Sunshine, Sugar and So Cal!

Our weather has been absolutely gorgeous! We have had a couple days in the hundreds and then down to the 80s and even the 60s but the sun is just shining and that is what I love about living in Southern California! This weekend it was too beautiful, we just could not resist a spontaneous roadtrip to Malibu for lunch and a scenic drive. We went to Neptune's Net, of course, for some awesome shrimp n chips. There were a bunch of guys out wind surfing and it was great to just watch from the cliff above. These guys are talented and I cant deny that it actually looks fun (but I doubt I am capable of the strength to do a sport like that!). It was so precious to see all of the cute couples stopping off the PCH to check it out and I couldnt resist capturing the moment of an older couple holding each other close. I love old couples!!

On another happy note, I have been baking A LOT this week! We decided to go out and meet some of our neighbors who we found out also attend our church. It was good and we are hoping they will all be able to come to our place for a BBQ this next weekend to get to know each other a bit more. God blessed our time out visiting and meeting our bros n sis' in Christ.
Gare asked me to bake up some goodies to give to each of the families, so I of course did not put up a fight. I made some Macaroons and Lemon Butter Pound Cake. Thursday I needed to bring a dessert to our Community Gathering, so I made my first Lemon Raspberry Upside Down Cake which was absolutely delic and moist! Oh and I also made some Red Velvet cupcakes for my dear friend Jackie's one year anniversary with her hubby (which is today!). Man the kitchen was ridiculously messy! And I thank God for a husband that is so willing to help me clean it all up... I think all of those delicious goodies are payment enough! :) Recipe for the Macaroons and Upside Down Cake are below. Let me know if you attempt and what you think!

Black-and-White Coconut Macaroons
( From Betty Crocker!)

3 cups lightly packed shredded coconut
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 egg whites
Glaze
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz)
1 tablespoon shortening
1/3 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped (I didnt use these)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper. Using food processor, process coconut until finely ground.
2. In large bowl, stir together coconut and cookie mix. Add sweetened condensed milk and almond extract; mix well. Mixture will be crumbly. Stir in cream of tartar.
3. In small bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into cookie mixture. Using 1 1/2 tablespoon-size cookie scoop, firmly pack with coconut mixture and place mound on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining coconut, placing mounds 2 inches apart. Press each mound to flatten slightly.
4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges just begin to lightly brown (do not overbake). Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
5. In 1-quart nonstick saucepan, melt chocolate chips and shortening over medium heat, stirring until chocolate is melted. Dip each cooled cookie halfway into melted chocolate, letting excess drip off. Place on sheet of parchment paper; sprinkle chocolate portion with nuts. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 1 hour. Store between sheets of parchment paper in tightly covered container.


Lemon-Raspberry Upside Down Cake

**Derived from several web recipes**

1 Box Lemon Cake Mix
20 oz Frozen Raspberries or 3+ cups Fresh Raspberries
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 (4oz.) Package Sugar Free Raspberry Jello Mix **OPTIONAL**
3/4 Tbsp. Sliced Almonds ** OPTIONAL**

**Take frozen raspberries out of freezer atleast 30 min. before prep. Then place in pan and let thaw more while you prep cake, etc.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan
2. Place thawed raspberries at bottom of pan until covered
3. Sprinkle sugar over top of the berries
4. Sprinkle jello mix over top of the berries
5. Sprinkle sliced almonds over top of berries
6. Prepare cake mix following box instructions and pour over top of berries
7. Place in oven for 35-45 minutes
8. take out and let cool, 2 min.
9. Invert cake onto cake pan or another 9x13 pan

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream :)

Color Chef Challenge #3

Yay! I finished the Color Chef Challenge #3 tonight! Here I was trying to simply do one a month, but I realized that it is totally worth setting aside some time to create once a week! Not that I dont scrap every week... but I usually am busy working on other projects (i.e. a guestbook for someone's wedding next month!!). This Monday's Color Challenge was Watermelon, Sunflower, White Daisy and Black. However, I dont own Watermelon or Sunflower ink pads! So I went for Hollyhock and Honey. I think it turned out beautifully!

It has be a lot of fun doing these challenges because It forces me to create my own papers using my stamps versus relying on store bought patterned papers. For this card, I used Boutique Borders for the Honey patterened paper and then I sponged it with Honey all over. I love how it turned out! THen I used Hollyhock to stamp the flowers from the Tickled Pink stamp set (the Nat'l Scrapbooking Month CTMH Promo!) in 1st and 2nd generation.



It took some time to cut around the flowers perfectly and sometimes I look at other beautiful projects and wonder why they were crazy enough to do all of that cutting! But in this case, I figured I could handle five flowers :) Plus, this stamp set is beautiful! This photo to the left was an inspirational photo found on projectwedding.com. So this card is basically my interpretation.


Hope you like it and check out Kelly Jo's blog for more awesome cards created with this Color Challenge! http://kjsstamppad.blogspot.com/

The Official Blog Candy!

So I have officially chosen exactly what I will be giving away as my 2 Year Anniversary Blog Candy :) Here is a photo and what will be included! Sorry, the photo isnt too glamorous, its late and I didnt really want to wait till morning to post!

-- One handmade 3x3 Mini Pocket Album created by ME! (using Perfect Day PP)
-- One Sheet K & Company Flower Chipboard
-- One Set Layered Stickers by Colorbok
-- Five Metal Rim Tags by Making Memories
-- Five Olive Green Flowers by Making Memories
-- Five Matching Buttons by Making Memories
-- One Roll-up of Green Fibers

I also decided to have THREE WINNERS, instead of just one! It has been so great to see how many of you are also celebrating an anniversary and I didnt feel right just giving one prize. So I created two cute pairs of cards to mail to the last two winners :) One using the Key To My Heart PP and another using That's Amore (one cased from Lisa Stenz)! I hope that you like them... nothing super amazing, but they are cute, if I dont say so myself!

Thank you all for taking the time to check out my blog and leave all of your lovely compliments on my slideshow and artwork. I will randomly select the three winners on the last day of the month using Random.org. So please remember to leave your email address with your comment so that I can have a way to contact you if you win! Have a lovely day and hope you are all able to find some time to create this week :)

Happy Scrapping!

HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH CLOSE TO MY HEART!

...AND THE WINNERS ARE!!!

1st:Erica -- immystic99@yahoo.com --Blog Candy Goodies!
2nd: Jennifer Burt --jennilou01@aol.com -- Key To My Heart Card Pair
3rd: Kathleen -- kstopps@mchsi.com -- That's Amore Card Pair

I am so excited to say that this month marks my TWO YEARS with CTMH!!! First, I want to say how much I have truly enjoyed being a part of what Close To My Heart offers to scrapbookers and card-makers alike.

A few of my favorite things about CTMH:

1. The amazing (& quality) products they bring us in literally ALL of their Idea Books (three times a year!)
2. The awesome deals that they give not only their consultants but their customers, as well!
3. New friendships that I have made with other consultants AND my customers!
4. The inspiration to keep on creating and challenging my creative abilities.
5. Resources and knowledge from some of the most creative women in the world to help my creativity grow.

These are just a few of the things that I have gained from having CTMH as a part of my life and I know that as I continue with them, I will continue to grow in my creative abilities.

Here is a Slide Show of some of the art I have created with CTMH over the past 2 years... you will probably see some of my 'beginning' stuff.... but thats exciting! I have totally grown :) Enjoy!

Second, I want to throw out there that I am going to be giving away a little "Blog Candy" in honor of this little milestone! So for those of you who are as in love with CTMH and Scrapping and Stamping as I am, simply leave me a comment (along with your email addy) of why you love it so much and I will do a drawing for a lucky winner on the last day of the month (at midnight of course!).

So now you are thinking, oooohhhh what will it be! Well... I have a LOT of goodies around... some handcrafted, as well as some fun little pieces that will go great on your cards or layouts! So definitely check back for a sneak peak of what the winner will walk away with :)

A Busy Weekend: Garrett's Birthday, Party and Easter! WOW

This last weekend was a crazy, busy weekend-- but stinkin fun! Thanks to everyone who was a part of it all. Garrett really enjoyed seeing everyone at his birthday party. His birthday was Friday, the 10th and I took him to Van Nuys for dinner at the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant and the food was amazing! This made me happy because I know that Garrett loves his food... so that was my main goal for this evening. This place was beautiful and we got to see the sunset as we ate our dinner. Then we went out by the fire before we left. Perfect ending to a wonderful evening!Dont forget to check out all of our photos here: http://amylizschultz.shutterfly.com

To close out the weekend we had an absolutely beautiful Easter Sunday! The sun was out and we were able to hang out with the Hooper cousins, playin games outside and hangin with Grandma. We also got an awesome photo with all of the older cousins that were there... somehow we all wore a color of the rainbow and it made for a perfect Easter photo :) Then we headed off to my parents house for dinner and some awesome Wii Game time with the Plaster gang.

This past month or so at Church really made this Easter mean so much more for Garrett and I. We are truly appreciative of what Christ did for us by dying on the cross for our sins. And not to mention His amazing victory by rising again!!! I just pray that everyone who goes to church only for holidays such as these were able to see His glory and choose to continue coming to church and glorifying Him with their lives. What an honor to be chosen by our awesome Creator!



Hope you all had a very blessed Easter with your families and that God was glorified through it all...

Color Chef Challenge #2

So... it has been a while since I have been able to sit down and actually create! I have been craving it and finally had some time tonight :) Kelly Ratcliff is hosting a weekly Color Challenge on her blog, so I am going to TRY to keep up with them (actually, to be honest, my goal is to do one a month! haha -- gotta be realistic here!). Here is a link to her blog if you want to join in! http://kjsstamppad.blogspot.com So here is my card using her colors --Orange and Red,and the inspiration of the pillow as shown. I used Tulip and Goldrush (from the CTMH line of inks). Hope you all like it... this will be a wedding card for a friend of mine.


I used 2 CTMH stamp sets: Decorative Dainties (C1309) to Random Stamp on the White Daisy cardstock for the background. And Butterfly Wings (D1341) for the Sentiment. It was tough to get the Random Stamping just right, so I ended up using the Masking technique (though you probably cant tell since it is mostly covered by the Sentiment -- oh well!). I also used the foam squares on the sentiment for added dimension. To see the photos a little more up close just click on the photo :)

Yay, for letting the creative juices flow!

The House Search

As some of you may know, Garrett and I have been looking at homes and condos for a year now. It seriously has been a rollercoaster ride of emotion, but most of all a growing experience. We have learned a great deal about real estate and being wise with our finances... we have also learned a lot about trusting God and knowing that He has the perfect place ready for us, when He is ready to give it.

Lately at our church we have been discussing our purpose of life on earth and the short time that we ultimately have here.... that this is not our home. The other night I learned that while I was starting to feel convicted for having so much "want" in my life and devoting so much time to my future here on earth, Garrett was also starting to feel the same. We talked about it and know that God has us where He wants us for right now. There are other reasons in favor of not investing so much into our future by buying a house: like not being able to stay home with my future children and not being able to help others when they have a time of need. And while having all of the extra space and being able to personalize everything is a huge and exciting thing to think about, I am thankful that we have gotten our wake up call and finally feel... content.

My prayer is that we continue to be content in what the Lord has blessed us with. We live in a cute apartment with cheap rent that is right next door to my brother and his family, as well as one of my greatest friends and her family. We also have met a ton of great people from Church that live nearby and have been really enjoying our time with them. I know that when I am constantly seeking out what I want, that that means I need to take a look at my relationship with God... because the Bible says that "the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." He gives me everything I need for now and I do not need to be concerned with the future because He will also provide for that as it comes along. It has taken a long time to fully understand this and I desire to live it out.

Thanks to you all for your prayers as we have been seeking a new home... please continue to pray for our contentment and trust in the Lord's ways. Even if God has a home for us soon... we will continue to seek contentment and joy in the life He has us living now.