Saturday Sketch Time!

Are you guys ready for a great sketch from the uber-talented Lauren?!
Here it is!I just LOVED this sketch for some reason.
I was super busy this week, but somehow I ended up making two cards and a winter themed frame with this sketch. I'll be sharing the other two projects this week, but here is my favorite of the bunch.
Do any of you remember the set "Polar Pals" from an SU mini a loooong time ago? I fell in love with the Eskimo girl and HAD to have it!

For today's card I used up more Anna Griffin Christmas scraps on a basic black card base. The Eskimo girl is stamped in Riding Hood Red ink. Her cute winter coat was just begging for some fuzzy white velvet flock.

Here's a close up of all the cute flocking goodness...

Hope you're inspired to create something cute!
Here's what the rest of the sketch team did:
Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria & Tamara

Enjoy your weekend! I'll be back on Monday.

Let's fool your family with some of those Thanksgiving leftovers!

Today's Fool Your Family recipe uses some leftover turkey, plus two secret ingredients.

TURKEY CHILI

Here's what you'll need:

Nonstick cooking spray
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 pound of shredded turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 (15 oz.) can chopped tomatoes
1 (26 oz.) carton of reduced-fat low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup red pepper puree
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 Tablespoons flax seed meal
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1. Coat the bottom of a large pot with cooking spray and set it over medium heat. When the pot is hot, add the oil. Add the onion and cook until it begins to soften.

2. Meanwhile, sprinkle the turkey with the garlic, chili powder, salt, paprika and pepper. Add turkey to the pot and cook until warmed through.

3. Stir in the tomatoes. Add the broth, red pepper puree, carrot puree, cornmeal and flax seed meal - stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes.

4. Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes.


Hope you all had a super Thanksgiving! Be sure to check back tomorrow for Lauren's new sketch!

Wishing you a stress free holiday season

Is there actually such a thing???

When I saw this stamp set by My Favorite Things, I had to get it! It was the sentiment "Wishing you a stress free holiday season" that made me fall in love with it.
I think SO many people can relate to this. Last year I had all of my Christmas shopping done by Halloween, and I'm sad to say that I haven't even started this year!
YIKES! I've been dying to ink these babies up and when I saw Amy's sketch last week, I was totally inspired. I love non-traditional Christmas colors and when I saw these two papers by Anna Griffin last year, I stocked up.

I did some faux stitching with my paper piercer and a red marker, and used my Sakura glaze pens on the tree decorations and the martini glass. I paper pieced the pajamas and the large image gave me LOTS of time to practice with my Copics.
Gotta run....
Have a wonderful and STRESS-FREE Thanksgiving.
I'll be back on Friday with another recipe to fool your family.

A Winter Post

It seems like everyone has this "Winter Post" set from the new SU mini catalog. I was drawn to the text images from the set, but the other images are starting to grow on me.

For today's card, I used Baha Breeze for the base and versamarked the snowflake images on the background. The image panel was cut with one of the new SU sizzix dies and then mounted on another die cut in Chocolate Chip.

The trees were stamped with Chocolate Chip craft ink and then sprinkled with dazzling diamonds before being heat set.
That's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,

CARD RECIPE
Stamps - Winter Post, Lovely as a Tree
Cardstock - Baha Breeze, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Creamy Caramel
Misc - Dazzling Diamonds

Your husband called....he said to buy anything you want!

For the next 72 hours, Hambo is giving you 30% off of EVERY regular-priced stamp in stock!! What a great way to start off the holiday season!

Click here to get started.

Happy shopping ladies!

A Saturday Stocking

As most of you know, every Saturday Lauren and her sketch team post a new sketch and samples. This week, Lauren decided to change things up a bit.

Earlier this week, she asked me and the rest of the team if we'd like to use her new "Stocking Stuffer" template for this weeks challenge.

Click here to download the free template.

I had all kinds of cute stocking ideas running through my head. Hmmmm what to do, what to do?
Well, I decided to flip the template over and turn her stocking into a reindeer.
Here's what I came up with...
I started out with Kraft paper for the base and sponged it with Creamy Caramel. Then I used my 3/4 inch circle punch for the nose and covered it with red velvet flock.
When it came to the antlers, I got kind of stumped - that's what happens when you don't totally think a project through before starting. Okay....are you ready? Don't laugh! My antlers are actually a cherry blossom tree from my Mulan Cricut cartridge.

Hey, you do what you gotta do right?

Hope you're inspired to download the template and play along with us!
Here's what the rest of the team did:
Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria & Tamara

Until Monday...

Fool Your Family Friday!

GOODBYE TROLL!! Oh my gosh! That was the greatest Survivor episode ever!


Okay, now on to our regularly scheduled programming....
Welcome to another Fool your family Friday.
Today's recipe is
Scrambled Eggs

2 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1/4 reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup cauliflower puree*
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
pinch of salt
nonstick cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil

1 - In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, sour cream, cauliflower puree, Parmesan and salt.

2 - Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, then set the pan over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil. Add the egg mixture, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently until the eggs are scrambled - 2 to 3 minutes.

*The hidden cauliflower puree provides kids with half of the daily value for vitamin C. With more than 19 grams of protein per serving, these scrambled eggs pack a powerful protein punch!

Be sure to come back tomorrow to check out Lauren's new sketch......or perhaps it's something else.....

What the heck is Wassail?

My daughter's Kindergarten teacher loves to cook and try out new recipes. Her birthday is coming up and the class Mom thought it would be nice for each parent to write down a recipe on a 4 x 6 card for her to add to her collection.

Cute idea, but I'm sure you all know there's NO way that I was just going to write down a recipe on a lined index card and turn it in.

Here's what my daughter and I came up with.
Technically it's on a 4 x 6 card.
A chocolate chip 4 x 6 card. These three images from Hambo were staring at me while I was trying to think of what recipe to submit. Well.... bees = honey right? I looked up "honey recipes" online and found this one at Sue Bee Honey. Sounds yummy, can't wait to try it.

Here's a close up of the colored images and the Copics that I used.

Guess who had the prettiest recipe card in Kindergarten today??
Hugs,

Oink! Oink!

For those of you who may not know, I'm lucky enough to me a member of the Hambo Stamps design team. Each month, Miss Hambo herself, gives the design team members a challenge and a date for us all to post it on our blogs.

This month our challenge was to:
Choose a NON holiday stamp and make a holiday themed project or card with it.

I decided to work with these two images:
Pig with Cookie - retired
Flour - #1417

Here's what I came up with.
Every December I host a Christmas cookie swap. I always like to come up with a cute invitation to send to everyone and I thought the pig with cookie image was perfect for this years card. I also made a matching 3 x 3 open top box to hold some cookie cutters. I'll be sending those to some friends who moved away since my last party and won't be able to come this year.

Here's a close up of the card.
I tried to keep it simple because I've got to make about 40 of them! Yikes - I better get started!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Be sure to check out what the rest of the Hambo Design Team did for our November challenge.
Libby, Judy, Holly and Jane.

CARD RECIPE
CARDSTOCK - KRAFT, CHOCOLATE CHIP, RIDING HOOD RED
PATTERNED PAPER - BELLA ROSE
STAMPS - HAMBO
INK - CHOCOLATE CHIP, BASIC BLACK
MISC - VINTAGE BRADS, SQUARE PUNCHES, MARVY CIRCLE PUNCH, SCALLOP CIRCLE

BOX RECIPE
PATTERNED PAPER - BELLA ROSE
MISC - EYELETS, RIBBON
STAMPS - HAMBO
INK - SAHARA SAND, BASIC BLACK

Does anyone else love SU's "Hip Hip Hooray" as much as I do?! This set is just so stinkin cute and so much fun to play with. Definitely a keeper!

I got a request last week to decorate a tin and fill it with cards for all occasions. This is one of the 25 cards that I came up with. Since I only had three days to get it done, I decided to go with quick and easy - my favorite.

I used my mini Amuse oval with Bashful Blue ink to anchor the main image. I like to use this technique so my images don't look like their "floating" on white cardstock.

The little beaver was colored in with my Copics, and I used SU's Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie and Bashful Blue for the balloons.

5 minute card - I swear!

Until tomorrow....

CARD RECIPE -

CARDSTOCK - PUMPKIN PIE, WHISPER WHITE, BASHFUL BLUE

PATTERNED PAPER - JERSEY SHORE (RETIRED)

STAMPS - HIP HIP HOORAY

INK - BASIC BLACK, PUMPKIN PIE, BRILLIANT BLUE, BASHFUL BLUE

MISC - BLUE RIBBON, ORANGE EYELETS

A sketch and a shaker

We'll be using the new Winter Post set from SU's holiday mini catalog at my next class. I thought tonight was the perfect opportunity to ink it up and play. I used Jen's sketch for the layout and chose some colors that I haven't used in a long time - Chocolate Chip and Bravo Burgundy.

