Create a Cupcake

Allergies. Go. Away. Don't come back another day! (Please? with strawberries and cream. . .) The weather here has been a bit breezy (I don't want to say windy, because my sister in Wyoming will chime in and tell me otherwise!). And, I have to agree. . . it's been kind of beachy! But, since I am not at the beach, all it tends to do here is blow all those lovely pollens around, making me a bit on the foggy side. Oh well. Life goes on, right.

Last night we, along with some good friends, went out for 31 cent scoop night (we live within walking distance to one Fresno BR and that's awesome. They have a new flavor that is simply wonderful. . . . fire station #31. It is bright red and flavored with crunched up red hots!!! WOW! was it yummy (thanks to my sister who recommended it to me!). Did you venture out to get some ice cream last night? I hope so. It was well worth the slightly long lines for ice cream that cheap (we didn't have to wait longer than 20 minutes . . . I think).

Here are some cards I recently made with one of my new stamp sets. . . Create a cupcake and it's matching punch (both are Stampin' Up products). Most of my ideas come from other people's cards.

Butterfly

My mom bought a new stamp set several months ago called Flight of the Butterfly (Stampin' Up). My mom has had a hard time finding inspiration for it and so I thought I would give it a try, but unfortunately I have been so busy, it has literally been sitting on my office floor for months.

Last month, I needed to come up with a birthday card for Jon's grandma. . . and we were going out of town the next day. . . so I went to my favorite place for ideas and saw a card similar to this one. . . mentally took a picture of it, and went to work.

Ta Da!

This card uses a lot of paper, but I only needed one, and for this card It used paper out of my scrap box . . . perfect use for small leftovers! The colors used for this card are Only Orange, Pink Passion, Real Red, and of course Basic Black (Stampin' Up). The paper is also Stampin Up in matching colors.

This card was a lot of fun to make!

Happy Father's Day

I always find myself in a dilema when it comes to cards for men. . . especially on Father's Day. Most of my stamps are just a tad to feminine for the men in our lives, so usually Jon goes to the nearest Target or Halmark store and picks out a gross/funny, more "manly" card to meet those needs. This year, we didn't have time to go buy one. . . it has been a zoo around here!

I found an idea for a card at mmm.crafts and it led me to the printable here. Between that website and mmmcrafts, I was able to get creative with what I had and came up with card you see above. It ended up being a lot of fun, and I am sure that you can adapt it to any card for a man, just cutting off the happy necktie day at the bottom.

Happy Crafting

p.s. for those of you wondering, I am still without an oven, BUT, hope comes tomorrow, when they come to install the new oven (delivered this morning). So, if you are wondering what I am going to be doing. . . there will be fresh baked goodies at my house tomorrow (If all goes well).

is it June already?

Welcome to the first week of June! With all this weird, abnormal weather we have been having, this week hit with a blast of HOT weather and next week it has been forecast to reach triple digits. It has also been a busy week filled with house cleaning, yard work, and cookbook making. Speaking of the cookbook, I am almost done. Just need to scan some pictures and edit. I am very excited to see the finished project!

Here's a birthday card I recently made. This is a really old set of stamps from Stampin' Up called Stipple Celebrations. I used to not be very fond of this stamp, but am just loving it these days! It has everything for every kind of card making, birthday, everyday, wedding, baby, Christmas, etc. So much fun!

I am also having fun tying gross grain ribbon with a coordinating color multiple times. It is a fun embellishment that doesn't take very much, but adds a neat effect to a card or scrapbook.

:: Earlier I posted my goals for this summer. I am curious what your goals are. . .

:: Oven Update - Tomorrow a brand new oven will be installed in my kitchen! I am so excited!

:: We are painting tomorrow night. I am not sure what, but I am excited to continue making our new house have some personality! It is so much fun making this home "ours."

All the Best. . . . right?

I started this post yesterday while waiting for the appliance guy to fix my oven. Unfortunately, he just stared at the oven, inspecting it and searching for non-existent numbers and talking on the phone (he was on hold a LONG time!). Needless to say, my post was incomplete because I was distracted (yes, I was eavesdropping!). So, my oven is broken and I am not sure whether to be excited or bummed. You see, on Friday I made enchiladas. . . well, I made them early so I could stick them in the oven when Jon got home from work. When they got put in and the oven turned on, a light show began and the element broke. So, the enchiladas were taken out of the oven and transfered to the freezer where they will stay until they can be baked. We ended up at a local Carl's Jr. for dinner (no complaints here!) and now we wait. As it turns out, our oven is so old, they couldn't find the model number, only a catalog number and the parts are no longer made. As a new homeowner of an older house, we were actually praying for appliances to break during the first year, because our insurance covers the replacement of appliances. However, we laugh, because we have had something happen each month we have been here.

