1st Snow Layout for ScrapbookPal

Hello everyone!!  Today is my turn to post to the ScrapbookPal blog. Now that the Thanksgiving holiday has passed for those of us in the USA, we will begin to celebrate the winter holidays.  My kids have been begging me to put out the Christmas decorations for a few weeks and so this weekend, that is what we will be doing.  When do you set up your holiday decorations??

Here is a layout I created about our first snowfall we had last weekend.  We ended up with about 14 inches and it looked like a total winter wonderland in our front yard with no footprints in the snow, yet.  I pulled out my Winter Woodland cartridge to create this layout.  I love so many of the cuts on it along with a beautiful font, the hardest part was narrowing it down to which ones I wanted to use.

To create this layout, start with the following cuts (with layers) in these sizes:
Pine cone branch cut at 2 inches
Bird cut at 2 1/4 inches
Trees cut at 4 inches
Snowman cut at 4 3/4 inches
Rabbit cut at 1 3/4 inches
Snowflake cut at 1 3/4 inches
Title cut to fit within the circle (mine is cut at 1 inch on real dial size)

-Ink the edges of each of the cuts with Ranger Distress Inks, then layer the pieces together.  Add some accents with Sakura Glaze Pens to the heart on the snowman and the leaves on the branch.  Add a rhinestone to the center of the snowflake and some Stickles to the white tops on the trees.
-Hand cut and ink some rolling snow drifts and then adhere to your background cardstock piece.  Stitch around the edges of the layout with a sewing machine.  You can also hand stitch or draw stitching.
-Cut and adhere a 5 inch circle in the upper left corner of the layout.
-I used photos in the following sizes and placed mats behind them: one 6 x 7 1/2 inches and two 2 x 3 inches.  Adhere the photos as shown in the picture above.
-Place the cuts on the layout as shown above with dimensional adhesive.
-Cut a title and place in the circle.

Don't forget to enter to win a Cricut cartridge in celebration of my birthday next week.  CLICK HERE to enter.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Card & Sweet Potatoes Recipe

Today is the day in the USA that we celebrate Thanksgiving.  I am very thankful for all the blessings in my life....my family, my friends, my home, my talents, and all of my blogging and message board friends.  As we gather together today with family to give thanks, I would like to share this card with you and say thank you for being a visitor to my blog and for all the lovely comments you leave for me.  I used CPS sketch 194 for this card:

      Supplies:
        Cardstock, stamps, ribbon, punches: Stampin' Up!
        Die cuts: Cricut Expression with Gypsy, MS Elegant Cakes and
            George (orange cardstock), and A Child's Year (leaf) 
        Markers: Copic
        Distress Ink: Tim Holtz
        Brad: Making Memories
        Other: Hemp twine, sewing machine and thread

For our family tradition, we gather together and each bring a dish.  I usually bring the sweet potatoes.  I used to make my sweet potatoes with the marshmallow topping, but I started making this a couple of years ago and it has become a big hit........even those that don't much care for the sweet potatoes love this dish.  Here is the recipe:

Orange Caramel Sweet Potatoes with Apples and Pecan Streusel

(I have not baked it yet for this photo)

Ingredients:
5-6 lbs Sweet Potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 med Granny Smith apples
2 tsp butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Place sweet potatoes and salt in a large stock pot and cover with water.  Summer until a knife penetrates the sweet potatoes with no resistance.  Drain water and put the sweet potatoes into the fridge until cool.

Peel, core, and slice apples.  Saute in butter until apples are browned on the edges.  Add cinnamon.  Let cool.

Orange Caramel Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 oranges - zest and juice

Place all ingredients into sauce pan and boil until thickened and starts to resemble caramel.  Take off the heat and set aside.

Pecan Streusel topping:
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, crushed

Combine dry ingredients, mix well.  Add the butter and crumble.

To assemble:
Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch disks.  Place in a 9 x 11 baking dish with the apples.  Pour the orange caramel over the top.  Add the pecan streusel to the top.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until browned on top.  You can make this dish 1-2 days before and keep in the fridge.  Just pull out and bake before serving.  Enjoy!!


Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Hugs,

Apron Strings Designs - November 2010 & A Blizzard

Hello everyone!!  We are expecting a blizzard in my area later today, and as I batten down the hatches, I am thinking of ways that I can get some scrapping time in later today.  I think that I can sneak in some time and hopefully our power doesn't go out. 

I have some layouts to share with you that I created with the Bigger than a Bread Box for November with Apron Strings Designs.  There were so many beautiful papers and embellishments in this kit.  I think that I used up almost every scrap.  First up is the We R Memory Keepers Maple Grove line.  I think these papers are perfect for family and Thanksgiving Day photos:

Next is the Jenni Bowlin Family Tree kit:

This kit is still available on the Apron Strings Designs website.  CLICK HERE to see what is included.  Don't forget to check out the Apron Strings Designs blog for fun challenges to help inspire you to get some more layouts done.
Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments.
Hugs,

Gift Card Holder for Caardvarks with MFT

Good Morning!!  I hope that your weekend is starting out fabulous!!  Today is the 20th, and so we have a new challenge going on at Caardvarks.  For this challenge, we got to team up with My Favorite Things to create gift card or money holders......perfect for the upcoming Christmas season.....especially for those hard to buy for loved ones (you know which ones I am talking about).  ;)  Here is my gift card holder:

I have a tutorial and also a .gypsy file that you can download for this gift card holder HERE.

      Supplies:
        Cardstock, punches: Stampin' Up
        Patterned paper: Die Cuts With A View
        Stamps: My Favorite Things
        Ink: Momento (black), Stampin' Up! (red)
        Markers: Copic
        Ribbon: Offray
        Flocking: Doodlebug

Here is another card that I created with the awesome stamps My Favorite Things sent to me:

I used the emboss resist technique on this card.
      Supplies:
        Cardstock: The Paper Studio (kraft), Stampin' Up! (white)
        Stamps: My Favorite Things
        Ribbon: Creating Keepsakes
        Embossing powder, ink: Stampin' Up!
        Snowflake Brad: Recollections
        Other: hemp twine

I hope that you can hop on over to the Caardvarks blog and join us for this fun challenge.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE.  Thanks for visiting!!

Hugs,

CSN Stores Review

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?  I love to shop online an the CSN stores are one of the best places to get started on my holiday shopping.  There are over 200 stores with a such a wide variety of products to chose from....take a look......

They have a large selection of children's backpacks for the student on your list......

A huge variety of cookware for the chef or baker in your life.....

And so many other things to chose from like toys, bedding, furniture and so much more.....

They have something for everyone on your list this year.  I have have got my list ready and now I am ready to shop at the CSN stores.  How about you? 

Hugs,

Pride and Prejudice Inspired Card for Cinema Saturday

It has been quite gloomy around here with the clouds and wet weather.  I am glad that today we can see the sun and hopefully we can warm up a little.  When I saw that the 100th challenge at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge was for Pride and Prejudice, I knew I had to play along.  It is my favorite book and movie.  I love to watch the movie several times a year and I read the book every summer.  I created this card while thinking of the love between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.   

I think the sentiment "I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow" fits the growing love that Elizabeth has for Mr. Darcy after his first proposal and she reads his letter.

      Supplies:
        Cardstock, stamps, ink, embossing powder: Stampin' Up!
        Ribbon: Glimmer Mist and seam binding
        Pearls: Michaels
        Lace: Offray
        Other: stick pins

I love this soft blue color and I thought it fit really well with the theme. I also stamped into some melted silver embossing powder to add some texture that goes well with the setting in many of the finer houses from that time period as well as representation of the seals they put on the back of their letters.

I have another idea for a card for this challenge....we will see if I have some time to escape time to get it done today.  Thanks for stopping by!!


Hugs,

Be Merry - ScrapbookPal

This card is created for and shared on the ScrapbookPal blog.

The Christmas season will soon be upon us....have you started making your gifts and/or cards yet?  Well, here is a card that I created to share with you today that will hopefully inspire you to get started, if you haven't already.  I was lucky enough to receive the Winter Woodland cartridge from ScrapbookPal this month.  This cartridge is packed full of beautiful and fun winter themed cuts.  I used the 3D tree on my card as well as the poinsettia cuts.

To make this card:
-Cut two sets of the 3D trees from the Winter Woodland cartridge at 3 1/2 inches from music paper.  I find old music books at second hand stores to use in my Cricut.
-Cut the poinsettia and layers from the Winter Woodland cartridge at 2 inches.
-Cut a piece of cardstock at 1 inch by 2 1/2 inches and stamp a sentiment in the middle with some Cat's Eye Fluid Chalk ink.
-Using some Ranger's Distress Ink in Antique Linen and Tea Dye, distress all the pieces (both sides of the tree pieces).
-Emboss the bottom 3/4 of the front of the card base with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and the Cuttlebug machine.
-Add some color to some of the embossed dots with Sakura Glaze Pens.  Use them to add a little texture and dimension to the leaves and flower of the poinsettia, too.
-Put the two sets of 3D trees together at the slots (with the top two pieces together and the bottom two pieces together, slide them so that the they all are straight).  fold them all in so that when you open it, it fans out.  Adhere the back two sides of the fanned out tree to the bottom right side of the card.
-Add a star brad to the top of the tree.
-Add a brad to the left edge of the sentiment and then adhere the sentiment to the left of the tree (I over lapped mine in the tree).
-Tie a ribbon near the top and add the poinsettia to the middle of the bow.

I hope that you are inspired to make some of these for your loved ones and friends.  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to enter to win a Birthday Cakes cartridge that I am giving away HERE.

Supplies:
Cardststock: Stampin' Up! and Bazzill
Ribbon: Stampin' Up!
Die cuts: Cricut Expression with Winter Woodland cartridge
Embossing: Cuttlebug with Swiss Dots embossing folder
Stamp: Stampin' Up!
Brads: Making Memories
Pens: Sakura Glaze pens
Ink: Cat's Eye Fluid Chalk and Ranger Distress inks

Hugs,

Birthday Blog Candy

Hello everyone!!  I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks and I would love to celebrate it with all of my wonderful followers and subscribers by giving away a Birthday Cakes Cricut cartridge. 

You do not need to have a Cricut Cake to use this cartridge.....it works in all of the Cricut machines. 

I love the wonderful cuts on this cartridge:

The cuts all go really well on all kinds of cards and layouts and the borders are all fabulous.  Did I also mention that it has a great font on it as well?  If you already have this cartridge, it would make a wonderful Christmas gift for a friend who doesn't have it.

If you would like to win this cartridge:

• Be a follower or subscriber of my blog (found on the right sidebar)
• Leave a comment below and tell me one of your favorite organization tips for your craft supplies. 

For a bonus entry:

• Help spread the word about my giveaway (your blog, facebook, twitter, message board, etc.) with a link to this post and then come back here and leave me another comment telling me where you posted about my giveaway. 

So, you have a chance to have two entries for this giveaway.  If I receive over 150 entries, I will be giving away a second prize (I will post the second prize when we reach the 150 entries) to another lucky winner.  Be sure to leave me with a way to get a hold of you if you win with access to your blog and/or an email address with your comment.  I will randomly draw a winner (or two) from the entries received here by 11:59 PM MST on December 4th (my birthday) and post the winner on my blog on December 5th.

*********I am extending the deadline until the evening of December 5th.  I will post a winner on December 6th.****************

Thanks and good luck!!

Holiday Cards for Caardvarks with Creative Cuts & More

I don't usually get into the Christmas spirit until after Thanksgiving, but this year, I am already singing Christmas tunes and want to set up my tree and decorate for the Christmas season. Lucky for me, there is a new challenge up on the Caardvarks blog with the perfect theme for creating for the Christmas season.....the challenge is to create a new holiday card using a die cut.  We got to play with some die cuts from Creative Cuts & More for this challenge....here are my cards:

Sleigh #01 - Large

Color Block Mat - Large

Snowflake #01 - Petite

Christmas Ornaments #02 - Mini

Hopefully these cards can inspire you to get your Holiday cards started (if you haven't already) and hop on over to Caardvarks to see the amazing creations by the design team and to join us for this fun challenge!!

Hugs,