It's Raining, It's Pouring....

Yesterday, while visiting Jessica over at Jess's Obsession, (if you haven't gone browsing yet, you really should!!)  anyway, she mentioned that she was tired of the rain and fog.  So, Jess, this is for you and all our soggy friends out west.  Praying the rain ends for you soon.  Living in the hurricane part of the country, I do understand when too much rain is NOT a good thing.

I just received this super cute file from Regina at The Cutting Cafe called Rain, Rain Go Away.  How's that for timing?  It's just so stinking cute!!  33 images that include sentiments as well. 

I can't say I'm totally in love with this card.  I think the image in my head was somewhat different than what appeared on the paper but maybe that had something to do with only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before...ya think?!!

The gray clouds have a silver lining...I got a new glue for glitter and not happy with the gloppy look of it so scraped it off...it strings too like hot glue does.  Go figure.  I will order some of the best glue I've found for glitter from Art Institute.  She has the glitteriest glitter as well.  If anyone knows of another good glitter glue, please let me know.

I popped up the smaller cloud with a dimensional and the rain has the coolest clear dots from Fiskars called "Rain Dots".  Not the easiest to get off the acrylic sheet but I love the look of them.

I'm working on another card using the cute, cute boots from this set...stay tuned.

Supplies:  Paper - Neenah Classic white, SEI Black Orchid

Stamps - The Cutting Cafe

Ink - SU Basic Grey, Prismacolor marker, silver gel pen

Accessories - dimensional, Fiskars Rain dots, sewing machine, glitter, Cuttlebug embossing folder

 

Blog Candy Winner!

 Today's Saturday so that means that it's Blog  Candy Winner Day!                                                      

 

The winner of this adorable Heidi Grace is follower:  drumroll, please

Here are your random numbers:
29

Timestamp: 2010-01-23 19:17:22 UTC

Harriet aka HartofHearts   Congratulations, Harriet.  I will be contacting you for your address.

Thanks to all my follwers and stay tuned because you just never know when another BCTreat Saturday will pop up.

 

A Little Blog Candy Treat for You

Be sure to scroll down for newer posts as this one will stay on top until the 23rd.  The year in review follows.

 

Since so many of you have commented on the cute couple on my  "You and me" card, I thought I'd give you an opportunity to make one of your own! This is a 11 piece Heidi Grace set called "Valentine's Day" but would also be appropriate for anniversary, engagement congratulations or fun wedding cards.

I told you that I was going to be doing surprise giveaways  this year and this is one of them!  I want to thank those of you who have chosen to follow my blog and if anyone is new here and you choose to follow I'm giving you the opportunity to join in as well.

Saturay, January 23rd, I will be choosing,  by random number selection, one lucky winner from my followers.  If you're new, leave me a comment so I can stop by and say hello!

So, come on,  just follow me and have some fun!!

Stamp Simply #123 Challenge - Very Vintage...in 3D

Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Friday Challenge #123  this week is to make something in vintage style.  I had just purchased several vintage images from TwistedPapers.com including this one of these beautiful pale yellow roses.  My dear, dear longtime friend of the heart, Gloria, has a birthday coming up on Valentine's Day and I bought this with her in mind.  She used to grow the most awesome roses and was a member of the rose society in her town.  She would clip them and share the abundance.  There was no sweeter fragrance.

I had seen this 3D technique on the Spellbinder's blog last Saturday.  It's a little tricky getting that center just right but the result is so beautiful.  Sharon's vintage challenge spurred me on to get Gloria's card finished early. (what a shock!) I printed 9 of the rose image on a sheet of linen textured Bazill paper. It's a bit more creamy yellow than it appears in the photo.   I chose an oval shape for a more Victorian feel, the shimmery base paper is DCWV , the red has a subtle embossed background.  A bit of crocheted lace, some pearls and a bit of distressed edging finished it off.

Love to know what You think!

