For going on 4 hours of sleep I somehow managed to feel all creative and inspired.

First, my parents had brought me this industrial laminating machine that weighs more than I do. I also got in the mail this book on vintage wrapping paper. So I decided to try my hand at card making. Also laminating pieces of paper for jewelry and stuff. So far things are coming out purty darn cute! Does anyone know a good site to go to for hand made card advice? I was looking through all my books last night and reading a lot in a book by Claudine Hellmuth called collage discovery workshop: beyond the unexpected! She was a guest on Craft Lab with me and just as sweet as pumpkin pie. Plus she had some cool tips for layering papers and stuff for my cards I am working on.

So then while laminating in the garage I conquered this Italian Bean Soup. Years ago I had this recipe and it was SO good and then I took the recipe from a magazine to the grocery store to buy the ingredients and left the paper in the cart and the recipe has been out of my life for close to 10 years. Couple of days ago I decided I can do this myself so I tweaked a bunch of different recipes and here is what I added in a giant pot.
Package of Hot Italian Sausage
2 cans Cannellinni Beans
3 Cans Chicken Broth
2 cans chopped Italian style tomatoes
1 Bunch Swiss Chard Rinsed and shredded
1 tablespoon Fennel
1 Bag Italian Cheese Shredded
1 Bag Small pasta noodles
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
Couple Cans of Water
Sea Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes

So in a skillet I browned the sausage and chopped it up into bits. I added all the canned goods, spices and sausage to a gianormous soup pot. I eye balled the amounts of spice so that is up to you and taste, the fennel seed is key. Brought all this to a boil and then took it down to a simmer. The swiss chard will shrink and the sausage is already cooked so you just need to heat through. Then I added the noodles and cooked them until they were soft. Very last step before serving I stirred in the bag of cheese. I served it with some hard bread.

Man was this soup good and there was so much of it. I froze two giant pots full so now we have 2 more meals set. Whoo-hoo!

If you are sitting around watching Crafters Coast to Coast, I mean That’s Clever on HGTV today be sure and watch my friend Jessica Scheick, AKA Jessica Cupcakes on the show. She is a doll. Did you see the picture of her in the Curve Magazine Article?

Speaking of articles, take a looksie at STITCH in Austin’s Downtown Planet Newspaper. I got email from my friend Adrien at Tuff Betty Bags that the new Venus is out with my picture “like a billboard on Sunset” so now I am dying to see.