Guest Blogger and a Free Digital Image

Hey everyone! I can't believe we are already closing in on another weekend! I'm debating whether I should go do something fun this weekend or hunker down and get some work done? My scrap room could really use some love and the list goes on! And on! :)

Well, I'm happy you are here because I have a few things to share with you today. First I'd like to tell you that I was honored to be asked to guest blog for Two Peas in a Bucket's October Stamping Month. Isn't that cool?!?! I made a Halloween card just for the post (sneak peek below) and there are a bunch of other crafty shares to see so I hope you can go take a look.

I have another project to share that features another of Wilna Furstenberg's amazing watercolor digital kits called 'Welcome Baby'.

These are the most adorable animals ever on parade, don't you think? Wilna makes my projects so easy since I really don't need to do very much. Her work shines on it's own!

I added a little card stock, made some die cut shapes and added a little button and bow. It's that simple! Her kit included the sentiment as well!

Those of you who follow my blog, know how fond I am of elephants! This guy is going to be used for a home decor project! He's just too cute to leave on my hard drive! :)

Now a little Thanksgiving treat for you, my blogging friends. I found this vintage 1909 postcard in Selma recently on a hunt for fun treasures.

He's a perky big Tom turkey that had better run...the farmer is after him, but not with a gun! Download and add to a greeting card or scrapbook page for a fun accent. If you make something, I'd love to see it!

So I must run now and create some more fun things. Thanks for your visit and comment...I LOVE comments! ;) Kathy

Are You in a Food Rut?

I've been in a food rut! I cook the same old thing for dinner over and over and over! The only reason my family hasn't gone on strike is because the few recipes I make are their favorites, like breakfast for dinner every single Monday night. My guys love breakfast for dinner! So much so that this tradition has been going on for over two years! I doubt very much that Monday night's dinner will change anytime soon, but it's time to mix in some new favorites! My friend Audrey, feeling the same about her dinner menu, agreed to broaden her horizons with me. Indeed it's more fun to cook with a friend!

Last Friday we got together and tried our hand at Ranch Style Chicken, a recipe from 'The Pioneer Woman' cooks. We knew that none of our picky eaters could pass up a boneless chicken breast topped with thick cut bacon and melted sharp cheddar cheese!

All of The Pioneer Woman Cooks recipes are rated from easy to difficult and since we wanted to ensure a successful outcome, we picked an easy dish. Although nothing about this recipe was hard, it was quite messy because of frying the bacon and chicken. I would advise you to cook this dish when the stove needs cleaning anyway!

I served my chicken with steamed zucchini and mashed potatoes. The chicken was not as flavorful as I expected it would be after marinating it for over an hour and topping it with bacon and cheese, but not too shabby.

For desert Audrey and I made 'Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting' from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. These cupcakes were easy to make and were so delicious that I'm at a loss for words to describe them! The cake was very moist and the cream cheese frosting absolutely sinful! I would highly recommend making these if your aim is to impress! Just look at these great big lovely cupcakes! I was so tickled with myself that they actually looked like something I bought at a fancy bakery! I owe it to the Pampered Chef  'Easy Accent Decorator' for the outcome of the frosting!

I'm happy to report it was a successful and fun venture and that we plan on doing this again soon! Click on the highlighted food titles above to get the recipes. If you try either of these recipes I'd love to hear how you and your family liked it. If you want to share a great recipe you have tried recently, I'd love to hear about it! Thanks for dropping by today! I hope you enjoyed my food share!  Kathy :)

Ditial Doodles Tuesday and a Giveaway

Good day! Great to have you stop in today for another Digital Doodles Tuesday! We have a special set of projects to show off in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month! Digital Doodles Design Team member Arielle Gorden, who has a great big heart of gold, came up with the idea and inspired the following pink projects.

Pink Card

Inside Message:  Fight like a girl!

by Kathy Martin

Bath Essentials Gift Set

by Arielle Gordon

Support Card

by Carina Lindholm

Little Pink Houses Card and Gift Bag Set

by Virginia Lu

Pink Clipboard

by Cheryl Nelson

Love U Card

by Vera Wirianta Yates

I think these projects are fantastic! I love all this pink and what it represents! Thanks ladies! If you are interested in purchasing any of the Digital Doodles images used for these projects or would like to see more Digital Doodles images, click here.

Now for the winner of the Digital Doodles 'Happy Howl-loween' set, Linda of Scrapcat Cards by Linda! Congratulations Linda! I will be sending your digital stamps by e-mail. This week's Digital Doodles stamp giveaway is a stamp or stamp set of your choice. If you would like to be entered in the drawing, just leave a comment on this post by this Friday, October 22, 2010. Good luck everyone!

If you were visiting yesterday you know I went on a date with my hubby to the fair. We had a wonderful time and took lots of great photos which I will share with you sometime soon...maybe with a scrapbook page? I also mentioned last Friday that I got together with my girlfriend to do a cooking and baking day. We had a successful day and didn't burn anything! I will be sharing some pics and recipes of our day tomorrow, so I hope to see you then! :) Kathy

Autumn

Happy to have you drop in! How was your weekend? Did you partake in any fall activities? This weekend my boys and I went to our favorite pumpkin patch, Hill Ridge Farms. It's a wonderful, family friendly, activity packed day at the farm. There is a train, long tunnel slide, pony rides, yummy eats and a hay ride through the woods. And that's just the start of it! Each year, they add something new! Now there's a giant corn crib, an old fashioned fort with tee pee, a big hay jump house, face painting and water duck races! It's quite a place to spend an afternoon!

Today I would normally be getting back to work after a full and fun weekend, but my husband and I are taking a day off, just the two of us, to go to the NC State Fair. This is our third year of doing this! We get to be like a couple of kids walking the fair hand-in-hand doing and seeing whatever we please. Ah...I still love to go on dates with my guy after 18 years of marriage!

Okay, enough with the family update. How about a couple crafty shares? I have two hybrid pages that I created from kits just released last week at Two Peas in a Bucket.

This first page entitled 'Autumn' is created with 'October Past' from a new designer Hazel Olive Designs. I love the rich colors of the papers included in the kit so I used several and gave them all punched boarders.

My photo is of a pumpkin display at my favorite Garden Supply center and gift shop in Cary.  If you happened to visit my blog when I was sharing some of my Halloween decorations, this was the store I got many of our little spiders and spooky things from.

I went a little crazy with the stitching! But it's so worth it! I really love the look of the stitched title!

I did a bit of stitching on this page too. I used another awesome kit 'Sincerely' by Polka Dot Pixels for this page.

All the papers and accents in this grouping (except for the green postage stamp) are from the kit!

The photo, a suitcase full of vintage post cards, is perfect for this kit! It's a picture my friend took while we were visiting the Liberty Antiques Festival a few weeks back.

Okay, I believe I've taken up enough of your time...so precious it is! I think you for spending a little of it with me! I hope you have enjoyed my pages! Tomorrow is a Digital Doodles Tuesday and the design team wanted to do something different so you will have to come see what they asked to do! :) Hope to see you then! Have a super day! Kathy