Christmas Cookies Recipes!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Hi there!

I'm so sorry I've been absent lately. With Christmas right around the corner, working full time and all the things that go with the holidays, I haven't had time for much else this week. I've also been working on a Christmas present that takes up all of my spare time. I'll share it with you after the holidays.

But as promised, I'm back with some more Christmas Cookie recipes! I tested these two out this past weekend and they were both a hit at the cookie swap. (The pistachio one, especially!)

Pistachio-Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients
Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
1 box (4 serving size) pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup dry roasted salted pistachio nuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
Optional - green food coloring

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl stir cookie mix, pudding, and flour. Add melted butter and eggs and stir until incorporated.

Add pistachios and cranberries and mix well.
Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. The only way you can ruin these cookies is to overbake them! If you bake them too long you will lose the soft texture and they won't be as green. They will not look done but take them out and let them sit on the pan for about 2 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

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Philadelphia S'More Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup colored sugar


Directions
BEAT cream cheese and butter in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add granulated sugar and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour, beating well after each addition; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with 2-inch cookie cutters. Sprinkle half of the cookies with colored sugar. Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets.

BAKE 12 mins or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

SPREAD bottom side of each plain cookies with 1 tsp. Jet Puffed Marshmallow Crème; cover with remaining sugared cookies, bottom-sides down, to form sandwiches.

DRIZZLE with 2 squares of Bake’s Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Men and Amazing Snickerdoodles!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Hi everyone!

I'm back with a couple of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes!

I'm in the middle of a baking frenzy right now and these two recipes are my always on my cookie swap list! I think I stumbled on the Gingerbread Men recipe years ago while looking for something to bake with my little girl. These are more spicier than your average gingerbread man cookie, but that's the way I like my ginger men! ;)

I've probably made the Snickerdoodle recipe about a thousand times over the past two years. My family raves about them and The Man even asked me to whip up a batch for his work collegues! They never last more than a few days in our house, so you know they have to be good! :)

I hope you enjoy them just as much as we do!

Eileen's Spicy Gingerbread Men

Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg


Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Cover, and chill for at least one hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

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Annie's Eats Amazing Snickerdoodles

Yields: about 30 cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups (11 1/4 oz.) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz.) granulated sugar,

plus 3 tbsp. for rolling dough

2 large eggs
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon, for rolling dough

Directions:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until well combined, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and beat again until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds.

2. In a small, shallow bowl, combine the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon for rolling the dough. Stir or shake well to combine. Working with a heaping tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Use a drinking glass with a flat bottom to gently flatten the dough balls to 3/4-inch thickness (butter the bottom of the glass before starting, and dip it in sugar between cookies if it begins to stick).

3. Bake until the edges of the cookies are beginning to set and the center are soft and puffy, 9-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 2-3 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

This weekend I'm baking Chewy Lemon Snowdrop cookies, Oreo Bark, Peanut Brittle, Soft Molasses cookies dipped in white chocolate! If you want me to share any of these recipes just let me know!

Have a great weekend!!

Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Happy Friday everyone!

I, for one, am very happy it's Friday already! It hasn't been a trying week at work, but more of the mundane kind and I'm still tired from all that work I did on the cabinet project. I've been humming and ahhing over whether to add crown molding to the top of the cabinets. It would finish off the look so nicely, but it wouldn't leave me much room to put things (namely baskets) once they're up. I might take photos this weekend and have you help me decide! :)

All this week over at the There She Goes blog we've been shining the spotlight on a few older sets that are perfect for Fall. This sets are some of my favorites - Bountiful Blessings, Autum Mosaics and Gobble. There are card samples from the past, new tips and tricks PDF's that Jessica put together and today, the senior Trendsetters dug a little deeper and came up with a bunch of new cards for you to drool over!

Here's what I whipped up this week:

I used the Gobble set, together with this week's TSG126 partial image challenge and Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch SSSC139, to create this card. I also used one of the dies from the World's Best die set to create the banner. The scalloped border was created with some decoratived scissors (my go-to tools). I colored up the sign, cut it out and then threaded it through a slit I made at the top of the turkey's hand (or should I say wing?!). I needed something to fill in the negitive space to balance out the turkey image, so I created some sky (check out my tutorial here) to create some harmony.

