Banana bread without oil or sugar!

So far I've made a few recipes.  Last weekend I tried this banana bread from 8 Weeks to a Better You Recipes.

Overall, it was okay.  I love that it uses honey and applesauce instead of sugar and oil.  Next time I'll make it in 2 smaller loaf pans.  I had to cook it almost twice as long as the center just wouldn't cook.  The texture is good, but it needs something else, so I'll add pecans next time.

Yikes!

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since I last posted!  In that time, I've discovered Pinterest!  I decided that I'd start blogging again to document the things that I've made from my pins.  Thanks to Pinterest, I've rekindled a love for cooking.  I'm loving finding new recipes, reading everyone's comments and changes, and then making it my own.  Not only am I cooking more, but I'm also crafting more, so I'll include those adventures, too!

Love Will Keep Us Together!

My parents are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year -- wow!  I was looking through some pics and found some from their wedding, so I thought I'd play a bit.  I came across this challenge at Scrap It With a Song that was just perfect -- get inspired by The Captain and Tenille;-)  The sketch is from Pencil Lines and is for the design team application.  I'm not getting my hopes up, but I loved this sketch and thought I'd give it a try!

Peggy and Gary, August 21, 1971

                                    

   

 Supplies: Paper, My Mind's Eye; Letter Stickers, Making Memories; Flowers, Prima and other; Assorted ribbons and brads

HMITM Challenge #165

I'm trying to get back into actually making scrapbook pages.  I've been making tons of cards, mostly using kits and such.  They look cute, but they don't require much thought on my part.  That has made it difficult to get back into using pics and pages.  So, I started scouring the challenge blogs and found this fun one at How Much is Too Much.  I'll admit that it took me quite a while to settle on pics and papers to use, but once I started cutting and sanding, I felt like I'd found my spark again:-)

Here's the finished product:

Hidden journalling: My 1st trip to Portland was a whirlwind.  Luckily I was here for 2 weeks:-)  Eric took me everywhere -- Mt. Hood, Gorge, Newport, downtown, Japanese Gardens, Pittock Mansion, plus many more.  If he was trying to sell me on living here, it worked!  I fell in love with him, his family AND his city:-)



The challenge was to use:
~ 2 pics: These are from my 1st trip to see Eric in Portland.  
~ at least 14 hearts:  (I have 16!  I used 13 across the bottom since our 13th anniversary is this week, then 3 heart brads as accents.)
~ an arrow: I turned the hearts on their sides to mimic a row of arrows across the bottom.
~ mostly red and brown: I took this literally and only used those colors;-)
~ a flower: yep, I've got 2!
~ ribbon: of course!  It wouldn't be finished for me without ribbon somewhere;-)

I'm noticing that my last few layouts have used a lot more white space than I normally use.  I'm liking this look!

Finally got some prints!

2011 Project Life is still going strong.  I do love having the kit this year and Eric has already asked if I wanted to get it again next year:-)  Um, of course!

I know I haven't posted layouts recently.  I've been keeping up with my writing and picture-taking, but I'm only printing pics once a month or so.  Here are weeks 2-6 :-)

Week 2

Week 2 New camera and getting organized

Week 3

Week 3 Trip to Kansas

Week 4

Week 4

Week 5

Week 5

Week 6 Met Alter Weiner, Holocaust survivor

Week 6

Week 7 Sick and snow

You may have noticed my new toy, the Sizzix Big Shot.  I've been having fun cutting and embossing with it.  It took me years to figure out which tool I wanted and I've played with this one quite a bit recently and really like the cost and versatility.

I've been busy making lots of cards and I'm fixing to start on a scrapbook for Eric about his sailboat that he refurbished and lived on before we met.

That's all for now:-)

Great layout idea!

Since I'm doing Project Life this year I've joined the message board over at Big Picture Classes.  This is such an amazing group of people who offer encouragement and TONS of ideas!

Ellie has shared her blog with us and she recently posted about a cool addition to her PL -- a 6x12 layout!  Check it out here!  It's pretty awesome and makes me want to try it soon!

I'll be posting updated pics soon -- I was in Kansas last weekend, so I haven't printed pics in a bit.

And the winner is...

Thanks to everyone who left such wonderful comments on my layout!

Congrats to Leslie -- you are the Scrapbook Challenges Blog Hop RAK winner!  I've send you an email requesting your address :-)

Leslie said...

Love the colors you used and those pics are too cute!