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A Happy Thing – Forever and for all Eternity

/ Jodi / 19 Comments

A Happy Thing Forever and for all Eternity

Happy Sunday Friends!  Time to share my design inspiration for The Paper Players Challenge this week.

This week is a color challenge (PP253) with these cool colors.

pp253

My card today is a special one, because it is an anniversary card for my oldest son and daughter-in-law who are celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary tomorrow.

So hard to believe it has been two years already in one breath…  And then funny to think it is only two years as I feel like Colleen has been my daughter-in-law forever.  🙂

For my card, I used the StampinUp Happy Thing Stamp Set for the bird and Paper Smooches Pretty Phrases for the sentiment.  Some pretty colored paper and DSP from StampinUp, a little bit of watercoloring, a few candy dot embellishments, and a tiny bow of linen thread completed this card for our two happy lovebirds.

Happy Anniversary dear Jake and Colleen… forever and for all eternity!

I couldn’t love you any more… forever and for all eternity.

Love,
Mom

A Wine Basket of Firsts – Bridal Shower Gift

/ Jodi / 29 Comments

wine bridal shower gift 3

I had a bridal shower to attend this weekend for the future daughter-in-law of one of my besties.

I thought it would be cute to make a wine basket gift of “firsts.”  I had seen these before and thought they were cute for couples who already have most of the “basics.”

In a large tin beverage bucket, I put a box of 4 red wine glasses, a box of 4 white wine glasses, a cork screw, and 6 different bottles of wine with fun names to celebrate some milestones and firsts.

The first one is Champagne (actually Prosecco) for “The Wedding Night.”

wine bridal shower gift wedding night bottle

The next one, Entwined, is for “The Honeymoon.”

wine bridal shower gift honeymoon bottle
For “The First Fight,” I thought a bottle of LOL!!! was fitting.

wine bridal shower gift first fight bottle

To toast at “The First Dinner Party,” I provided a bottle of HobNob.
wine bridal shower gift first dinner party bottle

When “The First Anniversary” rolls around, a bottle of Two Vines can be shared.

wine bridal shower gift first anniversary bottle

And if they are blessed with “The First Baby,” a bottle of Menage a Trois can be enjoyed.  (and if they want to use it for something else, I just don’t need to know about it!)

wine bridal shower gift first baby bottle

Anna and Kyle’s wine rack is now stocked.  Bring on the wedding!

wine bridal shower gift 2

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

I’ve been asked to be a “Designer”

/ Jodi / 45 Comments
Birthdays are for the Birds! Child Birthday Card Punch Art SU Bloom with Hope

My Most Pinned Card on Pinterest – Birthdays are for the Birds!

How about that?  Pretty exciting stuff – eh? (at least in my little corner of the world)…

I am so honored to be asked and super excited to participate as a Guest Designer for the next three months at ThePaperPlayers.

SUO 114 Dots Big Day

My second most pinned card on Pinterest – Dots Big Day Birthday Card

The Paper Players is a fun community of artsy crafty paper peeps who love to stamp or draw or paint handmade paper crafts.  The design team is a group of amazingly talented, inspiring individuals that are as kind and encouraging as they are artistic.  They truly embody creating HeARTwork!

I originally discovered The Paper Players when I started stamping, and for those that have been with me here a while know this is a weekly challenge I often participate in – – – and have actually won a few times!

I added "Jodi McKinney" to an #inlinkz linkup!https://lifeinbetween.me/2014/09/14/the-colors-of-fall/

One of my winning cards

I will be creating one card per week as “inspiration” for the challenge in hopes that others will join in and play along.

I hope some of you that love or would like to try paper crafting will check it out and join in with us weekly or as you like from time to time.

Stampinup By the Tide

One of my faves – Stamin Up By the Tide Hello There Card

The guidelines are very simple:

1. Create a new paper or digital project.
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to ThePaperPlayers. (Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry as opposed to you blog home page.)
3. We also ask that you link your project to no more than three challenges.
4. Have fun! 

Wish me luck, and I hope this inspires YOU to do more of what makes YOU Happy!

Happy Life Stampinup Watercolor Technique

Happy Life Watercolor Card

 

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Dreaming of the Places her Wings will take Her

/ Jodi / 21 Comments
baby cardinal Day 3

Baby Cardinal – 3 days old

 

Dreaming of the places

her wings will take her

when she learns how to fly.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Doggone Dogwoods – A Guest Post with Mikey

/ Jodi / 44 Comments

Mikey head shot

Hi Friends –

It’s good to be back as a guest blogger for Mom today, because I have a doggone bone I’d like to pick with all of you.

Let’s talk about Dogwood Trees.

Yes – they are beautiful…

Especially this time of year when Mom makes us stop for ridiculous amounts of time while she takes pictures like this of their flowers.

dogwood blossom

But really….  DOGwood…  What about this tree even remotely resembles a DOG??!!

Let’s take a look at me….  I am a DOG…

Mikey in the grass

And a fine specimen I might add…  if I do say so myself…

As a dog, I have a tail that wags when I’m happy, a nose that is always slightly damp to sniff out important things, whiskers to add a little charm, fur to keep me warm and for my family and friends to pet.  I have four legs, pads on my feet so I can go for long walks WITHOUT shoes, two eyes to stare people down when they are eating something delicious (which is everything except for raw green beans), two floppy ears that perk up when visitors come to bring me cookies (like Mike the UPS man), one very hungry mouth (I must remind you again)…

Need I go on?  You get the deal – right?

I am a DOG.

dogwood blossoms
DOGwood trees have NONE of these important things?  So I asked Mom to Google it and try to explain this phenomenon to me.

With a couple clicks on that darn laptop that takes up the space that belongs to ME on her lap, she learned a few things I thought you might be interested in about dogwood trees from Askville and Wikipedia:

The word dogwood comes from the original term dagwood, whose slender stems of very hard wood were used for making ‘dags’ (daggers, skewers). The wood was also highly prized for making loom shuttles, arrows, tool handles, and other small items that required a very hard and strong wood, wine and fruit presses, and it was used to make the first styles of tennis rackets made out of the bark cut into thin strips.

The name Dog-Tree entered English vocabulary by 1548 and was further transformed to Dogwood by 1614. Once the name dogwood was affixed to the tree, it soon acquired a secondary name as the Hound’s Tree, while the fruits came to be known as dogberries or houndberries.

Another suggestion as to how the dogwood got its name is the distinct barking noise it makes when its limbs rub together in a gentle breeze.

It is also possible that the common name of dogwood may have come about because dogs were washed with a brew of its bark, hence dogwood.

Hmmmm.  Interesting?  I’m not sure…

Barking???  I’ll be listening for that.

And as far as washing in a brew of it’s bark….  NO THANK YOU!  I am NOT a fan of baths.  I think I smell quite good just the way I am.

Unfortunately Mom disagrees.

And she’s the boss….

Or at least the one who fills my breakfast and dinner bowl and drops food on the floor while cooking and takes me for walks, so we’ll let her think that…

Thanks for visiting with us today.

Wishing you a doggone great day!

Sincerely,
Mikey

Cardinal Hatching Egg

/ Jodi / 4 Comments

For those that subscribe to LifeinBetween.Me via email and view via mobile device: The video may not have played for you the first time, so I am reblogging with the video shared via YouTube. Hope it works for you. Cheers & Hugs, Jodi

Jodi's avatarthe creative life in between

cardinal nest sitting on eggs

Remember our new neighbor I introduced you to last week?

Well Mama Cardinal finished shaking her tail feathers and building her nest, and is now growing her family!

Check out this little video that I cannot believe we capture:

And look what is in the nest now!

Houston – We have Eggs.  Cardinal Eggs.

And a Bird’s Eye View from our bedroom window.  Can you believe it?!

cardinal eggs 2

So it looks like our sweet new neighbor’s family is growing…

And I hope to keep you updated.  Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to capture some video or photos of the little hatched baby cardinals as they fledge?!

Oh the anticipation!  Stay tuned.

And speaking of birds, I must share with you a beautifully-created artistic piece by one of my blogger friends, Jill from Jill’s Art Journal.

Jill and some others have made a pact and commitment…

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Weekly Favorite Food Posts

/ Jodi / 5 Comments

What an honor to be chosen as one of Edible Reflections Weekly Faves this week! Check out all the yumminess!!!

Edible Reflections's avatarEdible Reflections

This week’s favorites!

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies by Life In Between

Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies by Life In Between Fresh Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies by Life In Between

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Thin Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

/ Jodi / 15 Comments

thin mint cupcakes

Imagine fresh baked chocolate cupcakes topped with icing that is “spiked” with Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies (and then topped with one more to grow on!)

Yep – that’s what I baked yesterday…  in between a trip to the gym, putting out the patio furniture, a walk with Mikey, and caring for the toughest guy I’ve ever known (dear hubby) who is recovering from some shoulder repair surgery he had this past week like nobody I’ve ever seen!  (That’s my Marty!)

You may remember I recently made some Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Cookies (my youngest son, Nick’s favorite ever); so when I had the urge to bake some cupcakes and was considering what to make, I knew I had to try these when I came across this recipe by  Lizzy @ YourCupofCake.  Lizzy’s recipe called for using a boxed Devil’s Food Cake Mix, but I didn’t have that, so I made mine from scratch.

thin mint cupcake

I also baked mine a minute or two too long (darnit!).  I’m more of a cookie and pie baker than cake/cupcake, but I’m working on it.  And truthfully, I’m not sure you can beat a Duncan Hines Cake Mix, so don’t hesitate to use your favorite chocolate boxed cake mix or cake recipe for this.  The real KEY to this cupcake recipe is all in the icing!

thin mint cupcake and milk

So bake your favorite chocolate cupcakes, and then frost with this yumminess from YourCupofCake.

