March is National Craft Month

That's right!  What could be better than a whole month dedicated to what I love to do the most.  Almost nothing!  Soooooo....what crafting plans to you have this month?  Do you have unfinished projects you'd like to get completed?  Would you like to try a new craft?  Maybe beading, polymer clay, or floral design.  Oooo, I know...you want to take a painting class....yeah, that's the ticket.  How about gathering up your girlfriends for a craft night at your home.  That would be a great time for everyone!  What ever it is you want to do, set aside a couple of hours to do it.  Who knows, it could become a new creative passion in your life. 

What am I going to do?  The list is long. 
*  I want to sort though my completed inventory, box and label it so I won't be all unorganized this fall.  
*  I would like to gather a few friends for a craft night (or day).  Interested?
*  I am planning on donating excess crafting supplies to a local school or two for their art or afterschool program.   I know....I could really supply more places than that according to my hubby. 
*  I want to update my Etsy and Artfire sites with some new items that are in the works. 
*  I want to spread the love of crafting and the joy, relaxation, and satisafaction it brings to others.
*  I will be attending the Creative Painting Convention in Las Vegas!!!!   Love the trade floor!
*  I would like to get some ideas onto paper for some new patterns.
*  Paint!  I want to paint!
*  Cut wood.  I love the smell of sawdust.
*  I want to make a career out of crafting and sharing it with others.
*  Get my show applications completed and turned in.
*  Start putting tutorials on my blog...you know, this one you're reading right now.  ;o)

Okay, I think I need to stop for a moment and breathe....I'm getting too excited.  hehe 

Sourcream Chicken Enchiladas

This is one of my 'go-to' recipes.  Easy to make, freezes well, and delicious. 

Sourcream Chicken Enchildas

1 pint sour cream
1 can Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup
1 small can of chopped green chilis
1 8 oz pkg. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese.
1 dozen (plus a few) flour tortillas
1/2 cooked chicken  OR  3 chicken breasts (chopped or pulled)
            (sometimes I use 1/2 a cooked Costco chicken)
1 can green enchilada sauce

Brown chicken and season to with a bit of garlic salt and pepper.  Cool, chop or pull.  In a large mixing bowl, add chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, chilis, 1/3 can of enchilada sauce and 2/3 of the jack cheese.  Mix well.  Sometimes I add ground cumin (couple of sprinkles).
Spoon onto flour tortilla, enough to fill well.  Roll. Place in baking pan.  
Pour rest of enchilada sauce over enchiladas, sprinkle rest of cheese over enchiladas as well.  
Bake at 350 degrees about 30 minutes or so until hot and bubbly.  
Serves 6-8 persons.

Thankful for Valentines...

but I'm so glad it over.  It was busy, and for that I'm thankful.  I survived my first Valentine's Day as the only florist in a small shop.  I also completed my first funeral (for the owner's father in law).  I seriously think they chose the largest thing in the book.  I was really pleased with all the pieces, as was the family.  But I think the greatest compliment came from the mortuary personell who kept saying how lovely they were and that they were some of the nicest they've seen in some time. 
Big thanks go out to my friend, Diane.  She came by after work 4 nights to help green vases and learn to do several thingls like a rose wrap, dozen roses, etc.  She also pulled 12 and 14 hour days with me over the weekend prepping for deliveries on Monday.  We couldn't have pulled it off without her. 
Suzy took a personal day on Monday from her regular job to be at the shop and basically run the front end of the store.  What a trooper she is.  She comes in nightly after her regular job for a few hours and on Saturdays. 
Monday was a busy day.  The drivers were busy all day, we had extra girls on hand to help walk in customers, we had to order extra roses and pick them up, my brother came to help out all day with me, and it flowed pretty well.  I seriously created arrangments all day...all day.
As much as I enjoy playing with flowers I was seriously grateful to have Tuesday off.  The dogs finally got to go explore on our walk on the mountain, I caught up on laundry, groceries, prepping meals, sweeping and mopping the floors, etc.  Oh, and I got to see my hubby.  What a trooper he's been the last two weeks.  I look forward to spending time with him this weekend.  I may even get a little crafting done...I hope.

Trailhound Smokers win 3rd overall at BBQ Contest

Many of you know Timm and I, along with our kids started a BBQ team last year.  Well, over the last weekend we went to Rock Springs, AZ for a contest.  We decided at the last minute to attend so Timm was really scrambling during the week to get ready.  It was certainly worth all the chaos and prep work.

Timm and I ended up getting four 'walks' to receive awards.  We were excited, amazed, shocked, humbled....you see it's really the first time we won in a sanctioned event.  It was quite an accomplishment for us.  Congrats to all the teams that participated as well.  Judges said there was lots of mighty fine food to taste and critique.  Congrats to our friends with R&R (pictured with us), they also got several walks and a 1st in ribs. 

graphically challenged

I really hate to admit defeat...or partial defeat at least.  I am saying it outloud...I am graphically challenged when it comes to digital scrapbooking, etc.  I've been trying all day to create a new header.  I found a cute leader that matches the page pretty much.  I inserted my photo...okay I don't get the transparancy thing, but I added one anyway.  I added my text.  Next, it was saved as a JPEG and GIF formats, they looked clear.   I uploaded to my blog and.....the lettering is blurry...again.  What gives?!  Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

new year...new job

I used to work at this adorable shop called Lollipops & Roses several years ago.  It was full of wonderful gifts geared towards women, babys, flowers and homemade treats and goodie baskets.  However; as the economy started to waiver, they made cut backs and I volunteered to leave so one of the other girls wouldn't be cut. 

As the economy worsened, tough decisions had to be made.  The adorable shop of 5000 square feet was to be no more.   Their current florist sub-leased the store from the orginal owner and was moved to a smaller location down the street to just 1200 square feet. I never went into the new store....until......

It's a sad, ugly story...but the outcome is the old owner has returned and taken the store back.  I received a frantic call just 9 days before Christmas asking me to come and be her florist and try to pick up what pieces could be found.  Sooo, that's where I've been since December 17th. 

Now, I have to tell you...I did think about looking for part time work to fill in the holes around here.  I have to admit...I'm tired of just squeaking by.  (Fortunately, my hubby has a great job, it's just getting hard to get by on one income anymore.) I even filled out applications for JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby.  Guess they didn't call me for a reason. 

These flowers went to a 90 years young gal last week for her birthday.  It was gorgeous!  I sure hope she enjoyed them.  It was a real pleasure to create this arrangement for her.   Just glad I wasn't the one to deliver it, it was heavy and tall (45") and filled with 90 roses. 

Please help us spread the word, Lollipops & Roses will be coming back to it's former glory (although smaller scale).  If you need flowers, white chocolate popcorn or a gift for someone special please visit us in Las Vegas at the corner of Sunset Road and Annie Oakley.  Look for us on Facebook, like us, and watch for us to rise from the ashes.  :0)

You'll probably find some of my creations there are well.

A new beginning...

Don't you just love this time of year?  A fresh start...a new beginning...a new outlook on life...
As much as I love Christmas, its so nice to put it all away and have a cleaner, uncluttered house if even for just a little while.  I pull down my old calendar, post important dates in the new one and put it up.  There is much to do this time of year...most of it cleaning, sorting and organizing.  Hey, why do you think Walmart fills the enitre garden department with storage bins...lol.
Last year, I spent most of January cleaning, purging, and organizing my paint room.  Costco has oversized shoe boxes and large totes...all clear... that I used along with some really sturdy metal kitchen style shelving.  I am pleased to say, it's stayed organized and has been easy to keep clean and neat. 
This year, I am planning on taking inventory of finished product, box it up by category, and put it away nice and neat.  Currently, it seems to be in several places so I really don't know what I have.  Of course...there will be purging invovled.  I've vowed to remove inventory that hasn't sold well and donate it away. 
I've begun working at a floral and gift shop I used to work for so I know my time is more limited than it used to be.  I need to focus, stay organized, and still manage to get things done for shows.  My plan is to do fewer but bigger shows so I'm not killing myself come October-December.  That's the plan at least.