Saturday plans

I've spent most of my morning working on a birthday present for Alison, (you will have to wait to see). I really enjoyed making it :) can you tell I'm anxious to give her the present? I've already made a phone wallet (you really need to check out my Pinterest board "sew this") and gave her it early, and one for myself. It was a trial run for me. Since I followed a pattern for it. Egads. I rarely ever follow a pattern I normally just go for it and make my own. The one in the photo is mine.

I've made more cards this week as well. The photo are a couple special orders from my mom for a party she is attending.

I'm off to dream up more presents and hang with the family.

Enjoy!

Card maniac

I have been busy making stacks of cards lately, with kindergarten graduation, dance recital, & Mother's Day drawing near.
Here's a quick look at some I've made this week.
Enjoy!
P.s. the Hampton arts G45 stamp girl, totally looks like Kristen Stewart.

Trinity

I didn't blog yesterday.
I know when I began I gave myself the Wednesday and Saturday schedule; afraid that if I missed one the world would explode and I wouldn't keep blogging.
Well it wasn't that bad.
And see, I'm still blogging.
From my phone no less, so I cannot move the photos where I want them.

What have I been up to Saturday that I didn't blog?
A day trip with Alison, her mom, & my mom.
No, not the same person, contrary to what some customers think, we are not sisters.
The only photo I took was of Alison looking at an abandoned rundown house.
And of my runners that have red Stickles on them. Go figure.
Great Day!

This week my hubby was also surprising as he brought me back treats from St. John's. Monday I went to check the mail, and I had a pizza box of stuff from Paper Valise that he ordered during her recent sale. Sorry, no link, but google her!

Off to spend some family time.

Enjoy!

Time

Do you ever feel as though you are busy and yet don't seem to have accomplished much? 

I've been working on many projects lately, some I cannot share yet.

 I still don't feel as though much is happening. 

I have a  few sewing projects on my mind and machine, many more I want to start. I have a stack of cards nearly completed, and the ideas for the renovations are swirling. Not to even start on the gardening plans I have, though a dozen or more seedlings sit on my coffee table. 

How do you get passed that? 

Oddly enough this is when I get the most ideas. When I don't have time to complete them. 

Here's a snap of my tiny tomato plants (and 1 celery) to give thoughts of freshness and spring. Cheers to creative energy and growth. 

Enjoy! 

Cinnamon buns are dangerous.

I LOVE cinnamon buns.

 I could eat them until I get sick.

 

 

Mother-in-law used to make them by the dozens for me. Then I had to go on a Gluten-free diet for health reasons. My two children also follow a Gluten-free, Dairy-free diet. Oh how I tried to make them from many recipes. Some were too complicated to bother with, or took too long. I kept going.

Though I cannot remember why, while attempting to make tea buns from the following Duinkerken mix, I added sugar to the dry mix.

 

 

I was out of shortening so I used the Earth Balance Buttery stick instead.

 

The quick cinnamon bun dough was born.

The mix calls for milk, I simply swap for soy milk.

 

I apologize for the lack of photos, I was just so darn impatient since my tea was already poured when I started to bake them.

Add the eggs the box calls for and follow the instructions given for the tea buns (trading shortening for buttery stick and adding roughly 1/3 cup sugar). I also set oven to preheat according to box instructions. I melt 3tbs, give or take, dairy free butter for 30 seconds in the microwave.

Once the dough is mixed I spread a length of parchment paper. The gluten-free dough is sticky so smoosh a tiny bit of melted butter across the parchment paper and keep a cup of warm water nearby to keep a spoon wet.

Drop dough onto greased parchment paper and use the wet spoon to spread into a rectangle about an inch thick. Pour rest of melted butter on top and spread to edges.

In a bowl mix 1/3 cup each of sugar and brown sugar, with a heaping tablespoon of cinnamon. Spoon over melted butter and dough.

Use as much as you are in the mood for.

 I dump it all on ;)

Use the parchment paper to help roll up dough. Wet a sharp knife to cut in 1" wide slices, wetting knife between cuts. Transfer to baking sheet lined with more parchment paper.

15-17 minutes are all these babies require to bake, after a few tries the whole process will be about 20 minutes. Are you freaking kidding, I know right! No rising, no blah, blah, blah. Just quick enough to make while tea is reaching the right temperature for dunking.

Are you going to eat that?

 

 

Mommy hangs around the kids like a vulture, they are afraid to leave their plates unattended.

Enjoy!

 

 

Alas, the postman still came up empty-handed for the last ATCs from the swap. I will have to set up an unscheduled post another time :(

 

April Hopper Winner!

Hi Everyone!
 

I know I mentioned showcasing ATC from a recent swap for today's post, unfortunately my mailbox did not contain the remaining on Friday. That was the "if all goes well" part from last Wednesday's post. I will prep the post and have it ready to go and will show you as soon as I get the last ones.

