New Design Template

I decided to make up a few cards on Sunday and followed the template at CPS. I really liked the simplicity of it, and the flexibility with the design. The top card is for the family we had visit us over Easter weekend (I'm including the picture from a previous post) and then the two thank yous are for two ladies at church. I hope to get them written up and mailed out in the next couple days.

Basically, I just used 4 complementary colors for the design and then added the embellisments. For the orange card I added little tags that spelled out family and for the pink ones I added white organdy ribbon and a white piece of cardstock with thank you/thanks written on it.

Spring is Here!

We have definitely noticed that spring has sprung! I've mowed the grass 2x already and need to get it done again this week. The flowers are blooming, trees are budding, and pollen is everywhere. I've struggled with itchy eyes and Barry's had this weird fever thing going on. Hopefully, we'll get past all this and just be able to enjoy the nice temperatures.

Family Visiting

We had an awesome time this weekend with Barry's brother's family! The kids are growing up and we had a great time with them. We went for a picnic at the local walking park and had to get a fun picture of them all together. It was unbelievable weather and we had a great time. It was too short of a visit.

Easter Mini-Cards

I wanted to make a little something for my nephew and nieces that will be with us for Easter and just went ahead and made up a few more for co-workers. I stuck with the fairly same template: 3-4 different papers, a starburst die cut, and the phrase "He is risen!" I made all 6 of these in about an hour. They are 2"x3" and the back is blank for a note.

Hope that you have an awesome Easter! May you spend time rejoicing in the marvelous gift that God gave us. We are excited to go to our church's Good Friday service & Easter Sunday service. Plus, we will have family with us!

Dreamy Chocolate Bars

We had a special evening service at our church Sunday night and afterwards, they wanted to have a special dessert social. Our pastor is in our small group and he encouraged us to "bring our A game" with our desserts. I tried to think about what dessert was 1. cheap, 2. easy to make, and 3. de-e-e-licious! My friend suggested these babies-- Dreamy Chocolate Bars. They are a two layer delicacy and are fairly simple to make. They are a little on the super sweet side so 1 is usually enough. Don't they look great?!

March Birthday & Anniversaries

This card is for our nephew's 17th birthday. He'll be down visiting us (with his family) next week and I'm planning on making fruit pizza - his favorite. I used complimentary papers with the navy blue & white. I have used this design several times and like how it turns out. I added some die cut stars with the phrasing and attached it with 3d tape.

This card was for a couple in our small group who had their 28th anniversary on the 20th. Sorry that the colors didn't come through so well. It's turquoise and the ribbon was just a lighter shade with the flowers on it. I've enjoyed using the chipboard pieces that my sister had gotten me. I painted these black to make it pop. I used my calligraphy pen to write Happy Anniversary.

This anniversary card is for Barry's sister & brother-in-law in New Mexico. They are celebrating their 7th anniversary on Sunday. Again, I used the chipboard that I painted black and then complimentary papers. It's a simple design but looks pretty nice (if I do say so myself!).

Weekly Grocery Challenge

It's been going on for several months and I have to say I still get a rush from it when I look at what I've saved. I have tried to hit grocery shopping like a woman on a mission -- how much can I save?!

I have tried to apply what I've seen others do and learn from the blogs I've been reading. If you haven't tried this, I think you should make a try at it. To learn the basics, you can check out Faithful Provisions and she'll give you some easy tips to get started. I learned how to do this from a class that some co-workers had after work one day. I've always been a coupon-cutter, but this brings it to the next level.

What I've been doing, is trying to stock up on items that we use -- when they're on sale and I have coupons for them. It's been a long time coming because I didn't have the ability to just start purchasing "extra" stuff in addition to the necessities, but I have done a little at a time and can honestly say that I feel like I'm getting the hang of it.

This week I got $62.58 worth of groceries for $25.27 -- savings of 60%. Granted you have to consider that I wouldn't have gotten this stuff had it not been on sale, but with my strategy going strong now, I have stocked up my freezer and pantry with things that we'll use (eventually). For the most part, I only bought items that were on sale that I had coupons for. There are exceptions (milk & eggs), but the most I spent on one item was $2.82 (1 lb. ground beef w/ a coupon). Most of the items I got were under $1 each and I had several that were free!

So, 25 items for $25.27 (including tax). I'm excited, are you? :)