Merry Christmas!!!!

Hey everyone!!!  Merry Christmas!  I wanted to post a picture of the ornaments that my students made for their parents.  Since they are Santa ornaments, I figured this was literally my last chance to post them!  :)   I had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with my family yesterday...  They are the best family any girl could ever ask for!!!  :)  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a great New Year (if I don't post again before then)!

I told the kids they could spread their fingers apart (like the one on the left) or they could keep their hand closed (right) when they traced their hand.  I thought these came out really cute, and all you need is some cardstock, crayons, and cotton balls!  Doesn't get any easier than that!  :)

Before I end this post, I will leave you with a few crazy pictures that my mom and I took at the Apple Store.  We were waiting for her iPhone to be fixed and we started playing with the photo program on their computer...  This is what happened!!!  :)

First we took a normal one....

This one is crazy!  It looks like my mom has an alien on her finger, and I look like I have a gazelle running up my cheek!

Hope these can spread some more Holiday cheer!  Merry Christmas to the best blogger friends in the world!  You guys are awesome and I appreciate all of you!  :)

P.S.  I just added a "Follow Me by E-mail" option on the right side of the screen...  Hope it works!  :)

Thank You Card for Physical Therapy

Hey everyone!  Brace yourselves....  I actually made a card!!!!  :)  Woo hoo!!!!  My mom came over today and asked if I could help her make a thank you card for her last day of physical therapy.  I told her "no problemo" and this is the little beauty that we came up with!  She had knee surgery back in August, so you can see that this little skeleton comes complete with a titanium knee cap!  :)  Hope you enjoy!

A2 sized card
Paper Doll Dress Up- skeleton cut at 3.94"
Everyday Paper Dolls- crutches cut at 6.53" & 5.82" (top crutch)
Hoot 'n' Holler- heart cut at 1"
Cuttlebug- swiss dots
Peachy Keen Stamps- Retro Paper Doll Face Assortment
Inkadinkadoo Stamps- Thank You words
Stickles- Christmas red
Silver mini brad

Well it felt wonderful to be crafting again, hope to do some more soon!  ;)  See you later....

Holiday Fun!!! :)

Hey everyone!!!!  I haven't been able to craft in such a long time!  I have been so busy with things at work, and now that I have my car back I'm rarely ever home.  I am making it my goal to start making more cards!!!  I am hoping with my upcoming vacation that I will have more time for using the Cricut (it's okay Cricut I still love you)!  Here are just a couple of the things I have been up to...

We had our annual Jingle Jam at work, and my students dressed up as little Santas and sang "Must be Santa".  It was sooooo cute!  They were so proud of themselves and they had to perform their song 3 times in front of 3 huge crowds!  They weren't even nervous!  I think I was more nervous than they were...  A few years ago my aide and I came up with this little costume to make for them to wear during their performance and I think it's just the cutest thing ever!  I took this picture of my niece wearing the costume...

I can't even express how cute it was to see all of these little Santas on the stage!  I think some of them actually thought they were Santa!  :)  They were so excited about their costumes that they didn't even want to take them off when we went home!

Yesterday I made a bunch of cookies and candy to give out to my friends...  Here is the cart full of goodies that my friend Sarah and I turned into holiday deliciousness!  :) 

Well everyone I hope to be up and crafting soon!  I haven't forgotten about you guys (or this blog), just been super busy!!!  See you soon, and I hope your holidays are going great!  :)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Card

Hello everyone!!!  I am so sorry I haven't been posting lately...  There has been so much "stuff" going on with work, and family & friends, etc, etc.!!!  But it's all been good "stuff", so that's nice!  I knew that I had to make a card with a fall theme before the big Christmas wave hits...  This is my favorite time of year, so I love working with these fall colors and this card was so fun to make.  On the inside of the card I would write the recipe for this dessert.  As a bonus (since I've been a very bad blogger), I am including a recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake at the bottom of this post.  I absolutely love this recipe and I know it was a hit with the family too!  :)

Mojo Monday- use the sketch
Crazy 4 Challenges- use 3 embellishments, 3 papers, 3 die cuts and/or punches
My Sheri Crafts- Thanksgiving
Our Creative Corner- pumpkins
Peachy Keen LFIF Challenge- holiday recipe & a PK face
Cupcake Inspirations- use the cupcake picture (fall colors)
FCCB- red, orange, brown
The Kraft Journal- sweet treats and bakers twine
Scrappy Frogs Challenge- use Kraft cardstock
Whimsical Designs- Thanksgiving theme
Celebrate the Occasion- Thanksgiving, must use a punch

A6 sized card (9 x 6 1/2" folded in half)
Create a Critter- pumpkin cut at 1.47"
My Creative Time Stamps- All Around Halloween
Peachy Keen Stamps- Monster Mash Face Assortment
"Pumpkin Cheesecake" Monotype Corsiva font at size 28
K & Company paper
MS border punch
1.5" circle punch
Button
Bakers Twine
Colored pencils
Accordion flowers, click here to see how I made them

Okay here is the recipe (this recipe was not created by me, I got it from allrecipes.com)... Yummmmm.......

