Day 8 Camp Scrap Christmas: Making Cookies

Today over at Camp Scrap, May is all about making cookies. I had a holiday party on Thursday that I needed to make a dessert for so I went with my go-to recipe, Mint Chocolate Truffle Cookies! The hardest part for me has always been crushing the candy canes. In a moment of inspiration I loaded them into a zip block bag and went out to my front door step with a hammer. Concrete+hammer+candy canes=crushed goodness! Worked like a charm!

Here is the recipe:

Mint Chocolate Truffle Cookies
6 squares of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup of butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup flous
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup chopped candy canes

Preheat oven @ 350. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on high 2 min or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Add eggs 2 at a time mixing until well blended after each addition. Add combined flour and baking powder. Mix well. (dough will be very soft). Cover and fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 min or until tops are set. Do not over bake. Immediately sprinkle with chopped candy canes. Cool 1 min on baking sheet. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 44 cookies.

and here is the finished product:

I'm Back! And Camp Scrap Christmas Day #1

It has been 2 months since my last blog post - but I have a pretty darn good excuse.

This happy little bundle of love has been keeping me pretty busy. I haven't seen the inside of my scrap room let alone cut a piece of paper. I still keep up reading my favorite blogs though. That is how I discovered that May Flaum was offering Camp Scrap: Christmas. I really really want to take advantage of this. Somehow I found a few minutes today to do some basic Christmas tags. Make the most of 30 min and that is what I did. It felt soooooo good to do something creative. Still a lot of cobwebs I need to dust off, but here are my 3 tags.

The first one is my new favorite Santa stamp.
The second one is kind of funny - my mother-in-law wraps our gifts in vintage 70's wrapping paper. This was a very cute kitty paper that made me laugh. The third one I used my Martha branch punch.
I can't guarantee I'll get another 30 min this week, but I am sure going to try.

Kit-Tastic with May Flaum: Week 1

It is time for another fabulous class at Big Picture Classes with the wonderful May Flaum! Her new class is called Kit-tastic and it is all about helping you create with kits and getting the most from your stash. I always get drawn in to the beauty and one-stop-shopping of page kits, but the reality is, I am horrible at using them. There are many unopened kits taking up valuable shelf space and collecting dust in my room. With this class I am hoping to finally dive into some of them and create some fun pages.

Today, I decided to break into an old Basic Grey Kit from a CKC class that I ran out of time and never finished. I am currently working on a baby girl album and want to make a bunch of pre-made pages that I can use once baby arrives. For this page, I swapped out the recommended blue patterned paper for a pink design. These pictures are placeholder (and are actually my nephew!), but I bet we get similar pictures when baby is born.

 I also decided to hand stitch my title. This was a new technique for me. I had purchased May's Scrapbook Workshop technique book when it came out and then I never did anything with it. This class has inspired me to try new things to enhance my kits. There is an easy tutorial for how to hand stitch. I will say this title took me 2 hours to complete!! But hopefully I'll get faster the more I do.

Big Idea Festival Day 8: Joy

I've been doing my best to keep up with the Big Idea Festival over at Big Picture Classes. I don't have a photo printer at home so I have to work with the photos I have available until I can order more. They don't always map to the daily challenge so I either get creative or have to skip some days. Day 8 was to scrap something that has happened to your recently that brings you joy. I happen to be working on pages for my baby shower album and had some fun photos for this page.

Big Idea Festival Day 5: Happy Challenge

If you haven't had the chance to experience the Big Ideal Festival at Big Picture Classes I cannot encourage you enough to go check it out. It is 14 days of guest designers, challenges and prizes and all of it is FREE! It is a great place to find inspiration and to learn about the different teachers and classes they offer. This is my third year participating and each year I am more amazed at the event that they create.

For Day 5 of the challenge, May Flaum's Big Idea was to play with your supplies and create a layout in a way that makes you happy. What makes me happy are simple scrapbook pages with lots of white space that highlight an important photo. This is my favorite photo from the summer (and maybe ever) so I thought it was perfect for this challenge.

Baby Shower Card

One of my co-workers is also having a baby girl this fall and I wanted to get her something extra cute for her shower. I found this adorable pink elephant set and designed a card to match.

Elephant onesie, bib & card

Elephant cut from Create a Critter cart

Baby Shower Thank You Notes

I really wanted to make all of the Thank You notes for my shower. I started off with a design that matched my birdie theme. I got through about 10 of them before I realized that it was going to take too much time and I needed to simplify the design. Here's the card that a handful of family members will be getting.

I actually think I like the second design better. They were much easier to produce which is great since I needed 30 of them! The hardest part was I Sticked a border around the edge of the cut out.

Now I need to write them out!

Baby Thank You Cards

I have a good friend who has been so generous to us and has given us boxes and boxes of old baby clothes ranging from Newborn to 24 Months! I started doing a few loads of laundry today and am just in awe. Baby Girl is going to have an amazing wardrobe. Here is the thank you card I'll be dropping in the mail tomorrow. I love this onesie cut from the New Arrival Cricut cart. Definitely one of my favorites.

Another friend of ours gave us the absolute most adorable onesie ever so I put together a second version of the onesie card for her. The color is distorted in this pic, but the onesie is light pink with Thank You stamped across the front.

Toddler Birthday Cards

We have two birthday parties in the next few weeks for some special little girls who are turning 3. I wanted to put together fun colorful cards to help celebrate.

Birthday girl #1 happens to love sunglasses. This pair is from the Paisley Cricut cart. I just realized after looking at the picture that one of my green dot decorations fell off! I'll need to fix that!

Birthday girl #2 loves the beach. The crab cut is from the From My Kitchen Cricut cart.

Both of these papers were from an old Target $1 spot package that I have been trying to figure out how to use up.

Happy Anniversary Card

Our wonderful friends in Alaska are celebrating 4 years of marriage. They have a love of the outdoors and are always off on some sort of adventure. I knew I wanted to use this paper and my husband actually suggested doing some type of bear.

The inside reads: STILL WILD FOR EACH OTHER. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Camp Scrap: Stamp Play

Here's another fun project from Camp Scrap. May had a fabulous day of Stamp Play. Perfect timing too because I needed to throw together some quick anniversary cards and wasn't feeling like using the Cricut.

Here is a simple stamped card that I embellished with some ribbon, stickles and my new triangle boarder punch.

I've have this really awesome light house stamp and am always scared to use it. Play time was a good time to break through the fear. I stamped it with white ink and then decided to go one step further and heat emboss it.

Camp Scrap: Sketch Inspiration

Have you heard about May Flaum's Camp Scrap that is happening right now? If not, I highly recommend checking it out. It is a 7 week free camp filled with unlimited amounts of creative play, tutorials, sponsor discounts and giveaways. Did I mention it was free? She even partnered with the folks at Big Picture Classes to get a special classroom set up so campers have access to a message board and gallery. I cannot think of a better way to spend my summer than scrap camp!

To start off class May did a really fun tutorial on making confetti bursts. The next day she provided an inspiration sketch. I decided to combine these two things and put together a layout of a gorgeous Cape Cod wedding I attended.

I had not scrapped a layout in a while and this sketch was the perfect way to ease back in. I loved that I could go with a clean and simple look. I used papers that coordinated with the blues of the ocean. The embellies are all from the Pink Paislee Nantucket line (coincidence! I found them in my stash!).  And you can see the confetti bursts/trails using some sequin sparkles.

Can't wait to see what we will do in camp this week!

Happy Father's Day

Male themed cards are always hard for me. I wasn't sure where to start for Father's Day cards this year. Then I remembered I had the Handy Man Cricut Lite cartridge. I was inspired by a few of the images. Dad is getting the wheelbarrow card. My brother is a big Cincinnati Bengals fan so I thought it would be fun to use those colors along with the paint can image.

For Dad

For Brother

Nursery Decor: Closet Hangers

One of my favorite things to make for baby shower gifts are closet hangers. You can see a few that I have made here. I was really excited to come up with a set of these for myself. I fell in love with the Pottery Barn Kids Penelope bedding. It is a really pretty feminine mix of greens, pinks and a hint of yellow.

I wanted to try to match the pattern as close as possible. I searched my Cricut carts for different bird options. I think I had 5 to choose from, but this little birdie ended up being the cutest of the flock. She is from the Create a Critter cart and you'll see her pop up in some other nursery stuff I'm working on.

I went with a slightly different approach than previous gift sets I've made since I opted for the same image on all six of them. And rather than ribbons, I added some fabulous bling.

Pottery Barn Penelope Bedding Set & Matching Closet Hangers

Close-up shot

Nursery Decor: Alphabet Wall Art

I have zero blog entries for May 2012. It looks weird not having May in the monthly timeline. There is actually a really good explanation though....I've been celebrating that I am going to be having a baby! It's a GIRL! Pregnancy has been exhausting, so I've had to prioritize sleep over scrapping. I'm finally starting to feel like my normal self again and am dedicating my time to creating fun decor for the nursery.

The first project I decided to tackle was making some alphabet wall art to match the color scheme we've chosen for the nursery. It will be multiple shades of pink, light green and light yellow. Here was my inspiration:

 

And here is my custom piece of art: 

This photo makes it look like some of the letters are cut off due to the white background, but in person it looks totally fine. I used the Lyrical Letters Cricut cart. They have six fonts to choose from, but Jumbo worked out the best. Each letter is cut to 2 inches. The frame is Ribba from Ikea.

April is Card Month for Me

Wow - you go a few weeks without posting and Blogger changes their back end look and feel! Note to self to try to keep up.

I think everyone I know has a birthday in April. I've counted at least 10 so I've been in card making mode for a while. I've come up with a simple initial design that I can reproduce with different looks. I've been using up some old embellishments and trying to shop the stash as much as possible.
Here's a sample of some of them.

Our family friend is also celebrating his 80th this month so I made a special card for him.

Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter! 

Here's a peek at the Easter cards that I created this year. The chick is from my Easter 2010 Cricut cart.

Birthday & Thank You Cards

Here's a simple birthday card and a thank you card that I put together this week.

 

Happy Birthday!

                                                                          Thank You!
Unfortunately, you can't see from this photo, but I actually used a polka dot stencil template with Versamark and then I heat embossed the pattern. The stitching was made possible by the Sew Easy tool.

Patterned Paper Gift Wrap

Another great idea from class....using your patterned paper as gift wrap. I decorated this gift box with paper, handmade rosette, flowers, stamps and stickles. The band slides off so all the elements stay in tact. Prettier and more personalized than Tiffany's!

Quick Card Post

I'm long overdue for a post! I've really been enjoying the Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide and have been spending a ton of time making cards using all of the great techniques I'm learning. Here's a sampling:

Triple Challenge Layout

What do you do when you have no time? Look for ways to combine not one, not two, but THREE challenges all in one! This layout is using my February Counterfeit Kit, the Valentines Day/stamping challenge from Week 2 of the Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide and a new sketch posted at Write.Click.Scrapbook. This came together as easy a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I just happened to have all the right ingredients.

I used several different stamping techniques including distress inks, masking and cutting out stamped images. Stamping is so much fun! I LOVE it!

Another Tuesday Morning Haul

I just returned from our annual Florida trip and my annual visit to the amazing Tuesday Morning store they have down there. There may be a location near me, but I like to pretend this is a unique place that I can only go to on vacation - that mentality helps save money! This trip I was really excited by the different pre-made kits they had. I really wanted the Girl's Paperie Halloween kit, but decided to go with the travel one instead as it was more versatile. Here's what I picked up.

Heidi Swapp Travel Kit: alphas, stamps, masks, die-cuts, rub-ons
The Girl's Paperie Vintage Travel Kit: papers, trims, die-cuts, brads, charms, chipboard
Tim Holtz dots & alpha grundgeboard
Tim Holtz configurations box
Heidi Swap ghost alphas
American Crafts tent stamp set
2 sets of Thickers
3 Making Memories alpha sets

Happy Valentine's Day

The inspiration for my Valentine's Day cards came from the February issue of Scrapbook's Etc Magazine. Check out this super cute owl card on the cover.

Here is how my cards turned out. I played around with a couple different color patterns.

The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide

I wanted to a take a minute to tell you about the new class I am taking at Big Picture Classes - The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide by May Flaum.  I absolutely love the structure of BPC and it is a goal of mine to take any class taught by May. The one thing I say after every class is 4 weeks just isn't long enough. I get sad when the classes end. So I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear that this class was going to be 12 whole weeks. The class focuses on different techniques and products. Week 1 is all about misting. The tips provided have been super helpful. I actually only have 2 mists in my stash - blue and brown. Below are two of the projects I made showing them off. 

My favorite part about the class so far are the A-Z videos that May has included with this class. That means 26 amazing videos highlighting pretty much every technique topic you can think of. If you haven't had a chance to sign up, there is still a little more time. Trust me, if you are looking for motivation and inspiration this is one class you don't want to miss out on.

February Counterfeit Kit Challenge

I am off to a bit of a late start this month. Life has been really hectic (in a good way!). I feel like this always happens in February. It is my birthday month and we have two great trips planned so I'm accepting that things will be s.l.o.w on the blog front.

This month the Counterfeit Kit Challenge offered two fabulous kits from Scrapbook Circle. I am big into holidays so whenever there is a holiday themed kit I usually go that route. Plus, February is my favorite month so how could I not pick the Valentine's Day kit. Here is a picture of some paper original kit:

I have to tell you that I kept it super simple this month. I went with one of the smallest kits I've ever created. But I was trying to be realistic about what I think I can do.

Here is a picture of my kit: 

Go Canada! Cricut Cart

I am so excited about my most recent purchase! The Go Canada Cricut Cart is exclusive to Michael's Canada. I tried several times to locate it while I was up visiting family, but it was always sold out. The prices on Ebay were ridiculously expensive. I was thrilled to find out that they are now being sold on Cricut.com. I ordered one as fast as I could and had it just a few days later.

.

This cart has everything I need for my Canada layouts: hockey, curling, bear, canoe, tuque, a Tim Horton's like coffee/donut, loonies and toonies, the provinces, an alphabet and so much more.
C'est tres bon!

Baby Cards

Two of my friends recently celebrated the arrival of their baby boys! The blue papers in my Counterfeit Kit were perfect for creating boy cards. I used the Cricut Sugar and Spice cartridge (which yes, is the girl cart), but I changed the color of the stork from pink to blue. The white ribbon and orange scraps were an add on to the kit. Sweet and simple!

My Scrap Room

We moved into our house a year ago and I was very lucky to be able to convert one of our bedrooms into my personal craft retreat. It is a continuing work in progress as the space is an awkward shape and I am still trying to figure out how to best organize all of my stuff.

My favorite part of the room is that it is at the front of the house and gets tons of sunlight so it keeps the room bright and toasty. Here is a view from the doorway:

I kept the mess on the floor for the picture because it shows off my scrapping work style which is to sit on the ground surrounded by supplies.The curtains are from Target and my mom was nice enough to hem them and make matching pillows for the chairs with the left over fabric.

Here is the technology work station with my Cricut, laptop and printer.

Here is a view of the main desk. It is the Ikea Expedit desk which I absolutely love and wish I had one of these bookcases in every room in the house.

The desk is not normally this clean. However, I am taking The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide with May Flaum at Big Picture starting in a few weeks and I got a head start on pulling my supplies together and cleaning up. I just installed the Ikea Bygel rails on the side of the desk and filled them with supplies for class.

And the last part of my room, and certainly the least, is the super small closet that I haven't quite figured out what to do with. Originally there was just the one shelf on the top, but I added two more for additional storage.

And there you have it! I think if I could have my dream space it would look something like this:

Here's what I love:
1. The mix of blues & whites
2. The window seat. I love window seats and would like to figure out how to install one.
3. Oversized chairs for relaxing and reading breaks
4. A huge counter that goes on forever. I think if I had more counter space to spread out, I wouldn't need to sit on the floor
5. Those cabinets! I would love custom cabinets to get everything out of the plastic bins and into nice shelving.
6. An area to display my favorite work