Cupcake Cookie Jar

Two weeks ago, my son and I spent the afternoon at Brenda's Paint Pot.  We had a blast.

My son painted a penguin that I will post tomorrow, and I painted........a Cupcake Cookie Jar!

The cupcake is a rich chocolate brown (the picture does not look like it does in real life), and of course the top is pink with a cherry.  

We picked the items up on our way home from school, and after supper will make cookies!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Instant Blankie

As I took this blankie out of the dryer today, I realized I have never posted it on my blog.

So, here it is.

A while back (a year or two) while at Lori's Country Cottage my son fell in love with the green plush fabric.  But, what to do with it?  Well, the very helpful Velma, came to his rescue with this plan.  

The length of the plush is the width of the flannel, and the flannel is the length of the plush width (it's backwards math).  Brilliant.

I put a binding on it, and sewed a 2" seam all around the edges, and TAH DAH!  Instant blankie.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Help Yourself to Cupcakes

I love this little puppy reaching for a cupcake.  It reminds me of my dog Cleo who used to eat all the cakes I would decorate.  The dog literally ate my homework!

For this card I used a Pool Party card stock base, layered with Sweet Shop Designer Series Paper, Calypso Coral card stock, and the image stamped on Whisper White card stock.

I colored the image with my Stampin' Write markers.

The stamp is from the Adam Pescott You're so sweet stamp set that was my free gift in my April subscription of Cardmaking & Papercraft. 
I loved this stamp set as soon as I saw it because it is cupcakes and puppies and kitties.  SO CUTE.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"Crap"! It's Monday

That time of week again, to see what I can make with what I have left over.

This week I used a piece of Early Espresso card stock, run through a cupcake embossing folder that I have had for so long that the print of who made it has worn off (sorry - really do not know where I even got it).

The image is the Create a Cupcake stamp set colored with Stampin' Write markers and leftover red rhinestone for the cherry.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

More Knitting

This is the finished product of last weekend's road trip to Canmore knitting.

The two on the left were made between Edmonton and Canmore, the two on the right were made on the return trip (and I napped from Ponoka to Sherwood Park : ).

Pattern for these is from River City Yarns.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Knitting in the Toyota

Last weekend I blogged (is that a word) from the F-350 on route to Canmore for the long weekend, so I decided for today to post some of my road trip knitting creations as currently we are in the Toyota heading to Grande Prairie for the JDRF Walk. 

The above dishcloths were made on our ski trip to Whitefish, MT in March.

The first two dishcloths were knit from Red Deer to Calgary, and from Calgary to Fort Macleod.

The middle two were knit from Fort Macleod to Columbia Falls, MT.

The last two were knit on the way home from Whitefish MT., to Cardston, where we had lunch and I then slept til almost Ponoka so no more knitting.

The pattern that I use for these dishcloths is from the  River City Yarns free pattern site.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Country Life Card

I decided to break open my new package of Well Worn Designer Series Paper today.

Once I looked it over closely, I decided I had the perfect stamp for it..... the Country Life Stamp Set from Close to my Heart.

The card base is Early Espresso with a piece of Well Worn, the cow is stamped on Very Vanilla  card stock in Early Espresso Ink, and the ribbon is 1 1/4" striped Early Espresso Grosgrain Ribbon (I don't think they make it any more).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Strawberry Card

So, I really tried to make an all Stampin' Up card last night.  Really, I did.  But, alas, all my other toys kept calling and I gave in......

The base of this card is Lucky Limeade, with a Calypso Coral border made using the Scallop Trim Border Punch and a Berry Blossoms Designer Series Paper accent strip.  

The card base was run through my Cuttlebug (first non Stampin' Up sin in this), the oval was made using my Cricut to cut the oval at 2 1/2" (second sin if you're keeping score).  The flower and leaves were made using some Spellbinders dies that I have (don't keep the packages, so don't know the name of it - third sin).

The strawberry was stamped from the Fruits and Flowers stamp set (colored with Stampin' Write markers).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Shasta Quilt Top

The Shasta Quilt Top is complete!!!