I was seriously craving a Day After Thanksgiving sandwich after making this card! Bring on the turkey!! :)

I hope you have a fabulous weekend, whatever it is you're doing. We're headed to the Keene Pumpkin Festival.....should be a spooky good time! ;)


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Gobble' mini set
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', SU's Creamy Caramel, Morning Marigold, Dusty Durango, Ruby Red, Distress Inks 'Black Soot and Vintage Photo'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics - Bitter Chocolate, PTI Kraft cardstock, PP - MME and Sassafras Lass
Access: There She Goes 'World's Best' die set, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, PTI Rustic Button Twine, Machine Stitching, sponges, Dimensionals

Santa's Got His Game On!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

There'a Trace Atkin's song that my Syd loves to sing from the back seat of the car and it cracks me up every time....because when a 4 year old says "I got my game on!" it is hilarious! She also likes to sing ABBA's Mama Mia, so you can imagine what our morning rides to school are like! LOL

I told you the story of Syd and the song because the name of this image is Ready To Go Santa and it just reminded me of that story. I haven't colored up a Whipper Snapper image in a long, long time. With all my DT commitments lately, my poor WS images have been severly neglected! But since the holiday season is upon us, I had to get this awesome Santa image colored up quick! (And because I still need quite a few christmas cards for my stash! Shhhh!)

This Santa is a colorer's (is that a word?!) dream! Lots of detail in it but when he's finished, he's so impressive on a card! As you can see, he's pretty big for a rubber stamp. This card is 5.5" x 5.5" and I cut him down to a 4.25" square panel so he would fit nice and snug. The paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Holly By Golly collection and I found that delicious wide ribbon at Michaels. I've been dying to use it on a card since I bought it but it hasn't worked with anything until now. You all know what I mean when you just have to use it! I couldn't resist and had to add some glitter snow to his beard and the pompom on his hat!

You'd never know it was Thanksgiving in two days with all the Christmas cards I've been whipping out! LOL I guess I'm more of a Halloween and Christmas kind of gal. :) Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper 'Ready To Go Santa'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Ruby Red, Cranberry Crisp, Morning Marigold, More Mustard, Old Olive, Taken With Real, Pretty In Pink, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket 'Holly By Golly'
Access: Ribbon, Stampendous Crystal Snow Glitter, Sponges, Dimensionals

Spooktacular Halloween - TGF Style!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Good Morning!

I thought I'd show you what I had created a few weeks back for my friend Kadie's The Greeting Farm card swap on SCS. I had to whip it up fast since I knew I would have no time to work on them later in the month, so I used the old Weekend Sketch Challenge (WSC95). You might recognise it; I used it on this card around the same time I was working on these.

It was such a quick and easy layout that I thought it would be perfect for the swap. I colored up six little mummies from The Greeting Farm's Spooktacular set (love their big heads! hehe) with Distress Inks and then cut them out using the Labels One Nesties. Then matted them onto some black cardstock and hand cut the 1/16" border (if anyone knows of an easier way to do this, PLEASE tell me! LOL) Then the other panels were sponged with Black Soot Distress Ink and I used up some more of that black glitter paper I found at Michaels. Doesn't look that spectacular in this photo, but IRL....ooo how it sparkles! :D

You should see the cards I got in return in this swap!! Whoa! You can really tell that TGF fans truly love these stamps and have a blast stamping with them! I even got an Amy original!! I'm pretty dang happy about that!

By the way, I've updated my store with some more recent cards, so take a peek and if you like something, just leave a comment. :) Thanks so much for stopping by.

Supplies
Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Spooktacular'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Black Soot'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil basics, PP - My Mind's Eye 'NightLight Collection' and The Paper Company 12x12 Black Glitter Paper
Access: Button, PTI Rustic Button Twine, Spellbinders Labels One Nestibilities, Dimensionals, Sponges

When Black Cats Prowl...

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Happy Thursday!

It's gotten a little colder in our neck of the woods lately and I've been thinking about dragging out my Halloween decorations this weekend. We have a bunch of Lemax houses that we scatter all around the apartment, lots of pumpkin heads, black cats and even some scary eyes that flicker on and off that stick to our windows. :) I'm like a big kid around this time of year. It's probably got a lot to do with growing up in New Zealand without a huge Halloween. Although, we did have Guy Fawkes night which was AWESOME! Any excuse to light fire crackers really. *grin*

Are you sick of my Halloween cards yet?! I hope not because I have A LOT more to come so I hope you are enjoying them. :) This one just might be my favorite yet. I love the monochromatic colors and you should see it in real life - it sparkles!! Oh how it sparkles!

The card base is some Bazzil Bling cardstock and the black matting and the inverted scalloped base to the oval are cut from this gorgeous black glitter paper I found at Michaels. Loooove it! Must remember to buy more of it. I did that inverted scalloped border with inexpensive scalloped decorative scissors. I just flipped the scissors so that instead of giving an edge a true scalloped edge, it inverts the design to create the look you see here.

