That is where I have been this last month (literally, my last post was on April 28th!)… learning to live simply.

So here are a few snapshots of my month along with some projects/moments/recipes/happy times. Enjoy.

Do you ever wish that you could have less stuff, less to do and more time to enjoy life? Well, I do and I recently realized something…. in order to be content you need to live simply. God has blessed us with so many things in our lives and if you think about each thing that blesses you immensely every time it is a part of your life, it is most likely something very simple.

• Family
• Love
• Creation
• Romance
• Sunshine
• Photos
• Laughter
• Friends
• Spending time with God
• Doing things that you enjoy
• Yummy food

There are so many things that could be on that list… but most of those things are free and quite easily obtained. So that is where my focus has been. My prayer is that I would spend more time with God in His Word and in prayer, spend more time with my family, friends and those in need, keep my activities simple instead of trying to over do things, and get outside!

So in a nutshell the month of May was filled with LOTS of new recipes: Ginger Steak Salad (A+++), Lemon Sugar Cookies (A+) using my new Message in a Cookie cutters from William Sonoma!, No Yeast Pizza Crust (A), Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (A+++) — and that is just 1/4 of the new recipes that I tried out (should be posting some more soon). OH, OH! And I also am happy to announce my brand new baby!!!! My KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer — get ready for some more recipes from scratch, my friends!

May was NOT filled with very much scrapbooking… I have been trying to get things done in our Wedding Book at Tiny Prints| My Canvas so that we can have it printed up by our 4 year anniversary coming up in August. However, I do plan on working on a few Card Sets to get up in my Etsy Shop soon! We shared some special times with our mamas for Mother’s day… Santa Barbara was a beautiful time and I look forward to many visits this summer! Also, our favorite show, LOST, concluded with a lovely series finale — hence the photo above of our “Dharma” soda pops and fruit salad in a pineapple bowl during the show. Let me tell you, it was a beautiful finale… I cried, laughed, screamed (no joke!) and even Garrett admits that he shed a tear! The Thai Chicken Coconut Soup was our dinner during LOST and it was absolutely amazing! Both Gare and I love Thai and this  recipe is definitely going into the recipe box for the future (though that may be awhile considering that the sun decided to come out today and probably wont be leaving any time soon :)

Oh and we cant forget my precious nephew, Levi, who is now 4 months old! I had a chance to have him over for about an hour and just spend some quality time with the cutie until he was worn out and passed out in my arms (yes, I was in heaven…). And that is the sweet image I will leave you all with today… come back soon!

There are just way too many good things to share today! So be sure to read the whole post {doin’ my best to paraphrase for you!}

I am absolutely IN LOVE with this new paper pack from Close To My Heart, called Splendor. Using Goldrush, Heavenly Blue, Moonstruck and Topiary, this paper pack will bring out the beauty in many Spring and Summer layouts & cards to come! The papers sport some lovely spring blossoms and fun-filled clouds — who can resist cute clouds?! Not to mention the fact that the Splendor paper pack is perfect for use on both masculine and feminine layouts alike… This is why I have chosen this paper pack for this month’s mini workshop. I hope you can join me! **See May Crop details at the end of this post!

For just $3.00 a person, you can come and create a 2 page layout using the Splendor paper pack. Simply bring your own photos (not necessary to have the day of the workshop) along with your own tools and adhesive and we will have this layout done in a jiffy! If you place an order of $20 or more at the time of the workshop, you will receive the layout completely FREE! Bring a friend and pay just $3.00 for the two of you!

You know me, I love a figuring out good deals for myself and my girls! So if you have taken a look at this paper pack (*pictured below) and just fallin’ in love the way that I have, you can place an order for the entire paper pack and have plenty to take home and create more layouts and cards with! The whole paper pack is priced at $12.95 for 12 double-sided sheets of Patterned Papers and 10 sheets of matching Cardstock — spend just $7.00 more and you will get to create the layout for FREE… accessories and all!

May 22nd @ 11am
Please RSVP to Ames33@gmail.com by May 7th for supplies to be purchased
I will email you with the location when you RSVP

Looking forward to spending some time creating with you all!

Close To My Heart has officially opened Studio J for you to play with! Check it out HERE!

You will be asked to create an account in order to store your uploaded photos and the projects that you are currently working on. Isn’t it great that all of this is completely online and there is no need for expensive software! yay!! My only recommendation is that you order multiple layouts at a time so that shipping costs are cheaper :)

For those of you interested in “Training” or a Demo of Studio J, feel free to bring your laptop along to the May Crop and I will be MORE THAN HAPPY to show you around! I will also have my laptop with me (as well as sample print outs, so you can see the wonderful quality!), but to make an account of your own, it would be best for you to have your own computer with you.  Have fun playing!

May Crop

In addition to the Mini Workshop on May 22nd, I will also be holding a crop! Hopefully all of us can finally get together (babies and all!!). The Mini Workshop will be held at 11am Sharp, then from 12pm to 5pm the tables will be open for free scrappin’! So bring your materials and a bagged lunch and get ready to catch up!

EMERGENCY!!!!

I made a delicious pot of Beef Stew and had NO BREAD to go with it. That is definitely an emergency if I’ve ever heard of one :)

So here is what I did (and I have a feeling this little trick is going to save me again sometime in the near future!). I broke out the wheat bread that we use for sandwiches, buttered them up, sliced them into some (cute) triangles, sprinkled each with Lawry’s Garlic Salt and some Cheddar Cheese. Then I popped it into the broiler for about 6 minutes (until the cheese was nice and melted onto the bread). MmmmmMmmm…. this was good bread! Hubby approved!

Many times you could find me standing around the grocery store debating with myself whether or not I want to buy a whole loaf of french or sourdough bread for just the two of us. We never finish it before it goes bad and honestly, as much as I would LOVE to eat bread with every single meal — that just aint so healthy for you! So you say ‘freeze it,’ huh? It has been done and successfully several times… however I tend to forget it is in there and end up buying a new loaf anyway. So I try not to do that. This new recipe (if you can even call it that) is going to save me a lot of trouble…

Blackberry Crumb Bars

UGH, I am a sucker for new recipes and even spent an entire evening drooling over several foodie blogs and bookmarking the recipes that I deemed “doable.” Don’t worry, I will share a list of those blogs below ;)

So here is the first of the many new recipes to try out. Found on Bake or Break, where you can find many awesome recipes that are tried and true and delicious! Many seem fairly easy too. Here is my review on this recipe:

It wasn’t what I wanted it to be. In the past I have had trouble trying new bar recipes that end up tasting too floury and the list of ingredients for these bars fooled me into thinking it would be different; and it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I am enjoying them, but as I said before, they aren’t the sweet treat I wanted them to be. The Blackberries that I used were not quite sweet enough and I know that I didn’t squeeze in as many Blackberries as were called for — so I would say, next time I would do it when Blackberries are super in season and use lots of them! I think I will try this recipe again because I know it can be better. I will probably also use less flour for the crumbly topping.

Here is how I spaced out my Blackberries — see? I could have SO put more blackberries!

Here is the final product — pretty huh? You should see the original recipe maker’s photos!!

Here are a few of the foodie blogs that I was drooling over this last week:

• Picky Palate
• Bakerella
• Bake or Break
• The Pioneer Woman
• Smitten Kitchen

Crockpot Beef Stew

One last recipe for today (I promise!)

It was a cool day so perfect for soup! But I wanted to try something other than my favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup. I went to Betty Crocker to check out their Crockpot soup recipes and ran across this recipe. It looked warm and delicious — and that it was! There were a few things I changed, here is my review:

This recipe was calling my name due to the caramelized onions… both yummy and NEW to me! I had never caramelized onions before so I was ready to check it out. Instead of parsnips, I used some baby white potatoes and added some celery as well. When I added the broth (mixed with gravy mix) it didn’t seem very soupy, so I doubled it. It was the perfect amount of broth for the amount of beef and veggies in there. That is about it! This recipe is hubby approved and will be saved away in my recipe box :)

Yay for another great recipe — sorry, no photos of my personal stew, but I am including the photo from Betty. Trust me it was yummy! Have a great day!

… phew, weddings can be a bit crazy sometimes!

This last week I was working oober hard on my cousin’s wedding photo board! It was the worst week ever to have a major creative block… But I made it through. Once I decided to make my own roses, versus using fake ones, things started rolling a bit more smoothly for me (the NIGHT before the wedding!!!!). Thought I would share a quick little tutorial on how I made these cute little gals!

All you need are the following:

• Glue Gun (& Glue Sticks…)
• A 3×3″ or 4×4″ Piece of Cardstock
• One or Two 1″ Strips of Paper (I don’t really recommend cardstock for this)
• Pearls or Buttons or Brads (anything really!) for the center.

Now, just follow these easy steps:

1. Fold your 1″ strips of paper in half (lengthwise) and crumple it up in a scrunching motion.
2. Then twist the paper while continuing to scrunch. (This is the crazy part, because you may not fully understand that last step but you just need to play with your paper in order to make the rose they way you want)
3. Make a small 1 1/2″ circle of glue on the cardstock square
4. Quickly curl the first end of your scrunched strip of paper into a small circle and press down onto the glue.
5. Add more glue around the edge of your center circle and press the remainder of your strip down.
6. Once your flower is the size you would like, simply cut the flower out of the cardstock square and glue down your rose center of choice (I used 3 pearls for my larger roses and 1 for my smaller ones)

The best part about these roses is that you can make them as crumpled or smooth as you want and really cater to your project by using different types of paper or center embellishments! I love an accessory that is versatile! Yay! I used them all over the photo board for the wedding, along with some left over fake leaves I had. I think it turned out beautifully, myself :)

The whole wedding was absolutely gorgeous! Hot pink with some orange, light pink and greens throughout… it was perfect for Katie (who was even more gorgeous). We danced the night away and had a blast. Here is a photo of  the finished product and a couple of the wedding itself, because it was too beautiful not to share :) Have a wonderful weekend!

I hope that you all have a very blessed Easter with your families!

Just a quick reflection on what Easter means to me: Each year, I walk through the aisles of Easter candy (and toys) and can never get myself to purchase anything. While it is just my hubby and I, I cant deny the temptation to make him a basket full of goodies — but when I am there to pick it all out, I just cant! I am not saying Easter baskets are bad or that I wont do them for my children in the future… but I do know that I want to keep the reason for Easter the most important point of the day/week. Christ died FOR ME so that I wouldnt have to take on the punishment for MY SIN. That is huge! There are people I would die for… but Christ carried every single one of our sins (the entire world’s) on His back, making His death beyond anything we could ever imagine. I am so thankful for His love, that He would carry my sins for me.

If anyone has any fun ways to keep the fun traditions of Easter without taking away from the true reason of the celebration, I would love to hear them! ** Check out some fun activities at the end of this post to try out too!

Blessings to you all as you spend this day rejoicing in the Lord’s sacrifice and vitctory! I have also included a passage that I will hold on to during the day tomorrow…

Isaiah 53

¹ Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

³ He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

¹¹ After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Easter Activites

Bunny Pops!

Rubberband Egg Decorating

Martha Stewart Table Place Cards

Peeps Sushi!