Supplies - Paper:  DCWV Luxury Stack, The Paper Co., Papertrey, Bazill Textured Linen
Stamps:  Flourished Words by Flourishes
Ink:  SU Old Olive, Choc. Chip
Accessories:  Glue dots, foam tape, Martha Stewart stick on pearls and edge punch, Crocheted lace, Cuttlebug vintage embossing folder, SU corner punch, Spellbinders scalloped oval dies, oval dies, circle dies

  

A Look Back

Several of my blogging friends have been doing sort of a year in review.  I thought it would be fun to look back at some of my favorites.  Of course, it wouldn't be complete without some of the yummy treats in there as well so here we go....

Appetizer & Dessert

Sabrina Gift Set

Digi Chick Bag

Life is Just a Bowla Cherries gift set

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail & Peter (I couldn't resist!)

Tri-Shutter Card

The Cutting Cafe Sweet Summer

MTCS#41 The Cutting Cafe Tiny Boxes

Elegant Wedding Roses Gift Set

Apple Box (1)  Apple Box (2)

Mercy's Sketch #44

Organize It

Fight Like a Girl

12 Days of Cookies

Hope you enjoyed the look back as much as I did.  You can find the links to the projects on the right.

 

MTSC57 - It's You and Me Baby!

Happy Tuesday.  I've got my DH's Valentine card all finished thanks to  Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge (MTSC57).  It's so much fun to be able to get back to some regular stamping time again. 

The "You and Me" sentiment is from the awesome Cutting Cafe's All About Valentine's Day digital stamp set.  This is one HUGE set!  I stamped over it with the cute couple from Heidi Grace.  I used rub-on sparkly hearts around the you and me sentiment and  Making Memories acrylic hearts are layered using glue dots.

Thanks to everyone who leaves a comment...you make my day!

Supplies:  Paper -  SU Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Real Red, Night and Day DP

Stamps - Digital stamp from The Cutting Cafe, Heidi Grace

Accessories - Martha Stewart punch, rub-on hearts, Making Memories acrylic hearts, glue dots, Prismacolor markers

 

Let's Use Teal

The Clean and Simple Challenge this week (CAS50) is "Let's use the rich color of Teal!"  We were to use teal with white and one other color.  I guess I cheated a bit using Old Olive for my leaves and stem but hopefully this will pass muster.  I kept it ultra clean by using only layers...no ribbon, no bling, no fancy cutwork.  I did pop the center panel up on dimensionals.  This simple layout would work for sympathy, thank you cards, and get well cards easily.   What do you think?

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic White, SU Black, SU Taken with Teal, SU DP Night and Day
Ink - Taken with Teal, Old Olive
Stamps - Papertrey Ink Floral Fusion
Accessories - dimensionals

Cutting Cafe All About Cupcakes Winner

Thanks to everyone who played along in the Giveaway for The Cutting Cafe's All About Cupcakes digital set.  The winner is...........

 

 

Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers:11Timestamp: 2010-01-18 17:45:18 UTC 

HazelQ said...

Mmmm that cupcake looks delicious :) it made me hungry lol, thank you for sharing the recipe. I like any kind of cupcake with a lot of frosting :P


Hugs


Hazel


Congratulations, Hazel!! 

Thanks for sharing your favorite cupcake and for following my blog!  Your All About Cupcakes will be on the way soon!

We're Giving Away Cupcakes!

Well, not exactly, but almost!  Regina, at The Cutting Cafe is at it again.  She gave us the challenge to use any set we wanted, create something with it and give the set we used to YOU.  After looking through my Cutting Cafe files, I think this set, All About Cupcakes is one of my all time favorites.  It's a HUGE set, full of cupcakes of all sizes, stands, circle sentiments, half circle sentiments, words.  Your imagination will just fill with ideas when you begin using these awesome digital elements.  This card is for our DIL's father so wanted the colors to be more masculine.    The cupcakes are colored to match a picture below.  (more temptation!) Each one is cut out and popped on dimensionals. The frosting is coated with Crystal Effects. Lots of sewing and some distressing on the image panels.  The CE on the inside cupcake wasn't dry...so it dripped but I couldn't wait.  :-)   If you want to win this set, scroll down to find out how.

Here's what inspired the cupcake on my card.  OMGoodness....This is the Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Frosting.  I've got to tell you, this frosting is so yummy I could eat it with a spoon.  Not overly sweet, super creamy and oh, so peanut buttery.  Want a bite?

