Recipe Book

Before and After

Have any of you decided to do a recipe book yet?   Boy, can I tell you that such a beast as I was looking for didn't exist.  I got a new KitchenAid mixer for my birthday which started me off on a new quest.  I've been trying to get more organized and my recipe box was so full and hard to find anything in that I decided it was high time for a new system.  I decided I wanted to do a smaller set of cookbooks. One's that I could just slip the recipe cards into and have a set of three books...one for desserts, one for main dishes and bread or appretizers or something, and then a third one for the other categories. Well, thinking that a product like this already existed I started a search. What I found was that I couldn't find anything that matched what I wanted.  I wanted it to be a 3 ring binder so that I could add to and adjust without dismantling the book and I also wanted it to have the picture pockets to slip the cards into. Now if you try searching online for a recipe book, many had dividers and such in them, and many came filled with recipes which was NOT what I was after.  Nor did I want to spend hours decorating each individual page of a scrapbook.  I don't have THAT amount of time!  LOL.   I've gathered a bunch of good recipies over the years and only the ones that we really like actually end up in my recipe box. So I wanted a place to put my tried, true and family approved recipes. What I found quickly was that what I really needed to look for was a photo album that I could put the recipies.  The problem with that is many are bound or covered in a fabric...not a good choice for a cookbook and I also wanted a 3 ring binder system so that it could grow with little effort from me except to add the page and the recipe. I started off at Office Max and found the perfects size binder but it was $10.00 and then the inserts were $4.50 a set so I added that up real quick and didn't want to spend 50 to 60 dollars for my recipe books. After looking all over including Barnes and Noble, I finally ended up back at Walmart for this binder for $6.00. It will hold two 4x6 recipe cards, one on top of the other for a total of 240 cards. It is 3 ringed so I can add to it and the additonal inserts were only $2.00 a set. The only down side was that it only came in this boring black. Well boring I can live with as long as I can I can spruce it up a bit.  Here's what I decided to do. I'm going to do book 2 and 3 in a different color vinyl so they will be a set, but easy to grab quickly.  I don't know exactly "what" I'm going to put into them yet so....I won't cut the vinyl until I've figured that out.  I'm also going to do tabs inside them...for this one I'm going to do cookies, cakes, bars, pies, etc. Then I will somewhat alphabetize my cards as they go in. That's why I wanted the 3 ring binder set so that it could grow and be modified easily later. Total cost is around $13.00 for 2 binders and vinyl. I would have bought 3, but my Walmart was out so I'll have to go back another time and grab a 3rd one. In the meantime, I'll get this one underway and get my recipies and tabs in. I think it looks much better now! :-) Hopefully it will function like I envision also.....LOL.

http://cardztv.blogspot.com/2012/02/cardz-tv-design-team-challenge-6.html Anything goes

Too Dog Gone Cute

I had some pictures of our dog and my son for a while and finally decided to scrapbook them.  It seems like there are several challenges this week for pets.   So here is what I came up with.  Somone somewhere at some time, shared this Too Dog Gone Cute mat and when going through my pet file, I found it and decided to use it. It turned out fun!  If it was yours, let me know and I'll give you credit!
http://paperplaytime.blogspot.com/2012/02/ch-68-say-it-with-sentiments-challenge.html
http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-53-favorite-pet.html
http://alphabetchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/for-animal-antics.html
http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.com/2012/02/going-grey-with-scrap-creations_21.html
http://panpasteluk.blogspot.com/2012/02/panpastel-uk-challenge-6-animals.html

Knight Mask

What do you do at 9:00 pm when your son says, "Mom, I need a helmet for tomorrow to be the king's guard." Are you kidding me?  LOL.   Last year we did the same thing...only he needed a fireman's hat.  Well at 9:00 at night with the Make the Cut program, 10 minutes, Google, and some paper, even the impossible becomes possible. Here's the king's guard's helmet. My son was thrilled....simple but it will do.  And the best part, a big hug and a "I knew you could do it Mom!"  Woosh....another catastrophy avoided.  Life is good.  :-)  I love you bud and may he always have that faith in me!

Frog Bookmarks

The other morning, my daughter said she loved the frog on my hubby's Valentines Day Card. Since I had planned on making them a bookmark for Valentine's Day but never got it done, I took a couple of minutes to make these cute little bookmarks for them. I think they turned out cute. I also love it when I can use all scraps to make a project.   Have I mentioned how many scraps I have?  UGH.  Anyway, we like to read at our house so we can never have enough bookmarks.  They thought they were cute too!

