It was a GREAT day!!

 

I love my Hostess Appreciation Party (HAP) every year!!

 

SO.MUCH.FUN.

 

THANK YOU to all of you who were able to come!

 

I love having you all together–hanging with your clubbies, meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones…(loved you, Mary & Gloria!) I just love it. And sometimes I got to gab with you as well–though not nearly as much as I would have liked to for some reason this year.

 

To ALL my hostesses–even if you couldn't make it to The Party–and to ALL my customers, THANK YOU for your business, your friendship, your loyalty and probably so much more that I can't think of at the moment. You are part of my/our family, and I LOVE YOU!!

 

And THANK YOU to my family who ALWAYS help me make it happen–the HAP, clubs, camps, classes….I appreciate you.

 

 

We had a fun time at The Party, but I can't prove that with any pictures. Again.

 

Last year was the first time I remembered to take any pictures–or more like, have my kids take them. And now I forgot again.

 

 

BUT, I DO have projects to share–as well as recipes (FOOD!) that were requested. 🙂 It was SO yummy!

 

 

 

So let's start with a simple project first.

 

Totally going metallic:

 

 

Simple and gorgeous.

Well, I hope you can tell it is….I missed my sunny days for photos.

 

The lighting doesn't do it justice.

 

The set was Happy Watercolor; Colors: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake (ink), Early Espresso and Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum.

 

Did I share this trick online yet? When using VELLUM, adhesive shows through. But with this DESIGNER vellum, you can hide your adhesive on the back of the designs–ie: apply the SNAIL where the stripes are. 😉

 

Tada!! No show adhesive.

 

 

Ok, now for the food.

 

I hope your meatballs were hot. (Sorry if some of yours weren't!) We had electrical problems earlier in the morning, and one crockpot dealt with that easier than another. 😉 We didn't realize that until Elizabeth said her meatballs were barely warm. Aaahh!!!!

[No one else complained. Thank you for being gracious! But it's ok to tell me those things. Todd just switched out crockpots while the other heated up more.]

 

I'm not gonna lie….(I won't, Courtney!) The combination of [warm ;)] sweet & sour meatballs and Irish potatoes have to be near or at the top of my comfort food list. (And no, Julie, I have no clue WHY they're called "Irish", but–like you–I'll be Irish any day if you give me those potatoes!)

 

Also, I don't have a "recipe" for the fruit salad Todd made–except that it includes:

• strawberries that we picked
• blueberries that we picked
• peaches that we picked
• bananas that we picked in Hawaii (ha!! just kidding!!)
• fresh pineapple
• fresh kiwi

 

Here are recipes for everything we made. (They are pdf files. You'll need Adobe to open them.) You can click on the name to view/print each one–or [right] click and then [left] click on "save file as" to save the recipe to your own computer. Just choose where on your computer you want it to go before clicking SAVE.

Todd made the Apple Betty, too:

 

• Sweet & Sour Meatballs (made a double batch)
• Irish Potatoes (made a triple batch)
• Asian Chicken Pasta Salad
• Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
• Vegetable Dip
• Banana pudding (made a double batch)
• Apple Betty (made a double batch)

 

 

One last thing for today. I have a FREE Sale-a-Bration (SAB) item up for grabs.

 

Here's how you can win it:

 

I want your comments below.

 

Tell me your favorite part about the HAP Saturday ~or~

Tell me something you've loved about a past HAP ~or~

Vote for what dessert you want for next year ~or~

Tell me your favorite SAB item this year ~or~

Just tell me something you want to share ~or~

All of the above! 🙂

 

Let me hear what you think!

 

Comment by Tuesday midnight, and I'll randomly draw a name and contact you for your choice of free SAB item. I'll announce the winner Wednesday.

 

 

I'll be sharing more all week from the Hostess Appreciation Party, so check back tomorrow.

 

 

Have a fantastic week!!

 

 

Remember, if you can fall in love with a project, you can learn to create it! Here to help you channel your inner Creative Genius…

 

Steph

 

LIKE me on Facebook.

Follow me on Pinterest.

Subscribe to my FREE newsletter, and receive my "5 Tips for Making Fabulous Hand-Stamped Creations."