time.  Anyway, we cruised down US 1 and checked out some flea markets and whatever ever else we could find the first day.  The second day we went over to Miami Beach.  It was pretty cool, and pretty crowded by the time we left.  We went to the beach and played in the water a bit, shopped around and had some lunch.  Then that night we went for our fine dining experience.  The lobster was fabulous!!!  Two huge tails, YUM!!!  That's been my birthday present from me to me for the last few years. 

  See, told ya the buildings were tall

Even all along the beach

It was a great experience.  Not sure I would ever go back, it is a very different culture down there, but it was nice to see it!

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend,
Hugs,
~Jody

Got Them............

My Creative Chemistry 101 Graduate Apron, is one of them.  It was in my mailbox yesterday when I arrived home from my monthly tea party yesterday afternoon.  Love it!  The ties on it are different from any I have ever seen, a Tim Holtz original, for sure!  May have to gussy it up with some Tim Holtz goodness too, that's a project for another day I suppose.

Also was able to get the new Spring 2012 series stamp pad set too.  Great colors here, let me tell ya.  Love them, ALL!  The Feathered Peacock will be a fan favorite, for sure.  I'm a bit partial to the Shaded Lilac and the Squeezed Lemonade is the perfect shade of yellow for spring.  Can't wait to use them.

 I was also able to get most of the new reinkers as well.  They were already out of three of them when I arrived. Guess which one went first???  You got it, Feathered Peacock.  My LSS will call me when their new shipment arrives. 

Well, I'm off to the flea market to see what kind of vintage treasure is out there for me today.  Wish me luck!

                      Happy Mother's Day!
 
to all the moms out there today, male and female, I hope you have a terrific day and that your family shows you just how much they really appreciate all the things that you do for them!

Hugs,
~Jody

Graduation Card

Have I mentioned how much I don't like the new blogger post thingy.  I will never understand why they have to fix what's NOT broken, lol!

Anyway, just wanted to share with you the card I made for my daughter's graduation.  I didn't get to finish it the night before but I was able to get it done in the following couple of days, so I mailed it to her with a surprise inside (what starving college student doesn't love a $20 bill).  I had already spent plenty on her so didn't want to go overboard. 

But, I thought the card turned out pretty good.  She likes the Tim Holtz gears so with that in mind, this is what I came up with.  Oh, ya, she likes the color green too, it matches her eyes.

I would hope she has already received it since I know she reads the blog, although I would have thought she would have said something but you never know. 

Thanks for checking in on me, hope you have a great Friday,
Hugs,
~Jody

My Daughter's Graduation

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of a time for me.  My daughter graduated from college at USF-University of South Florida yesterday, YEAH!  So very proud of her!  Life has been a huge struggle for her the last few months and she's come close to losing it a couple of times but she has persevered and made it through to the big day.  Hopefully life will get easier as time goes by but I just wanted to give a big shout out to her to say 

                                                 "YOU MADE IT"!

                   and I Love You So Much!!!!!