Apple Pie Recipe

Thank you to everyone who has emailed or called with such nice compliments about the previous post. In the spirit of full disclosure :-), I got the pie recipe from my daughter-in-law, however, I don't remember where she said she got it.  In any case, it's become one of our favorites.  The Perfect Pie Crust recipe came from a friend who owned a wonderful little restaurant called "The Peach Magnolia".  Don't you just love that name? 

I added the sugar to the top of the pie crust, both for eye appeal and that special sweet crunch that makes even people who never eat the crust, eat every bite!  I promise once you try this crust and see how easy it is, you won't ever be tempted to pick up a grocery store crust ever again.   The Pie Recipe will be in the following post.   Here you go...Enjoy!

Perfect Pie Crust

Makes 4 (8 oz.) crusts

4 c. white flour, lightly spooned into measuring cup

1 T. sugar

2 t. salt

1 3/4 c. shortening (I use butter flavor Crisco)

1/2 c. water

1 T. white or apple cider vinegar

1 large egg

Measure flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Stir well with a table fork.  Cut in shortening with a for or pastry blender until crumbly.

In small bowl, combine the water, vinegar and egg.  Beat with a fork or whisk until well blended.  Add to flour mixture a little at a time until moistened.  (you may not need it all depending on the volume of your egg).  You don't want it too wet, just thoroughly moistened.

Divide into 4 equal portions.  Shape each portion into a round patty.  Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper.  At this point crusts may be placed into a Ziploc freezer bag and frozen or later use.  If using right away, refrigerae for at least 30 min. before rolling out.

When ready to bake, thaw if frozen,  lightly flour a pastry cloth or counter. Roll to 1/8"  thickness.  Place into pie plate.  Fill and bake according to your pie directions.

For a baked shell, thaw, roll, prick the bottom and sides of the shell with a fork.  Refrigerate or pop in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  This will keep your crust from shrinking down the sides of the pan.  (I keep a Reynolds oven bag full of dried beans or rice in the freezer, when ready to bake a shell, I place the bag in the shell for the first 10-12 minutes of baking.  Remove the bag, and bake until golden brown...about 10 more minutes.  The bag can be wiped off and placed back in the freezer.

Bake the shell at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven or just until golden brown.  Cool and fill.

Be sure and see the next post for the Praline Apple Pie Recipe.

Blessings and Happy Baking!

Charlene

Appetizer and Dessert...Are you Hungry?

Appetizer, anyone? I haven't been stamping because I've been cooking (and getting those sale stamps ready!)

Since we ladies had our cookie exchange, I asked my DH if he'd like to invite a few friends over for a "guy night". Of course, where there are men, there must be food!

I made this Antipasto Salad and dressing, we got some really good shrimp at Sam's Club, I made homemade lasagna (no sauce from a jar allowed) :-)

I couldn't get a photo of the Lasagna because I had to vamoose out of the house before his friends arrived.
Edited: Recipe for Antipasto Salad and Dressing
1/2 med. head iceberg lettuce
1 small head curley endive or green leaf lettuse (I used green leaf)
3-1/2 oz. thinly sliced pepperoni
4 oz. thinly sliced genoa salami
6 oz. proscuitto ham
Optional - 2 oz. can anchovies with capers, drained
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1 c. radishes
1 c. mini carrots or carrot sticks
1 c. ripe & green olives (I bought small quantities of flavored olives at my deli)
8 oz. provolone cheese, cubed
Antipasto dressing

Shred lettuce, and spread on a large tray
Make a border of endive or green leaf lettuce. Arranges remaining ingredients on top of lettuce. Serve with dressing. Serves 10-12

Antipasto Dressing - This is very good on a tossed salad as well
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. white wine, red wine or balsamic vinegar
2 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried basil
1/4 t. dried thyme
1 t. honey
1/8 t. pepper
2 T. water
1 clove garlic, crushed

Combine all ingredients in a jar, cover tightly, shake well. Let stand several hours at room temp.