 Chocolate Cupcakes &Peanut Butter FrostingMakes 14-15 large cupcakes 

12 T.unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 c. granulated sugar

2/3 c. light brown sugar, packed

2 extra large eggs, at room temperature

2 t. pure vanilla extract

1 c. buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature

1/2 c. sour cream, at room temperature

2 T. brewed coffee

1-3/4 c. all purpose flour

1 c. good quality cocoa powder

1-1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. kosher salt

Peanut Butter Frosting

Chopped peanuts, to decorate (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and both sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Lower the speed to medium add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.  On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in theirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture.  Mix only until blended.  Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (one rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is about right).

Bake in the middle of the oven for 18-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, cool completely and frost.  Sprinkle with chopped, salted peanuts, if desired.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 c. confectioner's sugar

1 c. creamy peanut butter (Skippy)

5 T.  unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 c. pure vanilla extract

1/4 t. kosher salt

1/3 c. heavy cream

Place everything but the cream in bowl of mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Mix on Med.low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with rubber spatula as you work.  Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth. 

Enjoy!!

Now, want to win the paper version from The Cutting Cafe?  Just go to this post and follow the directions. 

 

Happy Anniversary

This week, my dear DH and I celebrated 41 years of marriage.  Hard to believe so much time has passed since we met in our high school library.  As with all marriages, there has been laughter and heartache, good times and bad.  Looking back over the years, we have decided we've learned much.  One of the major things we've learned is that our marriage is better when we take "me" out of it and replace it with "we". 

This gorgeous card was made my DH.  He's become quite the cardmaker...actually, it's quite frustrating because he just goes into my room, chooses his paper, asks me where the ribbon and trims are, boots me out and in 30 minutes or less, produces something wonderful.  It takes me literally hours sometimes just to think of something!  He used a textured Bazzill paper, Martha Stewart punch, simple paper doilies (3 layered together),  some silk flowers I had found at Michael's in the floral dept. on clearance last year (and never used) and a brad from the Target $1 spot.  He layered a sheer dotted ribbon over a wider solid.  It's what's on the inside that I will store in my heart.  Hallmark can't compete.

Will You Be My Cupcake?...and a Giveaway

Oh, goodness, I sure hope so because if you're THIS cupcake, then I'm in love.  Not just in love, "smitten", yep, infatuated, enamored, charmed, beguiled, bewitched.  Before I unveil the cupcake (and the recipe so you can fall in love too) I'll show you how I packaged it up for Valentine's Day or any day you want to make someone feel smitten with you.

This particular cupcake is for my DH so I didn't want it to be flowery.   The box was in a package of 2 for $1 at our local dollar store. (If you don't have a dollar store nearby, Regina has a cupcake box you can print out.)  The cool cupcake and the sentiment are from The Cutting Cafe's All About Cupcakes.  Regina has really outdone herself on this huge set!  There are sentiments galore, cupcakes of every size and shape, cupcake stands and circle words all ready to punch out and add to your cards and gifts.  I chose to mix the top from one of the cupcakes with the bottom of another and simply glittered it up to match my box.  Stay tuned because I'll have a couple of other creations coming up using this super set. 

Regina is, once again, allowing us to give away whatever set we chose to feature.  I will draw by random number selector for this super set on Monday, January 18th.  Just leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite cupcake is.  I'd be honored if you decide to follow me as well.

Now for a close up of that cupcake.....

This is my all time favorite dreamy, creamy cupcake confection.  The recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa's Cookbook, takes mere minutes to whip up, makes 18-24 large cupcakes and is sure to WOW your guests. 

Coconut Cupcakes

3/4 lb. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c. sugar

5 extra-large eggs, room temperature

1-1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

1-1/2 t. pure almond extract

3 c. all purpose flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 c. buttermilk

14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

Cream cheese icing (recipe follows Not Ina's)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition.  Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In three parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry.  Mix until JUST combined.  Fold in 7 ounces of the coconut.

Line muffing pans with paper liners.  Fill each cup to the top with batter. (I use an ice cream scoop.)  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove to a baking sheet and cool completely.  Frost with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Cream cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 c. unsalted butter at room temperature

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 t. pure almond extract

1 pound confectioner's sugar, sifted

In bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, blend butter, cream cheese and extracts.  Add the confectioner's sugar and mix until smooth.

