Bread Making Adventure

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!  I haven't posted in some time and wanted share my recent bread making experience.  I haven't made bread in many years and from what I could remember it seemed like a lot of work.  Well I've been eying bread recipes on Pinterest.  Have you tried Pinterest yet?  I love it.  Pinterest is a great tool for finding new recipes and saving other things too that you may want to buy or try.  This is a bread recipe that was posted, so yesterday I decided to give it a try.  It stated that this bread could be mixed together in under 2 minutes.  I thought, "Is that all, even I should be able to do this!"  Well, I was in at that point.  

http://simplysogood.blogspot.com/2010/03/crusty-bread.html

Her bread is gorgeous.......can you call bread gorgeous?  Mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as hers, but she's an experienced baker and I'm not.  Here's my version. 

I must confess, the first one I made stuck in the pot, was nice but I just couldn't get it out of the darn pot.  Where did I go wrong?   I even put cornmeal in the bottom to help....also I used my stainless steel pot, hum-mm, maybe that is where I went wrong.    My mom had sent me a gift card for Christmas, so off I went and bought an enameled covered cast iron pot.  With this pot the above bread just fell out.  Now I can't wait to try all the different variations with this recipe. 

Do you bake bread?  Have any good recipes?? 

Design, Create, Inspire!: Open House Giveaway!

Design, Create, Inspire!: Open House Giveaway!:     Get inspired this holiday season and attend our annual  Holiday Open House , Saturday November 10th at 5pm-10pm! Enjoy an even...

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Spooky Halloween, but mostly I pray that everyone is safe.  I know Sandy has left many without power and many also with water damage.  My heart goes out to you all.  I have been through this experience several times.  I am a Hurricane Camille Survivor as well as a Hurricane Katrina Survivor and during that particular hurricane, my home was severely damaged from all the wind and rain.  I lived in my dining room (the only part that didn't fall in along with the master bath) for many months as my home was being rebuilt. When you go through such things you learn what's most important in life; and it's not the material things.......it's your family. 

Coconut Almond Cupcakes

Pretty In Pink

 Just wanted to share my favorite cupcake recipe with all of you.  Makes about 32 Cupcakes.  Plenty to Share!!  Hope you all enjoy and  Thanks for stopping by.!

http://scrapndaze.ning.com/page/coconut-almond-cupcakes?xg_source=activity

Chillingworth Manor Mini Album

I just completed a new mini using Echo Park's Chillingsworth Manor Paper Line.  It was so much fun to make and I always seem to gravitate toward Halloween paper.  It is such a fun paper line with all it's spookiness.  I love how they reference Marie Leveau, Edgar Allen Poe, and that old movie from way back when called "Something Wicked This Way Comes".  Of course, I'm always loving the colors too!  This mini I'm going to gift to my friend Linda, who lives in Mississippi.  I worked with Linda many years when I lived down in that area, and we became close friends and keep in touch to this day.  Now she'll have a cute little mini to put her Halloween Party Pics in.
 

Here's the Video to see the inner pages. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Beachy Micro Mini Album

This itty bitty mini was created for a swap I hosted on ScrapNDaze.ning.com.  It is no bigger than 3"x3" and the cover is done in a muslin material that I had stamped then embellished.  The inside pages are made of the smallest paper bag size found at local craft stores.  I thought it came out super cute and wanted to share it with all of you.  I used the Tim Coffey Specialty Paper...not really sure the name, but it is ocean themed and went well with my project.  If you would like to see the video that includes the inside, just visit my YouTube site here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQdcNnnP7BI

Thanks for stopping in.  Have a Wonderful Day!!

Holiday Decor Altered Pumpkin Swap

I haven't posted in some time lately.  I have recently switched from a three day work week to a five day work week.  It has really taken away from my crafting and posting time.  But, I'll have to make due for now.
I wanted to share with you some updates.  I'm hosting an Altered Pumpkin Swap over on my ning site. 

http://scrapndaze.ning.com/events/holiday-decor-altered-pumpkin-swap

This will be a one on one partner swap.  I hope to see some new faces join up for this one.  Also I'm just finishing up on two other swaps and will be posting pictures and videos in the next few days on those, which will include Halloween Tags and Micro Mini Albums.  I just didn't want to post just yet as it may spoil the surprise for some of the gals.

My Ning site is slowly growing and I'm really excited about it, come by and check us out.  Hope all of you are having a fun scrappy day!!  

A Garden Mini

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to share a mini I made recently for a swap.  This mini is made out of coffee sleeves and the paperline is DCWV Lemon Flower.  It's an older paperline, but I hadn't used it and knew it was perfect for this project.  The greens and the yellows are so pretty.  The theme was garden and this mini is for my partner Veronica.  I did my best to make it look like a basket, I think I succeeded.

The inner pages can be viewed here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0b432CXEV8

Happy Crafting!!

Giveaway Winner!!

Congrats to Veronica Allen, you have won the Mini Case Kit.  Please respond within 24 hours to claim your prize, an email has been sent out to you.  Thanks for joining the ScrapNDaze Community and for leaving a comment.  Would love to see what you create with this!!

Itty Bitty Mini Swap - Think Nature

Over at my Ning site http://scrapndaze.ning.com we are having an Itty Bitty Mini Swap - Think Nature.  Come on over and check it out and join in the fun and creativity.  There are many tutorials on YouTube to get you started.  Here's one for example.  http://ning.it/PU9E3N

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see ya there!

Giveaway and New ScrapNDaze Ning Community

Hi Everyone!  Today I created a new Crafting Community www.scrapndaze.ning.com and I'm inviting my blog followers to join if you are interested.  I'm trying to create a community where members can share their creations as well as sell/trade trade their items if they want.  Also I hope to have members create and run fun swaps.  I want this site to made up of responsible members who don't flake out on swaps and the like.  I just want it to be clean and safe for all members concerned.

I will be Giving away a nice Mini Case Kit that is perfect for altering.  All of those who join I want you to leave a comment below to let me know that you have joined.  Also to earn extra entries you can:
                       
Tweet, Blog, Share on Facebook, YouTube, etc.
Be a follower of my blog.

With each way you have shared about my New ScrapNDaze Community please come back and comment on each new way that you have shared it.  I will use random number generator to select the winner.  This Giveaway will close on July 21st Midnight and the Winner will be announced on the following day.  If the ScrapNDaze Community reaches 100 members I'll add in more goodies!!  Let's get going and win some Prizes!! 

Here is a picture of the Mini Case Kit.  Thanks for Supporting and Joining in the fun.  Hugs.....Kathy

Mini Case Kit Giveaway Valued at $24.95 + Shipping

It's a good size at approx 9W x 13L x 6T.  I have not opened the packaging to get exact measurements once completed.  But here's a link to read more about it.  http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Red-Toolbox-Mini-Case-Kit.aspx

Gone Jewelry Crazy.

Turquoise, Pearl and Silver with Crab Medallion

Toggle Clasp

Sterling Silver with Mother of Pearl and Cubic Zirconia

Earring Variety

The last few weeks, I've been watching more tutorials on YouTube on jewelry making and have stepped out even further from the basic charms that I use on mini albums and such.  I've made more earrings, bracelets and even my first fancy schmancy necklace.  I thought I'd share some pics of my creations.  I even bought a special punch to make earring cards for my earrings.  You can check out the punches here.  It even comes with approx 25 pieces of card stock to display your earrings on.  I love it!   http://www.easyearringcards.com/ 

Thanks for stopping by!  

Simple Father's Day Card

Good Morning and Happy Father's Day to all the Wonderful Dad's out there.  I hope you lovely ladies had a great day celebrating with your special man in your life.  I made this simple and cute little card for Thomas and thought I'd give you all a peep.  For the Hot Air Balloon and the piece that says Happy Father's Day, I used the print files from my Silhouette.  The blue clouds in the background is another image using the Silhouette and adhesive card stock.  I think I'm in love with the adhesive paper, makes things so easy.  Just peel and stick. 

Thanks for stopping by my little blog and letting me share my creations with all of you!  Have a Beautiful Day!

Madison Avenue Paper Bag Mini

This is my very first attempt at making a paper bag mini.  I followed Laura of Following The Paper Trail's Tutorial.  She used canvas for her cover, but I used paper.  I used the Madison Avenue Paper by My Mind's Eye.  Very pretty paper, of course.  Using my Silhouette Cameo I cut all the image pieces for my front cover.  I really loved how the flowers turned out.  The flowers are very delicate, so I sprayed them with acrylic sealer to harden the paper up a bit.  If you'd like to see the entire mini, just head over to my YouTube Channel.  Thanks for stopping in!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmPNV-5w6lg&list=UUQgxO_c-cXphoZIXvKrZtwA&index=1&feature=plcp

Crafter's Companion Official Blog Page: Swinging By - Week 4 GIVEAWAY!

