Lucy's Play Date

Every now and then, I host a play date at my house. It's all about finding the child inside of you and letting her play. Today....a perfect play date! Eleven of us, gathered in my basement studio for chocolate, food, and creative play! Here's Shelly & Karen:



And Kathy:



From left in the back, Tanny, Karen, Sherri, Peggy
In front, Shelly, Judy, Rose, Kathy & Kathleen

Colleen & I were taking the photos.



We all had lunch at Zamparelli's where I presented Nancy with her new cigar box purse. I do think she liked it!



Today, we made star books with tags using the Bind-it-all. Here's one that Shelly did using bosskut dies. Oh dear...I might have to have some of these dies. They are just so delicate and intricate..I just love them!



Karen did this one using stamps



And Peggy made this one using 3D pop-ups:



Mine is called "My ABCs"



And it's made to look like a sampler:




I used Ranger ink to distress the tags and tried to place the pages in the color of a rainbow







It seems that every time we meet, there are always leftovers from lunch. The girls will put them in the refrigerator to keep throughout the afternoon. But every time, Sherri seems to leave hers behind. So today, she literally put her car keys on top of her leftovers inside the refrigerator. That way, she couldn't go home without it! LOLOL!



Such an amazingly talented and fun group. I am so honored to have each of these gifted women as my friends.

Good food, chocolate, friendship and creative play. Life is perfect!

Kiss the Cook

After cooking for 33 years, I decided that when I retired from the office, I would retire from the kitchen as well! LOL! OK, so I do still cook, but not near as often or as much as I did when the boys were growing up. We do tend to eat out a lot and I've already blogged about our favorite place, Zamparelli's.

In my recent craze of doing cigar box purses, I decided to do one as a gift for Nancy, one of the owners of Z's. And I just think this little purse it way too cute!



It's relatively difficult to find Italian embellishments. So the grapes are from a broken necklace. Not bad, huh?



Basic Gray paper, lots of Peeled Paint and Spiced Marmalade inks as those are the colors on the wall inside the restaurant. I used Glossy Accents to adhere everything. This side is all EK Success stickers....distress, inked, taken apart, put back together as a collage....I like the bread board.



More EK Success stickers. I just love them! Fun how you can totally change the look by distressing them.



For the back, I just printed out their website logo.



The beads on the handle are from another old necklace. I buy them at garage sales and flea markets every chance I can. Thrift stores are another good source for broken bits of jewelry. Never know when it will come in handy.



Looking straight down on the top of the purse....quite a collage of things! But just so much fun!!!



In the top right corner, I just had to giggle when I came across the wine opener and the tiny cork. Perfect for this piece.



In the lower left hand corner, more tiny charms, the pot holders are more EK Success that have been inked.



The chef's hat, more EK Success. and the wine glasses, more pieces of jewelry.



I'm going to surprise Nancy with this on Monday when I'm taking 10 gals over for lunch (again!). Kiss the cook? Anyone who wants to cook lunch for me deserves more than that! Think she will like it?

One must eat in order to create!

I don't know about you, but eating has always been a big part of my life! Usually 3 meals every day. Once in awhile, though, I get so involved in what I'm doing that I forget to eat. But trust me, one look at me and you will know that's a rare day! LOL! We need to feed our bodies and our brains fuel so we can be the artists that we are.

Not too long ago, Kerry and I wandered into a neighborhood bistro. Nestled in between the local liquor store and a cigar shop (can I say gorgeous cigar boxes for just $2.00 each? Makes my day!) A little Italian bistro named Zamparelli's. Now, we are usually pretty quiet people when we go somewhere to eat....just order, eat and leave. But from the first moment, we absolutely fell in love with this place. And we started going back almost once a week (ok, we do love to eat out!) We are by no means on a first name basis with the owners, but they often chat with us...I think because they see us so much! I heard from the cigar shop that they were a couple of 5 star chefs who lived in New York City and wanted to "get out of town". I had to laugh. Lafayette, Colorado......slightly "out of town"!!!

Tonight, we had the BBQ pizza that doesn't have any red sauce on it, but a very sweet BBQ sauce and red onions. Oh my gosh...just divine. But then Kerry reminded me that it could be the Blood Orangecello Cosmos (yes! that is plural!) that made the pizza taste so dang good! Oh! ha! I swear...I have found a new drink....it just goes down so smooth but I do have a "2 drink limit" on this one. How do I know it's time to stop? My entire nose, cheeks and mouth go numb and my toes want to curl! LOLOL!!! I seriously do not drink....but I may have to change that statement after tonight! By the way, they make their own Blood Orangecello on site!

If you live anywhere in Colorado or Wyoming, you must stop in....at Hwy 42 and Arapahoe Road in Boulder County. Just tell them JLo sent ya and they will look at you like you are insane! Be sure to try the cheesey garlic bread with marinara sauce. The garlic soup is great as a dip for their bread. Oh, I do love their meatball sandwich and on occasion will just buy the rolls to bring home. I am not a fan of ricotta cheese at all, but they made me a calzone with just mozzarella, chicken and ham...oh! just to die for!!! I dare you to eat the whole thing...I just don't think it's possible!

I'm taking all 10 gals from my 3rd Thursday group there this month...we'll stop next door and buy cigar boxes to alter and then have a great lunch! If you are ever close by, just call...I'll be more than happy to drop what I'm doing and join you there! Of course, I have to tell you about the cheesecake. Imported from New York City....it's true cheesecake at it's best!

It's a good thing I'm stuffed or I'd have to go back!!! I should be ready to create all day long tomorrow!!! But how fun that we can live right here and experience food from New York City! It really is a small world!