Bachelorette Party and Wedding

April 20, 2009 by carina 2 Comments

This weekend was filled with parties and events for Jen’s wedding. But don’t plan on her posting about it anytime soon since she is on her honeymoon. I just thought I would post a couple of tidbits although I don’t know that this will be a very exciting post as I promised to not show any of the riske photos from the bachelorette party. I tried to make the food for the party as easy as possible. One of the ladies offered her house so we nixed going to a restaurant for a more comfortable atmosphere. I ordered sushi (from Happy Sumo) and soup (the Zuppa is my favorite from the Olive Garden). I’ll be using the Olive Garden for easy parties in the future…the soup was only $20 for a gallon and $4 for 12 breadsticks.

This is my favorite picture of Aimee and Cynthia (sisters) laughing at one of the stories being told.

As I said, I wasn’t allowed to post any of the ridiculous pictures, so that basically eliminated everything else:).

Okay, a little about the wedding. As the matron of honor (wow, that sounds old, huh?) and with two little flower girls to boot, there wasn’t much time for pictures. I will just say that it was a BEAUTIFUL day—the bride looked beautiful and the groom handsome, and well, it was all a fantastic success. When Jen posts pictures, I will DEFIANTLY send you over to her site because they will be fabulous. I will also get the link to her photographer, Kelly Nicole. Here are a few of my candid pics:

The bride and groom

I think this little flower girl is pretty adorable.

This next little flower girl ripped the hem of her dress,refused to wear her wreath, and managed to have a blow out in her dress during my toast (Josh missed the toast and a few other things). She looks so innocent…

Our fabulous cupcakes from cupcakechicutah were AMAZING! I would highly recommend her! We had the red velvet for the wedding favors and we had the chocolate coconut and chocolate mint at our bachelorette party.

This cake wasn’t just beautiful, it was YUMMY! Raspberry filled and swirled on the bottom, carrot cake for the middle, and lemon with lemon curd for the top…

Felicity and me…I loved our bridesmaids dresses and those huge peony’s we wore in side buns in our hair. We also had fabulous green shoes! That’s the fantastic combo you get when two designers get married!

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Bella Bella Layout

April 13, 2009 by carina 4 Comments

Last week, something possessed me to take a second away from digital scrapbooking and to actually scrapbook the traditional way. I used my Bella Bella line from My Minds Eye.

It’s nice to get off the computer sometimes and really get down and dirty! I think there is something about really feeling the paper in your hands ( I love paper…sheets and sheets of it all over my home just because I like the stuff!). I do think traditional scrapbooking is harder for me because I’m always wishing for a control-Z (I actually wish there was a control-z for a lot of regular things in life!). But once I got use to the idea of planning the layout ahead and being okay with the home spun nature of it all (aka, my glops of glue!), I was good!

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The Joy of Cooking’s Carrot Cake and The Cure

March 29, 2009 by carina 3 Comments

I recently signed up to do The 8 week Cure with many others at Apartment Therapy. I am currently reading Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s Book—Apartment Therapy: The eight-step home cure. “The Cure,” to boil it down, is an eight week program meant to help organize and make healthy our living spaces. There are several things you do including declutters, room remedies, and more. My favorite thing is to bring home flowers once a week for my home. I always put my flowers on our table because then I’ll actually clean it up! Dirty dishes and flowers don’t really match, you know?

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And, to top it off this week, the cure is all about deep cleaning the kitchen. INTO it! My kitchen really needed it! One of the things you do is a new recipe. While I bought ingredients for a couple of new recipes, today I felt like I wanted to revisit a recipe I haven’t had a chance to make for awhile! I thought I’d share because it’s one of my favorites! It’s The Joy of Cooking’s Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. I made sure and got it onto one of my recipe cards today so that I wouldn’t have to drag the book out again for it!

CARROT CAKE

Serving: 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large egg
1 1/2 peeled and finely grated cup carrot
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 freshly grated or ground teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt

OPTIONAL:
1 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, lightly drained

1. Have all ingredients at room temperature, 68°F to 70°F.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

3. Grease and flour two 9×2-inch round pans or two 8×8-inch pans or one 13×9-inch pan, or line the bottom with wax paper.

