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.

Mummy Juice

Got my craft on yesterday. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I LOVE A THEME! So sticking with the mummy theme I've decorated juice boxes for the kids to enjoy at the Halloween party. Yes it's over a month out but seriously I'm so busy in October that what doesn't get done in September just doesn't get done. So it's highly likely you'll be seeing some more Halloween ideas in the weeks to come.



This project started with a bunch of juice boxes. Had I thought it out more I would have looked for one with green labeling or something because I ended up having to create a cardstock sleeve for these because the red showed through the masking tape so much. Never fear tho it's not too tough. Basically I used some scrap cardstock in a light mummy-ish color and cut it 4" wide and wrapped it around the box. Didn't even bother scoring. Then I wrapped that with as much masking tape as it needed to get covered and look scary (hahaha hardly). Then to kick up to real mummy status I sponged River Rock all over making sure to really rub it in to the edges of the masking tape. I think it takes it to the next level.




Next came the eyes. Once again had I thought this through I likely would have put the eyes in then added a little masking tape "gauze" over them too. Eh live and learn. I mean it's not like the kids mind or are going to throw these away after sucking up the juice right? I used Wild Wasabi for the eyelids and the same cardstock as the underneath for the eyes. The iris is Soft Sable. I sponged (of course) all around the eye then used a glue dot to attach them to the box. I think they look just silly enough to be perfect.

Mummy Trio

Because I love my kids and their friends and (more honestly) because I love a theme party I've decided to have a Halloween crafting and cookie decorating party for a few kids and their parents. The kids will be decorating homemade sugar cookies and crafting macaroni necklaces while the parents eat uncontaminated sugar cookies and craft cocktails.

I busted out my most favorite Halloween set for the invitations. Booglie Eyes just makes me smile. And I loved coloring the mummy with my Copics. I'm still practicing with them so this was a nice way to see what would happen if...
What would happen if I layered Y21 with W3 and then added a little G12 around the eyes and hands and feet. Then I wanted to see what would happen if I layered the colorless blender over it all. Pretty darned cute I'd say.

The font is a free download from www.dafont.com. Lots of fun stuff there. My six year old says the writing isn't scary enough. I think it's perfect. Reminds me of the old horror flicks.

These are just going to be handed to the kids so there was no need to worry about them fitting in an envelope. I made each a little different because, well, because I can LOL. And as usual the layers are all sponged with Crumb Cake ink and so are my fingers.

I'm a Romantic

Yeah not really but the card is.
Yep I got my craft on today! Two days in a row! Clean clothes? Meh who needs those?

This is made with yet more Cosmo Cricket paper and sponging. Not surprised are you? The image is from Because I Care. I stamped it Soft Sable and then colored with some Prismacolor pencils. I used the outside the box technique with the Nestability (first time) and really like it. That piece was sponged with Crumb Cake in. I finished it all off with some crumb cake seam binding and a button.

Blowin in the Wind

Got my craft on THIS MORNING! And then I actually took a picture of it and am sitting here writing a blog post! Will wonders never cease?

Anyway here's the fun little card I made. I really like it. For the balloons I stamped them then stamped the image again on a post it and cut out the uninked portions so I could use it as a mask on the first image. I masked it off and sponged, ok Q Tipped, Crumb Cake ink into the spaces to give it a little dimension. The edge of the cloud paper and clouds are sponged in Crumb Cake too.

Thanks for stopping by.

Two Firsts!

I got my craft on the other day. I'm attempting to teach myself how to color with Copics. What I've learned so far is I need more colors ;-)

I tried to start out easy and opted for a spray of flowers, this one from Elements of Style is a fave, and let my marker colors dictate where the card went from there. So that leads me to my second first...Peach Parfait. It's an In Color from last year and this is the first time I've used it. But it went really well with the colors of the flowers (Y23, Y17, R30) and I like oranges playing off cool blues (Pool Party this time).

Up, Up & Away

Got my craft on yesterday. This is one of those cards that start out with a general idea and I just let it lead me where it wants to. I like how it ended up. I mean who wouldn't? There's sparkle, buttons and TWINE!

The printed paper is from the Welcome Neighbor paper pack from Sale-a-Bration awhile ago. It was just too perfect not to use. The balloons were stamped in Pumpkin Pie on Daffodil Delight and then I cut them out. I wanted a little pop of green in there somehow so I made the baskets Lucky Limeade. The glittery clouds are die cut from a Christmas card I got last year and saved. I think it all turned out pretty cute.

Bathroom Redo

Got my craft on all last week ;-)


So we've lived in this house over 5 years. So much has been redone, upgraded and taken care of with exception of the master bedroom and bath. It finally got to a point that hubby and I said THAT'S IT! We want a nice bathroom too. So I checked out a few options and I looked at my Stampin Up cardstock and picked two I liked and we headed off to Lowes.

We yanked out the old toilet, sink, shower doors and I painted the walls Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy. I love it! Then we installed the new toilet and while the hubs was at work I installed the new vanity and sink and attached all the plumbing. They hubby helped me hang the medicine cabinet and I changed out the light switches and outlets. All in all it has a nice new fresh feel, I'm only disappointed that we can't change out the shower to be a bath tub LOL

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow I'll have a new card to share with you

Sweet Fun

I wanted to be sure to share with you the other cards I had ready for the stamp camp this past weekend.

The pinwheel card while simple looking was deceptively heavy in number of steps. Each pinwheel is a different color and each image used the SAMJ so it was more time consuming than I meant it to be. But they all turned out very cute. I used Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Tangerine Tango and Poppy Parade for the pinwheels and Lucky Limeade for the sticks. Two score lines finished off the cards and dressed them up just a bit.

This sweet card was more about reminding people to use their tools. I think too often we get bogged down in the color choices or picking the right image that we forget we have a drawer full of punches at our disposal. This one used the ribbon punch and the pennant punch. The colors I opted for are Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler, black and white. And do you see that fab ribbon? Scalloped and dotted CHERRY COBBLER! It's so danged cute with the new polka dotted In Color brads. It might be tough to see in the picture too but the swirl lollipop is actually embossed. I stamped in Versamark and used the Cherry Cobbler EP.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll have a few more posts in the next few days for you to share what I've been doing the last few weeks.

SWEET! DUDE!

Got my craft on this past weekend. I had a stamp camp using the super cute set Sweets for the Sweet. It's so versatile. And of course being who I am I waited until, literally, the last minutes to get some of the cards designed and prepped. That last minute card happened to be my favorite too LOL

It's a little vintagey, a little sponged, a little blue (two new colors, Pool Party and Island Indigo). And seriously is that new ribbon not drool worthy?

OK off to play with some hot air balloons and cloud dies.

Busy Busy Busy

Things have been hectic here. Lots to do, lots going on and lots accomplished. All of it brought to fruition this past weekend.

This past Saturday I joined about 2000 other men and women at Fort Mason in San Francisco to kick off the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. This was my third year and the first year that I am proud to say I walked every step of the 39.3 miles! And you know me, I got some crafting in there. This is the shirt I wore Sunday to walk 15.7 miles and cross the finish line. It has the name of everyone I hold in my heart while I walk. Some we've lost, some are survivors and some are still fighting.

This is truly a labor of love for me. I enjoy the training, the people I meet and the fund raising. This year I raised $5054! Can you believe it! I have such a tremendous support system in my friends and family..and a few strangers too. I know I can count of these people each year to support my with donations, kind words and support in training.

Saturday's route took us from Fort Mason out towards the Ferry building then into Pacific Heights before circling back to head up the hill to the Golden Gate bridge. We crossed the bridge, "strolled" through Sausalito passing through Mill Valley and ending up the day at the Wellness Village in Corte Madera. 23.6 miles in total. That pink arch and those smiling faces at the Wellness Village were such a welcome sight.

Before I sign off and attempt to make a card and play with my Copic markers I want to recount a story...

My family and I were walking back to the car after I crossed the finish line, hit the medical tent for my feet and signed up for next year's walk. I was hobbling along on bandaged up feet and a taped up leg and I hear from behind me "Oh no oh no are you ok?" from a woman who had been at the farmer's market.
Me "Couldn't be better, thanks"
Woman "Did you walk? I am a breast cancer survivor. Thank you for walking"
Me "Wow, congratulations! You're incredible!"