I did, however, get a photo of the desssert.....

Praline Taffy Apple pie. I made 3 of these yummy pies. Two for the guys....although they only managed to polish off one with ice cream. I gave one away and we shared the leftover one with friends tonight. I think there might be a couple of pieces left for breakfast! Does anyone else eat apple pie for breakfast? I think it's just about one of my favorites.

If you'd like either of the recipes, let me know and I'll post them. The pie crust is the Perfect Pie Crust I posted awhile ago. It's just about the best crust I've found other than a butter crust which is divine with Raspberry Rhubarb Apple Pie. The nice thing about this one, other than being flaky and delicious every single time, is that you can make and freeze it well in advance. I like to make several batches at the beginning of every season to take advantage of all the different fruits and fillings available.

Thanks for visiting. I'll have the sale stamps and a Valentine project posted soon.

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

The Last of Winter -ssnotime69

I finished off the last of my cards using sweet Elzybells Just a Note.  This one was a happy accident.  I sewed a border using a wiggle motion which I can do without a problem on my Pfaff...not so on my little Sew Mini.  The bottom threads were all looped.  I messed up the tension, I guess.

I was going to cover the stitches with paper but then I decided to pull out the stitching.  A paper pierced card without all that piercing.  Bet I could have done this with no thread in the machine. ...note to self!

 Supplies: 
stamps:  Elzybells
paper:  SU Cool Caribbean, Basic Grey DP, PTI white
Ink:  Versafine black, SU Ruby Red, Prismacolor markers
Accessories:  SU button, embroidery thread, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Label die, chipboard, sewing machine

Sorry for the lighting in these two...Can't wait for my birthday and that Softbox for my photos!  No more dingy pictures.  On this one, I used SU Craft white ink and a snowflake image to make the background paper.  Just added a few dew drops and done.

For my final card, I decided to see how simply I could make it.  This is hard for me but I'm pleased with the result.  Just a bit of Stickles, and the circle DP plus a bit of smudging with Close to Cocoa to match the coloring on the DP.  I stamped the background with SU Craft White again.  No DP, no ribbon, no dew drops.

Thanks for visiting...I'm still gathering stamps for sale and doing research on the pricing.  Will post them soon along with Valentine projects.  Good bye, Winter!

Blessings & Happy Stamping,

Charlene            

You've GOT to see this...and a For Sale Sign

Nicole left a nice comment here so thought I 'd visit her blog. You've got to go and see what this talented lady can do.

Awesome!

I have a pile of stamps and supplies from my room cleaning that I will be posting as soon as I can get pictures...gotta sell them before they make their way back to their places. A couple have done that already so will need some serious help.

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

Look What Lily the Fairy Did!!

Remember Lily the Fairy from here? Well, I guess she wasn't too happy being in that cute but somewhat plain box because look what she did.....
I do agree the Dew Drops are a huge improvement. Maybe I should have let her do this in the first place...you think? ;-) I'm pretty sure she adhered them with Crystal Effects so they're on there to stay. I think Shannon will like them, too!
Blessings and Happy Stamping,
Charlene

A Little Note...of Thanks

I just realized these cards qualified for Splitcoaststampers Limited Supply Challenge LSC201 - My Favorite Things. AND Sharon Johnson's SSnotime#69 and I wasn't even trying. That just does not happen often.

No more than 3 colors, just a few of my favorite accessories and embellishments for the LSC201 and a winter card for Sharon's #69 - Whoopee!!


I'm woefully late getting my Christmas thank you's in the mail. I think I may get them finished today. I love this little image from Elzybells that I got here last year. I love that is a multi purpose note card...good for a thank you, thinking of you or "just a note. It's still winter...even here in FL. I used scraps of my Basic Grey Dasher paper and various embellishments to make each one unique. I just hate multiples but by changing up the embellishments, each one becomes a little bit special. My colors are Riding Hood Red, Bali Breeze/Cool Caribbean and Old Olive.

Some are paper pierced, some machine stitched, some have Dew Drops or buttons. I used Diamond Stickles for her coat trim and the snow. I stamped all my images first onto Papertrey's white CS then cut them out with my Spellbinders label and circle dies. The cards are 4-1/2" X 4-1/4". You can click on the picture for a close-up.

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

The Truth Revealed

Didn't I tell you my desk wouldn't stay clean long?  I finally got to play a bit making thank yous (late thank yous, she said with her head down)

I can't seem to create without my stuff all out and around me.

The next post will reveal the result of this mess...


Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

The Rest of the Room....

Decided I'd better take the rest of the pictures of my room before it gets wild in there again. This is the little table that sits to my right...not ideal but all I have for now. It holds my Janome Sew-Mini, colored pens, markers, Punch Pal (great for punching if you have arthritis in your hands or fingers..old age stinks.) What I lack in table scape, I make up for in landscape. I have a small patio and a view of the lake out that big sliding door. On nice days, I can push the doors into the wall and literally expand the room outside.

This is the "buy" we found at Goodwill for $80. It's a solid pine wardrobe. I painted it black, replace the wood knobs with brushed nickel, and then my DH made shelves so I could store "stuff in it. See that mess on the floor to the left...that's where I take my photos. I've asked for a softbox for my birthday. That fluffy tail belongs to Chloe, our Goldendoodle. She had to come in and investigate.

Below is a sewing table from JoAnn's. It can fold to 12" wide and is on wheels so I can convert this room to a bedroom when our grandchildren visit. It holds my paper cutters, Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug, another Ott light. The bins are full of ribbon, inks, papers...someday, I'd love a paper stacker.

Finally, the closet holds all my SU stamps, more paper, more stuff, tins, etc. The shelves were my birthday present last year.

Now you can see Chloe's front half! She's a camera ham, I think.

That's it! It won't be this "clean" again this year. I'm blessed to have an entire room to play in. We keep one room as a guest room and my husband has his office so this is where I retreat to.

Thanks for visiting.

Blessings and Happy Stamping,

Charlene

Lily the Fairy

Isn't Lily just the sweetest fairy you've ever seen? You can download this image free here. Pink Cat Studio, is having a contest using Lily the Fairy. You just need to download her, copy and print and make a card, then send it to Melissa.

Our granddaughter's cousin will be 5 this month and she loves Strawberry Shortcake. I've been saving the Strawberry Shortcake pens, rings, earrings, lip balm, etc. I found in the Target $1 spot a few months ago to send to her. I just wasn't quite sure how I wanted to package them. When I saw Lily I knew she was the perfect delivery person.

Who said a card has to be made of just paper? I wrapped this little tin with DP from Imaginisce Fairest of Them All Collection that I got here. It's just the perfect little girl paper and it's double-sided!! I adhered it all with Scor-Tape, of course. The front is actually a pocket that hold a tag with Shannon's name on it.

I printed Lily on SU's Shimmery White CS and colored her with my PrismaColor markers. I cut her out, glittered her really good with Art Institute glitter. (It has the most awesome shine!) I used my Sakura glitter pen to trace all around her so she'd really have some fairy sparkle. After she was cut and glittered, I popped her up using dimensionals onto another piece of Shimmery White that I watercolored with Pearlescent watercolors in soft gold.

I stamped the inside sentiment using my JustRite Stamper oval stamper with the Birthday sentiment and the mini alphabet set.

I will add the rings, and earrings to these cute gel pens but wanted you to be able to see the inside.

Hope Lily inspires you, too!

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

A CLEAN desk (sort of) and my Punch storage

As promised, here is the photo of my now clean (for me, anyway!) desk. I love, love, love the flat rods we got at Ikea in the kitchen dept. They were under $3 each and they hold my SU punches perfectly. Did you notice those uber cool little holders hanging off the top rod? Those were like 99 cents each and hold my scissors, paint brushes and the like. I really could have used another rod. Our Ikea is a day trip away so can't just run out and get another.

Note to self: If you find something you love at Ikea...get several...you can use it SOMEWHERE!

While we're here, the other buy that I can't live without now that I have old eyes, is the Ott light. Isn't that a pretty one? I found it at a really good price at Tuesday Morning a long time ago. It was something like $57. Retails normally for over a $100 so I scooped it right up.

I haven't finished the shadow box frame yet but since my DH was in a honey do mood, I thought I better take advantage of his skills. The frame holds tiny notes and pictures from my granddaughter. I want to put DP behind them to highlight them. The board inside is linen so it can be changed easily as she and our grandson grow. Got the frame on clearance at Target for $7.

You can just barely see my Janome Sew Mini in the bottom right corner. I wish I had a desk that wrapped around but since I don't, I have a stainless table that sits to my right and holds extra "stuff". It has a shelf underneath the solid surface so that makes it nice.

My desk is actually a computer desk. Not ideal as it isn't as wide or deep as I'd like but it does have drawers and what's really cool is that it has extra outlets built in. Nice for keeping my sewing machine, heat gun, and the like plugged in with a master switch for turning off the power.

I'll post pictures of the rest of the room later.

Blessings,

Charlene

One last Christmas Cookie Post and a Goal

No pictures to post today. I must admit, I must clean my craft room before I can get to any solid surface in there. Haven't set foot in there since before Christmas and it's ugly, really, really, ugly.

My DH did hang some cool rods I found at Ikea to store my punches on. When I can get to the desk and take a photo, I'll post it. Only wishing I'd bought a few more as our Ikea is so far away.

Pam asked for a list of the cookies I made at Christmas. Here goes:

Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clusters
White Chocolate Chunk Macadamia Cookies (dipped in white chocolate) mmm-mmm!
Russian Teacakes
Clear the Cupboard Cookies (Southern Living recipe good for every day munching)
Crinkled Fudge Truffle Cookies
Minty Middles
Lemon Crinkles
Raspberry Pinwheels
Date Nut Pinwheels
Expresso Pinwheels
Greek Twists
Lemon Sugar Cookies
Princess Gems (very fragile, uses ammonia powder (!) and oh so good!)
Lora's Ginger Cookies
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies drizzled with white chocolate
Martha Stewart's Giant Gingerbread Snowflakes and Stars
Jan Hagels
Tiger Butter
Peppermint Bark

I usually make Baklava too, but just ran out of time this year...it's a once a year treat that will have to wait until next year.

Happy New Year Everybody. Hope to have some fun Valentine projects soon!

Blessings,
Charlene

Cookies and a Recipe

Thought you might like to see what the cookies looked like going out the door. This was about 1/2 the cookie trays I made up for my sweet neighbors and friends

I wish I had taken a picture BEFORE I wrapped them but this next one is as close as I could get so you could get an idea of how they looked. You can click on the picture to see how big the Gingerbread Snowflakes (and stars!) are in relation the rest of the tray. I use them as the topper for the trays.

I added some reindeer food to this one for the kids next door...they're just the right age for it.

And, finally, what they look like going back into the freezer for the next round of trays!

Pam said she'd like to see Martha's recipe for the Gingerbread Snowflakes. They are really yummy and make a beautiful presentation when frosted with Royal Icing. These are wonderful for Valentine's day hearts as well.