I stamped and clear embossed this sentiment from Anna Wight's and Whipper Snapper's 'Spooky Expressions' cling set onto a scrap of kraft cardstock. I never knew this trick until a little while ago, but you can ink up your stamp with Versamark first then ink it with the color ink (in this case, black), then stamp it out, then sprinkle the clear embossing powder over the image and heat set it. I'm sure this is not news to you but since I've only attended a handful of SU workshops, I am constantly learning new (new to me) things all the time! LOL Anyway, once I stamped the image, I then ran it through the Cuttlebug with an oval nestie. After embossing it with the nestie, I left the nestie in place so I could sponge around the edges with Frayed Burlap and Black Soot. It creates a really cool halo effect! Then I just matted it to the glitter paper and created that border. The kitty is also from the set and I clear embossed her as well. Add the button and some twine and I was done.

Once I had the idea down, this really was a quick card to create. Great for giving to friends. :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Anna Wight Cling Set 'Spooky Expressions'
Inks: Versamark, Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap and Black Soot'

Papers: Kraft, Bazzil Bling, The Paper Company 'Glitter Paper', PP - Creative Imaginations 'Art Warehouse, Harvest Moon Collection - Haunted'

Access: PTI Vintage Button 'Black', Twine, Decorative Scissors, Large Oval Nestibilities, Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder

I'm Jack, the Pumpkin King!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Good Morning!

Can you guess what movie I've been watching lately?! Yep, The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's one of my all-time favorite movies. Actually, my other favorite movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the old version)...bit of a bizarre pair isn't it?? About the only thing they both have in common is that they're musicals! LOL Hmmm, that might explain Mama Mia too. :)

Today I have another Whimsical Wednesday: Diedrich Dare challenge for you and I'm hosting this one on the WWDD blog so you all have to play along! LOL Only kidding! This week the Diedrich kids have challenged us to make a circle shape card. Hmmm. I actually have never done one before and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the news! LOL

Lots of details and layers to this sketch, but they aren't too bad if you keep the colors to a minimum. I pulled some Core'dinations Color Core paper and embossed it with a Cuttlebug 'Spots and Dots' embossing plate. Then, because this Black Magic Color Core paper is black on top and a different color on the back and in the center, I sanded some of the black off to get the orange to show through. It's a very cool and edgy look! I zigzag stitched some orange and black cardstock together for the second layer and the third layer was some scrap Halloween paper, sponged around the edges and straight stitched to some black cardstock.

Mr. Pumpkin King, from The Greeting Farm's Spooktacular set, was colored with reinkers and an aquapainter brush. I used three colors on his head: Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust. Once he was colored up, I cut him out with some precision scissors and popped him on dimensionals. The circle frame around him looks like chipboard doesn't it? It's actually more of that Color Core paper. I punched a 2' circle in some scrap paper first, then grabbed my Marvy scalloped circle punch and punched around the circle/hole that was left. Then I lightly sanded the edges for more of a grunge look. Popped it on dimensionals and added some ribbon and my shape card was done.

If you'd like to play along this week and make your own circle card, use the keywords DDSC2 when uploading to SCS or PCP so the Daredevils can find it and leave some love! Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm 'Spooktacular'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Morning Marigold, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Old Olive, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Core'dinations ColorCore Cardstock 'Black Magic - Spell Caster' , PP - Ichabod Crane paper (unknown)
Access: Ribbon, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder - Spots and Dots, Machine Stitching, Marvy Circle Punch and Scalloped Circle Punch, Sponging, Dimensionals

Monsters Celebrate Easter Too!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

No, seriously they do! They tip toe around trying to find all the hidden eggs, but more often than not, they step on them with their big hairy feet! Or at least this guy does!

I snapped this guy up a while back from Victoria Case Art Designs because he was different to all the easter images I've seen while blog hopping. Poor monster looks so scared of being a bunny!

This week's Our Creative Corner challenge is to create an Easter themed card/project. Perfect challenge for Mr Bunny! He's colored up with my trusty SU inks and aquapainter on watercolor paper. I paired him together with Bazzil Bling cardstock and Sassafras patterned paper for some cheery color and pop! I left off the sentiment because 1. I don't have a whole lot of sentiments, and 2. It would be hard to tell that this was anything but an easter card! :) A simple card but these are probably my favorite.

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Wanna win free stamps?!

Check out the new stamp sets being released from Starving Artistamps and DoodleFactory!! They're awesome! Especially Super Mom and Dad!! Hilarious!! I think I may have to break my spending freeze pact for these! :) If you'd like to win one of these sets, just tell someone about them!

