A Blog Called Wanda

A cheery cherry valentine...and a CHA video!

Hello! I'm so excited to actually be home and posting from my computer and hanging out in my craft room tonight! Whew...what a week! It was so great...all of it. I'm still trying to process and remember everything. I had more fun than a girl should be allowed to have at the CHA convention! Thanks for all the nice comments on my posts from my iPhone. It was great to share with you! Now, it's back to reality for me and lots of stamping assignments to get done! Valentine's Day is less than two weeks away! ACK! I need to get busy in that department.

I have a valentine card to share with you, but first, I have a video to share! You know how the DH is really into making videos? Well...I gave him my CHA photos and he made one for me! I hope you will watch it!

 

 

 

What did you think of the video!? TOOOO much fun! I love that he knows how to do that stuff. You might say he's the audio/video department here at A Blog Called Wanda! Okay...now on to my Valentine for the day... One trend I absolutely notice lately is CAS cards. Everyone's going there! I have a new board on my Pinterest just for CAS beauties. Being inspired,  I decided to keep it clean and simple today...and use one of my favorite tools. 

 

 

 

 

I am in love with my Epiphany shape studio tools!! This one is a small heart. At CHA they premiered two new shapes - a flower and a tiny banner! Yipppppeeeee! Those on on my list for sure. Here is my stash of supplies for this project.

 

 

 

This stamp is an old favorite from Hero Arts. I inked up just the stems, and not the cherries. The scale was perfect for those hearts!  

 

I colored the leaves in with my Copics (YG23, YG25 and YG17). The large heart shape is cut from a new die from Memory Box called Cupid Heart. The sentiment is a new one this season from Savvy Stamps. I stamped it on a strip of vellum.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for coming by today! The Taylored Expressions release for February was pushed back a couple of week since Taylor was at CHA. So, be on the lookout for new yummies from Taylor at the end of next week. You will love a new style she's trying out this month.  Have a fantastic weekend!

Year of the Dragon - Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy New Year! It's the Year of the Dragon...and guess what, I'm a Dragon! So...it must be my lucky year! I think that 2012 is going to bring good things. Today is the first day of Chinese New Year. Every year I like to make Chinese New Year cards for my friends. Click here for my 2010 Year of the Tiger card and click here for my 2011 Year of the Rabbit card. Do you know what year you are?  

 

For this year's cards I went back to traditional red, black and gold. It was hard to find a Dragon stamp! The one I used is from Judikins. Here is the finished card:

 

 

 

The gold embossed characters are for double happiness. The dragon was stamped in vivid red ink onto a sheet of vellum and layered over another piece of paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this photo you can see the white paper underneath the vellum. On that paper, I stamped a large Chinese character background and then some green bamboo. Both of those stamps are from Hero Arts. It was hard to get it to really show in the photo. But, you get the idea!

 

 

Here is the inside of the card. I wanted to carry the bamboo and green over into the inside to bring it all together. This symbol is for good luck.

 

 

Here are my envelopes....

 

 

I am a complete Starbucks groupie! I couldn't believe it when I found these SUPER cool Starbucks cards and sleeves last month! They were gone so fast! I must have timed it just right to get some. I actually collect Starbucks cards....I need to do a post on that one of these days....I have some good ones! And, these are a great addition to the collection.

 

 

The DH ordered me this amazing Starbucks Bearista bear on eBay from Taiwan! I have a Year of the Tiger one too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took this photo in San Francisco's Chinatown last year,  and I love the color, the movement, and the drama of all those flags and lanterns. It really captures the essence of the place.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today! Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy New Year everyone! Hope it's a good one, and best wishes for Health, Happiness and Prosperity in the Year of the Dragon!

Wanda!  

Happy New Year! Welcome 2012!

Happy New Year! WOOOOO! It's time for another year and a fresh start and a time of renewal. To me it's also a time of reflection and thought. I like to look back on the year and think what worked, and what didn't work, and prepare myself to begin again. Do you do that? I don't really make resolutions per se, just more of an effort to have a consciousness about what I'm doing and where I'm going. I truly hope that 2012 is a year of many blessings for you and your family. I wish all of you health, happiness and success in the coming year. Thanks to everyone who's been leaving me Happy New Year's wishes!

 

                                                             {photo from weheartit.com}

 

From the standpoint of being a blogger, New Years will always mark another year of blogging. I purposely started my blog at the beginning of the year...and now it's been exactly two years. I'm still here, typing away, sharing what I love to do and enjoying the comraderie and love. I can't even imagine not blogging anymore!

I find it interesting to note the changes since last year... Last January 1st,  I wrote: "In the past year, I have written 195 blog posts, received 889 comments from readers, and had 30,324 "hits" here at A Blog Called Wanda!" As of today I can say that I have written 387 blog posts, received 3104 comments from readers, and had 221,000 "hits"! Isn't that amazing!? I find it truly amazing. So much fun...it should be illegal. I really am so excited every time someone leaves me a comment. THANK YOU!

The past year presented me with so many wonderful opportunities and I just want to say a big thanks to the people who believed in me enough to let me be a part of their companies. I don't ever take that for granted.

2012 will start off with a trip to my first CHA Convention in Anaheim at the end of January, where I will get to meet some of the other Baker's Dozen Designers. CAN'T WAIT for that! I'm trying to figure out how to (properly) blog from my iPhone so I can share photos with you of any cool new stuff I spot there. I have wanted to go to a CHA convention forever!

I don't know what else 2012 has to offer...but I'm so looking forward to finding out! Thank you for sharing this journey with me, for coming along with me, and crafting with me! I appreciate it so much more than I can write. Thank you...and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

Happy Christmas Eve to you and yours...many blessings!

Happy Christmas Eve! I hope that you have some great plans with those you love for today. Hard to believe it's time for Christmas. What a perfect time to be thankful and count our blessings and praise the Lord. We have some fun plans for the evening and I can't wait. One of my favorite acts from America's Got Talent last Summer was the Silhouettes. I was rooting for them the entire time. What a cool concept. Did you see them? Well....tonight we are going to see The Silhouettes perform at one of the local churches here in my town! I can't wait! I think it will be a magical evening. I will have to tell you about it next week. The hubs and I will grab an early dinner and then go to church. Awesome!

