Halloween Stamp Club

Happy Wednesday Readers!

Today I have one of the cards we are going to do in my Stamp Club tonight.  I love my group of Stamp Club ladies--we've been "clubbing" together in my club for just about 4 years now and we have a great time.  They are ladies that I know from all aspects of life and I feel blessed to know each one of them.

This month we are going to be doing some Halloween projects because it's just around the corner. (Can you even believe that?!) Here is the card we will be making:

I'm pretty proud of this one!  I came up with it all on my own--typically I have a sketch or something I have to start from, but this one just sort of came to me.  I hope they like it as much as I do!  I'll share our other project, too, once I have a picture taken of it.

Hope you are having a great week!  Thanks for stopping in.

Recipe Share and Thank You Gift

Good Morning!

It's no secret that I am a HUGE fan of Pinterest.  So many great things on there to look at and try. I was enjoying my morning cup of coffee this past Sunday just looking at what was out there when I stumbled upon a recipe for Pumpkin White Chocolate Snickerdoodles.  I love a Snickerdoodle cookie and could only imagine the flavors of pumpkin and white chocolate would make them even better. Since I had to stop at the store anyway, I picked up the few ingredients that I needed to make these cookies.  Thanks to Lil Luna for sharing this recipe.  (Go check out her blog)

Here is a picture she shared on her blog of these tasty cookies:

Here's the recipe:

White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles

By Lil' Luna

• Cuisine: American
• Course: Dessert
• Skill Level: Easy

Delicious White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles that are perfect for Fall.

INGREDIENTS

 Print This Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1 TB vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2/3 cup white chocolate chips
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 TB sugar
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cream butter, shortening and sugar by hand in a mixing bowl. 
2. Add eggs and vanilla and cream together.
3. In a separate bowl combine, cream of tartar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
4. Gradually add this mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until well combined. Add white chocolate chips and mix until well combined.
5. Refrigerate for 30 - 45 minutes.
6. Combine sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Form dough into small balls, roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture and then place on a greased cookie sheet. 
7. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.

My cookies ended up cooking for about 14 minutes before they were done.  They got thumbs up from everyone in my family, and they could hardly wait for them to cool before they wanted to try them!

I packaged some up for some friends of ours and their family.  Our oldest son goes there each morning and walks to school with their son so he doesn't have to be home with the potential to miss the bus in the morning.  They also often share rides with us for soccer/pickups etc.  I thought some nicely packaged homemade cookies would be a great way to say thank you and that we appreciate them.  The tags are from the Tag a Bag bundle.  I love them!  I hope our friends enjoy these treats.  

Thanks for stopping in today! I also had to share an "outtake" with you.  Scout likes to help me with my stamping and pictures for blog posts.  She was especially excited to help with this one--she could smell the delicious cookies!

Nacho Average Christmas Card (#55)

Hey Readers--

Remember last week I told you about the Nacho Average Challenges site?  Go check them out--they have really great sketches to play with.  Here is this week's:

Here's my take.  I flipped it on its side.  My strips on the end are washi tape from the Holiday catalog with a strip of silver glimmer paper.  I used the Tags for You and matching punch for the sentiment, and the labels framelit for the Cherry Cobbler background.  You can't see it real well in this picture, but I also have a circle of silver glimmer paper just barely peeking out behind the sentiment.  This card came together so easy--would be a great one for a stamp a stack. With the punches, framelit, and ease of washi tape you'll be done with this wow card in no time!

Tune in tomorrow for an AWESOME recipe share and a nice "thank you" gift.  Thanks for stopping in!

A new A.R.T. Challenge

Happy Sunday Readers!

This post will be brief as I am heading out to Alex's last soccer game of the season.  It's a beautiful Fall day here so it will be nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine for a little bit.  I've been spending my morning going through the house and putting clutter away, doing laundry, and getting my Fall decorations out.  I can't wait until tonight when the kids are tucked in bed and I can have the candles on and admire the fact that for this small moment in time the house is put away! (These moments are few and far between in a house with two growing boys and a puppy no matter what my inner Martha Stewart says!)

Here is the sketch over at A.R.T. Card Challenges, a site I found while looking for new sketches to try on Pinterest.  The sketch was a simple one.  I've already got some other ideas to do with this one.  I'll share them later this week.

Here is my take.  I used Island Indigo as the background, the bird punch, and paper from the Gingham Garden designer series paper, sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes (my go to!) and some rhinestones to finish it off.  

Thanks for stopping in today!  I hope you are having a great Sunday whatever you are doing.  I'll be back tomorrow with my Nacho Average Challenge card.  

Countdown to Christmas

Happy Saturday Readers!

I know, it's only September.  But....time flies.  We have good intentions with these crafty DIY holiday projects and then something happens and it's December 12th and we haven't started ANY of them.Who's with me?

Not this year!! I already have a couple gifts in the works thanks to My Digital Studio.  These are probably my favorite ones I have set to go because all I'll have to do is print them and then wrap them and people on my lists will open up a beautiful handmade gift.  Of course, I'm not going to share what they are because my family reads my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Here's a couple great ideas from My Digital Studio (remember, there is a FREE 30 day trial you can get here.  Also, My Digital Studio downloads work with other programs, too)

1) Compilation of Recipes--here's a great book already complete where you just drag and drop pictures of your favorite recipes in, type up the recipe in the text boxes, hit print and you have your own cookbook you'd be proud to give people.  They won't believe it when you tell them you made it yourself, and, who doesn't love new recipes to try?

2:) Photo Calendar: A favorite of my parents, my husband's parents, and my grandparents are the yearly calendar with the pictures of us kids and their grandkids.  I try to put pictures of each during their birthday months and fun things we've done together through the year.  Here's the one I used last year, can't wait to see what the 2014 downloads look like-I've been collecting pictures.

3.) I am thinking about this cute color book swatchbook and some new crayons for my nephew and Jack. They are a year apart and this would be something for them to do together when they need something quiet to do over the holidays:

4.) Finally, how about a birthday calendar.  Stampin' Up! creates this beautiful template that you can just write in the birthdays and voila, a thoughtful, functional gift anyone can use.  This is something I need to do in my own family.  We are all of the age now where we are getting married and starting families, and I don't like to forget a special day.  The best part, it's swatchbook size which means it will fit in your bag or purse and is smaller than your checkbook!

I hope I have given  you a few ideas that will work for your friends and family!  Join me in creating a thoughtful gift in minutes and get started on those holiday to dos early.  Thanks for stopping in!

PS.....another thing you can print are your Christmas cards and tags!  Here's a scrapbook page I created in MDS featuring our Christmas card last year and just one example (out of MANY) that you can print yourself.

Catalog Case

Happy Friday Ya'll!

Today I took a picture out of the catalog that I liked to see if I could create a card that looked like it.  I love this box, and again, I'm using the set Summer Silhouettes as the main focus with Hello Lovely for the sentiment.  

Here's my take:

Mine has a little bit more color than on the box cover in the catalog, but you can see where this came from.  I think they must have embossed the flower on the box because I stamped off with StazOn for the leaves in the background, and then used a fully inked StazOn stamp for the single flower and it isn't as deep of a color as I thought it was going to be.  The other colors I used were Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, and Calypso Coral.  I really like the look of the chevron ribbon no matter what project I see it in and whether it's a little or a lot of it.  Such a fun ribbon!

I hope this inspires you to take a look through your catalog and come up with ideas you can create! Have a great rest of your day!  Thanks for stopping by.  

Clean and Simple Create with Connie and Mary

Good Morning Friends!

Today I have my creation for Create with Connie and Mary Fall Week 3 Color Challenge and Clean and Simple 258.  Here are the colors/sketches I started with:

Here is my take:  

I used a Crumb Cake background with a matte of Soft Sky Chevron designer series paper.  I used a strip of the Eastern Elegance paper in Crushed Curry and a strip of the Chocolate Chip polka dot designer series papers.  The stamp set is Truly Grateful from the Holiday catalog.  I used the 2 1/2" circle punch and the 1" circle punch for the acorn.  I really love how these colors work together.  

I hope you enjoyed my crafty share for today.  Looking forward to chatting with you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping in .

Friday Mashup on Wednesday

Hey All--

Today I have the Friday Mashup challenge submission.  Here's an excerpt from their page about this week's challenge:

October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.  Each year, approximately 870,000 families experience the loss of a baby during pregnancy or shortly after birth.  We have a support group through our local hospital called H.A.N.D.S., Hope after Neonatal Death through Sharing, which holds a Walk to Remember and balloon release event every October to commemorate our babies.

In addition, the support group provides assistance and emotional support to the families undergoing the loss of an infant, including ceramic memory boxes, crocheted blankets and infant gowns, and help with funeral arrangements.  I cannot donate these type of items, as I have no talent for these crafts, but I can donate cards.  The support group sends out cards to members during their time of grief as well as on the anniversary of their loss. 

My challenge to you is to create a thinking of you or condolence card, and if you are inclined, donate the card to a local infant loss charity or support group.  You can also send your donation card(s) to me (contact me at runningwscissors@earthlink.net for mailing address), and I will collect and donate them to my local H.A.N.D.S. charity.  

I had saved this card on one of my Pinterest boards as a card I'd like to case.  I love this Summer Silhouettes stamp set-it's so versatile and classic.  It has a simple elegance to it.  Here's the card I wanted to CASE (copy and share everything)  by LeAnne Pugliese (thanks LeAnne for the beautiful card-check her out here)

Here was my take on the card.  I work in a local hospital here in town, and I am going to check with our NICU/Birthplace to see if we have a similar program I can get involved in.  I'd love to do a card drive to help those families in need.

As you can see, I went with a similar color palette, although I traded Very Vanilla and Crumb Cake in for Smoky Slate, and didn't add a button or washi tape.  You can still see the influence of the regular card.  

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a great day!

Retro Sketches #81

Happy Tuesday Readers!

Today I have a sketch for one of my favorite challenge blogs: Retro Sketches #81.  They always have a fun sketch to play with there, and today is no exception!

Here is the sketch:

I thought about Christmas, birthday, little kid, flowers....anything would work with this!  I went for Christmas.  I really like how the Crumb Cake, Old Olive, and Cherry Cobbler work together in this sketch, and I am so excited about how my embellishment worked out!  Those Frosted Finishes are really fun and even better--they are flat on the back so they go on with just a glue dot! I also like that the washi tape gives a little pattern to the banner flag.

Hopefully you have enjoyed today's crafty creation! See you tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping in!

Nacho Average Freshly Made Sketch

Happy Monday Readers!

Did you have a good weekend?  The boys and my husband were very happy with the results of the Bears/Vikings football game.  Although, being the lone Vikings fan in the house, I wasn't upset with a 1 point loss on the home team's field.  Alex and Jack are wearing their Bears jerseys with pride today at school and day care.

For your crafty inspiration today I have my submission to Freshly Made Sketches 103 Challenge as well as Nacho Average Challenge 54.  I combined the sketch with the color challenge and came up with this:

I thought, oh, this will be an easy challenge, I love those colors and that clean and simple design.  It took me forever and gave me fits trying to get the trees lined up, and the corner punch to punch right and as you can see the I'm So Sorry is at a creative angle.  I have a couple other ideas in mind for this sketch, so I'll be sure to post them when I am finished and redeem the creative stamping!

Hope you have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Thinking Of You

Happy Sunday Readers!

Two posts in one day!

Today I have my card for the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge (PPA171).  Here's the color palette we had to work with:

These colors look so good together, it's a really warm and sweet color combo.  The first card I thought to do with these colors was a baby girl card.  However, then I came upon this little bird in the nest from the set For the Birds and I thought it worked just great.  I used a Calypso Coral cardstock background with a mat of Etcetera designer series paper.  I used the Chalk Talk framelits and woodgrain embossing folder in the Baked Brown Sugar cardstock and added a pop of color with the scalloped oval punch.  I punched out the very vanilla circle with the 1 3/4" circle punch and colored the bird with the Calypso Coral marker.  It still needed a little something so I added the large pearls on either end.

I really liked how it came together, simple and fun, yet cute, too!  

I'd love to hear what you think.  Thanks for stopping in today!  Have a great start to your week.  

Fall Harvest

Hey Out There!

I just finished up creating and taking pictures of my cards for this week, so stop back all week for new crafty creations!

Today, I am going to do a recipe share.  It's Fall here in the Northland, and with that comes zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and canning!  A friend of mine at work brought me a couple of the zucchinis from her garden, and so we sauteed some, and I am going to bake some zucchini bread with them, too.

I found this recipe from The Vintage Mother on Pinterest and it sounded really good, we'll try it and see.

Perfect Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. soda
• 3 tsp cinnamon (or 2 heaping)
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ cup nuts (if desired)

Instructions

1. Sift dry ingredients.
2. Mix eggs, oil, zucchini and vanilla together.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Bake in loaf pans for 35 to 45 or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
5. Enjoy! www.thevintagemother.com

Hope you've had a good weekend!  Thanks for stopping by.

Love a Good Quote

Hey Stampin' Friends!

Today I have a few of my favorite quotes to share with you.  I was thinking of things I'd like to put on Stampin' Up!'s customizable stamps.  I'll have to do the math to figure out which ones I can get to fit.  Leave me a comment with your favorite quotes--I'd love to hear them :)  Thanks for stopping in today--I hope you see some words here today that are inspirational to you.  I'll be back tomorrow with a crafty creation.  Hugs!