Gingerbread Snowflakes

6 c. all purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1 c. unsalted butter

1 c. packed dark brown sugar

4 t. ground ginger

4 t. ground cinnamon

1-1/2 t. ground cloves

1 t. finely ground black pepper

1-1/2 t. coarse salt (I used kosher salt)

2 large eggs

1 c. unsulfured molasses

Royal Icing (recipe follows)

Coarse sugar and/or edible glitter for sprinkling

1. Sift together flour, bakind soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. (Sometimes I just measure it all in and use a whisk to blend and lighten the mixture. The whisk adds air just like sifting)

2. Place butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, mix on medium speed until fluffy.

Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Divide dough into thirds. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate at least an hour or until cold. (Overnight is ok, too)

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface to 1/4" thick. Cut using a 7" snowflake cutter (if using this large size, you will get approximately 16 giant cookies. If you use smaller cutters, you will get more)

I actually roll my dough directly onto my silicone pan liners so I don't have to move them from the counter to the cookie sheet and risk breaking or altering the shape. You could also roll them onto parchment paper and lift that to your cookie sheet for baking.

4. Bake cookies until crisp but not dark, about 12-14 minutes. Cool about 1 minute on the cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool, you can store covered if you don't have time to decorate right away.

5. Put icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip ( I use Wilton #2 or #3). Pipe designs on snowflakes; immediately sprinkle with sugar or glitter and allow to dry completely at room temperature (several hours) before storing. Layer each cookie with waxed paper in an airtight container up to 5 days at room temperature.

Royal Icing (Snowflakes will use 1/2 this amount)

1 lb. confectioner's sugar

5 T. meringue powder (you can get this at Michael's or Walmart)

a scant 1/2 c. warm water

Put sugar, powder, and water in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low until smooth, about 7 minutes. If icing is too thick, add more water a little at a time; if too thin, mix icing 2-3 minutes more.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Charlene

Gingerbread and Chocolate!

Edited: I added another photo of several more of the boots I made as gifts. Added hot chocolate with the Lindt chocolates.

Sorry, I haven't had a chance to post for awhile. The "bakery" has been in full gear making up for lost time. I managed to finish 19 kinds of cookies and 2 batches of candy.

Yesterday, I decorated my Martha Stewart gingerbread snowflakes. This is Martha's recipe and it's absolutely delicious. The snowflakes are 7 inches across. My favorite part is decorating them with Royal Icing and sprinkling with coarse sugar or edible glitter....you know how much I love glitter and now I can eat it too. Not much flavor but oh so pretty.

If you'd like to see the recipe for the gingerbread, let me know and I'll post it.

I did manage a few of these for gifts. Aren't they just the cutest? The template was designed by Lauren Meader for Papertrey. The boot is actually quite large so I filled it partially with paper shreds before adding the Lindt chocolates. I used my Janome Sew Mini to zig-zag stitch the toes and heels of my boot with some scraps of Basic Grey Dasher paper. The cute tag was made using Papertrey's Holiday Tag collection. I punched the white layer with SU's 1-3/4 inch punch and the Basic Grey layer with the scalloped circle punch. A sweet gift in no time at all. BTW, the download for the boot is absolutely FREE.

Thanks for visiting and may you have a blessed Christmas remembering that Jesus is the reason we can celebrate with such joy.



Merry Christmas and Blessings for a healthy New Year.

Charlene

Christmas Cards in 10 minutes or less

I think it was a couple of weeks ago or so that Tammy Hershberger posted a challenge on Paper Craft Planet to mass produce some cards. Well what better time than Christmas to get some done especially when Sharon Johnson also posted a 10 Minute Tuesday challenge for simple cards some time ago. I combined the two with some K & Co. snowflakes that I bought last year (I know, I know...but I AM using them!), Papertrey's Snowflake Serenade, a SU snowflake and my snowflake punch, just two colors of ink per card and some Martha Stewart clear gem stickers.

The picture shows the outside of the card on the left and the inside on the right.

Each card takes LESS THAN 10 minutes!! For me, that qualifies as a minor miracle!!

Here's a partial look at the 20 cards I made in under an hour.

What fun and each just a bit different because the focal snowflakes are just a bit different just like real snowflakes. . I removed the gem from the center of a few solid white ones and added a punched snowflake to pull in my color but most had some color in them. Each snowflake came already glittered so IRL these really have some neat sparkle and they already had a dimensional on the back.

