Sketchy Thursdays

Just when I thought last week's Sketchy Thursdays page was my favorite, I have a new fave. I knew when I made the sketch for this week that I would use it over and over again. And after making this page, I was convinced I was right about that sketch.

I hope you'll scoot on over there to play along with this week's challenge. One lucky winner is going to get a gift certificate from Paper Secrets. It could be you... :)


I love these pictures of my son. We were at the playground near our house (a new-to-us playground we found this summer) when I took these pictures. I think it's the combination of his clothing and the darker wood on the play set that make the pictures so vibrant. Not to mention his amazing smile and attitude in the pictures.

They look like pictures a high school senior would pose for, don't they? He's such a ham!

Hope to see you at Sketchy Thursdays this week. And thanks for stopping in today to read my blog.

Pretty tasty {on Pinterest}

Here's another Wednesday Pinterest food love post for you. I hope you all are finding some delish recipes here you may not have found otherwise.

Brown sugar and balsamic glazed pork loin

If you eat pork, you HAVE to make this. HAVE TO! And you will want to make the glaze on this for other meats as well. I'm about ready to stock pile it in my freezer for any ole regular day I make chicken, just so I have it. It is that good! And the rub on the pork while it cooks in the crock pot is so flavorful. This is my favorite recipe find so far. It is best paired with THESE POTATOES.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Amazing! I got up early on Sunday to make this one. Fresh blueberries and buttermilk make this so moist and sweet. It tasted like a giant 8x8 blueberry muffin.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

Delish! The bacon and chives are added right before you eat it, so the stock, potatoes and veggies are all that cooked throughout the day. I was able to serve it for dinner, freeze a bunch and still have leftovers for the next day, too. This recipe feeds a lot!

Broccoli and White Cheddar Mac n Cheese

This was so easy to make and the pepper jack cheese adds just the right amount of flavor. I already have a recipe for a more complicated version of mac and cheese that I love, but this made having homemade mac n cheese on a weeknight so much easier.

Now that I've been on these Pinterest recipe kicks, my husband never knows what my answer will be when he asks what's for dinner. But ever since last Tuesday, he has asked when we are having that pork roast again. :)

Hope you found something tasty to try! And thanks for reading my blog today.

New items in the shop

Hi there! Today I am sharing the new clips and pins that have been added to the Etsy shop. I have some new scrapbooking embellishments, too, but those will be shared on Friday when I do the giveaway. I know you've got to be as excited as I am! :)

The Ruffled Bloom Barrettes are now available in pink, with blue to come soon, as well. We all need some extra color in our lives, right?


The larger Muslin Bloom Barrettes are also re-listed. I just love this one. So soft and romantic.


And new to the shop are bobby pins. I couldn't help but make a few of these. I absolutely love the little extra these add to that perfect hairstyle.


Thanks again to everyone who supports my Etsy shop. I'm excited to celebrate with you all on Friday with a giveaway and new scrapbooking items.

Don't forget that I do custom orders, and I've been doing a lot of those lately. Send me a convo in Etsy or email me here through the sidebar link and let me know what you are looking for. If I can, I'd be happy to make something for you.

Have a good rest of the day, and thanks so much for stopping in to see my new items.

A card making weekend

Hello! I have been very lucky lately to have so many orders for cards come in. Last week, I made two cards I never even took pictures of and shipped them off. This weekend I had 3 more ordered, but luckily had a chance to take more time with them, so here are pictures.


First is a birthday card for a guy I've known for since he was in high school. I work with his mom and for the past few years I've made his birthday card. I can't believe he's gonna be 26!

Card Makin Mamas is also having a challenge for birthday cards, so stop over there and share if you are making any.


This one is a Home Sweet Home card I was asked to make. I just love making cards with little scenes on them. They are the most difficult to make sometimes, but I always love how cute they can be in the end.



And a wedding card that was ordered. I was having fun with the red and white combo, and who can pass up that lacy little dress for the bride.



Thanks for stopping in to see my crafty card weekend. I was also working on new items for my Etsy shop. Which, by the way, I did hit my 100 sales goal last week. I'm working on getting the blog giveaway together for this Friday. (AND... coupon code GETTO100 is still working for 15% off your total order while we are celebrating.)

I'm excited to share with you the new items and re-listing of popular items this week. Hopefully tomorrow. See you then!

Polkadot Door Blog Hop - Inspiration Challenge #4

It's time for another monthly Inspirational Challenge Blog Hop at the Polkadot Door. Once a month, a few of us put together a fabulous hop and challenge based on an inspirational image that the ladies at the Polkadot Door whip up for you. And this month's inspiration is lovely!


Isn't this image fabulous?! I was drawn to the whimsy, the colors and the pom-poms. I made my pom-pom banner with seam binding, but you could make yours out of yarn or twine, whatever you would like.

Now, hop around and see the projects that the rest of the ladies made.

Diana (you are here)
Smitha
Mazlina
Angi
Elizabeta
Libeeti
Nicole
Dee Dee
Valerie
Trina
Sabrina
Polkadot Door Design

This month's prizes are sponsored by:

Pork Chop Show, who is providing the prize for the Challenge winner.

Live the Chaos is giving away a gift certificate to their shop and mini stamp to the blog hop winner.

Duetica is providing a HUGE giveaway for the featured designer.

Thanks so much for joining in this month. I really hope you'll take a moment and play along. Can't wait to see what you make! Link your creations up on the post at the Polkadot Door.

Sketchy Thursdays

Hello everyone. I'm sharing a page with you today that I made using the current sketch for Sketchy Thursdays and the August kit for Scrapbook Circle. It is such a fun and fabulous kit.

And look at what I did ... I misted on my page! I haven't done that in ages. My scrappy friend and fellow Sketchy Thursday gal, Lisa, has had some fabulous pages that use mist, paint or such great textures, so I channeled her creative energies for this one.

I love how the yellow mist works for this—like it's added sunshine.


Thanks for stopping to see my page today. I really love how it turned out—one of my favorites lately. Hope to see you over at Sketchy Thursdays this week.

Pretty tasty {on Pinterest}

Time for more recipe find on Pinterest. So far so good. I have managed to add at least 2 new recipes to each week's grocery list, and it has made for quite a fun few weeks trying new things.

By fall I hope to add in the desserts. Right now ice cream rules the dessert choices in my house.

Lemon garlic spaghetti with pine nuts

This dish is a great choice on a hot day. You cook the noodles, but the actual sauce requires minimal time spent at the stove. And the lemon you squeeze over the top is very refreshing for a pasta dinner. I loved it and will make it again for sure, and I might add zucchini next time, too.

Creamy chicken and bacon pastry pockets

AMAZING!! I loved these. So did the husband and the boy, which is the true test, right?! My recommend to you if you try these isn't any change to the recipe, but to cook the chicken in advance. If you cook extra chicken for another recipe the day before and set it aside for these, the whole process goes much faster. As leftovers they are perfect, too. In the microwave for 15-20 seconds and they make an amazing lunch the next day.

White chicken enchiladas

This was DELISH!! I had been searching for the perfect enchiladas recipe for years, and the sauce for this one is perfection. Next time I make it I'll be adding chopped tomatoes right before serving it, other than that, nothing needed to be changed. And Nate loved it, which is good for using a whole can of diced green chiles.

Hawaiian BBQ chicken

This dish was so, so easy to make. The only draw back is the short cooking time in the crock pot makes it difficult to be a dish I'd make before work as it would have cooked way too long while I was gone. And it seemed to need something more than just pineapple, like another "thing" with the pineapple and chicken on the rice. Ideas on that one?

Thanks for stopping by today. I know the recipes take a detour from the usual crafty blogging, but I hope you are enjoying the new ideas if you are the cooking type.

Baby boy card

Just a little visit from the stork today. One of my friends is getting this card as well, as she just had a little man added to her adorable family.

It's tough to tell in the pictures, but I stamped the image on the card and then also popped up the fussy-cut stork for a dimensional look.


No challenges to go with this card. I used the Bundle of Love set from Papertrey Ink, if you are interested in where the stamps came from.

Thanks for visiting today!

Wedding card with a trendy twist

I've been making more cards to share with you. This card plays along with these challenges:
• Card Patterns: Sketch #126
• CropStop challenge: Use lace (I love this lace ribbon. I am starting to run out and need to find some more.)
• Moxie Fab Fanatical About Botanical Challenge (This paper from Sassafras Lass is perfect for this trend. Using it for the wedding dress made it moxie fab, and I love pairing florals with a muted dot pattern. The flowers stand out more with the contrast.)


Thanks for stopping by to see my card today. I wanted to mention, too, that I'm now starting to list cards (that aren't already spoken for) in my Etsy shop.

The first reason is that I no longer have a local shop selling my cards. And second reason is a pretty cool one: Etsy started a new statistics page for sellers. The number one keyword that brings people to my shop is "cards" and I wasn't even selling any! I was missing the boat on that one, so now I'm listing them.

I hope you'll favorite my shop if you like my cards and keep your eyes peeled for some of your favorites to start popping up over there.

Have a great day! :)