Crafter's Companion Official Blog Page: Swinging By - Week 4 GIVEAWAY!: Welcome to the Crafter's Companion Blog!!  Stacy here today and I have a sweet Humphrey's Corner card that I made to share with you.  I used...

DIY Color Mist

I've been playing around in the craft studio and created some color mist to use on backgrounds and tags and this is what I have come up with and wanted to share.  Since I make soap from time to time I had mica powder on hand.  When I got started in crafting I bought a few pre-made bottles of color sprays to use and that is when I thought to myself, " I can make this stuff"; cause we all know to well that some of this stuff can get quite pricey.  So that is just what I did.  I tried a couple of different variations and the one I'm sharing is just plain rubbing alcohol and powdered mica.  The ratio of mixture is solely up to you.  A little mica color goes along way.  I first tried distilled water (another soaping staple), but that just beaded up on the paper to much.  This has a much nicer look to it. 

Here is just one link to a mica supplier, but there are many out there.

 http://www.goplanetearth.com/colors_mica_powder.html

They come in all kinds of wonderful colors and even in shimmering tones.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you ENJOY!!

The Womens Waiting Room: The Patterned Paper Treatment Center - Santa Monic...

The Womens Waiting Room: The Patterned Paper Treatment Center - Santa Monic...: To all of us who are currently dealing with MOE and the other diseases/conditions that affect our daily life -  there is hope! Dr. Scrapman...

Happy Mother's Day!

Card for Megan

Completed Scrapbook for Mom titled "Our Family"

This card is for my Daughter Megan.  She is such a beautiful young lady and a wonderful Mom to my two Grand Girls, as I like to call them.  I wanted to let her know that, so I created this card for her.  I used the Tim Holtz die "Sewing Room" and Authentique's "Delightful" Paper Line.  Gee, I seem to use a lot of their paper.  LOL  Anyhoo, this is the card I create just for her, I wanted to get it posted cause I'm leaving on a Jet Plane.  Tee Hee  Going to see my mom in Indiana this weekend.  It's My Mom's Birthday and Mother's Day all rolled into one, so I made Mom a Scrapbook complete with pictures.  It was just a mod podge of this and that, but I thought I'd at least show the cover.  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful "MOMS"!!

Remember That Glorious Spring Photo!?

This is that beautiful peach tree now.   I had posted a picture back some time ago of it in full bloom.  Now I have luscious white peaches and boy is it loaded.  I'm thinking maybe some peach jam or even a peach cobbler when they are ripe.  Can't Wait!!

Card for Baby Elyn

For this card I used Graphic 45 Little Darlings Collection.  It's pastel colors are great for baby girl or baby boy.  For the flower I used the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die and added a brad to the center.  Then added a couple of cute butterflies and a rhinestone spray to dress it up a bit.  I kept it simple and sweet.  Thanks for stopping by, come again soon.

Wow, I haven't posted in awhile.  Shame on me.  What have I been up to you ask?  Well, we put in our garden and planted flowers and a tree or two.  I actually haven't crafted much.  I did make some get well cards the other day.  I got some great ideas off Pinterest and did a variation of it.  I really loved how they turned out.  My plans for the upcoming weekend include a mini album for my mom for Mother's Days and more Cards for upcoming Birthdays and Mother's Day too.  I'll be sure to post a sneak peek.  Thanks all for stopping by.  Oh, and you just gotta check out Pinterest, it's a Blast!!

Meet the 4 Legged Family Members

I just wanted to take a minute out of this day to share with you my 4 legged Family Members.  I have a Jack Russell named Anchovy.  He's a mess to say the least.  Very active and has to have his nose in everything.  He's my mischievous one.   In the picture above he has his nose in my mushrooms that I have cultivated on these logs.  He is sure to check out everything and if anyone or anything comes on the property he is sure to let us know.  Wouldn't trade him for anything.  :-)  Then there is sweet timid Lily our Brussels Griffon, cute as can be and at times you wouldn't even know that she was around.  She is sometimes bullied by Anchovy, probably why.  She's a sweet and loving dog with a personality all her own.   She likes to hide under the old house on the property and the picture is of her coming out from under it.  I didn't do so bad on her hair cut.  Did I? ;-)    I'm hoping one day to turn that old house in to a crafty haven.  Then there is Ash, who goes to work with Thomas everyday and at one time she ran with him at least a hundred miles a week.  Now she has a bum leg and can't do the running part anymore.  She loves the outdoors and would still run if you'd let her.  She's a Dalmatian/Bird Dog mix.  We thought she looked like ashes, so that is how she got her name.  Love all my pets dearly, but the one thing that drives me crazy is the HAIR!  You would think they'd be bald by now with all that hair loss. :-)  Hope all of you are having a beautiful spring day and I would love to meet your family pet/pets. 

Put A Little Spring in Your Cards

Good afternoon everyone and what a beautiful day it is.  Taking a minute out of this busy day to share a couple cards I made recently and a Birdhouse that I made from a template that I got from a blogger on Pinterest.  Pinterest is great place for new ideas for crafting and DIY projects and recipes.  I love it and  been hanging around on it way to much.  LOL    For my cards I used the Glitz "Dance in the Sunshine" Collection and the "Blissful" Collection by Authentique.  For the Birdhouse I used Pink Paislee "Love Blooms".  For the roof of the bird house I used corrugated cardboard and inside is a bird seed treat; which would make a great gift for a bird lover.

Don't the names of the papers just say, "SPRING"?!  Also, I hate to admit it, but I'm very picky about my paper.  Tee Hee.  Really, it has to be quality or else it just won't do, and these papers are just that.  You know what I'm talking about.  Hope you like and thanks for taking the time to peek in.  Enjoy the rest of this glorious day!  Oh, I forgot to mention, the daisies on the flower pot cards are from "I Am Roses". 

To Run A Hundred Miles.

Brenda Carawan "Graveyard 100 Champion"

John and Thomas "Graveyard 100 Finishers"

To run a hundred miles is an amazing feat to say the least.  I could never do it.  This past weekend was the Graveyard 100 over in the Outer Banks, NC.  Beautiful place, but the temperature got down into the low 30's during the night of the run.  Many didn't finish because their bodies just couldn't handle the cold.  Thomas ran and his finishing time was 25:20 and I was the person following him along the way giving him whatever he needed (water, food, electrolytes, and even pain relievers).  This was my first time crewing and I have to say it was exhausting, but not nearly as exhausting as what the runners went through.  A friend of ours, Brenda, ran it in 16 something.  Wow!  She set the precedent for this run and for runs to come.  She is an amazing woman, but then again all of the runners are amazing.  John also another local here from Virginia Beach came in just behind Thomas.  Congrats to all of you, it is well deserved and then some!!   

Pretty Spring Easter Gift Baskets

I'm trying to get a jump start on the Easter Holiday, so today I made these pretty Easter Baskets for my Grand Daughters.  Again I used my Silhouette Cameo along with Authentique Paper Line "Uncommon".  Authentique has some nice quality paper.  I Love it and I also need to use it up!  These measure approx 6.5Tx5Wx2.5D, I increased the size from the original.  As in the picture they will hold several small items. 

Thanks for stopping and hope you visit again soon.

Glorious Spring!

I don't know about you, but I love spring.  The weather here in Virginia has been wacky to say the least.  Today is a high of 85.  Can you believe it?!  My perfect temp.  I would love for it to be this temperature all year long.  A girl can dream.  :-)  I am loving that I can see signs of spring even tho they may be early.  But, I always say nature knows more than we do at times.  Some of my fruit trees are budding out and my peach tree even has glorious blooms and I wanted to share the beauty with you. 

Fantastic Fish Tacos

Ingredients For Taco
Tilapia Fish - Not the breaded kind - Cook enough - I usually cook 2lbs
Corn tortillas - not the crunchy kind
Flour Tortillas
Cabbage - Use instead of lettuce - shredded
Mayo - 1/2 cup
Chipotle Tabasco Hot Sauce
Chile Powder
Garlic Powder

Ingredients for Pico De Gio
Chop all these ingredients by hand - makes for a better Pico than doing in a blender or chopper.
Roma Tomatoes - about 8 to 10 of them
Red Onion - bout 1/2 of it
Jalapeno - 3 of them deseeded
Banana Pepper - 1 deseeded
Cilantro - a good handful
Garlic - the kind in a jar or you can chop fresh.  I like it garlicky so I put a lot
Apple Cider Vinegar - about 1/4 cup
Salt and Pepper - to taste


Sprinkle Chile and garlic powder on top of tilapia and place on grill that has been lined with foil.  Be sure to spray foil with cooking spray 1st.  Cook till fish is done.  Don't over cook or else it will be hard to remove from the foil (yep I've done this).

Mix mayo and chipotle hot sauce together.  Mix enough hot sauce in until it turns almost a salmon color.  This will be somewhat thin.  Think I may try sour cream next go around.

Heat the flour and corn tortillas in a frying pan (I use cooking oil spray on them, but do what you like) and place in a tortilla warmer until you get the amount you want.    You will use two shells per taco.  The flour on the outside and then the corn one then spread some of the mayo sauce on top and then top with fish.  Add shredded cabbage then top with Pico.

Cheese is always an added plus.  I like Seriously Sharp Cheddar by Cabot.  

Well, I hope you enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

2 cans whole water chestnuts
1 lb raw bacon
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup chile sauce (in a ketchup-like bottle).  I use Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
¼ cup mayo

1. Wrap each water chestnut in a single layer of bacon and secure with toothpick. Each piece of bacon wraps 2 chestnuts
2. Place on bar cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 350 (until bacon is done).
3. Scoop fat out of pan and discard.
4. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over water chestnuts.
5. Bake an additional 10 minutes.
6. Try not to eat them all in one sitting all by yourself.

I added some extra Chili Garlic Sauce to the mixture to give it a little bite, cause I like things HOT!

YUMMY!!!

Vanlentine Movie Night For My Grand Girls

I made up these neat Valentine Movie Gift Baskets for my two Grand Daughters, I like to call them my Grand Girls.  I bought those 2 for $2 Dollar Popcorn Tubs and filled it Lots of Goodies.  They each got a movie to share and enjoy along with some movie candy favorites (M&M's, Milk Duds, and Gummies).  Also for the fun of it I placed in the tub a Valentine Themed Melamine Plate and Cup.  I filled the cup with fun pencils and erasers. 

My One Hour Valentine Gift.

Front "You Light up My Life"

Back Side of Glass Block

Wow, today is already Valentine's Day.  The year is going by so quickly.  I haven't been feeling all that great and I didn't have anything ready for my sweetie, Thomas.  I have one of those glass blocks just waiting for me to do something with, so hence my project for him began.  I made a simple cut out of the phrase "You Light up My Life" and stuck it to the front of the glass.  Punched out a Butterfly in the corner and glued it back in without gluing down the wings for that 3D effect.  Then just placed a heart  in the other corner.  Easy Peasy and Fast with my Silhouette Cameo.  Have I told you how many times I love this machine.  Any who, I then stuffed the block with lights and grass like filler.  The backside of the block I just covered with some pretty pink Vellum Paper and stuck a couple of Hearts on there.  Again Easy Peasy!  Then wrapped it all up pretty with some Valentine Ribbon.  Wonder what Thomas will think of the girly colors?  Also the lights are not in there just so, but I can work on that another day.   Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoyed my one hour Valentine Project. 

Valentine's Day

Valentines Day is just around the corner and I have been making a few things.  I've kinda gone Owl Crazy as of late and I'm using Owls in my Valentine Card Designs.  Enjoy and Thanks for letting me share my creations with you.  This Owl Design was done from my Silhouette Cameo.  I just love this machine!

Mushroom Melt Grilled Cheese. A Must Try Recipe!!

Last night I fixed the most awesome grilled cheese ever!!  Seriously!  I found this via Pinterest the latest craze on the internet, where you can pin things of interest to boards and forever go back to pull them up.  So, I pinned this to my recipe board and finally tried it.  I can't rave enough about it.  It is Delish!!  For my take on this fab recipe I used Marsala Wine to deglaze the pan and I also used both Fontina and Gruyere Cheese.  Of course I'm a lover of Garlic and used much more.

Recipe Link:  http://www.closetcooking.com/2011/12/mushroom-grilled-cheese-sandwich-aka.html

Recycled Magazine Tree Decor - Not Just For Christmas.

Tree made from Magazines that you may have lying around.  A great way to re-purpose them.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.   It was a busy last couple of months and now I'm ready to get started on new projects.  Today I completed my first Coffee Sleeve Mini.  I used various coffee sleeves that I found at various locals.  I only used 5 sleeves since more would not have fit on the binder rings that I had available.  The paper line I chose for this particular project was Teresa Collins "World Traveler", which has a kinda of Vintage feel to it; and of course the colors are always beautiful.  I also had a few small envelopes that I slipped in between some of the sleeves and added a tag to each one.

This is the front cover of the Coffee Sleeve Mini with the binder rings decorated in various ribbon pieces and I just use a hair band to hold it together. 

Front Cover just from a different angle.

Inside page.

Inside page.

This particular Coffee Sleeve has lots of possibilities for smaller pics or even journaling. 

 This is another sleeve like the one above.  Love all the many flaps!!