Saturday, 15 December 2012

Happy Snow Day!

Sometimes the best cards in my opinion are the simplest ones! I had some fun with this card, inspired by the frost on my car this morning…. in fact, the frosty background is a picture of the frost on the window shield on my car!

A simple print out, layering, and doodling some snowshoe “prints” across the card front, along with the “happy snow day” sentiment.

Just a little bit of fun, that reminds me how I feel like when it snows (happy and young)!  Remember the most important thing when making cards, or doing anything for that matter…. Have fun!!!

From my car to my card!

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We at the Card a Day Blog will be on our Christmas/Winter break, but can hardly wait until January 3rd, when we will be back with more daily card inspirations for you!



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Thursday, 15 November 2012

Snowflake Keepsake Card

I love snowflakes! They remind me of cold winter mornings, clean, crisp air, and fond childhood memories. Some of my favorite ornaments on my tree are some crocheted snowflakes a neighbor gave me 20 years ago!  I’ve never attempted to crochet one until now, and thought it would make a great embellishment, er….. keepsake…. card!
The card base is  a 5 1/2 inch square, embossed with tiny dots.  The snowflake is tied on another dark green square, embossed with snowflakes. I sandwiched a piece of light green cardstock to “frame” the snowflake mat.
Inside I actually stamped a sentiment (I’m a terrible stamper, and have to practice way more!!!). The sentiment said “Be Merry”.
The snowflake is very easy to do, it is a total of 3 rows, and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.  It took longer to put the stiffener on it and pull it into shape than it took to make it.  For those of you that can crochet, I’ll put how I made it below.
Enjoy! And thanks for visiting me from the Card a Day Blog! Make sure to visit there tomorrow for another “ornament” inspiration from Michelle Hessler from Paperthreads!
Below: A picture of card front and a closeup of “textures” used.
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Below, a picture of another snowflake I made before stiffening!
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Simple Crocheted Snowflake Pattern.
I used 3 ply crochet cotton, and a 3 1/4 mm crochet hook.

Chain 6, slip stitch together into a loop.
Row 1: Chain 3, double crochet 11 into the “ring”. Slip stitch to the top of the 3rd chain from the beginning of the row.
Row 2: Chain 3, double crochet into the same stitch (beginning of row).chain 4. *Skip a stitch, double crochet 2 times into next stitch, chain 4*. Repeat ** until you have 6 sets of (2 double crochets). Slip stitch the row together.
Row 3: *Chain 4, double crochet into void (between two sets of double crochets). Chain 6, slip stitch into top of double crochet. Chain 4, slip stitch inbetween 2 of the double crochets of previous row. Chain 6, slip stitch into previous stitch to form loop.* Repeat ** until you have 6 sets (and complete row)… slip stitch together and tie off. Secure ends.
Finishing…. use stiffener of choice, and lay flat on plastic wrap or waxed paper. Once dry you can hang on your tree or use on a card or for a gift topper etc.!

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Card a Day Blog ~ Christmas at Home

Thanks for visiting me from the Card a Day Blog!
This week the theme is Christmas from Home. Some of my favorite Christmas decorations include Snowmen, Christmas Trees, and Snow Globes! I pick up a lot of Christmas graphics online, and sadly did not record where I got this snowman snow globe from. But it reminded me of some of my best Christmas at home, so I had to use it! I hope the technique inspires you to look around what you have on your hard drive and have some fun playing and making a card!
The card size is 5 x 7 inches, side fold.
Card base cut from dark forest green cardstock.
“We Wish You A Merry Christmas” song printed on coordinating pale green cardstock. (I got the song “jpg” from http://pinanoandsynth.com
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For the snowman snow globe, I had found the graphic online, and printed it out 4 times. I cut it out like this:
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All that was left was to assemble with dimensional adhesive tape. The bottom lime green strip was from Christmas wrap that I had used in iris folding cards years ago.
I quite like the way it turned out!
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Remember to visit the Card a Day Blog for daily card making inspiration!

Monday, 15 October 2012

A Red & White Star

My card design for the Christmas Around the World theme at Card a Day Blog is based on a traditional Norwegian cards made with just red and white. I thought it would be hard, but it is really easy if you just follow the 1/3’s rule. My card is approximately 1/3 red to 2/3 white.

oct 15 around the world front

The card is a 1/4 side fold (4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches).

I used the Cuttlebug Candy Cane Stripe embossing folder to make the red background. The shininess comes from using my Versamark inkpad applied to the embossing folder and then clear embossing powder.

The white frame was made with the Sizzix A2 sized Victorian Frame folder that I cut the center out.

The star was just made freehand on white cardstock, and I doodled the edges on it before I cut it out. I applied it to the card with dimensional tape.

I made a poem for the inside that I hope you like too!

Oct 15 Around the World

I’m hoping that everyone tries to make a two color card! You can have such fun creating depth and interest with different cardstocks or treatments (embossing or flocking etc).

Just remember to have fun, and enjoy the upcoming season!

All the best

Shelley

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

CADB ~ A Quick Congratulation Card with Die cuts

The only die cutting I do is with my Silhouette cutter. Although I never did use it for print and cuts when I first bought it, now I love doing it as I can design all the elements of a card on one sheet of paper. Just print, cut and put it together!
The card I made is super simple. An eyelet bordered frame, five flowers of different sizes, a scroll flourish, and a tag adhered with a ribbon.
My design screen looked like this:
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After printing and cutting the pieces, I arranged them before gluing them down on the card base (4 x 5 inches).
Then I had fun with some glitter pens, first highlighting the tag to make it pop out more, and then doing different floral centers! I’m quite pleased with the way they turned out, and hope it inspires you to doodle a little bit on your die cuts to add some pizzazz to plain paper!
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Visit Card a Day Blog tomorrow for more inspiration from Christine Patton at Creativegenie-ous, and more of the theme of diecuts!
Don’t forget to enter the challenges there too!
ENTER AUGUST CHALLENGE:

Sunday, 1 July 2012

You’re #1 to Me!

Thanks for visiting from the Card a Day Blog! I made a card for the guy in your life (big or little one Smile ).
For my card making, it was my Silhouette to the rescue! It was a very simple card to make, sized to a 1/4 side fold card. It consists of 5 things!
  1. Textured card stock for background…. it is a pale blue that my camera didn’t quite pick up.
  2. Dark blue “numbers” mat from the Silhouette store, originally square, but it resized well as a rectangle.
  3. Two part ribbon from the Silhouette store, cut in white (background) and turquoise.
  4. Word art for the inside of the ribbon.
  5. Matching ribbon to anchor the paper ribbon to the card front. (The medallion ribbon was adhered to the card with dimensional tape)
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Make sure to drop back to the Card a Day Blog, when Kelly George will continue in the theme “Just for Men”!

Saturday, 23 June 2012

A Swedish Sandwich Cake - “Smorgastarta”!

Today I am going to a retirement BBQ, and plan to bring a Smorgastarta for my part of the potluck. Inspired from here. I am making a loaf style “cake”, versus a traditionally shaped cake. The cake will be approximately five inches wide by eight inches long by five inches tall.

Ingredients:

  • 1 loaf Calabrese Bread sliced lengthwise
  • 1 small chunk smoked salmon &/or lox
  • small container cooked shrimp
  • long English cucumber
  • radish (for garnish)
  • parsley (for garnish)
  • 1 lb. of cream cheese
  • 1 cup (approx.) miracle whip or mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup (approx.) sour cream
  • melted butter or oil based dressing of choice to “kiss” the bread
  1. In a mixer, whip cream cheese, mayonnaise or Miracle Whip, and sour cream together. Reserve half for alternating layers.
  2. Mix smoked salmon into cheese mixture in mixer. Add enough to “taste”.  I found I doubled the amount in the mixer.
  3. Begin layering your sandwich cake… I put a bit of butter on the “plate” to hold the bottom piece of bread in place.  Then thinly buttered the bottom slice of bread, and spread on approx. 1/4 inch thick spread of smoked salmon mixture.  Another slice of bread, plain cheese mix and thin slices of cucumber, topping it with a slice of bread that had more plain cheese mixture.  Finally covering that slice of bread with another 1/4 inch thick spread of smoked salmon mix, and the final slice of bread.
  4. Cover your sandwich cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours before “icing” with sour cream/mayonnaise mixture (I didn’t include those amounts in the ingredients above). Decorate with boiled eggs, lox, radish & carrot curls.  I plan to decorate it in such a way that people will slice it into small squares, vs. slices.

The following pictures show how I made and decorated it!

Left to right:

bottom layer of smoked salmon spread -, middle layer of cheese/sour cream/mayonnaise with cucumber - completed “cake” filled and wrapped, waiting to be decorated!

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Below: Completed “cake” iced with more cream cheese/sour cream/mayonnaise icing. Decorated with cucumber, cooked shrimp, radish, lox “rosettes”, and parsley from my garden!DSC01434

I know that it will tend to fall apart when being cut, so I’m taking my extra sharp knife with me to the event! I’m quite happy with how it turned out!

An Eventful Week!

It has been such an eventful week off! Starting with Sunday, and a dinner out celebrating Father’s Day at the Driftwood Restaurant in Oyster Bay, followed by 3 nights camping at Saratoga Beach Resort. Then a quick day trip to Port Alberni with my sister to visit our sister Barb’s NorthStar Cherry tree that we planted in her honor! Today was hearing tests and doctor’s appointments for Marcel, and tomorrow is visits from friends and a retirement BBQ for a co-worker. Sunday will be a stay at home day to recoup before heading back to work. Indeed, it is true that sometimes we go to work for a rest!
Here are some of my favorite pictures of the week so far! Enjoy!
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Above: Saratoga Beach
Below: Going crabbing for Stargo
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Above: Arlis at Sproat Lake
Below: Cody along the trail at Fossli Park
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Barb's Tree

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Old Farm along Stirling Arm Drive, Port Alberni, BC

Sunday, 17 June 2012

Just because you’re my friend

Hi! Welcome from the Card a Day Blog, with the first of a new theme, “Just because”
My card began with a trip to the scrapbook store, as I needed a quick card for a dear friend, “just because” I wanted to send her some sweet wishes with a card she would like to even frame as a memento of our friendship.
The first thing I spied was a bucket of flowers marked 60 for $5. Who could resist!?! I found some neat leaves and chose earth toned flowers with a few different colors to contrast (purple, blue and green).
I then looked for and found a rub on set that matched the tones of flowers I picked out, that was suitable for a friend Smile  I love the sentiment, because friends are like flowers to me…. just like sunshine!
Here is what I started with, the card base is 6 inches square, with a coordinating bazzil cardstock in pale blue.
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The rub on was from Kaisercraft, the “Peachy Keen Collection”.
I picked out the flowers I wanted to use, and here is my tip… use a coordinating pen to make stems showing the flow of where you want your bouquet to be… it doesn’t have to be exact, and even if bits show later, it will be ok!
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When gluing, go from “back to front”, I started with the leaves, then the top 4 flowers, the bottom 2 flowers, and ending with the central flower (the one with the rhinestone).
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The best thing about this card, is that it was fast, easy and comparatively cheap to make.
I hope you like it!
Remember to visit the Card a Day Blog tomorrow for some more inspiration from Diana! Don’t forget to join us in some fun with our challenges ~ we love to be inspired by you too!


ENTER JUNE'S CHALLENGE:

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

A good weed – Lambs Quarters

One of the things I remember about my childhood and gardening, is some of the more interesting things my Mother taught me about gathering weeds to eat Smile  One of my favorite weeds is Lambs Quarters. I let them seed all over the garden, so I can eat them when I want. They have a deep rich taste, and are great steamed and served with butter!

It is best to pick them young, and all it requires is a simple pinch with your fingertips to break them off near the ground.  The lambs quarters in the picture below is about 3 1/2 inches tall. Perfect size IMHO.DSC01309

I picked about 4 cups of lambs quarters, and assembled ingredients for a quick wholesome lunch.

  • 1 chopped onion
  • 1 cup canned ham (diced, and home canned)
  • Yam fries
  • 4 cups lamb quarters
  • 2 eggs
  • rye bread

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Yam fries went into the oven first, as they take about 25 minutes to get toasty and crisp.  I browned the onion in a small amount of oil, and drained the ham “liquid” into another pot to steam the lambs quarters in.  The ham went in with the onions to warm. I poached a couple of eggs (one per person).

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After all was cooked, I plated my meal (hubby doesn’t eat weeds, so that meant more for me!). You are looking at the amount of lambs quarters I got from that pot full… under 1 cup cooked!

I neglected to say I served everything with rye toast and chipolte dip I made with chipolte in adobo sauce, mayo and sour cream… it is a must have with yam fries!

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So, when you are out in the garden, think of what weeds you can eat!

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Garden Comparison, what a difference a year makes

There is an old Chinese saying that “when the house is finished, the man dies” – I think the same saying goes for gardeners.

I always take a picture of the front garden beds after I get finished working on them in the springtime, usually the beginning to middle of June.  The following pictures are from June 2011 (top) and 2012 (bottom).  Once the annuals I planted start blooming, I’ll take a picture again.  I think the work hubby and I did will really make a difference (expanded the bed slightly and put lawn edging in, with lots of mulch).

June 18, 2011

garden 2011

June 4, 2012

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I’m quite pleased with the fact that the garden is mostly perennials, but still gives such a nice show of flowers from the middle of April until the beginning of July. Now to figure out what shrubs to replace the “Rose of Sharon” shrubs alongside the sidewalk with.

Thursday, 31 May 2012

It’s your birthday–so ‘tweet! Card

Thanks for visiting from the Card a Day Blog!
I do a lot of cards for my co-workers, and April is a month that catches up to me (we have over 7 birthdays in our department that month alone!). Digital cards are sometimes the best way for me to get something done on the spur of the moment. I always want to jazz them up a bit, so for this card I tried a new product for me – Golden Glass Bead Gel – which is sort of like Mod Podge, except thicker.
Here is my basic digital design I made with a picture from the Graphics Fairy.
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I printed the card front, applied the gel thickly (bottom left), and waited overnight to see the results!
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I learned that if I use this gel again, it would be best to use watercolor paper , or paper that you could stabilize and tape like you do with watercolor paper on a board before painting, so it will dry flat.  It did turn out textured and frosty though, and I’m happy with the effect.  I think I will definitely use this gel on gift tags this Christmas!
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Monday, 21 May 2012

Zesty Cranberry Pear Dressing

It’s a dreary, cold, drizzly day, so I did some canning this morning!
For any inspiration of what you can “put by”, I highly recommend joining the yahoo group called Food Preservation Drying Canning and More.  I got this recipe from the file section there.
Zesty Cranberry Pear Dressing
  • 4 cups peeled and chopped pears (1 kg fresh)
  • 1 - 12 ounce package cranberries, fresh or frozen
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried chili peppers
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 cups corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup white wine or water
  • 1 package fruit pectin
Puree first two ingredients in a blender or food processor, measuring out 5 cups. In a deep saucepan, combine puree with remaining ingredients except pectin and bring to a boil. Add pectin, stirring to dissolve, and boil vigorously for 1 min. Take off heat and fill prepared jars with 1/4 inch headspace. Seal fingertip tight with prepared lids, and process in a boiling water bath 10 minutes (if you have sterilized jars) or 15 minutes if you have “clean” jars.
My batch was just shy of the 6 jars called for, but now I have 5 jars for my pantry!
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Saturday, 19 May 2012

Chicken results!

Some quick pictures of my stewing hen adventures LOL
3 birds went into the steam juicer, resulting in me being able to can 7 pints of chicken in broth, 7 pints of broth, and 1 quart of broth in the fridge to use this week.
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The last hen went into a yogurt/buttermilk/seasoned marinade overnight, and slow cooked into a nice chicken/gravy and fried rice meal.
The marinade was:
  • 2 cups yogurt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3 salt preserved lemons, rinsed and coarsely chopped
  • 1 good teaspoon of granulated garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of smoked garlic backdraft seasoning (or you could use a Montreal chicken blend)
  • 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
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After the chicken marinated overnight, I rinsed off the excess marinade, reserving the lemons. I stuffed the lemons into the body cavity, sprinkled the hen with some seasoning, and put into the roasting oven at 300 d. F. for 5 hours.  You could get a hint of lemon in the chicken, but the meat was denser than a fryer chicken, reminding me more of turkey. I will do this again!
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