The Grand Prize Winner from the April Crop Circles Blog Hop will be announced on the 14th on In The Cat Cave by Cathy (see sidebar). 

My comment winner is LyndaKay.

 

She will receive some fancy envelopes, an assortment of 6x6 papers by Authentique, Webster's Pages, and My Minds Eye, and a Little Yellow Bicycle Chipboard slider.
 

 

Please comment or email contact information.

 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, I'm off to prep some garden beds.

Enjoy!

April crop circles blog hop

It's that time again!

 

The lovely and talented ladies of the Facebook group Crop Circles are having another blog hop.

 You should have come from Catherine Stockley's blog, if not, don't worry. I have a list at the bottom of this post to steer you in the right direction.

Don't forget to comment along the way to get in on PRIZES!


 For those of you who missed the last one (here's my post); Crop Circles is a Facebook group of Newfoundlander's, or those with ties to Newfoundland, who are scrap-illy inclined.  We challenge and inspire each other as often as we can. Wait until you see their entries for the ATC swap we hosted last month! I will post those on Saturday if all goes well.

This month we decided to go with a Spring theme.
Honestly, I haven't managed a page in a while.
 I was looking in my photos and came across a couple of layouts from last year.

 

I was lucky enough to win the "Hello Spring!" collection from the Little Yellow Bicycle blog. The colours were so bright and inspiring, I knew just what I wanted to do with them. I had printed a bunch of PageMaps sketches (I have no idea the link to the exact ones, sorry) and went for it.
 

Hope you've enjoyed my stop along the way.
Your next stop is Darlene Head Whalley. 
Dont forget to comment, prize entry for each comment, and the hop is open until end of day April 12th, 2013.

Blog Hop Order:

Cathy Caines

Sara Case Strickland

Michelle Marks

Kymberley Wragg-Machamer

Natasha Connolly

Cheryl Ashworth - with blog partners
Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan

Catherine Stockley

Rhea Skomorowski - That's me! 

Darlene Head Whalley

Lori Smith

Be sure to check back on Saturday to see the winner from my blog,
and the grand prize winner. 

The grand prize is a Maya Road bundle.
 

Feel free to follow me by email, or on Facebook. 

 

Enjoy!

Blocked

Yet again I feel as though I've hit a creative block.

By now you should know how much I like to scrap while watching tv.

Normally it helps (music is required for sewing).

It could just be that Nathan Fillion is too funny in "Firefly". 

 

Even with the block, I need to do something.

Another gift from the talented Cathy, In The Cat Cave, was this stamp set by Stampin' Up.

 

 

 Follow the link to her Stampin' Up online consultant store and check out the great products available.

 

I grabbed some light scraps and my Ranger Distress inks. I did a few of each, not worrying about the text portion as I wanted to cut them out.

 Next I stamped the images again on another light scrap. After stamping I notched for a flag end, or punched with a large EK Success punch.

Inked the pieces with my trusty "Gathered Twigs" Distress ink and Inkssentials dauber. I misted each piece with water and dabbed away the droplets with my craft cloth.

Normally I would use my heat gun, but I am in even more disarray than normal with the renos in the home of my future office/studio and adjoining laundry room.

 

 

Out of foam squares (rather, I lost them), I keep scrap chipboard handy to raise elements on cards. Sometimes foam squares alone can cause sag spots in the voids between squares. Having chipboard between paper and foam helps eliminate this.

 

I've managed to pull out the papers I plan to use and cut card size pieces.

 

 

 Now I'm stuck.

 

Here's hoping my April Crop Circles Blog Hop idea makes a miraculous entrance and coordinates with my hands by the 10th.

Stay tuned!

Enjoy!

"Same but Different" card inspiration

*Gasp* I didn't blog on Saturday!

 I spent Easter with Granny and the family, without wi-fi.
I hope you all had a great weekend. I know we did.

 

I've been really tired lately, and haven't been creative when it comes to paper.

I managed to make a few more aprons for a customer. I get lost browsing through the fabric stores, and I want it all. When I would get the time to use it all I'll never know.

 

Recently Cathy, from In The Cat Cave, sent me a lovely present.

It was just what I needed to perk me up and get me creating with paper again.

 

The scrapbooking group I belong to on facebook had a "Same but Different" challenge in March and I hosted this time. The challenge is simple enough, each particpant was sent the same (or similar) items and we all created something from it with items from our own stash.

 

 Originally, my plan was to create a layout using the divided page protectors and make an element from my supplies. As I went on a card came to mind using the new Little Yellow Bicycle stamps I won.

 

I kept going.

 

 Since I hosted I had the extras out nearby, I started making similar creations.

 

The Stampin' Up set Cathy sent me just pushed me on. The vintage feel to the colors and journalling tabs mixed with the images was so inspiring.
 

I made a whole stack before I knew it.

 

 

Like Pablo Picaso said "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working".

 

Enjoy!