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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Thursday 17 May 2012

What was I thinking?!

I’ve found myself exhausted this week, working 5pm – 1am and being on call from 1am –7am. I had 2 days of work where I had to stay longer to finish things, so that has made me even more tired!

So what do I do today, in the morning? I go to the store and spy these gorgeous 5 lb stewing hens – and then decide to buy 4! Yep, 20 lbs. of chicken for just over $25.

Three of them are in the steam juicer as I type this, and one will be marinating overnight in a yogurt, salted lemon and herb blend, for tomorrow’s dinner.

I’ll post more on the weekend of my crazy canning progress!

 

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Thursday 10 May 2012

You are Invited!

I had a lot of fun making this card for a fundraising potluck. It is a simple card (print and cut), leaving the inside for the details of the event.

I downloaded some cutlery graphics and a potluck border from Silhouette, and made a “placemat”, welding the words “You are Invited” on the upper edge.  I programed it to be cut as an outline, and glued it on a shiny linen textured cardstock (aka placemat LOL). I had some scrapbook paper that reminded me of the fun vinyl tablecloth patterns that come out for summertime bbq’s, and used that as a mat for the 5 x 7 inch top fold card blank.

Simple and quick. The inside just typed details of the event!.

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As promised, here is a birthday card that could be changed by simply doing another “word art” for the card front.

I did it as a print and cut, so I only used one piece of paper for the card embellishments!

Here is what my MTC screen looked like before I cut the embellishments (the “Happy Birthday” doesn’t show up as I did not outline it)

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Here is how I put it together on a 5 x 7 side fold card base:

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Thanks for visiting! Make sure to visit the Card a Day Blog for more inspiration tomorrow too!

Monday 7 May 2012

Mushroom results

As promised.... here is what 8+ lbs of mushrooms look like dehydrated.... approx. 3 trays made 1 quart of dried 'shrooms :-)

Sunday 6 May 2012

Mushroom Time!

Now that I’m doing my 365 Days of Fifty Blog, I’m struggling with posts to do for this one Smile  But I am discovering things about myself by doing that blog… namely, it is helping me focus on being consistent, and being able to share photos about life, and not just gardens ---- at this time of year, it is really hard! Its all about gardening now! 

Today’s post is a bit of fun with my project from yesterday.  I went grocery shopping (yes, shopping is another passion LOL), and bought 10 lbs of mushrooms to preserve and use.  I had my husband take a picture of me, and then had some fun with the photo in Serif’s PhotoPlusX5. Once you remember to work in layers, it is really easy to figure out how to apply some neat masks to the background layer of your picture.  I know I’m going to have a  lot more fun with this in card making!

Out of the 10 lbs. of mushrooms, we did 9 trays of sliced mushrooms in the Excalibur dehydrator, and have approximately 1 1/2 lbs. of ‘shrooms left to enjoy the rest of the week.

When the mushrooms are done, I’ll post a picture of how much space they take dehydrated!

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Friday 4 May 2012

Here for you, always

Thanks for visiting from the Card a Day Blog!
Sympathy cards always seem to be for deaths…. My card today is an empathy and support card that I made for a family, as they are facing that very possibility (death), much too early.  Their path will be one step at a time, together, and that is what I drew my inspiration from.
  • Card front size… a full page (8 1/2 inch by 11 inch)
  • Inside information and construction… The inside of the card will be blank sheets of paper for people to sign their thoughts and feelings for the family (It’s a group card for work) The card will be compiled like a duotang from school. 
  • Tools used… Silhouette cutter, Silhouette Studio, Printer
  • Graphic inspiration from a photography tutorial at digital photography school
  • Font… Amienne, that I adjusted in node editing mode, so the closed loops (in the e’s, o’s and f became open)
My work in progress in Silhouette Studio
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The card base was made from two pieces of scrapbook paper, cut to 11 inches wide by 11 1/2 inches tall.
I scored the narrow side at 3/4 inch, 1 1/2 inch, 2 1/4 inch., and accordion folded the folds. I glued front and back together, overlapping one of the accordian folds, and inserted 3 sheets of paper for people to write on.
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I  used my paper drill to drill 3 sets of 2 holes, about 3/4 inch apart, along the binding edge of the card.  I had some neat multi-colored yard that I tied the binding with.
The card was simply finished by gluing the picture and sentiment on top.
Here is a picture of my finished card front:
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Very simple, but I know that it will be filled with heartwarming memories for their family.