Sunday, October 31, 2010

Digital Scrap Booking

This is something I stumbled upon when I first started working on my blog. There are tons of websites with free clip art and some where you have to pay a small fee to use the images. For the most part you can find whatever you need for free if your willing to look! One site that I have been using like crazy is http://www.digiscrapdepot.com/ Just please remember to give the artist credit!
Here are a few pages that I have made with adobe Photoshop


Shmooangel bow and ribbon
Photo courtesy of Jessica N.
The fall elements came from http://twinkydezines.blogspot.com/

http://Skyrosemelody.blogspot.com for the jewels and ribbon

The fire hydrant came from clipart.com and the rest was Photoshoped by me

Michelle McCoy designs


Hope you have Fun! If you are not familiar with image layering programs there is a website (http://fotoflexer.com/) that makes it super easy to edit any picture! Use your imagination and you can come up with all sorts of ideas! Thanks giving is just around the corner, we cant wait to see what you come up with!



SOUP! 
It's getting cold outside! For us that means its time to start making soups and stews! This particular recipe came from Reader's Digest "The how-to Book of Healthy cooking-good food that's good for you" and now it is a staple in our kitchen. I made this "Chowder" for TRclub this past September and I received a wonderful amount of feedback, and being that it is sversatile I'm passing it on to you!

"Sweet Corn Chowder"

2 ounces reduced sodium bacon
2 Large onions, diced
2 Large carrots, diced
2 Stalks Celery, diced
12 ounces all purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cups chicken stock
2 cups of fresh or frozen corn kernels
2 cups milk
salt and pepper
In a 4 quart sauce pan, cook the bacon until brown and reserve for garnish. In the same pan that you cooked the bacon add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until soft. Stir in the potatoes and stock and bring to a boil. Simmer partially covered for about 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Add the corn and return to a boil. Simmer uncovered for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and using a ladle of slotted spoon transfer about 2 1/2 cups of the veggies to a blender or food processor. -the fun part!- Puree until smooth. Add the puree and milk to the sauce pan and simmer for about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with bacon and croutons!  

For a change- instead of bacon and corn, use cubed ham and peas -or even sausage and tomatoes! Corn bread, hot rolls, or grilled cheese always make this a winner!

With Tons of Hugs and Kisses! The Reeds

Thursday, October 28, 2010



Happy Halloween! 

This year our boys are going to be "thing one" and "thing two" from Dr. Seuss's Cat in the hat. We bought red footed pj's and made the emblem out of felt! The only thing left is some blue hair... 



Progress in the laundry room! This is the new wall border I put up. It is just on one wall so that it wasn't to overwhelming. 

Our project for the day...
With just some simple L brackets

 an old board...

and a little bit of black paint

you get a custom shelf! So simple but it worked out wonderfully!


This was Evan's latest project. I was so happy to finally have a place to display my grandmothers sewing machine. All the rest is pretty much just stuff!



Here are those metal panels I was talking about earlier from Coyote Candle. They are really pretty I just have to find some where else for them to go! Maybe the back of a shadow box?


Wednesday, October 27, 2010

CHRISTMAS!!!

I'm getting really excited about Christmas this year! For the first time we are having my family here at our home! So that means I get to cook the ham and put up a HUGE tree!! Decorate!!! It has put me into a tizzy too! lately I have had a creative bug. I can not seem to stop painting and sewing! Im sure that its almost to the point of driving my family bonkers but at least all the little projects are getting finished! 

Painted a bench.. 
 
still need to finish the feet! 



 Made some curtains!
Before 


New rod (unpainted)

The material I ordered!  


All finished!

So happy with how they turned out! Just long enough to brush the ground but not puddle to much! they are super wide too.. I probably could have cut one panel in half and made two more curtains but I'm starting to like how they bunch at the top!  

Now I'm working on a new shelf in the laundry room and putting all the finishing touches on our kitchen! I will post more pictures soon!

Busy little bees

Work Work Work.....
Oh what all have we been up to!
Our "temporary house until we can find a bigger one" has turned into a home. After three years of living here I'm pretty well settled! We finally put the go ahead to start making it ours this past January. We started with the living room. Painted the paneling (which to most is a huge "no no") but I couldn't help myself. I was living in a world of brown. From the walls to the carpet- our couches are even a dark leather. Needless to say it was way to much. So the first color I picked was a light blue- one of my favorites. Turns out its not such a great wall color! Once on the wall it turned our living room into a nursery! So now WE are sorting through swatches and chips and have moved on to the kitchen. The old cabinets are now an antique black, and we painted the walls a mid grey. Really gave the kitchen have a "country" feel.





Before

After


Above the fridge


Evan knocked out an old key cabinet and built me a new pantry. You can now pull out the shelves too! 

 hand painted my canisters. Just Love polka dots!




My Inspiration for our kitchen 
  
  

The panels I made.... no need for a large window covering when you have a beautiful view!

New faucet and white scroll detail Evan added- so pretty!
We put up an antique light and now are moving our way to the counter tops and back splash. We know for sure we want a tin look but we still can not decide between real or faux. I found some real tin panels at Coyote candle in Lubbock Texas but Evan wasn't totally sold so we just bought one and brought it home. Good thing he spoke up too. Found the raised punches to be a bit to much but it will some make for some great art work in the office!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Taking a stroll back in time

For my first post I was thinking that a look back at a few of the cakes I've made over the years would be fun! I am by no means a professional but this is something I find really fun and relaxing! So here we go!!


This was Luke's 2 birthday cake. Since his birthday is in June we had a picnic theme with all sorts of bugs!

This was my husbands birthday cake last April. One of his favorite comedians does a bit about a "dork fish" so it fit perfectly!



This was the batter for my niece's first birthday. soon to be a lady bug!


Black fondant base


Working on the details.. -Food grade edible silver glaze


From the top


All finished!


Our 4th Anniversary Cake. 
I used plain white fondant then hand painted the rest with watered-down piping gel. The little birds are made out of fondant as well. 


just a few flowers...

Hope that has given you a few ideas to use on your next cake! 


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