Thanks for stopping by today; I always appreciate the company.

Supplies
Stamps: Victoria Case Designs 'Monster Easter'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', So Saffron, Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Cool Caribbean, Sahara Sand
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil bling cs, PP - Sassafras Lass 'Life Is Beautiful Collection - Golden Love'
Access: Ribbon, button, dimensionals

A Easter Card and an OCC Challenge

Thursday, March 26, 2009

I thought you all needed a bit of a sunny lift after yesterday's dark and sombre image. :D

Starting on Thursday nights, I usually scout around blogland looking for challenges or ideas for my cards before I start making them over the weekend. I start scribbling down ideas so that by Friday night I can start creating rather than just sitting there dreaming up something! On Saturday morning I'll check out what challenge the girls over at Our Creative Corner have dreamed up just in case it's something I can play along with too. This week they have a sketch challenge AND giveaway - perfect!

I used this Stampendous Easter Plaque stamp that I bought around this time last year. It made a nice substitute for the oval nestibilities (which by the way, QVC has a SWEET deal for nestibilities right now!)

I think there's something missing from this card. I have a tendency to rush through cards and later on think of things that I could have done differently. The ribbon probably should have been a solid and I think I could have done some stitching around the base layer...oh well, c'est la vie! I will always be my own worst critic! I also remind myself that I've only been stamping for a year, and still have a lot to learn. I DO love this patterned paper though. It's from K & Company...again! I can't get enough of their stuff! It's great for cards.

This OCC challenge is open until tomorrow, Friday 12pm (not sure if it's EST or not) so if you wanna play, you'd better get cracking! :D

Toodles!

Supplies
Stamps: Stampendous 'Easter Plaque'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Cool Caribbean, Morning Marigold, Barely Banana, Almost Amethyst, Certain Celery, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Papers: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil Bling cs, PP - K & Company 'Raspberry'
Access: Ribbon, decorative scissors, Stickles, dimensionals, sponges

A Hoppy Easter

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

It's another Twinkling Tuesday and this week we have a guest Twinkler!!

It's none other than Jack Diedrich, Madelynn's younger brother! From what his mum says, he's ALL BOY and loves it when she gets out her paper piercer to make cards. Sharp object and stabbing paper - definitely a boy thing!! hahaha You can see the sketch on the Twinkling Tuesday blog.

This stamp is from a new exclusively digital stamp company I stumbled across. They're called 'Digital Stamp Oasis' and it can be found on Etsy.com, an online place to buy and sell all things handmade. Ellie, the owner, has some really, really sweet images available at the moment. I LOVED this Rebecca Rabbit image - perfect for Easter!

Since it's a digital image and I typically watercolor, I had to print mine using a laser printer. This has always worked for me. I have been told that you can watercolor on an image printed with an inkjet printer and heat set, but I tried that with my inkjet at home and it didn't work. It must be an ink thing that varies from printer to printer. If you use Copics however, you should have no problems at all.

If you'd like to play along in this sketch challenge, please use the keyword MTTSC13 when uploading to SCS or PCP and don't forget to leave a comment on today's Twinkling blog post so the Twinkling Team can see your creations. Don't forget to check out what the other Twinkettes have created this week!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I have a fun knight and princess card to show you all tomorrow. :D

Supplies
Stamps: Digital Oasis 'Rebecca Rabbit with Easter Cart', sentiment from computer
Inks: Creamy Caramel, Certain Celery, Old Olive, True Thyme, Close To Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Pale Plum, Cool Caribbean
Papers: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - My Mind's Eye 'Tres Jolie Collection - Mon Cheri'
Access: Ribbon, paper piercer, dimensionals

You Wanna?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Happy Hump day to you all!

I did warn you yesterday that today's card was not for the weak hearted!! Can you say Va Va Vooom?! Or rather Ooh La La!

That's the name of this digital stamp by Victoria Case and I gave this to my Man for Valentine's Day. I figured I should make a card for him since it was V-Day and if I didn't....well, my days might have been numbered in this new hobby of mine! LOL

I printed Mrs Ooh La La out on Georgia Pacific cardstock and watercolored her while listening to Trace Atkins 'Hot Mama' song. (That's the first time I've seen the video clip of this song and honestly - the song is WAY better without the visual! haha)

I didn't over embellish this card since it was for a man and once he got a load of the image, he wouldn't remember what the rest of the card looked like! But I did intentionally use the Martha Stewart edge punch to make the ribbon detail resemble a garter....a detail lost on my Man.

I left off the sentiment on the front and put it inside instead...

The verdict: The Man loved the card and had a great Valentines Day ;).....and told me I could continue to buy stamps if they all looked like this one! :) Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies
Stamps: Victoria Case Art Designs 'Ooh La La' digital stamp, sentiment by Karen Foster's snap stamps
Inks: Creamy Caramel, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Distress Inks 'Black Soot and Vintage Photo'
Paper: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - K & Company ' Brenda Walton Mira Designer Mat Pad'
Access: Ribbon, Micron pen, dimensionals, sponges

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Over the past week we've been crossing the days off a calendar for my daughter and she's just bursting with excitement today that Christmas Day is finally one more sleep away! I hope you're all done with your shopping and today is a rest day for you all. I have work today (urrgh!), but I'm going to try get off early and spend the rest of the day with family.

I have two cards to show you today. The first one is my take on 8 year old Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday sketch challenge. Can you imagine how tickled pink she must be to have her very own design team?! It's gotta be better than ice cream!! :D

Well, with all the wrapping that's been going on in my house, the sketch reminded me of a wrapped Christmas present. I tweaked the sketch and created a 5.5" x 5.5" card with it. I made the diagonals in the sketch imitate the ends of a wrapped box and the vertical and horizontal stripes became the ribbon. One of the opposing set of triangles is matted with coordinating patterned paper and popped on pop dots for some added dimension. Now I got a little stuck on what to do for the center panel but then I had a light bulb moment and came up with a tag! I love it when a plan comes together!

Here's another light bulb moment for ya: The criss crosses remind me of the union jack on the UK flag!! If I had a stamp of an old english letterbox (mailbox) that would make a great card don't you think?!

If you want to play along with this week's sketch, remember to leave a comment on Jessica's blog post and a link to your card. If you're uploading to SCS, add the keyword 'MTTSC2' - that way we can easily find all your fabulous creations! Please feel free to visit the rest of the design teams' blogs (listed on the left) for their takes on the sketch. They completed their cards on Tuesday....I was a little slow this week! (It's Christmas!!)

My second card uses the same yummy Wassail patterned paper from Basic Grey. This time I used Rubbernecker's Elf Train stamp and sprinkled some of Martha Stewart's punched snowflakes around. This layout just kind of evolved because I was trying not to cover up much of the pretty paper! I really love how this one turned out!

So that's it from me for this week. I'm looking forward to spending the next few days with family and friends...and with any new stamp items I might be getting from Santa! hahaha I want to thank everyone who's left a comment or who regularly stops by my blog a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! A big thank you also goes out to Kristi Ferro for plucking me out of SCS obscurity this year! You're the best boss ever! Have a fantastic week and I'll see you all next week!



Supplies:

Card 1
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Sleepy Time Riley', Rubbernecker 'Scroll Holiday'
Inks: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Cranberry Crisp, Soft Sky, versamark
Paper: Bazzil cs, Very Vanilla, PP - Basic Grey 'Wassail Collection - Snow Dust & Spice Tea'
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, stickles, Seafoam embossing powder

Card 2
Stamps: Rubbernecker 'Elf Train'
Inks: Cranberry Crisp, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, Real Red, Certain Celery, True Thyme,Vintage Violet, Distress Inks 'Black Soot'
Paper: Bazzil cs, Very Vanilla, PP - Basic Grey 'Wassail Collection - Snow Dust & Spice Tea'
Access: Ribbon, MS snowflake punch, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals

Season's Greetings!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Forgive me if it seems I haven't shown you all a lot of Christmas cards this year. It's because I don't own that many. Infact I think I can count all my Christmas stamps on one hand! I was a little surprised myself, but then I had to remind myself that I only got serious about stamping and making cards back in March of this year and this is my first Christmas stamping, let alone blogging! Through SCS and blogger, I have had my eyes opened to the many wonderful Christmas stamp sets and projects that can be created for the holiday season. Aren't there some amazing and talented people out there?! I hope to be a bit better prepared next holiday season.

I do have a couple of Christmas cards to show you this week though. This particular one uses a stamp I found at Michaels. It's by Hero Arts and it reminded me of the Collage Garden stamp set put out by Stamping Up a few years ago. I bought that set on the BST (Buy, Sell, Trade) forum on SCS earlier in the year because I was so drawn to the style.

I first stamped the image with Staz On 'Timber Brown' onto watercolor paper, then sponged over the image with Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'. Then I ran the edge distresser around the edges of the image and sponged them with the Tea Dye ink. I used True Thyme to color in the leaves, and Cranberry Crisp for the berries. The snow in the little picture was colored using Soft Sky. I stamped out a duplicate of the image, cut it out, covered it in Versamark ink then kaliedescope ep and heat set it. The I popped it on dimensionals for some depth. Then as a final touch, I added stickles to the snowflakes and around the edges of the cardstock for some added sparkle. That oh so yummy ribbon came from my good friend Kelly in Florida. She was my secret santa this year and this ribbon was in the lunch pail she made me. (I'll post a picture of it tomorrow for you.) This card is on it's way to my crazy friend in Canada.

Did everyone survive the weekend? We got nailed with two snowstorms. The first one came Friday afternoon and left 6 -8 inches and flurried all Saturday. It didn't let up yesterday and I think we got 12 inches! Hopefully there isn't any more of the white stuff in the forecast before Christmas!

Only three more sleeps until Christmas!

Supplies:

Stamps: Hero Arts 'Collage Season's Greetings K4827'

Inks: True Thyme, Soft Sky, Cranberry Crisp, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen, Tea Dye', versamark

Paper: Canson Watercolor, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Aged and Confused Collection - Vintage Floral'

Access: Ribbon, Stickles, dimensionals, Zig pen, Kaliedescope ep, Tim Holtz edge distresser

A Non Traditional Chrissy!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Good Morning, Good Morning!

Lord do I feel ten times better this morning than I did last night! Remember how I said that yesterday was my work Christmas party/late lunch/early dinner? Well, the fish burger I ordered didn't sit well in my stomach and by 9pm I was hugging the white porcelain! Blah! It definitely wasn't the one pint of Munich beer I had - that tasted good! That's my reason for the late posting today.

Today's challenge (HSC48) on Hanna Stamps is to create a non-traditional Christmas card. This can be done either by using non-traditional colors or by using a regular set and making it Christmassy (Is that a word? It should be!).

I might get the buzzer for this card because it has some red in it, but I thought the majority of the colors weren't very traditional. When making this card, I very quickly realised that the only 'Christmassy' Hanna Stamps set I own is the Ski Bunny set! Ummm ahh! That's so bad! LOL But I made the most of it and used the cuppa cocoa with this fun paper from SEI. If you click on the image, you'll notice that the scalloped panel is not a nestibility but two punched scalloped squares from my Marvy punch. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone, but I don't own a Cuttlebug or any nesties! I improvise!

I came up with two cards for this challenge because I wanted to try using a 'regular', non-Christmas stamp and make it fit the season. The layout for this card is the work of a VERY talented 8 year old girl, Madelynn. She is the daughter of Jessica Diedrich, better known as The Whimsical Butterfly. I thought it was so amazing that she came up with her own sketch for her mum that I couldn't resist playing! So this is my card for Madelynn's Terrific Tuesday Sketch!

I found the main stamp at Michaels, and I believe it's by Stampendous. The scarf is from Hanna Stamps 'Ski Bunny' set. Christmas is beginning to feel a bit like a rollercoaster for me! I kept these cards simple because the patterned papers are so busy.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. We have some more Christmas shopping to do, gymnastics with DD and maybe another round of baking. It's going to be a busy one that's for sure! Toodles!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Ski Bunny', Inkadinkadoo 'Rollercoaster - 97938'
Inks: Staz On 'Jet Black', Soft Sky, Real Red, Cranberry Crisp, Vintage Violet, Creamy Caramel
Paper: Bazzil cs, Georgia Pacific cs, PP - SEI Holiday Hoopla 'Merry Messages/Rowdy Rudolph', (Polka dot pp from Michaels - unknown)
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, square scalloped punch, circle punches, paper piercer, zig pen, micron pen

Christmas traditions

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Do you have any Christmas traditions in your family?

When I was growing up we did the usual Christmas traditions like leaving a plate of biscuits (cookies) and a glass of milk out for Santa and those infamous Christmas crackers would come out at dinner. When I moved to the US, I introduced the crackers to my husband's family who had never heard of them! Now they're on the table every year. Christmas Eve is usually spent at either our place or at a BIL's house. A couple of years ago we discovered that the kids could 'track Santa' on Christmas Eve too! Here's the LINK.

Another tradition we started last year with our daughter was the 'Elf on a Shelf'. Have you heard of this? I heard about it last year and snapped up a copy of the book and the elf! You introduce the book to the kids after Thanksgiving time and the story goes that Santa sends an elf to every boy and girl to watch over them. Then at night, while they sleep, the Elf flies home to the North Pole to report to Santa on whether the child has been naughty or nice. And when he returns the next morning, he sits in a different location around the house and the kids have to find him. My three year old adores him and really gets a kick out telling the elf what she wants for Christmas!


