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Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012. Show all posts

Monday, February 6, 2012

Day 37 : 02-06-12

Day 37 : 02-06-12 by ha! designs
Day 37 : 02-06-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The narcissus fragrance demanded attention as Clark and I walked by.... I just wish I could have captured the fragrance as well.

I did something VERY stupid today... Cami and I were at the mall to get her friend a birthday present. We started down the escalator when we realized we needed to stay up. I turned around and started going up the escalator. It was all very good until I took my eyes off the stairs, tripped... and fell... Ouch! It was extremely embarrassing! Luckily no one seemed to be around to notice. It definitely left a few marks on my leg! So.... NEVER go UP a DOWN escalator! It's just NOT safe!! (Surprising, huh?!) 

...I'm off to take some ibuprofen...

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Day 36 : 02-05-12

Day 36 : 02-05-12 by ha! designs
Day 36 : 02-05-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
Yummmmmyyyy!!!

Norm barbecued some delicious burgers! It was nice to have our very own Super Bowl BBQ... The weather was perfect in the mid 70's. We spent the afternoon outside and then came in to watch the last quarter of the game. It was exciting and fun!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Day 35 : 02-04-12

Day 35 : 02-04-12 by ha! designs
Day 35 : 02-04-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
Warmth sparks into the cool night...

I did lots of baking today. I made my oatmeal cookies to take to Jerry's birthday party. (They were a BIG hit! Yippee!!) I also made lemon bars to take to Pete's Super Bowl party tomorrow. (That party is now canceled as Pete's wife went into labor tonight and they had a darling baby girl!) Now those lemon bars will go to good use at Norm's sales meeting on Monday! :)

We had a great time at Jerry's tonight. We sat out in the cool evening and enjoyed the fire. It was nice to spend time with them... It's been a long time since we've had the chance to get together.

I am also very proud of Cami... She has a very level head on her shoulders and she gave one of her friends some very good advice.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Day 34 : 02-03-12

Day 34 : 02-03-12 by ha! designs
Day 34 : 02-03-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Best friends... Walter & Clark nap together. 

I had already decided on a different picture for today's photo when I saw my babies snuggling. I took the shot to see if it was going to work... Most of the time they move when they sense the camera! This time no movement... It was perfect!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Day 33 : 02-02-12

Day 33 : 02-02-12 by ha! designs
Day 33 : 02-02-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
Cami & Clark... A pas de deux! Clark has to learn some ballet too!

Cami got exciting news today... She was accepted to Joffrey West summer intensive! Mia Michaels is one of the master instructors! She has now been accepted to 7 different programs... It's going to be a tough decision!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

smells of home...


My house smelled like a home today... A delightful mix of home baked Orange Cranberry Bread and Spicy Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup. Deliciously fragrant AND simple to make!
So let’s get to it and share these recipes! 
Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App

Orange Cranberry Bread (Bread Machine)
ha! designs (adapted from Zojirushi)
Yield: 2 lb. loaf
Ingredients:
1 1/8 cups milk
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 cups bread flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon dry milk (baker’s special dry milk)
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon orange peel
1/8 scant teaspoon fiori di sicilia (citrus vanilla flavoring)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup dried cranberries
Preparation:
Add to your bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Add dried cranberries at your addition time. Separate cranberries prior to adding. 
NOTE: I LOVE King Arthur Flour and use their flours as much as possible. The baker’s special dry milk and fiori di sicilia flavoring is also from King Arthur. You can click on them to take you right to the product page. Both are FANTASTIC!

Uploaded from the Photobucket iPhone App

Spicy Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup
ha! designs (adapted from Cooking Light, December 2008)
Ingredients:
4 cups water
3 cups fresh spinach leaves
1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 (5 3/4 ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cups thinly sliced shallots
2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups, fat free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (13.5 ounce) can light coconut milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2” strips
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can straw mushrooms, (drained and rinsed)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 red jalapeƱo, seeded and chopped
Lime wedges
Preparation:
  1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large serving bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl. 
  1. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, green onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.
I hope you enjoy these recipes and that your house also ends up smelling like a home...


Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Day 31 : 01-31-12

Day 31 : 01-31-12 by ha! designs
Day 31 : 01-31-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The bird watches over paradise... 

It's truly amazing how many things are blooming! Today when I walked Clark I probably took over 25 pictures of pretty flowers along the way... I had to choose the stunning bird of paradise as my photo today, it's lines are just fascinating.

Cami had her first rehearsal for Noah's Ark. She is very excited to be in this production. It's pretty special, it's an original ballet with original music. This is the encore performance of the first time it was presented in 2010. This year there is "interest" in it by other production companies and it may be purchased. This meant that they reduced the cast... Cami was so happy that she was cast in it! I went and bought tickets today also so that we would be up front and center! You can check out the promo for this ballet here!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Day 30 : 01-30-12

Day 30 : 01-30-12 by ha! designs
Day 30 : 01-30-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
Let the day begin...

The sunrise was gorgeous this morning. I dropped the girls off at school and then had to stop to capture this stunning start to the day.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Day 29 : 01-29-12

Day 29 : 01-29-12 by ha! designs
Day 29 : 01-29-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
My girl... talkin' 'bout my girl...

This winter has really NOT been a winter! Cami relaxed and worked on homework outside... and then we all got in the jacuzzi... ahhhh... soooo relaxing! It was great! We definitely needed a down day, it's been a very busy January!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Princess Card AND...

Oh my... it's been an awfully long time since I've played here... I am BACK! Ahhhh.... home. I definitely have some catching up to do with projects I've made and not posted. Oh well... A step at a time! :)

I have had the most fun the last couple of days working on a card project. I am the lucky aunt of many darling nieces that LOVE princess things. I had to create something that would be good for their birthdays this year! (Of course, I've already missed a couple of the princess nieces birthday's this year and sent them store bought *gasp* cards... I will most likely have to make up for that!)

This is what I came up with:

Princess Crown Card


I can't think of many little girls who wouldn't LOVE getting a card like this! And the kicker is... after they read the pop-up "Happy Birthday" inside and my little personal message they get to WEAR IT LIKE A CROWN!!!! If you have seen any of my other cards you already know of my obsession of making cards that are "2 in 1!"

Day 25 : 01-25-12


OK... Hold me back... Isn't that just adorable?!!! (Mainly because my beautiful and oh so patient daughter is modeling!) I am so excited with how it all turned out! Yippee!

This was a fairly simple project, after figuring out what I was going to do... Now that I have everything like I want, the next ones should go a little faster. 

The Details & Supplies:

Silhouette Cameo (I LOVE this machine!!)
Card Stock - I used two colors
Xyron Sticker Maker
Fiskars Cutting Board & Martha Stewart Scoring Board  (Great Tool!)
Scissors
Turbo Tacky Glue
Gold Pen-touch Marker
Assorted "Jewels"
Tiny Hole Punch
Elastic Cord

I am a relative newbie to the Silhouette Cameo... I have had it long enough to TOTALLY love it however! I have created some of my own designs and I have altered many designs to what I wanted... I have total creative reign! Ahhhh... the power.... :) It truly is amazing!

I used two shape designs for this project:

I opened up the Crown Card shape in the Silhouette software and I resized both elements so that the card shape would completely fill my 12" x 12" paper. I then opened the "Happy Birthday" phrase on a new document. I selected those elements and adjusted the size to what I thought would be perfect for my pop-up element. I copied these and pasted them on to the same document as the crown/card. I did it this way because I plan on making multiples of this card so I will cut out all the elements in two different card stock colors. Then mix and match the pieces for 2 cards. If you want to make one card only then you will need to separate your card elements by colors on separate documents or deselect elements to cut. Now... let that lovely Silhouette Cameo cut out your elements! 