Merry Christmas from my craft room to yours....

 

I made some simple Christmas Thank You cards to send to my kind and generous friends who sent me Christmas presents. Figured today would be a good day to share them. 

 

 

 

A pretty simple layout, with just a few supplies. You can see the inspiration card I cut out of the Papercrafts magazine. I went through my stash and got out all my different Thank You stamps.

 

 

 

 Each card is just a litle bit different, but all have the same layout. The finished card is a 4 inch square.

 

 

MERRY MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!
 

Happy Birthday to the hubs!

Hi! Today is the hubs' birthday and I thought I would share his birthday card and also share our outing to San Francisco yesterday to celebrate his birthday! My husband was born in San Francisco and he is a HUGE 49er football fan. Right now he's in the family room watching the game.  It is so hard to make him cards. But, I got an idea...this is his 49th birthday....so I made him a 49er card! Yeah! He totally flipped out and loved it. That made me really happy. I hope you get a kick out of it too.

 

 

I printed the SF logo off the computer on high print quality on good cardstock and then cut it out. I wrote the sentiment on the computer as well. The rest was inspired by the team colors of red, gold and white.

 

 

 

 

 

I can't remember where these chip board numbers are from...maybe Basic Grey? I painted them with gold craft paint before adding the glitter. I have found that if you don't put something (color) down first then the glitter looks dull. I LOVE making glittery numbers!

 

The stripe accent is based on the team's uniform pants. They have a stripe just like this down each leg. I cut the sentiment into a banner - cuz it just looked sporty!

 

 

Finished off the whole thing with some stars punched out of gold paper...

 

 

 

We got up yesterday morning, stopped at Starbucks, and headed into the city. From our house, we can be in downtown San Francisco in about 90 minutes. Oddly, there was no traffic yesterday! We stopped off on Treasure Island to snap some pics. It was sort of foggy and hazy, so the photo isn't really clear. I never get tired of this view.

 

 

 

First stop...Union Square...for shopping and people watching...and, boy, was there good people watching yesterday!

 

Tiffany's...Ah... I still have the first thing I ever bought there...my first pair of real pearl stud earrings. I think I've had them 25 years and I still wear them all the time. So many memories from shopping downtown.

 

All of a sudden, we heard all these police sirens and bullhorns. Weird, right? Well, turns out the police were clearing the street for the "Occupy San Francisco" protestors to come through.

 

 

On the top floor of Macy's is a Cheesecake Factory restaurant that has outdoor seating. It's really the best view of Union Square, and we like to go hang out there and have a meal when we are shopping. Here's the view from our table down onto the square, with the tree and the ice rink. It was a gorgeous evening!

 

This is a snow princess from the Christmas department at Macy's. This just really caught my eye. I still can't decide if it's beautiful or sort of creepy!!! What do you think?

 

I liked this little guy...so happy and retro just smiling away...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure what was up with the harlequin elephants!

 

 

Mark took this shot with the fish-eye lens on his camera! 

 

 

This shot came from my iPhone at dinner...not the best photo quality, but it captured the moment! Cheers! And...Merry Christmas!

This one is also from my iPhone - with the instagram app. I LOVE that app! You can make your photos look old, or black and white, all kinds of stuff. I really love how this picture came out with the vintage feeling.  

 

One last stop on the way home - back at the same spot on Treasure Island to capture the city with her Christmas lights on! So breathtaking. This picture is better if you click on it and make it bigger.  

 

Okay, friends, let the frenzy continue! Have a wonderful week! 
  

Howdy!

Hi everyone! Greetings and salutations on this fine November day! Happy weekend to you all! Well, it's been a busy week here on the blog, what with all of the Taylored Expressions release week festivities and all that good stuff. BUT...we missed a very important day...my birthday! Hahaha. My bday was on Thursday. I'm a gal who loves a birthday, lemme tell ya. I love to get cards in the mail, to go out to dinner with my friends and to generally be spoiled by the hubs. Always have, and always will, love a birthday! In honor of this momentous occasion I have a birthday card to share with you. I also have some snaps to share of our fun-filled day spent in San Francisco.

First off, here's a card inspired by, and made with, the uber cute new Sidewalks Collection from October Afternoon. Do you not love that company? I love the retro colors they use and the happy prints. I made two cards using the same papers, actually. I'll post the other one a different time.

 

 

The pretty red doily is made from the big die from PTI! Nice! I cut out a pretty yellow border to offset the word paper.  

Added a nice big shabby chic rose to the whole thing and then used the stickers that came with the paper collection. No stamping involved! The Happy Birthday wording is a rub on!

 

 

If you're still with me...I have some photos to share too. I didn't really know what I wanted to do on my birthday. The hubs and I both took the day off from work and late Wednesday I decided it would be fun just to go hang out in San Francisco for the day, taking pictures, and shopping, and eating...you know - the good stuff in life. It ended up raining for much of the day, but we got some cool shots before the rain started.

FIrst we stopped off on Treasure Island, which is in the middle of the bay. Best view of the city and the bridges! The clouds were starting to roll in...the sign of things to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to this bakery I love called Miette. I have their cookbook and love it so much. They make yummy cupcakes and macarons.

 

 

 

 

For lunch we had a salami sandwich and cupcakes. Yum, no?

 

 

 

 

We hit up a couple of favorite art stores - Flax and Blick Art. Blick has the GIANT 'tower o' Copics' that I so would love to bring home with me. Unfortunately it would not fit in my purse! Every color in every shape... When I win lotto that baby is mine! Flax has the amazing paper room! Rows and rows of shelves with handmade papers from around the world. You look in a big catalog at the swatches and then go and find the corresponding cabinet. WOW. Been going here for years - it makes me want to be creative.

 

I had some fun with my iPhone photo apps - Instagram and Hipstamatic. I like to experiment with the images. Sometimes they come out neat, and sometimes not. I'm posting a few of those too.

 

 

 

Mark bought me an amazing leopard print cover for my iPad at the Tory Burch boutique. SCORE! It seems classy and cool at the same time. Rawr. LOVE. Thanks honey!

We did not buy these...but, man, aren't they pretty?

Thank you so much for coming by the blog today! I hope your weekend is just fantastic! See you soon!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #138 and Spooky Tabitha!

Hi friends! Well, my crafty cave is in full on Halloween mode now! I am whipping up lots of orange and black concoctions to share with you! Having fun too! Have you started your Halloween crafts yet? I have collected so much stuff over the years that now my Halloween stamping stuff takes up two giant plastic bins! Love that. Every year, there's more cute stuff. Today I'm posting a card I created using Taylored Expressions stamps for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #138. The sketch just went up, so there's lots of time to play...care to join me?

First off, here's my card:

 
 

And here's the sketch image:

 

Great opportunity to use lots of cool patterned papers! I chose these papers from Echo Park and the Project Pantry Kit from Taylor!  The stamp set is the uber cute Moka Tabitha!

 
 

I wasn't really sure how to line up everything! I really just winged it with the diagonals. I cut a piece of white paper the size I wanted and then layered my pieces (cut to 1.5 inches wide) over that white piece and then trimmed the whole thing at once. I think it came out okay. I'm sure there's a good trick to this somewhere!

 

I cut a black scallop using this die and then layered a piece of ribbon tape on top...Stamped my sentiment and put the whole thing together!

 

I used a lot of markers on this one! Lots of cool grays instead of black, for her dress, hat and boots. The rest of the colors were oranges and browns.

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't she the cutest witch ever!?

 
Okay, that's it for me today! I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! See you soon!

 
 

Never Forget...

Hello Bloggy Friends. Today is a special day in our Nation's history, and of course the anniversary of  9-11 has been on my mind. Probably on your mind too. I thought it would be a good day to post some patriotic cards. I made them to share with the "Cards for the Troops" project that my friends and I support. I sat down to make them last week and focused on the meaning and the message. These are straight from the heart.

 

 

 

 

These Adirondack Inks are the perfect shades for vintage Americana. I bought that sentiment stamp from PSX in 2001. I wish they were still in business, don't you? The main stamp set I used is from Close To My Heart. It's such a great set!

The papers are from a neat paper collection that K & Company put out this year on 4th of July. The stickers and banner are from that same collection. I embossed the stars with a Cuttlebug Folder on some nice, crisp, blue Bazzill paper.  

 

Here's another card and this time I used some manilla tags and distressed them just a bit before putting on those cool letter stickers. Red, White and Blue forever - indeed!  

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Kraft paper with the Denim and Cranberry shades... 

 

 

 
 
I can hardly believe it's been ten years since 9-11. I remember that day so clearly...every detail. I'm sure we all do. Where I live it was 6:00am and I was getting ready for work and I had the news on the TV in our bedroom. I stood there transfixed for a while and saw the towers fall. Somehow, everyone showed up for work at my office. At the time there were about 100 people in my office. We just watched tv all day together in silence. Not one phone rang that day. No business was done. It just didn't matter.

I feel like I became a different person on 9-11. More grateful for each morning, more grateful for each kiss goodbye from the hubs, more grateful to experience one more day in this crazy world. I think about it often actually. We were about to fly to Boston to get married on Cape Cod, and we went back and forth about whether or not to go or stay home. At first we weren't even sure if there would be any flights. We'd been planning for a year for our wedding and honeymoon. We decided to go, and what we found 3000 miles from home were Americans being kind and loving to one another. People helped us out and people were gentle and not so much in a hurry. Collectively it seemed we all were trying to process what had happened.

It turned out to be a special trip. We were in the place where our country began - New England. Flags proudly flying everywhere. Flags on everything. There was so much pride. I remember the Post Office in Salem, Mass where there must have been at least 25 flags all flying together. Flags on cars, on boats, on buildings, on people... I hope that on this anniversary we can put forth that same spirit and love one another and our Country. So,today I say...United We Stand and God Bless America!

  

Labor Day Weekend 2011

Hi! Are you having a fun Labor Day Weekend!? I sure hope you are having fun in the sun with your friends and loved ones. We have been having a lovely weekend so far...so much so that I wanted to share with you! This post has a ton of pictures and some of this and some of that. I'll put the card pictures first in case that's what you came to see! I have some funny pictures of Buddy too - since I know his fans have been waiting for some new pix of that handsome devil! Thanks for coming by today. Here goes nothin'....

This weekend was the Five Year Anniversary celebration of the Paper Garden Boutique and Dave Brethauer came back to see us in Sac-town to celebrate in style. I never miss a chance to hang out at PG or to take a class with Dave. Dave also designed a line of stamps just for the Paper Garden! That is very cool! I bought them...of course! Hee hee. Beautiful flowers and sayings...

Whenever Dave comes to town,  I like to make him a card using his stamps...you know he is the owner/designer for Memory Box Stamps. His Autumn Collage image is a total favorite so I used that to make him this card:

 

 

I cut out the center of a piece of paper using my Nesties and then later mounted it over the top of a cream piece of cardstock with the stamped image. I think the tone on tone of the kraft helps keep it masculine.  

 

Here is the beautiful stamp. Instead of stamping in black, I used dark brown. I stamped a second image and colored the leaves to cut out to add on the outside of my frame.  

 

Colored pencils did the trick for this card... 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Here are three of the lovely ladies from Paper Garden! Chelsea, Stephanie and Kelly! They make me happy!  Aren't they beautiful?

 

 Here's Dave in the classroom! A full house, as usual...

 

This is one of the cards we made in class... 

 

 And here's another one...This is one of the flower images he designed for the store...

 

Okay...so you thought my day was over??? After the festivites at Paper Garden, we drove to the bay area to watch the opening game of College Football Season! YAYAYAYAYAY! I am a die hard fan for my school and we go to games whenever we can. This year, our stadium is being renovated. The old girl was built in 1921 and she needed retro-fitting and updating. This is how she currently looks:  

 
 

Well, as you can see, ain't no football happening there this year! Yikes! So, all of our games are being played in San Francisco. The game yesterday was played at Candlestick Park (home of the 49ers). It was weird to see the stadium all painted for us instead of the 49ers! I've been to a million games there before, but never like this! Ha. It was a gorgeous day for opening the season!  

