cough sneeze sniffle yuck!

ciao amigas! i hope this post finds you all in much better condition than i am! omg! i've been so sick! my dr says i've got it bad! i think i need to own stock in flonase! lol!
i apologize i've been so m.i.a. lately. i've just been really, really, ill. the colder weather exacerbates my tics and spasms and to have a severe cold and allergy issue on top of it~ i've been in bed a lot! the cough from my post-nasal drip is so severe it gags me. ugh! yuck!  i have felt much too awful to even blog in advance so you'd have something to read everyday. i'm working on getting better each day, though. i suppose if i weren't such a naturalist i could take a prescription and be past it but i prefer to let nature run its course so i'm not needlessly taking antibiotics or things of that nature. next month i'm going to budget for a really good neti pot!  i'll tell you a fabulous tip though ~ take vicks vaporub and rub it on the bottom of your feet at night and wear socks. omg! it totally works! i have to thank my beautiful "scrappin' mafiosa" for that little tip! yep, she sent it to me all the way from australia! :-)
having been able to watch general conference over the weekend was such a comfort. i know my heavenly father is always looking out for me and i will survive anything that comes my way.
speaking of being a survivor, i hope all of you are doing your bse's and having your mammograms as admonished by your physicians. i  recently changed my dr and so i will find out if i truly need biopsies on the right breast. no matter, i know if it's cancer i will beat it like my mum did! she taught me how to be a survivor! she fought her way out of a comatose state after being given a 3% chance to live! so si se puede! this is breast cancer awareness month and i admonish you all to take care of your tatas! let the photos below, again remind you to get your tests and diagnostic screenings! pink is my favorite color and it's awesome it's associated with something so important! get your mammograms, amigas! below the pics i have some fabulous news!
 
the fabulous news?! i have some really awesome things to share with you once i'm feeling well enough to get them posted. until then salud, amigas! thank you for stopping by and supporting my blog!
abrazos y amor,
bella

beans, beans, the magical fruit... hee hee

yep! that's what's for dinner~chili beans and cornbread. i just know my granny would be so proud of me if she were down here, in southern california, to partake in this lovely dinner i'm fixing for tonight. i mean i even have a smoked hamhock in the beans!

(photo not indicative of tonight's actual meal. for illustration purposes only. it's actually the pic from the dinner odie and i fixed a couple of weekends ago~he made the beans. i made the bread. it was a great and delicious collaboration hee hee!)
i would like to thank albers for making the best cornmeal on the planet! having albers made my cornbread come out so fabulously! here's my recipe if you'd like to try it:
bella's cornbread~
preheat oven to 400 degrees. place 10" cast iron skillet w/fat(smart balance/butter/bacon fat) into oven to melt and swirl around the pan. once melted remove from oven and pour into a ramekin to cool. place skillet aside.
1 1/4 c albers cornmeal
3/4 c unbleached all purpose gold medal flour
2/3 c c & h granulated sugar
1 T + 1 t calumet baking powder
1/3 t arm and hammer baking soda
1/3 t morton salt
1/4 c 8th continent vanilla soy milk
3/4 c horizon organic fat free milk
2/3 c (melted) smart balance or butter or bacon fat (hee hee yeah this is the naughty part of my cornbread)
1 egg, beaten
combine wet ingredients in bowl of kitchenaid w/paddle attachment. whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl until well mixed. with the mixer on low, stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated a bit. add cooled fat and stir on low until well incorporated. remove bowl from mixer. pour batter into skillet and bake 20-26 minutes. edges of bread will detach from sides of skillet when done and center will be firm.
bon appetit!
i hope your weekend meal is just as hearty and tasty! thanks for stopping by, amigas, and supporting my blog! i truly appreciate you!
abrazos y amor,
bella

tip of the day

did you know you can use your brayer to smooth the bubbles out of your projects if you're using liquid glue/glue stick on them(like b&t papers on chipboard coasters)? it will also help keep warping to a minimum. so go ahead and give it a try! (i got that idea from barbi eakin in my cropping chicks-ut group).
happy crafting!
~bella

tip of the day

isn't it funny how you make little discoveries by accident and you think "why haven't i thought of that before now?" that happens to me a lot! lol! this tip is not necessarily from one of those moments, but i had to ask that :0)
so, have you ever had the problem of ink just not drying as fast as you'd like it to? well, i had that problem the other day making the card for skyy~sooo, i got my heat embossing tool and lightly blew it across the ink to dry it so i could finish the card without smearing the black ink on the vellum as i worked on other areas of the card. you can use this trick to dry your transparencies and vellum sheets you've printed on with an ink jet printer, too! hth someone!
abrazos,
bella

tip of the day

ohhhh my goodness! i learned the most awesome thing today! did i tell you all i watch scrapbook memories tv everyday on byu channel 68 on directv(if you decide to sign up for directv make sure you mention my name so we can both get $50(tee hee) i have it because i'm addicted to the former nbc soap passions~well, among other things. lol)? i am not sure what other stations scrapbook memories tv comes on(maybe pbs), but you can totally check the website for stations in your area that carry the show (there are also recipes and instructions for the projects created in each segment that were shown on the show). anyway, i learned the most awesome and neat/tidy way to emboss metal sheets of paper. what you do is take your embossing template, place the metal sheet over it with the shiny side touching the template, then you take a little ball of waxed paper and roll it over the template so the embossed image shows up and so you don't scratch the metal paper . then, for added depth/dimension, you go over the image with your stylus to make it really pop! turn it over and put it on your layout/card! i tell you, i love, love, love that show!

tip of the day

do you have trouble setting conchos? well, get these items together: a push pad, a good quality popsicle stick, and a good hard surface~then you should be well on your way to setting conchos. here are step by step instructions for you:
1. place your paper over the push pad.
2. decide where you'd like to place your concho.
3. press your concho into your paper in the desired area.
4. move push pad aside and flip your paper over so the ring of the concho is flat on your table/mat/hard surface.
5. take your popsicle stick and fold each of the little teeth toward the center to "clench" the paper.
6. if you're having a rough day, just take your eyelet setting hammer and smash the teeth down~be careful not to rip/tear your paper with your agression, though! :0)

tip of the day

have you seen yellowing on some of your acrylic stamps? one of the most important things to remember, to minimize yellowing on your stamps, is to keep them out of direct sunlight and from extreme heat. store your stamps in a cool, dry, dark place to help preserve the crystal clear appearance of your new unused stamps.

tip of the day

how many of you have the (fairly new) paint brushes and texture tools that ctmh now offers? you really want to try to clean them while they're still wet. it's really tough to clean them once they're stuck with dried paint on them. so here's a great way to clean them: you want to clean them with a little solution of equal parts of warm water, alcohol, and baby shampoo/bath(you don't want to use a lot, maybe 1/8c each). swish your brushes around in the solution, rub any debris off onto a soft cloth(or your double scrubber's removable side), rinse with cool water, and finally shake your brushes out and let them dry on a folded towel so any water can be absorbed and not rust your metal bristle holder. please do not leave them just standing in water~you don't want wood-rot or rust on your brushes. let me know how this works for you.

tip of the day

do you have one of these? it's an adhesive remover. did you know that it will remove residue from old stickers too? try it sometime when you want to remove adhesive residue from your fingers, your tools, your mats, your windows/walls if the goo gone is too much for you!

tip of the day

use baby shampoo or baby bath to clean your double scrubber pad~it's gentle and it smells nice!

tip of the day

do you have trouble punching holes for brads? try this the next time you have to set brads~ stick your black foam pad underneath the paper/item you're punching the hole in for the brad then insert the brad into the hole until it's firmly in the pad and remove the paper then bend the brad legs back to secure it! i have a push pad(tm) that works great for this!

tip of the day

did you know that, if you don't feel like taking out the removable side of your double scrubber, you can spritz it with my acrylix(tm) spritz cleaner and use a dry swiffer cloth to clean it?! it worked for me and with the white daisy ink too!

tip of the day

did you know that keeping your markers lying flat is better for them than standing them up in a cup/holder? i use a little stackable pencil box to store mine so the ink doesn't run out.

tip of the day

have you ever received a package from close to my heart? you know the foam wrapping around the ink pads, font cd's, etc.? you should save that to use under your large stamps when you have a lot of people over for a crop/workshop so you don't have to all share the one that comes in the stamp set packages.

tip of the day

i love using goo gone to get adhesive off of my crafting tools. i don't know about you but i always seem to get adhesive on my mats, bone folder, fingers, and other things. so i decided to use the goo gone one day to clean my mat and i loved it! it can be a little oily so make sure you use a swiffer/paper towel(cotton balls work well too) to apply the goo gone, rinse the item with hot water then dry before using it again. it works really well! let me know if you try it.

tip of the day

if you misplace your double scrubber, you can apply my acrylix (tm) spritz cleaner directly to your inked stamp and wipe it of with a dry swiffer cloth.

tip of the day

when you have a lot of debris from sandpaper distressing on your work table use a dry swiffer cloth to take it all away! i love using swiffer cloths to clean up my projects and remove debris from my work station because they grab everything!
abrazos,
bella