Thin Mint Chocolate Cupcakes

  • Servings: 14 cupcakes
  • Print
Ingredients:
14 Chocolate Cupcakes – baked and cooledthin mint cupcake 2
Thin Mint Frosting:
1 cup softened butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1/4 cup milk
10 Thin Mint cookies, finely crushed & sifted
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
Beat butter with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add cocoa powder, vanilla and peppermint extract and milk.  Beat again. Add crushed cookies and powdered sugar, and beat until smooth. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.  Top with sprinkles and and an extra cookie if desired.
This is my second entry for this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge, because I just had to share something FRESHly baked!
Thanks to everyone who “liked” my photo yesterday, by the way!  In my 10 months of blogging so far, I received notice that yesterday’s post was my all-time favorite post for “Likes.”
I hope you like this one as well!  🙂
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Thanksgiving Reflections

/ Jodi / 14 Comments

thanksgiving 2014 group turkey shot

I hope everyone that celebrated yesterday had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
(It still blows my mind that people read my blog from all over the world, so there are places that don’t celebrate this American holiday!)

Today is a day of relaxing and reflecting for me – on an amazing day spent with this crazy coop of turkeys that I so adore!

thanksgiving place settings

My crafty and stampin’ friends might appreciate the table setting complete with hand-stamped fall wreath place settings :).

But…  as much as I love to dress up the table, decorate, and prepare creative dishes, I have to say – Thanksgiving is no time for breaking tradition!

turkey

No messin’ with the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, canned jellied cranberry sauce (though Jill did cut them into adorable little stars that made them taste even better!), Pillsbury crescent rolls (or Nick would be seriously upset), pumpkin and apple pie.

desserts thanskgiving 2014

A couple veggies took on a little twist this year – like my new favorite Roasted Butternut Squash with Rosemary, and the amazing Brussells Sprouts with Chorizo and Almonds that Joyce and Rob brought (still need to get that recipe!), but I did get in a bit of trouble with Marty (and only Marty!) for not making that disgusting green bean casserole with (GAG!) cream of mushroom soup…

table

We toasted family and friends, and of course Oh Rob had a story for us!

rob at table

It just wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t!  (Love you Oh Rob!) 🙂

vino

and homemade Reflection Wine – for in wine there is life.

cheesey turkey

Colleen made this cute cheesey turkey – complete with brussells sprouts eyes straight from Jake’s garden, which was devoured immediately.

bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed dates

I also made this super easy, but TO DIE FOR appetizer:  Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with Blue Cheese.  Every single person L O V E D them, so don’t judge by the interesting combination of ingredients!  I simply cut a slit in each date, removed the pit and replaced with a pinch of crumbled blue cheese, wrapped it in a half strip of bacon, jabbed with a toothpick to hold together and make for easy serving afterwards, and baked at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes.  Even those that claimed to not like dates or not like blue cheese adored them!  Highly recommend these for your next get together – just saying.  🙂

finger prints

Sweet Jackie brought the most adorable gift.  A print of a tree and a frame, to which we each stamped a fingerprint or two and labeled with our name and something we are thankful for.

fingerprint tree

I already have it hanging right outside my dining room.  What an amazing memory I will always have of this day and these peeps I love.  Thank you so much, Jackie!

turkey wine bottles

And how cute are these?  Isn’t this a fun way to take wine as a hostess gift?  Dress them up for the holiday.  Jackie also made these adorable bottles of red and  white into boozy turkeys.  I LOVE THEM!

thanksgiving hostess gifts

Colleen and Jake brought me the most awesome smelling winter holiday candle – who doesn’t love a wonderful smelling candle – and Joyce and Rob brought a crock stuffed with bags of pistachios and a festive apron and hot mitt along with a Bountiful Blessings calendar with a note written on it saying, “Looking forward to spending more time together in the new year.”  Now isn’t that a great idea?!  Such creative peeps I hang out with – eh?

calendar

I share these for those looking for great ideas for hostess gifts around the holidays.  Wine, candles, nuts, aprons, calendars – all very appreciated gifts!

And Jill handmade all of us these adorable turkey t-shirts.  Is she amazing or what?!!  And look how cute they all look.

hendy

They even had turkey feathers on the back!

turkey backs

It was wonderful to SKYPE with Julie, who if you look really close at the iPad Jackie is holding, is also wearing a turkey shirt that Jill sent ahead of time.  🙂  We only missed connecting with Jayme :(.

thanksgiving 2014 group turkey shot

We ended the evening with board games, including Cards Against Humanity…

cards against humanity

and laughed until our cheeks hurt!

cards rob jill

We were even fortunate enough to have Marty’s 91 year-old Aunt Francie with us, who is such a good sport.

Marty and Aunt Francie

I am simply stuffed with thankfulness and reflecting on my many blessings.

Wishing you all the same!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE

/ Jodi / 2 Comments

Just wanted to share this work of art from my friend, Jo @ Daily Record 365

Jo's avatarDaily Record 365

P1090670Antdrogyny and The Comment Section

With Special Thanks to Jodi for Asking

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