 

This made the trip even better! At least for right now, we are undefeated! We win some and we lose more, but I love my Bears no matter what. Great start to the season!

 

We had planned to stop on the way home and take night pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city. It was SOOOO foggy that you couldn't even SEE the bridge! We'll have to save that for another time. We did manage to take a few pix of the Palace of Fine Arts though. It was gorgeous at night!  

 

Today was time for Mr. Buddy to have a bath and a comb-out. Kind of a kitty spa day if you will. He got his nails trimmed and then a lovely warm bath, followed by a warm towel, a style, and a nap in the sun. I thought it would be fun to share some comparison pictures with you guys! Okay, so here's Buddy in 2007 in our kitchen sink.... 

 

And here's Buddy today in our kitchen sink! OMG.  

 

2007..... 

 

Today! I would say he grew just a bit! Um, yeah, like 17 pounds!!!! He's not really mad, just cold. But, we put the towels in the dryer for him so he can be toasty when he gets out.

 
I hope you enjoy the rest of your long weekend! HUGS!  

  
 

What a day yesterday!

Hi friends! I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Mine was jam packed with fun things to do and friends to see and junk food to eat, and everything amazing! I don't have a card to share today since I was too busy to make anything. I wanted to share some pictures with you, though, if that's okay! Saturday I spent all day with some of my stamping friends! I've known most of this group for 16 years now! Wow. We had a fantastic time catching up, stamping and learning. Awesome day.

Sunday the DH and I spent the day in Berkeley and then ended the day by going to see Adele in concert at the Greek Theater! OMG. The concert was postponed from June when we were originally supposed to see her. It was well worth the wait! Her voice is really indescribable. 1000% better in person than on the CD. Truly a gift. I have no words really. It was an intimate show outside under the stars on a beautiful full-moon evening. It was magical. I won't forget it!

First stop yesterday morning was at one of my FAVORITE crafty hangouts - Scrapbook Territory! Yeah! They just got in a truckload of the new My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 collection. WOWZA! I think I went overboard and bought some of each color palette. YUM. Here's just a little taste of that goodness:

 

 

And I found this...Stamping Anya! I hadn't seen her before...and I got the last one! She will be fun to color up with my Copics for sure!

  
While I was shopping and talking...I had the best timing, since the Cupkate's Cupcake truck pulled up right outside! Kristen ran out and got us cupcakes...(Thanks Kristen!) and I chose the Salted Caramel version... Now I'm not sure what could be better than having cupcakes AT the paper store???

 
You guys are probably wondering where the DH was during all this? He nicely dropped me off and then went off scouting out some photo opportunities down by the Marina where you have the perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco! He came back for me later.  If you are ever anywhere near Berkeley you HAVE to stop at this store!

This is a super cool display that has every color of the Tim Holtz Distress inks so you can see how the colors look next to each other. I love the graphic-ness of it all...

 
 

There were some ladies working on amazing scrapbooks at the work tables. I had to take a photo of this creation. LOVE the yellow and grey together and all those patterns working together. I am inspired by this...so you may see some yellow coming soon!

 

And....finally....the highlight of the entire weekend! The Adele Concert! It was very hard to take pictures with such low light, but I got a few that capture the essence of the evening. She was wonderful. Her personality is spunky and delightful at the same time...warm and sassy at the same time. LOVE. Didn't think it was possible for me to be enamored more with her, but after this...I am.

 

  

 
  

 

 
  

 

 
 

Here's a video to share too! Keep in mind that videography is NOT my specialty! hahaha. She saved this song until the very very end...just when everyone was about to go crazy from not hearing it!  

 

The concert venue is actually on the campus of my college! It was such a gorgeous evening, so after the concert we walked through campus taking night photos and trying to capture the cool full moon! That's the moon in the right of the photo. I didn't want to go home...I wanted to stay out all night!

 

On our way out of town to drive home we HAD to stop for a snack! I am one hundred percent certain that I am too old to be eating Strawberry Pie and soda at midnight! But I did it anyway! Sometimes you gotta be crazy.  

 
Thank you so much for letting me share this all with you! I hope you like my little story and the pictures. Wednesday is the TE monthly blog hop and I have a card all ready for you! I hope that you have a great week!  

 

Fun weekend stuff!

Greetings! Are you having a great weekend!? I hope so! Mine has been full of crafty goodness. Dave Brethauer was in town this weekend, teaching at my friend Stephanie's store and I took another one of his pencil classes. It was AWESOME as always! We used all new Memory Box images and cranked out five cool cards in two hours. Dave is such a fun person and his pencil skills leave me breathless every time. He is on a cross country teaching tour with his wife and kids right now. It was nice to meet the rest of his fabbie family. I took some pix to share with you!  

First off, I always make Dave a card to give him when he comes through town - to thank him for class and to show off some of my favorite stamps from his line. This year I made him a birdie card using the new big ticket background and a bird/flowers stamp. Here's the card I made him...and it was funny because one of the cards we made in class used the same concept! I try to keep it masculine...but also bright and happy at the same time. I used the new papers from Memory Box too...

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Here is a cute pic of Dave and his son Cooper. They had the best t-shirts! Each of them has a polar bear tee with their name on the front and "Memory Box" on the back. Love that!

 

 

Teadub came into town to take class too and we had a fun time hanging out together. Here's Teadbud taking a pic of Dave and Cooper! Lots of people in class. Saw so many friends - Miko, Erna, Joy, Ruth, Julia....what a great day.

 

 

Teadub concentrating on one of our cards...

  

 

The next few pics are the projects we made...

 

 

 

Isn't this funny - that this card looks just like the one I made Dave!? I am loving this new background stamp.

 

 

 

This one is my favorite! Love how he taught us to shade the pears with green, yellow and then some red in the center. 

 

Teadub's birthday is in a couple of weeks so I brought cupcakes and we had a little pre-birthday party after class! MMMMM....lemon.... 

 
 

This is me...just having a little fun with a picture I took of my pencils...I'm thinking some version of this is going to turn into my next blog header. I need to get crack-a-lackin' on that.  Before I forget.

Have a wonderful day!

 

 
 

Tea and Scones... It's wedding day!

Congratulations William and Kate!

 
 
'Cheerio Lords and Ladies! It's Royal Wedding Day! What a lovely day and how nice to see some good news on the tele today. In this day and age of constant change I think it is so great to see tradition in action. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other about Monarchy in a political sense...I just know that I love all the ceremony and elegance that comes from doing things the same way for hundreds of years. The gorgeous gothic architecture of the church, the uniforms, the hats, the crowns and carriages...all of it is interesting to me. It is also a wee bit personal, as my father's family name is from Wales!

I remember staying up all night in 1981 (I was in high school) to watch Diana and Charles' wedding. That was way back when and my family didn't own a VCR yet! It was a big deal. This year, I set the DVR for about 10 hours worth of BBC America and am now watching it in the background as I go about my day.  In honor of this very British day...I decided to make scones and tea! Pip Pip!

 

I found the recipe on All Recipes.com....click here to link to it...   I made the recipe exactly as it is listed, no changes. I cooked them for 17 minutes exactly. With scones, be careful not to over cook them. They will look like they're not cooked enough...but they are! If you cook them too long, they get dry. I like that this recipe has sour cream in it. You can't really taste it, but it makes them moist.

Here they are before going into the oven. I like to leave mine together instead of cutting them apart before cooking. I added dried apricots instead of raisins. I think it would taste good with dried cherries or blueberries, too.

 

 You MUST have English Breakfast tea and marmalade!

 
 

 

 

 Here they are just out of the oven....mmmm....

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is just perfect!

 
Did you watch the wedding? I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Please stop by my blog on Sunday morning for a BIG announcement! Next week there will be a lot of activity here on the bloggy blog. I hope you will join me! I've been keeping a crafty secret and I can finally tell you! 

 
 

Some stuff...

HI!! Haven't seen me around here for a few days!! It's been a very busy weekend...full of good times, stamping and great friends. I'm just sitting down to watch the Oscars and update the old bloggy blog. My stamp classes at Paper Garden over the weekend went really well. A good mix of people. I had a dad show up to stamp with his daughter...which was super adorable! I met lots of new people. Many of my friends took class too. It was a blast! I snapped just a few pics so I wanted to share with you. Thanks to everyone who came - for making it so much fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is some pretty new silk ribbon from Japan - oh my!

 

I have a quick and easy project to share today too. I needed a clipboard for my classes - to use for my email sign up sheets and such. You know, being a crafty gal and all, I couldn't just have a plain old clipboard! I had purchased a bunch of these plain clipboards on ebay a while ago and they were super cheap. I got out some patterned paper and some cool stickers that all went together...and voila! A cute clipboard in about an hour!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 Okay peeps! Have a great week! Thank you for stopping by today!

  
 

Year of the Rabbit - Gung Hay Fat Choy!

One of the things I enjoy doing every year is making cards for Chinese New Year. I have many wonderful friends who are Asian and I love to make cards to send them to celebrate the New Year tradition. Gung Hay Fat Choy! 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit! Are you a Rabbit? I am a Dragon myself!

Usually my Chinese New Year cards are very strong and use red and black and gold (click here to see my cards from last year) but this year I went with a different color scheme. My card was all based on this wonderful sheet of paper I've had in my stash that is chartreuse. Since it's the Year of the Rabbit I thought I would shake it up, and go with a Spring/green theme.

 

 

 

I stamped the Hero Arts rabbit in black first and then masked it. Then I stamped the small Chinese lettering background in chartreuse ink...then I put the larger lettering over that with black ink. I ran the whole image through a circle nestability.  

 

 

 

 

 

I printed out my saying from the computer so it would have a pretty font and the right color for the year. I do this a lot since I'm a font-a-holic! I think this looks pretty.  

 

 

 
 

 

This is one of my favorite shots of San Francisco's Chinatown that I took in October of last year. It captures the exact feel and color of the area. Love to go here and eat and shop and take pictures!

 
 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

 

 
 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Time for some reflection, and then, a look ahead. It was one year ago exactly that I started this blog. I had no idea what I was doing or where it was going. I only knew that I wanted to blog and share and be part of the online crafty community. I could not have imagined what has happened in the last year here. The experience has been so rewarding and fun, and most of all, positive!

In the past year, I have written 195 blog posts, received 889 comments from readers, and had 30,324 "hits" here at A Blog Called Wanda!

I have met the most wonderful, creative, and kind women in the past year. Perfect strangers who took the time to say something nice. Some of you have ended up being friends who are now part of my day to day life. We share so much in common even though we are all around the country and the world. That is the most meaningful experience of all. I feel really lucky to have met you.

I think that putting my creations out there for all to see has made me become a better stamper. A more intentional stamper...trying to get out of my comfort zone. It's a risk to put your creations out to be judged! But, nothing risked, nothing gained...and I have gained a lot by doing so! Some fantastic opportunities have come my way to be a guest designer or a Design Team Member...and I've won a few contests along the way too. More fun than I could have dreamt.

I could go on and on, but I will spare you! I feel very fortunate that you all take some time out of your day to visit me and see what I'm up to. It makes a huge difference in my life. Thank you! I love blog comments, so please say hi if you're here!

Three weeks ago was the DH's birthday and his wish was to get up early and go on a photo shoot up and around the pretty Gold Country of Northern California near our home. I have to tell ya, I didn't want to get up at 5am on my day off, but the payoff was well worth it! The light that day was spectacular. It had rained the day before and there was a thick layer of gloomy fog burning off. Made for the best pictures I feel I've taken in a long time.

I decided to save them for New Year's because as a group they gave me a "fresh start" sort of feeling. A feeling of quiet and peace and new beginnings. It's hard to explain, but maybe after you look at them you will feel that too. They just seemed right to start the new year. I hope that 2011 brings many blessings to you and your families this year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHEERS TO MAKING 2011 OUR BEST YEAR YET!  

Merry Christmas to you

From my family to yours...we wish you a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in 2011.

 
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" Amen!
Luke 2:8-14

Coffee & Christmas Lights...

Tonight I'm sharing with you one of our favorite holiday time traditions...Coffee and Christmas Lights! For years now, every winter, we go out scouting for the best holiday light displays! It's so much fun and I look forward to it all year. We try to go as many different nights as possible. The evening always starts with a trip to Starbucks for a Peppermint Mocha! (of course, right?) Then we pile in the sleigh, I mean truck, and head out. The DH drives all the time so I can look and relax. It's wonderful time together. We are so lucky that there are several places in Sac-town that go all out for Christmas lights. Last night's destination was downtown... They even put a map in our local paper! So, sit back and put your feet up...and I hope you enjoy the pictures!

THIS is where it all begins....mmmmmm....

 

 

Our beautiful State Capitol building and tree.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 


 

 

 We have a little tiny ice rink right in the middle of downtown....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is one of my favorite places to go....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And again....mmmm....

 
 And to all a GOOD NIGHT!

 

The other man in my life.....

...is a BEAR! Oski the Bear, to be exact! As you can see, we are often spotted together out and about, especially at football games. We don't try to hide our love affair... Even the hubs knows about it and doesn't care! Today is the annual BIG GAME - the Cal vs. Stanford football game. I've been attending every year since I was a freshman and this year's game will be my 29th in a row. My freshman year was "The Play" - one of the most famous events in sports history. Come rain or shine (unfortunately looks like rain this year), we always go. It's the law. I am a serious college football fanatic and am crazy about my Bears!

 

 

Blessed...

Hi peeps and friends in Blog-land! Today is my birthday! I can't believe I'm finally 30! Just kidding (totally kidding)... No card to post for today, just some thoughts. I get very nostalgic and sentimental around my birthday. I don't get like that on New Year's! To me, the start of a new year always feels like this season - Fall and my birthday. I usually take time to reflect on life and where I've been and what I've accomplished (or not) and where I want to go in the coming months. One of the great things about this past year is my blog! It has been the source of so much fun, creativity and positivity! Truly the highlight of 2010. Thanks for coming along for the ride with me!

Today I'm reflecting on how blessed and grateful I am. I've been receiving beautiful cards in the mail all week and feel very loved and appreciated. Isn't that one of the great things about being a crafty girl? Lots of homemade love coming my way. Last night the DH brought home a beautiful arrangement of red roses and a very thoughtful card. A couple of gal pals have already taken me out for pizza and drinks. I received the most amazing box of wonderfulness from The Netherlands from my sweet pen pal. And there's more fun to come later in the week. I am spoiled! I have such wonderful friends and just want to acknowledge that here. Really wonderful friends. The best! Thank you to everyone who makes me feel special. I can't possibly put it into words. Simply said - I AM BLESSED!

 

TSG 77 Color Challenge - Halloween Card! Spooky Potions....

Today's card was inspired by the There She Goes Clear Stamps Blog and their Color Challenge #77. The colors for the challenge are orange, black and green. Perfect Halloween colors. I had this spooky potions stamp I've been wanting to use so it was a great match! There are only a few more days to make Halloween stuff! Can you believe Halloween is next weekend? It finally feels like Fall here...and we just turned on the heater for the first time (Buddy is very happy about this development!) and we are all snuggled in for the night.

Here is my card for the challenge entry:

 

 

There She Goes Clear Stamps...Color Challenge!

 

My Copic Palette:

 

 

 

The stamp is from Whipper Snapper...and it's called "Halloween Grocery List" - funny, huh? I colored it with my Copics and then added some glitter glue to the tops of the bottles and jars! I don't know where those funny shiny bats came from. They were a sheet of stickers in the Halloween bin! I like that little furry spider!

 

The patterned papers are from a cool collection from Stampin' Up!

 

 
 

 

I have something else kinda cool to share tonight! I am a Red Cross volunteer and sometimes that means I get invited to neat events. Today was the kick off for Sacramento's volunteer week at Sacramento City Hall. City Hall is just down the street from my office and the event was at lunch time - great! To make it even better, Captain Sully Sullenberger was the keynote speaker and he was given the key to the city! DH drove down and we went together along with another friend.

He gave a great speech about what it means to be a hero. His thought is that he was just a guy doing his job when an incredible situation presented itself. He is so humble and modest. He talked about how we never know what we are capable of until given the opportunity. He thanked all the other people involved in the incredible plane landing. It was super interesting that he talked about how he felt that day and what happened in the moments right after the landing. His wife and kids were there too. (He lives about 90 miles from Sac-town). The cartoonist Rex Babin, who drew a great cartoon, was there, and presented Sully a signed copy of it. What a totally uplifiting and inspiring event!

 

 
This is Sully and the Mayor, Kevin Johnson. He used to be an NBA basketball player...and he lived in my same dorm in college! Fun factioids for you! haha. You could tell the mayor was thrilled to have Sully here in our town - rightfully so. 

  

 Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Scream Awards 2010!

Hi peeps! I am super excited to share today – our fun weekend in Los Angeles! I hope you’re not all tired of hearing about it already. It was a big deal to us and I feel like I keep talking about it. I promise, after today, no more yammering about the Scream Awards! But, today, I have pictures! That makes it more interesting…right? We had a really fun weekend together attending the 2010 Spike TV Scream Awards at the Greek Theatre! We drove down and back in 36 hours, whew. It was worth it though. For the back story – check out this post on my blog from June. The Scream Awards are for Sci-Fi, Horror, and Comic Movies and TV shows…think Lost, Twilight, Spiderman, etc…It is like a big party and not too stuffy and serious. Everyone is dressed up crazy and having a good time. 

We were so lucky to have been invited to attend the awards and were given the VIP treatment. SO grateful to the people who arranged this all for us. I don’t want to name names, but they know who they are! We had a blast and appreciate everything that was done for us. We drove down Saturday morning – it takes about 6-7 hours from our house. Checked into our hotel, had some lunch and then got all dressed up. I put on tons of makeup and glittery nail polish and we headed out to the Greek. Got there early and got our VIP passes and tickets…and after-party tickets!!! (Can I get a woo woo?). Our tickets got us into an area where we had drinks and appetizers and we were able to watch the “Black Carpet” and see the stars arrive and pass through all the photographers!! While standing here having a drink, we look over and there is Joey Buttafucco standing right there! That was weird!

 

 

 

It was a foggy, damp, dark night…perfect for the Scream Awards…and the event is outside. The set was amazing! Like a cool city with a giant full moon off to one side. It was interesting to see behind the scenes – the equipment, the giant cameras on their booms, the set up for the next shots, etc. They put on a fun and classy event. We had good seats and could see everything. Some of the highlights for us (old folks) were – Bill Murray, in full Ghostbusters gear, Rainn Wilson, Anthony Hopkins, cast from Lost (we loved that show), James Cameron, Michael J. Fox, and Halle Berry! Too many other people to think of them all! We also got to see a bunch of world premiere movie trailers!

 

 

 

   

 

Kelly Osborne!

 

My pix are a somewhat blurry since it was so dark. I think you can tell who everyone is though. After the show was done taping we drove back to our hotel to freshen up (at 11pm!) and then we took a cab over to the after-party location! It was a club in Hollywood and we were again treated like VIP’s. Drinks, food, dancing, DJ’s, etc. It was everything you would think it would be. We stayed for a few hours and then cabbed it on back to the hotel…where it took me ten minutes to remove my eye makeup…and fell into bed!
  

 

 

 

  

 

Overall, what a fantastic experience!! Sunday morning we woke up and scouted out some breakfast (thanks Yelp!) and hit the road towards home. It was nice to spend the time with the DH talking and laughing and having a shared experience. I must say he looked mighty fine all dressed up! We never do that anymore and I loved it. The story of how all this came to pass is just awesome. It started off as a good deed (Mark bought the statue and the money went to charity), and ended with a good reward. Thank you again to M and C for everything!

The show was broadcast last night on television and we watched it and had the best time re-living the night all over again! Did you see it? Have a fab day today everybody!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Yesterday was our Wedding Anniversary! Nine years ago on 10-3-01, we had a very small, sweet evening wedding in a beautiful gazebo on the beach in Cape Cod. It was marvelous! Just the two of us...  When we got married, we had already been dating for eight and a half years, so it just didn't seem like a big fancy wedding was the right thing for us. We decided instead to use the money to go on a wonderful Fall vacation touring New England for 17 days. I have the best memories from that trip (and about 800 pictures! hahahaha). It still, to this day, is the best time I've had in my life.

I am very lucky to have such a great and supportive husband. He really is my best friend and my most favorite person in the entire world. He truly wants the best for us. I admire his character and his values. He is not bad on the eyes either and still makes me happy every time he calls me on the phone. That's why his nickname is "boyfriend." I think it's important to take the time to reflect on the peeps that matter most to us.

For our anniversary we went on a mini-getaway to San Francisco. We go there a lot (about a 90 mile drive away) but this time it was a romantic trip instead of a crazy - busy trip. We took pictures, and ate, and shopped and slept in and just enjoyed conversation. I will share some of the pictures later, after I get organized! Got home late last night and just crashed.

Earlier in the week he brought home the most gorgeous autumn tone roses! You know I had to whip out my camera and take some snaps! For our anniversary DH got me a Kindle (and a hot pink case)!! I have been wanting one for a while and I can't wait to download some books and check it out. It will be perfect when I start traveling for work again. I'll give you guys a review later on.

 

 

 
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'll have a card to share soon! Have a great week everyone...Thanks for stopping by my blog today! 

 

 

 

Can I please go live at Pottery Barn?

Happy Sunday! Today we are doing much needed chores around the house and getting ready for another week of work. Why do weekends go by so quickly? Just the way it is I guess. The boys are watching football and I have some pictures to share today. Yesterday we went to our local mall in Roseville. I love to go to Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn when they change the stores over for each season. The decorating is so inspiring and creative. Seriously, I could just live at the Pottery Barn store. I'll just get my clothes and things and make myself right at home!! You don't think they would mind, do you? Maybe they would...

 

 

 

 

I bought one of these pretty mercury glass pumpkins...and that's all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is it 100 degrees outside today when I'm ready to wear sweaters and drink hot cider and build a fire? I hope you had a great weekend and have a great week ahead!!

HIYA!

Hey! Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! I know I did! The hubs and I took a little getaway "bay-cation" to the South Bay. Had us some fun! We went to a concert and shopping and out to dinner with a friend and sleeping in...my idea of perfection! It was hard to come home and back to reality at 5:15am today when the alarm went off.

Found a great new Scrapbook store in San Jose that I had never been to before - Scrapbook Island. Awesomeness. And a return trip to Cranberry Hill Mercantile in Sunnyvale...more awesomeness. I got a new handbag and a necklace at the mall. I was on cloud nine.

The best part was going to the Green Day concert at Shoreline with hubs. We had a fabulous time, the show was great, the weather was perfect, and I even got to drink a margarita out of a guitar glass. Heehee. What more could a girl want?

Here's a Fall card I made last year and saved. I finally photographed it and would like to share it today. Also, you can meet Mr. Chipmunk! A recent acquisition...pretty funny!

The background was embossed with my Cuttlebug on orange paper with a white core. I then took a sanding block and barely sanded the pumpkin images. The stamp is all one large stamp from Printworks that I got a few years ago.

 

I colored this with my Copics...and I can see that I would color it differently now, one year later, after practicing more with my pens. I think it feels kind of rustic, though, and that's okay.  You can barely see it, but I added some brown speckles at the end with my blo-pen.

 

Mr. Chipmunk! He makes me smile! Does anyone else crack up at those Carmax commercials with the chipmunk and the funny music? Or is it just me? Don't answer that.

 

The band! I took 125 pictures, but I will spare you. Here's a good one of the three main dudes...

Fireworks!

We had a very nice 4th of July evening at my brother in law's house! This first picture is of the loot that three brothers will come up with for a fireworks pyrotechnic extravaganza! The weather was amazing. It was a hot day, but cooled off to a perfect temperature right at dark. Our nephew had a blast picking out which fountain to do next. The DH and I experimented with taking pictures of fireworks and I think I got a few nice shots. I hope your 4th was a happy and fun one!

The arsenal...

Getting ready for the show to begin...

 

First the sparklers...

 

Then the main event...

 

I think this one is my favorite shot of the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you soon with a card to share!

Memorial Day Weekend!

It's hard to believe it's Memorial Day weekend...this year has gone by so fast. It's also hard to believe since it was pouring rain here all week and it is freezing outside! Not our typical 90 degree weather, that's for sure. I hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend. I wanted to take some time to acknowledge what Memorial Day is all about - our beloved country and those who have served or are serving her. I have some pictures to share today - and I hope you enjoy them. I love taking pictures of flags. Such symbolism and beauty. I try not to take for granted the freedom I have. Take a moment to thank a vet and have a fabulous weekend.

I am a Navy daughter. My dad was in the Navy when I was born. I was born in the oldest Naval hospital in the USA - in Portsmouth, Virginia. (That's me on the left, hahaha)

 

My husband is an Army son. His dad served in the Korean War.

We are a patriotic family.

 

Even Buddy waves the stars and stripes.

 

Air Force Thunderbirds at an air show.

 

Two great flags at Memorial Stadium - which was built to honor WWI veterans.

 

Salem, Massachusetts.

 

Chicago.

 

Nantucket.

 

Martha's Vineyard.

 

York, Maine.

 

Nantucket.

 

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

 

My hometown - Sacramento, California.

Have a lovely holiday!

He is Risen!

Luke 24:1-12 

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but He is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

Best wishes for a glorious Easter from the Guess Family

photo by Wanda Guess

TGIF!

Okay, now I know we are all glad it's FRIDAY! I have my little Friday lunch time routine and I thought I would share it with you today. The peeps I see and the places I go make my day! A little slice of heaven in this workaday world. About a 5 minute drive from the office is my mini oasis in the city.

First off, there is Newsbeat! Now, this girl LOVES magazines. You might say I'm a magazineaholic! Don't call Dr. Drew on me yet, though. It's all under control. Maybe. Newsbeat is that one of a kind place that doesn't really happen anymore. A good old fashioned news-stand. I love it. The cool chicks that work there are and helpful and kind. There are magazines for miles, and newspapers, and British candy, and cards, and magazines, and magazines...

 

 

My favorite section:

 

 

 

The place just has a cool vibe to it...

  
Now, as if that wasn't wonderful enough...just two doors down is Luigi's! Which definitely is a little slice of heaven!

 

This is a great sign!

  

 

Are you drooling? Yes, it tastes as good as it looks...

 

And, if you're still hungry, there are brownies. I've never had one, but you never know. They look amazing. Cuz the one thing you need after eating a big ole' slab of pizza is a brownie. Right? Right?  

And last, but not least, the pickle. Yup, that's a pickle on the corner and he is happy to see me! See him waving? My Friday would not be complete without him.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I'm off to my friend TeaDub's house tomorrow for some stampin' action. The Oscars are on Sunday - red carpet time! Toodles.

A Trip to Lake Placid!

One of the places the DH and I went on our honeymoon was Lake Placid, New York. We stayed two nights in this beautiful hotel called the Mirror Lake Inn. It was amazing! The town of Lake Placid is tiny - with just one main street. The famous hockey arena is at the end of the street. I cannot imagine how this town fit all the Olympic athletes and spectators. The town of Lake Placid sits at the rim of Mirror Lake... Lake Placid is actually about 10 minutes away! Go figure?

We were able to have a tour of the Olympic areas and to watch some ski jumping action. Since we have been home watching the Winter Olympics, I decided to get out our honeymoon pictures and have a look. the pictures are not great and they were taken with this strange thing called film! Anyone remember that? The pics are from early October 2001. Hope you enjoy!

The entrance to the facilities:

One of the ski jumps:  

One of our Olympians practicing:

Practicing:

Perfect Landing! You can see there's no snow so they practice jumping into a swimming pool. The water is kept moving so they don't hurt themselves hitting a solid mass. Very cool indeed.

We were able to take the chairlift up to the top. The view was absolutely spectacular:

This last shot is for the ladies! This is the official medal podium used in the 1980 Olympics. Seems a lot less fancy than nowadays. This is the guy that we watched jumping. He came over and talked to us about his experiences.

 
 Wouldn't it be awesome to go to the Olympics one day in person?

Things to love about New Jersey...

So, I've never been to New Jersey...but I watch WAY too much reality TV! So I kinda feel like I've been to New Jersey! Here are some of the many things to love about the Garden State:

The Housewives...

Snooki and The Situation at the shore...

The Boss...

 
The Cake Boss...

 
And this recipe...

Did anyone else see the recent episode of Cake Boss where they made a GINORMOUS Crumb Cake? It looked like heaven on a plate to me! I knew I had to make a crumb cake!  I scoured the interwebs and found this:

The recipe can be found here on Recipezaar: http://www.recipezaar.com/New-Jersey-Crumb-Cake-33645. I made it almost exactly according to the recipe. Here are my changes: Use only unsalted butter. In the topping mix I added 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1/4 cup of chopped pecans. I cooked it for 35 minutes instead of 30 minutes. 

The entire house smelled like cinammon while it was in the oven. YUM. I think I'm going to rename it Crummmmmmmmmb Cake. Here are some pix to make you drool and to inspire you to make it too! 
 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today. Share your recipes with me if you like and I'll try them out next. Have a blessed day everyone.

On a serious note today...

I am a Red Cross volunteer for the Sacramento-Sierra Chapter and have been trained and certified to work on natural disasters. This is something that became very important to me after serving on my former (insurance company) employer’s National Catastrophe Team many years ago. I saw the property and human devastation of the Loma Prieta EQ, Oakland Fire, Hurricane Andrew, the Northridge EQ and local California floods up close and personal.

 

Being a witness to those events and the aftermath changed me as a person forever. My own apartment was damaged in the Loma Prieta EQ and I have friends whose houses were destroyed in the Oakland fire. The damage from Hurricane Andrew was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Words cannot describe how much I value my safe home every night when I drive up and it is still there with all my things and my loved ones inside. I really do think about that. Every night.  

 

My heart is aching for the poor people in Haiti today. I know that the Red Cross is there already providing food, shelter and aid. If you are moved to do so, go online and read about the Red Cross and see if there is anything you would like to do. Become a volunteer locally, sign up for a CPR class, donate blood, donate money, send prayers, anything. Just take a moment today.

 

Here are the links:

https://sacsierraredcross.org/

http://www.redcross.org/