4. In a large bowl, throroughly whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, all-spice, and salt.

5. Add the vegetable oil and eggs, and stir together well with a rubber spatula or beat on low speed.

6. Stir in the carrots, walnuts, raisins and pineapple (if using).

7. Scrape the batter into the pans(s) and spread evenly.

8. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

For me, I always do the pineapple, but never the raisins or walnuts. I also added coconut and vanilla for my own special twist!

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your taste.

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Running with the Leopards—5K Race

March 28, 2009 by carina 1 Comment

No designerly posts today. Just a quick post to say that Josh and I ran a 5k today with his East High alma mater (the high school recognizable for being the place High School Musical was filmed). About 700 people showed for the race. It was cold. This is a terrible picture of us, but I thought the snow on the mountains nicely demonstrates the cold.

A final note…my husband beat me. I’m guessing by about 3 minutes. We ‘ll see when the race results come out. I also had a momentary scare when I was sprinting in and managed to fling my iPod. Don’t ask me how…it just happened! Thankfully it was sort of a frisbee fling and it landed in the grass. A race chaperone (is there such a thing? You know, that guy who stands on the side and watches races and gives times) picked it up (thankfully!)

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Easter Projects

March 22, 2009 by carina 2 Comments

Easter is fast approaching and I haven’t even begun to think about Easter projects for me girls. Our favorite is the peeps chicks in chocolate nests with jelly been eggs. Siri was just asking to do those the other day.

You should also check out the Easter Projects on Martha Stewart’s website. Look how cute these spring chicks are!

There’s also a slew of Easter decoration pictures. I am more motivated to get a few things together this week!

If you doing anything fun for Easter, post here!

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March of Tools: The Wacom Tablet and Card Scan Reader

March 18, 2009 by carina

In honor of March of the Tools, I decided to feature two of my favorite tools: My Wacom Tablet and Scan Card Reader. My Wacom Tablet I’ve had for a out 2 years now and love. Last May, however, when we moved from Minnesota to Utah, my Wacom pen was lost. I had placed it in my mother-in-law’s carry on bag and it somehow got lost in the mix. So I’ve been without a Wacom pen for most of this last year. Last week I couldn’t stand it anymore (mouse drawing is NOT that fun) and I ordered a new pen. I told Josh I ordered a new pen and he said, “Well, you know what’s going to happen now don’t you? You’re going to find your other pen!” I thought he was silly because I had already torn apart the whole house looking for it.

So last night, my mother-in-law drops by and upon seeing my new pen sitting at my desk, tells Josh (I wasn’t there), “I just found one of those at my house! I meant to bring it by.” I couldn’t BELIEVE it! Serendipitous?

So I am so happy I have my old pen and can send back the new one (which I have had for a total of 1 and 1/2 days and was a small chunk of change).

My Card Scan Reader is another tool I can’t live without! Did you know that using your regular USB to hook up your camera to your computer is suppose to be hard on your camera? So our IT guy at work gave me this. It works for 5 kinds of cards and Josh and I use it for both the point and shoot camera and my Canon Rebel. It’s SO fast and pretty inexpensive! And hey, if it extends the life of my cameras, then it is DEFINITELY worth it!

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St. Patrick’s Day Freebie

March 16, 2009 by carina 4 Comments

Here’s a quick freebie for you if you don’t really have much green (I don’t:). So I’ll wear this little badge to work tomorrow (and my kids will wear it just for fun!)! Just download, print, and cut out. No pinching!

Download st. patrick’s day freebie

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Adding Color to My Life and Another Frame Project

March 11, 2009 by carina 7 Comments

As many of you know, I live in rental that we aren’t suppose to paint. So a lot of my tricks to decorating are things that are “movable.” Well, last week I got the okay to paint the living room and kitchen! What a dream! I’m not done accessorizing and I’ve pulled everything down from the walls. I have a million little projects to work on for this home and I’ll be sure to post them here!

Okay, so here’s the before:

So this is my kitchen. Very big, I know.

My Living Room…there was a pony parade going on!

Here are the colors I chose:

I actually tried out the taupe and knew it was just right…but the tiffany was a little dark for my taste. My finally color ended up being the shade lighter than this color, which wasn’t exactly right, but will do for now. It needs just a hint of green.

This is the shade darker…glad I tried it before buying the gallon! And the final results! TA DA! Ummm, I love color! It changes the entire space…notice I haven’t changed a lot else (I DID pick up the ponies, but they’ll be back!:)

Darling little bird and number balls found at Thai Pan Trading! $2 for the bird and $1.50 for the balls!

I once saw this on a show…the kids books stayed in the room on a tray. Heaven knows that our kid books are ALWAYS in this room, so it seemed right to sort of “organize” them by putting them on a tray.

I only painted the bottom half of the kitchen taupe. High contrast heaven!

I’ve already have a dozen more projects for all these rooms. I have curtains…but I’m not sure if we are going to be able to hang them in here because of the plaster in the wall…it makes it hard to drill!

MY FRAME PROJECT—Painting the frame, take 2

Okay, back to the living room…notice that great focal point frame (and nothing else on the wall? hehee…)? I found that at Home Goods on clearance and painted it. ‘Painted it’ is an understatement because I actually worked on it THREE times because I could get the color right. I thought I wanted it to be white. It didn’t work. I mean, NOT AT ALL. It looked terrible (By the way, that frame WILL get hung…just haven’t gotten round to it yet). Then, I decided to be bold and paint it red.Also a bad idea…but not as bad as the white. The THIRD time I painted it brown, but left some of the red peeping through (just a tiny bit). It was exactly what I needed. I want it to be a focal point and it had to compete with the curtains.

Here’s how the frame started out. Gold, ugh, not for me. I love how ornate it is though!

Here’s the white phase, which leads very nicely into the red and brown phases.

While the red phase looks COMPLETELY scary here, I’m glad I did it because it acts as an undertone for the brown and gives it dimension. It’s not FLAT.

The final un-hung frame. I’ve been a busy gir1. I’m about to fall asleep writing this! I’m off to bed early tonight! And remember to check tomorrow! I have an interview with Holly Jones and a great giveaway from her super darling store My Cute Stamps!

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Free Task List Design and Peony Place GiveAway!

March 9, 2009 by carina 75 Comments

It’s a freebie day! If you’re like me, you are all over the place all day long: kids, work, dinner, shopping…the list goes on and on! And sometimes I’ll think of something TODAY, that I need to remember TOMORROW…so I came up with these cute little task lists that are SUPER easy to use. They are formatted on a 8.5 x 11 paper and you just need to cut it right down the middle. I put the tasks into boxes with lines because I sort of like to categorize what I’m trying to accomplish…home stuff, work stuff, etc. It’s also sorted into TODAY and TOMORROW.

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Download the TASK LIST here.

Hope you enjoy this freebie! Today is sort of a “double take” because the SITS girls is having their Spring Fling and I’ve decided to fling some digital scrapbooking your way! All you have to do to be entered into this giveaway is comment on this thread. Easy-peasy!

I’ll do a drawing for the winners…for every 20 commenters I will draw a name and you get to choose ONE KIT from my new Peony Place collection! So get people to visit and comment! I’d love to give out a lot!!!! Here are the kits you get to choose from!

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I will be announcing the winners on Wednesday morning at 10am MST! So check back:)!

Also be sure and check out the 20% off coupon and $40 gift certificate we are giving away at the SITS girls for Card Nirvana!

Need the SITS GIRL discount at Card Nirvana this week: CODE: SITS20MARCH

And the last thing that you need to know is that I have a very special interview and free gift that I will be giving out on Thursday! So be sure to check back for that giveaway! Happy Tuesday!
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Tomorrow’s Freebies!

