March Scrapbooking Retreat

Do you live near Lake Geneva, WI? Then come join me and my friends at the Lay It Out Loud crop retreat. Here is all the details:

The Cove Resort (Lake Geneva)
March 5-7, 2010

Escape with Lay It Out Loud to a crop weekend that you can customize to your schedule and budget. Why pay more for a crop with catered meals when there are so many restaurants within walking distance, including Houlihans which is on-site. If you are staying at the cove you may want to bring in your own food- all suites include a full kitchen (no oven in some suites).

What's Included?

• Virtually unlimited cropping 6PM (You can start at 3:00!) Friday-2 am Saturday
  8 am Saturday-2 am Sunday
• 8 am Sunday-3 pm Sunday
• A Welcome bag full of wonderful scrappin' goodies EACH DAY.
• Generous reserved cropping space (at least 1/2 of a 6' table) in the crop room that stays open until 2am. Leave your stuff out all weekend!
• FREE LIOL make n' take workshop and vendor make n' take
• EACH DAY Everyone will choose the prize of their choice from the fabulous prize table.
• Convenient shopping on-site - Lorraines Memories scrapbooking store will be joining us!
• Challenges on Friday & Saturday to inspire you to try something new, use your old supplies in a new way and earn chances to win even more prizes!
• Each Saturday attendee will receive at least $5 of Scrappy Cash to spend at on-site vendors one attendee will receive a $50 Shopping Spree!
• All snacks and drinks.
• A chance to win the Grand Prize a LIOL custom scrappy cabinet loaded with wonderful scrapbooking supplies!
• Free use of Creation stations. Whether you want to try your hand at the latest techniques or just leave your messy stuff at home, the creation stations are the best around! Inks, stamps, distressing supplies, paints, foam stamps, computer and printer for journaling, cutting tools, diecut machines and dies, embossing inks and powders, staz-on ink, and more.

The Cove of Lake Geneva's deluxe guest suites pamper guests with all the comforts of home. From the fireplace and whirlpool, to fully equipped kitchen and balcony, the suites were designed to offer everything you need. There is also a fitness room, indoor pool and a Houlihans restaurant & bar. One bedroom suites include 1 queen or king bed & a queen sofa sleeper only $135 per night. Loft suites sleep up to 6 people and include 2 bathrooms and an extra loft bedroom for only $185 per night. Please contact the Cove for room reservations after Jan 19th- at (262)249-9460 or toll free at (800)770-7107 make sure to tell them you are with Lay it Out Loud! and reserve your room by Feb. 5th to receive the discounted rate.

Very Berry Pancakes

This recipe serves 2 people and is made with healthy ingredients, but are oooh sooo good!

Ingredients:

1 cup Bisquick Heart Smart mix

2/3 cup fat-free (skim) milk

2 tablespoons fat-free egg product (such as Egg Beaters)

3/4 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) berries (such as blueberries, raspberries, 3 berries mix)

Directions:

• Stir ingredients except berries until blended.
• Gently fold in berries.
• Pour by slightly less than 1/4 cupfuls onto hot greased griddle or pan.
• Cook until bubbles break on surface. Turn and cook until golden.

Makes 8 pancakes

Nutrition:

1 serving (4 pancakes)

280 calories

4 g fat (0g saturated, 0g trans)

0mg cholesterol

570 mg sodium

2g fiber

Organizing It All

As you can see, I haven't been crafting lately. That is because I have been trying to organize all my crafting supplies to make finding things more easy. It also gave me the opportunity to inventory all my stuff and do a little purging. I ended up donating a box of papers to my sister for the Boys & Girls Club and the other box of items is coming along with me to share at the next scrapbooking retreat in March.

So are you interested in seeing what I have done so far in my scrapbooking space and bonus room?

This is the double set of closets in my bonus/dining room closed. My mom and I painted them to match the wall and put a bookshelf in between for knick knacks. You can't tell from the picture, but they are painted in a light coffee color.

Here are the closets opened, organized, and labled.

And in my office, here is one of the two shelves of pens and markers

And lastly, my pegboard with odds and ends

I am still working on organizing my 12x12 papers and all the scrapbooking paper scraps.

Apple Oven-Baked Pancake

If you are Catholic (like me) and don't like fish, you find yourself looking for other non-meat related meals to each during Lent. One such meal is pancakes. This is a super easy bake in the oven pancake that makes 4 servings. You can have it for any meal during Lent and for breakfast the rest of the year.





Ingredients:
1-2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I use 1 tablespoon Brummel & Brown)
1 egg (it tastes the same if you substitute with equal amount of Egg Beaters)
3/4 cup Fiber One™ Complete pancake mix (from 28.3-oz box)
1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (splurge and use real vanilla and not imitation)
1 small apple, very thinly sliced (leave the peel on for more fiber)
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon-sugar (I use half in the batter and half sprinkled on the apples)
Maple-flavored syrup, if desired


Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400°F. While oven is heating, melt butter in 9-inch glass pie plate in oven.
2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, beat egg with wire whisk or egg beater. Beat in pancake mix, milk and vanilla. Pour over melted butter in pie plate. Arrange apple slices on batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown. Serve warm with maple syrup.


Nutrition Information:
1 Serving: Calories 190 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 4 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 80mg; Sodium 230mg; Total Carbohydrate 21g (Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 9g); Protein 5g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 6%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 15%; Iron 4% Exchanges: 1 1/2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1 1/2 *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet