Hello Creative Friends -- My name is Annie Collins. I am one of the new design team members for the wonderful Cookin' Up Creations. I am a stay at home mom of 3 incredible children; ranging in age from 10+ ( soon to be 11) to 22. I have 2 daughters. I have 1 son. I have been married to my best friend Francis for 23 years. He is an amazing and supportive husband. Together we have 3 super cute and funny dogs (Shadow, Buster & Dusty). We all live in sunny Kissimmee, FL. I was born in NY, grew up in NJ and lived in PA for a while after my husband came home from the Marine Corps after being called in for Desert Storm; before moving to FL. I have been crafting my entire life. I thank my mother for introducing me to the crafting world. I have been scrapbooking for over 14 years now. I enjoy sharing my love for scrapbooking, card making and general crafts. I can't wait to get to know all of you. 

Here are some of my layout and project.

Hi Everyone!  My name is Michelle and I am a new challenge team member for Cookin Up Creations.  I thought I would take a few minutes and introduce myself.

I live in the Pacific Northwest. I am so happy to be part of the Challenge Team here at Cookin Up Creations.  I have been happily married to my husband Russ for over 12 years.  We have an old kitty that rules our house.  I work full time for a wholesale apparel dealer.  Thanks to my good friend Linda who introduced me to scrapping, I have been scrapping for about 10 years.  When I am not scrapping or crafting my husband and I like to spend time exploring.  We move to Washington about 2 years ago and there is so much to see here.  We love to explore, fish and just spend time out on our boat. I’m excited to be here and can’t wait to create with everyone.

Here are some of my favorite layouts

This is my granddaughter dressed as a princess

This is my daughter and her baby picture.

This is my granddaughter's 1st trip to the beach

Thanks to Tammy and Shawn for this opportunity.  I look forward to creating with all of you!



Good Evening Everyone -

I just wanted to take a quick moment and tell you how absolutely thrilled I am to be able to announce our new Challenge Team here at Cookin' up Creations. This is an amazing group of talented young ladies and I'm excited that they are going to be sharing their creativity and enthusiasm with each of us here...

Let me introduce each one to you:


Annette Easton

Annie Collins

Barb Prendergast, Challenge Team Coordinator

Cassy Suszek

Jan Mosier

Jo Luty

Michelle McDonald

Sandy Liles

Tamara Reed

Congratulations to each and everyone of these ladies!!

*Formal introductions and Bios to be posted later this week!

Still time to join the party!

Our third  Birthday Bash Celebration is entering its final week on the Cookin' Up Creations forum. If you haven't stopped by yet, there's still time to join the party! A new challenge goes up daily, with plenty of others from throughout the month to choose from. The deadline will be in early July, so you can still get in on the prize drawings, too!

Our party guests are turning out some fantastic layouts and projects. Here's a cutie from Nikki Dee, in response to the June 2 Challenge -- "Have Your Cake and Eat It Too":

Our June "Chef of the Month", Annette, created this bright page for the June 7 "3-6-5" Challenge, featuring 3 photos, 6 buttons and 5 different paper strips:

You can still get in on the Birthday Bash Banquet menu challenge, all of the daily challenges, and many of the games. So what are you waiting for? Put on your party hat (or .... you can make one for our June 11 challenge) and come on over!

Layout of the Week 6/20/12 -- ScrappyJo!

Master Chef Challenge Team member Jeannie chose this gorgeous layout by fellow team member Jo as our Layout of the Week for June 20.

Jeannie said,

"I chose this layout because I looked at our gallery three times today, and it just kept popping out at me! I love all the colors and pretty embellishments. They work so perfectly with the pictures of the dress."

Congratulations, Jo!

You can see this layout and a whole display of others by our creative members at the Cookin' Up Creations Forum Gallery. And be sure to check out our month-long Birthday Bash Celebration, with a new challenge EACH DAY, games and more. Join in the fun on our Forum.

Have a great week!

It's a Party!

As you know you can't have a real party without cake, lots of pretty decorations and presents......am I right?  And if you're bringing a present then you need something to carry it in....whether it's a gift wrapped box or bag.  Annette, our Chef of the Month challenged us to make our very own gift bags out of pattern paper.

Here's Annette's bag.

 And here are a few of our member's bags.

Cute huh?  Be sure to check out the forum here to see how you can make your very own gift bag.  And while you're there check out the many other challenges that have been posted this month..

LOTW 6/13/12 - WANDA!!!!

As soon as I saw this layout by Wanda, I fell in love with it!!!!   I love the colors and how the layout captures the spirit of the girls...

We are so glad to have Wanda back with us at CUC and we can't wait to see what
 else she comes up with!!

Join the Party!!!

Cookin' Up Creations' is celebrating its 3rd birthday and there is still plenty of time to join in the fun!!

There are lots of fun challenges, games and lots of prizes to be found here!

Here are just a few of the challenges that were started this past week...

Tuesday's "title challenge" by Jan... 

Wednesday's "over the hill" black and white challenge by Rebecca...

Patti's "365 challenge" from Thursday...

A "use your stash challenge" from Jo...

Saturdays Sketch challenge to "Bring in the Clowns" by Bev...

On Sunday, Tammy used the CUC colors to create some birthday cards..

And today, Sandy gave us this fun birthday hat challenge..

Come take a look at all the birthday challenges and join in the fun...not to mention a chance at some great prizes too!!

We've got the party started!!!!!

Our  Birthday Bash Celebration has gotten off to a great start on the Cookin' Up Creations forum! We're turning three and that means a NEW challenge each day through the end of June, along with a few extra challenges and lots of fun games. We also have prizes donated by generous sponsors including Reminisce, Diecuts With a View. Core' dinations, Just Imagine/Kreaxions, Stampin' Up demonstrator Beth Camp, and more!

Along with the challenges, Master Chef Challenge Team member Bev Code provided a tutorial on making these adorable little treat baskets - and you don't need an expensive die or a die cutting machine!

These were made b two of  our Birthday Bash "guests" --

Beth:

Cassy:

To get the tutorial and try your hand at these, go to Bev's challenge here. And be sure to check out all the challenges, games and fun on the forum this month!

Our layout of the week is brought to you by Beth Camp!  Isn't her layout wonderful?  I love how her photo's look like they are coming up out of the garden with the flowers.
Beth completed this layout for Jo's TV themed challenge about the TV show Three's Company! 
I really do like this Beth!