Mother's Day Shadow Boxes

I know that I am about a month late posting these, but in my defense they were all completed on time and were all gifts...some to people that read my blog.  So you see I couldn't post it until after Mother's Day anyways or else I would have ruined the surprise.  But you're right I'm still late at posting them...lol.  Sue me.

I made shadow boxes of all the kids at my Mom's daycare for each of their mommies.  They turned out super cute!  Of course all the moms loved them...because who can resist a picture of their baby?

*Mini confession: I must confess that mixed media pieces will always have a special place in my heart.  I love paper just by itself, but I think that it really comes alive when you add other types of materials.  (Speaking of mixed media art, Shawn Ardoin is an awesome mixed media artist.  His pieces speak to me.  Love his color and material choices!  One day one of his mixed media pieces will be mine!  Oh yes, it will be mine.)  Okay that's enough of that...I can't let you know all my secrets.

I tried to play on the interest of each kid, which is why each box is different.  They each have their own little personalities and they don't let you forget it!  Enjoy and I hope that this inspires you to make your own mixed media shadow box.  Don't forget to think outside of the box! :)

You could be a farmer in those clothes!

The "gardening experience" can be a little much at times...such as when I've "ran" to the hardware store for the third time in one day or when a huge black bumble bee chased me through the yard!  (I still can't get that buzzing sound out of my head.  Also, I find that I am constantly looking for him every time I step outside.  I know that I am bigger than him!  Irrational, yes, but aren't we all?)

So as promised, here are the up-to-date garden photos:

These are the flowers that I first blogged about.  They are growing nicely....or at least the part closest to the camera is.

 This part is all full and healthy!  Looks like a real flower bed should.

This part, on the other hand, looks like poop!  How could this happen?  How could flowers growing in the same flower bed look so totally different?  Same amount of water, sunlight, and love.

This is how.  Meet my Mom's dog, Reese.  Reese is a strange one.  He likes to blend into the background.   He likes to blend so much that he hides in the bushes near this flower bed.  (It actually took me a good ten minutes to get this picture.  He was hiding in the bushes and I had to pull him out.  Then I got this look...lol.)  In order to get in or out of his favorite hiding place, yup you guessed it, he walks through my flower bed!  Some times I see him just standing in it!  Just standing there oblivious to the fact that he is trampling my flowers.  It's a good thing your cute Reesey...

Anyways...

Yesterday I was busy re-potting tomato plants and a few herbs.  They were getting too big and needed more room to spread out.  I think that I waited a little too long because when I took them out of their original pots their roots were showing so much that they took on the shape of the pot.  I think that they were getting ready to find their own new pot...lol. 

So here are my supplies: Miracle Grow potting soil that feeds plants up to 6 months I think (pretty good since I forget to fertilize all the time, plus it makes them grow to monster size), new pots, tomato cages, and the gardening gloves that always turn my hands orange.  Note: If anyone finds a cute pair of pink gardening gloves that don't have lady bugs, flowers, or anything that screams "I'm a crazy cat lady with no friends", please let me know.  I'm getting real tired of orange hands and I deserve to look cute while gardening, right?

Don't wear jeans to garden in unless you want to look like this.  Valuable lesson learned.

 This is me hard at work.   It was really hot yesterday and this is post running from the bee.

Here's everyone in their new pots!  Happy as can be. :)

Me after everything is done.  Hooray!

More card pictures!

Okay so here are the pictures of the two remaining cards...hey I have to keep some things a secret!  If you want to know ahead of time then you need to come to the class...hehehe. :)

I am totally in love with this card!  When I was making it I wanted to keep adding more and more and more things to it, but I'm glad that I kept it simple.  You all know how I can go overboard.  And look!  No bling!  It was hard to do, but I didn't add any...in fact I managed to have all the cards be bling-less.  *Gasp!*  Shocking isn't it?!?  I know!

