Halloween Treat not Trick

I had to bring dessert for the cross country's team dinner the other day.  I like making things, but thought cookies and cupcakes had been done already.  It was time to try something different.  Since Halloween was right around the corner, I looked for something festive and found the perfect dessert!

Jello Candy Corn

Since I needed 60 cups, I didn't follow the recipe I found which only added a fraction of the water so the colors would be intense. Instead, I followed the directions on the package for the regular making of Jello.

The bottom layer is Lemon Jello (you can use whatever brand you'd like).  I made it up in an 8 cup measuring glass so that I could easily pour the liquid into cups.  I also put the cups into and onto trays for easy moving into and out of the refrigerator (and I transported them in the trays too).

I let the Lemon cool in the frig for a couple of hours.

Then I made the Orange layer.  I made twice as much Orange as Lemon because if you look at candy corn, the orange layer is larger than the yellow.


What was neat, I think, was that the heat of the Orange layer, melted the top of the Lemon layer so that the two layers melted together.  A gradient was formed instead of having two distinct layers (a student even asked about how I did that!).



Right before I left for the dinner, I added whipped topping and the real candy corn.  I waited a little too long to do this so I had to rush.  The White layer wasn't, therefore, as pristine as I would have liked.  However, I decided the high schoolers wouldn't care - I was right!

Several of the students came back for a second cup.  A few came back to make sure their friend got one of the tasty treats.

The Jello treats were especially nice because the temperatures where in the high 80's.

I'll suggest this dessert any year, and it may even make another appearance next year at the cross country dinner.

Enjoy Halloween tonight!!

Thoughtful Thursday October 27, 2016

Happy Halloween!

May you be safe and have fun this weekend and Monday night!

Convention 2016 Roomie Gift

Would you like to receive this as a gift?  Making it is pretty simple, especially if you have Close to my Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (retired).  If you don't, you can make modifications.

First of all, these cards were inspired by Denice Park and Linda Case.  Years ago, they gave me a print out of the cards they made.

These cards are the same cut but different colors.  The colors are Pear, Honey, Hollyhock, and Lagoon.  The flowers, though two designs, are Sapphire and Champagne.  The card bases are Kraft paper.  Matching Kraft envelopes (not shown) were cut from the cartridge too.

The focal circle is raised with Thin 3D foam (it's kind of hard to tell from the pictures).





Before I get into the details of the sizes and such of the cards, let me show you the holder.

Cashmere ink was used to sponge edge distress all sides of the holder and the White Daisy belly band.  Sapphire ink was used to stamp the saying (Bitty Birthday - M1144 - retired).

Belly band is 1.5" x 9" and is scored at 2 3/8", 3", 6 5/8", and 7.25".  Be aware: the band will fit the holder in one direction and not the other.

Here is a close-up picture of the flowers.

These were cut from page 70.  Cut at 2.5" (honey), 2.25" (hollyhock), and 2" (lagoon).  The simple flowers can be found at <cupcake><font><shift>.

Once they are rolled, they are kept together by putting a blob of Liquid Glass on the bottom. Rather than holding it in place with my finger (the center tends to want to pop out), I put an  acrylix block on top each flower.

The leaves are from page 59 or <petal2><shift> and cut from Pear cardstock.


So, like I said, each card is the same.  I changed the background color, the flower types, and the sayings.

This flower is on the Lagoon and Honey card.  It is from page 29 <flower6><shift>.  The outline is from the same key but is <flower6><layer><shift>.  Sapphire is the base of the flower, as is the ink for the saying, Bitty Birthday(M1144 - retired).  Inkblot (D1660) stamped in Cashmere adds some more interest.

This flower is on the Pear and Hollyhock cards.  It can be found on page 50 <flower8><shift>.  Outline is <flower8><layer><shift>.

The mat is from <square7> found on page 39. The card base is <square7><card>, also found on page 39.  The envelopes, 4" in height,  for these four cards are back on page 29 <flower6><font layer><shift>.  Finally, the circle is 2.25" and is from page 21.



Did I miss anything?  Yes.  Each card has White Twine with a bow along the seam.  And here they are all together.  : )

Thoughtful Thursday October 20, 2016

Leave your comfort zone every once in a while.  You might find that you like where you are.  You might also find that you don't like where you are.  Both are okay.

Being a Girl Scout leader, the other leaders and I push the girls to try something different every once in a while.  This summer Amber's troop went tent camping and zip-lining in Big Bear.  It was soooo much fun!!  One girl and one mom were super nervous to go zip-lining, but they did!  They both did soooo well!!  Neither of them will ever do it again, I think.  But they tried it.  They got through it.  Now they know they will survive the next challenge that they face.

It's not the succeeding or failing part that's important, to me.  It's the trying.  With the zip-lining, the girls had to finish the course before they could "give up".  That was 8 runs they had to endure.

What you try doesn't have to be as "extreme".  I'm trying to reach more people with my passion of paper crafting.  That's one reason why I offered to teach through the adult school.  It's a little nerve wracking putting myself out in the public.  Will people be interested enough to sign up?  Only one of the three classes I offered were taught.  I had so much fun during the class!  I taught 40 techniques to 5.5 women (the half comes from the woman who only attended the first of two classes).  If nothing else, I inspired them to paper craft more.  I'll be offering more classes through the Poway Adult School.  Winter quarter class registration starts November 8th.  And I'll wonder, again, if people will like my project enough to come play.

November Workshop

November's workshop is all about the Picture my Life watercolor cards - gold.  Thanks to Tina Lovell's design, come make 6 cards that will start you loving this method of card making.

Workshop dates are November 15th or November 16th from 7pm to 9pm.  

You'll go home with 6 beautifully finished cards, the remaining 18 PML watercolor cards, and the knowledge and confidence of making more.

Cost is $30 to make the 6 cards.
If you want to add the paint, the cost will be $40, saving you almost 9%.
If you'd like to add the brushes as well as the paint, the cost will be $50.
And for $103, I'll have everything you need to keep creating at home.  Saving you over 10%, and the wait time for the supplies to come in.  That's 50 white cards/envelopes, the PML cards, watercolor paper, thin 3D foam, uptown ribbon, watercolor paint, watercolor brushes, heart thin cuts, gold embossing powder, gold sequins, and gold glitter paper.

Just indicate what option you'd like when you sign up by November1st, and I'll have everything for you the night of the workshop.  : )

Seaglass as Masculine?!

What do you get when you mix a light colors with a more masculine element?  A beautiful card!

This card features some new products too.  Bonus!

The ax is from the new Flower Market Cricut Collection (Z3285), cut from Chocolate (X5643) and Cashmere (X5932) cardstock.  I sanded the handles to make them look a little more weathered, and then raised them with Thin 3D Foam (Z2060).  The background is Seaglass Cardstock (X5789) dry embossed with Happy Thoughts Embossing Folder (Z3249).  I wanted to highlight "Be Happy" so I sanded it to reveal the white core.  Having all the different words is what I like about this embossing folder.  Using ink to highlight a word is another option.

The saying is one of the sayings that comes with the Flower Market Collection.  That was stamped with Chocolate ink (Z2811) on Slate (X5930) cardstock.  The card is finished off with Silver Assortment sequins (Z2013).

The pattern for this card came from CAS(E) This Sketch #180.  : )

Thoughtful Thursday October 13, 2016

Who's with me?!

Stamping Techniques Galore Cover

Here is the cover to my Stamping Techniques Galore class that I am teaching through the Poway Adult School.  This cover uses several techniques the students just learned.  Can you pick them out?

The cover is from Originals and originally measured 3.5" x 2.5".  The pattern is Double Duty and is on page 113.  I modified the pieces to fit my 4.25" x 2.75" front.  The black is 2.75" x 2.75" and the background texture paper is 2" x 2.75".   Colors are Lagoon and Peacock for the flower and Sweet Leaf for the stem.  Black was used for the word.  : )

During the first class, we covered 22 of 40 techniques.  Saturday we'll finish the remaining 18 techniques and make a card incorporating those.

As you can guess from the picture, each technique gets it's own sample that is connected with the ring.  Students don't just hear me talk about the technique - they do the technique.  The sample has instructions on how it's done for future reference.

It's going to be offered again in late January if you're interested at all.  Sign up through powayadultschool.com starting November 8th.

Did you figure the techniques out?  They are traditional stamping, layered stamps, masking, stamping off the edge, and fading - generation stamping.

Thoughtful Thursday October 6, 2016

My brother-in-law Christopher is participating in the IronMan, Kona on Saturday.  When I say "participating", I don't mean it lightly.  What verb do you use when he'll be swimming over 2 miles, biking over 100 miles, and THEN running a marathon?  He's crazy, in my opinion!  Christopher believes this a small thing.  What is great about the event is that he's raised over $79,000 for research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, represented by Team in Training.  And he's raised awareness.  : )

Over the 15 HOURS he'll be on the course, I bet he'll think about what the money will cure.  Leukemia and Lymphoma are cancers of the blood.  Some have high curable rates, while others have low rates

And how did he raise the money?  By caring people donating to his cause.  You may have donated to goteamtrent.org (can you put him over the $80K mark?!) or to your cause.  Together, in small amounts, we can do something great!  I love it!

Good luck, Christopher!!!

Boxes from Acetate Sheets Video from Dawn Heuft

One of our newer products are acetate overlays.  You wouldn't necessarily know they are acetate because in the Annual Expressions they are called "overlays".  But, we have 6 patterned overlays that are 12" x 12".  My CTMH sister consultant shows you how to make these overlays into decorative boxes with the overlays and cardstock.

Featured product: All About the Gold Fundamentals (Z3246).  The cool thing is that the back side of these overlays are silver bringing even more versatility to the game!



If you need help, I can do that!

Project Measurements:

Top/Bottom - Cardstock
4.25"x 4.25"
Score at 11/16" from each edge.


Acetate Middle
You can choose any height.
Samples are 4" x 11.5" and 6" x 11.5"
Score along 11" side at 2.75", 5.5", 8.25", and 11"