Nichol Spohr LLC

Mexican Lasagna Recipe (for all those who requested it) :)

Mexican Lasagna

flour tortilla shells

2 lbs. hamburger, browned & drained

1/2 pkg. shredded Mexican cheese

Mix & heat over low the following:

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed

1-2 cans cream of chicken or cream of mushroom 

1 jar mild taco sauce or Rotel (I use Rotel)

Assemble:

Layer tortilla shells, add layer of hamburger, add layer of cheese mixture. Repeat. Finish with tortillas topped with the shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Serve with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, jalenpenos, salsa, etc.

Stampin' Fun Friday: Circle Tri-fold Baby Cards

I usually try to keep a stash of baby cards lying around so that I have some to send out as needed but as luck would have it I need a bunch right now and had none. Nada. Zilch.

So I made several all at once, just changing up the colors of the stamping and ribbons for boy or girl cards. I love getting the most from a design and making several cards at once is a great way to do that.

Here's the "boy" version:

and the more "girly" version:

Supplies:

Stampin' Up Classic Stampin' Pads in Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry 
Stampin' Up Stamp-a-ma-jig
Stampin' Up Full of Life, Congrats, Best Yet and Crazy Cool Stamp Sets
Hero Arts Strolling Bird Wood Mounted Stamp
Hero Arts Design Block Clouds Stamp
Neutrals 12x12 AC Cardstock by American Crafts
White 12x12 AC Cardstock by American Crafts 
Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutter 
Silhouette $25 Prepaid Download Card 
Epic Six Die Cutting Machine by Quickutz 
Branches 4x4 Die Cut by Quickutz 
Black Gems 
Clear Gems 
Crushing Leaves Weathervane Paper by October Afternoon

Silhouette Design Used:

Tri-fold Baby Card How To:

Have a great evening!

AC & QK blog week continues...

I am just blown away with all the amazing samples being shared on the Quickutz and American Crafts blogs. Such fabulous eye candy!

Here's my share from today's QK blog:

I used several new shapes from today's newest release: both the photo mats for the left and right sides of the layout and I replaced the large square on the right side with the inside cut line for a photo word frame. Check out the Quickutz Blog today for Kerri's fabulous tips on using these new designs!

I stamped on the dark grey paper with the 3x3 Grid stamp using VersaMark Ink and then heat setting the Zing! Clear Embossing Powder for a great tone on tone effect. I LOVE that Grid stamp. Love. I layered some of the AC JFK letter stickers on top and added white rub-ons for variety and interest. The 
photo mats are great that you don't have to actually use photos behind each opening (or you could even eliminate openings in your Craft Robo software if you don't want them all to cut!

I die cut the heart by removing everything but the outside cut line, giving me a solid heart (that I sized specifically to fit inside the photo mat opening). I stamped over the heart using the AC Dots stamp, VersaMark Ink and Zing! Rouge Embossing Powder. I adhered it with pop dots for dimension.

I thought the layout needed just a bit of something when I finished so I stamped and embossed the photo corners and embellished each mini pewter mini brads.

Silhouette designs used:

photomat_2060

photomat_2069

frame_2087

heart_1439

Supplies:

Neutrals 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Primaries 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Neutrals JFK 2 Remarks Sticker Book (American Crafts) 
White Purkey MiniMarks Rub-Ons (American Crafts) 
Large Thanks Clear Acrylic Stamps (American Crafts) 
Thank You Dots 4.25x2.25 Wood Mounted Stamp (American Crafts) 
Sentiment Grid 3x3 Wood Mounted Stamp (American Crafts) 
Zing! Rouge Opaque Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Zing! Silver Glitter Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Zing! Clear Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
VersaMark Ink Pad by Hero Arts 
Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutting Machine 
Silhouette $25 Prepaid Download Card

Check back tomorrow for a new Stampin' Fun Friday + more shares. See you then!

Hero Arts Layout of the Week

I'm so thrilled to share with you a layout I created for Hero Arts this week. You can see it in the Hero Arts idea gallery HERE and on the Hero Arts blog HERE.

Supplies:

Design Block Old Letter Writing (Hero Arts)
Design Block Four Leaf Grid (Hero Arts) 
Design Block Scattered Flowers (Hero Arts) 
Design Block Raindrop Background (Hero Arts) 
Design Block Clouds (Hero Arts) 
Clear Design Thoughtful Messages 4x6 (Hero Arts) 
Clear Design Branch & Leaf Long Borders 12" (Hero Arts) 
Clear Design All Occasion Messages 4x6 (Hero Arts) 
Swirl with Flowers Wood Mounted Stamp (Hero Arts) 
Small Accent Pearls (Hero Arts) 
Earthtones 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Coffee Dot 12x12 Paper (Bo Bunny) 
Buttercup Dot 12x12 Paper (Bo Bunny) 
Doily Lace Edge Craft Punch (Martha Stewart) 
Leave It To Weaver Border Punch (Fiskars) 
Crushed Curry Class Ink Pad (Stampin' Up)
Photo Turns (Close To My Heart)
Book Plate, Florals (Making Memories)
Buttons (Stampin' Up)
Zing! Clear Embossing Powder (American Crafts)  
Zing! Mustard Opaque Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Zing! White Opaque Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Corner Chomper Crop-a-dile 
Butterfly Die (Sizzix for Stampin' Up) 
Main Street Hometown Patterned Paper (October Afternoon) 
Sunrise Early Bird Paper (Cosmo Cricket) 
Slice 8x8 Ledger Pad (Making Memories) 

I stamped the swirl with flowers on my background paper using VersaMark Ink and heat set the Zing! Mustard Embossing Powder.

The photos and embellishment blocks are all 3" x 4". I rounded the corners with the Corner Chomper before adhering to my layout. 

I really like the look of stamping on ledger paper, it gives a nice "worn" look without being too over the top distressed. I used my current favorite yellow ink from Stampin' Up, Crushed Curry with a variety of Hero Arts Design Block stamps. 

The butterflies were die cut from a variety of patterned papers. I stamped on a couple of them using VersaMark and heat set the Zing! Mustard Embossing Powder for a custom look.

Next, I stamped the long border on the Bo Bunny Coffee Dot paper and used Clear Embossing Powder for the design. I embellished with small florals and small accent pearls. The border for the ribbon was punched with the Fiskars Leave It To Weaver border punch. The doily scallops were punched with a Martha Stewart border punch and layered underneath the stamped border and then adhered to the layout.

How about another Quickutz/American Crafts Blog Week share?

This card was shown on the Quickutz Blog yesterday.

Silhouette Supplies:

love_birds_C20090727161807_2581 (this is a print & cut design!)
 

flower_multi_square_1220

American Crafts Supplies:

Pastels 12x12 AC Cardstock 
Clear Stamp Sentiments Large 
Zing! Rouge Opaque Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Clear Mini Jewel Brads  

Other Supplies:

Diamond Stickles Glitter Glue (Ranger) 
Notch Tool (Making Memories)
String
Pop Dots

I cut the flower pattern out of the same color of cardstock I used for the card, just layered it for a fun tone-on-tone look. The birdies are just adorable! They are a Print & Cut design for the Silhouette. I added some Stickles Glitter Glue for a bit of pizazz!

I just have to mention again about the great deal on the original Silhouette:

The original Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter is on SALE at TwoPeas for 50% off. This is the machine I have and LOVE. What a GREAT steal! :)

Don't forget to check out both the Quickutz and American Crafts blogs for loads of inspiration and giveaways!

Quickutz & American Craft Blog Week

I'm so excited that two of my favorite companies, American Crafts and Quickutz have teamed up this week to share tons of fun projects on their blogs. I will have a few projects that I created especially for this week coming up throughout the next few days. 

First up, here is a quick card I created:

For great step-by-step instructions on how I created this card, check out the Quickutz Blog HERE.

Supplies:

Primaries 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Earthtones 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Dandelion Brads (American Crafts)
Zing! Clear Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Zing! Mustard Opaque Embossing Powder (American Crafts) 
Small Sentiments Clear Acrylic Stamp Set (American Crafts) 
Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter
Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutter 
Silhouette $25 Prepaid Download Card

Silhouette Designs Used:

flower_1882

card_heart_0917

scallop_border_SM_1238

*ENABLER ALERT* 
I just noticed this morning that the original Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter is on SALE at TwoPeas for 50% off. This is the machine I have and LOVE. What a GREAT steal! :)

Also, don't forget to check out Kerri Bradford's Blog. She shared an amazing layout utilizing AC & QK products. :)

Have a great Monday!