For some reason this quilt top just seemed to take forever.  The pattern was perfect and super easy to follow and yet somehow, once I got those 252 blocks cut, I was overwhelmed at putting them together, and I don't know why it took me so long.

Here is to the link for the before photo of the Shasta Fabric just after it arrived from The Quilt Patch.

Now that it is sitting on the floor in the family room I am very pleased with it, now to get the warm flannel backing ready and off to be long armed, so I can get the binding on it.  I think that I will put this quilt when done in the holiday trailer because it makes me feel happy with all the warm prairie colors of it.  For those of you not from Saskatchewan, note how the brown is interspersed with small bits of green color (hehehehe).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Upon arriving home yesterday evening, two ugly brown bananas were staring at me from the fruit bowl!  Yikes.  If you know me at all, you will know that once a banana is no longer green I consider it eligible for banana bread because it is too disgusting to eat without further intervention!

So, I made one of my "go to" banana muffin recipes that is now in our lunches today.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins:

1/2 cup canola oil

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 ugly brown bananas
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 heaping tablespoons ground flax seed
 Mix ingredients in order listed.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Now, for a couple of cool pictures from my weekend.  I live in the beautiful province of Alberta and only a three hour drive from the Rocky Mountains.  I love that I have a son who loves to be outdoors and with him we are able to enjoy the outdoor activities of this part of the world; hiking, kayaking, and mountain biking which is what we did this weekend.

This is a picture of the Hoodoos on Tunnel Mountain taken by myself as I hiked after my husband and son.  I the asthmatic was lagging behind, so this is what most of my photos look like:

We had an awesome time and can hardly wait til our week there in July!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"Crap"! It's Monday

Happy Victoria Day everyone!

Today's version of Oh S"Crap"! It's Monday is made from a left over piece of Garden Green card stock, a mystery green color, and Old Olive Designer Series Paper.

The kitty image (note he's a black and white(ish) kitty) is from the free pack of Margaret Sherry cut outs that I got in the February edition of Cardmaking & Papercraft.  Of course I colored it with my Copic markers.  The flower in the left corner is a Vintage Flower from the Stampin Up Spring 2011 Mini (OMG she found more old product!!!!).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Another Pillowcase

It's almost that time of year again!!  The annual Central Alberta Quilters' Guild show in Red Deer!

Last year at the show I picked up this pillowcase kit from The Cloth Shop booth.  For some reason the very bright urban colors of this kit intrigued me and as such I decided it better get made before it celebrated it's first anniversary in my craft room!  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Knitting in the F-350

What to do while making the road trip from Edmonton to Canmore?  Knit!
This weekend marks the start of camping season, so we have loaded up the trailer and canoe and off to the mountains.
As for the kniiting - it is what I do on the three hour drive.
This one dish cloth took me about an hour and twety minutes to make!  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Summer Smooches Puppy

I made this puppy card last night using some of my Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper along with Island Indigo and Whisper White card stock.

The puppy graphic was colored with my Copic Markers. 

The puppy cut-outs are a Margaret Sherry Design and a free gift with my February 2012 issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft.  I love these designs because they coordinate with her many cross stitch patterns that I get with my cross stitch subscriptions.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Strawberry Table Runner

When my son spilled milk on the table last evening, I did not cry, I simply cleaned the table and put on a new table runner!

I got this as a kit last spring at Lori's Country Cottage, and it even came in a strawberry clam-shell!

The center strawberry print is a fat quarter re-purposed and then yardage around the borders, the backing is of course a strawberry print as well.

Makes me feel like spring is on the way!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Panda Cross Stitch Card

While looking for something to amuse myself one day while my son was at art class, and my hands were hurting I stumbled across these awesome cross stitch magazines.  Since then I have purchased every one and am even considering a regular subscription because they are so much fun!

This design was the free gift included with the March/April issue of Cross Stitch Card Shop.

After stitching the design, I chose to mount the design my own way (a card base was included).  I chose Melon Mambo card stock, and Whisper White.  The Whisper White is run through the Snow Burst embossing folder and the scallop square is from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.

I adhered the cross stitch to a sheet of double sided adhesive and the layer over uses foam pop dots to elevate above the design.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Lemon Chip Cookies

It's no secret... I LOVE the Bulk Barn.  As you know if you follow my blog (and really who wouldn't?), I found Lemon Chips there a few weeks ago.  

Now, one would think that the internet would be full of recipes for Lemon Chip Cookies (or so I thought), only found one, and it looked not so good, so today I bit the lemon chip and decided to make Lemon Chip Cookies.

I used the Chipits Original Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  I of course used non-hydrogenated margarine rather than the shortening, and used 1 cup of Lemon Chips.

My family devoured the first 12 before the second batch was out of the oven!  The cookies are tasty.  Try one...

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"Crap"! It's Monday

I am seriously running low on good paper of which to do anything with in the scrap box.  Might mean I have to make some more cards...

For today's project I have a random piece of green card stock (? Certainly Celery color maybe) that I was able to get a 3 x 3 size out of, the random piece of very vanilla and a sticker package left over from Easter with 4 stickers still on it (still have one sticker from it to use).

The bunny was stamped and colored with my AWESOME Copic markers, and the stickers put on, and some grass colored with Copic Markers.

TAH DAH!!!  Kind of reminds me of Peter Rabbit or Benjamin Bunny.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Happpy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

This is what my son made and gave me for Mother's Day.

Since we no longer have scrapbooking on Saturday mornings (store is now closed on Saturday), we have had to find other things to do for creativity on Saturday mornings.

A couple of years ago we had gone to Brenda's Paint Pot one afternoon and painted a small cupcake, and that was a lot of fun.  So, we decided to go back and see what she had.

We registered for the Mother's Day class and this is what the children made for their mother's.  Brenda was even thoughtful enough to write the children's name and date on the bottom of the bowl, so I will always know the date the special keepsake was made!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

MOM Frame

I made this scrapbook frame at a class I took at the Urban Scrapbook offered by the super talented Kelly Klapstein.  You have to check out her blog!

I love the colors (not too pink), the flowers (Spellbinders dies), the vintage look frame and even the doilies on it.

I have put in a picture that I have of my son and myself.  These pictures are surprisingly rare as I am usually the one taking all the pictures, so I treasure this picture.  

Now, as my son has been saying, "one more sleep til Mother's Day".

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Friday is for the Birds....

Friday is for the Birds....that probably sums up my day so far the best...

My son painted these birds a few weeks ago and they have been sitting on the dining room buffet since then.

They were originally purchased at Michaels (on sale) as was the paint (on sale).  He painted them, and thinks that they are just great!  I actually hate birds (except for ducks) as I do not like anything that crawls out of an egg, and then has the ability to get over my head to excrete fecal material (UGGGGGHHHH).

These are alright for now on the buffet, and I think the purple glitter one is kind of cool.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Cut Once, Stamp Twice

There is a distinct possibility that this is my most despised Designer Series Paper EVER!  It did not look bad in the catalogue, but when I got it....  OMG, all I could think of was very old ladyish (the fabric I made into a table runner and sent to my grandma - who thought it was beautiful - of course she does think that dusty rose is pretty color).  

To get rid of this (too frugal - can't throw it out), I decided to start using it up.

The card base is crumb cake, a piece of Old Olive Designer Series Paper and the Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper.

The card on the left also uses the coordinating Baby Blossoms Stamp set (the frame is part of the floral set).

The card on the right has a piece of Blushing Bride Pleated Ribbon, and the big rose flower in the center I cut out again from another piece of the same paper and used a foam dot underneath!

Might have to send one of these to Grandma for Mother's Day.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Lemon Shortbread

Ever since the arrival of the Stampin' Up Cookie Stamps, I have been experimenting with stamping on cookies.

For the Coffee Talk swap, I decided that I would make cookies using the Flower Cookie Stamp.

I made my favorite recipe of Lemon Shortbread, stamped the image, and once out of the oven filled the center with Lemon Chips!  I found these Lemon Chips at the Bulk Barn a couple of weeks ago (yes I go there too much), and had to have.  Now, to find a recipe that they will work in....

Lemon Shortbread:

1 cup butter

1/3 cup non hydrogenated margarine

2 cups icing sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

1/3 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

Cream butter and margarine in mixer, add in icing sugar slowly. Next add vanilla, and lemon juice, and finally flour.

