As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really struggle to make guy cards. I needed a birthday card for my brother-in-law next week, so I set to work with this week's Seize the Sketch. Here is what I came up with:
I love this Cricut cartridge (Country Life) and knew it would be perfect to use for him after we had visited his ranch down in Medford, Oregon this summer. Here's a picture of their horse, Mary Mare:
 Can't wait to visit again soon!

Supplies used: Cricut Cartridges: Country Life, Art Philosophy (CTMH); all other products are Close To My Heart: card stock - Kraft, Pacifica, Barn Red, Chocolate, Black; patterned papers - Dakota; ink - Black.
August 22, 2013

Material Girl

Now that I am in a napkin sewing frenzy, I wanted to create something inspired by The Shabby Tea Room "Material Girl" theme. Here is what I came up with:

Here is a close up of the napkin sets I made to take to my friend's cabin this weekend.

 And the inspiration:
Supplies used: flowered material - cotton (FabricLand); Drawstring Bags - burlap (CTMH); cardstock - Kraft (CTMH); patterned papers - Dotty For You (CTMH); ink - Lagoon (CTMH); stamp sets - Keyboard Uppercase, For A Friend Occasions (CTMH); White waxy flax (CTMH).
This week I started to learn how to sew! I have been wanting to create a stash of cloth napkins to be more "green" and thought this was the perfect way to do it.


My mom bought me a sewing machine for my birthday and we finally got it out and used it when she was here the other day. My first project just happened to fit in with the colour challenge this week from Dynamic Duos. I decided to make a card using those colours with this week's Deconstructed Sketch.





When I went to decide a sentiment for my card, however, it was the Heart 2 Heart challenge that helped me out - what a great idea to use a song! This song has become one of my favourite summer songs this year: Treasure by Bruno Mars. Here is a close-up of my card:

All supplies for the card are from Close To My Heart: cardstock - Mint, Slate, White Daisy; patterned papers - For Always; ink - Black; stamp sets - Card Word Puzzle (using masking to create other words), My Life Cricut Bundle, Universal Backgrounds. Chalkboard vinyl and marker. Shapes cut from CTMH Art Philosophy and CTMH Artbooking.

I am very excited to be in my good friend, Jamie's wedding this weekend! We lived across the street from each other since we were 4 and have still been able to keep in touch after we both grew up and moved away. It took me awhile to figure out how I wanted to make her wedding card, but I finally decided to craft one using her colours and theme (coral, burlap, and chalkboard accessories) for the wedding along with this Deconstructed Sketch.
Cardstock - Kraft (CTMH), Coral; Patterned paper - For Always (CTMH); Burlap ribbon (CTMH), twine; Chalkboard vinyl and Chalk Marker (CTMH); Ink - Cocoa (CTMH).
August 11, 2013

Perk Up - Mojo Monday 305

I have been meaning to participate in the Mojo Monday challenge all week and ended up leaving it to the last minute. I absolutely love this Verve stamp set and have used it quite a bit to make some card sets for gifts. I thought the sentiment was appropriate for a Monday challenge :)

Stamp set - Better With You (Verve stamps); all other products are Close To My Heart: card stock - Kraft, Outdoor Denim, Flirty Yellow, Sorbet; ink - Cocoa; ribbon - Outdoor Denim Chevron ribbon; Clear 4mm sparkles. Cuttlebug folder is D'vine Swirl.
                                         
I needed a sympathy card this week, so I chose to combine two challenges to make it: Dynamic Duos and Freshly Made Sketches. I also made some blueberry muffins to go along with the card using the blueberries I got from the Blueberry Patch at the Farmer's Market in town yesterday. Here is a close-up of my card:


I found it difficult to choose which saying I wanted to use, so I made a few extra cards with minor changes.
All supplies are Close To My Heart: cardstock - Blush, Juniper, Grey Wool; patterned paper - Perfect Day; ink - Juniper, Blush, Slate; stamp sets - Sincere Expressions, Love Blooms; embellishments - Blush or Bling buttons. Muffin holder was cut using the Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste cartridge.

Blueberry muffin recipe is called "Super Blueberry Lemon Muffins" from Enjoy! More Recipes from The Best of Bridge.
August 10, 2013

My First Recipe

Lasagne is deemed my first recipe for two reasons: it was the first meal I ever learned how to make by myself (thanks grade 9 foods!) and it is the first recipe I have ever played around with to make my own. Today was the first time I made my lasagne with my own homemade pasta!
To make my meat sauce I use:
1 1/2 - 2 lbs lean ground beef
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped (or more if you would like!)
1 red onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1-2 cans Hunts tomato sauce (I use plain)
Fresh herbs (basil, oregano, parsley)
One of my biggest "secrets" that I have come to include in my lasagne is all in the cheese...
My next goal with this meal is to make my own smooth tomato sauce!
Today I finally tackled my first card making challenge, using Freshly Made Sketches for inspiration as I made a card to congratulate a colleague on his new baby and job. I went through my collection of patterned papers (I don't have many "boyish" papers!) and found an older pack from Close To My Heart to use.

All products used are Close To My Heart: patterned paper - Stardust; cardstock - Bamboo, Moonstruck, Topiary; ink - Moonstruck; embellishments - clear sparkles, Outdoor Denim Chevron ribbon; stamp set - Frames, Tags, Borders; sentiment was mounted on a shape cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge using a chipboard dimensional element.
August 02, 2013

Pasta Loving...

So, we didn't end up eating until 10:00pm last night...but I think it was totally worth it! Our friend, Matt, who is amazing in the kitchen, was finally convinced to come over to show me how to make fresh ravioli! Using the same pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer as I did for the cannelloni (the pasta roller set), we made the pasta dough using Matt's recipe. I usually make my pasta dough using 3 1/2 cups flour, 4 eggs, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tbsp. water. However, this time we used:

3 cups flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup approx. warm water, depending on consistency



This dough was definitely softer than mine to work with, but in the end I don't think there was much difference once it was cooked.


Once the pasta sheets were made, we spread them out on a floured surface, brushed them with egg and put in our filling (cooked homemade meatballs and delicious Nostrala cheese from the Kootenay Alpine Cheese Company in Creston!)

We used a round medium sized cookie cutter to then cut out the ravioli once another pasta sheet was placed on top.
Using a fork, we crimped the ravioli all the way around.
Our beautiful ravioli before it was cooked!
The finished product with a tomato sauce and parmesan cheese...and it was definitely worth it!
© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS