More Scraps!!!

Here is my second version of the Plenty of Fish Facebook Mystery Quilt.

This is the pretty, brightly (also pretty bright) colored version.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

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

Made it just in the nick of time.  This is my fourth step in the Plenty of Fish Facebook Mystery Quilt.

Remember, I have two versions of this quilt on the go (because I have too many scraps of fabric):

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

What's In Your Lunch????

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia, Blueberry Muffins of course (You're singing the song aren't you?).

My son and I made these today for lunches this week.

Chia Bluberry Muffins

6 Tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1 1/2 tsps vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups blueberries (lightly coated with flour)

2 heaping tablespoons ground flax seed

1 heaping tablespoon Chia seed

 

Mix ingredients together in order listed.  Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Jacob's Ladder Block of the Month

One of my favorite quilt stores (I have a few), is Woodland Quilting in Spruce Grove.  

Recently, I received an email that they were running a block of the month on a Jacob's Ladder version quilt.  I LOVED the colors (there's a cranberry red color coming), and look of the quilt so I signed up.

This is month number 1 completed (in case you are wondering there are a 130 of these 4 block squares in those stacks - it calls for 128, but I had the fabric so I made 2 extra just in case)!

Now on the month 2 .......

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

What's For Dinner????

Okay, so it's Friday, of yet another VERY long week.  

Now, what's for dinner?

PIZZA, after all, it is Friday.  

Here is the dough ready for toppings:

and here it is all baked and ready for consumption while watching a movie in the family room!

 Happy Friday evening!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Pizza Dough:

1 cup very warm water

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp sugar

- I add these ingredients to my Kitchenaid bowl with dough hook and mix for one minute then add:

2 tsps yeast

2 cups all purpose flour

- mix on medium speed for about 8 minutes until  dough forms a ball on the dough hook.  

- Cover bowl with plastic wrap for about 30 minutes.  Punch down and shape into pizza pan (you can get 2 "normal" size pizza crusts out of this (often I bake the other one and freeze for use on another day).  Place toppings on and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.  Enjoy

Kathy

Rest In Peace Mr. Kit E. Kat

Today is the anniversary (? I lack a better word) for the passing of our beloved Mr. Kit E. Kat (he never did tell us what the E. stood for).

Mr. Kitty as we called him came in to our lives very unexpectedly.  He was found early one spring morning in Saskatchewan by my sister's friend and being pecked at by the crows.

No one seemed to know where he came from or who owned this tiny kitten, but he came to live with me  in British Columbia shortly after.

He lived with us for 12 years, and during those 12 years became an integral part of our family.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am not a "Cat" person, I don't usually like them. I cannot tolerate their scratching, being on counters, and in general furring up of things - Achooooo!  But, Mr. Kitty seemed to have no idea that he was a cat, even as he got super fat (28 lbs) he could not get up on the couch and he would slide off because he did not know he could get traction with his feet.

The best part of Mr. Kitty was that he fancied himself some sort of guardian of our family and house.  If you came to visit he would plot ways to attack you, and all of them were nasty, yet however, with our son he always sat near him as an infant, was always between an adult other than mom or dad and the kid, and let our son learn to pull himself up on Mr. Kitty's fur and learn to walk holding Kitty's tail.  Mr. Kitty would even come back when our son fell down to help him get back up and carry on their way.

Unfortunately when he was about 10 years old we found out he had renal failure.  The vet wanted to put him down that day as he had attacked the vet, and the vet was bleeding (Mr. Kitty purred in my arms while the vet was bandaged up by his assistant), but I refused and chose to palliate Mr. Kitty.

He lived almost another 2 years, and passed away peacefully at home. 

Mr. Kitty having a nap (he had many) and yes that is how he napped.

Recently my son and I were at Color Me Mine in Sherwood Park, and I came across this little box:

I tried to paint it as much like Mr. Kitty as I could.  

I miss him very much and although my son has his own cat (of which I have had to train not to scratch, bat at blinds, get on counters.......), he will never be my buddy like Mr. Kitty.  

I still feel like he's looking out for me.

This little dish now holds my quilting pins (Mr. Kitty loved to sit beside me while I quilted and test nap the quilts for me as I completed them).

Rest in Peace Mr. Kitty.

 

 

Kathy

 

Card For Grandma

Last Summer when Stampin' Up brought out this Summer Smooches Paper, I thought it looked like something a Baba (Ukrainian Grandmother) would like.

Well, today while at a local scrap booking store I found these little wooden Nesting Dolls, and I knew I had to make a card for my Grandma (she loves Nesting Dolls).

I managed to use all Stampin' Up product in this card except for the doll.

The doily is sponged in Old Olive ink, and the leaves are in Old Olive, and Daffodil Delight (to resemble wheat and the colors of the Saskatchewan (Go Riders GO!) flag.  

I know she will love it, now off to the post box.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last evening my son and I made chocolate chip cookies.  

Now, these are not just every day chocolate chip cookies.  When my son and I were at the Easter Midnight Madness sale at the Lindt Factory Outlet in Edmonton, we came across these Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips.

We used the recipe on the back of the package to make these cookies, and I do not know if I can go back to regular chocolate chip cookies now!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

What's For Dinner?

Dill Pickle soup with garlic cheese bread!

Okay, you read that correctly, it is Dill Pickle soup.  My friend recently had this soup at a bistro downtown and commented on how delicious it was.  Since then I have been looking for a recipe for this.

After several searches, and a cook book from the St. Albert Public Library, I made my version of Dill Pickle soup, and it was delicious!

Here's how I made it:

Dill Pickle Soup:

8 cups water

2 cups chopped pickles (I used Claussen brand)

1 cup chopped carrots

1 chicken bouillon cube

- boil with lid on for about 45 minutes, then add

3 cups mashed potatoes

1 cup left over vegetables (I used beans)

-cook until potatoes blend in with the other ingredients

- serve with small amount chopped fresh dill

Enjoy!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 4

Okay, this is my last attempt at my own version of Paper Pumpkin kit cards.

I used the kit along with one of the stamp sets I earned during Sale-a-bration.  

I think my son's cat must have liked this one as while I went to get the camera he managed to get Cherry Cobbler ink on it ; )

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 3

Seriously..... I think this might be the stupidest stamp set ever...., if it were in the catalogue I would not have exchanged currency for it as "love your guts"  WTF.  

The only place that it belongs I think is in the context of Halloween, so hence, here's my card using this portion of April 2013 Paper Pumpkin.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 2

This is my first version of making my own cards from the Paper Pumpkin kit for this month.

I thought that the quotation bubble needed a speech caption in it so I used my Oh, Hello stamp set along with one of the stamp sets that I earned during Sale-a-bration.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 1

My April shipment of Paper Pumpkin arrived yesterday evening in the mail!

Here is what I got in this month's kit:

Of course I made the first card according to instructions, but after that, wellllll, as you likely can guess, I made three different cards than what I was supposed to.  Who needs/reads instructions????

This is the one I was supposed to make:

It's alright, but not really "top drawer".

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

What's For Dinner???

Yesterday evening after violin lessons we came home to a whole option of left overs.  Great.  But nothing that really fit or worked together, so I dug out one of my favorite cookbooks of all time Taste of Home Casseroles, Slow cooker & Soups, and made this bean casserole.

It was delicious!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Pysanka, Kathy Style

I had the privilege of making my very first Pysanka this weekend when my son and I attended the St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Sobor Parish's Paska and Pysanka workshop.

These are not as easy to make as one would think, and next year I will be there again, with an idea already to go to make a really AWESOME Pysanka!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Plenty of Fish Mystery Quilt Clue 3

As in typical Red Eye Craft fashion I managed to finish clue # 3 for the Plenty of Fish Facebook Mystery Quilt just before tomorrow's new clue is released!!!

Remember, I am still using only scraps for this quilt.  No untouched fabric has yet to be harmed in this process. 

The triangles were finished at 0230 Sunday morning because I was on a mission to get them done.
Now, I am caught up for both of my quilts that I am making in this event.

Who new it would be so much work????

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Easter Paska

Yesterday my son and I participated in the St. Andrews Ukrainian Orthodox Sobor Parish's Paska and Pysanka Workshop.

It was a lot of fun, and we both enjoyed it.

This is the small Paska that we made.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

 

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 4 Project

This is my final version of modifications of the Paper Pumpkin project.  For this card I again used the Sunshine & Sprinkles Designer Series Paper, but also added a pearl and some coordinating bakers twine (still managed to use only Stampin' Up product).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 3 Project

Here's my second version of the Paper Pumpkin project.

Again, I just added Designer Series Paper from the Sunshine and Sprinkles collection and orientated the flags the other way!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 2 Project

Here's my first version of modifying the Paper Pumpkin project.

I added in the Sunshine & Sprinkles Designer Series Paper to change up the look a bit!

I think it's a little more fun like this.

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin # 1 Project

Some of you may know that Stampin' Up is offering this program called Paper Pumpkin.

Once a month you will receive a kit something like this:

The kit comes with everything you need to make the featured project.  This month is was four greeting cards.

