Hive Been a Bad Blogger

It's true. I have good intentions. I'm online often. I craft. I bake. Why can't I just get my act together and download a picture every once in a while? I think this would all be much easier if you could simply read my mind. We could cut out the middle man entirely. Can you get working on that please?

I guess since I have a tremendous backlog of cards made and unbloged (yep making up words...it's a gift) I'll share one with you now and we'll see what happens from there 'k?

I made this card in October for the Hope You Can Cling to challenges. This challenge was to make a card with a bee theme. Or more correctly a booBEE theme ;-) I think it turned out rather well considering I have NO bee stamps or hive stamps or anything remotely fitting that description. And the best part is that this card along with about 30 others made their way to Texas to help brighten the day of patients undergoing breast cancer treatment.

Happy Halloween

I've been getting my craft on big time lately. Between Hope You Can Cling To (I'll show you those cards starting tomorrow) and getting ready for the Halloween party Sunday things have been hopping here.

As I said we had a really fun party here yesterday. The kids frosted sugar cookies, danced, crafted, played outside and ran around and had fun. The parents got to catch up and laugh and enjoy a beautiful evening.

I set up one counter with all the treats. I made the good old stand by punch of ginger ale and rainbow sherbet. So simple and so yummy. I also had frosted sugar cookies and cupcakes (brown sugar pound cake and chocolate butter cream) and the mummy juice boxes ready for the kids and grown up kids too :-)



The kids had mustaches on sticks to use as disguises. I stamped them in Old Olive, Concord Crush, Early Espresso and Black. These were a real hit. Super easy and super silly and fun.

We had great fun playing, making colored macaroni necklaces and tossing bean bags into a Halloween themed board my wonderful husband made.

Today's Challenge

Got my craft on yesterday because I was asked by Taylor to make a sample for her Hope You Can Cling To challenge. Fight like a girl! It was a challenge for me for sure. I'm not very girly.

But I like what I came up with. I was inspired by a page from the Lily Kate packs and went from there. A little vintage, a little soft and a little girly.

Head on over to Splitcoast and join in the challenges. Meet some new people, craft, and help out a wonderful cause.

The Girls ;-)

Got my craft on for a good cause. This month is Hope You Can Cling To challenge month over at Splitcoast. You can click on the blinkie on my sidebar and find out all about it.

This card is for the HYCCT1105 challenge. It's a sketch challenge inspired by, what else? The girls! Gotta love crafters.

This card started out with the hopes that I could use the image from Vintage Postcards. After looking thru my embarrassingly so large collection of 6x6 pads I found Basic Grey Jovial and knew the plaid was perfect! I stamped the image in Cherry Cobbler then cut it out with a circle nestie and sponged Crumb Cake and Pool Party around while it was still in the die. The papers are distressed and the button was added to just take it to that next level. I hope whomever gets it loves it.

HOPE

Got my craft on today. Yesterday too!
The first card I'm going to share is one I made for my very own Hope You Can Cling To challenge over at Splitcoaststampers.

My challenge was to use only paper in your creation. I made this sunburst scene using Up Up & Away and a Cosmo Cricket paper. It's pretty simple but really pretty I think.

Tomorrow I'll share the card I made for the next challenge. It's a cutie!

Get YOUR Craft On

Saturday is World Card Making day. Get together with a friend and create something.

~OR~
Join us over at Splitcoaststampers the entire month of October for Hope You Can Cling to and meet the challenge of creating a card everyday for the month and sending them off to help someone with breast cancer have a brighter day. Click over there on that cute pink blinkie and see what all the excitement is about. I'm hosting a challenge October 4. I'd love to see you there. You'll need to register with Splitcoast. It's free and there are loads of great people and great ideas there.

Also check out the write up we got! http://blog.chron.com/craftingtravels/2011/09/world-card-making-day-and-hope-you-can-cling-to/

Hope to see you there :-)

Brown Sugar Bonanza

Got my bake on today. I've been itching to try a new recipe for brown sugar pound cake and see if I could translate it into a cupcake cooking time without it drying out. They turned out amazing! Then I topped them off with brown sugar butter cream...seriously so good I want to marry it. But wait there's more! I topped that with a brown sugar cinnamon drizzle. Utter deliciousness. These are definitely a cupcake worthy of a grown up party but the kids liked them too. They are really complex in flavor and sweet. The perfect partner to a strong cup of coffee.

I found the recipe online at Boston.com. I'll share it with you and include the edits I made for myself.

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1. Set the oven at 350 degrees.

2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt to blend them.

3. In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Mix in the vanilla.

4. With the mixer set on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk in 3 additions, beating just until combined. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.

5. Bake cupcakes 18-20 minutes or until they spring back when touched.

Brown Sugar Butter Cream
1 1/2 sticks butter room temperature 1 C brown sugar packed 1 teaspoon vanilla approximately 1 pound powdered sugar pinch of salt 3-4 tablespoons milk

beat together butter and brown sugar to within an inch of its life
beat in vanilla and salt
add powdered sugar and milk
beat until smooth light and fluffy.
Frosting will still be somewhat grainy because of the brown sugar but trust me it's fine. You'll hardly notice when you stuff that whole cupcake in your mouth LOL

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Drizzle
mix brown sugar a sprinkle of cinnamon and a little water to a somewhat smooth consistency. It won't be liquid, still grainy but fluid. Drip over tops of cupcakes.