I used my trusty Gold Pen-Touch Marker to outline the filigree part of the crown. Ran it and the phrase (top word piece only) through my Xyron. Of course plain old glue works great here too! Just a little trickier on the tiny script. (Another option is to use the fabulous sticker card stock from the Silhouette store! Sometimes I make my own sticker paper before cutting... It works great!) Place the sticky pieces on their mates. 

Now.... Here's where the Pop-Up element begins! I ADORE pop-up cards and I use lots of different techniques. This time I used the "floating layer technique." This is one of my favorite! (OK... I admit it... They are ALL my favorites!) I love how the floating layers technique makes the design appear to "float" in mid-air! 

Here's how I did it for this card. First you begin by making the supports. Using scraps from the card base colored card stock I cut a piece 4 1/2" x 1". Scored down the length of this 1/4" from each edge. 


I then cut the long strip into 3 @ 1 1/2" lengths. Turned the strips over and scored across the width in half at 3/4". (My photos show these dimensions... I may adjust them to make the supports a little smaller for my subsequent cards.) 


Take each strip and make a small cut up the mid crease of each strip, to separate the hem and create the support "feet." 


Apply glue to one half of the inner face only (not feet) of each support. Close the support and press the two faces together. This completes the support form.


Carefully glue the base of one support EXACTLY over the gutter crease on the card. Glue the other two (one on each side of the center) down in line with the center. This is a small design so the support feet will be touching each other.  


Crease your "Happy Birthday" phrase down the middle. Apply glue ONLY to the central support and carefully join the central crease of the layer to the central crease of the support. 


Apply glue to the other supports... Flatten all three to the left (careful not to let the glue touch the underside of the floating layer yet!) Once all three supports are flattened to the left carefully lower the phrase layer onto the glued supports so that the whole structure lays flat. Make sure the glue adheres and then carefully pull the structure upright. 


Yippee! A POP-UP!!

Here's what the card looks like at this point...

Day 24 : 01-24-12


Now for the fun decorating! Glue all the jewels you like onto the front of the card. Ahhhh.... ssoooo sparrrkkklllyy! 

What about making it a crown?! Use a small hole punch and make a hole on each side of the back piece of the card only. About an inch up from the bottom or so. Thread the elastic cord through, tie a knot... I also punched out a larger circle of matching card stock to glue over the ends of the elastic cord to tidy it up and hopefully make it a little stronger. 



That's all there is to it! Enjoy!

I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment...

Day 26 : 01-26-12

Day 26 : 01-26-12 by ha! designs
Day 26 : 01-26-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
It was a lovely warm day today. While walking Clark I noticed that the poppies were already blooming... The orange blossom was so bright and vibrant against the blue sky as it stretched toward the sun.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Day 25 : 01-25-12

Day 25 : 01-25-12 by ha! designs
Day 25 : 01-25-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
I finished up yesterday's card... I made it convertible! A card AND a crown! (smile)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Day 24 : 01-24-12

Day 24 : 01-24-12 by ha! designs
Day 24 : 01-24-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
I was happy to spend a little time in my studio today... The card is still in progress, I have some jewels to add to the crown and finishing touches, then it should be a perfect card for my nieces.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Day 22 : 01-22-12

Day 22 : 01-22-12 by ha! designs
Day 22 : 01-22-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.
I love my succulents! I had to take a picture of this beauty in my backyard. The light was perfect!

Today was a lovely lazy day. A day I like to call "Pajama Sunday!" I figured out how to apply my logo as a watermark in my phone prior to uploading today. Yippee!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Day 21 : 01-21-12

Day 21 : 01-21-12 by ha! designs
Day 21 : 01-21-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The Richard & Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. It's a beautiful building with curved lines accented against the sky. 

It was another audition day!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Day 19 : 01-19-12

Day 19 : 01-19-12 by ha! designs
Day 19 : 01-19-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

I made this soul warming chili for dinner tonight. I served it with homemade bacon cheddar cornbread muffins. Delicious!! The perfect meal for a cool day with leftovers ready for a stormy weekend!

I'll share the recipe soon! :)
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