For the first one, I followed the directions included and made this:

Not bad, but you may know I have Craft Attention Deficit Disorder, so we'll see tomorrow what I ended up with...

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

More Socks!!!

I finished this sock this afternoon while at my son's piano lesson and realized I had never posted a picture of it's work in progress!!

I started this a few weeks ago at piano lessons, and just due to the stress that is my life right now, I somehow forgot to post pictures of it : (.

I actually have no idea who made this yarn because the cat on one of his many attempts to steal wool in his "lair" ripped the label off of it.  All I know is that I got the yarn this summer on one of my many trips into Knit & Caboodle.  Super cozy socks, and once this evening I have even caught the cat trying to carry the finished sock off!!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

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

If you have the fortune (or mis) of knowing me you will know that I really do not like to see anything go to waste.  No, this is not some new "recycle" fad that I have come up with, it is simply the way I grew up and a value that I hold to this day.

Hence, today's project.  I refuse to eat bananas once they have even a wee spot of brown on them (I have a colleague who I tease all the time because she eats bananas when they are completely brown!)  OMG.  

I take the "rotten" bananas as I refer to them and put them in my freezer to be used later in what is referred to at my house as "rotten banana bread".

Today we have a cake!

A few days a go in my mail arrived the Spring 2013 copy of the Kraft What's Cooking publication and in it a recipe for Chocolate-Banana Coffee Cake.

It is delicious, I did change the flour to whole wheat and although dense, was still very moist!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Stamp of The Month Club

These are my cards from Stamp of the Month Club offered by my friend Karina.

The stamp set is called Secret Garden and you can also get matching die cuts for the stamp set!  Pretty cool! Now off to play with this....

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Plenty of Fish Mystery Quilt Part 3 B

This is part B of the Plenty of Fish Facebook Mystery Quilt that I am participating in.  If you would like to count, yes that is 120, 3 1/2" squares, topped with 240 triangles!!!!

I think I am insane! Now remember, my initial intent was to make 2 of these quilts to deplete my stash of  fabric scraps!!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Plenty of Fish Mystery Quilt Part 3 A

Finally finished part 3 A of my Plenty of FIsh Facebook Mystery Quilt.

For anyone who wished to count, yes that is 120 triangles made from 4 1/4" squares!
Remember, no new fabric was harmed in this process, this is all scraps from prior quilting projects!
Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Paper Pumpkin

In case I have some extra free time, I decided to participate in the Paper Pumpkin subscription offered by Stampin' Up.

Basically, it is a paper craft kit that arrives in the mail middle of the month!

This is the package I received for this month, an this is what the end product looks like:

Really quick and easy, but a neat project for yourself and the other for a gift (my son took the other thing as he decided it would make a good field journal for all his little kid observations, explorations and investigations of his world).

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

March Sock of the Month

As some of you know I decided to participate in the Sock of the Month club offered by Biscotte & Cie.

This is the March version of the sock, and yes I started it on April 01 (so there's my April fool joke)!

It was hard to get started but now that I have the hang of it I am glad I persevered.  I was ready to give up and change to just knitting a striped sock when my son reminded me (as I always remind him about the piano, violin...... that one has to keep trying until you can do it better) that I could not give up and do this the easy way.

Well, I am glad that I continued with it.  Hope to get this one and its partner done soon as I LOVE the April sock!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Scor Scones

Late last night (red eye crafts), I realized that I did not have anything for morning snack for my or my son's lunch today.

A running joke in my family is the time my grandmother (also a nurse) decided to make scones at midnight, so that is what I decided to do last night.  

Since I was too lazy to go down to the extra pantry and replenish my stock of chocolate chips I added in Scor bits (grandma would be proud of not only my late night baking, but also my creativity in this situation :).

They are delicious!  The great thing about this recipe is that you can add any type of additive you want!  Get creative!

Here is the recipe for these scones:

Basic Scone:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup non hydrogenated margarine

-use pastry blender to mix together

- add in:

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsps baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup (chocolate chips, dried fruit, butterscotch chips...........)

 

-Mix together, then roll out and cut into shapes.  Bake in 400F oven for about 12 minutes.  Enjoy!

 

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

 

Kathy

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

Recently I decided to participate in the Prairie Quilt Mercantile, Facebook Mystery Quilt.

These are second step blocks for the first quilt I started with for this project (am hoping to make 2 of these just to use up my scraps!

My intent is to use only scraps for both of these quilts, and if I start to run low on fabrics, I will resort to finishing other projects just to have enough scraps for this!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy