Best thing about birthdays…and a give away!

I love birthdays. One day a year, it’s just all about YOU! I love to make family & friends feel like they are a STAR. What’s your favorite dinner? Place to eat? Do you want to sleep in? Have a nap? What kind of cake? Big party? Or quiet get-together?

Whatever the preferences, there has to be ONE common denominator. SURPRISE! Yes, a birthday just isn’t complete for me unless there is some kind of surprise involved.

My daughter Emma’s best friend, Jessica, turned 16 yesterday, and like most of our children’s best friends, they are like part of the family. Emma, like any true daughter of mine, wanted to surprise Jessica. The Plan? “Mom, can you come to the Highschool before lunch, tie balloons to the locker and fill it with a Cake and McDonalds Chicken Nuggies?” I was a little stressed out, timing it perfectly so “Chicken Nuggies” were relatively hot, but getting that look on Jessica’s face…priceless!





































Emma & Jessica: Two adorable 16-year-olds!

Of course, I included a birthday card…hand made by Angela Sgro (from my last on-line swap…thanks Angela!) and in the process of going through my birthday cards I realized I may just have too many. So I’m thinning them out, including a few that I have duplicates of and doing a draw!













Designed and created by Angela Sgro








Eleven birthday cards, most of which have been published, so please excuse the sticker on the back. I usually just cut the card in half and remount it.

Please visit my PaperCrafts Blog (http://abc123.sewnews.com/content/view/5301/) and leave a comment there. Tell me about a birthday surprise of yours. Either one you got or one you’ve given...and dont' forget your email addy! I’ll pick someone by the end of the week and you’ll receive all these cards in the mail.
Happy PaperCrafting!
~ Sue

P.S. If for some reason (because it's happening to me) the blog is only showing about 3/4 of the width, click on the LH navigation link "Best thing about birthdays…and a give away!" and it will open the blog completely.

Recent Studio 5 segments

I was just sharing this link with someone who was asking about card swaps and thought you might be interested as well.

I've been doing monthly segments promoting PaperCrafts Magazine for a local Salt Lake City TV morning program called Studio 5 for 1 1/2 years now. I've had so much fun doing this program and continue to learn so much from it. Besides sharing my passion for papercrafting, I've been able to do several cooking segments (my favorite was a trio of brie appetizers...will have to share those with you soon) and also having my daughter, Savannah on air with me...although I will have to say, this was just 2 days after we got home from our 3 week trip to Europe and I think you can see how jet-lagged we seem.

So, now that Studio 5 is posting their segments on the internet, I can share my 'tv' experiences with friends and family. This first one is my most recent and is all about on-line swapping. Unfortunately, the timing was a little off, as we're in the middle of changing to a new website and it's all a bit confusing. Once things are settled and I know what I'm talking about, I will let you know how to swap on our new website. This was a different kind of segment for me as I didn't create a thing! We taped part of the segment in advance at the office (yes, I got to pretend that was my office...it is NOT!) and I got to sit on a stool! I know that's silly, but I was pretty excited about mixing it up a bit. Now, I just have to get on the couch!! LOL

This was my June segment with Savannah. It was to promote our Papercrafting with Kids special issue (which is just awesome by the way). Both Savannah and I were kind of out of it, but we managed to get through it. Unfortunately, it only shows half of the segment and not the cooking segment we did.

Here's a picture I remembered to take at the very last minute to take for Savannah's scrapbook.

Stay tuned for Give-away on Monday...

Sorry ladies, I've been busy doing the back-to-school thing and haven't had much time to be creative. I have BIG plans for next week though :). Also, I am definately doing a give-away on Monday, so stay tuned!
Sue

Southern Charm in Charlotte

Sorry this took so long to post, but I had to recuperate from my waylaid flight home. Lightening in Charlotte delayed the flight, missed the connection in Phoenix and thought I would have to spend the night there, but Steve (the hubster) found a connecting flight through Vegas that got me into Salt Lake at 2:40 am! Couldn’t fall asleep until 5am! Now I’m all out of sorts sleep-wise.

Despite the horrendous flights into and out of Charlotte I had a great time with our Southern Paper Crafters at CKC. They are always so wonderful to hang with: friendly, warm, enthusiastic and funny.
One of the highlights of being in Charlotte is getting a hug from my dear old friend, Kitty Cox.

I’ve known kitty from my very old days of Rubberstampauction.com, she followed me to my store, the Stamp Attic and was a loyal customer of mine for years. She is a sweetie and I love her!

I absolutely HAVE to share a funny story that some of you will (who take my classes at CKCs) surely get SICK of hearing, but oh my, It was so cool, I had goosebumps!

At the end of each class I always do a draw for prizes. I keep the ticket stubs in my apron pocket. I gave out 2 of the prizes and on the last one I ask “does anyone feel lucky” and this sweet young thing (I’m guessing 16…sorry If I’m wrong Sam!) says “I do…it’s my birthday today!”. I ask her name and start rubbing my hand over the pocket in a mock attempt at being physic.

Then, feeling guilty, anticipating the disappointment, start making a disclaimer because I know darn well the odds of me picking her name out of 50+ names is nil and then…drum roll…I pick her name!!!!!

I didn’t realize it at first, but my smart students did and I heard a collective gasp! I really AM PHYSIC!!! Well, at least I was for that little moment in time. We all had a good laugh and I treasured it for what it was…a really good story to tell at my next CKC!!

So, just when I thought southern charm was reserved for PaperCrafters, I noticed at the airport this DARLING row of white rocking chairs. It that adorable or what? I manhandled my bags, dug out my camera, because I knew I had to take a picture.



















Until next time ladies, see beauty! Sue

Charlotte CKC

I've got about 1/2 hour before I leave for Charlotte. I created the nastiest flight plan EVER! I'm flying to Las Vegas tonight, then on to Cincinatti (luckily I was upgraded to first class...yeah!) and then I arrive in Charlotte at 9:30am. Yup, I'm taking the red-eye...with 2 stops no less.

This really is against my 'flying' rules (ie; DIRECT!!!), but man, everything was SO expensive. So, I'm bringing the current book (Revelation by C.J. Sansom), another one and my ipod with a few movies and the first season of the office. That and as much sleep as I can catch will just have to do.

Will tell you all about the show when I get back...have a great weekend. Sue

http://www.ckscrapbookevents.com/nc2008/

Zucchini Cheese Quiche

I can't believe my first 'real' post will be about zucchini, but it's what's happening here in the Neal Household tonight.

If you have a garden, you probably plant zucchini and if you've planted zucchini you probably know how unpredictable they can be. One day they are tiny, little thumb-sized fruits and the next day you could hollow it out and float in it. This year, I've really been trying to keep in touch with my plant, catching the fruit when it's that perfect 1 1/2" circumference.
Didn't quite make it today, as you'll see, but close enough for my all-time FAVORITE zucchini recipe that I've been making for 20 years. Zucchini cheese quiche. Nothing fancy, but really delish, everyone in the fam loves it, it's great as a leftover and the best part is it uses all that zucchini in the garden.

So, here ya go...my first recipe for the blog.

Two 8” zucchini cheese quiches

Two 8” frozen pie crusts…or if you have time, make one!
6 small zucchini (or a large pan full of sliced zucchini...remember it will reduce in size as it cooks)
1 C. Chopped onion
3-4 cloves of Garlic, chopped
*Saute garlic and onion in olive oil and/or butter. After a few minutes, add sliced zucchini. While this is cooking down (cook until zucchini is a nice bright green color) mix in a bowl:

4 eggs, beaten lightly
8 oz. Gruyere cheese (or your favorite swiss), shredded. You can use more if you like it more cheesy.
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp. Fresh oregano (Thyme works well in this too) or 1 Tbsp dried herbs
Freshly ground pepper and Kosher salt (to taste)

Allow zucchini mixture to cool down and then mix with cheese/egg mixture. Cook at 375 F. for about 30 minutes or until top is golden.

My little additions to make a little zestier, warmer quiche: Add 1 tsp red pepper flakes and a few grinds of my new favorite spice, Grains of Paradise.

Notice the bright green color? Take it off the heat and let cool.

How did I get those slices to thin? One of my top 3 kitchen gadgets...my mandolin!

Finally...

I've always shied away from writing a blog. It's always made me feel a little uncomfortable sharing such personal thoughts with the public. The world wide web is a surprisingly intimate and personal place despite it's user-isolation.

There is, however, a middle ground I've observed that makes me feel that it's time to jump in and get my feet wet.

It can feel just a wee bit arrogant to think anyone other than my closest friends will be interested in my day to day life, so I'll edit accordingly. What I do think will be interesting will be our common love of paper crafting, photography, cooking, odd little thoughts, good books, travelling and little things that make life either a little more exciting or a whole lot easier.

I work for PaperCrafts Magazine as a PC Pro. Basically I am an ambassador of the world of paper crafting. I love it. I promote it. I teach it. I see this blog as an extension of that work and hope it gives me as much satisfaction as the 'real' world.

Until the next time, see beauty. Sue