Let it Snow..

This summer, on a particularly hot day, I was wondering Target & found half pint canning jars & thought they'd make perfect snow globes!  So I made some for my kids' teachers as Christmas gifts:

I hand painted a mountain scene along the three smooth sides & covered the "Ball" logo with this adorable reindeer from Simon Says Stamp "Merry & Bright" set.  Filled it with a Hot Chocolate Cupcake (seriously amazing!) & top it all off with some pretty silver ribbon :-).

Because these were rather time intensive I only did 4 for their main teachers & did gift bags for the other 12 teachers/ support staff.  On these tags I used a snowman from Lawn Fawn's "Snow Much Fun" set

And like I said the above cupcakes are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ...quite possibly one of the best (baked) things I've ever made.  I was shocked that I couldn't find an existing recipe for hot chocolate cupcakes - at least not like I was thinking of, there are plenty of ones for all shades of chocolate & several using hot chocolate mix but none that would actually taste like a cup of hot chocolate. So starting with my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe (by Brown Eyed Baker) I started experimenting to find the correct balance of chocolate, creaminess & marshmallow & I think I found it ;-).  I'll have to go back & do proper weight measurements but in the meantime:

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Marshamllow Frosting

For the cake:

1/2 C Coffee [I used Starbucks Christmas Blend]

3 oz Semi-Sweet Choc, chopped fine [I used Scharffen-Berger]

1/2 C Canola Oil

2 Eggs

1 C Buttermilk 

1 t Vanilla

1 3/4 C AP Flour

3/4 C Cocoa [I use Ghiradelli]

1 3/4 Granulated Sugar

1 1/2 t Baking Soda

1 t Baking Powder

1/2 t Salt

For the ganache:

16 oz Andes Mints chopped

1 C Heavy Cream

For Frosting:

1/2 C unsalted butter (softened)

1 t Vanilla

1 C Marshmallow Fluff

3 T Heavy Cream

2 C powdered Sugar (sifted)

1/4 t Salt

1. Place chopped choc in a small bowl, pour coffee over & leave it for the moment

2. In bowl of stand mixer (w/ paddle attachment) mix the oil, eggs, buttermilk & vanilla on low-medium speed

3. Sift flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt onto a piece of parchment paper (or flexible cutting board). Slowly pour into oil mixture @ a low speed.

4. Give the choc-coffee mixture a quick whisk & add to batter.  Turn up to medium speed until fully incorporated.

5. Fill cupcake pans 3/4 full & bake in 350F for 18-20 mins until a toothpick comes out clean

6. Heat 1 C heavy cream in small pan on the stove until it just starts to scald; pour over chopped Andes mints & let set for ~1 min before whisking to smooth consistency & store in refrigerator to cool.

7. Whip butter in stand mixer (w/ whisk attachment) until light & creamy then add in marshmallow fluff & vanilla.

8. Once smooth add in 2 T heavy cream followed by the powdered sugar.  If it's too thick then add in last T heavy cream.

9. Once cupcakes are cool, scoop out the middle, pip in ganache, top w/ frosting & a sprinking of candy canes. YUM!

Tone on tone stamping

Inspired by another crafter's use of tone on tone stamping I created a fun summery card to send a friend of mine:

From top to bottom I blended Pickled Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade & Dried Marigold Distress Ink onto cold-press watercolor paper & then lightly spritz it with water to create droplets.  Then randomly stamped tiny butterflies (by Hero Arts) in the same colors across the full panel.  The trellis I cut from an Alterations die, colored with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain & Hickory Smoke Distress Crayon.  Scribbled Pickled Raspberry & Spiced Marmalade Distress Crayons on my craft sheet, spritzed with water & picked it up with splatter brush for a little texture.  Layered on a simple banner edged in Hickory Smoke before mounting the entire panel on a A2 grey cardstock base, finished it off with an orange twine bow.

**Entered in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Things with Wings" Challenge** 

Teacher Gifts

One of my favorite crafts to do is gifts for my kids' teachers!  I have so much respect for the teaching profession - in large because I know I couldn't do it! - education is truly a calling  & I love how the right teacher can make all the difference in a child's life.  This year was particularly special because it was Dillon's 1st year (PK) and Erin had an AMAZING teacher this year after an extremely frustrating last year.

Erin's teacher had a wilderness theme to her classroom with the slogan Children Actively Making Progress (C.A.M.P) and a moose named Maggie as the mascot.  So I made her a wooden "Welcome to C.A.M.P" sign with a moose sitting outside a tent & a card to match - unfortunately I didn't have time to take pictures so you'll just have to take my word that it was cute :-P.

For Dillon's teacher I made a plantar box with some metal pails that could be used for plants or school supplies.  All year I had the phrase "Bloom where you planted" running through my head because Erin had the same teacher but at a different school so while they didn't get the same PK experience it was still a good school career start.  It was even more appropriate because this teacher happens to love flowers and gardening as a hobby.


Again I wish I had time to get nicely staged pictures so you can see all the details!  My husband built the box out of basic poplar (can't see the embellished pails :-( ) and then I did several layers of white washing with dry brush streaks of Hickory Smoke,Vintage Photo & Walnut Stain distress paint.  In between each layer of paint I sanded some paint away & the edges/ corner so that in the end it looked like it was well-worn. I then stenciled wildflowers around the sides with Tarnished Brass & went over it with a wipe to make it look faded.  Finally I hand lettered the phrase on one side in acrylic paint before coating the whole piece in polyurethane for durability.  The pails I got from the dollar spot @ Target, painted chalkboard rectangles on each one, embellished each one with wildflowers (in chalk paint) & labeled them "Love" "Patience" "Time".  All in all this was one of those projects that seems so simple in your head but ends up taking WAY longer then you thought!  So thankfully she loved it lol, said it was going on her kitchen counter as a reminder to herself & her kids :-D.
** Entered to Simon Says Stamp Monday "Summer Garden" Challenge

Bonus:  The pails I made the teachers for Valentine's Day but didn't have a chance to share; both were the same with an embellished heart "You're a hoot!", a Starbucks gift card in holder & a bag of M & Ms :-)


Hope everyone has a great Saturday!

