Adding to the mix....

I know this is supposed to be a crafting blog, but I've already added the food storage and garden, so humour me. I joined Weight Watchers yesterday after a lot of encouragement and a little arm twisting from my younger sister, Chris. I hope you won't mind the occasional post about my weight loss journey. Food is involved so maybe you won't mind so much. Here is today's breakfast. Looks good, doesn't it? Cottage cheese, fresh strawberries, blueberries and Kiwi nicely arranged in a little bowl. So fresh, so healthy, so little! Actually, along with my morning coffee, it was very filling and tasty. Thanks for indulging me, I'll post a card later.

What do you know, I'm posting a card...

Here is another of the cards we did at the Stamp-A-Stack. I saw a similar card in the big Idea book and catalog and I just changed it up a bit. I love the purple with the green. The stamp set is retiring on the 30th of this month so I made sure I got it before it is gone!

Supplies all from Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery, Whisper White and Basic Black.
Designer paper from Subtles Patterns Paper Stack.
Stamps: "Chic Boutique".
Ink: Basic Black.
Tools: Mat Pack and piercer.

Time for some pictures of my garden...

This project has been consuming me since I started the seeds indoors a few months ago. It is so much fun to watch the plants getting so big and starting to produce.
East side of garden enclosure

My little zucchini plant

Square Foot Garden plot

West end of garden

Cukes and greens for dinner

One of my Stamp-A-Stack cards...

Saturday I am having a Stamp-A-Stack at my sister's home in Silver Spring. This is one of the cards that the ladies will be making. There will be five designs and they will be making two of each for a total of 10 cards. I will post the others after the workshop. I like for them to see the cards first. Thanks for looking!

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!
Stamps: "Upsy Daisy", "Because I Care", and A to Z.
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Whisper White and Very Vanilla
Ink: Early Espresso
Designer Paper: Delicate Dots (retired)

What I've been up to ......

After the holidays last year, I did some soul searching and came to the conclusion that my life needed more balance. I was tired of the chaos and haphazardness of my daily life and felt a need to simplify and organize my home and thoughts. One area of need for us was preparedness. Although we have been blessed and not had a major natural disaster in our area that affected us, I wanted to be as ready as I could be if we did have an extended time that the electricity is off, or our food supply was diminished. Inspired by my daughter I started to work on an "extended pantry" Shopping at sales for items, storing, organizing, dating, and rotation of these items was first on the list. Canning, dehydrating and learning about cooking from food storage was next. I am not going to expound on these subjects as there are so many wonderful blogs and websites available that say it much better than me. I will show you a photo of part of my pantry area which is downstairs in the basement. I'm not finished, as it is an ongoing project, but I think I have a good start.

I'm back......

and so sorry I was gone for so long. I had a little burn out and just needed to regroup and recharge. I hope I still have some readers. Before I tell you what I have been up to the last few months, I want to make sure you don't miss out on the latest from Stampin' Up!

In order to make room for all the new products coming in July, hundreds of stamp sets, accessories, and home décor products are retiring! These last-chance items are only available June 1-30, so click the links below to get your favorites before they’re gone. Shop last-chance Wood-Mount Stamps Shop last-chance Clear-Mount Stamps Download the last-chance stamps PDF Shop last-chance Accessories Shop last-chance Definitely Decorative® Download the last-chance Definitely Decorative PDF Shop all discounted last-chance items