Here's a card I made for a dear friend of mine. She generously sent me some more wonderful Magnolia images which I could not wait to color up!! I wanted to make her a Christmas card with one of the images but not have it appear too 'Christmassy', know what I mean?

I used some double sided SEI paper that had the polka dots on one side and the tulips on the other. I just layered it on some Bazzil cardstock and popped the image on some pop dots for a 3D effect. Then I went looking for a Christmas sentiment and couldn't find anything that fit the space beside the Magnolia image. So I made up one with the Studio G mini alphabet stamps I have from Michaels. It works doesn't it? hahahhaa I used SU's Real Red and Cranberry Crisp on her dress to give it some depth. I faux stitched the edges because my sewing machine is packed away.

Hope my friend likes it! Only 9 days until Christmas now - holy cow! Where the heck did this year go?? See you all tomorrow!


Supplies:
Stamps: Magnolia, Studio G Mini Alphabet set
Inks: Staz On 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Cranberry Crisp, Certain Celery
Paper: Bazzil cs, PP - SEI 'Winnies Walls' - "Playful Pansies"
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, Martha Stewart edge punch, paper piercer, Zig pen, White Signo pen

A dusting of SNOW!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

That is what greeted us this morning as we woke. It's our first 'snow' of the year....and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet! We might be in for a snowy winter this year.

This first snow makes my card very appropriate for today! It's Christmas morning Riley! Actually, it's really Sleepy Time Riley, but look what you can do with him! I have to admit, I was a little bit inspired by Kitti Caracciolo's Christmas Tree card. She did such a great job (she always does) that I decided to pull out my uninked wreath stamp from Rubbernecker and do something similar with Riley.

I first stamped the wreath with StazOn 'Timber Brown' ink on Whisper White cs, then watercolored over the branches in True Thyme first then added Certain Celery second to add a bit of depth to the image. I then added some Diamond Stickles to some of the branches. I added Fruit Punch Stickles as berries. Riley was watercolored with my SU inks. To play up the white fluffy slippers and teddy bear, I use Soft Sky in the shadows and added more Diamond Stickles - you can NEVER have enough! LOL The background piece was stamped with a 'Happy Holidays' sentiment on an angle. Here's a detail of the card so you can see the sparkle on the card.
Sorry for the late posting today. Hubby had to work today and DD was itching to get to Michael's to buy herself a flower. When we went yesterday, she didn't have her purse with her - today she did! LOL Hope everyone has set aside some stamping or creating time today. I'm hoping to get a couple of cards done tonight.

Take care,
Sandra

Supplies
Stamps: Hanna Stamps! 'Sleepytime Riley', Rubbernecker 'Wreath + Scroll Holiday'
Inks: StazOn 'Timber Brown', Certain Celery, True Thyme, Real Red, Cranberry Crisp, Soft Sky, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Whisper White, Bazzil cs, PP - Pebbles Inc. 'Great Outdoors Trees'
Access: Ribbon, Diamond and Fruit Punch Stickles, dimensionals

Let the countdown begin!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Only seven more sleeps until Thanksgiving in the US! Yay! We're very fortunate that we don't have to travel on this day. My in laws live 5 minutes down the road from us, so my 3 year old won't get cranky on the way there and the appetizers I bring will still be warm!

Here's a card I made in honor of Thanksgiving Day next week. Isn't this the cutest image you've seen?? I wish I could tell you what company it's from, but after a half hour of scouring the Internet and SCS, I couldn't find any info on it. If you know who makes it, can ya let me know?? I may just have to make a purchase. This is another image I had received in an image swap and lost track of who it was from. Sorry!!

Again, I colored the image with my SU inks and aquapainter. I don't have the SU Basic Black ink, so I use my Distress Inks 'Black Soot' instead. It's great because it can give you the blackest of black or just a very light grey coverage. For the background, I channeled my Hanna Stamps DT pal and Dirty Dozen Alumni, Jeanne Streiff. I really love how her cards are so detailed, yet so uncluttered. I let the image take center stage on this card and just matted it, popped it on dimensionals and onto the card. The ribbon was something I picked up at my LSS a year ago and I got the charm at a cute little scrapbook store in Manchester, NH called Talk, Paper, Scissors. The cutest little shop ever and they have this workshop area that is to DIE for!! I have to go back there again soon!

Ok, now I have to get dressed and head to work! LOL But before I do, there's just one person I have to give a shout out.....