Scrap Mojo replaced by Chef Mojo

So apparently my scrapbooking has taken a mini-hiatus. Not only have I had no desire to scrap, I tried to make myself and I just stared at the same project for over an hour before becoming frustrated and giving up. It happens. 

It's been a busy + stressful week. 

Chad and I were gone to NYC for 4 days. We saw Rock of Ages and Wicked on Broadway, we walked Central Park, we ate tons of yummy, yummy food, we went to Rockafeller Plaza and watched Flo Rida perform on the Today Show and we hung out and just enjoyed not having to answer to "mommy" or "daddy". ;) I read The Time Traveler's Wife cover to cover on our mini-vacation. I bawled. I hope the movie is as good.

The bigs started a new school year Tuesday and we've had a bunch of running around to do for that. New activities starting up: cheer + gymnastics + football. 

Ethan took a little trip to the ER on Sunday evening as he had a terrible allergic reaction to cashews. Note to self: no nuts for little dude. Read labels + carry Epi Pen everywhere. Appointment with the allergist next Thursday to draw blood and find out just what all food allergies we are dealing with. :(

Chad is celebrating his 36th birthday today and all he wanted for his birthday was to host a fantasy football draft here at the house for his friends who are participating in the fantasy football league. He wanted to know if I would make some refreshments and I said of course. I ended up going a bit crazy. This is where the "Scrap Mojo was temporarily replaced by the Chef Mojo". ;)

Since I haven't been here much this week, I thought I'd share the recipes for the food I made for Chad's party. I used a digi-kit from TwoPeas to create all the recipe cards. You can see it HERE.

The one dish my husband requested I make, the rest was up to me. And our friend, Kip, would maybe eat a whole pan by himself. ha!

Seriously the easiest Cream Puffs ever. I make them all the time. :)

This salsa tastes goes great with the tortilla roll-ups (coming up next).

Sounds like the guys are enjoying the party. :)

Time for me to get some sleep so I can CREATE tomorrow!

Mid-Month Garden: Back To School & Patterned Paper Layouts

It's the 15th of the month which means I have lots of layouts to share today! 

First up: a seasonal layout. This month's seasonal theme is "school".

I had previously scrapped these photos of Payton going to PreSchool but I was really disappointed with the results. The original photos had a funny blue tint to them that I fixed with some Maggie Holmes Photo Actions for the layout below. I also had printed the journaling over a patterned paper that was too busy making the journaling too difficult to read. I fixed that on the new layout by printing over a cute school-themed lined paper.

(c) Two Peas In A Bucket

(c) Two Peas In A Bucket

I really like the darling school collection from Imaginisce. I paired the Imaginisce papers with some chipboard pieces from older CK KOTM collections and used my MM anywhere setter do add dotted borders.

Supplies:

Welcome to Room 10! 12x12 Paper (Imaginisce) 
My New Pencil Box 12x12 Paper (Imaginisce) 
No Passing Notes 12x12 Paper (Imaginisce) 
Tropicals 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Mud Puddle Trio Multipack Dotted Cardstock (Bazzill) 
Chipboard Accents (CK KOTM) 
Rub-ons (CK KOTM) 
Number Stickers (MM) 
Photo Turns (Close To My Heart) 
Midnight Pearl Accents (Hero Arts)
Instant Setter (MM) 
Corner Chomper Crop-a-dile 
Favorite Things Font by Jennifer McGuire (www.twopeasinabucket.com) 
DigiKit - Alphabet Border Mask (www.twopeasinabucket.com) 
All Other Digital Brushes by Ali Edwards for Designer Digitals

More themed layouts: Patterned Paper.

(c) Two Peas In A Bucket

I really love the fun, bright colors from the Cosmo Cricket Snorkel collection but they are a big bright and busy. By breaking the patterns up into small strips iand using a bold, black border, the layout draws your eye to the focus of the page: the photos.

I used a combination of color and black and white photos and lots of fun little touches like pleated ribbons, chipboard and colorful stamping.

The border was cut using the Silhouette and really helps move your eye along the page. 

