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 :)
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