We exchanged smiles and went on our way. I don't think she knows how much that meant to me.

Fun!

Got my craft on yesterday. I'm utterly in love with Cosmo Cricket papers. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to get into them because they've really gotten me stamping again. This card is a quick and fun one with lots of colors and layers. It showcases the new pennant punch from Stampin' Up! it's quickly becoming a favorite of mine! Another new In Color is here to. Can you spot it? It's the base of the card, Lucky Limeade! This all just makes me want to have a parade and play outside!

Pink Passion!

Which came first? My love of pink or my love of the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer? Whichever they have fueled each other into yet another year of wonderful fund raising and support.

And...speaking of support go check out my friends etsy shop where she had designed a special collection just for ME! Well, for my fundraising! Take a peek, order something fabulous and help out a worthy cause.

You can also read my story and donate directly to my home page HERE

Reduce, Reuse, Bicycle

Got my craft on again today! Of course I haven't done any laundry but I did wash the kids and dishes. It's a give an take LOL

Last Christmas my husband gave me this gorgeous shimmery mint green cruiser. I completely love it. It's completely inspired the card I made today. In fact the image I used is actually a tag that was included with all the paperwork the bike came with. I just loved how summery it felt and saved it knowing someday I'd use it to make a card. Today was that day!

I pulled out my Cosmo Cricket 6x6 packs to see which one worked best with the image. Decided on Earth Love and set to work. I love how the colors and sunset feel just like a lazy summer evening. The little banner is from and upcoming Stampin' Up! set called Pennant Parade. I stamped the image using a color called Calypso Coral (coming soon too) on Groovy Guava Paper and punched it out with the coordinating punch (also available in July!). I finished it all off with Caribbean twine and a corduroy button.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle

Got my craft on just an hour ago and liked it so much I had to hurry and share it with you!

This card has no stamping on it because I recycled a note card a fab friend of mine sent me. It had this fantastic image that just needed to be used so I used it. I reduced waste by using this vanilla cardstock that my brother rescued from being tossed at work awhile ago. And I upcycled with the help of Cosmo Cricket's mini deck Upcycle! All the layers are sponged with Crumb Cake ink and I added a little button and some scrumptious baker's twine (Caribbean from The Twinery) to the sentiment.

Teacher Treat

Got my craft on last week. It was the end of the school year so there was plenty to be done. Aside from making contraband cookies for the end of year pizza party (seriously you CANNOT make homemade items for schools anymore :-0) I wanted to make something for the teacher that she'd both use and enjoy. Starting point? CANDY! This lady loves candy like I love Matt Passmore (google him). SO I thought I'd do sort of a tackle box collection of candy and maybe asprin and hand lotion, but that didn't quite translate. But, what did work out was a darling purple tool box I found at Walmart for $5! The schools colors are purple and white so this was fantastic.

Obviously I tied a collection of ribbons along the handle. I mean I still have to make it pretty even though it's a pretty darned cute tool box (no I did not get myself one). Then the top had two flip open spots for nuts and bolts so of course I filled those with Good & Plenty, Lemon Drops and Hot Tamales. I mean who wouldn't?

Inside I filled with some hand decorated items for the classroom all in Concord Crush which is the perfect match to the school colors. I made a beaded RSVP pen, covered a small notepad and decorated it, covered some small binder clips in patterned paper, and wrapped some erasers and pencils in belly bands of patterned paper. She squealed with delight at all the treasures! And she hadn't even pulled up the tray yet to unearth the candypalooza that was going on in the bottom of that tool box!

Some things I left as is, I mean what's more beautiful than a giant Hershey bar? But other items I jazzed up a bit. The Hershey Kisses I put in a tiny brown bag that I decorated with more patterned paper and clipped closed with another decorated binder clip. The Skittles were added to a small medication bottle I beautified with yet MORE patterned paper as were the Sugar Babies.

All in all this was a huge hit with her! She said every year the teachers all compare what they got and have a few good laughs but THIS would be a gift that got some oooos and ahhhhs and a few jealous stares LOL. SUCCESS!