Silhouette designs used:

wave_border_1802

paper_grunge_1794

Supplies:

Beach Towel Snorkel Paper (Cosmo Cricket) 
School's Out Snorkel Paper (Cosmo Cricket) 
Current Snorkel Paper (Cosmo Cricket) 
Umbrellas Snorkel Paper (Cosmo Cricket) 
Snorkel/Lil Man Paper Pad (Cosmo Cricket) 
Black 12x12 AC Cardstock Pack (American Crafts) 
White 12x12 AC Cardstock Pack (American Crafts) 
Snorkel Ready Set Chip (Cosmo Cricket) 
Stick Pin (Making Memories) 
Ribbons (Making Memories, KI Memories, American Crafts) 
Tiny, Tiny Brads (Close To My Heart) 
Jewel Brads (Making Memories) 
Mini Paper Clips (Tim Holtz)
All Girl 4x6 Clear Stamp (October Afternoon) 
Ali Edwards Everyday Words We Love Stamps (Technique Tuesday) 
Ali Edwards Today You Storyteller Stamps (Technique Tuesday) 
Stamp Ink (Stampin' Up) 
Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutter 
Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter 
Silhouette $25 Prepaid Download Card 
Corner Chomper Crop-a-dile 


(c) Two Peas In A Bucket 

Another one of my favorite techniques when working with bright, busy patterned papers is to use them in small doses on a white cardstock background. You can also use small pieces as embellishment like I did with the punched circles along the right border of the page.

To add more interest to the page I punched several borders from coordinating Bo Bunny Double Dot papers and layered them underneath the photos.

Supplies:

Little Guy Lollipops Frosty Patterns (KI Memories) 
Little Guy Plaid Frosty Patterns (KI Memories) 
Little Guy Toys Glitter Cardstock (KI Memories) 
Little Guy Champion Glitter Cardstock (KI Memories) 
Mint 12x12 Double Dot Paper (Bo Bunny) 
Brilliant Blue 12x12 Double Dot Paper (Bo Bunny) 
Buttercup 12x12 Double Dot Paper (Bo Bunny) 
Wild Berry 12x12 Double Dot Paper (Bo Bunny) 
White 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Black 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
12x12 Laugh Three Little Birds Rub-ons (Lily Bee) 
Baby Boy Rub-ons (Little Yellow Bicycle) 
AL Uncle Charles Font by Autumn Leaves (www.twopeasinabucket.com) 
Leave it to Weaver Border Punch (Fiskars) 
Emboss Zigzag Edge Craft Punch (Martha Stewart) 
Circle 1.5 Inch Paper Shapers Nesting Punch (EK Success) 
Circle 1.25 Inch Paper Shapers Nesting Punch (EK Success) 
Corner Chomper Crop-a-dile 
Instant Setter (Making Memories)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. My kids start school on Tuesday! Can't believe the summer is over! (sob!)

Don't forget next weekend kicks off a new feature on my blog: Weekend Workshop. 
I'll be sharing how-to tutorials that you have asked for. :)

 See you on Monday!

Stampin' Fun Friday: Painting in Stamped Images on Canvas

This week I thought it would be fun to show how I painted in these cute stamped monsters from the October Afternoon Night Light collection. I stamped them on Ranger Sticky Back Canvas, adhered the stamped/painted piece to a trimmed notecard and embellished with greetings and gems. Simple!

How to create the birthday monsters card:

Supplies:

Night Light Clear Stamp Set 4x6 (October Afternoon) 
Sky Blue Studio Paint 2 oz. (Ranger) 
Dash of Red Studio Paint 2 oz. (Ranger) 
Dab of Yellow Studio Paint 2 oz. (Ranger) 
Classic Teal Studio Paint 2 oz. (Ranger) 
Blank Canvas Studio Paint 2 oz. (Ranger) 
Altered Orange Studio Paint 2 oz. (Ranger) 
12x12 Sticky Back Canvas (Ranger) 
8.5 x 11 Sticky Back Canvas (Ranger) 
Claudine Hellmuth 7 Piece Brush Set (Ranger) 
15x18 Non Stick Craft Sheet (Ranger) 
Mini Misters 3 Piece Pack (Ranger) 
Black Precision Pen 01 (American Crafts) 
Assorted Crystal Gem Stones (Hero Arts) 
Notecard (Hero Arts) 
Black Memories Ink (Hero Arts) 
Heart Punch (Stampin' Up) 
Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Dusty Durango Classic Stamp Inks (Stampin' Up) 
Crazy Cook, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Sets (Stampin' Up) 
Birthday Sayings Clear Design Stamps (Hero Arts) 

Here's the link from the Ranger website showing how to mix the Studio paints to get even more colors! Click HERE.

Have a great Friday. :)

Check back tomorrow for Mid-Month Garden shares!

Sketch It Out

Over on the GG Blog at Two Peas I have this month's Sketch It Out blog post. I absolutely love working from a sketch so this assignment was right up my alley!

Here's the sketch I created for a 12x12 layout:

I didn't want to leave out my 8 1/2 x 11 friends so I created one in that size as well. ;)

And my layout:

Notes of interest:

• I only had the one photo (and the ticket stubs) from the event so I printed out some photos from the web to include on my layout.
• The film strip would be super cute with small photos but I chose to place my journaling there instead. Makes for a unique journaling block.
• The minute I purchased the Night Light line from October Afternoon I knew that I wanted to use pieces of it for this layout. That one orange "monster" in particular reminded me of "Randall" from the movie.
• I love that you can die cut any font on your computer using the Silhouette. I downloaded the font to die cut the "Monsters Inc." title from HERE. (scroll down a bit)
• I added some chipboard numbers to the body of one of the monsters for the date and added a heart diecut to the "0" for a fun touch.
• I lifted up parts of the die cuts with pop dots. 
• Don't forget to add memorabilia when you have it (I used the ticket stubs from the movie tucked under the photo).
• Check back here on Friday for Stampin' Fun Friday. I have a card utilizing more October Afternoon Night Light pieces!

Silhouette designs used:
filmstrip_border_0841

Supplies:

Night Light Collection Kit (October Afternoon) 
Charles Night Light Patterned Paper (October Afternoon) 
Jack Night Light Patterned Paper (October Afternoon) 
Henry Night Light Patterned Paper (October Afternoon) 
White 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Black 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts) 
Primaries 12x12 AC Cardstock (American Crafts)
Night Light Die-Cut Shapes (October Afternoon) 
My Room Night Light Rub-ons (October Afternoon) 
Silhouette SD Digital Craft Cutter 
Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter 
Silhouette $25 Prepaid Download Card 
Epic Six Die Cutting Tool (Quickutz) 
Photo Corner 2x2 Die Cut Shape (Quickutz) 
Threading Water Border Punch (Fiskars) 
Leave It To Weaver Border Punch (Fiskars) 
Corner Chomper Crop-a-dile 
AL Uncle Charles Font by Autumn Leaves (www.twopeasinabucket.com)

So much going on today so I better get to it. :)

Check back tomorrow. I will be posting information on a new feature coming soon to my blog, showcasing how-to tutorials you all have asked for! See you then.

Stampin' Fun Friday: Dressing Up Owls

*EDITED* I am so sorry this is a day late. I had a bunch of trouble getting the video uploaded to youtube. Good lesson for remembering not to wait to upload until the last minute. ha!

These darling Hero Arts owls are cute on their own but even more so when dressed up with flower shaped brads for the eyes, googly eyes layered on top of the brads and flower petals added for the "wings".

The video How-To:

Supplies:

Four Stylish Owls Special Edition Woodmounted Stamps (Hero Arts) 
Thanks So Much 2.25 x 1.25 Wood Stamp (American Crafts) 
Classic Stampin' Ink Pads by Stampin' Up in Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry & Crushed Curry 
White 12x12 AC Cardstock Pack (American Crafts) 
Tropicals 12x12 AC Cardstock Pack (American Crafts) 
Ballet 12x12 Dotted Swiss Paper (Bazzill)
Aqua/Green/Purple Mix Flower Shop Blossoms Jar (MM) 
Brads (Making Memories)
Scallop Border Punch (Stampin' Up)
Border Punch Kit (7Gypsies) 
Corner Chomper Crop-a-dile (We R Memory Keepers) 

I hope this gave you some ideas on how to add some dimension and flair to your stamped critters. :)

Have a great weekend!