Get Your Fat On

Today is Fat Tuesday. To celebrate, I thought I'd share a few of my fattie favs:

There’s Garfield, my favorite lasagna eating fat cat.

Hey, hey! Who can resist a little Fat Albert?

Homer Simpson is a lovable lump of D’oh!

Beanbag chairs are some of the plumpest and therefore comfiest places to cop a squat.

Mmmm…Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches!

Bring it on, Big Boy.

I’m not fat, I’m big boned!

Baby! Get in my belly!

The biggest Peep of all:

My favorite fat inducing agent:

Here's a little geeky fat:

Now this is what I call PHAT (pretty hot and tempting)!

And here are a few of my own photo ops:

My melted fat solution: I like candy bars so much that when mine melted in the car, I stuck it in the air vent and turned the AC on full blast to salvage the sweet goodness. How sad is that?

My fat face: Man, I don’t know how, but a camera flash tends to bring out the fat in my face. It’s like my face is a puffer fish and the camera is a sea predator posing a threat. Ugh!
My PHAT man: My cute Cory puts even Dean Cain to shame. ;)

And this post wouldn't be complete without a look at one of my favorite Weird Al videos. Check out Fat.

Happy fativities, y’all!

Who Knew Quality Could Taste So Good?

Life is full of simple pleasures. Shopping. Apple martinis. Friends. Wrapping paper. Sunday mornings. And, of course, food. Sure, food is a necessity, you know for survival and all, but it's so much more than that. It tantalizes the taste buds. Special events are celebrated over good meals. It can even make you feel better. (Thank you, cocoa bean!)

One of my favorite foods? In-N-Out Burger, fo sho! Cor and I love us some In-N-Out. There isn't a trip to Vegas or southern Cal that doesn't include a stop (or a few stops) at this deeeelicious joint. (In fact, I wanted them to cater our wedding dinner, but the Bellagio wouldn't have it. Bummer!) And when it opened in St. George, right by Cor's parent's home, we thought we had hit the jackpot. Little did we know the best was yet to come.

That's right, folks. In-N-Out Burger is coming to Draper, UT. Now getting one of my absolute favorites will be as easy as driving down the hill. Yeeee-freakin'-haw!

First IKEA and now In-N-Out. It really is a wonderful world!

Love is in the Air

Are you in need of a last-minute Valentine? All you need are some scraps of patterned paper, ribbon and cardstock to make a bitty love note.

Simply glue on a few pieces of ribbon, cut a heart from patterned paper and attach it, and add a little gem to top it off.

For an extra sweet touch, tape a little chocolate surprise on the inside.

This project is so easy that I made lots of 'em. After all, there's nothing like spreading the love around.

Happy Valentine’s Day, my lovely friends!

Megan

P.S. Here are a few more projects to get you in the mood for love. ;)

More Bitty Bags

Just call me Bag Lady. Here’s another post about bitty bags. This time they’re fabric.

I bought these plain little fabric bags at Michael’s. They were only three for a $1 and are sold in pink and green as part of their Easter release. (Can you believe they’re already displaying Easter stuff? Sheesh!)

With nothing more than a few fabric scraps, a needle, thread and some extras (buttons and trim), I turned these plain bags into unique shopping bags in a matter of minutes. Sure, they’re bitty, but it’s not like we don’t buy bitty items too, right? Candy bars. Jewelry. Small…shirts. ;)

Okay, so these may not hold a shopping cart full of groceries, but you could also use these as gift bags. Or you could make a set of coordinating greeting cards and give them in one of these bitty beauties as an original handmade gift.

I’ve only recently learned to sew (if you can call what I do sewing), and I literally completed both of these bags in about an hour. (BTW, you can check out my first-ever sewing project here.)

I hope this inspires.

Bitty Bag o' Baby Cards

I recently attended my cute friend’s baby shower. Naturally, this meant making a card, but I couldn’t stop at one—baby projects are just too cute and fun—so I decided to make her a set of four bitty cards that together spell the word “Baby.” Inside each card, I wrote a word that started with the card’s cover letter. It went a little something like this:

B is for Beautiful
In this card I wrote a note about the beauty of having a new baby.

A is for Addition
In this card I mentioned how this tiny addition will make my friend’s happy family complete.

B is for Blessing
In this card I included a message about the amazing blessing this baby is.

Y is for You
In this card I wrote about how lucky this tiny babe is to have such an amazing mother in my friend.

To top it all off, I packaged my little cards in a bitty gift bag, which I decorated with a handmade (and tiny) baby banner and some small pom poms.

To give you an idea of the size, I took this pic of my ensemble next to a standard adhesive runner.

M is for More Ideas!

I just love tiny treats. I’m sure I’ll use this idea again. I think it would be very fun for a group gift. Say you’re giving a friend something special on her birthday from your family of four. You could create cards that spell out W-I-S-H and have each person write an individual note. Is your family twice that size? Then how about spelling out B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y instead.

This would also be a fun way to give someone cash. Instead of sending a $20 bill in a single card, why not prolong the magic and give four $5 bills in five bitty cards instead?

Cards are a gift, especially when they’re handmade, so it only makes sense to package them as such. And it doesn’t get much cuter than a tiny bag. I hope this idea has inspired you and given you a new way to look at sharing your heartfelt treats.

It's a Blog Bonanza!

Have you heard the word? No, I’m not talking about the bird. That’s old news, people. I’m talking about the newest blog in town.

Creatingkeepsakesblog.com

As you likely know, Creating Keepsakes is the magazine I work for, and this is our new blog. On it you’ll find posts from me and my fellow CK companions on:

* Industry trends

* Project ideas

* Giveaways

* Expert scrapbooking solutions

* And so much more!

I’m super excited to interact with you in a slightly different way (through my day job) and hope you’ll join me on the pages of the CK blog soon.

Speaking of new blogs in town, I also want to mention the new Paper Crafts magazine blog. Like CK’s blog, this is a place to go for inspiration and ideas, but it’s more geared towards paper crafting than scrapbooking. As a former member of the amazing PC team, I can tell you that these gals do not disappoint. They’re each as unique as they are cute and hilarious, making for highly entertaining reading. Check it out at papercraftsconnection.com.

Well blog lovers, what are you waiting for? Please pay these new kids in town a visit and tell us what you want to see in the way o’ the crafting blogs. While you’re at, please sign up for the RSS feed at the top of each blog so you’ll be the first to know when new posts are made.

I’ll be seeing ya in blog land!

A whole lotta love and a heartfelt sale!

You know, I really am a lucky lady. You see, I have this super cute husband who takes a sincere interest in my crafts. When I'm scrapbooking, he helps me with the journaling. When I'm making cards, he offers wonderful suggestions. And when I'm beading. . .well, he acts as my model.

You see, back in his wild-child youth he had an earring, and the hole never closed. When I was making my Gilded Cage earrings, I wanted to know if they'd hang right and he offered his ear hole. Isn't that the sweetest ever? I'm sure he'd kill me if he knew I was posting this, but I just can't help myself. He's a kind, wonderful, brilliant man, and I want to profess my love to the whole wide internet world.

I love you, Bear! You handsome model, you. ;)

Speaking of love, have I got a deal for you! Looking for some fun new fashions to wear this Valentine’s Day. . .or any day, for that matter? Well, over at a fun little e-shop known as Happiness on a String, we have all of our love-themed designs on sale for the entire month of February. Won’t you take a peek?

Happy month o’ love, warm fuzzies and complete twitterpation!

Your friends at Happiness (Jennafer & Me)

Here's a peek at what you'll find:

The Stars Were Out in Anaheim

Okay, so maybe I didn’t run into the delicious Dean Cain, but I did happen upon more than one famous face. Take a look:

Believe it or not, I not only saw THE P. Kelly Smith of Paper Crafts magazine, but I also roomed with her. How lucky can a girl get?

While taking a ride on Pirates of the Carribean with my hoes (that’s pirate speak for crew mates), I saw Mr. Handsome himself, Johnny Depp. I wouldn’t mind sharing a cup o’ rum with him, says I. Yarrr!

And my Disney star sightings didn't end with Johnny. I also got to hug not one, but both of The Mice.

While at the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) tradeshow, I turned a corner and ran smack dab into the Paris Hilton craze. Because I had a press badge, I even got close enough to snap a quick photo.

Moments after my Paris encounter, I turned around to see Deborah Norville standing on the CHA show floor, so I snapped another quick pic.

Even though it was slightly exhilarating to see Paris and Deborah (I’m not sure why, but it was), I was also a little saddened. I was sure it meant I wouldn’t see the one special CHA guest I had wanted to see, but…

I was wrong.

I did happen upon Jane Seymour, AKA Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. I love her. Why? Well, she reminds me of my sweet mama. She and I used to watch Dr. Quinn together every day after school when I was in Jr. high. We loved Dr. Mike's female power, and staring at her hunk of a man Sully wasn’t bad either!

I was on my way to lunch with my magazine team when, lo and behold, Jane was right there. I stopped and gushed about how beautiful she was, and she told me… wait for it…

That my hamburger looked good!

I told her she could have it, but she passed. I’m sure she wasn’t really that interested. But, she did pause from her painting to take a pic with me. How fun is that?!

So, as you can see, the stars were in my eyes this CHA. But seeing a few familiar faces isn't all I did. I also saw a bunch of fun new scrapbooking products that I can’t wait to share with you on the pages of Creating Keepsakes mag in the coming months. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what your favorite releases from the show were. Did you go? What did you love? Here’s one of my favs. It’s a new stamp set from Kodomo. Isn’t that doughnut the cutest ever?! Love it!