Wednesday, September 30, 2009

What's Red and Green and White all over?

Scarlet Lime and my face!!!!! I am so nervous for this Scarlet Lime reveal. Talk about an insane amount of pressure to create great projects. EEK! But I am more excited than anything else. I love being a part of something so cool and to be supporting such a great person and businesswoman. Christy has got her stuff together! She works so hard to bring her customers beautiful and inspiring kits at an extremely reasonable price, with top grade customer service. Just what a kit club should be! Plus, I couldn't believe the amount of goodies in both of the kits this month!

If you want to find out more about Scarlet Lime kits and how it works please check out this link for all of the details.

Sooo...here we go. Here are my first layouts for Scarlet Lime and I hope for many more to come in the future cause I am just in love with this kit company!  May my muse be good to me!
















So there is my debut as a new Scarlet Lime Artist! I had so much fun working with this kit and was so inspired by the colors which are just perfect for all of those beautiful Fall photos that we all have stacked up!



Fall is here. I have to deal with it. Usually I greet Fall with open arms. I love the changing leaves, going to Farmer's Market, making soup...but this year, I am just not ready for it yet. Not ready to be perpetually cold for the next 8 months, for the mile deep fog, the never ending rain.

So I said my farewell to Summer and am going to have to accept Fall. Cause it is my favorite season after all ;)

To help jump start my Fall attitude, last night I made some homemade chicken noodle soup. The smell of bay leaves and fresh thyme and oregano filled the house. Of course I totally reek of onions and garlic today, but it is worth the aroma inside this lil cracker box today!

If you are feeling like me and are not quite ready and need a little help getting in the Fall mood yourself...well here are some awesome soup recipes! Go make yourself a bowl of something tasty and see if that helps!

My favorite Potato Soup Recipe EVER:

POTATO SOUP

8-10 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 pound bacon, crisped, drained, and crumbled
1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp. pepper
Put the potatoes, onion, and bacon in the crock pot. Combine the other ingredients (cream cheese, chicken broth, chicken soup, pepper) in a large bowl and whisk together. Add the mixture to the crock pot, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours Near the end of cooking, pour about 1/3 of the soup into the blender and mix it. This helps the soup to thicken up. Variations: -Add some cheese, or substitute the cream of chicken soup for cheese soup -Add corn or other veggies to make chowder

Beer Cheese Soup: wonderfully fatty and yummy. Make it with beer bread :)
1 1/2 cups diced carrots
1 1/2 cups diced onion
1 1/2 cups diced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups beer
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups milk or half and half
6 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
popped popcorn, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan over medium heat, stir together carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Stir in hot pepper sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Pour in chicken broth and beer; simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, heat butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Stir in flour with a wire whisk; cook, stirring until the flour is light brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Gradually stir in milk, whisking to prevent scorching, until thickened. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in cheese. Keep warm. Stir beer mixture into cheese mixture. Stir in Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and dry mustard. Adjust for hot pepper sauce. Bring to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes. Serve topped with popcorn.

Taco Soup-
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce (not paste, SAUCE)
1 can corn
1 can black beans
Jar salsa of your choice
1 package taco seasoning
1 package Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix
2 avocados
Baked tortilla chips (or regular)
low fat grated cheese
fat free sour cream
To make:Brown beef. Add onions 1/3 cup water and taco seasoning mix.In large pot add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, black beans and 2 cups salsa. Bring to a light boil. Add beef and onions and Ranch dressing packet. Stir well and allow to lightly boil on medium heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 35 minutes.Prepare easy guacamole. Halve avocados and mash into a bowl. Add 2-4 tablespoons salsa. Mix well and Set aside.When Soup is done, pour into deep bowl, add a heaping spoonful of sour cream and shredded cheese on top. Eat with tortilla chips and guacamole. ENJOY!

Black Bean Soup
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
1-1 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cans black beans, undrained
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 lemon, juice of
1 Can refried beans
In a pot, combine the first six ingredients; simmer for 10 minutes. 2. Puree half a can of beans, salt and cumin; cook for 5 minutes. 3. Add puree and the rest of the beans to the soup. 4. Add broth . 5. Add the lemon and refried beans to the soup; cook until thickened.

Baked Potato Soup

4 lg baking potatoes
2/3 c flour
3/4 tsp salt
4 green onions
2 c shredded cheddar
1 c (8 oz) sour cream
2/3 cup butter
6 c milk
1/2 tsp pepper
12 slices of bacon, almost burned and crumbled.

1. Cut potatoes in half, scoop out pulp and put in small bowl.2. Melt butter in lg. pot. Add flour. Gradually stir in milk. Continue to stir until smooth, thickened and bubbly.3. Stir in potatoe pulp, salt, pepper, and 3/4 of the onions, bacon and cheese. Cook until heater. Stir in the sour cream.4. Top with remaining onions and cheese! Yum!

So there you have it. Loads of soup recipes. Go make something tasty!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Somebody PINCH ME!

Cause I must be dreaming!

So life is pretty crazy right now. Between school and cheerleading for the kiddo, Booster Club for me, DT work and John's rather slow back surgery recovery, I have been pretty swamped and overwhelmed at times....
BUT when an opportunity so fabulous comes your way, well you DON'T turn it down. You don't say NO when you get an email from Christy Tomlinson! Yes, you read that correctly. I couldn't believe it myself when I opened up an email from Christy asking me if I wanted to join her design team at Scarlet Lime. Dumbfounded and shocked was I. Talk about a dream team! So here I am ready to start a new adventure with some INSANELY talented women. So be on the look out for some Scarlet Lime goodness in the future :)

My other great DT debut is today as well. Head on over to the Shimmerz blog to check out projects from Deanna Kroll and myself. Also make sure to have fun on our blog hop as well and check out the awesome videos that the Education Team has worked so hard to put together! Here is my project for the week and you can read more about how I created it at the Shimmerz Blog.



So there is my "Pinch Me" news. Still can't quite get a grasp on it myself. I guess all I can say is that I am one lucky girl!!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

It's a Shimmerz Blog Hop baby!

Yes, that's right. Shimmerz is having a Huge Video Blog Hop today to launch our new Fall Vintage Collection Release and our New Shimmerz Education Team! Our new Education Team is here to bring you the latest and greatest techniques using our Shimmering Products. You will find new ideas galore and perhaps have a little laugh as well. We have a great group of funny, quirky and talented ladies on our Ed team!

By participating in our Video Blog Hop, you will find multiple chances to win some of our new Shimmerz colors! With names like Wed Wagon and Vintage Lace....how can you NOT want to join in on the fun.

Make sure to stop by our blog each day this week to check out what our Design Team has been up to! Here is a little sneaky peek at what I have been hard at work at :
While you are at it check out our brand new updated website! So whatcha waiting for? Head on over to the Shimmerz blog and check out all of our fun videos. Let the HOPPING BEGIN!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Shimmering Announcement!

Phewww! I have finally found a few free minutes to post my most recent and exciting scrappy news. And I am really excited about it!

A few days ago I was asked by Stacey McElyea, the owner of Shimmerz, to join their fabulous design team!! I love love love paint, love getting my fingers all dirty and smeary and in this case sparkly too!

If you haven't had the chance to check out Shimmerz new release for Fall, well take a peek at this fabulous FALL VINTAGE COLLECTION! I am dying to get my hands on the licorice and antique lace colors. I think they will go fabulously with my Webster's Pages papers.

Swing on by the brand spankin new website and check out the new products, the amazing design team members and also brand new....our Shimmerz Education Team, headed by one of my favorite peeps, Jeni Boisvert! You can find my girl Leslie Ashe and my other girl Lori Renn on there. They are chock full of Shimmerz knowledge and inspiration to share with you :)

I can't wait to get my first box of Shimmerzy goodness and be able to start playing and showin some Shimmerz love!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Project S.O.B. Save Our Bree UPDATE



A Project SOB update:

A huge collective THANK YOU is in order here. The amount of generosity-ranging from complete strangers to well known friends-has been astounding. From meals to transportation to dance and lots of things in between, a community has come together to lift a family up! So we thank each and every one of you who has gone out of their way to help the Dille's.

In order to keep things in one place: if you would like to help assist the Dille's in any way: be it meal delivery, house cleaning, child care etc... please leave a post on Bree's Facebook page. The paypal option has been removed at this time.

Thank you once again for everything!