Pumpkin Cheesecake

(For mine, I piped buttercream frosting around the edges, garnished with pecans, and filled in the middle with toffee pieces)

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup ground pecans

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

3/8 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons whipping cream

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, ground pecans, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and the melted butter or margarine and mix well. Firmly press mixture into one 9 inch springform pan.
2. Combine 3/4 cup of the white sugar, the pumpkin, 3 egg yolks, ground cinnamon, ground mace, ground ginger and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well, and set aside.
3. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; gradually add 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar and mix well. Add the whole egg, remaining egg yolk and the whipping cream, beating well. Add cornstarch and vanilla and lemon flavorings, beat batter until smooth. Add pumpkin mixture and mix well. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 55 minutes. Do not overbake. Center may be soft but it will firm up when chilled. Let cheesecake cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate.

Enjoy!!! 



PBR Fun!!!

Happy November everyone!  This is my 100th post!  :)  Woo hoo!  Unfortunately I don't have a craft project today, but I do have some fun photos from a PBR (Pro Bull Riding) event that I went to last night....  It was my first time going to a PBR event and I had a blast!!!!  :)  The bulls were huge and some of the cowboys were getting stepped on and charged after!  It was scary and entertaining all at the same time... 

My friend Sarah, me, and my sister Joni....  Ready for some fun!

Here we are at the Italian restaurant before the event....  Super yummy!

There's the arena.  We had really good seats!  The rodeo clown was very funny!  You can see him running from a runaway bull here...

Here's the whole group that went.  Back row:  Ron, Jan, Debbie, Veronica.

Front row:  Ernesto, Joni, me, Sarah, Jesse

A serious and silly picture.  Looks like my sister and I are the only ones acting silly!  :)

Yeehaw that was a good time (and there were lots of cute cowboys)!  :)  See you soon with something crafty!

Candy Corn Card

Happy Halloween everyone (well, what's left of it)!!!  I came home from work today and I just really wanted to make a card for Halloween while I still had the chance....  It was fun at work today, the kids always love this holiday!  They were actually really calm all day, you could have heard a pin drop during math!  :)  They had a costume parade and we had a party with lots of goodies...  This card was really fun to make...  I like the way that candy corns look (they are super cute), but I don't really like to eat them!  I'm more of a chocolate kind of girl...  :) 

Crazy 4 Challenges- include candy
Peachy Keen LFIF Challenge- creepy cute
Paper Playtime- anything goes

A2 sized card
Mini Monsters- candy corn girl cut at 3.82"
Peachy Keen Stamps- Everyday Character Face Assortment
My Creative Time Stamps- All Around Halloween
Stickles- yellow, star dust, black diamond
K & Company paper
Brads

Here's a picture from the Tarantula Festival that I went to this weekend.  It was a really fun festival, and I just can't get over the proud feeling I have for letting that spider crawl on me!!!  It is a seriously huge fear of mine, and I don't know why I felt compelled to let this HUGE guy walk on my hand!  I'm so glad that I did!  :)  This picture is of me and my mom...

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!  See you soon!  :)

Birthday Sundaes Guest Designer!!! :)

Hey everyone!!!  I am so excited to be a guest designer over at Birthday Sundaes!!!  I am also excited that I was able to get back into my craft room and make something!  It felt great to go through my paper packs, stamps, etc....  I am feeling so much better and I had a great time yesterday at a tarantula festival!  I have a major case of aracnophobia, but I actually let a real, live tarantula crawl across the back of my hand!!!!  It was a really proud moment for me to overcome such a huge fear of mine!  I will be posting some pictures later from the festival, and hopefully a card to go with it....  :)  Now onto my card for Birthday Sundaes...  I love this challenge blog (it's one of my faves)!  The challenge was to create a birthday card with any theme...  I hope you enjoy what I came up with, and that you will check out all of the other guest designer's blogs!  :)

Birthday Bash- elephant cut at 4.65"
Sweet Treats- party hat cut at 1.71", cupcake cut at 1.47"
My Creative Time stamp set-  Wow! So Many Candles
Stickles- star dust
Glossy Accents

There it is!  Hope you enjoy it, and it feels great to be back!!!  :)

Giveaway Winner!!!

Hello everyone!  Before I start this, let me just say again how grateful I am for all of the support I am receiving!  :)  You guys are the best!!!  I can't believe I went another week without crafting!  I have been super busy!  Today was fun too...  I spent time with my family and we went to a delicious bakery and went shopping!  :)  I am working on some thank you cards right now, but I didn't want to forget to post a winner for my giveaway!  This lucky lady will get to choose a gift card to the store of her choice!  Fingers crossed....  Drumroll please....  And the winner is.....

Number 12-  Amy @ http://amyscraftingspace.blogspot.com/

YAY Amy!!!!  :)  You can choose a gift card from Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's or Michaels!!!  Woo hoo!  Just e-mail your choice and your mailing address to redheadedcrafter@hotmail.com.

Thanks again to everyone who joined this giveaway and for all of the wonderful comments you have been leaving for me!  See you soon!  :)

Another Update

Hello everyone!  I'm so sorry that I haven't been on here to give you another update...  I want to start by saying that I appreciate all of your kind words and support!  Every time that I receive another comment from one of my buddies, I feel so much better!  :)  I apologize in advance for the negativity in this post, but it is unbelievable that someone I trusted did this to me, and it helps me cope when I am able to vent and discuss this.  This will be the last post that I ever write about Daniel Lagow (I feel the name Danny is too cheerful a word for him)...  In the week since I last posted I have found out so many disturbing things about this person, that I literally can't believe I have been fooled for this long!  I spoke with Daniel's mistress on the phone and she did not know about me (well she claimed not to).  She said that she met him in July 2010 at a bar.  He wasn't wearing a ring, asked her for her number that night, and then told her he has been divorced for 3 years!  I'm disgusted knowing that he picked her up like that, then came home to me and crawled into my bed!!!  I told her all of the lies that he has been feeding me, and I told her that he was sleeping in my bed up until he moved into her house almost 3 weeks ago.  He called me after I hung up with her, and he threatened me and yelled at me.  I have also discovered that he was keeping me a secret from his co-workers!  He has been telling everyone that he works with that he has been divorced for 2 years!  I found it strange that he never introduced me to his friends, but he does work an opposite schedule from me, so it made sense that our paths never crossed...  One of his co-workers found it strange that he was saying we have been divorced 2 years, but he was still driving my car to work...  His family didn't even know that Daniel had taken my car from me, and that I haven't been behind the wheel of a car in 2 years!  He told his family that we were sharing my car, which is not true.  Daniel has been taking dinner to his mistress on lunch breaks, and telling me he is working over time almost every night and then going to her house after work.  He even worked "over time" on my birthday, his birthday, Valentine's Day, our anniversary, etc.  As I mentioned, he has moved in with her (the day he left me) and it is less than 2 miles from my home!  Daniel went to my sister's wedding in Las Vegas with me in July, and he told his mistress and co-workers that he was going on a guy's weekend!!!  In reality, he was spending time with his wife, her family, and sharing an intimate moment with all of us!  After Daniel left me I also discovered all of the bills he didn't pay and I found out that he has been smoking cigarettes for years!  His co-worker told me that when he was in school they used to tell him to bring me out with them when they went for a few drinks and he would tell them "she used to party, but she doesn't anymore", or he would say "she doesn't like to go out".  That really hurt my feelings because I am a really fun person, and I do like going out!  I'm also disgusted because I paid for Daniel's college education, and I supported him financially at home by paying all of the bills.  I also used to quiz him for tests, proofread his reports, etc., etc...  I'm sad that his friends never got to meet me, and that they probably have a very different picture in their head of me (and, of course, they think that I'm his ex-wife)...  If his mistress has any common sense (*Update, she doesn't have any common sense- he's still living there), she will get rid of him right now before it's too late!  After she talked to me, he probably turned on the tears, told her he would never do that to her, he never loved me, he left me for her, blah, blah, blah...  He is a sociopath, a pathological liar, and a parasite!  I was his host for a while, but he has drained everything out of me, and he has moved on to the next host!  I will end this post with some pictures of the wedding that I had with this person 5 years ago....  I will never think of this day again, nor will I ever mention Daniel's name.  November 18 will no longer be a day of remembering our wedding, it will be a day that I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I got rid of this crazy person.   The love that I had for him is completely gone and I hope that someday I find a real man that can treat me the way that I deserve to be treated!  These pictures make me feel empty inside because I feel that he never really cared about or loved me (he has some mental problems that keep him from feeling human emotions)... 

And with that I am closing this chapter of my life...  I can't say that I regret meeting him because I learned a lot about myself and I really do love his family...  But I do feel that he has wasted 10 years of my life, and I will not waste another minute!!!!  :)  See you soon with a crafting project of some kind!!!  :)  Thanks again for the support you have shown me...

Giveaway!!!!

**This post will remain at the top.... Scroll down for new posts...**

I feel that it's time to do another giveaway!  :)  I noticed that I had hit 300 followers, and I am extremely excited!  When I started this blog, I never even expected to reach 20 (that was exciting for me too)!  I have been really bad about posting ever since I had to go back to work, and I felt I needed to give something to all of my wonderful bloggy friends out there!  So let's do a giveaway to celebrate: how wonderful you all are; reaching 300 followers; and to celebrate that Fall is officially here!  :)

Here's how you can enter my giveaway:
***Become a follower and leave me a message on this post.***

For extra entries:

Post about my giveaway in your sidebar and leave me a message on this post.

Mention my giveaway in one of your blog posts and leave me a message on this post.

Let's give away the same thing that I gave last time..... a gift card to the craft store of your choice:  Michael's, Jo-Ann, or Hobby Lobby!!!!  Woo hoo!  I will end this giveaway on October 15 and I will announce the winner on October 16...  Okay, let the fun begin!

Update

Hello everyone...  I am sorry I have not been posting very much lately, or making it over to see your wonderful blogs...  I am going through a very tough personal time that is making it hard for me to even function, eat, smile, etc.  By the time I make it home from work, I can't exert any more energy.  I consider my online buddies very special to me, so I will tell you the basic outline of what has happened.  My husband, Danny Lagow, confessed on Monday that he has been cheating on me.  He did not tell me this on his own, I found a strange phone number on our phone records that he had been making a lot of phone calls and texts to.  He left me while I was at work on Monday and he has not spoken to me since (he's being a huge coward).  It has now been a full week, and I saw them holding hands in public together on Saturday.  I found out on my own that he has been talking to her for at least a year behind my back.  I am also finding a TON of unpaid bills that he was responsible for, so I am now dealing with that mountain of debt and the overwhelming feeling of lonliness.  The love I had for him is pretty much gone, and has been replaced with negative feelings, but it is still an adjustment for me seeing that we have been together for 10 years.  I hope to be up and posting soon because I love visiting your blogs and making cards.  Crafting is a very stress relieving outlet for me and I look forward to creating "masterpieces" again.  See you soon, I'm sure.

You're a Great Catch Card

***Don't forget to enter my 300 follower GIVEAWAY by clicking right here!!!***

Hello everyone!  I'm just going to make a quick post this morning because I have to get ready to go shopping with my sister.  My mom's birthday is on Tuesday, so we need to go and find the perfect present!  :)  I made this card to give to my husband "just because".  I usually make girly cards with bright colors, but it was really fun making a masculine card!  :)  Hope you enjoy!

Papercraft Star- use the sketch
CAS-ual Fridays- monochromatic plus brown
Frosted Designs- ransom letters
Cricut 360- Native American (this theme makes me think of the outdoors)

A2 sized card
Potpourri Basket- fish cut at 1.9"
Simply Charmed- fishing pole cut at 2.63"
George and Basic Shapes- ovals cut at 2.42" x 3.76", 1.99" x 3.26"
Cuttlebug- forest branches
Kraft paper down the middle measures 2 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Stampin' Up scallop border punch
Twine
Brads
Letter stamps

Here's a picture of my hubby with a fish that he caught.  It's a bass, just like the Cricut cut I used...  :)

Have a great day!!!

Halloween Greetings Card

***Don't forget to enter my 300 follower GIVEAWAY by clicking right here!!!!***



Hello and happy Saturday everyone!  I am so glad that it is the weekend!!!!  Woo hoo!!!!  This next week is going to be super busy for me because of Parent/Teacher conferences...  I would really like to start crafting and posting more, so hopefully I can after conferences are over!  :)  For today I have made a Halloween card to enter into a few challenges.  I have already mentioned that I love Halloween, so this card was very fun for me to make!  Hope you enjoy!

My Sheri Crafts- use stitching (real or faux)
Card Patterns- use the sketch
Lily Pad Cards- use bling
Crazy 4 Challenges- Halloween
Creative Cutter Room- Halloween- faux stitching, sticker (the bling is a sticker), ribbon (I used twine)

This is an A6 size card- 9" x 6 1/4" folded in half

Mini Monsters- monsters cut at 1.71"

My Creative Time stamps- All Around Halloween

K & Company paper- orange piece 3 1/2" x 4 1/2", green piece 4 1/4" x 6"

Martha Stewart border punch

1.5" Circle punch

Rhinestones

Twine from The Twinery

White embossing powder (a la mode)

White gel pen

Hope you have a SPOOK-tacular day!!!  :)

What's Cookin' CAS Card

Happy Saturday everyone!!!  I am so excited to have a day off!  Before I get to today's card I want to say THANKS to Lisa @ http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/ for passing the Butterfly Award to me!  Lisa's blog is truly inspiring and she always leaves really nice comments on my blog...  I feel honored that she thought of passing this award on to me!  Thanks again Lisa!  :)  The card that I made today is a bit out of my comfort zone...  The challenge was to make something CAS (clean and simple).  As you know, I LOVE adding Stickles and "bling", so this was definitely a challenge for me!  :)  Hope you like what I came up with....

Use it Tuesday- use an uninked stamp (and I used some hoarded patterned paper)
CAS-ual Fridays- make a mini card (no bigger than 4 x 4)
Scrappy Moms Stamps- use Country Life cartridge
Whimsical Wednesday- make a card "just because"

Card measures 4" x 4"
Country Life- utensils cut at 2.88"
Cuttlebug- swiss dots
Scrappy Moms Stamps- A Pinch and a Dash
Distress Crackle Paint- clear rock candy
Glossy Accents

There it is!  Enjoy!  I'm in the process of cookin' up some more projects for you!  :)

MPS Pinkalicious Blog Hop- Back to School

Hello everyone!  I am so proud of myself for posting 2 days in a row!!! :)  Before I get to my project for today, I want to say a huge "thank you" to Diana @ http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/ for passing the Butterfly Blog Award to me!!!!  Her blog is amazing, she is a wonderful bloggy friend, and I really do appreciate her thinking of me!  Check out her blog, you'll be happy that you did!  Thanks again Diana!!! :)  Okay...  I wanted to make sure that I was able to get in on the MPS Pinkalicious Blog Hop this month, but it took me a while to come up with an idea...  The challenge was to create something with a school theme, BUT it couldn't be a card or scrapbook page...  You all know that I LOVE making cards, so this was a chance to think outside the box... and that's exactly what I made:  a box!  This is a treat box you can fill with goodies and pass it out to other teachers (co-workers), your child's teacher, etc...  I love the little miniature clipboard on this and that cut is actually the reason I bought the Fabulous Finds cartridge!  :)  Here it is....

MPS Pinkalicious Blog Hop- school theme
Bitten by the Bug 2- TBBM 3D box
Blog Quick Quotes (CWC)- Back to School

Tags, Bags, Boxes & More- box cut at 5.12"

Fabulous Finds- clipboard cut at 5"

Doodlecharms- apple cut at 1.28"

Hero Arts- Friends stamp set

Grid paper 4 1/2 x 2 3/4", I punched holes down the side with my Crop-a-Dile

Twine

Glossy Accents

There you have it folks!  I kept it pretty simple, so it would be easy to make multiples of...  Hope you have an A+ day!!!  :)

Patriotic Card for 9/11 Heroes

Good morning everyone...  I can't believe that today marks the 10th year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks...  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I was in college at the time, and I still lived at home with my parents.  My sister came in to my room and started shaking me and told me I needed to come watch the news.  My mom and sister had watched the second plane hit on live television.  I had to get ready for my morning class, but I remember not even wanting to tear myself away from the television...  I ended up going to class, and my instructor told us we didn't have to stay, but we could if we wanted to talk about what was going on.  I stayed for a little while, then I drove home to watch more of the news...  I went to work that day (in an after school program with first graders), and I just kept looking at the sky and thinking about all of the horrible things happening right here in our own country...  The kids wanted to talk about what was going on, and I found it hard to discuss this with first graders.  I didn't know how to word things, or how to explain it to them...  There was a candle light vigil held in our local Veteran's Park that night and I remember just standing there and crying...  I know I will never forget that day, and I will continue to remember the people who lost their lives, lost loved ones, and the men and women who continue to fight for our country so that we can keep our freedom!

Cricut 360 -create a card for our heroes
Sweet Sassy Diva- honoring 9/11
Papercraft Star- use patriotic colors

Independence Day- flag cut at 3.47", "freedom" cut at 2.29"
Cuttlebug- stars
K. Andrew stamps- Positive Thoughts
K & Company- Americana paper pack

Thank you to our heroes!  I'm proud to be an American!!!