Rainbow

Got my craft on yesterday while playing around with some scraps of paper. I needed a card for a workshop and it's been raining and gray here for weeks it seems. We've not so affectionately started calling this month Junuary. Anyway we needed some brightening up and I was inspired by a few things I had seen while driving so came up with this rainbow pieced card. Oddly enough it also happened to be the first day or ride out for the Aids Life Cycle and I have a few friends that ride so it became a really fitting card to showcase at my event. I've lost a very close family friend to AIDS years ago and the work that these riders do to fundraise, train and support each other in the community is nothing short of amazing. If you'd like more information about the ride and cause my friend Maynard has given me his blessing to link you to his page. Take a moment to visit it and see what all the joy is about. Maynard's Page

Tasty Trivets

I really enjoy stamping. Mostly I paper craft but I've been known to stamp on other things. Even the kids if they stand still long enough. I created a few trivets for my recent fundraiser. I have two left so thought I'd pop them out into the garden in the sun and take a few pictures. I really like how these two turned out. I was surprised these were the ones that didn't sell.

These are simply tiles from Lowe's stamped with Staz On inks, heat set and I added felt feet on the bottom. Great as decoration, in the kitchen, or under a candle.

Pink Sugar

I've mentioned my fundraiser before and my passion for doing it grows every day. I love when I come across items that are economical but still presentable as a very nice gift. These are the pink peppermint sugar scrubs I made for the fundraiser. The jars were less than $8 for a dozen, the ribbon a few cents worth from my stash and the buttons too.

Sugar Scrub Recipe
3 C sugar
A little shy of 1 C vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract added to the oil
1 drop red food coloring added to the oil
Stir the oil to break up the dye drop
Pour oil mixture into sugar and stir.

I love this in the shower. The sent is refreshing but not clingy and you are very soft afterwards. I really like to use it after I've been in the garden to scrub away all the dirt.

Happy Birthday To Me

Got my craft on yesterday and baked for my birthday. I stuck with the standard Devil's Food chocolate cupcake but I made a mistake. I accidentally used 1/3 C shortening rather than the 1/2 C that the recipe called for. And you know what? They were AWESOME! Not at all greasy which I find sometimes that cakes can be. Not sure what that did for the calorie count but I can assure you I rectified that situation with the frosting. Peanut butter frosting! So incredible. I read a few recipes here and there and opted to go the way that made sense to me. I used my go to butter cream recipe of 1 stick of butter 1 pound of powdered sugar and vanilla and milk till it's perfect. Quite a recipe huh? Well I subbed out the butter for peanut butter and used more than a pound of powdered sugar you see because there was a two pound bag opened and when I eyeballed a pound there was only about a cup left so I threw it in there. Powdered sugar frostings are so easy going like that. Then I added a teaspoon of vanilla and started with 3 T of milk. I probably ended up using close to 1/4 C of milk since it was a pretty dry day and I wanted a soft frosting. I tasted it and added a scoop more of peanut butter and a pinch of salt. Turned out so incredibly yummy that it's going in the rotation for good.

As you can see I topped the finished product with a mini Reece's Peanut Butter cup. Even my hubby proclaimed success!

Oh and I have some left over frosting that might just find it's way on top of some cookie dough ice cream later tonight after the kids go to bed.

It's in the Bag

Got my craft on a TON last month. I had this great plan to sew a few things, glue a few flower pins together and make some cupcakes and then have an open house to raise money for my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer participation. It started small and become huge and wonderful. May 1 I opened the doors just before noon and chatted and hugged and collected and sold my way to over $1000!

I'd like to share a few pictures of some totes I made that weren't snatched up. I made 18 and only have 5 left! If you'd like to "purchase" one for $25 leave me a note in the comments section. All money collected goes towards my fundraising. In fact if you'd like, you can donate directly on my participation page and I'll mail out the tote to you.

These are large, all cotton, hand made totes. They are sized so that both straps will remain on your shoulder but still allow you to put your hands inside or fill it easily. They are strong enough for shopping, farmer's market trips or taking to the beach but I wouldn't recommend loading them with books or items over 30 pounds. They are washable.

You can also see my repurposed Freecycle finds in the pictures LOL. My spray painted mailbox that holds garden tools (and spiders, ewwww) and my ship's bell that helps announce dinner in the summer.