Fun and Mental Changes

I went to OC Nail Art yesterday to place an order. It donned on me that with Christmas coming up, there are going to be a lot of people in search of the perfect stocking stuffer. Last year my gift giving idea was to personalize... well, anything... for that special someone with embroidery from Artic Fox Designs . I had my Bible cover embroidered and it was AMAZING... you can check it out HERE . This year my gift idea is (you'll never guess) REUSABLE NAIL ART KITS! Now before I go plugging this WONDERFUL product, I just want to say that Konad, the maker of these awesome kits , does not pay me. The retailer OC Nail Art does not pay me either, but for now there is a 30% discount to anyone and everyone who uses the discount code " MENTAL " at checkout, so really YOU ALL are getting paid for my blog post today.... hahahahahahahha! Right now might be a great time to pick up a nail art kit or two for a special someone. Ok, now the plug... just cuz I love them! Note: the prices t...

Wow.. those girls days are something else. It's so incredibly healthy to stop and spend the day with your besties. It's even better when you stop to see a totally awesome movie... uh... like New Moon!!!! Yep, I saw New Moon today and it was WAY better than Twilight. The special effects were incredible and I think some of the cast has taken acting lessons. I say some because Edward is STILL looking like he's sick or in pain for EVERY kissing scene! COME ON!!!! And why the dramatic pause for EVERY line??? Just spit it out already! Ok, so your leaving... bu-bye! I'd rather look at the newly transformed Jacob anyway! And it doesn't take him three days to say his lines. Actually, because everyone's performances were so much better with this film, it made the poor guy playing Edward look even worse. I probably just ticked off the entire nation of teenage girls and I'm preparing for my house to get egged, but I'm only saying this so that the guy who plays Edwar...

This stuff is gold! I did a little cleaning yesterday and ALL my glass surfaces cleaned easily with one swipe of a slightly moist rag. Actually, I would have to say that the rag was mostly dry, but those are semantics that us millionaires don't have time to quibble over. All my mirrors wiped clean, my glass top kitchen table and even my black porcelain sink wiped clean in seconds.... yah, it was a little cleaning! Why? Because 4 months ago I treated all my mirror and glass surfaces with this Home Tech Acrylic Polish . It's an invisible barrier so when you get smudges and smears, they wipe away easily with a mostly dry cloth. Even those greasy hand prints that are always so tough to clean off windows, wipes away easily with no streaks. It really is amazing! I swear these people should pay me for this! Mostly because I'm NOT a millionaire (which you all probably already guessed since I'm doing my own cleaning), but I could be. With all the cleaning time this stuff is savi...

It has been a GREAT Sunday... lots of crafting and Gypsy design! Well, this one isn't quite finished, but I wanted to get it up so that everyone can see the cut file. This one is titled "Dream Card". As always, my Gypsy cut files can be found at the top of the right margin of my blog. That's all for tonight. Have a great Monday gang! ***Cartridges used: Hannah Montana Font, Gypsy Wanderings, Storybook and Wild Card

Ok, so here's the Christmas Cookie box I just finished... now I just need to bake the cookies. Hmmmmmm... my sister LOVES to bake Christmas cookies. I wonder if she'd be willing to work out a trade???? I'll spend the 15 minutes cutting the boxes and she can spend the hours in the kitchen baking cookies to fill them! Sound like an even trade? It's SOOOO an even trade! I'm saving her from a possible paper cut! Really, now that I think about it... I could be saving her life. Yah, lets go with that! hahahahaha! Hope you guys like it. I'm also ordering some holiday parchment paper from my favorite online baking resource, Fancy Flours , to line these little gems with. Someone asked me to share, so I thought I'd share it with all you guys too! I once made a birthday cake with a Queen of Hearts theme and ordered a ton of their sugar playing card suits to embellish the sides of the cake. It turned out FABULOUS and the service was excellent! Check them out for YOUR ho...

So it hit me yesterday that I never showed everyone what my Thanks a Latte card looks like, so at 12:30 this morning I loaded my paper, cut the gypsy cut file and 10 minutes later ended up with this beauty.... Only this beauty doesn't look as good in the photograph!!! What the heck!?! This pink looks coral in this pic. It's actually a pretty rose color and compliments the carmel cardstock beautifully in real life. I threw this through the Cuttlebug with my dots embossing folder. Please note, this cut file was created PRE-layers option on the Gypsy. The heart was added "after the fact" as a layer... there's also a flower and a swirl that I interchange depending on my mood. Those cute little additions are not in this original cut file but can be easily added. Here's how: 1.) After saving the original cut file, open it and find a heart or flower that you would like to add to the cup. 2.) Add the item you choose to the mat and place it where you would like it to a...

Well gang... a new Gypsy cut file has been added to the list (TOP of the right margin). I made this for a friend of the family whose accomplishments are deserving of just this caliber of handmade sentiment! I hope all of you like it as well! I did two different styles. The first style is the first layer of the cut file and it's the round card. It's a full card from the Wild Card Cricut cartridge. I then welded the shadow for the word "Congrats" from the Gypsy Wanderings Cricut cartridge to the window of the card. The separate word "Congrats" is already sized and ready to just stick in place. The second style (and second layer) is not a folding card. I attempted the folding card, but after all the glue and stickles were applied, the front of the card ended up being too heavy and the joint tore. So I removed the back half and left it since it can just easily be completed and then glued to a 3 x 4 or a 4 x 5.5 card. Simple but gorgeous! And I gotta say... I...

I'm reminded, this evening, of the importance of "DO IT ANYWAY". I've had a few weeks now where I'm skipping workouts and not completing my planning and journals and the feeling of fatigue is catching up with me. It starts with skipping workouts, and then I forget my vitamins which perpetuates the "not wanting to work out". Then I find myself not drinking all my water and feeling even more tired from dehydration. It becomes a vicious cycle quickly that ends in bouts of insomnia... can anyone relate? I've always told others in the past that sometimes you have to fake it till you feel it. But does "fake it till you feel it" really work? Because we really DON'T feel it sometimes.... do we? According to Hebrews 12:11-13 , that's EXACTLY what God tells us to do. " For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore, ...

My mother-in-law brought this recipe home after attending a 2 week McDougall Program in California learning how to live a vegan lifestyle (she also gave me the New McDougall Cookbook that is STILL my favorite cookbook after all these years!). I have made different variations of it over the years, but made the original recipe for dinner last night and I thought I would share. This recipe is VERY simple to prepare and is by far the best vegan "burger" I've ever had. PS. If you are a reader of my blog, you know that I AM NOT a vegan (I'm not even a vegetarian), but because I share in a lot of the foods, and certainly lifestyle choices, I'm surrounded by those that ARE vegan. Recipes like this that can be prepared quickly but taste like I slaved for hours are always called upon to impress my vegan guests. I hope you all enjoy the McDougall Zucchini Burger. ZUCCHINI BURGERS 2 cups zucchini finely grated (I use my mandolin and julienne them) 1 1/2 Tbsp. McKay's be...

Yay! BLOG ANNIVERSARY!!! SO, it has been one year since I started blogging. It is AMAZING going back through this past year's posts. Big hugs and thank you's to everyone who has read my blog and everyone who has left a comment. Thank you to other bloggers who have connected with me through my blog... I've SOOOO enjoyed reading your stuff!!! I've met some incredible people because of this blog and am grateful for the wonderful friendships I've gotten. From topics on relationships to exercise, this blog has been a wonderful outlet to share what I love, the issues that move me and the issues that get me heated. I'm hoping that the real me shines through in these blog posts and that this really does provide an outlet for everyone who reads it... even if it only gets you to think... or to smile... or to shake your fist. I've really enjoyed blogging this past year. I don't see myself stopping any time soon, so here's to the upcoming year! Thanks again to a...

The refreshing, crisp taste of yellow nails? Whoops... yuck! I don't think that was the lead-in I was looking for, but you see the EXTREME contrast right?!? Excuse my pitiful attempt to catch your eye, but come on.... the can IS yellow. ;) Any yellow nail sufferers out there? What the heck causes this? If you are a smoker, there really isn't a puzzle there. Nicotine causes nails to turn yellow... real or fake. But what about the non smokers with fake nails who are experiencing nail yellowing? Surprisingly enough, it could be as simple as the products that you use to get ready each morning. Typically anything containing UV protection chemicals will cause your nails to yellow. Don't rule out products containing dyes or other staining agents. Luckily, there may be a quick and easy remedy. Here's a helpful list to get those nails sparkling and white. See, now THAT is crisp and refreshing! HAHAHAHA (I knew I could get that to work! LOL)! Check to see which products you use...

I SO love high fives, and this one is a GREAT one! The adorable little snowman face is compliments of a Peachy Keen stamp set called Winter Faces Assortment. I just placed a HUGE order because until November 15th, shipping is free for all orders over $50 and there's a 10% discount using code FALLFUN10 for all of November. I can honestly say.... that cute little snowman face MAKES this card!!! A couple of things that I want to note about Peachy Keen stamps... they are surprisingly "clingy" and the stamped image is SUPER CRISP! Also, I received my order in four days with a personal "thank you" note hand-written by the owner. I think this company may just be getting close to a high six! Jump on this one folks... they are just great stamps and be sure to click on the pic to enlarge so that you can see how nicely that little face really did turn out!

Cherry pie anyone? Well... not the real thing, but this is as close as a girl can get without consuming the calories!!!! I finally got a chance to sit down and give my poor nails some TLC and felt like a little manicure and a little nail art would be just the trick to make em sparkle. These cherries came from the fauxnad (or fake Konad) GCOCL plate # B02. It turned out super cute. I used Konad Special polish colors red and green for this. Today's post is short and sweet.... sweet as pie! :) I hope you all enjoy.

Welp, today was girl's day! I was so lucky to spend the afternoon with great friends at one of my favorite venues... a rubber stamp fair! And while this post is REALLY about the AMAZING gem that is pictured here, I do want to mention how sad I was to see the fair was about 1/8 of what it has been in past years. Gone were the ENORMOUS door prizes, in their place were coupons that were given to the lucky winners. Replacing the shoulder to shoulder vendor booths were widely spread vendor tables that didn't even fill the convention center. In past years we could barely make it through the thick crowd and today was a leisurely meander through slim pickins. I was sad to see that this event that I always looked so forward to had diminished so drastically in our struggling economy. The brighter side of this sad, sad tale is the fact that I didn't have to scratch anyone's eyes out or pull anyone's hair to get my hands on the amazing artwork that you see here. Featured here ...

I am a lover of Pad Tai noodles. Anyone looking to replace egg or wheat noddles, THIS is the alternative. Pad Tai noodles are rice noodles and even easier to prepare than the egg or wheat noodles and don't contain gluten, so they are so good and good for you. I am also a lover of the spicy. Anyone looking to open up those sinus cavities, again, this is your one stop shop! Here is the meat version of my Farmer's Market Delight! :) Enjoy!!!! Spicy Chicken Pad Tai One large handful of Pad Tai Noodles (I buy the fresh noodles from my local asian market. If using boxed noodles, prepare per the box directions). One large handful of fresh noodles will fill a steam pot/skillet. 3 tablespoons of water 1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu 1/2 teaspoon garlic-chili sauce *** 4 green onions diced (including the greens) 1 red bell pepper chopped 1 small zucchini chopped 2 stalks of celery chopped on the diagonal 1 large, fully cooked, left over chicken breast chopped In a hot skillet or wok, add water,...

Well... Today was the big day for the Provo Craft Gypsy! Provo Craft FINALLY provided the Cricut Design Studio compatibility and now we also have the added benefit of sharing Gypsy cut files... but it was at a price. I will get to that in a later post. In honor of this occasion though, I will be adding my Gypsy cut files to my blog for everyone to use. You will find my cut files in the top right corner of my blog marked *NEW (at the top of the side bar). The instructions on how to download at the bottom of this post. I hope you all enjoy them... they've been a long time coming. The featured pic here is the "welded Snow" file. It turned out BEAUTIFUL! DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS For those of you who already own the Gypsy, here are the instructions. There is no conversion needed because these files are only .gypsy files. To save them: 1.) Connect your gypsy to your computer, turn it on and open Gypsy Sync on your computer. 2.) Once the Gypsy Sync Program has searched for an updat...

Sorry, no pix for this one. I made these to take with me to the Halloween party last night and returned empty handed! LOL! I was complimented by a request for the recipe, so I thought I would post it here for EVERYONE!!! :) They are actually just a spin off of an old favorite of mine..... Banana Cupcakes . What a versatile recipe! Click the link for some serious YUM! Pumpkin Muffins 2 1/4 Cups whole wheat pastry flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 2 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp. ground ginger 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1/2 Cup agave nectar or maple syrup 2/3 Cup unsweetened applesauce **** 1 whole egg 1 egg white 2 Cups pumpkin puree 1/3 Cup crushed pecans (optional) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together; set aside. Mix the pumpkin, agave nectar or maple syrup and applesauce together. Beat the eggs into the wet mixture. Add wet mixture to the dry and mix well. Fill lightly oiled muffin wells 3/4 full and bake for 30-35 minutes (mini...

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Halloween! I know that mine was AWESOME!!!! As you can see from the pic.... I go all-out for Halloween. Although this year I went one step further with these SUPER COOL contact lenses. I got them from ColorLens4Less.com and I have to say... these babies get a dozen HIGH FIVES!!! Not only were they affordable (I got them for around $40 with shipping), but they were comfortable, really easy to wear and looked fantastic! I have never worn contacts before so I was nervous wearing them; in fact, I was warned that they would be painful because I have never worn contacts. That was SO NOT TRUE!!!! These contacts were amazing and really made my costume this year. I predict funky contacts every Halloween from here on out! LOL. One thing I want to add, and I think I might have mentioned it before.... the service from ColorLens4Less.com was WONDERFUL. I got my shipment within days of placing the order, and they were sent overseas! Pretty impressive. ...