Here's the gift card holder.  Cute and sweet.  I saw that Becky Roberts put her scallop circle behind another paper instead of directly behind the circle, like I normally do, and I thought it looked kind of cool.  You know, just something different.  I'm not sure if it is a technique that I will totally adapt forever, but  I think that it adds a little attitude.  It says "Yeah I know that I might not belong here traditionally, but I'm doing it anyway.  Watcha gonna do about it?  Yeah that's what I thought."  Lol. :)

Enjoy your Monday!  I'm going outside to do a little gardening...and work on my tan a wee bit.  Multitasking at it's finest if you ask me!  I'll take some pics to update you all on my garden progress.

May 16, 2010: "Congrats Grad" the Card Edition

This month's Stampin' day will take place on May 16th at 1pm. 

We'll be making five super fab graduation cards!  I love graduation cards.  It's the one time that people really enjoy getting cards versus presents...lol.  Plus they are a lot of fun to make.  Here are the pictures of three of the five cards.

 Becky Roberts did a card like this one and I loved it so much that I had to put my own twist on it.  Simple and oh so cute!

Here's more owls...lol.  I love them...with their little glasses.  It's nerdy-chic!

 My favorite is of course the card with the graduation hat!  (Thanks Kim Sinclar for the great idea!)  The best part is the hidden pocket for money or a gift card.  Too cute for words!  

The class fee is $20, which includes your kit with pre-cut pieces, all shared supplies (stamps, scissors, etc.), and a super yummy snack.  Don't forget to bring your own double-sided sticky tape and any other supplies that you think you'll want to use (ie. scissors, punches, etc.)!  Please RSVP to me by Monday, May 10th. 


Don't be shy!  Encourage a friend(s) to come along.  More girls means more ideas and more fun shared together!  Just be sure that they RSVP to me or you can RSVP for them.  Also, if you are unable to attend, but still want to do the class you can purchase a kit.  Just add $5 for shipping and handling.  Looking forward to seeing you all!

Stampin' and smilin',
          Arielle

PS.  I know that May is supposed to be National Scrapbook month, but since graduation comes so early in Hawaii I opted to do the graduation card class first.  So for all you scrappers, I promise that I'll have a great scrap class next month.  Just sit tight. :)

Buttercream Frosting Mayhem

Okay so you all have seen me make this frosting a few posts back...and it came out perfectly fine the first time, but since then my frosting endeavors have been a total disaster.  Apparently a few of you had problems with the frosting as well...so I called in the big guns..."MOM!  Help me, please!"  If Mom can't fix it, no one can.

Of course, she fixed it with the cooking ease and grace that can only be possessed by my mother...lol.  I took pictures to make sure that we all had step-by-step instructions.  So here it goes... The best frosting that I've ever had take 2:

When your milk and flour mixture thickens it should look like this.  Once it thickens to this consistency be sure to remove it from the heat or else it'll get lumpy and over cooked.  Plus it needs to cool down to room temperature before you can mix it into the butter and sugar mixture.  (If you jump the gun, like I have, you'll end up with a pool of melted buttery shlop...not pretty for frosting.)  Tip:  DO NOT walk away from the stove when you are doing this!  It needs constant supervision and stirring.  Don't answer the phone or the door or anything.  If you really need to tend to something else (ie. your kid is starting a small fire in the living room), take your pot off the stove and go back to it once you are finished.  I'm serious!

This is what your whipped butter and sugar mixture should look like when it is all finished.  You need to whip the butter and sugar together until there are no granules of sugar left in the mixture.  It should be relatively smooth with the sugar melting into the butter for a nice creamy consistency.  Mom opted for the paddle attachment for this process.  I think it worked out well, but I'm sure that the whisk attachment would have worked as well.  Tip:  Once this is finished put it back in the fridge while the flour mixture is cooling.  It needs to be cold when the flour mixture is whipped in.

Once everything is cold (butter mixture) and cooled (flour mixture), beat the two together for a minute until it looks like whipped cream.  It shouldn't separate or get all running...if you followed my tips and directions carefully...lol.  If it doesn't come out exactly as planned, add in a block of cream cheese.  That has saved my frosting disasters in the past. :)