Ahh, Spring...and Book Week

Well, that's what if feels like.  Still cool at night but warm enough to have the door open during the day.  I feel so much better with fresh air circulating through the house.  I keep waiting for the cold snap!  In the meantime, I will enjoy it as much as possible.

Anyhoo, I just wanted to share a couple of photos I have taken during my walks the last few days.  They show the signs of spring that nature shares with us...

With this time of year comes Book Week! And the inevitable book week parade...sigh.  If Spidermonkey had his way, he would have gone as Dr. Who for the third year in a row.  Instead, he went as Harry Potter (along with most of the rest of the school).  I had to work hard to get this concession.  If I had given into his logic, it would have been Iron Man or Spiderman who, according to him are acceptable because he has large compendiums of the comics which are books!  I suppose this is true but the book lover in me just couldn't let it go.  So, I scoured the shops for some glasses and a wand and ended up ordering them online in order for him to feel like he was a part of the school community.  He was happy in the end and here he is as Harry Potter:

He looks pretty good in glasses and could pass for Harry in the earlier movies (well in the eyes of his momma anyway)!  Now I am off to find something yellow for him to wear on Friday for Daffodil day...*sigh*.

As Promised...

I got crafty today!  I had fun playing with all my Tim Holtz stuff.  I made two cards and a "strip" that I'm not sure what I will use it for...but it was fun doing it!!

We went out to the hardware store in town today and across from it is Hillbilly.  Yes, Hillbilly!  Sort of a Dollar store but they have some cool crafty stuf  so of course I had to go have a look.  I found these great laser cut, pop up butterflies and wanted to use them.  The first card was planned around the butterflies and here it is:

The paper on the left is Coordinations Tim Holtz Distress paper in Broken China.  I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder and then sanded the embossing which brings out the Broken China core.  The paper on the right is Tim Holtz Kraft Resist.  I used a combination of the new Distress Stains (Peeled Paint, Fire Brick, Dusty Concord, Faded Jean and Antique Linen onto my craft sheet.  Then, I sprayed the whole thing with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pink Bubblegum.  The ribbon is Tim Holtz trims dyed with the Distress Stains to match the paper.  Then I stuck the butterfly sticker to paper and cut it out.  Finally, I glued the butterfly to the ribbon using Multi-Matte Medium.  Finally, I stamped a sentiment using an SU stamp in Ranger Black Archival ink.

For card number two, I used the Tim Holtz Mini Rosettes die and based the card around the rosettes. You can see it here:

I picked an orange cardstock from DCWV Brights paper stack and embossed it with Cherry Blossoms from Craft Concepts.  I sanded the embossed card to expose the white core which I then coloured in with SU markers - Riding Hood Red and Old Olive.  I added the rosettes to the card and put Prima flower centers on them.  Then I chose a piece from the SU Silver HodgePodge and added my sentiment.

Then I move on to Tim Holtz Grunge Paper.  I have had this stuff for a while and really haven't made use of it.  After having watched just a few videos (all of them!), I decided to play and here are the results: 

I spread the same colours of Distress Stain mentioned above onto my craft sheet and dragged the strip through the colours.  Then, I added an additional layer of the colours directly to the grunge paper.  I spritzed it with water and let the colours run before drying it with my heat tool.  Once dry, I used the Snow Cap paint dabber on the Tim Holtz ATC Flourish stamp and stamped the image multiple times down the strip.  Again, I dried this with my heat tool.  I then added Rock Candy Crackle Paint to the whole surface and left to dry.  Once dry, I used Black Soot Distress Ink to highlight the cracks left by the crackle paint.  Although this step is difficult to see in the photo, it looks so cool in real life.  I am really pleased with the result!  I may use it on a scrapbook page or it might get cut up and used on different cards.  I just we will just have to wait and see!

Many of you would have seen my inky fingers in a photo on FaceBook.  I got very messy but loved it all!  Funnily enough, Clearsnap posted a status saying that if you were inky, then you must be having fun.  So true :0)  When I rejoined the family, I found Cappuchin on Daddy's lap, watching a video.  He was so focused, he didn't even know I was there!

Canberrans - good luck with the convoy traffic tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a great week!

No Excuse, Just Lazy - And a Recipe

Yep, that's me.  The few weeks have been lazy.  I don't have any excuse.

Don't get me wrong, there has been lots to do but I haven't had the motivation to work on any craft or take any pictures.  I hope to get something done tomorrow.  I have been working on some pieces for a card that I hope to have published but that is it!

So, I have to redouble my efforts to get some photos and cards done to share with you all!  And, I need to see about entering some further pieces for publication...

Until then, here is a snapshot from the last few weeks.

What I have been doing is baking again!  I decided to combine three recipes from the All Recipes website and came up with the following for a brilliant Cinnamon Roll recipe.  You can find the originals here, here and here!  And my combination is as follows:

Best Ever Cinnamon Buns

Makes 24 Buns

Ingredients:

2 packages active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 package yellow cake mix (I use butter cake for those in AUS)

7 cups all-purpose flour, divided

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

1/3 cup butter

Filling (divide the ingredients in half when rolling out two lots of dough):

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons white sugar

4 tablespoons ground cinnamon (personally, I don't measure this!)

Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method: 

1.      In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, and let stand for 3 minutes. Add cake mix, 1 cup flour, eggs, oil, and salt; beat well. Stir in remaining flour until a soft dough forms.

2.      Knead on well floured surface for about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, and turn to coat the dough surface. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

3.      Meanwhile; in a small saucepan, melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup ice cream; bring to a boil, and cook for 1 minute. Pour caramel into the bottom of 2 lightly greased 9 x 13 inch pans.

4.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

5.      Punch down, and divide into two equal parts. Roll out each section on a lightly floured surface. Spread each with softened butter and sprinkle with brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon.

6.      Roll up like jelly rolls and cut buns 1 1/2 inches thick with a piece of dental floss or a dull knife. Place in baking pans on top of caramel, and allow to rise until doubled.

7.      Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown; shifting pans around after half of cooking time.

8.      While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

* If you aren’t a big cream cheese fan, reduce the cream cheese to 2/3 of the block for a more mellow taste.

These turned out light and fluffy with a yummy caramel base.  As predicted, the two pans are nearly gone and it's only been three days!  Enjoy :-)

Reveal Number Two

I had the joy of sharing a great friend's engagement party this weekend and of course an event like that deserves a lovely card!  This card was CAS'd from Doodlebug's card seen here.  Of course, I changed the paper, ribbon and stamps around a little but it was essentially a copy.  No point in re-inventing the wheel as long as credit is given where credit is due!

So here it is:

The designer paper is KaiserCraft Gypsy and the cardstock is DCWV.  The stamps are a combination of Stampin Up, KaiserCraft and Bo Bunny.  The ribbon is Basic Grey, pearls and gems are KaiserCraft and the ink is Distress Ink and Versamark with silver embossing powder.  The silver finding is from Stampin Up and I'm pretty sure there is some Perfect Pearls Pearl mist in there too!  The music was downloaded from a free site.  I hope that Peter and Narelle like it.  I had such a lovely time at their party last night!

And for a bit of fun, we went to Costco today after breakfast with friends.  We bought some kites and on the way home, we stopped by the property to fly them.  Here are some of the snapshots I got of the boys flying the kites.  Kites Ho!!

Hope you were able to find some friend and family time this weekend! xoxo

The First Reveal!

I promised there would be some reveals this weekend and this is the first!  Yesterday, I gave a card to my friend for her birthday.  I made something special for her as she is a member of my crafty family.  I also know she likes her handbags, shoes and jewellry.  I found a really awesome handbag card here.  The template measurements can be found here.   I also used the Bo Bunny Gabrielle papers - the same ones on the outside but different on the inside.  However, as I have embellished differently, our cards are different enough.  So here is my version.  There are several photos as there is so much to this card.  Let's start with the front:

I used Tea Dye distress ink to colour the edges.  I put KaiserCraft pearls in a few places on the design to highlight it.  The ribbons were purchased as part of a kit that also used Bo Bunny Paper.  The flowers are Prima and the chipboard and butterfly are part of the Gabrielle collection.  The closure is a Basic Grey Magnet.  I had to add some bigger magnets to the back of the closure because this has to hold through quite a few layers of paper and cardstock.  This handle is part of the Gabrielle ribbon collection.

Here is a side view to give you an idea of what is on the inside.

I decided to mimic the swirls on the design with some bling from Zva and then added the chipboard butterflies from the Gabrielle chipboard collection.

Here is the card open.  Most of the embellishments are from the Gabrielle collection (it's so much easier when you use a collection to make a project).  I've added a few different things though.  The flower is Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die that has been cut from his glassine paper, crinkled and then sprayed with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist.  When heated with the heat tool, the colour sinks in and looks as if it is part of the paper.  The butterfly on the top is a Gina K. Designs stamp that has been coloured with Smooch Inks (see previous post for a close up) and the frame is a Spellbinders die.  Again, I've inked all the edges of the base papers with Tea Dye Distress Inks.

Here are some close ups of the inside top and bottom.

I hope you enjoyed looking as much as I did creating!  Oh, and the card was a hit...she cried and made me cry!  Love you 'Chelle!

Hope you all get a chance to do what ever hobby you love today.

A Crafty Day

Cappuchin decided to cooperate today and have a long nap.  This translates into great craft time!  Generally, he's only asleep long enough for me to get my base and a few embellishments picked out (ok, I take forever but it's the way I work :>)  However, with the longer sleep, I was able to get something about 2/3 finished before I had to pack both myself and Cappuchin in the car for the weekly Kumon trip down to Calwell.  Want to see?  Welllllll, it's only a sneak peek because I'm giving it away very soon.  I promise to reveal all (from the last post too) in the next few days so here is your peek (actually, it's two):

The butterfly was coloured with Smooch Inks.  I love the shimmer!  I can't wait to show you the whole project - I'm actually a little proud of this one :0)

Oh, and all that sleep made for one happy little guy this afternoon.  Here he is playing on the outdoor playground at the club we go to while we wait for Spidermonkey:

Seeing as it is late, I suppose I should get off to bed.  It's Harry Potter night with the girls tomorrow!  I finally get to see the last movie.  Sleep well!

I'm back!

Well after a problem with access to several sites and a return to school, I am finally able to get here and post!  Of course, I haven't been very prolific during that time *hangs head*.  In fact, quite lazy!  In any case, here is a little of what has been happening.

Cappuchin is nearing two and we have hit the full on tantrum stage!  I think we have about 50% happy vs 50% tantrum at the moment.  I really dislike this stage, he can't talk - only scream and cry.  I want to join him in the scream and cry but that is counter productive.  So, he spends a fair bit of time in his cot, calming down.  The word "no" will set him off faster than a fox after a jack rabbit!  So, I managed to capture a happy moment the other day.  Sitting in the back of the car while we waited to pick up Spidermonkey - soaking up the sun and playing with his new sunglasses:

Today I saw these on the living room floor and thought - "how cute!"  and "how long will he be that small?".  Not long if his brother is anything to go by!  I just love these little shoes:

AND I got crafty over the last few days.  I can't show you any finished products because they are for people who haven't received them yet but I can show you some "sneak peaks"!  Here is the first: 

Lots of bling, shimmer and ink!  I had fun with this one, although it is a CAS'd card from Doodlebop on SplitCoast Stampers.  And then I played with ink and my Color Me papers from Hot Off the Press.  I used lots of blues from ClearSnap Colorbox and Tim Holtz Distress.  I finished it off with some Vanilla Smooch Spritz to give it a shine!  Don't know what I will use it for but I'm sure I'll find something!

So, I hope to have more for you shortly - soon as I kick this lurgey!