Warm Thoughts...MUSE #29

I'm baaack!  Yet another fabulous day: an outing with my folks, followed by an outing to Fort Edmonton with my niece and nephew, and my brother and sister-in-law.  I'm feeling really, really blessed spending this precious time with people I love, love and love!  The only thing that would make it better is if my husband were here.  Then again, it's because he's not here, that I have this opportunity, so..hmmmmm.  Oh well, I miss him plenty, and that's what matters!!

I haven't joined in MUSE challenges for a while, but Challenge #29, with the beautiful rose-adorned card created by the incredibly talented Laurie Wilson, caught my eye.

I puzzled, hemmed, hawed and all-around wasn't sure what direction to take...until today.  Somewhere in my recent shopping ventures, I bought a pad of Bo Bunny's Family Is Collection.  Yes, "Family Is"...everything!

Here's my take, inspired by Laurie, and conveying exactly my thoughts of late: warm and wonderful.  Oh yes, I'm missing my husband plenty, too!!

Simple...

Thanks for dropping by; please let me know you did! Your comments add sparkle to my day!

Sheer and Clear (X 2)...Paper Smooches: Trend Watch Challenge

My folks and I are heading off, on this gorgeous afternoon, for a Sunday drive. Soooo happy that my dad initiated this little venture!  Later on, I'm planning to meet up with my niece and nephew; every moment counts, especially since the day for heading home is coming closer and closer. Must. Not. Think. About. That.  Actually, my sister-in-law informed me yesterday that I *couldn't* go home; doing so just didn't fit in her schedule! How sweet is that!! 

Before we embark, a quick post to share two cards for the current Paper Smooches Trend Watch Challenge, focusing on Sheer and Clear.

This photo is the challenge inspiration

and my card inspiration comes 1,000% from the amazing, ever-talented, ever-creative Savannah O'Gywnn, whose video here was absolutely perfect for this challenge.  Actually, she provided incentive not only for how to use vellum, but for my Power Ray purchase.  Such influence!! Thanks, Savannah: you are awesome! I'm linking my cards to her Inspired by Virtual Smooches site, too.

Sheer & Clear = the vellum power rays and overlay on the butterfly; the 'sheeny, translucency-y' beads/pearls (my mom has nifty stuff in *her* craftroom!); clear embossing on the sentiment.

Sheer & Clear = the vellum power rays; the beads/pearls, embossed sentiment.

Hope these fit the challenge okay!

I hear my name being called, so off I go, with wishes that all of you are having a most delightful Sunday!

Thanks so much for dropping in; please let me know you did! Your comments brighten my day!

Neat and Tangled Birthday Bash: Potluck Party Challenge

Amongst the various “new to me” sites I’ve discovered so far this summer, one that has captured my interest is Neat and Tangles, and their companion site, LittleTangles.   My timing couldn’t have been better, as this is N&T’s first birthday, and they’ve opted for a month long celebration; a Birthday Bash extravaganza  that  includes not only a plethora of inspiration (I’m tickled pink that a question I asked on Day 1 was selected to guide part of the festivities!), but challenges as well.   Today, I’m shifting into a completely different gear to play with the Potluck Party Challenge. 

Although I come under the classification of ‘picky eater,’ and I have incredibly limited baking skills (I’m far too messy!),  I confess to having a wee obsession with carrot cake, specifically home-made ones. I don’t bake them often, but when I do, I rely on this fabulous recipe from two Canadian sisters,  Greta and Janet Podleski, authors of a series of cookbooks – The Looneyspoons Collection, Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, and Crazy Plates.

The recipe I’m sharing is their Must Bake Carrot Cake, from the Crazy Plates book, and believe me, it’s absolutely scrumptious!   And if you have access to carrots fresh from the garden…please bake  one and call me!!   You’ll love this – and the best part – it’s healthy!!

Must Bake Carrot Cake

 Janet & Greta Podleski, Crazy Plates

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, or 2 9” round pans, with non-stick spray  (I just use a wee bit of butter and flour) and set aside.

