Sunflowers are definitely my sunshine on a cloudy day and I knew just what to pull out when I saw the challenge over at Fusion! I LOVE sunflowers and when I saw this set from Papertrey Ink I just had to have it! It was fun to take this card out into our yard and play around with all of the fall colours.
Paper - Kraft, White Daisy cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps & Dies - Sunflower Harvest (PTI);
Ink - Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Black Soot, Walnut Stain distress inks (Tim Holtz);
Embossing Folder - Buffalo Plaid (CTMH).
Here's a card I put together today to play along with the "flowers and foliage" challenge over at Art Impressions. I created this scene last summer with some helpful tips from my aunt and love how it all came together. A good reminder to the benefits of keeping it simple! It was a gorgeous fall day here so I just had to take this card outside to photograph amidst the trees!
Paper - Desert Sand, Fern cardstock (CTMH); Distressed Watercolour Paper (Tim Holtz);
Stamps - WC Containers, WC Foliage Set 2, Flower Cart (Ai); Sunflower Harvest (PTI);
Dies - Stitched Ovals (Memory Box); Embellishments - Waxy Flax (CTMH).
I love the colour of Cracked Pistachio and played around with this distress oxide ink again on some tags. I first used my 'joy' die on some watercolour paper and then on some silver foil paper. I filled the negative space with the silver foil die cut and love how it turned out! I am linking up with the Heart2Heart negative space challenge!
Paper - Distressed Watercolour Paper (Tim Holtz); White Glitter paper, Silver Foil paper (CTMH);
Stamps & Dies - Wet Paint Holiday (PTI); Snowflake Confetti (Taylored Expressions); Stitched Dress Up Tags (SSS);
Ink - Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Ink (Tim Holtz);
Ribbon - Metallic Black twine (CTMH). 
September 26, 2017 in ,

Zucchini Relish

The new Close To My Heart tag and banner dies make great labels for canning!
Blueberry Mojito Jam; Strawberry Rhubarb Jam; Zucchini Relish; Salsa
Having being given several large zucchini this season I decided to make up some zucchini relish today!
Zucchini Relish

5 c. zucchini, chopped
1 1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
3/4 c. green pepper, finely chopped
3/4 c. red pepper, finely chopped
1/4 c. pickling salt
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. white vinegar
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. celery seeds
1 tsp. ground tumeric
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds

In a large nonmetal bowl combine vegetables and sprinkle with salt. Add 4 cups of water to cover vegetables and cover for 3 hours to let stand. Drain and rinse well.
Combine remaining ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered for 3 minutes and then add the vegetables. Return to boiling and then simmer for 10 minutes uncovered.
Fill hot relish into hot jars, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace.
Process jars in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Here are two fall birthday cards I put together after being inspired by this card. It was fun to play with my distress oxide ink!
 Paper - Watercolour paper; White Daisy, Black cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps - Just to Say..., Love Blooms (CTMH);
Ink - Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide Ink (Tim Holtz);
Dies - Happy Birthday Words (YNS).
Here is a card I made today using both sides of the fabulous Charcoal colour from Close To My Heart. With the new CTMH cardstock you get the colour on the one side and then a lightened version on the flip side! The darker grey of the card outline and the teacup is the actual colour of charcoal. I was excited to see another sketch from Viva la Verve and took out some of my stash to play along. I finally was able to cut into my favourite Lawn Fawn plaids and popped up my tag and teacup to play along with the "pop it up" challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. I am also linking up with the Merry Monday challenge to add a tag to your card.
Paper - Charcoal, White Daisy cardstock; White glitter paper (CTMH); Perfectly Plaid for Fall (Lawn Fawn);
Ink - Charcoal; Stamps - Holiday Treats, Coffee Helps, Sweet Scallop Tag (Verve);
Dies - Sweet Scallop Tag Die, Cup of Cheer (Verve); Snowflake Confetti (Taylored Expressions).
September 23, 2017 in

Snowman Blueprint Tags

Charcoal just may be my new favourite colour from the new Close To My Heart release this year! I set out to make more tags from the awesome Tim Holtz Christmas Blueprint set and this is what I came up with! You can see my snowflake tags here.
Paper - Charcoal cardstock; Silver foil paper (CTMH);
Stamps - Christmas Blueprint (Tim Holtz);
Dies - Snowflakes (CTMH);
Ribbon - White Burlap (CTMH). 

No matter how many times I see it, the movie Elf is a must see for me every holiday season.
I love the quote from Will Ferrell, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear," and hope to get that as a stamp one day. For now, I thought I would create this card to play along with the Merry Monday challenge of creating a card based on your favourite Christmas movie and made it "clean and simple" to play along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. To achieve this I used the layout over at Freshly Made Sketches.
Paper - Silver & Gold paper collection; White, Gold glitter paper (CTMH);
Dies - Snowflakes (CTMH); Wet Paint Holiday die (PTI);
Stamps - Wet Paint Holiday Stamp set (PTI);
Embossing Powder - Silver (CTMH).
Hooray it's the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! I've been planning this card this week and came across the perfect sentiment to add to it just released from Verve! This is my first blended background with my distress inks and I am quite pleased with how it turned out.
Paper - White Daisy, Chocolate cardstock (CTMH); Perfectly Plaid for Fall (Lawn Fawn);
Stamps - Coffee Please Digital Stamp (Verve);
Dies - Coffee Love (SSS); Noted: Scalloped A1 Die Collection (Papertrey Ink);
Ink - Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Peacock Feathers, Walnut Stain (Tim Holtz Distress Ink).
September 09, 2017 in ,

Joy Tags

I had the perfect stamp to play along with this week's Merry Monday challenge and hope to be playing along frequently this fall now that they are back!
Paper - Poppy, Kraft cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps - Holiday Jingle (CTMH);
Ink - Desert Sand ink; White, Silver embossing powder (CTMH);
Dies - Stitched Dress Up Tags (SSS); Flourished Tag (Verve).
Do you ever have a vision of what you want a card to look like but you just can't make it happen on paper? Well that definitely happened to me this week! I played and played with this idea and am finally happy with the result! I wanted to play along with Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge for the first time and was excited to pull out this set I've had for a few years to play along with the "small images on repeat" challenge this week. I am also linking up with the "stamp it" challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.
Paper - Kraft, White Daisy cardstock (CTMH); 
Stamps - City Scene, City Scene Christmas Sentiments (PTI);
Ink - Charcoal, Cranberry, Sweet Leaf, Cocoa (CTMH); Hybrid Key Lime (SSS);
Dies - City Scene Die Collection (PTI); 3 Sided Scallop (SSS);
Embellishments - Black Metallic Twine, Gold Glitter pen (CTMH).
September 04, 2017 in ,

Fall Flowers

I really quite liked both the sketch and the inspiration photo colours over at Fusion and decided to use them to make our niece's birthday card.
Paper - Kraft, Colonial White, Black, Sea Glass cardstock (CTMH); 
Stamps - Card Word Puzzle (CTMH); 
Embossing Folder - Wood Slats (CTMH);
Embellishments - Just Blooms Floret Paper Flowers, Liquid Glass (CTMH); Clear gumdrops (YNS); twine.

September 01, 2017 in

French Toast Ooh La La

It is my goal this fall to really work on making sure I have an actual breakfast every single day - something I have struggled with for years! I decided on this name for my french toast dish because it reminds me of being in France and having SO many delectable choices for breakfast. It was inspired by a beautiful recipe from the Whitewater Cooks with Passion cookbook. Here is my version for one person. You can substitute basically any berries you want for this yummy breakfast.

© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS