Baby Shower #1

Our grand-daughter is arriving soon so it is time to shower her and mommy with lots of love and gifts.  The first shower was at our home with our extended families and friends.

It was a 'onesies' theme in yellow and gray (the nursery colors).  I cut out onesies using a pattern I had and Aunt Bekah helped cut the letters using the Big Shot to spell out "Welcome Adelyn Kaylee".

I modified my pattern slightly so that I used the 1 1/2 circle punch for the neckline and the small oval (retired) for the leg openings.   That way it was very easy to add the scallops by using the scalloped circle and scalloped oval punches.  Went so much faster this way.    The colors are So Saffron and Basic Gray.  I had the 1 inch clothespins from another project but found more at Joann's online to use for a fun part of the shower.    The clothesline is the Basic Gray stitched 1/4 inch ribbon.

And yes - the anchors for the clothesline are 1 lb boxes of Velveeta.  One of Adelyn's aunts decided they needed a cute name for the baby in utero before they knew the sex, so she suggested Velveeta - and it caught on.   I stamped the word 'little' in a 1 inch circle and put it on the 1 1/4 inch scallop to add a little to the box.  So 'little Velveeta' was a part of the shower. 

The party favors were also 'onesies' - the Baby Tees stampin wheel was perfect to make the sour cream container favors.  If you would like to see how to make them, check out my tutorial

I did not find any yellow or gray candies that I liked so they were filled with Dove hearts and Hershey's kisses and hugs.  (The left over favors are being recycled into Thank You cards)

The refreshments included cake, of course.  Hubby is hoping there is a lot left over. My daughter prefers whipped frosting but since she has gestational diabetes, she won't be eating much of it so it is buttercream for the new grandpa.

We also included a lot of fresh veggies and fruit.

And I got these cute little cheese crackers through a local co-op.  Taste just like goldfish crackers but the little duckies are so cute for a baby.  They were the perfect 'salty' accompaniment for the dark chocolate M&M's.

A friend of my daughter's is starting a floral business and I asked her to make a centerpiece for the coffee table that could be used in the nursery. Didn't she do a great job!

And of course, there were gifts - plenty of goodies to help the new parents care for their darling daughter. This is a baby afghan crocheted by my younger daughter.  She did a really good job.

And one of my favorites - a Green Bay Packers bib and hair bow :-) 

The guests played a game by decorating a onesie for Baby Adelyn and we hung them on the ribbon clothesline.  Everyone was a good sport and came up with some creative designs.

Mommy and Daddy chose the 3 they liked the most and those guests received a prize. These were the winners.

A last minute addition to the decoration - thinking I needed something on the door - I grabbed an extra onesie I had and added a bow - everyone thought it was cute.

It was so much fun decorating with the onesie theme.  When my daughter was a baby, my mom would pick up a pack of onesies everytime she went to Walmart.  I always think of her when I see a pack of onesies :-)  And now they come in so many cute designs. 

Gift Cards and Rewards

We get rewards on a lot of things - but the ones I like best are the rewards we get from our Mastercard (usually redeemed for gift cards for restaurants) and our AMC Stubs rewards.  Today we planned a 'date' around our rewards and gift cards.

First - a movie -

since we went in the middle of the day on a weekday the tickets were only $5 each and we had $10 in AMC Stubs rewards that would expire in a couple week.  So a free movie - and we didn't pig out at the concession stand either.

Second - some Christmas gift cards for Books-a-million -

3 books for me and one for our granddaughter who is not even born yet. Couldn't pass up the bargain table.  Tom also got a book.  Now, I just need to get finished with Les Mis so I can read something else.  :-)

And lastly - but maybe the best part - an Applebee's gift card from our Mastercard rewards points.

The roasted sirloin under 550 calories meal - it was delicious. The steak and sauteed onions were perfect. The potatoes were buttery but not overly so and the portabello mushroom capped stuffed with spinach was wonderful.  I saved half of my steak for later since we ate at 3:30 p.m. (no lunch because of the movie) and I know I will get hungry in a couple hours or so. 

So - it was a very nice 'date' and pretty inexpensive as well. 

Granddaughter pictures

Today we got to see our granddaughter's face with a 4D ultrasound. It was amazing! She was not the most cooperative subject but the technician got some pretty nice shots. Baby girl had her feet and hands over her face a lot.
One of the shots shows her foot on top of her head. How does she do that?!?!?
Can't wait to hold her in April!

Wellness Wins - off to a good start!

Wellness Wins started last week at work and I have signed up again this year.  Last year, I had all the points except my cholesterol which was 206 (top limit was 200) and I was not being treated for it since my physician was happy with that number.  If she would have signed a paper saying I was being treated, I would have received the whole payout.

This year I was determined to get my cholesterol down - so googled for natural ways to lower your cholesterol (about a week before I needed it to be under 200).   Exercise was one thing but I was pretty sure that would take more than a week.  Another thing I found was Cheerios - then I remembered a friend who had done a Cheerios diet, eating dry Cheerios when she needed a snack.  She ate a LOT of them - didn't lose any weight but brought her cholesterol down a lot.  Since I already like Cheerios and had Honey Nut ones in the house - that was my plan.  So Cheerios almost every morning for breakfast and if I wanted something crunchy to snack on in the evening I would just grab dry Cheerios.   I found a new flavor (at least for me)

Cinnamon Burst - they are good and not overly sweet or cinnamony.  Won't remind you a Cinnabon.   The cheerios took care of my 'crunch' cravings and when Wellness Wins started my cholesterol was 188. Woo-hoo!  My goals to get the total payout after the 16 weeks are to exercise 3 times a week and lose 16 pounds (I really want to lose at least 20 - but 16 would get the money).

Then, a week later I needed some blood work for my annual physical and my cholesterol was 163!!!!!!!!  I won't say the Cheerios did it all but I'm sure it helped.  I am watching what I eat and exercising but to drop 25 points on the cholesterol in a week is amazing!

I started out riding the stationary bike for my exercise but I don't push myself on that and jsut go through the motions so thought I better step it up a little to get some cardio too.  So got out the Sweatin to the Oldies and have been doing it.   My knees are not bothering me as much as they were (two alleve every night and it works - I tried to cut back to 1 and my left knee was killing me two days later - so two it is!)  I also found the moving more - not being so sedentary in the evenings helps.  I'm thankful for that because it was getting to the point where I could not get down on the floor and back up without a lot of pain and effort - and you know when that grand-daughter arrives I am going to want to play on the floor with her!

I also am trying to make meals more interesting. Typically I have a large salad for lunch - mostly veggies - once in a while I add a hard boiled egg or some bacon bits.   Breakfast is either cheerios, milk and banana or yogurt and some fruit.   So on the weekend I like to actually 'cook' breakfast.  This morning I saw a recipe for a Caprese poached egg (English muffin half, mozzarella cheese, tomato slice, poached egg and basil pesto on top).   Well, the only things I had in the house for that was the egg and cheese - so I created my own Dressed Up Poached Egg  (click for the recipe)

Dressed Up Poached Egg

Wheat toast, mozzarella cheese, egg and green onion - served with a broiled grapefruit half.  It was delicious and a nice break from the routine.   And with the exercise I am getting I have 12 activity points to splurge a little today. 

I lost 4 pounds so far - well not officialy until Monday since that is my 'weigh-in' day- and I have to be good tomorrow with the Super Bowl.  (veggies, fruit and dip and some Schwan's LiveSmart spinach pizza).  So off to a good start at least!  I can do this!

Seeing Spots

Last night we made this card ---- which means I have a lot of punched out circles left. 

Twenty-five green and twenty blue to be exact. 

Embossed Quilt

I was going to just throw them in my bowl of pre-cut shaped to use another day - yeah right!  But my bowl overflows so I forced myself to use the circles for some cards.  By the time I got done, I was really seeing spots :-)   Here are some of the ways I used them.

Cascade

I did several Cascade designs but soon became bored with that so came up with some other designs.

Retro Flower

This one reminds me of flowers in the 70's.  Easy to do and I will probably add a sentiment in the upper right corner.

Olive Brick Road

I might add a ribbon on the right hand side.  Or a stamped image mounted on Olive or Navy.

Off Centered

I like the off-centered circles.  I will probably add an image mounted on the Night of Navy card stock on the right hand side. 


Quilted Stripe

 

For this one I used a scrap of Whisper White that I had laying on the table also - a win-win situation.

 



And among all the circles I found one ring so had to use that on a card, right?  I made two more rings and made this card.  That gave me two more spots (a vicious circle) - and I did use them on one of the above cards. 