March 9, 2009 by carina 5 Comments

I’m here to post about the wonderful stuff going on tomorrow here at my blog, card nirvana, and the SITS girls! The first thing is happening right here!!!! I am giving away for every 20 commentors, 1 digitial kit of my new digital scrapbooking line (which hits Two Peas in A Bucket next Tuesday…it’s not even out yet!), The new line is called Peony Place and it’s a collection set up in digital scrapbooking sets. Not a digital scrapbooker? These papers are still great to print out for hybrid projects like cards and holiday projects! All you have to do is comment on TOMORROW’s thread and you will be added to the drawing! I will draw one person for every 20 people who comments ( so if 40 people comments, I’ll draw 2 people and so on). How easy is that? I’ll also have a new freebie card up for you to pick up, so you should dash by to at least get the details on that! So everyone wins:).

Tomorrow’s winners gets to choose from these:

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Perfect for spring, don’t you think? Here’s a layout I did of my daughter Siri using the Floral Fantasy!

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Okay, so at card nirvana, you are going to be able to pick up a freebie tomorrow! So check here first and then you are going to want to hop over there.

Finally, Card Nirvana is giving away a $40 gift certificate (that’s a lot of cards!) with the SITS girls. You’ll need to check out their site tomorrow to be available. They also have the coupon code for a 20% off discount at Card Nirvana! If you have had your eye on something, now is the time to buy it! Head on over there and see what you can see!

Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!

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Introducing Renee Stosich!

March 9, 2009 by carina

I want to give a big welcome to Renee Stosich who has joined the Card Nirvana team! I think you are going to like her designs as she does everything from whimcial to sophisticated! Take a look at her cards, which you will see growing over the next couple of days as we get her cards up!

Renee’s cards at Card Nirvana

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My Frame Project in Utah Baby Guide!

March 8, 2009 by carina

Check out my frame project as published in Utah Baby Guide! I also submitted it to Apartment Therapy’s February Jumpstart Contest (it didn’t win, but it was still fun to submit).

Anyway, if you get chance, download the Utah Baby Guide

Spring Arrivals at Card Nirvana

March 7, 2009 by carina

Like a mad woman I have been adding cards to Card Nirvana, my downloadable-printable card store! I created Card Nirvana so anyone could download a card already set up with crop marks and with as many invitations as could fit on a page. So all of the invitations are set up on 8.5″ x 11″ paper. Most cards, invitations, and place cards are set up 2 to a page or 4 to a page depending on the size. The best part is that for people who are not into Photoshop, the cards are set up in Adobe Acrobat so you can change the type! It’s really easy to use and you can create your invitations in just a few minutes from your home printer. I use the cards all the time for my daughter’s birthday parties and my holiday cards. You can find out more about what you get in a download by clicking here.

You can also check out the freebies and sales here.

So go check out some of the fabulous new cards! Here’s a sampling of some of the new stuff! All these cards are created by Jen Allyson or myself! Click on the photo to go to that category at card nirvana!

The place card is on sale right now so check it out! I can’t wait to use them for my easter dinner!

You’ll also find our awesome wedding announcements when you click on the image above.

Thanks for looking! New cards are uploaded all the time so check back for new invites and cards!

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Cake, cake, and cake

March 5, 2009 by carina

If this doesn’t make you happy, then I don’t know what will! At Apartment Therapy’s sister site Kitchn there is a post called Layers, Icing, and Sprinkles: 14 Birthday Cakes .

How delectable is this?

Makes you want to go and make a beautiful cake, huh? Here’s a couple more to make your mouth water:

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Felicity is turning two in April and I will definately be trying to use one of their cakes (there are 14 and I could eat them all right now!). Go take a look at how beautiful they are! I’ll be posting a little later on a book I found that makes me oh, so happy! A few pretty photos to boot for inspiration!

And a quick newsbite: I buckled down and painted my living room yesterday! The jury is still out on the color. I’ll be posting it once I have the room a little more put together! Still need to get the curtains up…

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Why Parenting is Rewarding

March 1, 2009 by carina 2 Comments

I just finished laying my two daughters down to bed and I sang our traditional, “Baby’s Boat A Silver Moon.” I was drawing on Siri’s back (my five year old), and when I finished the song, I told them good night, I love them, and was about to leave the room. Siri said, “Stop Mom! I need to draw a heart on your back so you will always remember that I love you!”

How sweet is that?

And that is why I’m a mommy. For moments like that.