:: December - we had something die in our attic right before we moved in and were welcomed with maggots falling from the vents in our bathroom as a housewarming present. . . lovely!

:: January - Our heater broke. . . not the best time to find this out. . . it was sooo cold!

:: February - Flooded kitchen . . . a pipe burst under our kitchen sink flooding our kitchen. It was quite a mess!

:: March - Garage Door broke. . . that was an easy fix . . . just some muscle power on behalf of Jon.

:: April - Air Conditioner/heater . . . Jon new how to fix it, so he and his dad climbed to the roof and clicked some buttons and fixed the system.

:: And now, we are just barely into May and our oven has broken.

Obviously, homeownership is far from boring! We are really enjoying this adventure despite the frustrations. I am just very thankful that it's not the week of thanksgiving (like last year) when I have a ton of baking to do and my element breaks (in that case, the apartment was on the ball and quickly fixed it!). We will have to wait at least 10 days until we know the fate of our oven. Until then, I am on a baking hiatus. . . and plan to explore the world of no-bake cookies. But, I thought I would share some cards I made a few weeks ago. These are from a stamp set, called All the Best. . . . which is one of my favorite sets.

this one is one of my favorites! The floral print pattern is Amy Butler (available at Michaels).

Well, I am going to go and work on some other projects and watch some TV. Enjoy your day!

Valentine Time

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know, the holiday has come and gone, but I am so behind on my blogging that the next few posts will be full of Love. . . just for you!

My mom bought this cool new set of stamps, called Sweetheart through Stampin' Up. With the use of the heart punch and these new heart shaped treat containers that fit right into the punched out heart, it makes the cutest card! I had so much fun playing. My mom let me have a few of her containers and I new that I was going to make something for the gals at my MOPS table. Instant inspiration! I decided I was going to fill the hearts with Red Hots (which by the way, are a bit harder to find than expected. . . Cost Plus World Market had them!). Then I decided to go with a red and Black theme. I kind of copied an idea out of the SU website, but used one of my Martha Stewart punches for the white strip and then a red and white polka dot ribbon. I had so much fun!

Now, I will note that there is a down side to this card. . . not very mailable. Thankfully, I just put them at there place at our last MOPS meeting. You probably could mail them, with extra postage and maybe a cushion-y envelope. . . but I probably wouldn't.

So, Happy Valentine's Day to you. I have a camera full of blogworthy posts to blog about that I just uploaded. . . so, I hope to catch up really soon. Have a wonderful weekend!

Card making time. . .

I have been in the mood to do some stamping this week and I had the perfect reasons to get them out. Oh, I had so much fun!
This is a basic card that I fell in love with. I just used pink paper, my Pixie Pink SU ink pad and Chocolate Chip SU inkpad to do the stamps. This set is a 2 step stamping set called . . . wait a sec. . . I don't know. . . I borrowed it from my mom and she didn't put the sticker on it. OOPS! Oh well. But, is a Stampin' Up set. I used the giggle stamp from Warm Words (also SU). I topped it off by using my small SU corner punch on all 4 corners.

This set uses the same layout as the first card. This time, I used my SU ink pad, Garden Green and some SU coordinating colors to stamp my snow flakes. The stamp set is Snow Flurries (SU) and the word "Sparkle" also comes from Warm Words.

This baby shower card was so much fun to make. I used the stamp set Oh, My Word (SU) with some of their designer series paper that I got many years ago. I used Bliss Blue and Gable Green card stock (also SU) and a new Martha Stewart Punch that I got at Michael's before Christmas (it was love at first site!). I added 2 button brads to the wheels for an added touch and tied a ribbon around it.

This one is the same card but different colors because I couldn't very well give my other friend a boy card when she is expecting Baby Girl Hope, now could I? These colors are SU Barely Banana and Pretty in Pink. The gross grain ribbon is actually SU, also.

I have to admit that typing this it seems as though I am a Stampin' Up fan. That is indeed true. . . so true infact, I used to be a demonstrator. Their products are fantabulous, and the results are awesome! I am however branching out. . . I have recently fallen in love with Martha Stewart products . . . and combined with a 40 percent off coupon. . . it makes my hobby so much cheaper. I do feel a bit like a betrayer to SU, but I really like the quality and designs of Martha Stewart's craft line.

I like it a latte

Recently I had the opportunity to borrow this really fun set of stamps from a friend. I had so much fun playing with them that I couldn't resist making a bunch of cards to keep for a rainy day. The set is Stampin Up's "I like it a latte." The scrapbook paper came from a SU kit from 5 years ago and I don't remember the name. Inks are Cranberry and Buckaroo Blue. I used Dazzling Diamonds to accent the frosting with 2 way glue. The hearts on the coffee cups are 2 dimensional. I used some leftover rubber from my rubber stamp scraps. . . that I keep on hand for times like this.

Life suddenly seems to have gotten incredibly busy. I don't like it! Here is a quick post of some things that I have liked and then I am off to tackle more projects (all the while fighting the urge to take a nap.)

Pumpkin Pound Cake -
I made this on Sunday for dinner (we were supposed to have company, but they cancelled after I had already started making it. . . So, now we have this delicious dessert to eat all by ourselves (no complaints here!). It was really easy and is super moist. It has great pumpkin flavor and looks really nice in a bunt pan. I topped it off with a dollup of homemade whipped cream and some sprinkles of nutmeg. Delicious! You can find the recipe here.
Fall Card
I needed to come up with a quick card for the ladies at my MOPS table, so after deciding that I was going to use this scarecrow stamp, I put this together really quick. It was super easy, no hassle card. (Stamps are Happy Fall Y'll by Stampin' Up and paper I found at JoAnns.)

Pumpkin Strussel Muffins

I found this recipe on a new baking blog I stumbled across last week. These muffins were good, although not as good as the recipe I normally use. It is a mild and moist pumpkin flavor compared to a strong, spicey one. It was good, though. This recipe was found here.

Now I am off to start some upcoming projects that shall remain a secret for now. Enjoy your day. . . the weather is brilliant, the day is quiet, and Fall is here!

I finally got my pictures downloaded onto my computer! I have been such a procrastinator! But, oh, we have had so much fun the past few days and weeks! Check my here for details. So, now that I have pictures to show you, I am going to move on, so I can get started on this week!

Pot Holder

I found this Lizzy House fabric last April at the Cotton Ball (Morro Bay's really cool quilt shop) and have been wanting to make potholders out of it ever since. Now that I have my own copy of Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing, I decided to try out her pattern for a basic potholder. I really, really like it! Plus it was super easy! I opted to use the insulated batting that is specially made for hot things. Lotta Jansdotter warns about using cotton batting as it is flammable.

Chocolate Raspberry Bars

I made a pan of these because they looked so delish here. Here's the recipe.
I baked them for Jon. . . he loved them and would eat them again. . . really. . . he's my biggest critic! I also sent some home with our Breauna, a college student who is just such a great friend and help! She deserves all the study food I can whip up for her!

Baby Card

There seems to be a wave of babies being born around here. I made this quick card for Jon's cousin Erin's shower last weekend. The stamp set is Nice and Narrow (SU) and I used the water color pens to color in the ink from the Buckaroo Blue and Chocolate Chip ink pads. I then layered it with matching blue and brown card stock, snipped off the bottom and tied with a light blue ribbon. Then stamped the bottom of the card/inside of the card with "hello little baby" stamp. Super easy and quick. I am finding that this stamp set seems to be my no fail set when I need a quick, impromptu card.

Coasters:
I had my eye on this fabric for a long time. I bought it right after Christmas. I just now started using it. This fabric is the colors of our living room, and so I thought I would start making a batch of coasters. They are basically two pieces of fabric lined with some really thin batting and sewn at 1/4 inch.

Tag Blanket

I am finding more and more that these tag blankets are the answer to a quick, easy, and inexpensive gift. This one went to Jon's cousin Erin's baby on the way. I really like how the Heather Ross fabric looks with the blue chenille fabric.

Now, it is new week and it looks busy. I am hoping for some time to create. I hope it works out! If not, I have a ton of baking to do! Have a great week everyone! Enjoy the beautiful fall weather that God has given us!

Fabric Swatch Card

Several months ago, while reading some of my favorite blogs, I found an idea for a card like this. When I went back to actually find it, I couldn't find it. So, I played with the circle cutter and some leftover fabric squares and came up with this card. It was so easy! I plan on making lots more to keep on hand.

Going Blue

Last week, my stamps came out and took over our dining room. My husband has been so patient with me in my quest for getting as much finished before we go on vacation next week.

Below is a quick gift bag if you have something small, but still want to make it look cute. I took a regular brown lunch bag and added some flare.

This bag was stamped with the "Celebrate" stamp from ???? (SU) with the cupcake stamp from Little Layers Plus (SU). The cupcake is on top of a popdot to give it some dimension. There is a white ribbon folded in half and stapled to the corner of the background paper. Ink is Close to Cocoa (SU) and paper is Natural and Buckaroo Blue. The cupcake is colored with the ink from the stamp pads and watercolor makers.

This card is one of my favorites. In fact, I may have a difficult time giving back this stamp set and punches back to my mom. I am having way too much fun! I made this card for my friend Stephanie's birthday. It uses Polka dot punches (SU 2009) and Stampin' Up Designer Series Paper, and once again, Buckaroo Blue. I also found some green brads and put them in the center of the flowers. The "Celebrate one cupcake at a time" stamp comes from ???? (SU 2009).

I am going to post this now, and if you are reading it and wondering why I have question marks, it is because the little guy is alseep and that's where I keep my stamps. Must wait til he wakes up. :)

An explosion. . . .

No, nothing really exploded, although my husband (who has been rather patient) might think otherwise. I have a very long list of cards that I have needed to make and some stamps that I have been borrowing from my mom until school let out for the summer (that would be today). Man. . . I need to get movin'! The dining room table has been taken over by scrapbook paper, cardstock, stamps, and embellishments, causing chaos in our primarily clean home. So, here is a sample of what I have been working on. There will be more to come!

This is a close up on the card below. I bought the card at a local scrapbook store because I liked the detail around the punched out center. I added the celebrate! stamp and flower for my SIL, Kelley's birthday and then made a matching gift bag.

Quick and easy graduation card.

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

My favorite!

Recent Cards

I have been trying to find time to let my creative brain go, and lately we have had lots of excuses to pull out the paper, stamps, and ink and make a mess in my dining room. Here are some of my creations. . . .

Both use Stampin' Up's new set, Polka Dot Punches. This gift bag is a basic white bag with the images stamped in pretty in pink, going gray, and pixie pink inks. The gift tag, uses pretty in pink and white paper, and pretty in pink button, and ink.

I found a card very similar to this online and thought I might try it out for the mother's in our family. It was a lot of fun to make!

Mommy and Me tea

This past Saturday, our children's ministry at church held a tea party for mom's and daughters. I got the opportunity to host a table, which meant I had to carefully pack up my "good stuff" and haul it to church and then set my table. I had so much fun!

This was my table with all my pretty stuff.

This was the favor I made for the people who sat at my table. I really wanted it to match my table. Cardstock is Navy Blue and White. Silver and white scrapbook paper is from Stampin' Up (I have forgotten the name of it). Stamp in Polka Dot Punches and the matching paper punches.

Stamp fun

I have been really busy with putting together our church cookbook, that I just haven't had time to do very much. But, I did get some time to stamp some things on Saturday because I needed some cards.


This baby card uses the baby carriage from Nice and Narrow (Stampin' Up) and a baby stamp from a retired set (also from Stampin' up). Paper is Buckaroo Blue and Barely Banana (Stampin' Up). The ribbon I got from Micheals. To achieve the shadowy effect around the white edges I flicked the white paper with a sponge dabbed in the Buckaroo Blue ink. It is one of my favorite things to do with a card, especially if it just needs something to make it pop. I don't have the matching pen, so I used my watercolor maker and dabbed it in the ink to color the carriage, heart, and wheels. This is a very easy card to make!

This is my new set from Stampin' Up's most recent promotion Sale-A-Bration. I absolutley loved it the moment my eyes saw it. In fact, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. So, when my friend recently had her baby, it gave me ample opportunity to make some cookies and put them in a bag.

Inside the bag are Cranberry Hootycreeks. Our Mops group made them at our Christmas Craft Night last year, and I just fell in love with them. The recipe is meant to be given as a gift (like in a jar), but I just make them. The only adjustment I had to make is the flour; it just takes a little over 1 cup (about 1 cup and 2 tbs). Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
5/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart or 1 liter jar, in the order listed.
Attach a tag with the following instructions: Cranberry Hootycreeks 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. 2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Add the entire jar of ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. 3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

Recent Cards

These are some cards I have made recently. All stamps used were Stampin' Up.