Etsy find - Cascade Lemonade

Most of you know we try to be as green as possible. We started by making small changes: recycling, cloth napkins and rags vs. paper napkins and towels, cleaning w/out chemicals, etc. One thing I haven't been able to give up too easily is plastic zip storage baggies. I hate using them but sometimes there just isn't a better option, but I've found something that is going to help cut down on our baggie usage! There adorable pouches from Cascade Lemonade are going to help us decrease the plastic out of our lives.

The pouches are perfectly sized for a sandwich but will also be great for snacks of any kind. They are washable, wipe able and reusable! One great feature these pouches have that some others don't is the fold over flap...you don't have to worry about scraping your sandwich on velco as you try to slide it in or out. I'll definitely buy a few more of these!

One last thing I love about Cascade Lemonade and their pouches is that they donate at least 15% of their profits to purchase carbon credits and make donations to non-profits. Below is a snipet from Cascade Lemonade's shop profile that details her Earth-friendly practices.

I'm renewing my commitment to earth-friendly practices this year:
** 15% (or more) of proceeds will go towards purchasing renewable energy blocks (see sterlingplanet.com) and carbon credits (possibly from carbonfund.org - I'm looking into several organizations) so that Cascade Lemonade is 'carbon negative' and energy conscious
** 'recycled new' materials will be used, when possible - these are ALL NEW donations from family and friends' stashes or to The Legacy (in Sebastopol, CA, which also supports their SR center!)
** recycled packaging and shipping materials will be used exclusively (if purchasing a gift, please let me know: I gift wrap for free with new-looking materials)
** 50% of proceeds on drawstring bags sold at the Marine Mammal Center in Petersburg, AK (my in-laws' home) will support marine mammal education, research, and rescue

There are many benefits to buying homemade. I think one of them is knowing that you are supporting environmental practices, fair labor, and good causes!

Happy Saturday!

Catching up...

Finally sat down and caught myself up with GQ's scrapbook. I had so many pictures and had a difficult time choosing which to use and how to get them on a page. That's what I hate about being behind, I get overwhelmed and feel like I can't take my time and just scrap a picture or two, I want to slap everything on there. Weird, I know.

I tried to keep my pages simple and not use any fresh paper or embellishments; I used all scraps that I have on hand and the only new sheets of paper used were the bases. In some of the layouts I didn't even use a new piece for a base, it's several pieces rigged together to make a 12x12 piece.

games we play: all scraps here except the base, the tickets are some tickets I had laying around that GQ plays with, fancied up the chipboard title with some diamond glaze that doesn't photograph too well (it's shiny)
Puddle Jumper: all scraps of paper except the large background patterned paper.

the gift of family... : trees, hearts and gift are all cut from scraps, the base is one large piece. I had tons of photos for this one and used a digital program to make it. I had it printed as a 12x12 picture and cut down the boarder so I could mount and embellish. There was no room for journaling on the front but the ribbon at the top pulls out to reveal the story from a pocket on the back.
creating sadie: all scraps here except the base, the birth certificate took up much of the layout, getting the pictures to fit w/out covering the certificate was quite a task.

Snow Day! : all scraps here except the base.

I'm not tired! : my favorite layout! I love the pictures and the papers! it's my favorite sets of colors, really. this layout it entirely scraps, the pack of the layout has strips of paper holding all the pieces together into a 12x12 layout.

Earth Day 2009: again, all scraps, even the ribbon! the three round elements in the top left corner were made using clear epoxy stickers and some of the apple paper scraps.

More cards to post soon! Have a great weekend!

Bra-vo!

I know I've been slacking...sorry! But I've been getting some scrapbook pages and cards done. Now I just have to get them photographed and on here. I really need to get my light box out and start using again but I have some stuff sitting in my spare room that needs to be donated before I can make room for the light box. I'm going to make it a goal to get that stuff taken care of soon...hopefully before we head out for vacation in a couple weeks.

Anyway...here is a cheeky (get it?) little card I made for a special someone's birthday. No names in case by some miracle he looks at this blog. :D Not sure of a sentiment for inside yet...any ideas? I was trying to be punny (another great joke, huh?) but nothing has come to me.

I even fancied up the back of the card w/a pair of undies ;) I got the idea to make this card from my awesomely-crafty friend, Karie, she made one a while back. I've been meaning to give it a shot and finally had a skin colored cardstock on hand. I happened to luck out and have this pretty, ruffly-ribbon in my stash; it was perfect...I only wish my undergarments were this pretty!

Hope you like!

elements:
cardstock: Prism
patterned paper: Daisy D's
ribbon: not sure, but might be May Arts
bling: Heidi Swapp

I've been a little lazy with crafting lately...

but it's been so beautiful outside that we're out there in the sunshine playing. When rest time comes around for GQ I'm too pooped to be crafty; I have to rest, too! LOL! Yesterday we hit the driving range to hit some balls. We had a fun time and he's so cute to watch. He tries so hard to "hit it like those guys on TV!"



Have a good one!

More bib cards...

I bought a new stamp last week and decided to play around a little and make some baby cards. I used scraps from a stash my friend donated to me. I just colored the sweet little giraffe in with my Copics and added a little bit of Fun Flock to masculine cards and Stickles to the girlie cards. They went together so quickly...I think they are just adorable!

elements:
cardstock: Papertrey Ink - white
patterned paper: misc scraps
ink: Tsukineko Brillinace
markers: Copic
other: Ranger Stickles & Stampendous Fun Flock
ribbon: misc scrap ribbons

Altered box...

I rarely alter items...I'm never quite sure what to do with them, but I had this clear box and wanted to be a little creative this afternoon while it was rainy. Nothing fancy but I think it's cute! And I use all scrap pieces of paper to create it (thanks Scheffie, you're the best!)

Enjoy your weekend! Hope all you mommies, aunts, grandparents and friends have a beautiful Mother's Day!

Butterfly Wedding Cake

A month or so ago I saw this Martha Stewart Wedding magazine cover and was in love with the cake. It was simple and beautiful and the colors spray of butterflies...gorgeous!


I was commissioned to make a wedding card recently and wanted to do something different, something I hadn't tried before. I decided to use Martha Stewart's cake as my inspiration.





I cut the cake free form, added a little texture with my Cuttlebug embossing plates and added ribbon for a little extra detail. I cut some butterflies with scraps of patterned paper that coordinated nicely together and added a little bling on their bodies. I'm really proud of myself with this card! I love it's dimension and detail...

elements:
cardstock: Papertrey Ink - kraft and white, Bazzill
patterned paper: 3 Bugs in a Rug, Basic Grey
ribbon: Michael's
bling: Hero Arts

Sketch Challenge: AMYRS66

Mother's Day certainly sneaked up on me this year. I didn't remember it was around the corner until Monday...I was thinking it was in June, but that's Father's Day. duh!

As I was blog surfing this morning I found a sketch challenge at Prairie Paper & Ink. I don't normally participate in challenges because I'm usually two weeks or more behind getting to them, but as soon as I saw this sketch I knew what I was going to do.

The sketch is slightly different than my end product, I wanted three circles vs. four but the idea is still the same. I cut wholes on the card front and adhered the butterflies to the inside...you can see the dimension of the butterflies in the 2nd picture. I really need to set up my light box so the colors and pictures are more crisp.


elements:
cardstock: Papertrey Ink - kraft
patterned paper: Pebbles Inc - So Tweet Collection
paper punch: Martha Stewart
ink: Ranger Adirondack Earthtones Espresso
stamp: Stampendous

Super-simple dinner...

I have a beautiful wedding card to post but want to wait until after the wedding tonight. So until I post that I wanted to share a super-simple and absolutely delicious dish I made the other night for dinner.

I made a few slight changes to the recipe below: used canned, diced tomatoes instead of fresh (because hubby hates tomatoes, but he liked these!) and the original recipe called for black leans and jalapenos, I didn't have any on hand so replaced with pinto beans and green peppers. Probably a good call on no jalapenos because I'm not a spicy girl, the dash of hot sauce added enough zip for me.

Beans, Corn and Rice

Ingredients:
* 6 cups cooked brown rice
* 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 (15 ounce) can corn, drained
* 4 fresh tomatoes, diced
* 1/2 cup onion, chopped
* 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
* 2 dashes hot sauce

Directions:
1. Cook brown rice.
2. In a medium bowl, combine beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, lime juice, oil, salt, pepper and hot sauce.
3. To serve, Place a scoop of hot rice in a bowl or on a plate, top with a generous scoop of the bean mixture.
4. Stir together before eating.

Be sure to save some of the bean mixture for the next day...it gets so yummy sitting in the marinade a bit longer...I ate it with out any rice the next day and it was better than the first day!

Enjoy!