I'm off to eat my cupcake before someone else does! 

A Milestone deserves a Celebration!!

Thank you, thank you!  I've just hit 100 followers!  A milestone deserves a celebration.  Stamping Sam you are the 100th follower, so if you would kindly pm me your snail mail address, I'll send you both of these Inkadinkadoo clear stamp sets. 

Thanks everyone for hanging in there with me!  I'm nearly finished with all my calendars and am soooo ready to do some fun stamping.  I don't want to spoil the surprise for those receiving the calendars so will post them a month at a time.

Stay tuned...you never know when a comment or following my blog  could be a celebration for you, too!

A Card, A Calendar Page and a Cookie!

Gosh, it felt good to actually make a card...finally!  Had to take an unexpected trip to the doctor this afternoon as I've been having some uncomfortable symptoms.  She gave me an antibiotic and is running some tests so praying they come back ok.

 

This card is deceptively Clean and Simple.  The Clean and Simple challenge on SCS this week is to create a Valentine.  A little assist from The Cutting Cafe, a Making Memories Sabrina transparency sheet, a scrap of paper, a punch and some ribbon made this one super simple.  I simply copied one of the sentiments from The Cutting Cafe's awesome Valentine Big Stuff set using Print Shop directly onto my cardstock, added the transparency and embellishments and done!

 

Here's the calendar page I promised to post.  This year's calendar uses the template from Amuse. (proceeds donated to charity)  I had to make 24 sets this year so my embellishments were minimal.  My little Snow Angel (SU retired) has Flower Soft Polar White on the snowman's earmuffs, and the child's hat and coat sleeves.  I used my Prismacolor markers to color then glittered up the snow everywhere I could to make it sparkle.  The stand up calendar case with the nifty little sleeve to hold it in place is from calendar-case.com

    

And finally, a cookie!  Chocolate Crinkles....yum!  The secret to this cookie is not to overbake it so that it comes out soft and fudgy.  Cookies keep baking after they're removed from the oven so I take mine out a minute or so ahead of time.  The center of the cookie will look a bit shiny but that means it's not overdone, crumbly and dry.

  Chocolate Crinkles (about 6 dozen) 

2 c. sugar

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 t. vanilla

4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled

4 eggs

2 c. all purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. confectioner's sugar

 

Mix sugar, oil, vanilla and chocolate in large bowl.  Stir in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.  Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

 

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into confectioner's sugar; (I use a small scoop)  roll in the sugar to coat.  Shape into balls.  Place on parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet.

 

Bake 9-12 minutes (ovens vary) or until almost no indentation remains when touched.  Remove from cookie sheets to wire rack and cool.   Freezes well.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

   

Divine Influence - Oh my!!

Happy New Year, Everyone! Today is Monday and my dear sweet hubby has gone back to work. We had a divine holiday together...no traveling. We missed our kids and grandchildren dearly but without schedules to keep, our 9 days seemed like a month. We enjoyed a simple Christmas, lunches, dinners and movies with friends. A rare treat for us, as we usually do Netflix and eat at home.

Speaking of divine, I was humbled beyond belief to be asked several weeks ago, by the talented and "divine" Jessica, of Jess' Obsession, if I would consider being featured on The Divine Influence blog...my goodness! I was jumpin' in my chair. I gave Jess permission to choose the items to be featured so I hope you enjoy her tour through my blog.

My little apple box tutorial, using the apple card from The Cutting Cafe, was also featured on Print Radar. This sweet little box can be made larger or smaller to hold a variety of gifts and would make a delightful teacher gift.

Congratulations, Jessica! Jessica's first year blogging anniversary is January 15th. She's offering some "divine" blog candy to celebrate; so hop on over to Jess' Obsession and give her a shout out. While you're there, spend some time scrolling through her creations...you'll be glad you did!

Just Checking In

Hi,

Just a quick post to let you know I'm still here...my DH is on vacation this week so won't be able to get much if any stamping done. I will finish days 9-12 of the 12 Days of cookies beginning tomorrow. I'm starting to get stamping withdrawal symptoms!

Hope you all have a safe, happy and blessed New Year!