A Letter From Heaven - In Loving Memory

Letter from Heaven

To my dearest family some things I'd like to say
But first of all to let you know that I arrived today,
I'm writing this from Heaven. Here I shall dwell with God above
Here, there's no more tears of sadness. Here is just eternal love.
Please do not be unhappy just because I'm out of sight
Remember that I am with you every morning, noon and night.
That day I had to leave you when my life on earth was through
God picked me up and hugged me and He said "I welcome you,
It's good to have you back again,
you were missed while you were gone,
As for your dearest family, they'll be here later on.
I need you here badly, you are part of my plan
There's so much that we have to do to help our mortal man."
God gave me a fist of things that he wished for me to do
And foremost on the list was to watch and care for you
And when you lie in bed at night, the days chores put to flight
God and I are closest to you . . in the middle of the night.
When you think of my life on earth and all those loving years
Because you are only human, they are bound to bring you tears
But do not be afraid to cry, it does relieve the pain
Remember there would be no flowers, unless there was some rain.
1 wish that I could tell you all that God has planned
If I were to tell you, you wouldn't understand
But one thing is for certain though my life on earth is o'er
I'm closer to you now than I ever was before.
There are many rocky roads ahead of you and many hills to climb
But together we can do it by taking one day at a time.
When you're walking down the street and you've got me on your mind
I'm walking in your footsteps, only half a step behind
And when it's time for you to go . . from that body to be free
Remember you're not going . . you're just coming here to me.
 Ruth Ann Mahaffey

As we approach the 1 year mark of loosing my Dad, I came across this beautiful poem and wanted to share.    This post is in loving memory of my Dad whom I love and miss everyday.  Love you Dad!

Butterfly Layout

This was such a fun picture!  My son was son excited that he found this monarch butterfly.  It was so cold outside that it just sat in his hand.  He was thrilled.  He comes running over to me and says "Take a picture, Mom!"  So I did.   Eventually it flew away, probably after he warmed it up a bit..LOL...but the look on his face was priceless and full of joy.  Most often in life, it's the simplist things that bring us the most pleasure.  I hope he always remembers that.  And thinking of simple pleasure, this whole layout, with the exception of the main paper, is all scraps.  Gotta love that!  I also love this butterfly.  I can't remember where I got this file either, but isn't it fabulous!  It cut like a dream!  Love those "simple" things!

I'm entering this into these challenges:
  http://doyoustackup.blogspot.com/2012/02/dysu-59-layers.html use layers
 http://morethanfavors.blogspot.com/2012/02/wacky-wednesday-65-circles.html use circles
http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.com/2012/02/use-your-scraps-challenge.html use scraps

Owlways love you layout

I found these cute little owls the other day here at Shery K Designs...and had to give them a try. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but today I came across these old Father's Day pictures and thought "Owlways Love You" would be cute with them. I think these pages turned out fun and springy instead of Valentinesy....lol....time for a change in pace. The cute little leaves are from Just Yolie. I used stickles on the owls tummy and glossy accents on the sun's face. I'm really liking the glossy accents for faces. It makes the eyes and nose look raised....like a bubble sticker and it looks so cool. It doesn't take too long to dry either which is "owl"ways a bonus! LOL. Once again except for the base paper, all of this is done with leftover papers! I LOVE that! I have so much leftover paper that I'm trying to use it.  I actually have a ton of regular paper too.....anyone else guilty of that????

http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/search/label/Challenge%20Me%20Monday funny puns
http://trulymadlycraftychallenges.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-challenge.html ribbon and bling
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-22-wings-and-things.html wings
http://frosteddesigns.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-is-in-air-blog-hop-and-fabulous.html use word love
http://morethanfavors.blogspot.com/2012/02/design-day.html love theme
http://littlescrappieces.blogspot.com/2012/02/winner-and-new-challenge-anything-your.html anything your heart desires

Rose New Camera Pictures

Ok....so I got these beautiful flowers for my birthday and couldn't resist playing with my so so new camera. My old camera died and so almost a year ago, my sweet hubby bought me a new one. Well...the first pictures I took were awful....so I've been trying to play every once in a while to get some better shots. Today I played with several different features of my camera and these are a few of the results. I think my favorite one is the second one where I was able to select the color and change the other colors to black and white! How cool is that! LOL. Anyway, which one do you like? I'd really like to hear your input....Thanks!

I'm going to enter my pictures here at As Simple as That.  I love the thought of everyday photos....that's what these are .... a way to remember something special that my dear hubby did for me.  I sure LOVE that man!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!


http://rebeccacooper.blogspot.com/ "target="_blank">http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v732/rebeccaanncooper/simple_button1_150px-1.jpg"/> />

I love you Bag

Ok....so here is the another gift to give to my kids for Valentine's Day. It will look so cute with the other gifts. This one has skittles and pixie sticks in it.

Challenges:
http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-time-with-ccr-valentines-day.html

http://thepixiecottage.blogspot.com/2012/02/pixie-cottage-challenge-107-red.html

Valentine's Gifts

I had some time and instead of scrapbooking, I decided to get a jump start on the gifts for my family for Valentine's Day. So here is what I came up with....inside the black box is mini Hershey Bars, inside the bad of treats is Snickers, and inside the Strawberry is a a Blow Pop sucker. I think these are a cute way to say I love you without overwhelming them with too many sweets! LOL. These will go great with their cards.  I think it's a good start. :-)  I think I'm going to make a little heart bag to go with them and probably a bookmark as we are all avid readers in our house.  But....it's a great start!

Scrappy Frogs Challenge
http://scrappyfrogschallenge.blogspot.com/2012/02/die-cut-challenge.html Die Cuts
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge
http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-me-monday-97.html  Love is in the air
Paper Playtime
http://paperplaytime.blogspot.com/2012/02/ch-67-cricut-creations-with-hearts-or.html hearts of love
My Craft Spot
http://craftspotbykimberly.blogspot.com/2012/02/monday-challenge-43-valentines-day.html Valentines
Scrappy Moms Stamps
http://www.scrappymoms-stamps.blogspot.com/2012/02/terrific-tuesday-challenge-hearts.html heart main element (pillow box)
Divas by Design
http://divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-20-anything-goes.html anything
Frosted Designs
http://frosteddesigns.blogspot.com/2012/02/fabulous-friday-challenge-ribbon-andor.html ribbon
Papertake Weekly
http://papertakeweekly.blogspot.com/2012/02/anything-goes.html
Shelly's Images
http://shellysimagesblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/terrifically-thrilling-thursday-at.html tie it up
Berry71bleu Pages
http://berry71bleu.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-challengein-mood-for-love.html love

Love Cards-Valentine's or Just Because

Ok....so I needed MORE Valentine's Day Cards. I was sitting here thinking about Valentines Day and I always try to do something for my Grandma's because they are alone. Well, this year will be my Mom's first Valentines Day without my Dad (we lost him on the February 20, 2011) and so she will be alone also. We are running really low on men in my family....sigh.... anyway, I wanted to do something for them for Valentines Day. These cards are all done with scraps leftover from different projects. The ribbon on the first one is crinkle ribbon that I won from a challenge at Little Scrap Pieces.  Thanks Karen!  I LOVE it!  The last one I wanted to see how it would come out using this really wild paper. It's not bad, but I like the top ones best. So....these are the cards I'm going to give to my Mom and Grandmas. There is actually an extra, and that is to give to my hubby for our anniversary or just because sometime. :-) Who doesn't like a card just because sometimes?????

I'm entering it into the Delightful Challenge here:  http://delightfulsketches.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-releases-and-delightful-punches-and.html punches or dies
http://sarahhurleychallenges.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-59-love-is-all-around.html Love is all around
http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/2012/01/crazy4challenges-c4c121.html layer it on
http://thesisterhoodofcrafters.blogspot.com/2012/01/stripes-use-striped-paper.html striped paper (last one)
http://paperprettiesblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/paper-pretties-wednesday-challenge.html use ribbon (1st one)
http://marksfinestpapers.blogspot.com/2012/01/speedy-fox-and-friends-challenge-92.html use 4 layers
http://crimbo-crackers.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-8-no-people-or-animals.html Chrismtas or festive
http://pileitonchallenge.blogspot.com/2012/01/pile-it-on-5-just-because.html just because (last one)
http://www.lilypad.inlinkz.com/2012/01/27/simon-says-stamp-presents-a-patterned-paper-challenge/ pattern paper

Blog Candy Alert

Ok...so one of the blogs I'm following is offering up some fantastic blog candy so I just had to share!  Go take a peak at this blog for your chance to win too!  I know I'd love it!  Make sure you take some time to browse her wonderful blog...she has some fun projects!  Here's the link!

http://www.lovejoypaper.com/2012/02/purge-giveaway.html

Lunch Box Card

These are some leftover hearts from my Love Grows Here idea which I will have to post later after it really gets underway. But anyway, I was reading my google reader this morning and there were two challenges that stuck out in my mind Fantabulous Cricut and Cooking with Cricut. One was to make a 3x3 card and the other a child's valentine using the colors red, pink and white. Well this is what I came up with. I turned one of these cute little leftover hearts into a 3x3 card to tuck into my son's lunchbox on Valentine's Day and then I turned another leftover heart into a Valentine for him to give to his class. This is just my example, we'll see if he wants to do that. Last year he was super excited to make all his Valentine's and he did. It was so sweet.  He told me a couple of weeks ago that he wasn't going to hand out Valentine's this year, he wanted to just hand out candy. Sad huh....... I hope this changes his mind as I'm not ready for my baby to be too old for passing out Valentines! Who knows, maybe if he doesn't want to make them, I'll tempt him into getting some at the store....after all, they aren't very expensive and maybe he can find something he likes. If he doesn't want to make them or buy them, then I'll get him some candy to hand out but..... whatever the case, both of these will end up in his lunchbox at some time....I know he'll like that!

http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2012/01/challenge-me-monday-96.html 3x3 Valentine Card
http://www.cookingwithcricut.com/2012/02/challenge-71-childs-valentine-must-use.html childs valentine