Purple Ladybug

Have you ever seen a purple ladybug?  I have.  One of the little girls at church has a purple ladybug pillow pet that she dearly loves.   We were on a road trip together last summer and she had to have her ladybug to cuddle with on the trip.    I made note of it so I could do something special just for her on her birthday card.  Well, her birthday is next week so I had to get started.

I had saved a blogpost by Debbie Henderson that showed a punch art ladybug.  It is really very simple.

 



Purple Ladybug

It did turn out cute, didn't it ?  I hope she likes it.

 



 

The card uses some retired DSP with Certainly Celery leaves and flowers.  Where else would you find a ladybug?    I used the polka dot Elegant Eggplant DSP for the ladybug body and the scallop around the sentiment.   The rhinestones were colored with a black permanent marker but for some reason they looked like a dark purple.  Worked for me. 

And while I was playing I used some of my new toys from Sale-a-bration and the Spring Catalog.

Feeling Sentimental

 I wasn't sure I wanted this stamp set but had to choose something and had already gotten the ones on my wish list.  I 'm glad I got it.  It really looks so impressive in real life.   I used Gumball Green and Midnight Muse.   I double stamped the sentiment on a whim - I did it in green and thought it needed something more so I tried adding the blue.  I just did it free hand and thank goodness it looks good.

Oh Baby Quilted

Another of the embossed cards that look like quilting.    I used some scraps of DSP for the 1 inch squares but the embossing sort of hides the designs in the paper. 

Baby Quilt For You

This one really looks like a baby quilt.   Showers are being planned for my daughter and granddaughter so I will have occasion to use a couple of these cards.  Such exciting times! 

I want to try this with primary colors to see how that will look.  I like this color combo but not sure it is the best for this technique.

Frigid weather, hot soup and some fun cards

 

Hot soup for lunch

Today was one of those day that I love being able to work from home.  No cold walk into the hospital from the parking lot.  But I did have to run an errand just before lunch so came home and had a nice hot bowl of Kale, White Bean and Sausage Soup which I made over the weekend.  It is so delicious!

 

Here are some cards I made last week as samples at the embossing folder class.

 

Well Worn Honeycomb

 This was my favorite - and also was a favorite of the ladies attending the class.  It uses the Well Worn Designer Series Paper which is discontinued but is currently available on the Clearance Rack (if we did not buy it all - many of the ladies wanted some after seeing this card).  I used Crumb Cake card embossing with an Soft Suede inked up embossing folder.  That was put on Not Quite Navy and Soft Sueded then a Very Vanilla card base.

Sweetheart Honeycomb

 This one also uses the Honeycomb folder.  I used some stamps from the Tiny Tags set and Raspberry Ripple ink to decorate some of the hexagon sections.  The heart is Primrose Petals embossed with Elegant Lines folder.  It is mounted on Primrose Petals cardstock and a Whisper White base.

 

Circles and Rings - Double Embossed

This one uses Pale Plum and Certainly Celery card stock rings and circles adhered to a Whisper White background and then embossed with the Snowburst Embossing Folder (also on the clearance rack) 



Razzleberry Heart

For this one I embossed the lower edge with the Vine Street folder available free during Sale-a-bration.   For the polka dot embossing edge around the sentiment, I have a piece cut from the Polka Dot embossing folder that is just one row of dots (I also have one with two rows of dots).   The heart is embossed with the Elegant Lines.  When doing these hearts I embossed a scrap of card stock, then punch out the heart so I could get the exact area I wanted.  I really like the Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry colors together.  I will make more of these!

Double embossed trio

The square frames are made using the 1 inch and  1 1/4 inch square punches.  These were made similarly to the rings on the Circles and Rings card about.  Punch the smaller shape first and then center the hole from that punch in the larger one.  So simple! I adhered the frames to the Sahara Sand card stock and embossed it all with the Houndstooth folder.

 

Kite flying

I created the scene on this card using scraps of card stock them embossed it all using the Square Lattice folder.  Doesn't the circle look quilted?  The DSP is a scrap from a retired set.

You Rock!

A masculine card with the Honeycomb folder.  I cut along the hexagons and then wrapped linen thread around it.  Old Olive, Cajun Craze and Rich Razzleberry - on Sahara Sand is a nice manly color combination.

 

 

I am so loving the Honeycomb embossing folder.  Sure hope they come out with a punch to match the hexagon.