Triple Berry Jam All Dressed Up

I just love that I can combine my passions - cooking/baking, stamping, and gifting. It's so much fun to bless someone with something you've made. I guess that's why we all love stamping so much.

I created a belly band of sorts to wrap around my jam instead of a tag this time. The lid is pretty enough to stand on its own so no need to cover it up.

The band is a 1" strip of Papertrey Bitty Box DP wrapped and taped to circles cut with the scalloped circle dies from Spellbinders. The outer circle is PTI Pure Poppy, next smallest is Bitty Box DP and the center circle was stamped with a sentiment from Papertrey's Fruitful set along with my own computer generated jam name. Simple and easy.

The card is 4.25" square. The base is SU White layered with PTI Plum Pudding and Pure Poppy Bitty Box DP. I cut the scalloped layers with my Martha Stewart punch. I used the SU horizontal slot punch to punch each side of the white layer, then tied Pure Poppy ribbon to each end. The berries are from PTI's Fruitful. I stamped them on my white layer then stamped another set, cut them out and layered them with dimensionals. Triple Berry is strawberry, blackberry and blueberry. No blueberry stamps so two blackberries are standing in. Shhhh, don't tell!!

The blackberries were inked with Plum Pudding then rock and rolled ever so slightly in Pure Poppy...just like the real thing. The strawberry is stamped in Pure Poppy. All stems were inked with Old Olive and stamped off before adding to the berries. I touched the berries slightly with Sakura jelly roll pens to give them some subtle shine.

I appreciate your comments....you just never know when a surprise may be coming your way!

Blessings and Happy Stamping!

Embossed Wax Paper Resist

I went way out of my comfort zone to try a new technique. One of the Technique Challenges on SCS was Embossed Wax Paper Resist (TLC219). Scroll down to the #1 post for instructions.

I'm usualy not one for anything that sounds like it might be messy but the results I saw in the gallery were beautiful so I thought I'd give it a try. Basically, you run a sheet of waxed paper and an embossing folder through your Cuttlebug, Big Shot, etc. You place the embossed waxed paper between two pieces of glossy cardstock shiny side facing in and then iron over the paper. Remove the waxed paper and throw it away. Run your brayer over your ink pad then over your ironed cardstock. The image appears like magic! You may have to run the brayer over your glossy cardstock several times. Wipe with a paper towel to remove excess ink and you're ready to create. You will end up with a postive and a negative image.

I decided to use the darker image and combine it with last Tuesday's Color Challenge CC225 Krafty Saffron Nights. (Kraft, So Saffron, Night of Navy), and one of the images from The Cutting Cafe's Happy Birthday 40 Ways set. Having those Birthday images printed out and ready to go made this card super fast with no worries about uneven or crooked stamping. I'm the worst for that. My brain loses something between the right and left sides. :-( In addition,

I can make the sentiments any size I want! How cool is that!?

A really fun and easy technique that I will definitely try again. Be sure to try it out!


Blessings and Happy Stamping!!

Blog Candy Giveaway at Hand to Paper

We had a lovely dinner with friends yesterday, sat through a torrential downpour of rain, but were rewarded with the most incredible fireworks sponsored by one of our local car dealers. It was a wet yet wonderful 4th of July celebration. The peach cobbler tasted as good as it looked, thankfully, and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.....mmmmm

Happy July 5th. No new creations to share with you today but I just had to tell you that Regina at Hand to Paper has, not only the cutest creations, but is giving away 4 (!!) That's Four downloads of your choice from The Cutting Cafe!!

All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog but hurry because it ends tonight.

There's also a patriotic blog hop going on beginning here that is sure to get your creative juices flowing for the Labor Day weekend.

Hubby is home today so back to work on the laundry room. Hope to have something to share with you tomorrow.

Blessings!!

Happy Independence Day! and Peach Cobbler

Happy Independence Day, Everyone! I hope you're taking this opportunity to thank God for the blessings we have living in a country that's free and for the brave men and women who have and are giving their lives so we can remain so.

I feel our personal liberties are being slowly eroded away so we must be ever vigilant and prayerful.

Now about this hot, bubbly delight.....
Mmmm, remember these peaches? Well, as promised, here's the cobbler...still bubbling and hot from the oven. I used the Perfect Pie Crust recipe here and cut it into uneven strips. I just think it makes it look more homemade.

The recipe for the cobbler filling is super simple:

8-10 c. fresh peaches, washed, peeled and sliced
2 c. sugar
4-6 T. cornstarch (depending on the juiciness of your peaches)
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1 t. vanilla
3 T. butter

Place sliced peaches into a 13x9 baking pan. Mix sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg together in a small bowl. Sprinkle over peaches. Drizzle vanilla over peach mixture. Toss peaches gently, dot with butter. Cover with strips of pie crust or leave the crust whole and cut vent holes with a knife.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 25-30 min. or until the peaches are tender. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Yum!

Blessings!!

Heartfelt Thanks 4th of July style!

How's this for a tease? Actually, this tag from a purchase at Bass Outlet store has been reborn as my tag on this gift for the hostess of the 4th of July gathering we're going to tomorrow.

Sharon Johnson has a challenge on her blog today to use stars and stripes. This particular entry is more like stars and strips but I think it fits.

I took a jar of my Triple Berry Jam (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry...YUMMY recipe in the Sure-Jell pkg.) because of its rich red/blue color, added some ribbon, a pail from the $1 bin at Target, some red excelsior, some stars I got on clearance after Christmas and my tag.

The red solid and the DP are scraps left over from my God Bless America post yesterday. I printed the name of the jam with my computer using the Lucinda Handwriting font in Word then cut it out with my Cuttlebug. I layered my image star on two stars from the 4th of July set at the Cutting Cafe.

The card also uses scraps that I stamped with SU white craft ink and the anniversary set from Papertrey Ink.

I hope they like it.

Blessings and Happy 4th of July!!

Supply List:
Stamps: Digi stars from the Cutting Cafe, Papertrey Ink Anniversary set
Paper: Ninah Classic White, SU Night of Navy, Lizzie Ann Designs Stars & Stripes Digi Paper
Accessories: Pail, wired stars, tag, red excelsior, ribbon
Ink: SU White Craft

God Bless America! - Cutting Cafe Style

I am so blessed to be part of the talented design team at The Cutting Cafe! I can't wait to get to know the other talented women better.

What a delight it's been to work with these images. I love the fact that I can alter them to any size I want, they don't have to cleaned or stored (except in my computer) and there are so many to choose from. Regina has a buy one, get one offer now so be sure and check it out!!
For my first projects, I chose to use the greeting card folder and the 4th of July printable stamp sets combined with some beautiful digi papers from Lizzie Ann Designs called Stars and Stripes. Such beautiful rich colors that I think compliment the 4th of July Printable Stamps perfectly!

The beauty of these sets is that they're not just for the 4th of July...they are the perfect sets for patriotic cards to be sent to our brave soldiers overseas. My set includes 2 each of the 3 cards I'll show you today plus the greeting card folder which can be repurposed if desired. Um, how about a candy folder? :-) I'll be sending these with cookies when I do the next round of Operation Baking Gals.

All three cards are 5-1/2 x 4-1/4". I got those great acrylic stars at JoAnn's on clearance last year. 3 sizes, 3 colors, tons of stars...$2!!

I decided to use a Basic Grey Magnetic dot to keep the folder closed

rather than a ribbon as I didn't know if this will be going to a man or a woman. Did you notice that I combined 3 different digi papers from the Lizzie Ann Stars & Stripes set on the folder? Isn't is cool to be able to do that? You can click on the photos for a closer look...there's just so much to show you in a single post. I used stickles to give some of the images some sparkle and dimensionals to pop things up for interest.

This also qualifies for Sharon Johnson's Stars and Stripes challenge ssnotime94...woo,hoo!!

Supply List

Stamps - The Cutting Cafe

Paper: Lizzie Ann Designs Stars & Stripes

SU Bordering Blue, Riding Hood Red, Papertrey Ink Kraft

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Stickles, dimensionals, paper piercer, tag, ribbon, Basic Grey magnet, acrylic stars and images, Scor-Tape

Blessings!!

Peaches and Blackberries

Just a quick [post to say I'm back and show you a bit of what I've been doing. Here is what's left of the 2 bushels of peaches we brought home from GA. We picked 8 gallons of blackberries and 1 gallon of blueberries (those little buggers are hard to pick 'cause it takes so many to make a gallon!)

Some of these will be added to those I've already frozen, some will be eaten fresh (the best way!) and some will be made into cobblers to be shared with my hubby's employees and with friends on the 4th of July...here's what else I've been doing..
.

72 half pints (I forgot to put the blackberry jam in there!) of jams and peach salsas. I made both medium and mild peach salsas. and the rest are jams...blackberry, peach/blackberry, peach, spiced peach, triple berry, and blueberry.

Be sure to check back as I have several projects from The Cutting Cafe to show you and these jams are going to get dressed up a bit. :-)

Blessings!

Can You Help the Weiman Wranglers?

This is Ethan Weiman. Little Ethan lost his battle with neuroblastoma, an always fatal brain cancer. We personally know a little girl who is battling this same disease. Melissa of Pink Cat Studio has designed a special set of digital stamps to honor the life of this little cowboy who lost his struggle with this terrible disease.

100% of the monies raised will go to the Make-A-Wish foundation.
You can purchase and download these adorable stamps for immediate use.

Please pray for this family as they mourn the loss of their little cowboy.

Blessings,

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!!

Exciting News to report...check this out:

The Cutting Cafe

and be sure to give the ladies a shout out! This should be fun!! WOO-HOO

Humble Blessings!

Joie de Vivre!

Happy Saturday! A triple play for you today...a 3 challenge card! This little French number is for Sketch Challenge 214, Limited Supply (LS)224, Internationa Flair (use another language on your card, and Ways to Use It (WT) 223 to use text on the front of your card.

I have just this stamp and the French Script background so my choices were simple. I found this Inkadinkadoo stamp in the $1 clearance bin at Michael's awhile ago. The Making Memories Sabrina paper pack has that antiquey French feel so I immediately knew I wanted to use it.

You can find the dimensions for each panel here on Roxie's excellent post. I stamped the image with Versafine Black, then heat embossed with clear EP. Colored with marker. I distressed all the DP edges with scissors and sponged them in black. The pearls are stick on's from Michael's. I cut the image panel with the Spellbinders Label die and mounted it on a slightly larger square that I corner rounded. The next size label dies were too big.

I will be MIA for a few days...the new washer/dryer are coming today and laundry hasn't been done here for 3 weeks!!! The tile floor is finished and my dear sweet hubby is cutting the baseboards this a.m. I am chief painter person.

We are also going blackberry and peach pickin'!!! My most favorite time of year. Needless to say, I will be making jam and freezing peaches for a few days. Be sure to check back in as I'm sure I'll make some yummy creations to share the goodies.

Thanks for stopping by...your comments are precious and appreciated!

Blessings!

Life is More than Just a Bowla....

I just couldn't wait to try out Lauren Meader's new Pack a Picnic Template for Papertrey Ink.

I've had a idea for awhile to package my pancake mix but didn't know just what I wanted to do. This week's color challenge (CC223) and my card pushed me over the edge. :-)

Apologies for the background in my photo...my photo box isn't big enough for this big display. Scroll down. Everything really does all fit inside this HUGE absolutely precious picnic basket!

The cherry image on the tag is from another of those 50c clearance packs from Michael's. The heart was cut with the Spellbinder's Heart dies and stamped with the wording from SU's Yummy. Ribbon is Papertrey Poppy Red. Didn't have an exact match but this works ok.

I printed the recipe with my computer using Whisper White CS. The DP is Bella Rose (oh how I'm going to miss it...didn't get my order in quick enough!!) The cherries on the card are SU's Tart and Tangy colored with markers and shined up with Crystal Effects. I clipped the ends of the top piece with my square punch.

The secret to the mix is that I mill my own wheat. It's a blend of 3 different whole grains. Soft and hard white wheat and barley. It makes the most delicious flour! This mix makes delicious waffles as well. That gourmet syrup is Walnut....can you say YUM? Everything really does fit in the picnic basket as you can see in the bottom picture. That towel is a perfect match. It's from an old set of Martha Stewart Days of the Week teatowels that I've been hoarding...brand new.

Now who to give it to? Hmmmmm........

Thanks for stopping by.. Blessings!

Supplies:

Stamps: Yummy, Tart and Tangy (SU)

Paper: Baja Breeze, Ruby Red, Whisper White, Bella Rose DP

Accessories: Pack a Picnic, Spellbinders heart & circle dies, SU square punch, cherry sticker, brads, manila tag, Crystal Effects, ribbon, Martha Stewart border punch, computer, clear bag, syrup

CC223 - Life is Just a Bowla...

SCS (CC223) Color Challenge this week uses Ruby Red, Baja Breeze and Whisper White. A challenge for me to pair these colors with white but I'm really liking it. I'm thinking a whole set of fruity cards would be fun for summer.

I found those little cherry images on a strip with several other fruits in the clearance bin at Michael's for 50c . Such a deal as they're already on dimensionals. I trimmed them down then put a coat of Crystal Effects on the cherries. Not sure if you can see them close up or not.

Overall card size is 5-1/2" x 4-1/4". The rest is pretty self explanatory.