A wish...

"A wish is a dream your heart makes"

This quote/song is one of my all-time favorites and came to my mind when I saw this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Make A Wish".  Immediately the idea for a heart shaped dream catcher for my daughters' room came to my mind...but it's already Sunday & I only have a few child-free hours to get teacher gift(s) done so it'll have to be tabled for another time ;-).

Instead I'd like to share the Happy Birthday (wish) card I sent to my Grandma.


I finally got my hands on Tim Holtz's new Distress Crayons & *swoon*  I think I have a new favorite medium.  On this card I used Distress Crayons to color in my Crazy Bird & also for the edging.  I went for an ombre effect through stencil on the background (done with Distress Ink).  I wanted a little bit texture so spread colored texture paste through another stencil & finished off with a hand-lettered "Happy Birthday" musical score.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day & remembers those who have given all ;-)

Special blessings...

It seems that the entire world does the "I'm thankful for..." in the lead up to Thanksgiving but for me the time to reflect & count my blessings is Advent. This week, my husband is going to see some friends of ours & I wanted to make a card to tell them how special they are since I can't be there myself.

I love this stamp set, I was able to buy it during Simon Says Stamp Stamptember event this year & have already used it several times!  Our friends, my husband & myself are all band geeks so this set couldn't have been more perfect for them.  I blended Worn Lipstick, Spun Sugar & Antique Linen Distress Ink through a damask stencil (Hero Arts I think) on watercolor paper & then lightly sprayed Perfect Pearl for a soft look.  The marchers are stamped in Jet Black Archival Ink on specialty stamping paper, cut out with Cameo, then colored in with Copic & Distress Markers & embellished with Stickles on the instruments & hats.  The ribbon is Tim Holtz crinkle ribbon colored with Distress Markers (as shown by Tammy Tutterow here) & topped off with a gemstone colored with Butterscotch & Gold alcohol ink.

**Entered in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Anything Goes" Challenge

A quick album

I love my Silhouette because it makes creating quick gifts easy ;-).   My sister-in-law's birthday was today & I wanted to make sure she had something so she knew we were thinking about her today.  She recently returned from vacation & I had recently downloaded a Lori Whitlock cut file for a mini-album - a match made in heaven!

I cut the base album out of paper from  Teresa Collin's "Tell Your Story" line, made a few simple embellishments, inked the edges & viola! a gift ready to mail!

** Coming in under the wire, entered into Simon Says Stamp Wednesday "Make it Colorful" Challenge (wanted to make sure she received it before I posted about it ;-) )**

To plan or not to plan, that is the question...

Simon Says make a plan which for me is quite easy because by nature I am a planner, I not take comfort in methodical research & planning out of anything in my life.  I find it very difficult to just "let loose" and allow things to fall as they may - this applies as much to crafting as it does to other areas of life, I just can't throw paint/ ink/ paper down & "see what happens".  From the time I started scrapbooking up until my eldest was a young toddler I carefully sketched out every layout on graph paper.  I selected the pictures I wanted to use & printed them out on basic printer paper to refer to as I was designing.  I bought specific paper & embellishments for each layout and printed out pictures in the specific size I had drawn out on the sketch.

Sketch & photo selection circa 2008

Then only after I had everything planned out, I would create the actual layout. I say "create" but really it was more assembly since I never-ever deviated from my carefully constructed sketch.

Completed layout circa 2008 (title is only different because my mom found the pre-made die-cut somewhere)

By the time my son was born in 2010, this much planning had become very tedious and quite frankly boring.  I had such limited free time with a toddler & newborn (with health issues) that I just couldn't bring myself to spend so much time sketching every layout.  I tried to craft in a more free-form fashion allowing the pictures to dictate the layout & paper on the fly but the lack of a plan/ direction drove me crazy.  And so I hit a slump that lasted well over a year until I discovered pre-made sketches & the radical (to me) notion that you could alter said sketches for several different layouts. By using pre-made sketches I cut out the time-consuming part (for me) of scrapbooking and could focus on the actual creation of art & preserving of memories.

These days I order standard size 4 x 6 pictures in 100+ batches and cut them down as the layout and/ or story to be told dictates.  And I buy paper & embellishments just because I like them without a specific layout in mind.  After selecting pictures, I often start with Mid-Week Mojo sketches because they're convenient (& who doesn't love the chance to wing goodies? ;-) ) and then pull out paper & push it around until it looks right.  Since I very rarely stick to the provided sketch exactly, this is about as close to open-ended creative play as I get ;-).

Since I made a layout about Crystal Palace for my son's album, I of course had to make one for my his elder sister as well ;-).  The pictures are very similar but I wanted a more feminine look & to play up the classic architecture of the restaurant.  My first thought was Teresa Collins's 'Family Stories' line, but the black paper was way too dark for the colorful pictures & dominated the visual space.

After I switched it out for a cream-colored floral paper from Teresa Collin's 'Tell Your Story' line, the rest of the layout came together easily.  Taking cues from Mid-Week Mojo Lilac sketch #4, I inked & layered more paper & embellishments from 'Family Stories' and stamped the floral design in the upper right hand corner.

The journaling is hidden in the envelope down at the bottom.  The envelope came with a plain white card so I stamped it for interest & embossed the sides.