My nature enthusiast friend had a birthday recently and this is the little treat bag I made for her. She takes beautiful photos of plants and critters so the card with the ladybug on the flower pot (using the Flower for All Seasons stamp set) was perfect! I added it with some sweeties into a cello bag and then made a quick topper. I used the Hello Kitty Cricut cartridge and cut the flower and layers using some patterned paper from Creative Memories. The 'happy birthday' greeting is from the Happy Moments stamp set.
Unfortunately, it's been almost 2 years since I added a page to my 'best friends' album - it's taken that long to get together again with my far-away friend.
We only met for dinner at a restaurant so I took the opportunity to grab a quick photo of the two of us. Since I only had one picture I enlarged it to 5x7. I used this pretty paper from Creative Memories to cover the 8-1/2x11 scrapbook page and make a mat for the photo. I cut the title (Best of Friends) using my Cricut and the Graphically Speaking cartridge (still one of my favourites!). I also added some sticker embellishments (one popped up on dimensionals after de-sticking it with baby powder).
After I took the photo of my layout I realized I'd forgotten to add the year (which I always do) so I quickly grabbed my trusty Quikutz Squeeze and punched out '2011' to finish off the easy page!
Poor fruitcake! It gets such a bad rap...and yet...it is still around since its early days in the what, 1400s? Who's got the last laugh now!?!?
In my family we treat the fruitcake with a little more respect. No door-stop jokes around here. We've had fruitcake every Christmas since the beginning of my memory and we celebrated my sister's and my weddings with the traditional British wedding cake. We even had the nerve to hand it out as wedding favours (prettily wrapped in little boxes) to our guests!
The recipe I'm sharing today is the one we used for those celebrations and has a special place in my heart. The video is long and I share a lot of tips on making fruitcakes at home. It is not a complicated process but does require some special purchases and a bit of pre-planning. It's all worth it (in my opinion)...hey, something that needs to be made a couple months in advance, is soaked in rum, and can remain edible for years, well...that's something pretty special!
So please put your pre-conceived notions and negative attitudes aside for just a few moments while I show you the best way to make a fruitcake. Those bricks in the store called fruitcake are not the same and pale in comparison to my rum-soaked, rich piece of holiday heaven...think of this video as my early festive-season gift to you! And if it turns out you don't like it...you can always re-gift! ;0)
Patsy Thompson has a whole line of instructional DVDs to teach quilting techniques. She already has some great videos on her YouTube channel but these full-length lessons (most are 2 hours or longer - some have even 4 hours of instruction!) go into much more detail and depth on each subject. The Free Motion Fun with Feathers dvd I have is a very specific tutorial on how to form basic feathers and then elaborate on the design. The dvd progresses from the simple to the extraordinary and Patsy clearly demonstrates each step. This woman makes it look so easy! You are very inspired and raring to go after watching the series. Of course it takes practice (ok, LOTS of practice) to get any where close to what Patsy produces, but at least with the DVD to refer to, I am on my way to getting those feathers down pat! Please check out Patsy's quilt shop to see the range of instructional DVDs and other quilting supplies she has available.
I may have mentioned recently that I was taking a break from quilting. Um...ok...that didn't actually happen. I ended up piecing this Hidden Stars quilt top instead. I had already purchased the fabric for the pattern and it was just sitting there begging to be made.
While the blocks in this pattern are not difficult to put together I'd forgotten what a pain it is to line up the points in the rows and columns. They didn't turn out too badly and the overall effect is pretty cool. Can you see the Ohio Star(s) moving over the quilt? Sometimes I can and sometimes I have to look for it - it's an optical effect that kind of boggles the mind!
I didn't really like the texture/feel of the fabric I bought but the colours are pretty and I hadn't done a blue quilt yet. Once I get around to quilting and washing it, I hope the softness will improve. I also love the border (you can't see the whole thing in the photo). The finished quilt is about 5 feet square and should be pretty fun and easy to finish.
One thing that was kind of cool about doing this pattern is that I actually got the makings of another quilt out of the trimmings. For each block you have to sew 4 small squares onto a big square and then trim off the corners. Well...after stitching each small square on the diagonal I swiveled the block around and sewed another line of stitching. I cut off the triangle (ie. the corner) in between the 2 lines and ended up with 4 small 1/2-square triangles from each block! That's 256 mini-blocks that can be pieced together (somehow!) to make even more blocks (which would have just ended up in the garbage)! I don't know when (or if) I'll actually ever get around to doing that and it might just make me insane trying to match up all those tiny points! 'Waste not, want not' as my dad always said...I might just get desperate enough to make something of them some day!
Do you know the easiest way to peel fresh ginger? Simply scrape down the sides of the skin with the edge of a teaspoon and the skin will flake right off! I try to buy a piece of ginger root that is nice and firm, shiny & fresh, and not too nubby (the 'knots' are more difficult to get around with the spoon). I'll be showing you a recipe using grated fresh ginger next month - it's a wonderful flavour to add to holiday recipes!
This is one of those 'lazy lasagna' type casseroles, with an unbelievably rich and hearty flavour. The recipe yields a very large casserole (serve a crowd!) so I usually just make half the amount. You could also make the full recipe and then just divide it into 2 smaller casserole dishes and put one in the freezer for one of those crazy rushed nights! My DH really loved this recipe and happily ate the left-overs for lunch!
Beef and Spirals
2 cups uncooked spiral pasta
2 pounds ground beef
2 small onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 jar (4.5 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (I used fresh)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 pound process American cheese, cubed (I used a grated 3-cheese blend)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Cook the beef, onions, and garlic over med. heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and mushrooms; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 mins. Place 1/2 cup of meat sauce in a greased shallow 2-1/2 qt. baking dish. Place half pasta over sauce. Spread with sour cream. Top with American cheese and remaining pasta and meat sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 mins. Uncover; bake 5-10 mins longer or until bubbly.
I didn't have to work very hard to make this card! I wanted to thank someone for taking us on a winery tour and my photo of the sampling glasses (not all mine, by the way!) was all I needed on the front of the card. I simply matted the picture with some Poppy Parade dsp, which was a close match to the blush wine in the glasses. Sometimes just a cool photograph is all it takes to convey the message!
Inside, I popped up a stamped sentiment and added a little wine glass where I signed the card...
I can't believe I finally started my Disney album! It was a bit of an 'ugg' moment to be back at the beginning again, facing bare pages and a huge stack of photos! I am enjoying looking at the awesome Animal Kingdom resort again and it sure does look spectacular! I have only done a few layouts so far and am really packing the photos onto the pages - there are so many good shots I don't want to leave out - the page templates are helping with positioning.
I bought all the packs of Disney Additions from Creative Memories (Princess/Mickey/Cars/Toy Story), as well as the Cheerful Power Palette papers and Additions. For the first few pages of my album I also added some of the Rugged papers because they went well with the resort photos.
We keep saying 'this will be our last trip to Disney for a while' but somehow we keep ending up back there! I don't know how many more ways I can present a Disney scrapbook!
Time for another bread machine recipe and this one was a big hit with my DH. The addition of rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick cooking) gives the bread a heartier texture than regular raisin bread, plus a flavour and fibre boost as well! Make sure to add the ingredients to your bread pan in the order recommended by your bread maker's manual and use the 'sweet' setting if you have it.