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI Friends 'Til the End
Paper: SU
Accessories: button, ribbon, Spellbinders long rectangle dies

Thanks for stopping by! Blessings and Happy Stamping!

CAS19 - Fifth Ave. Floral again!

Three posts today so be sure to scroll down.

This one is 4 x4 inches. Edges of white layer sponged.

Stamps: Fifth Ave. Floral, no name on the Wish
Paper: Bazzill Textured, SU -black,white
Ink: Versafine black

TFL!!

Blessings!

CAS19 - Fith Ave. Floral

Quicky post today...hubby is grouting the tile floor in the laundry...woo,hoo! Of course, there's always a downer...had to have my car towed to shop this morning...wouldn't start...grrrrr

SCS Clean and Simple Challenge. These literally take minutes...Another to follow using the same set.

4 1/4 x 4-1/4"
Stamps: Fifth Ave. Floral
Paper: SU black, white
Accessories: Paper piercer

TFL!!

Blessings!

Monochromatic Wild Bird and "Golly!"

This quick card was inspired by Inspiration Challenge 184 and the Clean and Simple Challenge 210. If you haven't checked out Stephanie's Inspiration Challenges, you are missing out on some INCREDIBLE eye candy, even if you don't participate in the challenges.

I don't know where she finds these sites, but holy cow are they gorgeous. This week's challenge was to choose an image from Lovely Package. I chose the 3rd image down on this page but make sure you look around.

This card is 5" x 5"...bigger than my normal but these gorgeous images from Fifth Ave. Floral can handle it. My base is PTI Dark Chocolate with Kraft. The ink is Dew Drops Jumbo Java. The bird, believe it or not, came from the Michael's $1 bin. I stamped the bird then cut and embossed it with my Spellbinders square dies. The sentiment is from Fifth Ave. Floral as well. Clean and Simple Inspiration.

The "Golly" is because of this. I was featured on Miss Boo's (aka jen70) blog along with some really talented, and I mean really talented ladies. I'm humbled to even be listed on the same page with these awesome stampers.

Thanks for stopping by today! Your comments are always appreciated and treasured.

FS123 - Butterflies & A Daisy

This card is for SCS Featured Stamper Challenge. You are supposed choose a card from the chosen FS, CASE but change at least 3 things. Sumtoy's Gallery was chosen this week. The card I chose to case is Butterflies and Flowers.

Her coloring is awesome. I literally only had 15 min. since we're hosting our Bible Study group tonight so I used grabbed a Cuttlebugged Swiss Dots background that I had in my stash, cranked out two buttflies using my new Spellbinders butterfly and embossing folder die, sponged the edges, glued down some flat back beads, popped them up on dimensionals and added the Martha Stewart Daisy. Finally, I added the corners from my stash that were punched for the spiders.

That gorgeous orange paper has a subtle design on it. A whole pack was gift from my friend, Marybeth. Not sure where she got it but it's called Caribbean Colors. They are so rich and alive. The weight is wonderful, too.

Thanks for dropping by! Comments are always appreciated. Makes me feel less lonely in the cyberworld.

Blessings!

Paper: SU Black, White, Caribbean Orange

Accessories - Cuttlebug, Swiss dots embossing folder, Spellbinders Embossed Butterfly, flat back gems (Michael's), Tombow Mono Multi, Martha Stewart daisy

Tiny Miracle Gift Card Holder

Thanks for all the sweet get well wishes. I'm not quite there yet but almost. Doc said the coughing and blowing would last awhile...kinda like a beached whale? At any rate, I do feel like playing with paper and ink again and that's a good thing.

I love making gift card holders! They're simple and a much nicer way to give someone a check or gift card.





To make one, simply take a half sheet (4x1/4" x 5-1/2") sheet of CS. In this case, I used Neenah Classic Solar White (for strength) then I trimmed off 1/2" at the bottom. I wanted to use my Martha Stewart scalloped edge punch but it wouldn't go through the Neenah cardstock so I took a 1" scrap of SU's white as it's a bit thinner and punches easily and attached it to the lower edge of my Neenah White using my glue gun. (love that thing!)





I covered everything using Papertrey's Spring Moss Dotted Paper cut to fit right up to the top edge of my scalloped piece (make sure you use lots of tape so the paper doesn't pop up) then I used my trusty Scor-Pal, laid my paper horizontally, and scored at 2-1/2" and 6". To create the pocket, place a strip of redline or Scor-Tape along each bottom edge and seal.



Time to embellish away. The sentiment was from a $1 set at Michael's cut with the Spellbinders smallest rectangle die. The sticky strip pearls are Michael's as well. To close everything up, I used a Basic Grey magnet.



Thanks for visiting. Have a wonderful day!

Stamps: Michael's $1

Paper: Neenah Classic Solar White, Papertrey Spring Moss

Accessories: Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape, punch, sticky pearls, PTI ribbon, Spellbinders Rectangle die.

Push, Pull, Slider, Gift Card for David

I'm coming out of the bronchitis fog. Haven't been "in bed, the light hurts my eyes, I have a fever, I need a doctor" sick in awhile. Antibiotics are a good thing.

I was wondering, does coughing until your stomach hurts count as a single or multiple crunches and I used to lose a pound or two when I didn't eat but does being 59 mean that's over?

At any rate, when I started coming to, I realized our grandson's birthday was looming and I hadn't bought a present, made a card, nada. Not good.

I wanted something special and interactive so I went looking through my stamps for Billy from Pink Cat Studio. There are some blinkies on the right side bar to take you there. Now Billy was too small for what I wanted to do, so I took him and his skate board to my printer and enlarged them 150%. I then took that copy and copied it again onto some Neenah Classic Solar white.

Don't you just love that DP? It's from the Crate Paper Zoom Collection. Perfect for little boys! The colors are muted and rich at the same time.

Billy's clothes and skate board are paperpieced. I colored the rest of Billy with Prismacolor markers, cut everything out, and popped them up on dimensionals. The circles were made with Spellbinders circle dies and JustRite Stampers. The background was on the circle image was stamped off with SU's Itty Bitty Backgrounds and dotted with SU markers in matching colors. I sponged everything in SU Chocolate Chip for some added depth and I added some stickles to the wheels for some sparkle. The number 4 is from Autumn Leaves. I stamped it onto my mirror image stamp, then onto the paper so I could get the side I wanted. I cut it out and adhered it with Tombo Mono Multi.

The right side of the card pulls out a bit more for writing and are you ready for this cool part? The left side got a Target gift card attached to it! It slid in and out perfectly!! I told you I was late so took the card and my tape gun with me to Target, attached the gift card in the parking lot and took it straight to the post office so that's why there's no photo of the gift card attached.

Now that I have the mechanics of this card figured out...(my brain is still filled with snot, I mean mucous...doesn't sound any better but can't think of a nice word) so it probably took longer than it should have. I found the tutorial on SCS a bit unclear but found a great video here . Dawn does a nice job of explaining just how to do it.

Thanks for stopping by. Your comments are appreciated!



Stamps: Pink Cat Studio - Billy, SU Itty Bitty Bkgrd., JustRite Stampers, Autumn LeavesPaper: Crate Paper Zoom Collection, Neenah Classic Solar WhiteAccessories: Copier, plastic bag, SU Tab punch, dimensionals, Scor-Tape, Mono-Multi

SC230- Love in Black Orchid

Hey, how do you like my new blog? I'm so excited! A special thank you to Hilary at Simply Yours Designs for being so patient with me.

This card is for the SC230 on SCS. I used the Black Orchid paper pack from SEI for all but the base card and the white piece under the butterfly. I used Neenah Classic Solar White for those. The Black Orchid paper pack has gorgeous textured, foil, embossed and plain papers. Makes matching a no brainer. The little "buttons" are SEI as well.

Thanks for visiting...I just got back from the doctors and have an acute case of Bronchitis. Think maybe breathing those indoor/outdoor carpet glue/mineral sprits may have been a contributing factor. I'm off to rest and drink hot liquids so please bear with me if I don't post for a couple of days.


Blessings and Happy Stamping!







Paper: Neenah Classic Solar White, SEI Black Orchid
Stamps: PTI Wedding Day
Accessories: Spellbinders Butterfly, Cuttlebug, SEI stick ons, sponge, bling (Michael's)

TLC224- Carpobrutus edulis

How's that for name? For this challenge (SCS TLC224 Technique Challenge) we were to choose an image, copy it with the printer onto a transparency in grayscale, then color it from the back side. The flower image I chose was brighter and lighter than my rendition but the lighter colors wouldn't show up on the transparency. I would have to say this is one of the more difficult challenges I've attempted.

I used Prismacolor alcohol markers (similar to Copics) and though they dry fast, the ink still slid around on the transparency. I used an acetate from Papertrey ink. I will definitely try this technique again, perhaps with a different type of transparency to see if there's a difference.

I noticed that the smaller, less complicated images used by a few of the other stampers gave a better result...will try again later.

Give it a try and see what you can do!