Ok, now let me see what you can do in an hour....no layers, no ribbon, but as much sparkle as you want!

Supplies: Cardstock: SU Whisper White

Ink: SU Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss, Cool Caribbean

Accessories: Snowflake punch, MS clear gems, K&Co. Snowflakes

Merry Christmas and Happy Stamping!

Charlene

Joy, Love and Peace be to You!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I was laid low with whatever virus it is that the snowbirds brought to Florida.  I rarely get sick but this one sent me running to the doctor.  After a week on antibiotics, I'm still all nasally...is that a word?  HBP prevents me from taking any decongestants so I just sound like I'm in a tunnel coughing and blowing.

I didn't even feel like stamping so I KNOW I was sick.  Bad timing, huh?

I made these blocks last year so thought I'd get them out and display them with my Santa elves.  I love making them too.  I can pose them any way and they're happy to oblige.  I painted the blocks with white acrylic then Mod Podged with Dasher DP from Basic Grey, sanded, sprayed with clear acrylic sealer and then Glitter Mist.  I used Making Memories Rub-Ons for the wording.  A labor of love but so cute on a shelf or here on one of the cut-out windows looking into my dining room. 

The elf pattern came from a magazine many years ago.  It called for some kind of cottony batting for the beard but I had some maribou feathers in my stash so I used those and loved them so much, I use them all the time.  The noses are Femo clay...yes, I roll and bake each one.  The arms and legs are bendable and they sit by themselves.  I think each one has its own personality. 

I have TONS of baking to do so not sure how much I'll be able to post but will try as I get some things finished.

Christmas Blessings and Happy Stamping New Year!

Charlene

SSC08 - Mass Produced

Quick post for a bunch of quick cards.  Tammy Hershberger  is hosting day 3 of Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Celebration of her blog anniversary.

The challenge was to mass produce cards for any occasion.  These are getting tucked into presents as  stocking stuffesr for family members who are also stampers.  I left a space at the top so they can stamp a greeting of choice....or not.  I thought this design would be perfect for thank yous especially after the holiday parties but also fitting for birthdays or almost any other occasion.

The base of my cards are gorgeous Fabriano Mediovalis notecards.  These are handmade Italian paper that is super lush, take color beautifully and have an elegant deckle edge on all sides.  The stamps come from Papertrey Ink's First Fruits.

I first stamped the elegant leaf design in Palette Dark Chocolate on all the cards.  Then I inked up the pineapple base in More Mustard, then rock and rolled it in Close to Cocoa.   I stamped the top leaf in Spring Moss adding the side leaves lastly.  I will tie these together with the envelopes in that great dark chocolate satin ribbon from the Target wedding department and done.  Simply elegant, simply fast, simply mass produced. 

Thanks Tammy for the challenge.  You just proved we do have time to stamp!

Blessings and Happy Stamping!
Charlene

Lily's going to a Party!

Don't you just love Lily?  She's a cutie from Pink Cat Studio.
Her friend, Billy is a sweetheart too but he wasn't invited to this party.  Girly girls, only.  :-)

Tomorrow is my granddaughter, Ann's 6th birthday.  She is definitely a girly girl and so is Lily.  I fell in love with this paper from Imaginisce.  It's called "Fairest of Them All".  Pure girl.

I saw a challenge on Paper Craft Planet and used that as my inspiration.  The original challenge called for only two embellishments on the right side but Lily insisted on three.  She just didn't think two were enough. 

Lily is cut out and popped up on dimensionals with her balloon stamped on the SU Pretty in Pink behind her.  I paper pieced her dress and her balloon.  Her skin and hair are colored with Prismacolor markers.  I used a Martha Stewart white marker to add the dots.  Stickles make her sash and hair bands really sparkle IRL.  I just love how she turned out...I hope Ann does, too.

Happy Birthday, Miss Ann!!

