BFF Open House Link Party #56, BFF "Back For Seconds" and a GIVEAWAY!

This week has flown by which always happens when there’s a Monday holiday. Hope everyone has had a great week. I am on my last day of antibiotics and hopefully done with crud for a while! I'm making up for being a slug last week ( didn't even visit many links ) by having lots going on this week!

First, let me introduce you to this week’s BFF “Back For Seconds”, a food blog where the tag line is : “creating recipes that will keep you coming back for more”. Trust me….you will want to go back for seconds, thirds, and fourths! BFS is a blog devoted to all kinds of goodies like:

Cookie dough, cupcake, chocolate frosting, and blue! Nom Nom.

Or how about these double stuffed brownies?

Chocolate not your thing? (I cannot believe I just wrote that!) . OK I know there are people who don’t like chocolate ( I can’t believe I just wrote that either!) No problem. I have these Buffalo Chicken Cups pinned to try:

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, dessert ideas, Back For Seconds will having you coming back for more ideas for sure!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

If you missed my review of Amy Anderson’s new book “Mod Podge Rocks” , click on the title to check it out. And guess what?! You can win your own copy because I have one to give away.  I love Mod Podge like I love chocolate. Some people are intimidated by it. Don't be!

Here are the details:

a Rafflecopter giveaway




The giveaway will be open through Sunday night and the winner selected and notified next week. 

So now…what’s everyone been up to this week? Party On!

Mod Podge Rocks: The Book Is Here !

If you’re a creative person and maybe even moreso if you don’t think you’re a creative person, you should be familiar with Mod Podge. It's an all in one glue, sealer and finish product that is easy to use and clean up. I love it because it doesn't have fumes which is great for someone like me with asthma.

Novice or expert, you should be familiar with the blog Mod Podge Rocks, run by the amazing Amy Anderson.  Since she wasn’t busy enough with MPR, her other blogs, and her myriad of creative endeavors, Amy decided to write a book.

What better subject for Amy’s book than what she blogs the most about…Mod Podge, and it’s a must read.

From all of the formulas of Mod Podge and their different uses, to project ideas ( let’s just say, if it can stand still, it can be Mod Podged) to tips and tools, Amy’s got it covered.

My only critique is I would have said 40+  Really Super Cool Projects because each one is spectacular.

There are  home décor, jewelry, clothing, storage, projects galore.  You’ll also see some familiar bloggers who have projects featured  in the book.

Each project features a full size picture, tells you what you need, and has the detailed steps to complete.

Whether you’re a newbie or an experienced podger, there’s something in it for you.

There’s also  an introduction by “The Queen” herself. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book to review ( opinions are my own) and sat down and read it cover to cover the day it came.

The book is available online and in stores for $14.95 US / $17.95 Can.

Or, you could come link up at this week’s BFF Open House when it goes up tomorrow night for a chance to win a copy !

Sympathy In Brown and Gold

I’d love it if I didn’t need to make a sympathy card for a long while, but unfortunately, that need arose again .


For this one, I used a Stardreams brown metallic pre-made card , and Basic Grey’s “Hello Luscious”  paper along with American Crafts Brads and cappuccino baker’s twine from The Twinery.

The paper is reversible so I used both sides along with some coordinating paper scraps. Stamped the focal on white cardstock and embossed with gold glitter embossing powder.  Matted it on a brown scrap. The stamp is by Magenta:

I used the glittered gold brads from the package to coordinate with the glittery gold embossing powder, wrapped the twine around one of the panels and slipped the stamped focal between the twine.

The card is for my brother in law who just lost a good friend. I thought the “Friends” stamp was a good fit for this.

Memorial Day Birthday Card

One of our nephews celebrates his birthday this Memorial Day weekend, so I decided I’d make him a Memorial Day themed card. It was also the perfect reason to use some washi tape I recently ordered from Pick Your Plum!

I grabbed some striped red white and blue paper from my stash along with some matching blue cardstock, and stamped  cupcake on white cardstock w/ yellow ink. I stamped the cupcake again on a scrap piece of paper and cut out the bottom to make a mask. I sprayed the top of the cupcake w/ Elmer’s spray adhesive and “frosted” it with Recollections tinsel glitter.

What’s a cupcake without frosting? I trimmed the cupcake image and mounted it on blue cardstock wrapped with red and white baker’s twine and added some rhinestone swirls.

I used the red and white polka dot washi tape from my recent purchase to add to the card and then stamped “Happy Birthday” in the yellow ink on a white scrap, trimmed with deckle edge scissors and framed with a blue scrap.

Finished off with the rest of the rhinestones and baker’s twine.

BFF Open House Link Party #55 !

It’s Friday Eve again already? HOW?? I thought I’d beat last week’s crud but it’s back w/ a vengeance so no BFF to feature this week. Just the party. Keeping it simple!

Party on!

Big Girl Panties Printable

This one’s for the Mumster ( aka my Mom). She has a procedure this week ( routine but still not on anyone’s  Top 10 list of fun things to do) and in keeping with her always positive outlook, she keeps saying that she just needs to put “her big girl panties” on and get through it.

Dearest Mummy, please don’t kill me for putting this on my blog!  You know I’m unfiltered and anything’s fair game. Love you!!

Seriously, my Mom is one of the most upbeat and positive people I know. All. The. Time. Thankfully she’s kept me grounded , and making this printable helps remind me of needing to put my own big girl panties on and, to mix my sayings, take one day at a time.

I made it in her favorite color, purple, as well as a couple of other colors in case anyone else needs a reminder to put their big girl panties on.

Sharing At: 

Why I Relate to nrelate...Great Plug In Tool for Blogger or Word Press

I love blogging tools that are easy to use and really become part of the fabric of my blog. nrelate is one of those tools and it is one of the easiest plug ins I’ve installed on my blog.

Well what is it you ask? nrelate is a related content plugin for your blog.  If you look at the bottom of each of my posts, you’ll see thumbnails of other related, posts. This is a great way for your readers to see other projects you’ve done that are similar to the one they may be viewing.  And for me as a busy and sometimes forgetful blogger, I confess I've forgotten some of my previous projects and  get a little surprise reminder “oh yeah, forgot about that one” when I see the thumbnail come up on a new post.

Why would you want to do this you ask? You have a lot of blog content beyond what may be visible on your front page at any moment that may otherwise go unseen. Sure you probably have your posts on your sidebar by month but this is another super simple way for your readers to navigate and explore your blog.


How do I install it you ask? Easy Peasy!

For Blogger: http://nrelate.com/install-products/install-related-content/install-for-blogger/

For Word Press: http://nrelate.com/install-products/install-related-content/install-for-wordpress/

My experience has been that you get very relevant post results linked within your post and you can decide what thumbail style, size etc you want. The one time I had to contact nrelate for support they were SO responsive. If you are looking for a tool to help manage your blog this is one worth checking out. And did I mention it's free?


I am being compensated for this post but the opinions are mine. I was an nrelate user for months prior to this post.