HAVE A ROCKIN' HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Unknown
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Certain Celery, Cool Caribbean, Cranberry Crisp, Morning Marigold, True Thyme, Sort Sky, Distress Inks 'Black Soot and Vintage Photo'
Paper: Bazzil cs, Whisper White, PP - Melissa Frances 'Ramona'
Access: Ribbon, jump ring, charm, dimensionals

I found my buttons!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Hump Day! It's a cold one around here!

My buttons weren't lost; I just 'rediscovered them, that's all! I bought a bag of Christmas colored buttons from my LSS a few years ago and they've been sitting in my amoire for a year now. About time I used them don't you think?


I found this stamp at Rubbernecker hidden in the 'Fantasy' section of Stamp Oasis. It's really cute, but the little boy and girl elf are very small and with that much detail on them, it makes them really hard to color. Still, I had fun. :D


I'm not happy with how the glitter around the edges turned out. Initially, I painted some glue on with my finger around the edges and then added the glitter, but then I decided that I wanted the raised look, so before I let the first application dry, I added a blob of glue around the edge of the image and without tampering with it, then added even more glitter. Next time, I'll just leave well enough alone! LOL


Hope Wednesday treats you well!



Supplies:
Stamps: Rubbernecker 'Raindeer's Flight', MFT 'Essential Sentiments'
Inks: Staz On 'Timber Brown', Creamy Caramel, Close To Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Certain Celery, True Thyme, Soft Sky, Buckaroo Blue
Paper: Georgia Pacific cs, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey 'Figgy Pudding +

Access: Ribbon, buttons, glitter, dimensionals

DO witches have all the fun?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

If you've ever been in Salem, Massachussets around this time of the year, then you would probably agree! Salem was made famous by the witch trials held in 1692. Alot of mystery and hysteria surrounds those trials and still, to this day, people from all over the country decend upon Salem in October for a glimpse into this bizarre period in time. Which (hahhaha - excuse my pun!) brings me to the card I created for Wednesday's sketch challenge (SC198) on SCS!

I found this challenge tough because I don't naturally think of circles when I create a layout for one of my cards. So I spent about a hour just staring at my cardstock and patterened paper hoping some inspiration would jump out and clobber me over the head! ha ha

I knew I wanted to play with the blog candy that I won on the Doodle Factory/Starving Artists blog called 'Witches Brew'. It's been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now - uninked! Shame on me! ha! I watercolored and cut out two of every image on this card. Popped them with dimensionals and added the sentiment (which also comes with the set). I've definitely been on a paper tole and Halloween kick - can ya tell?!

Happy Thursday!

Supplies:
Stamps: Starving Artists/Doodle Factory 'Witches Brew'
Ink: StazOn, Vintage Violet, Pumpkin Pie, Morning Marigold, Distress Inks 'Black Soot, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint'
Paper: Bazzil CS, PP - Making Memories 'Noteworthy'
Access: Scrapworks brads, dimensionals, stickles

Halloween is almost here!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Halloween happens to be one of my favorite holidays of the year. Not really a holiday I guess, but still a fun event none the less! I must have about 4 or 5 of those Lemax Spooky Town houses that I put up in my house every October. They create a fun atmosphere for the holiday!
Which leads me to the card I made Saturday night.....don't you just LOVE this haunted house from the Doodle Factory and Starving Artists?? I swear I bought this set just for the house! :D

I used the paper tole technique for the house. It was begging for this technique to be used on it! If you look closely, the house has three parts to it; the connector part between the two towers, the two towers and the front door part.
I started out by stamping the image on watercolor paper three times with versamark ink. I then applied black EP and heat set them. I then just colored the connector part on the first image and cut just that part out. On the second image I colored the two towers, the front door and the shrubbery and cut them out (as one piece) - omitting the connector part. On the last image I colored in just front door and the shrubbery and cut just those out as one piece. (Whenever I cut pieces out, I like to run my black sharpie around the edges of the piece so that the white from the paper doesn't show through. It's just a nice finishing touch!)

To build the house, I stamped the image one last time onto the red CS. I then glued the connector piece directly to the red CS. Then I added dimensionals to the tower piece and layered that piece over the connector piece. I then added dimensionals to the front door piece and applied that to the image to complete the tole effect. I took a close up shot of the house so you could see the layers and how they stack. The photo explains it better than I tried to do!

Yes, it's a VERY labor intensive, time consuming technique, but well worth it the effort when you see the end result!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!

Supplies:

Stamps: Starving Artists/Doodle Factory 'Halloween II'

Inks: Versamark, Vintage Violet, Morning Marigold, Distress Inks 'Tea Dye, Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint'

Paper: Bazzil CS, Georgia Pacific CS, Canson watercolor paper

Access: Black EP, dimensionals, Scrapworks brads