Teapot Tuesday & The Cutting Cafe - Fish n' Boots

It's Teapot Tuesday at Splitcoaststampers and our Destination Station this week is an 8 yr. old boy named Dante and his sister, Julia.  Dante recently received a bone marrow transplant and at times is struggling.  Another amazing thing is that his YOUNGER sister, Julia was donor!!

Dante loves fishing so the amazing Cindy aka Mothermark found a fishy teapot and has spun a fishy tale to go with it.   You can read about Dante here  and the fish tale for the Teapot Challenge MMTPT107 at this link. 

Here's the card I made for Julia.  I thought she might enjoy a card of her own.  Regina, at The Cutting Cafe just designed this amazing Rain Boot cutting file...I combined it with the flowers and sentiment from Rain, Rain Go Away.    I'm totally loving these boots!  You think she can make a pair big enough for me??

Here's Dante' card.  I hope my little Nemo brings a smile to his face.

    

                         

Thanks for poppin in!  Two more days until Party Time!!

Supplies:

Stamps - The Cutting Cafe, All Night Media

Ink - Versafine, Copic markers

Paper - SU So Saffron, PTI Vanilla, Pink Paislee DP (boots), SU Real Red

Accessories - stick on bling. Magic Mesh, black twine, Crystal Effects, glue dots.

  

CAS80 - love one another

Sorry I've been awol for a couple of days...I just crashed yesterday.  Too many late night stamping sessions, I guess.  I was so tired, I couldn't sleep.  Have you ever experienced that? 

 

At any rate, I have a card for today's CAS80 (clean and simple) challenge on SCS.  This week's challenge is a sketch challenge by stampingout.  What a great sketch for any occasion.  I will use this one again and again.

 

Card size is 4 x 5.5 inches. 

Thanks so much for visiting....my blog anniversary is on Thursday!!!  Be sure to stay tuned.  ;-)

Supplies:

Stamps - Fiskars

Ink - Versafine

Paper - Neenah Classic white, SU black

Accessories - EK Success border punch, May Arts ribbon

 

Stamp Simply Challenge and Foodie Friday

I still can't quite believe that I'm the Guest Designer for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenges but here I am for week 2.   This week's challenge is Ribbon Scraps - Waste Not, Want Not!  (ssnotime152).

Here's Sharon's challenge:  "I think we all save even the tiniest of our ribbon scraps, right?  I know, I do.  Today's challenge is to use ribbon scraps on our card or project.  You may use as many as you want, just make sure it's a scrap, a small piece.  You can do whatever you want with them, but let's just make use of some of these little bits of prettiness!!!"

I guess it's confession time...I NEVER throw anything away...at least not right away!  I save little scraps of ribbon and paper...just in case. 

I'm so glad I saved the ribbon from this project I did for May Arts Ribbon.  It was so beautiful, I just couldn't bear to part with it.  Here's my project:

I made a wallet (tutorial here) and matching gift card.  All those gorgeous ribbon scraps just seemed perfect for a little girl.  All the bits of ribbon were applied to muslin with Wonder Under and then each piece was stitched down.  I was determined not to shop for anything for this project so even the binding ribbon was a leftover from another project. 

  

I would have chosen another fabric for the inside but since my personal challenge to myself was to use only scraps (the only thing not scrap is the card base and buttons) this is what I had.

The pocket on the left is some leftover clear vinyl.

Be sure to check out what the fabulous Design Team has created for your inspiration:

Sharon Johnson - Stamp Simply

Barb Anders - Paper Pursuits

Jenny Group - One Krafty Kat

Janine Orchard - 2bKrafty

AJ Otto - The Willow Garden

Deb Saaranen - Dream In Color

Barb Schram - Explore. Dream. Discover

Supplies:

Paper - SU Pink Pirhouette, Neenah Classic White

Accessories - Spellbinders Heart die, Cuttlebug leftover,  May Arts Ribbon, Wonder Under, muslin, magnetic snap, buttons, pearls, sewing machine

Now for your Foodie Friday dinner:  this was a new recipe I found in a Fine Cooking magazine.  We loved it!  So fresh tasting and perfect for a light dinner on a hot summer day.  Besides, it was a feast for the eyes as well....and easy, too.  Bonus!!  I grow my own herbs so that made this extra appealing.

Cobb Salad with Herbs (Serves 6..I cut it by 1/3 for the two of us)

If you wash the greens, prepare the vinaigrette and toast the pine nuts ahead you can have dinner on the table in a flash)

Lemon Sherry Vinaigrette

 3/4  c. extra virgin olive oil

 1/4 c. sherry vinegar

 2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest (1 large lemon)

 1 tsp. granulated sugar

 1 tsp. minced fresh garlic

 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a glass measuring cup or jar with a tight fitting lid and whisk or shake vigorously to combine.  You can store the viniagrette in the refrigerator for up to 5 days; let come to room temp. and shake vigorously before using.

Salad:

2 T. mayonnaise

1 t. Dijon mustard

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (7-8 oz. each)

2 heads Boston lettuce, trimmed, torn into bite-size pieces, washed and dried (12 oz.)

1 1/2 c. lightly packed fresh parsley leaves, torn if large

3/4 c. lightly packed mint leaves, torn if large

3 large avocados

2 1/2 c. halved grape tomatoes

1 heaping cup curmbled Roquefort (I don't like Roquefort so I used Gorgonzola)

2/3 c. pine nuts, toasted

12 slices bacon , cooked, cooled and crumbled

1/2 c. fresh chives

Heat gas grill to med. high.  In large bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustart, 1/2 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper.  Add chicken, toss to coat.  Grill until well marked and cooked through 4-6 minutes per side.  Let cool and cut into small dice.  (I cut ours a bit bigger)

To assemble:

Set out 6 large dinner plates.  Combine the lettuce, parsley, and mint in a large bowl.  Toss with just enough viniagrette to coat lightly.  Season with salt and pepper and toss again.

Portion the lettuce on the plates, arranging the lettuce in a circle with a small hole in the center.

Peel, pit and cut the avocados into medium dice and toss in a med. bowl with 2 T. of the viniagrette.  Add the tomatoes, and cheese to the bowl.  Toss with about 6 T. of the dressing.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Divide among the plates.  Sprinkle on the bacon, pine nuts and chives and serve with the additional dressing on the side.

Enjoy!

Cutting Cafe Winner!

Random Integer Generator

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Timestamp: 2010-08-13 01:10:17 UTC
 Betty Wright said...

Charlene, this is just AMAZING! Stunning design and detailing! Beautifully done!


August 9, 2010 12:08 AM
 
Congratulations, Betty! We will get your Cutting Cafe Sets to you asap. 

It's Giveaway Day for The Cutting Cafe!

Today's the last day you can comment at the link to the right to have an oppportunity to win TWO awesome Cutting Cafe sets.  You may comment until 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  Be sure to click over to take part.

To keep you inspired, I created a card for a special teacher using two more new sets from The Cutting Cafe...

I used the awesome  All About School printable stamp set for the outside

 

           and for the inside, I used the adorable School Borders set.  

Don't those little school buses look sweet just chugging along the bottom of my card?

   

I used the Friday Sketchers 114 sketch and  the Back to School challenges -  on Stamp TV (stvinspirebt11) , Create with Connie and Mary (CCMC111)

I also want to say a very special THANK YOU to everyone who played in the Teapot Tuesday Destination Challenge to send cards to Andrew, it's not too late to play and not too late to send a card to this special little boy.  Just scroll down to the #1 post to read the details.

Be sure to stay tuned....I've got a blog-a-versary coming up next week and the big, huge present will go to one of my lucky followers/commenters!

 

A Very Special Teapot Tuesday

I told you today was a special day.  Do you remember when I told you about Andrew?  He is the nephew of friends of ours who has been diagnosed with multiple tumors of the brain.  You can read current information about Andrew on his Caring Bridge site. 

Andrew loves baseball and was the pitcher on his team, the Elm Grove Eagles.  I had listed a prayer/card request on SplitcoastStampers after Andrew's aunt had emailed me that he had to be hospitalized due to complications from his chemo treatments.  A few days later, I got an email from Cindy, aka mothermark at SCS, the moderator of the Teapot Tuesday challenges.  Cindy asked if Andrew could be the focus of this week's Teapot Challenge...can you image how excited I was to tell Andrew's family?


You can read the challenge HERE.  Our team is the "Bad News Bassethounds" and only the coolest dogs need try out.

Andrew's coach. Mike Sandy, was kind enough to send us the boys' names and numbers so we could personalize the team cards for Andrew...even one for Coach Sandy.  Can you imagine how excited I was when I was assigned Andrew's card, number 8? 

Here's my card for Andrew: (you can click on it for a closer look)

I had this cute dog set I got years ago by Stamps by Judith.  Their stamps are so great for scene building.  There are so many, many images to choose from.

The DP is from a clearance pack of DCWV papers I picked up at Big Lots.  I added Andrew's name to the dog house with JustRite Stampers, cut and popped up the fire hydrant from the Judith set then cut a cap from a digi image and stamped a baseball from another stamp in my stash and put it in the dog's paws.  The bone and food dishes are from the dog set as well.  The number "8" is Tim Holtz Grunge board that I glittered then popped up.  A little stitching and done. 

I hope you can play along with us.. here's Andrew's address if you'd like to send him a card:

Andrew Wernicke

19445 Benington Drive

Brookfield, WI 53045

Thanks so much and a special thanks to all the Teapotters who so eagerly signed on to make one of the personalized cards.  Stampers are the best!!

CAS my Rebus!

Quickie post this morning...lots to do.  A very special post tomorrow so be sure to pop back in.

This is for both the TLC Technique Challenge 285 - Rebus cards and the CAS79 - Gardens challenge on SplitcoastStampers. 

Francis Byrne aka StampOwl has super Rebus tutorial on her blog.

Don't forget about the Cutting Cafe Giveaway!  Just click the link on the right!

Supplies:

Paper - Fabriano, Papertrey

Ink - Papertrey

Stamps - JRS Times New Roman fonts, Papertrey Fruitful

 

Praying for You

Gosh, this week has just flown by and I'm so not ready for a new week yet!   Well,  nothing to do but plunge right into it. 

Today's card is oh so late for the Featured Stamper Al_Silver2, aka known as Alanna.  Alanna is just the best at Clean and Simple cards!  Her gallery is full of inspiration!    Here's Alanna's card that I picked to case.

It's also for the CAS - tastic challenge to CASE a member of their talented Design Team.  I chose this beautiful card by the lovely Deb Neerman.  Deb has an easy elegant style and can weave a tall tale that will leave you either chuckling, LOL or shaking your head. 

When casing a Featured Stamper, you must change at least 3 things from the sample you chose.  I changed the color, the size and style of flower (I made mine to match the DP I used), I moved the horizontal panel up to where Deb's is and used scoring. I also changed the position of the sentiment.

Here's mine:

You've got to click on the photo to see that DP close up.  It's by My Mind's Eye called Lush Pink Daisy and it's flocked. 

Here's today's other challenges:

Craftalicious Challenges - Make your own flower 

Creatalicious - Show Some 3D

Prairie Fairy Designs - Make it 3D

Stamp & Create.com - Flowers

Stamp, Scrap and Doodle - Flowers

The Alphabet Challenge - N is for Nature (flowers)

The Stampman Challenge - Two colors (ivory & pink)

Supplies:

Paper - My Mind's Eye Lush Pink Daisy, Bazzill Basics, PTI

Accessories - Scor-Pal, punches (for flower)

It's Back to School Time Cutting Cafe Style - Giveaway

Edited to add:  Thanks for commenting.  The drawing is closed.

