Across the Rainbow Bridge...

Good evening all!


I was spending a wonderful day with the family today and wanted to share a card I made at the request of a dear friend. She has a co-worker that recently lost her 2 furbabies right after another. So I made a Rainbow Bridge card for her. Here is the outside:

Her furbabies were white and grey so I made the kitties these colors. The bridge was cut from the Pagoda Cricut cartridge and the rainbow with the cloud from the Hello Kitty Greetings Cricut cartridge. The sun is from the Don Juan Cricut cartridge. The cats were digital images. I sponged the sun and the bridge and then used my brown marker to give the wood texture. I used my Marvy Liquid Applique to give the cloud dimension. Here is the inside:

I really hope that she likes it. I plan on offering this card on Etsy as well. Our pets are part of our families and the loss is real. I pray that it brings comfort. Well, off for more family time. Until next time......

Charlie Brown and the Gang Blog Hop

Welcome to Charlie Brown and the Gang Blog Hop. Charlie Brown and his gang are out to play with us today whether it be baseball, holding the football or just hangin' out!!!! Don't forget that Snoopy has to get the Red Baron and not fall behind the enemy lines. Also, you may want to stop off at Lucy's booth to have a second opinion!!!Not only all these characters, Kari's son Josh, loves Charlie Brown with his favorite character being Snoopy and its his 18th birthday! Be sure to wish Josh a Happy Birthday on Kari's Blog at http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/.

There are so many characters to depict here and we all have our favorites!!!! With this in mind, we will be setting up scenes whether it be a lay-out, card, decorative piece but rest assured, you will be seeing Charles Schultz characters being showcased!!!!!

Now, if you just happened to be visiting me, I'm thrilled and glad to show you my project and offer you advise for 5 cents, BUT I would love for you to start at the beginning of our story and that is with Kari at http://purplefuntastickcreations.blogspot.com/. Now, if you arrived from Kari's blog then you are on the correct base on the baseball field!!!

We have a terrific All-Star group of sponsors:

Lynne Kirsch - chipboard figures of Charlie Brown and the Gang
Shannon Leffew Keith offering flowers from her etsy shop
Colleen Duffy Hathaway is offering a paper pieced set of your choice from Scraptastical Kreations (http://scraptasticalkreations.com/)

What is a birthday without a card? I just knew that Kari would appreciate this card. The outside has Snoopy saying Good Grief" and the inside says, "Can't believe you are 18 already!" I can remember saying that about my oldest and now my second child is approaching this milestone. I am getting old for sure. Here is a pic of my card:

I pieces my card together with a sticker, grass cut from Gypsy Wanderings and inked with Michaels' ink pad. The clouds were made with the Marvy Liquid Applique. I had way too much fun with this one :)

Your next stop with Charlie Brown and the Gang is the talented Miss Amy and be sure not to let Lucy tease you with that line "I'll hold the football"! 


NOTE: Miss Amy is having problems with her blog so check back later

You may want to go to Christel's blog and check back with Amy later.

JME Creations: Happy New Year

Should old acquaintance be forgot... I am kind of sad as this is my last project for this year and I had such fun with it. Does anyone remember Rudolph's Shiny New Year? Well, I used to love to watch this and there is a picture of myself and my cousin Louie dressed as Father Time and Baby New Year in 1979 going into 1980. So in memoriam to my wonderful cousin, here is my card:

I used the Marvy puffy paint for his diaper and he was cut from one my Cricut cartridges. I had to draw in the facial features and cut his hat from the Create a Critter cartridge. Red Stickles adorn his hat. Wishing you all a Happy New Year. Until next time....

Christmas Recipe and Christmas Cards Blog Hop, Round 2 (Dec. 10-11)

Welcome to Round Two of the Christmas Cards & Cookies Blog Hop! You should have come from April's blog. If you are starting here and wish to hop from the beginning of the hop, please visit Dena’s blog. There was so much response to the Christmas Cards & Cookies Blog Hop that it had to be split between two weekends. Round One was held last weekend. Round Two is this weekend, beginning on Saturday, Dec. 10th, through Sunday, Dec. 11th. We have a talented group of women who love papercrafting and baking. Each of them is sharing a recipe for a yummy Christmas treat along with a Christmas card or tag. Hopefully, you’ll pick up some great ideas for your own Christmas gift giving this season. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and enjoy!

My project today is based on my favorite Christmas treat, Struffoli (aka Italian Honey Cakes). I wish I could say I got to make these but I ran out of time. Here is a picture of this yummy dessert:

I can take a spoon and just eat this all day! Here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 16 ounces honey
• 1 cup margarine
• 4 cups flour, sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• Optional decorations such as: sprinkles, silver balls, candied fruits, toasted pine nuts, or anything else you like!

Directions

1. First, pre-heat the oven to 350°F, and then rease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
2. Next, place water, margarine and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. After that, remove from heat and let stand as the margarine melts in the hot water. Stir in the flour and mix well. Return the saucepan to medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the pan. This should take about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let it cool in the pot.
3. After that, add the eggs to the mixture, one at a time, and beat using an electric mixture or a wooden spoon (the beating has to be vigorous to fully incorporate the eggs). When all the eggs are incorporated, put the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe tiny balls onto the pastry sheets; the balls should be the size of marbles, or just a little bigger. If you do not have a pastry bag, you can put the dough in a sealable plastic bag and cut out one corner’s tip and pipe them out that way (just make sure that your dough is cool!).
4. Meanwhile, bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the balls from the oven and let cool on wire racks.
5. And then, in a large saucepan, heat the honey until it boils. Let it boil for 5 minutes, but don’t leave the stove and be careful that it does not boil over.
6. Next, if it starts to boil up, lower the heat. Dip the puffs in the honey. You can throw 10-12 balls in at once. Make sure they are evenly coated in honey, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them onto a plate.
7. Lastly, once all of the balls have been dipped and removed, you can wet your hands and start working on your artistic side. Take the balls and form them into a mound or a wreath on another clean plate. Then finish off the masterpiece with some decorative touches like sprinkles or candied fruit.
8. Struffoli is ready to serve!

My project will be given out on Christmas Day next to each person's plate. The stamp is from RAK from my FB friend Tina and I just had to use it :)

I write the ingredients on side one and the directions on side 2. The holly stamp is from my Fiskars set and I used my new liquid applique pen from Marvy to frost Gingy. His eyes are the Opaque Licorice pearls from CTMH. I cut this tag envelope at 7 inches from Cricut's Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cartridge.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please be sure to visit Tami's blog next to see what she has to share with you.

1. Dena J - http://missdjones.blogspot.com

2. Theresa Thescrapbookingqueen: http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com

3. Lynda B-J: http://memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/

4. Jearise H: http://lorbysworld.blogspot.com/

5. Linda T: http://www.lindascreativity.blogspot.com

6. April N: http://curlsandgrins.blogspot.com

7. Susan B: http://susanascorner.blogspot.com/

8. Tami McD: http://tamboscreations.blogspot.com/

9. Melissa Haereiti: http://timeweavers.wordpress.com

Until next time.....

JDS New Release Monday: Polka Dots Christmas Characters

Welcome to another New Release Monday at Jen's Digi Stamps. In my quest to learn to make new cards, I decided to learn how to make an easel card. The theme of Polka Dots made me see lots of dots! The Bazzill Swiss Dots paper that is. I love this paper pack and use it whenever possible. I love snowpeople and have been making Christmas cards that are non-Christmas colors. This blue always reminds me of winter and snow. Here  is my card:

Here is my card closed

And now open

I added these button brads as polka dot button brads for the snowman's belly, a drew in the dark with my Marvy pen marker and added the brad buttons on the outside. All brads on this card are from Stampin' Up. I hope you enjoyed my easel card and encourage you to hop on over to the JDS blog to see what my creative team members have made :) Until next time....