Halloween Countdown - Day 2

So, before I get to tonight's Halloween project I wanted to post a photo of my little girl who turned the big numero uno today! It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since she came into our lives. I'm so happy to see her grow and change every day - she truly is a joy.

We're having a big birthday for her this weekend but we had a little family dinner and cake tonight and I gave her one gift to open. Actually, we had a hard time getting her to open the present because she spent about 10 minutes playing with the curly ribbon that was attached to the bag. Here's a photo of her playing with her new airplane.

I think she was very excited to have her own "little people". They have them at her daycare and she loves to play with them. Mind you, they spend about half their time in her mouth...

So, tonight's Halloween project is a very, very simple one. I can usually put together a couple dozen of these in an evening. These little slider boxes hold three Hershey's nuggets. About two weeks before Halloween I like to put a basket of them near our door for guests that might stop in to say hi. I sometimes take them to work as well to give out to co-workers. Three nuggets is a nice treat without being too much candy (though, can you ever really have too much candy...).

There are about a million nugget box templates on Splitcoaststampers (okay...maybe not a million...). They come in all shapes and sizes so you can make these as big or as small as you like. These are about three inches long. You can find the template I've used for these boxes here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84914. If you are planning to make a lot of these, cut out all your box pieces first and put them together assembly line style.

When I cut out the box templates I also cut a strip of coordinating patterned paper that is about 1/2" narrower and slightly longer than the lid template. I glue the paper down and then score both sheets together. Its important to make the patterned paper slightly longer as it will shorten up a bit when you score it. You can decorate these boxes any way you like. I've added a simple ribbon and a Making Memories epoxy ribbon tag but I've also put on stamped tags, stickers and other embellishments over the years. Its a pretty small surface so you will want to keep decoration to a minimum. Inside, wrap you nuggets in a coordinating Halloween paper (3"x1" strips will cover a nugget), or use a mailing label stamped with Halloween images.

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill), Patterned paper (Carolee's Creations, Reminisce), ribbon, epoxy tags (Making Memories)

Baby Turns One! Birthday Party Invites

At the risk of being labelled weird (or worse), I want to admit up front that these are probably not your "traditional" birthday party invitation for a baby turning one... That being said, I love how these turned out and I'm so happy to be able to throw a Halloween themed party for my little cuddlepumpkin.

Because my daughter was born in mid-October, and Halloween happens to be one of my favourite holidays, I felt fully justified in putting together a Halloween party to celebrate her first birthday. After all, before I know it she'll be old enough to pick out her own theme and I'll probably be knee deep in Dora the Explorer or Disney Princesses or Soccer Stars (who knows what she'll be into...) and I won't have any say in the matter. Until then, its Halloween baby!

This is such a cute stamp from Stamping Bella. The pumpkin costume is flocked with Doodlebug Crushed Velvet. I used this in my last card (way back in August...) and I just can't get enough of this stuff. What's great about it is that while its thick and soft its also translucent so the black detail lines of my stamp still show through. Its really hard to show just how neat this stuff is in a photo but I would recommend giving it a try if you find some at your local LSS. I'm looking foward to using this on some Christmas cards - I think a red flocked suit on Santa would be fun, fun, fun!

I also had a good excuse to pull out my new Cuttlebug folders for this card. I love the new releases - there are some fantastic designs.

Supplies: Stamps (Stamping Bella, Paper Salon), embossing folder (Cuttlebug), punch (Martha Stewart), cardstock (Bazzill, Stamping Up!), ink (Adirondak, Stampin' Up!), flock (Doodlebug), Copic Markers


Here's a photo of my soon-to-be one-year-old. She's a ball of energy and just about as nutty as her mom (according to her Dad...). My husband likes to mess up her hair and take goofy pictures of her.

PTI Guidelines Thank You Cards...

Long time no post. I was four days away without access to internet but I do have to say - how lovely to just be able to spend time with family, enjoy the beautiful sunshine. We had a lovely long (well, sort of) weekend here on the West Coast of Canada. Canada Day fell on a Tuesday this year making for a somewhat weird holiday weekend, but judging from the traffic on the highways, I'm sure a lot of folks took the Monday off as well.

When I got home, I found my PTI order had made it to my mailbox so I was eager to open it up and explore my goodies. Just a little card tonight but I'm sure I will have more to share with the lovely sets I received.

I used the new PTI Guidelines set to make this card. This set must have been popular in the last release because I got a notice saying it was "back in stock". I suppose they must have sold out once already!

This is a really lovely and versatile set, although definately a bit more work then a simply stapming with a background set. The wonderful thing about this set is that you can make an infinate number of backgrounds with the stamps provide.

The cardstock (Plum Pudding, Sweet Blush) and the ribbon (Plum Pudding) is also PTI. For this card I stamped Guidelines on white Stamper's Select in Versa ink and then sprinkled it with clear embossing powder. I stamped the gridlines first, heat embossed them, and then added the image stamp for the pattern, sprinkling with embossing powder after five or six "stamps". After the image had been heat embossed I sponged Perfect Plum ink over the entire piece. The ink doesn't stick to the embossed areas when its wet, so by wiping it off you can see the white showing through from beneath.

I like how this turned out although I will definately need more practise with this set to be as skilled with it as Nichole Heady is. It didn't help that I created an extra challenge for myself by essentially stamping with a clear ink on white paper...

The scalloped edge was made with a long rectangle Nestabilities die.

Supplies: Cardstock (PTI), Ink (Versa, PTI), ribbon (PTI), stamps (PTI - Baby Blessings, Guidelines, Wordsworth - sentiment), Nestabilities die, clear embossing powder

On an entirely different note, here's a picture of my daughter showing off her first two teeth. Fortunately she's taken a liking to having her teeth brushed...

Happy Fourth of July to all my American friends who will be celebrating this long weekend!

Tuxedo Brownies and New Toy...

Hello out there in blogland! Tonight's recipe is for Tuxedo Brownies - a nice treat that appeals to the cheesecake lover and the chocolate lover.

Tuxedo Brownies
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chunks

2 packages cream cheese (500 g/2 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs

1 cup good quality chocolate - chopped
1 cup heavy cream or whipping cream

Preheat oven to 325° F. Grease 13x9-inch pan. Optionally, you can line the pan with parchment paper.

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat (be careful not to burn) and set aside.

Beat eggs, vanilla and sugar together on med-high speed for 10 minutes. This will create a thick, yellow creamy mixture. Ten minutes is a long time and is not necessary for the success of these brownies - but if you have a standing mixer let it go for the full 10 minutes. Add the chocolate mixture, flour and salt and beat just until all ingredients have been incorporated and the batter is a uniform chocolate colour. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Pour into prepared baking pan and set aside.

Beat softened cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth and creamy. Pour cream cheese mixture over brownie batter. Spread gently with a spatula to cover the brownie batter entirely. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and let cool completely on wire rack. When brownie is cool prepare the ganache topping.

Put chocolate pieces into a medium bowl. Heat cream (either on stove top or in microwave) until just about boiling. Pour hot cream over chocolate and let sit for five minutes. After five minutes stir melted chocolate and cream together until smooth and uniform in colour. Pour ganache over top of cooled brownies and refrigerate until set. Mmmmmm....

Here's the new toy I picked up yesterday. Can't wait to try it! I haven't used an airbrush since my fine arts courses in university...

Here's some tutorials I found on using the Copics Airbrush System:

• http://www.copicmarker.co.uk/tutor5.htm
• http://ellenhutson.typepad.com/ellen_hutson_simple_dream/2007/08/copic-airbrush-.html
  
• http://ellenhutson.typepad.com/ellen_hutson_simple_dream/2007/08/copic-airbrus-1.html

There are not a ton out there that I could find tonight but I'm going to experiment with the system and see what I can figure out.

I know a lot of folks have been talking about the Eclipse Masking rolls for masking stamped images (essential when airbrushing). It seems to be sold out in a lot of places and I can't find a supplier here in Canada but for those of you looking for an alternative just visit your local art supply store or the art section of a big box craft store (Michaels, Hobby Lobby) and purchase a pouch of "frisket film". This is the product I used in my art school days when I was airbrushing and it works great for masking stamped images. It usually comes in 9"x12" sheets. Its a low-tack masking film for use on paper. You can stamp your image on it, cut around the image and place it over the parts of your stamped image that you don't want coloured. It peels off easily without damaging your image.

And because I can't resist...here's another pic of my cutey pie. At least this time she's smiling...

*New feature - Take On Tutorial

I'm introducing a new feature tonight - Take on Tutorial. There are so many amazing tutorials out there being offered up by talented individuals so I thought I would share with you some of my favourite tutorials and show you projects that I make with them.

This tutorial comes from ScrapnExtras and she calls it Roll with the Punches. I love the way this looks so I thought I'd give it a try.

I did mine slightly differently in that I punched out my template and then traced my circles onto the cardstock. I then used my Copics to add some colour to the circles. After that I replaced the template and ran my jumbo wheel over them. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. The copics ran outside the line a bit on the first two circles I coloured (it spread when I used my blender pen) but I was able to correct this later so the next time I use this technique I shouldn't have this problem.

Supplies: Paper (Bazzil, PTI), Stamps (SU!), Bella Baubles, Ribbon, Piercing Template, Pigma Micron maker marker, Copic Markers, Ink (Brilliance, SU!)

Here is the box I owe you from yesterday. I hope to have two tomorrow. My craft desk is actually such a disaster right now that I can't work on it anymore so I'm committed to tidying it up tomorrow so I can get some more projects done...

This little purse-like box will contain some yummie treats for my Secret Sister. I'm not going to put them in until closer to mailing though.

Supplies: Cardstock (Crate Paper, Bazzil), Prima Flowers, ribbon (May Arts), Punches (slot punch, scallop from SU!), Bella Baubles, piercing template, ink (SU!), clear embossing powder.

Speaking of yummy...I thought I'd share this photo of my daughter "enjoying" her first taste of bananas. She's not really grooving to this whole eating solids thing yet but we keep on a trying! I've got the most hilarious video of her attacking the spoon and then starting to cry when she realized what was on it. She likes to have the spoon in her mouth as long as there's actually no food on it...

Easter Card and Easter Bunny

Here's an Easter card I made today. I really like these Whipper Snapper stamps - which is weird because I don't normally like cutesy animal stamps. Anyway - I started to make this for a swap and then realized that it was the wrong size for the swap but I finished it and I'm sure we'll find a good home for it somewhere. When you pull on the little tab at the top the card front slides up to reveal the Easter sentiment.

Supplies: Whipper Snapper (bunny in basket), Stampin' Up! (little eggs, tab punch, purple card base), Penny Black (Easter Wishes), Reminisce (green patterned paper), Bazzil (corner tabs), Quickutz (corner tabs and rubons), Copic markers

Speaking of Easter - here's a picture of my cute little bunny. I know, I know...not crafting related, but I think she looks so cute in this little coat. I couldn't coax a smile out of her today so she looks really serious.