It's time for back to school.  Time for sharp new pencils and crisp white paper in new shiny notebooks, bright new backpacks and lovely new crayons...oh....the smell of a new box of crayons!  All those beautiful colors!  Time for first day of school pictures in new clothes.  Being just a little bit scared and a little bit excited all at the same time at the thought of a new teacher, new friends and maybe even a new school.

What better way to remember those moments than in an album just for those special first days of school?

I must apologize for this photo...there is so much glitter on this cool paper that my flash was bouncing all over the place. I took tons of pictures but just couldn't get a good one.   It looks really awesome  in person but the camera wasn't too happy.

Remember you can always click on the photos for a closer look...I don't want to blind you!  This is the School Word Book Cutting Template.

The tags are from the huge School Days Printable Stamp Set.  28 super images and sentiments perfect for back to school scrapbooking and card making.  I cut the buses from the designer paper. 

Now for the fun!!  Regina has said I can give these TWO sets away!  Both of them.  All you have to do is leave me a comment below.  I'd love to hear about your favorite school memory.  If you'd like to become a follower, that would be great although not required.

The drawing will end on Thursday, August 12th at 6 p.m. (Eastern).  I will choose a winner using random number selector. 

I just realized that I've passed 66,000 hits and it's almost my blog anniversary so be on the lookout for some BIG blog candy.  You never know when it will pop up!

I appreciate each and every visit and comment.  Good luck!!

Now after you comment, be sure to check out what the other awesome Design Team members are giving away.  Not everyone may be participating so be sure to check each one...it's scavenger hunt time!

Supplies:

Stamps and Template - The Cutting Cafe

Paper - My Mind's Eye Glitter Book Gallery, Ivory CS

Accessories - heavy chipboard, Mono-Multi glue, glue dots,dimensionals, Copic markers, key rings

Foodie Friday, A Challenge and an Announcement

The  recipe for Foodie Friday follows, but first, I have some happy news and a challenge for you. 

Sharon Johnson, yes, THAT Sharon Johnson (!) has asked me, yes, me (!) to join her fabulously talented team at No Time to Stamp as Guest Designer for the month of August.  I took about one whole second to think it over, did a little happy dance (out of sight of the dog) and typed "yes" as fast  as my fingers could hit the keyboard.  You have to understand that Sharon as been my stamping idol from the time I found her on SCS years ago.  I think I have a notebook full of her creations that I printed out from the days before we had a laptop and I had to run from the office to my studio to try to case her beautiful work.  So without further ado...

Are you ready?  Here we go:

August 6 - ssnotime151 - One Layer Card - Today's challenge is brought to us by Barbara Anders and here is what Barbara says: I'm challenging everyone to make a one layer card. That means only the card base--not the base + one other layer--no layers allowed, LOL! Embellish however you want--ribbon, buttons, bling, scoring--anything goes, but no layers.

Aack...no layers!, no DP, nothing but your base and whatever you want to put on it but NO layers.

Here are my samples:

and this one from yesterday's post qualifies too. 

I used deckle edged notecards by Fabriano and Savvy Stamps, a bit of ribbon and some stick on pearls.  No sentiment so I can use these for birthdays, thank yous, thinking of you  or get well cards.

Be sure to check out the awesome samples from the Design Team:

Deb Neerman - Paper, Ink Scissors, & Stamps

Barb Anders - Paper Pursuits

Jenny Groop - One Krafty Kat

Janine Orchard - 2bKrafty

AJ Otto - The Willow Garden

Deb Saaranen - Dream in Color

Barb Schram - Explore. Dream. Discover

and of course,

Sharon Johnson - No Time to Stamp

Ok, here's your dinner!

                       

This is Not Your Momma's Tuna Casserole!  Nutritious, creamy and oh, so good!  Easy on the budget, too and not a can of soup in sight. I cut the recipe in half for DH and I...just use 1/2 of each ingredient and bake in a 1 quart casserole (above).

Not Your Momma's Tuna Casserole

2 cans (61/2 oz. each) albabore tuna (you can use canned salmon if you prefer)

6 oz. (3 cups) uncooked egg noodles

1/2 c. chopped celery

1/3 c. sliced green onion (or red onion or any mild onion in your fridge)

2/3 c. regular or  lowfat sour cream or plain yogurt

3/4 c. regular or lowfat mayonnaise

2 tsp. yellow mustard

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. salt

2 small zucchini, scrubbed, sliced (not too thick)

1 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 medium tomato chopped

Optional - fresh parsley, dill, basil or chives may be added in before baking or sprinkled on after baking

Lightly butter a 2 quart casserole.

Drain and break apart the tuna.  Set aside.

Cook noodles until al dente.  (they will continue to cook in the oven...mushy noodles are icky)

Drain and rinse in hot water.

While the noodles are cooking, combine the sour cream, mustard, mayonnaise, thyme, salt and herbs, if using.

Combine the cooked noodles with the tuna and sauce mixture.  Spoon 1/2 the tuna mixture into the casserole, top with 1/2 the sliced zucchini.  Add the remaining tuna mixture and zucchini. 

Top with the shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with the chopped tomato and bake 5 minutes more. 

Serves 4-6

Enjoy...save some for me, please!  I'll be stampin' those one layer cards!

5 Minutes and a Really Reasonable Black and White Birthday

This is a super simple CAS card..no cutting, no measuring just a touch of Really Reasonable Ribbon and a few pearls.

The card is the elegant deckled Fabriano note cards. Images are Savvy Stamps.  Easy, peasy!

For the Really Reasonable Ribbon challenge #5 and Sharon Johnson's No Time to Stamp (ssnotime150) Color challenge

Supplies:

Paper - Fabriano note cards

Stamps -Savvy stamps

Ink -  Versafine Aloe Vera, black

Ribbon- Really Reasonable Ribbon

 

A CAS and a Teapot

Two cards today.  I've had this one done for a few days but didn't have time to get it posted.  It's for Sharon Johnson's ssnotime150 Color Challenge , the Play Date Cafe's Color Challenge - pdcc40  and  Really Reasonable Ribbon's Challenge #5 color challenge.

                                          

We are to use green/yellow plus black and white or ivory as the neutral.  For the Play Date challenge the colors are black and white with a touch of green but I think my ivory is light enough to pass.  wink, wink

This next card is TOTALLY different.  It's for the Teapot Tuesday and  Teapot Destination Station challenges on SCS.  You've got to go to Teapot Tuesday and read all about the party!  Penelope, Blossom and Bea are having a tea party to celebrate the opening of their new shop.  Charlotte, aka Charlie did not want to go....no way, but her mom made her. You can read the whole sad tale here.  :-)

I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch 84 and flipped it 'cause Charlie's so tall.

                                

Thanks so much for your sweet comments and your visits.  They make my day!

Supplies:

#1

Paper - PTI ivory, Black

DP - My Mind's Eye Lush

Stamps - unmounted rubber

Ink - Versafine black

Accessories - stick on bling, May Arts silk ribbon

#2

Paper - Neenah Classic, SU Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, PTI Navy

DP - Chloe's Closet

Stamps - Sassy Cheryl's

Ink - Copic Markers

Accessories - buttons, Chloe's Closet daisy trim, Cuttlebug swiss dots folder, Spellbinders long rectangle die, sewing machine

  

The Cutting Cafe - It's a Cupcake Kind of Day

One of my all time favorite sets stamp sets from The Cutting Cafe has got to be All About Cupcakes.

I LOVE, love this set!  Maybe because it's got 49 images (yep, I said 49!), or maybe it's the cool cake stands, or the awesome sentiments or maybe, just maybe, it's all those yummy cupcakes!  Whatever it is, I find myself pulling these images out of my computer all the time.

I found this sweet little pincushion pattern (Just Desserts) online.  Be kind, this is my first one and I must have been tense when I was doing the stitching because some of them are a bit tight...as in uptight!

At any rate, I just had to make a sweet card to go with it.  I think this would be a sweet little gift for any  big or little girl occasion...birthday, get well or just "thinking of you".  How about when your little sweetheart begins her first stitching project?

Would love to know what you think!  Thanks for stopping by the playground!!


This is for the Dutch Dare Card Challenge - Anything Goes ddcc #83

Supplies:
Stamps - The Cutting Cafe All About Cupcakes

Paper - PTI, SU Designer paper

Accessories - tag punch, button, ribbon, dimensionals. ticket die, stitching thread

  

Picture Perfect

                                  

Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of days. I spent a day out of town preparing to

serve on a spiritual retreat team.  That meant hubby was "home alone" all day Saturday. He surprised me by trimming all the hedges (a big job!) and removing an old pond so we can plant the area with a nice tree (an even bigger job!) I promised him we would spend Sunday together going to church and just relaxing the rest of the day.   Time well spent.

Now it's back to work for both of us and it's the first of the month, so that must mean it's time for Paper Cubed!  That's P3 to us.  :-) 

This month Kim challenged the design team to make a picture holder.   If you've played with us before you know that our rule is NO CARDS.   You are free to use your imagination to create anything that will hold a picture but NOT A FRAME.

Here's what I started with:

This is a 2 inch binder clip that you can purchase inexpensively at a discount or office supply store. 

I decided to cover the back of it as well because I wanted it to be beautiful from all sides.  

This month, our sponsor is Die Cuts R Us.  You can win a $15 gift certificate to shop to your heart's content for paper, embellishments, chipboard, stamps...need I say more?

Be sure to head to the Paper Cubed blog to check out what the other fabulous designers have created to get your imagination going; then get creting and link up your project on the blog.  We can't wait to see what you create and you might just win that super gift certificate!

 Remember, you've got until August 31st so there's no pressure. 

 Thanks for visiting...I'd love to know what you think of my creation.  Be sure to share some love with the rest of the design team as well.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Everyday Flexible Phrases
Paper - Webster's Pages
Ink - Versafine
Accessories - 2" binder clip, chipboard, chipboard letters & shapes, spray adhesive, glitter, pearls, paper rose, Scor-Tape, Spellbinders Oval die



  

Foodie Friday - Fontina Frittata with Italian Sausage

I can't believe it's Friday...already!  This is one of those week's that has just flown by.  I hate when that happens! 

Have you ever had a Frittata?  It's just the best "go to" when you're short on time and still need a filling healthy meal for your family.  Breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Just change the add-ins to suit your taste (or whatever's in the fridge), and you're good to go.  Your friends and family will think you fussed and only you will know how easy it was.   If there's any left over, it's just as good cold.

The original recipe for this one came from Cuisine at Home but I changed it up a bit to suit my hubby's taste buds.  Dinner on the table in under an hour and Fudge Surprise Key Lime Pie for dessert!

Fontina Frittata

1 T. olive oil

6 oz. Italian Sausage (about 2, casings removed)  You can also try crumbled bacon, diced ham, cooked breakfast sausage be creative!

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1- 1/2 c. fresh spinach, chopped and packed into measuring cup (try other greens if you like them)

3/4 c.  diced fresh or drained canned tomatoes

12 eggs

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 t. kosher salt

1 c. fontina cheese, shredded (feel free to substitute any kind of cheese your family likes)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Saute sausage in the olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until nearly cooked through and broken up, about 3 minutes.  Add onion and cook 2 minutes more or until onion is softened.  Stir in greens, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and cook just until greens are wilted, 1-2 minutes.

Remove the mixture to a bowl and wipe out the skillet with a paper towel.  Coat skillet generously with olive oil or spray with cooking spray.

Combine eggs, cream and salt in a blender until frothy.  Pour egg mixture into the hot skillet, stir in sausage mixture and cheese, transfer pan to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until set in the center. Sprinkle with a bit of extra cheese as soon as it comes from the oven, if desired.

To serve, slice into wedges.  Serve with a green or fruit salad.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Enjoy!!