Supplies:  Stamps - Pink Cat Studio, Papertrey Ink
Paper - SU Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Papertrey white, Imaginisce DP
Accessories - Organza flowers (Michael's), MS pearls (Michael's), MS white marker, dimensionals, Stickles

Blessings and Happy Stamping,

Charlene

Sneak Peek at 2009

For several years now, I've been making these calendars for family and friends...last year being the exception...just didn't get them finished. When you figure I do about 25 times 12 months...well, you get the idea. I'm not going to post every month...yet...because these are gifts and I don't want to spoil it, but this one is going to be donated for an auction so thought I'd give you a sneak because I also made

this box to put it in.
Don't you just love it?

This is the first box I've constructed for a specific project. I must admit, the bottom was easy peasy. It's just an 81/2 x 11 piece of SU Real Red. I laid it on my Scor-Pal, laid the calendar on top, measured my ends, then flipped the CS and did it again. I cut the flaps, folded and secured with Scor-Tape and done.

The top, however, gave me fits. I've made lots of boxes so I'm not sure what in the world the issue was, (maybe because it was 11:00 p.m. and the brain was already asleep?) but it took 4 trys before I got it right.

I am thrilled with the way it turned out. If you're interested in seeing how I did it, let me know and I'll post a photo tutorial.

The cardstock is Martha Stewart Gingerbread collection,(Michael's) tag is from Papertrey's Holiday Tag Collection, stamped in SU Garden Green, cut with Spellbinders Circle dies.


Charlene

Kicked Up Serenity and Hot Cocoa

Remember this Cocoa card? Well, I wasn't really happy with the plain look of it, so I decided to "kick it up a notch"...

First, an apology for the photo...not sure what's with my camera...got a new battery but it still occasionally takes a grainy photo...and in this one, the brads are blindingly bright and I couldn't dull them....Oh, well.

This is the exact same hot cocoa gift card but here are the changes I made:

1. I added a strip of the patterend paper that I used on the chipboard flower.
2. I moved the flower a bit to the right.
3. I added the sentiment, cut with Spellbinders die, stamped first in Really Rust, then Versamark and clear heat embossed.
4. Sponged the edges of the sentiment panel and added a smaller brad (SU) and ribbon.
5. Used a rust/copper colored gel pen to add dots to the sentiment panel as well as to both sides of the tan border strip although you can't see them well in this photo.
6. Used a Basic Grey magnetic dot as the closure instead of the ribbon...

What do you think?

Blessings and Happy Stamping,

Charlene

Serenity and Hot Cocoa

Today's project is inspired by Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply #62 Write It on Ribbon. You could use ribbon with writing on it or stamp on ribbon...or as Sharon did, make your own.

I've had this ribbon for ages...admit it, you have some like that too. :-) I had other plans for this project but decided to use some of my hoarded ribbon and besides it was the perfect sentiment for the person to whom I'm giving this little gift. What is more serene and peaceful than a steaming cup of gourmet hot cocoa on a cool Florida night? We don't get many of them so we have to take advantage of the fireplace, chili and hot cocoa when we do.

Here's the inside...there's a gift certificate tucked behind the hot cocoa but don't tell anyone. The wonderful template for this design can be found on Debbie Olson's blog. She has great style.

I printed the template directly on my Crate Paper Cowgirl cardstock. This a soft red with very pale blue dots. I can't wait to use it again. I LOVE Crate Paper. It's got a great weight, beautiful texture and awesome patterns. Wish I could have them all. The chipboard flower (SU) is covered with another pattern from the Cowgirl collection. I adhered it with Mono-Multi, trimmed and sanded the edges then added the flower brad - another SU pretty. I popped the flower up on dimensionals to make sure the ribbon would show.

Since the gift certificate will be signed, I didn't add anything to the solid panel but if you do, I would suggest doing it before taping the box together.

Supplies:

Paper: Crate Paper Cowgirl Collection
Accessories: Chipboard flower, flower brad (Stampin Up), ribbon - Michael's, Colluzzle, Scor-Tape

Blessings and Happy Stamping,
Charlene