 

2 ½   cups flour 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 ½ tsp baking powder and baking soad ½ tsp salt 1 ½ cups brown sugar	Mix these together and set aside
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained (14 oz can, drained, works perfectly) ¾ cup egg substitute or 3 eggs ¾ buttermilk ½ cup applesauce (unsweetened is fine) 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp. vanilla 3 cups grated carrots ½ cup walnuts (optional)	In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pineapple, eggs oregg substitute, buttermilk, applesauce, oil and vanilla.  Stir in grated carrots.  Add flour mixture to carrot mixture and stir until well blended.  Stir in walnuts, if using

Note:  the recipe calls for ¼ cup flaxseed to be added to the dry ingredients.  I don’t, simply because flaxseeds aren’t a common Carol’s kitchen in-stock item.

Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  

And, what goes better with carrot cake than cream cheese icing...

• 1 1/2 packages (12 ounce total) light cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Beat together cream cheese and butter until well blended. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until well blended. Add orange juice concentrate and orange zest and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

I don’t have photos of any cakes I’ve made, so I’ve borrowed one from  Food Network:

Craving fully sparked! Perhaps a trip to a local farmers' market will be added to the weekend agenda, followed by some baking...

Thanks for dropping by; please let me know you did! Your comments add sparkle to my day!

Merry Christmas (kind of quirky)....Merry Monday #69

Where is the time going??  I've been at my folks' place already 11 days, yet it seems I just arrived!  Blame placed squarely on the shoulders of my busy schedule, and trust me, it has been busy! By day, I'm my parents' daughter, doing what I can (and, of course, what I'm 'told' - I'm quite obedient, even though the occasional Yeesh! or Seriously? does sneak out! Must guard the inside voice better!) to help Mom and Pa with some much needed de-cluttering, as well as ferrying them to and fro to wherever they need to go. We've made significant strides in deciding where accumulated stuff, would be better 'loved' - be that at a re-use center, or eco-center, or recycle depot.  While I realize that "letting go" is challenging, it's nice to see some 'empty space' opening up (please, please - may it remain that way).

Once later afternoon/early evening rolls around, I transform into Aunty C (my niece asked me if I was Aunty C or Aunty Carol; when I tried to explain I was both, you should have seen the look on her face. Boggled her mind.  We're sticking with Aunty C!!) Woo hooooo! Precious time; precious moments; precious niece and nephew!  They are so adorable, and occasionally mischievous, and yes, fully exhausting, but...they're little for only "this long" and I want to enjoy this stage (and every one to come) as much as possible!  Hmmm...wondering exactly how I'm supposed to look forward to going  home next weekend?  Okay, not going to think about that right now!

In betwixt and between my day-time-night-time duties, I've managed to find some card-making opportunities, which is great! On the other hand: my apologies to special blog friends who I've been neglecting!  Comments and notes - oh, but I'm woefully behind!  I promise to be in touch soon!!

"Nuff chattering!  Back when I was prepping the mobile crafting unit for its journey, I pared down my stash to what were 'essentials', and in the paring, left behind nearly all my Christmas-themed products.  "Won't be needing it," I reckoned.  Wrong. Big wrong!  The reason: my recent discovery of Merry Monday, hostessed by the incredibly talented, creative Lesley Croghan (she's a Canadian, too!!).  This week's sketch completely caught my attention...and I *had* to play.  Wait, make that HAD to play!!

As I mentioned, most of my Christmas stamps/dies/papers are at home. except for one stamp set - a newcomer - that was part of a recent Paper Smooches order, arriving just before we left, that I brought along.  Inside: Christmas Sentiments.  A positive start...but I needed images.  Then I remembered my PS Calico set, and one of the flowers caught my eye.  Wreath.  So, my card 'happened'. Be warned: my paper isn't 'traditional' paper, but I think it works.  *Joy* is a compilation of letters taken the 'be jolly' and 'to' stamps; Merry Christmas (another embossing venture)...obvious.

Hope you like it, and I really hope that Kim from PS doesn't mind that I transformed 

one of her flowers into a wreath...

NOTE: I'm also adding this to Crafty Hazel's Anything Goes Christmas Challenge for August. Soooo much inspiration for the festive season!!

Thanks so much for dropping by; please let me know you did! Your comments add sparkle to my day!

"Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice" X 2...Mojo Monday #304 + Casology: Baby Shower; MUSE #28 and PS Sparks: Anything Goes

Quick(ish)  post today - as Aunty C is incredibly busy these days, as is "Daughter C" helping her parents 'pare down' their many years accumulation of stuff that - surprise, surprise - they've realized is 'clutter' - to share two cards for 'sugar and spice and everything nice' little girls.

My sweet, adorable, 'how-many-times-a-day-can-I-ask-"Why?"; "Don't go, yet; stay for just 5 *hand up to show five fingers* more minutes, PLEASE *volume as loud as possible* (to her, 5 minutes means "don't go. period."  How heart-strings-tugged is that??), giggly, frolicky, incredibly energetic niece turned forty-one months old yesterday!  We know what that meant: a card to mark the occasion.  While the card is quite simple, the best part: the gigantic hug and 'little girl squealy voice' (again, top volume) thank you, thank you that accompanied the absolute joy of delivering it to her in person.  She is just so dang adorable! Side note: I've noticed lots of girls my niece's age have 'similar' voices (cutesy girly), yet even in the midst of a whole slew of them chattering and nattering away, I can totally identify hers. Aren't nature's connections awesome??

I'm entering my card into Muse #28, featuring Lynn Mangan's simple, eye-catching layout

as well as Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge:Anything Goes.  My background paper is from American Crafts "My Girl" paper pad (how perfect is that for an adoring Aunt to use??), speech bubble dies and words from Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler and Merry Christmas), and...I even used embossing powder over shite pigment ink!  Yes!! *fist pump* (Aren't I the adventurous one, though...har har!)

A bright, busy card for my bright, busy niece!!

(NOTE:  eeeeee...so excited and honored this card was selected as a Paper Smooches Featured Player!

My second card is a baby card (haven't made any of those in quite a while!), with two inspiration sources: the layout from Mojo Monday #304, and a new arrival for Melissa, of CASology fame. A little girl has joined her family of three sons; not only is that wonderfully exciting news, but can you imagine how protected, cherished and LOVED she will be?  Just the thought of her 'big brothers' looking out for their 'little sister' warms my heart...Card is joining the parade of 'congrats' on the Baby Shower for Melissa post. 

My little circle card, based on the left MM sketch

 features Verve stamp and heart dies from my collection. They are darling! Bonus news: new Verve awaits for me at home.  Yayyy, happy mail!  

Hope Melissa likes it!

One of the items on today's agenda includes shopping: apparently Aunty C needs a bathing suit (so not a swimmer!!) so I can 'play in the pool' with them tomorrow.  Sighhh...in a good way, but swimming pools? Oh, the things we aunties do....

Thanks so much for dropping by; please let me know you did.  Your comments add sparkle to my day!

Tulip Just A Note...Unscripted *Flashback Summer* Sketches #27 and The Paper Players #156

Playgrounds - I don't recall them being as much fun when I was a kid, compared to how crazy, zany, amazing FUN they are now with a 3 and 1 year old performing their shenanigans!  Swings, slides, mini-climbing walls - everything designed to encourage play+++, as well as,yes, a few 'hold-breath moments' when the climbing on monkey bars - which are now quite intricate works of art, I've discovered, with their 'fireman' poles, curved ladders, 'rope' steps - went a little higher than Aunty C's comfort zone was comfortable with!  You'd think that high-intensity, full expenditure energy playing would tire the young 'uns out, but nope! More play = more energy. Hmmmm...maybe that's a message to all of us to play more! 

 Amongst the many highlights of yesterday's playground episode two stand out:

• my niece who 'convinces' me to carry her, because when she walks, "I'm so so so SO slow, Aunty C." Of course, her mom and dad prefer her strolling under her own steam, so deals must be struck.  Outcome is predictable:  a-carrying we go.  Weight-bearing exercise - good for building muscles and keeping bones strong (har de har, har!). Sometimes Aunty's just win out (and soon enough she won't want to be carried - take the opportunities when I can!!)

• when my nephew goes down the slide, we make sure someone is at the bottom to catch him. Obviously, part of that is 'cautionary' (little legs sometimes don't get under quite right and little bums don't get seated quite right...headers!!), but the 'real' reason is because catching *giggles* is just infinitely heart-warming!!  Sooo...he's learned well - and when Aunty C went down the slide, guess who stood at the end, with  his little arms outstretched to catch her!  Bundles of cuteness+++

Anyway...between running errands all morning with my mom, taking my dad for his regular blood tests, another bought of shopping with mom, and heading to see the kids, I squeaked in two cards.

Even though they feature the same stamp (tulip from Hero Arts, which I found during one of our trips to Everafter in Kelowna)...drum roll...they're both 'firsts': my first 'venture' in watercolouring - one using distress marker ink; the other using Memento inks.  Yes, I need much more practice (shading, especially) - and that practice is definitely going to happen!  From being hesitant about watercolouring, I'm embracing it immensely!  Oh, the possibilities...

First card is for Unscripted "Flashback Summer" Sketch #27, featuring the distress ink markers as watercolour:

My second is for The Paper Players #156

Memento inks as watercolour...

I LOVE this stamp...it may appear frequently...

Thanks so much for dropping by; please let me know you did. Your comments brighten my day.

Have a fantastic Friday!

Celebrate!...TAWS BE Inspired #33

Guess what! On Tuesday, I packed a slightly version of the ‘mobile craft unit’ into the car for another road trip.  Destination: Edmonton, to Mom and Pa’s house, where (hopefully J), I'll be staying until August 18!!  Look out folks, the ‘middle-aged daughter’ has made a return!!  Yayyy…

Here's the abbreviated version of how this wonderful event came to be:  a while back, my husband applied for, and was accepted (like in a nano of nanosecond) for a 'mission staff' position for Canada Summer Games, which begin today, in Sherbrooke, Quebec.  All the Alberta folks flew out on Tuesday, so after dropping him off at the airport, I simply...headed north!!  Of course, I'll miss him immensely, however, well, what can I say?  Time with my folks? My brother and sister-in-law?  My NIECE and NEPHEW??  This is a win-win opportunity for both of us - he's busy managing/helping athletes, whilst I'm busy playing/helping with wee munchkins.

Just shy of 48 hours here, my Aunty C activities have been plum-full of all sorts of things: playgrounds, trail hikes, chariot-stroller pushes, carrying and/or hand-holding walk, flower and rock watering (rocks get dry too, I've been told by Ms. Niece, who seemed shocked I wouldn't *know* that), making pancakes, picking peas and carrots in my mom's little garden plot, making 'take home' snack packages (cereal, usually, and 'only 3' of each of mini-wheats, cornflakes and rice krispies), and so much more. A 'first time' experience for me: yesterday morning, along with my brother, I was a volunteer for yesterday's field trip to Fort Edmonton with my niece's day care group of 15 little ones. Fifteen - and oh, they were soooo good, holding hands with their partners, eating carrots from the Fort's garden, tossing the greens to the pigs, sitting 'politely' for their cheese sandwich lunch...cute+++. To put everything in a nutshell: Too. Much. Fun. 

Anyway, I had a snippet of time to create a card for a much missed challenge: TAWS BE Inspired note to self: play more often!!), and one that I almost 'missed' again, seeing that the link's close was a mere few hours away. 

Here's the lovely photo

Gorgeous yellow + grey, with hints of light blue and black, and gift boxes: this is what caught my eye. And given that I have so much to be thankful for, well...I went with a celebration theme, using images from Wish Big...

Thanks so much for dropping by; please let me know you did! Your comments brighten my day!

Hope you have a fantastic start to August!  Me - looking forward to more family time (happy face X 1000000), and in the card-making world, I'm starting to think fall... Thanksgiving... Halloween... Christmas...