Drop by small rounded scoop onto Silpat and then flatten with sugar covered cookie stamp.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.  I kept my bowl covered between batches to prevent dough drying out.

I placed the lemon chips in the center of the warm cookies, and spread it to fill center as the chips melted.

Enjoy!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Coffee Talk Swaps

Once a month a bunch of Stampin' Up friends meet at Karina's for an evening of card making, and too many treats.  One of the things we always do is make cards to swap.

I really have trouble making several of the same cards, and most of these women are WAY more talented at this than I am.

What to make for this week? Well, I managed to find Glassine cookie bags at Creative Packaging here in Edmonton.  I used the Domestic Diva Designer Series Paper and coordinating stamp set for this along with left over ribbon from Sale-a-bration to decorate these bags.  They turned out alright.

As for the swaps I got back:

Clearly much better than what I made.  Lisa made the floral one on the center left (she always does a PHENOMENAL job) and Bella made the center right one (again always AWESOME), I am sorry but I cannot think of who made the other two (I was very tired that evening - worked 11 days in the past 14 - so I was mostly asleep at this Coffee Talk - first one to leave!).  Check out Karina's to find out who made what.

Tomorrow I will post what was on the inside of these packages.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Oh S"crap"! It's Monday

Oh S"crap"! It's Monday...

Today's post I actually had fun making.  Yes, I still used the scrap bin, but somehow I did not have to dig to find stuff that might actually coordinate and not look too ridiculous.

The base of this card is Lucky Limeade, with Old Olive Designer Series Paper, topped off with Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper from Sale-a-bration as is the greeting.  The flower is made from my new Spellbinders Flower Die, and is made using the reverse side of the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper that is seen in the two strips.  A very big glue dot to hold the flower in place, and since I could not find my sticky pearls, a small Very Vanilla circle!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

I Must Be Bored!

I really had no idea what today as I sat at my sewing table staring at the Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper.  It's so flowery, the only thing to do with it is add more flowers, so that is what I did.  Equipped with 3 medium glue dots, clear glaze and some 1/8"Real Red Taffeta Ribbon I made a flower, and then some bling for the center.

My son's response when he saw this..."Cool, a flower in a science jug"!  So, there you have it.  Now, I will never be able to see a vase out of this set (and neither will you)!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Karina Card No. 4

This is the 4th card I made at Karina's the other night.  My favorite thing about this card is that after the directional scoring to make the red card stock look quilted, we put white gel pen at the cross points.  I think it looks rather cool.

Hope this inspires your own creativity....

Kathy

Karina Card No. 3

This is the third card I made at Karina's class the other night.  I LOVE the stencil and the look that you get from sponging on color!  Who knew this would look so awesome?

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Karina Card No. 2

This is another of the cards I made at Karina's the other night.  Her sample card is different, mine ended up looking like this as my son was tired after swimming and wanted to help me so that we could go home sooner, and so there is glue stuck in several places to this card (ribbon and features are covering some of it).

It is an original....but I refuse to stifle creativity....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Karina's Class

This is one of the cards that I made at a class Karina offered last week.

The class was a great price and she ran an evening session so that I could attend after work, and my son's swimming lesson!

I LOVE this card, it is classic red and white, simple and classic without a lot of clutter which I sometimes, just do not like!

I have several ideas from this that I will build upon now.....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Welcome Spring!

My son found this style of cupcakes on the Michaels website the other day and decided his class NEEDED these to welcome in spring.  It is Alberta so we are still likely to have a giant snow storm for the Victoria Day weekend, but we will pretend spring is here for now.

I used a white cake mix and added in the purple gel to the batter, the picture really does not show just how purple they really are.

The icing is a BIG disappointment.  My colleague told me her friend buys Buttercream Icing at the Bulk Barn, and it is much quicker and easier than making Buttercream Icing.  Sounds great!  So, I got some last week at Bulk Barn for this project, however, it is that icing that tastes like fat, and does not have any sweet taste to it (sad face).  So lesson learned, make your own Buttercream.  I did get these vibrant colored jelly beans though, and decided to put them on to for extra "bling".  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy