December 16, 2013

Sparkle & Shine

This may be my last Christmas card of 2013...can't believe Christmas is coming so soon! I definitely have to make up some tags still though. Here is my washi tape card...I've seen many of these lately and just had to make my own with the Sparkle & Shine washi tape and paper pack after I saw the last Heart 2 Heart Challenge of the year.

'Tis the season to...celebrate. 
Merry Christmas!

All supplies are Close To My Heart: paper pack - Sparkle & Shine; card stock - Juniper, Slate; ink - Slate; 
stamp sets - Holiday Magic, Pear & Partridge Cardmaking Workshop; Sparkle & Shine washi tape; clear round sparkles. 
December 16, 2013

Cheers!

My mom and I recently bottled some Pinot Grigio for the first time...and it turned out pretty good! Here's a sneak peak of some of my presents I will be giving out...



Cricut vinyl was cut using Teresa Collin's December 25th Cricut cartridge
December 14, 2013

Spanakopita

During this busy time, I managed to find a night with some friends to make spanakopitas! This was my first time working with phyllo pastry. Here is the recipe we used:

1 pkg Phyllo pastry
1 pkg frozen chopped spinach
Goat's Milk Feta
Cream Cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 clove garlic
Melted butter
 Take 2 sheets of phyllo pastry and lay on top of each other. 
Brush melted butter between the two sheets.
 Cut phyllo sheets into 4 strips. Combine spinach, cheese, and pine nuts in a food processor. 
Place a dollop (approx. 1 tbsp.) of mixture at one end of a phyllo strip.
 Fold phyllo strip in triangles all the way to the end.
 Brush end flap of phyllo pastry with melted butter.
Set triangles on wax paper and freeze. Later transfer to a ziploc baggie.
Bake in 375F oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Can't wait to bust these yummy appies out over the holidays! 
December 01, 2013

December is Here!

Yay, it's December! In my household that means I'm finally allowed to decorate...we even got our tree today! I needed a housewarming card, so I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch and had been inspired by the Shabby Tea Room's photo; however, when I went to link up my card I discovered I had just missed the deadline.
I tried the same card using red shimmer tape instead of the washi tape...I'm not sure which one I like better!
Paperpack - Sparkle & Shine; Cardstock - Kraft, Slate, White Daisy, Chocolate, Ruby (CTMH);
ink - Chocolate; Sparkle & Shine metallic silver wash tape / red shimmer tape (CTMH);
Stamp set - Pear & Partridge Cardmaking Workshop (CTMH);
Burlap sheet (Recollections);
Cricut cartridges - Winter Woodland, Winter Lace
Have you ever been blog surfing and came across a stamp that you felt you must absolutely have the minute you see it? Well, that's what happened to me this weekend when I saw this card created by Lesley Croghan! Luckily, it was a digital stamp so I really could get it right away! I have never used a digi-stamp before, so this was my first experience. The song that goes along with this cute hippo is going to be one that we are singing at our school Christmas concert this year, so I couldn't resist making a card for my colleague who is using it. I used this Deconstructed Sketch as a starting point for my layout, but decided to change it into a rectangular card to make my hippo fit properly.

Patterned Paper - Sparkle & Shine (CTMH); Cardstock - Ruby, Juniper, White Daisy (CTMH);
Digital Stamp - Christmas Hippopotamus (Sweet N' Sassy Stamps)
November 17, 2013

Love Blooms Sympathy Card

The more I play with this stamp set, the more I want to use it on other cards! I needed a sympathy card for this week and was greatly inspired when I checked out this week's Freshly Made Sketch and saw all of the beautiful cards the design team had created. Here is my version:
Patterned paper - Sonoma (CTMH); Cardstock - Bamboo (CTMH)
Ink - Cocoa, Sweet Leaf, Smokey Plum (CTMH);
Stamp sets - Love Blooms, Sincere Expressions (CTMH);
Sweet Leaf craft button (CTMH); twine;
Cuttlebug folder - Woodgrain (Stampin' Up!).
November 11, 2013

CTMH Card Sets for 2013

It's time to start thinking about Christmas cards and here are the sets we have available through Close To My Heart this year!
create 15 cards (5 of each design)
$24.95 + tax & shipping
Ruby, Cocoa, and Twilight ink not included
Sparkle & Shine Workshop On the Go
create 10 cards (2 of each design)
$20 through a workshop with me
or
$12.95 + $13.95 (stamp set) + tax & shipping
Ruby, Juniper, and Whisper ink not included

create 12 tri-fold pop-up shaker cards (easily holds gift cards or photo)
$18.95 + tax & shipping
*this kit includes stickers only - no stamping required!*

Each of these sets are pretty easy going to put together and the cards are beautiful! Contact me or place an order online!
November 09, 2013

Warm Winter Wishes

Snow has arrived and it is now starting to feel like I should really start getting organized for Christmas! I even made it to a couple of Ladies Nights this week around town to start my shopping (hence my new Christmas ornament in the picture)! I hope to be getting a few more cards made on this long weekend. Here is my card using the Merry Monday challenge and Mojo Monday this week:


Supplies used: cardstock - White Daisy, Ruby (CTMH); patterned paper - Martha Stewart Holidays;
ink - Crystal Blue, VersaMark (CTMH) embossed with Seafoam White Powder;
twine - Lagoon (CTMH).

November 03, 2013

Remarkable Retirement Card

This week I needed a card for my mother-in-law to celebrate her retirement! She didn't want a big fuss made over it, so I tried to keep my card simple, but elegant and not too extravagant. I loved experimenting with the Simple Memories lace stamp set last week and wanted to use another stamp set I haven't played around with yet too, Remarkable Wreath. Not wanting to introduce a bunch of patterns or colours, I used a woodgrain embossing for the background. This week's Freshly Made Sketch was my layout inspiration:

Supplies used: cardstock - Kraft, Colonial White, Slate (CTMH); ink - Cashmere, Slate, Goldrush (CTMH); 
stamp sets - Simple Memories, Remarkable Wreath (CTMH); embellishments - Bohemian Assortment (CTMH), twine; 
Cuttlebug embossing folder - woodgrain (Stampin' Up!).
October 27, 2013

A Frosted Birthday Card

When I was checking out sketches this weekend, I was inspired by this card by Linda Callahan using this week's Freshly Made Sketch. It also made me think about the "lace" challenge at Heart 2 Heart and so here is what I came up with to combine the two challenges:
All supplies are Close To My Heart: cardstock - Colonial White, Slate; patterned papers - Frosted
ink - Slate, Cashmere; stamp sets - Simple Memories,  Hooray Bouquet
embellishments - Boutique Assortment.

October 20, 2013

Freshly Made Sketches #108

I wanted to make a card this weekend that was both gender and occasion neutral - something that is great to have on hand! I just recently got the CTMH Sarita paperpack and knew I wanted to play around with it. I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch and had set out to make a rectangle card, but with the sentiment I wanted to use, it just made more sense to make it square.
All supplies used are Close To My Heart:
Paperpack - Sarita; cardstock and ink - Outdoor Denim and Lagoon
Stamp set - Take Note (Artbooking Cricut Bundle)
Outdoor Denim Chevron ribbon

October 15, 2013

Holidays From The Heart

I couldn't resist diving into my box of new Close To My Heart Christmas goodies that arrived on my doorstop today! Our new Holidays From The Heart gift guide is now live! Be sure to check it out :).

I used the current Deconstructed Sketch to inspire my layout:
All supplies used are Close To My Heart: 

This is my first time playing along with the Merry Monday challenge and my first Christmas card of the season too! I wish that I had the beautiful blue in the picture, but all I had around was this Pacific Blue and Twilight paperpack. I am anxiously awaiting my order from Close to my Heart with all of the new Christmas things to play with, so I went to an older winter paperpack from a couple of years ago for this challenge. For the layout I looked to Freshly Made Sketches this week.

All supplies are Close To My Heart - paper pack: Wonderland; ink - Grey Flannel, Crystal Blue; stamp set - Holiday Jingle; Dimensional Elements - Flurry. Icicle Stickles were used on top of the "JOY" snowflake. 
October 13, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!

Each of my students got to take home a jar of applesauce that we had made in class for their Thanksgiving dinners this weekend.

Here is the recipe we used:

30 apples (we used McIntosh)
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon
2 cups water

Peel, core and chop the apples into chunks. Simmer in a large stock pot until apples begin to break down. Add water, sugar, and cinnamon, and continue simmering. You may wish to use a masher to mash the apples. Remove from heat and fill clean jars (we used 15 1-cup jars). I processed them for 15 minutes.

We made a magnet to go on top by mixing equal parts of cinnamon and applesauce together (2 tbsp of each). Students molded this into a shape and we allowed the mixture to dry for 2 school days. Next, we painted the top with glue and dipped it in glitter. After, I hot glued a magnet onto the back and we stuck them on top of our jars!


October 09, 2013

Butternut Squash Soup

Nothing says fall more to me than butternut squash! This weekend I went to the Farmer's Market here and got a huge butternut squash and just knew I had to make some soup out of it. I got this recipe from a friend at work. Here is the recipe:

Butternut Squash Soup
serves 4



1 butternut squash
Olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
Salt & Pepper to taste
A few dollops of Brie cheese
Fresh sage leaves

Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel the squash, cut in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and cut into 1-inch pieces. Lightly drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a baking dish with a lid. Toss the chopped squash in and bake for 45 minutes.

Melt butter in a soup pot and sauté the chopped onion and carrot, but do not brown. Add the butternut squash and stir. Next, add the broth, apple, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then turn down to med-low heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf and purée the soup in a food processor. Crisp sage leaves by frying them in a small pan with olive oil. To serve, put a dollop of brie in the bottom of each bowl and pour the hot soup on top. Sprinkle or set crisp bay leaves on top. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy :)
September 29, 2013

Heart 2 Heart - Alphabet Soup

This project has been a work in progress for a couple of months now! All I have left is to finish printing off the recipes and put them inside. I loved the Heart 2 Heart challenge idea of using different alphabet sets on one project, so check out my recipe box:
Here are all of the different sections inside:

My camera really didn't want to take clear photos of these, I think due to the Liquid Glass I had applied on top of the headings, so they read: Appetizers, Breads, Soups & Salads, Main Dishes, Cookies, Desserts, and Favourite Recipes.  

All supplies are Close To My Heart: paperpack - Pemberley; ink - Outdoor Denim, Honey; stamp sets - Recipe Box, A Chocolate Affair, Sweet & Lovely Artbooking Cricut Bundle, Keyboard Uppercase Alphabet, Framework Alphabet; embellishments - Burlap ribbon, Bouquet Assortment, Liquid Glass; Recipe Box.
Shapes were cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. 
Stickers are from Hobby Lobby, Joann's, and Michael's. 
September 29, 2013

Artbooking

I finally had some time to play with the new Close To My Heart Artbooking Cricut cartridge this weekend...I love it! Here is the start to the building of our house:

September 28, 2013

Fusion #18

Another post today before I go to bed! I randomly came across this cool challenge last week and was excited to play along with it. With a Fusion challenge, you can play with just the sketch challenge, just the inspiration photo challenge, or you can fuse them both together. I chose to use both in my card for my aunt's 50th birthday. Also, check out this hilarious card made by another talented aunt for her birthday this week too.
Paperpack - On The Bright Side (My Mind's Eye); cardstock - Black, Colonial White (CTMH); ink - Black (CTMH); stamp sets - Better With You, Delightful & Delicious (Verve); shapes cut from CTMH Art Philosophy (Cricut).



September 28, 2013

The Splendor of Fall

This weekend I am at a Crop so I am getting many, many projects done! Here is a card I made today to use for a birthday in October - which is coming up so soon, I can't believe it! I was inspired by the photo from the Shabby Tea Room this week and Freshly Made Sketches.

Paperpack - On The Bright Side (My Mind's Eye); Apple image - Country Life (Cricut); cardstock - Kraft, Colonial White (CTMH), Lemonade (Bazziil Basics Paper), dark green and red; ink - Black (CTMH); 
stamp set - Remarkable Wreath (CTMH).

September 22, 2013

Seize the Sketch #4

Today I was excited to get some crafting time and created a card for a baby shower that I will need later this week. I used Seize the Sketch for my layout and had wanted to play along with the "White Challenge" from the Shabby Tea Room this week but missed the deadline by a couple of hours, oh well. I really struggled with photographing this card this morning, maybe I am still half asleep!
Supplies used: card stock - Colonial White (CTMH), White; ink - Blush (CTMH); embossing powder - Seafoam White (Ranger ink); stamp sets - Keepsake Alphabet (CTMH) and Love Blooms (CTMH); embellishments - Clear Sparkles (CTMH), Burlap ribbon (CTMH), pink twine. Shapes cut from CTMH Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut cartridges.

Yay I made a card on a school night! I am trying to be more organized this school year (because I hate making a card under pressure), so I got my brother-in-law's card made tonight for his birthday next week. I liked the colours from the Color Throwdown this week and used Close To My Heart's Sunset, Juniper, Kraft, Colonial White, and Chocolate. I used the Mojo Monday sketch for my layout.



All Products are Close To My Heart: card stock - Kraft, Chocolate, Sunset; patterned paper - Perfect Day; ink - Chocolate; ribbon - Dark Chocolate and Colonial White; embellishments - Antiqued Copper brads. Liquid Glass was used on the 30.
© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS