Welcome Baby

Today I am playing along with the Sunday stamps colour challenge SSC336

I’ve chosen the following 3 colours from my Stampin’ Blends collection: Summer Splash, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie.

Combined the colour challenge with the CAS colours & sketches sketch challenge #556

As well as the CAS on a Friday Challenge #315 - Baby

I’ve chosen to use the Turtley Cute stamp set and dies and Full of Life 6x6 papers from Stampin’ Up! Along with a retired sentiment set We’ll Said.

Creating a cute little welcome card for an up coming baby shower for a coworker.

Happy Stampin’

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life

Colour INKspiration CI#193

 Loving this week’s colour inspiration from over at Colour INKspiration group on Facebook! Cloud Cover, Balmy Blue and Highland Heather … it’s just so delicious!

I decided to use this colour challenge to play with a new fun fold card I found from Susan Campfield’s YouTube channel called The Flying Finch for a card swap I signed up for in the Canadian Cardmaking group on Facebook. To go with the flying theme I paired it with the Beautiful Bokeh kit from Stampin’ Up! 

This bundle is SO stunning - came with the stamp set, coordinating dies, hybrid embossing folder, 6x6 Bokeh inspired paper pad and sparkly gems.

The Flying Finch fancy fold is aptly named because it looks like a flying bird when opened.

I coloured the focal butterfly with my colour palette coordinating Stampin’ Blends - so relaxing to colour with! Colouring is my craft therapy.

I used the Bokeh DSP for on top of the front panel and side strips. For one set of strips I embossed the white cards stock with the coordinating hybrid butterfly folder and then sponged with Balmy Blue to help the images pop.

To finish the assembly of the card I added some ribbon, sparkle gems and a Happy Birthday sentiment.

View from the top of the “flying wing” look.

This fold still fits into a regular envelope for mailing - although might need extra postage due to weight of layers.

Happy Stampin’ 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life 

Setting Sail in the craftroom!

So I am late to enter in the challenge #CI192 over at Colour INKspirations 

I still wanted to share that I loved the vibrant colour palette inspiration and used it to create a 60th birthday card for my friends brother who loves to sail!

The blending is so relaxing and perfect for a sunset sail vibe! I used retired Stampin’ Up boat builder punch, High Tide birds and Happy Birthday dies from an unknown brand. 

Thank you for the inspiration to get back into my craftroom and can’t wait to play along with the next one 😊

Happy Stampin’ 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life

Can’t Create in a Chaotic space

Hello!

It’s been a long time since I have blogged and my poor craft room has been ignored for the past few years and it had gotten so unorganized and chaotic as a result. 

First the pandemic had my career as an early childhood educator come to an abrupt end as getting Covid set off some health issues for me that made working with children no longer safe for me - that came with a grief process for me to overcome as an ECE is all I had ever imagined myself doing. 

We also had our daughter come home in April 2020 with a new baby and lived with us for a while until we got her settled in her own nest and then our son came home from finishing his Navy contract out West. 

I finally found a second career opportunity in 2022 working with an amazing organization that helps persons living with disabilities and high risk seniors to remain living independently as long as possible doing reception and administrative assistant duties. Love that I am still working in a sector that makes a difference in the lives of others! 

While love my new work it took me a bit to get adjusted to working out of the home again and to get my health and energy finding some balance so that I could do my than work and sleep 🤣  

So here we are now. I have finally been able to spend sometime getting the chaos of our family room that was my home childcare space and my craft space reorganized after closing my home childcare and no longer having our son use it as his space. 

Looking forward to getting inky again in my newly organized space! 

Clean desk with all my most used tools close at hand.

Organized my paper stash so I can find what I am looking for quickly! 

Created an embossing and die cutting station out in the former playroom space. Organized all my designer series papers by theme so I can find what I am looking for easier.

So now that the chaos is all inventoried and organized I am excited to be getting inky again. I even signed back up as an independent demonstrator with Stampin’ Up!

Happy Stampin’ 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life

Caprese Stuffed Avocado

 Where are the avocado lovers at? 

I personally have a love hate relationship with them myself - when trying fresh ones they are either rock hard not ripe or rotten brown inside and that sweet soft pale green spot in between always eludes me 🤣 seriously …

However these Caprese Stuffed Avocados look so tasty presentation wise but I would likely use the frozen avocado chunks thawed and tossed right with the other ingredients cause it’s just easier than trying to time that sweet elusive ripe but no rotten state!

CAPRESE STUFFED AVOCADO ~ Sweet and juicy grape/cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella balls are tossed in basil pesto with a touch of garlic, then stuffed into avocado halves! Drizzle with a balsamic glaze.

RECIPE here

Bon Appetite 

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life 

 

Weekend Creative Challenge #13

  It’s the weekend! That means another creative challenge for those who might want to play along someday 🤣

Nurturing one’s creativity is SO key to helping to ensure a healthy mindset … human beings are all born with an instinct to express themselves through creativity but sometimes external factors impede peoples abilty to engage in creative expression and so their full healthy mindset is also impeded! We need to get back to ensuring that everyone has at least ONE creative outlet for expressing themselves. 

So here’s another instalment of the Weekend Creativite Challenge - each week I will post a photo prompt that you can use to get your creativity mojo going! 

Choose from the photos colours or imagery or just the general feeling/emotion that it brings to your heart! 

You can create with whatever medium speaks to you and inspires you! There are so many ways to nurture one’s creative soul! 

What’s your favorute way to nurture creativity?

Here are just a few of mine:

• Colouring 
• Mixed media / Painting
• Papercrafting
• Fun Nail designs
• Poetry/Short Story/Blog writing

Snap a photo of your creative work and share it in my Totallyawake4-life & Nailin' it Together community group by the following Thursday night at midnight to get your name entered into the draw! 

Bonus entry if you share the creative prompt and your entry on your own social media in a public setting and tag my Totallyawake4-life & Nailin' it Together group and use the hashtag #TA4L13.

Join us here:

I will be doing a monthly prize draw inside the group from all the creative entry’s shared and that show up tagged outside the group (remember the settings needs to be public otherwise I cannot search the hashtag to see them)  … let’s help spread the joy and benefits of creativity together 💗

Happy Stampin’ 

Margaret 

Live, Laugh Love 

Be Totallyawake4-life

Keto Fudgecicle

I am so excited to get my Pampered Chef Quickcicle maker I just ordered so I can try this recipe from the amazing All Day I Dream About Food blog 

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup almond or cashew milkunsweetened
• ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener 
• ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or peppermint extract
• ¼ teaspoon xanthum gum

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together milk, cream, Swerve, and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil and cook one minute, stirring continuously.
2. Remove from heat and stir in peppermint extract. Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk briskly to combine. Let mixture cool at least 10 minutes and then pour into popsicle molds.
3. Freeze 1 hour, then push wooden sticks partway into popsicles and return to the freezer (wooden sticks are best for staying in the pops when you take them out of the molds). Freeze until solid, about 5 more hours.
4. To remove from molds, run under hot running water for 30 seconds or so.

Bon Appetite

Margaret

Live, Laugh, Love

Be Totallyawake4-life