I decided to make the main panel a shaker box and filled it with clear microbeads. The back of the shaker box is a piece of Bravo Burgundy cardstock that I embossed snowflakes onto with white craft ink.


Quickie post today....I've got two sick kids, two parent teacher conferences and a craft fair to prep for today - Yikes!

Saturday Sketch Time!

Here's Lauren's new sketch for the week.

I needed two birthday cards for today, so I did two variations on the sketch using the same stamp. Isn't this little penguin from Whipper Snapper the cutest?!
For this first card, I used the yummy new snowflakes from the SU holiday mini catalog. We'll be using them at my next class, so I had to practice playing with them right?

The patterned paper is called Silent Night and is from the "Figgy Pudding" collection by BasicGrey. The new SU Baha Breeze cardstock matched it perfectly.

I used my white sugar coating by Doodlebug for his belly and colored him in with the Copics below.

Here's the second card that I made. My daughter will be bringing this one to her friends birthday party tomorrow.

For this little cutie, I used my white crushed velvet flock on the belly.

I did a fun flock tutorial a while back that was featured on Card of the Week. You can check it out here.

These are the Copics that I used for the second card.

Hope you're inspired to play along with us!
Here's what the rest of the design team did...
Alicia, Dawn, Kim, Kirsten, Kristy, Maria & Tamara

Have a super weekend!

And the winner is......

TANYA!

Tanya said...
Those cupcakes are ADORABLE!!! And I love that card- that foam looks delicious!!!! My favorite Starbucks is their Chai teas- hot, iced, blended... depends on my mood (and occasionally the weather.)

Thanks for playing along my fellow addicts!

I'll get your Starbucks images in the mail tomorrow Tanya!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for your first peek at Lauren's Saturday sketch!
Until then...

Fool Your Family Friday!

Welcome to another Fool your family Friday! OATMEAL

Here's what you'll need

1 cup nonfat milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 teaspoons peanut butter (optional)
dried fruit and nuts (optional)
maple syrup, for serving

1 - In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and spice. Bring to a gentle boil and stir in the oatmeal. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 -3 minutes, until the oatmeal is soft and creamy. Stir in the peanut butter if using.

2 - Spoon the oatmeal into bowls, sprinkle with dried fruit and nuts, if you like, and serve warm with maple syrup.


You can also prepare this in the microwave. Stir the ingredients into a microwave safe bowl and cook for 2 minutes.

Check back later today to see who won my mini Starbuck give away!
Hugs,

Soccer and some sushi grass

Yesterday a friend asked if I could help her come up with some ideas for a soccer project. Her husband made videos of her sons team, the Hot Shots, this season and put them on dvd for all 15 families. She wanted to decorate the dvd cases, but didn't know what to do.

Of course I immediately thought of sweet little Billy from Pink Cat Studio and here's what I came up with.

To make the large soccer ball I cut out a 4 1/2" circle and 1 1/2" octagons on my Cricut machine with the "George" cartridge. The 1 inch lettering was also done on the same cartridge. Billy's soccer jersey and soccer ball are from the Lily and Billy accessory set.

Once again, I used one of my favorite embellishments....sushi grass. I've had some questions about what exactly this is.

This is sushi grass. It's available at most Japanese grocery stores. Have you ever bought pre-made sushi? Sometimes the wasabi and ginger are wrapped up in a piece of this thin plastic cut to look like grass. Hope that makes sense. That's it for me tonight - such a crazy week this has been!
Be sure to check back tomorrow for Fool Your Family Friday!

Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?

My daughter asked me to make owl cupcakes for her class.
We had SO much fun making them. Aren't they cute?!
Okay okay, I know you didn't come here to see cupcakes!

Here's my card for today...

Anyone who knows me can confirm the fact that I can be bribed with Starbucks.
I'm addicted.
If I could hook myself up to a Starbucks IV, I would.

The same is true for my friend Wanda, so when her birthday came around I picked up a gift card for her. Of course I couldn't give it to her without a matching Starbucks birthday card to go with it right? SU's "Like it a Latte" set was perfect for my little project.

(I picked up a the Starbucks logo stamp last year from a rude little company with horrible customer service. I won't be advertising for them on my blog, but if you want this image, be sure to read to the end.)

Here's a close up of the frothy goodness on top. I used white liquid applique and heat set it to get the "poofy" effect. Love that stuff...

Here's a peek at the inside of the card.

And a close up of the gift card holder.

Are there any other Starbucks addicts reading this? Leave me a comment with your favorite drink. I'll draw a name on Friday and send the winner 10 stamped images of the Starbucks logo.

Thanks for popping by!
Hugs