Online Summer Card Camp, Week 1

I was lucky enough to win a spot in the Online Summer Card Camp from Joy’s blog a week or so ago. Joy is a guest designer and was allowed to give away some spots in the class. I was thrilled to have been one of the names she drew out of the digital hat.

So, anyway, this week we’ve been presented with a color scheme that was a little outside my comfort zone:

I’ve spent the past couple of days literally dreaming about the colors, combed through my stash, found some paper that would work, hated it, couldn’t find a sketch, started looking through saved files on my computer and I ran across this from the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Paper Crafts Magazine…Alison Anderson is the designer

I love this card and I’ve always wanted to CASE it.  And then…it happened….“Ferb, I know what we’re gonna do today.”  (if your kids…or you…watch Phineas and Ferb…I do!…then you know where I’m coming from)

So, of course mine isn’t as drop dead awesome as the one above, but I’m pleased with it. I don’t think it’s perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I do know I’ll be making it again and likely with many different colors of ribbon because that’s what is so much fun about this card.  Oh, so you want to see my version?  Just don’t look too closely, okay?  Here it is…

The woman wearing “my dress” is at a beach party (I kept humming “The Girl from Ipanema" when I was making it) so, she’s wearing a diamond pendant rather than her diamond collar. {giggle}

I really like the Cuttlebug embossing folder with this little dress template. If I didn’t need to have all the other colors, I’d have left the ribbons off and had just a swirly white dress. It’s seriously that cute (the template and that folder…not my work!).

Phew! There’s my card for week one.  I may or may not do others, it’s just going to depend on how things go around these parts tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

Template: PaperCrafts Magazine
Paper: Georgia Pacific
Embossing Folder: ProvoCraft for Cuttlebug (D’Vine Swirls)
Ribbon & Rhinestone: Michael’s

Strawberry-Spinach Salad

Strawberries are at their peak in many places across the country.  Here is a favorite salad

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 (6-oz) bags baby spinach
1 (16-oz) container strawberries, quartered
1 (4-oz) package crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup sliced almonds
Bottled red wine vinaigrette
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Toss together red onion and next four ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with red wine vinaigrette; sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 

Another Card, another couple of challenges

Well, apparently I'm avoiding the color scheme for this week's Online Summer Card Camp...okay, I'm not really avoiding it, I just don't have what I need to make the card that's floating around in my head (going to get it all tonight).  Anyway, I have this stack of red, white and blue paper sitting here begging to be made into a card.  (Die Cuts with a View Nantucket Stack from Michael's)  Enter ColourQ Challenge #91 and this color scheme (left) I love this color scheme - but then, I love just about any color scheme that involves red, white and blue. Then I saw the sketch from CPS this week (right) and I decided to put the two of them together.

And here's what I came up with:

I apologize for the catty-wampus photo. I took it on the driveway since there was decent light out there and I was being too lazy to lay on the concrete to get a decent - and straight - shot.   To add a little more "sparkle" to the grey, I embossed the sentiment in silver embossing powder and the button has some silver thread in it (can't have naked buttons on my stuff!!).  Thanks for visiting.

Paper: (Patterned Paper) Die Cuts with a View, Nantucket Stack; (grey) came from my husband's office when they wanted to unload SIX CASES of paper - a case and a half of it was cardstock
Ribbon: Michael's
Button: Jenni Bowlin Vintage Sew-On Buttons (red isn't in her store, but some other colors are at the bottom of this page)
Stamp: Papertrey Ink, Fillable Frames 6 
Embossing Powder: was in my stash from way back when

Pomegranate Body Scrub

I have this recipe torn out of the May 2009 issue of BH&G. I haven't made it yet, but this might be a fun gift for teachers especially at the holidays when pomegranates are in season.

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons oil (vegetable, avocado, or sunflower)
1-2 drops of your favorite essential oil (optional)

In a small bowl, combine sugar and pomegranate seeds and crush both with a spoon. Add oil and mix. The pomegranate will naturally scent the scrub, but if you want additional scent, add a couple drops of essential oil. Massage gently onto damp skin. There should be enough for a full body scrub. Rinse off.

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Scrubs that are sugar or salt-based will keep up to a month if stored in airtight packaging.

PTI June 2011 Blog Hop

Eeek! Now I’ve gone and done it.  I’ve decided to join the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop this month…now that I have a bunch of PTI goodies to play with!  Details about the Blog Hop can be found here. 
This month, the inspiration was taken from Pinterest. (You do know about Pinterest, don’t you? Visit my pinboards!) Anyway, the inspiration was this photo (click the photo to be taken to the original source):

You know the engineer in me sees this and has to interpret it literally.  I can’t see this and pull colors and textures from it. No. I see the stripes on the wall, the dresses, the cubbies and baskets and therefore my card must look as much like it as I possibly can make it.  I’m an engineer. I’m a baker. For Pete’s sake, follow the recipe or it will fail (or taste really badly)!!  So, that’s what I did. Minus the dresses because that made it too fussy for me.  My “nod” to the dresses was the holographic embossing powder I used for a little bit of sparkle.  Everything else? Self explanatory.  With no further ado, I give you my card…

From the top down we have (all PTI Cardstock, of course!): Simply Chartreuse, Spring Moss, Sweet Blush, Melon Berry, Berry Sorbet, Raspberry Fizz (I debated on this, Hibiscus Burst and Scarlet Jewel but HB wasn’t really dark enough while SJ was too dark) and Aqua Mist strips and a Stamper’s Select White cardbase.  Fillable Frames 6 was die cut from Fine Linen, stamped in Versamark and embossed with the previously mentioned holographic embossing powder that I had in my box o’supplies from way back when I used to do this stampin’ thing more frequently (a.k.a. “before I had children”).
You can tell from this close up how shaky my hands are…the stamp isn’t perfectly centered in the die cut (just trying to keep it real, here, people). I’ve never had steady hands.  Guess I’m going to have to get something to help me with that. 

And so there you have it.  My first card in more years than I can begin to count.  My first PTI card. My first creative blog hop.  This, my friends, was fun on many levels.  As I stood at the chopping block in my studio kitchen cutting paper, I thought, “Oh, I’ve missed doing this. I love it.”  I’m so glad to be back in the thick of it!

Visit Nichole's blog to see lots of fabulous projects in this month's hop!

Red, White & Blue

So, here’s our door décor for late June/early July:

The idea came from Family Fun magazine (one of my favorite magazines in the world) July 2010 issue. You can see it online here.  The paper I used is from Die Cuts with a View “Nantucket” stack from Michael’s.  It’s a great stack, nautical themed.  Because the back of paper is white, I thought it left the wreath too washed out. The white just seemed to take over the whole thing.  So, I painted the insides of the cones.  In order to get a blue that blended at least a little bit, I mixed a small amount of lavender paint in with the navy (the blues in this stack have a lot of violet in them).  Also, to protect it from the muggy Arkansas humidity, I sprayed it with a couple of coats of lacquer on the front and back.

The rosette is made with a leftover strip of the cream dot, the button is Jenni Bowlin Vintage-Style buttons and it is threaded with Caron Watercolours cotton floss in Williamsburg (040)  (at least that stuff is getting used now since I don’t stitch any more).  The red, white and blue ribbon hanger is from Michael’s.  While I had the paper out, I decided I’d decorate the kraft bags I had for Daddy’s and Brad’s Father’s Day gifts.  Here’s Brad’s:

I used the DCWV paper and the Martha Stewart Edger Arch Lattice Punch.  Daddy’s bag was the opposite of Brad’s – the blue had a glossy ship embossed in the corner and I used the nautical print to create a decorative edge.

Excited about paper crafting again

I have loved to paper craft for years - really, for as long as I can remember I have loved making things from paper, including scrapbooks.  The holiday season of 1999, during the stress of "the sky is falling" Y2K bug (I was an IT Business Analyst and doing application support for a large healthcare system in Central Arkansas), I found great stress relief in stamping and coloring my own Christmas cards (and making all my own gifts - hot chocolate mixes, friendship tea mix and several kinds of biscotti).  I tried digital scrapbooking for several years and while I liked it, and love the "no mess" part of it, I missed getting my hands "dirty" by touching paper.  I also never had any of my layouts printed - at least not for me...so, fat lot of good that did. Maybe I will have them printed eventually. And probably, I won't.  :)   So...I've decided it's time to return to my love for paper.  And stamps.

In April, I saw a card in an issue of PaperCrafts magazine that literally brought tears to my eyes (photo of the card is not available online, but here is one kind of similar...and by the same artist, I love Betsy Veldman...I want to be just like her when I grow up). It was perfect for someone I know who has wanted a baby for years and finally, after 3 tries with IVF, she is expecting her first baby.  I knew I had to make it for her - and so I did.  It required placing my first order with Papertrey Ink, a company whose design team I've followed since late 2008. They never fail to knock me out with their projects.  And now, I've been bitten by the PTI bug. I placed my first "release day" order this month and cannot wait to get my goodies. 

When they arrive and I get a chance to stamp something, I'll share.  :)  Oh, you want to know what I ordered?  Friends 'Til the End - a stamp set I have loved since it was released in early 2009; Mehndi Medallion; Fillable Frames 6 and the matching die; Fine Linen Twill ribbon and Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitch ribbon (I love saddle stitch ribbon!) as well as a couple of dies for use in making these baby shower invitations (from Nichole Heady's blog).  And, because I have heard wonderful things about PTI cardstock, I also ordered their cardstock sampler.  A sweet, sweet member of their forum has sent me a sample of some of the cardstock colors that are not in the sampler.  I love how heavy it is!  (110 lb...it is *thick*!) I'm not sure when it'll all be here...but I can't wait!

Breakfast Bites - Very Berry Scones

My friend Jennifer makes billions and billions of gift mixes every year for Christmas (as I’ve discussed before…by the way, we had those granola bars for breakfast this morning…yummo)
For Christmas 2009, she did a yummy scone recipe and I’d like to share it with you today.  It’s another one of our favorites for breakfast.  I can whip them up the night before and then they’re ready to glaze the next morning when we get up. 

Very Berry Scones
Preheat oven to 400°F. 
Scone mix:
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried fruit (we like a mixed berry blend  or craisins and sometimes, we skip “healthy” and go straight for chocolate chips. Raisins are another option)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup milk (can substitute light whipping cream or half and half)
1 egg
Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Mix softened butter with dry ingredients. Mix milk and egg together, add to scone mix. Mixture will be wet and thick.
Drop large tablespoons of batter onto cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool before applying glaze
For glaze, mix powdered sugar with 2 Tbsp milk. Microwave 30-45 seconds (until clear). Brush glaze onto scones with pastry brush. Allow glaze to get hazy and harden. 
Okay, confession time.  I’ve never microwaved the glaze. I mix the powdered sugar and milk – often adding a smidge of vanilla to it. Then I just drizzle it on the scones with a spoon. And then I lick the spoon.