Haiti Relief via Stampin’ Up

On January 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, leaving in its wake devastation so overwhelming that the Haitian people and their leaders can only look for help from the outside to cope.

From now until February 28,  $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set sold will be donated to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need.

The I {Heart} Hearts clear mount set sells for $18.95.  The wood-mount stamp set sells for $26.95.

This is a simple and straightforward plan; the more stamp sets sold, the greater the difference can be made. Often it is the simplest plans that work best.

Stampin’ Up is also sending hygiene kits to Haiti.  See Shelli’s pictures - http://www.soshelli.com/so-shelli-blog/2010/1/20/helping-haiti.html

Monday Mailer card

We are still in a "wait and see" mode for Ashley's deployment to Haiti.  Just wish they'd hurry up and tell her when she will be leaving!!  But I don't think the Army does anything in a hurry!!  She and I have both downloaded Skype and gotten a web-cam and microphone so that we can talk to each other .... IF she has internet connection there!!

Anyway .... I received two cards this week from my Monday Mailer partner.  Life got in the way last week and she wasn't able to get my card to me so she mailed two this week!  They are great cards. 

Final 2 Northwoods Cards

Here are the final 2 Northwoods cards that I will be doing in my class.  Would love to have you there!!

 

 

A clean desk and deployment info

I had a fairly productive day today.  While waiting to hear news from Ashley about her deployment, I cleaned my desk and some of my drawers!   You just can’t believe how many glue sticks, tape runners, etc. I had in my drawer just all jumbled up.  Now, let’s hope I can keep them somewhat organized!  Look at this desk -

I can’t remember when my desk was that clean!!  I even got all the bits and pieces of ribbon that I had laying around in their correct jars.

Of course, that’s not all the ribbon I have!

That’s still not all of it … what can I say?  I like pretty ribbon!

So all this cleaning inspired me to create a few cards!

This baby card is for Julie and Jim, friends of Ashley’s from med school.  Julie had a baby a couple of weeks ago (Charlie!).  She wasn’t due until mid February but because the baby was so large, they induced her.  I think he ended up weighing over 9 pounds!!  And he was early!!

This card is one I made and sent to my Monday Mailer partner.  Aren’t those little raccoons just darling??  They are in the new Occasions Mini Catalog.  Remember, you can order them either in the clear mount or traditional SU hard rubber.

So, it looks like Ashley will be going to Haiti and possible pretty soon – maybe even next week.  It just depends on how fast the Army can work.   Her name has been submitted to the person who is putting together the team.  She would be the MED AUG [medical augmentation] with the 86th Combat Support Hospital -- basically a tent hospital.  Hopefully, she will know more tomorrow so she can begin to get all her affairs in order.

Italian Tortelli Soup

Here is a great soup for those chilly evenings ~

♦ 1 onion, chopped
♦ 1 cup sliced mushrooms
♦ 2 cloves garlic
♦ 1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
♦ 1 can [15 oz] low-sodium tomato sauce
♦ 1 green pepper, chopped
♦ 1 cup diced zucchini
♦ 2 tbsp dry sherry or apple juice
♦ 1 1/2 tsp dried Italian herb seasoning
♦ 9 oz reduced-fat cheese-filled tortellini
♦ 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Coat a saucepan with nonstick spray. Add the onions, mushrooms, garlic and 3 tbsp broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until onions soften, usually 5-6 minutes.
Stir in the tomato sauce, green peppers, zucchini, sherry, Italian seasoning, remaining broth and tortellini. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with pepper.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 278 calories, 4.8 g fat, 34 mg chol, 325 mg sodium, 5.4 g fiber *5
—Prevention's Guide to Low-Fat Living, October 1997

More Northwoods Cards

Today I went to the Y.  Yes, after taking about a month (or more) off from exercising, I am hoping to make this a habit again.  I think it works best to schedule exercising.  If you just try to exercise when you get a minute or two or three, you never really work it into your day – at least, I don’t!   Something better always presents itself.  So, I took a couple of classes – fitness and stretch which I really enjoy.  At the end of the stretch class, we have a 5 minute meditation session.  So my meditation consisted of thinking about my family – my uncommunicative son, my moody husband, and my daughter’s possibilities of getting deployed.  When I finished and went out to my car, I had a missed call and voice message from my daughter.  If I’d checked further, I would have noticed that not only did I have 1 missed call from Ashley, but I had 6 missed calls from her.  So guess what she was calling to tell me???  Yep, she may be getting deployed in the next 2-3 weeks.  The good part is it would be a 6-month deployment to HAITI!  That would be so much better than Iraq or Afghanistan!!  Plus, as an Infectious Disease Pediatrician, she would be doing what she was trained for.  She wants this so bad.  I hope it happens for her although I would miss her terribly.  But six months in Haiti  is so much better than a year or more in Afghanistan.   Her boss is submitting her name to who ever is putting together the team.  She hope to find out in a few days.

Here are a couple more of the Northwoods cards I will be doing in my class.  My card is on top and the one underneath is from the Northwoods Stamp Board.

 

Northwoods Class

I will be teaching a class next weekend at my local stamp store.  It is based on a Northwoods Stamp Board.  I have modified the cards so that I can use some of the Northwoods stamps and also some of the stamps that I already have (to cut costs!).  The cards are Valentines, but I tried to leave out a lot of the Valentine sentiments so that you could use the cards for other occasions.   Here are a couple of the cards along with the Northwood cards from the board.    What do you think?  If you would be interested in taking this class, let me know or Brenda at Stampers Alley in Mooresville.

Ways to Cut Fat in Your Diet

Go for a finer grind: When buying ground turkey or chicken, look for ground breast meat. Other cuts are higher in fat.

Watch out for porky: Be suspicious of bacon that calls itself lean. Even turkey bacon is only slightly less fatty than regular pork bacon.

How low can you go: Can't quite make the leap to skim milk? Try moving to 1% low-fat milk. Many people don't notice a difference in taste between 1% and 2%. The 2% milk still derives more than 25% of its calories from fat.

Stack the deck in your favor: A 4-ounce piece of raw meat cooks down to around 3 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards. To minimize fat content, trim off all visible fat before cooking.

Go skinny dipping: Next time you're topping off at the salad bar, keep in mind that most salad-bar dippers hold 2 tablespoons of dressing.

—Prevention's Guide to Low-Fat Living, October 1997

Ten Important Traveling Companions to Take With You

1. Confidence: for when things get tough, when you're overwhelmed, when you think of giving up.
2. Patience: with your own trials and temptations, and with others.
3. An adjustable attitude: one that doesn't react, but responds with well-thought-out actions and feelings.
4. Beauty: within yourself, in your surroundings, and in nature.
5. Excitement: new things to enjoy and learn and experience.
6. Fun: laughter and smiles any way you can get them.
7. Companionship: people to share your happiness and sorrows, your troubles and joys.
8. Health: mental, physical and emotional.
9. Peace: with others, yourself, and in your environment.
10. Love: pure, unconditional, and eternal.  

—Barbara Cage

 

New Stamps in the House

I took time today to PLAY!!  I put together my new stamp sets that I got from SU yesterday.  I'm loving the new "clear" stamps.  They're not really clear but are packaged so much better for storage now.  I've had a few questions about the stamps so I took a few pictures of how you put them together.  They come pre-cut so you just have to punch them out from the rubber sheet.  Sometimes, I still trim a little off the stamps. 

There is a sticker sheet with the pictures of the stamps on them. 

So you peel off the white protective cover from the stamp and put the sticker on the stamp.  The sticker will cling to the acrylic block and you will be able to see how to place the stamp on your project.

I played around today with the Love Bandid set from the Occasions Mini.  I fell in love with this set!!  It is really cute.  I just love the little guys!  Check it out (remember - you can click on the card to make it bigger):

I made a little scene card!

Card stock:  Melon Mambo, Green Galore, Garden Green, Crushed Curry (sun); Bashful Blue, White

The decorate punches on the corners are from the new Scallop Trim Corner Punch (Occasions Mini).  I tore the Green cardstock to simulate grass and snipped it a little bit.

How do you like it?