Apples, Apples and more Apples

Our weather took a sudden cool down. Now you all might laugh because we dropped to 59 during the day and just shy of freezing at night. But here in southern Arizona that is very unusual. So baking with apples sounded like a perfect thing to do. So I don't have a craft project for today but instead I started baking with apples and it got out of control!!!  I started my day with  making some
Homemade Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce.
Here is a picture with me taking a taste and the recipe so you can give it a try. lol

Recipe for Homemade  Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce:
8 med Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into fourths. You can also use a mixture of apples such as adding Gala's.
2/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. apple juice
2 Tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together in a Crock Pot. Cover and cook on high 1 1/2 -2 hours. Although I find with my Crock Pot that it takes much longer than this. So watch and adjust time as necessary. The apples will begin to break up. Stir well to help break up the apple chunks. Depending on how chunky or smooth you want your end result will also determine amount of time you simmer this. Use a potato masher to help get the consistency you want.Cool and refrigerate to store it. Can be served warm or cold. Add ice cream or whip cream for a real treat.

Remember when I said I started with making applesauce but it got out of control? Well I peeled to many apples for the applesauce so I decided to make apple crisp. I made the recipe I talked about in a earlier post that came from a small town in  New York newspaper. Here is a picture for that although I don't think the picture does it justice. It is very hard to get a picture to match the taste isn't it? Anyway here goes:

Then as you can probably guess I still had an excess of apples. I over estimated again!! So I peeled a few more apples to make my final and I mean final apple item. Can you guess what I made? drum roll please.... tada

A very full  Apple Pie

So after many apples later I have 3 wonderful choices to choose from if I want a taste for apples.  Did I make you hungry? I wish I could send you all a taste. I guess you will have to get busy yourself and do some apple baking.

Oh by the way I added pictures of my Poor Man Turtle post so you can see those little gems. Check it out.

Rub On with Glitter

I had a package from K & Co. that is Rub on's but with an adhesive side to add Glitter. So with all the fun in adding glitter, bling, gems etc to our projects I thought I would give this a try. It is fun and easy to do. Here is my little example.

I sprinkled the green glitter first on the butterfly trail and then finished by removing the remaining  covering and put on the purple for the butterfly. I patted it down in place before dumping the excess off and used a soft brush to finish getting any extra off.

Here is a picture of the package.

It comes with 4 vials of glitter too.

The technique is to cut out the rub on you want to use with the backing sheet. Then take the backing sheet off and place your rub on on your project. Using a craft stick or rub on tool rub all over the design until you see it release from the top sheet. Slowly peel back the top sheet checking to be sure it is totally on the paper. If not put the sheet back down and rub some more. This is one more way of adding some glitter to your crafting.

Origami 2 pocket Gift Card Holder

These is a really cute and fun Origami Gift Card Holder that I saw on Tresa Black's blog. She has a fantastic video there showing you how to make this one. Be sure and check it out. If I have any requests for me to post pictures of step by step directions I will do that.

Here it is without the tag and Gift Card.

Here it is completed with a tag and gift card.  It is a fun quick gift to make. I used all CTMH supplies.

You start with a 6x8 piece of paper for the 2 pocket holder. The tag is 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 in New England Ivy C.S. and a  3 x 2 1/4 piece of Colonial White C.S.

Supplies:

Evengsong paper

Christmas Melodies Stamp set

Gift Card Holder

I found a Gift Card Holder while surfing the net and thought how cute is that?! But I don't own the Top Note Die that was used for the top piece. So I did some thinking of other options and thought of using my Cricut. I searched my cartridges and found a design #48s  on the Accent Essentials cartridge that looks very close to the Top Note. The next challenge was trying to figure out what size to cut it at so it would fit the pocket below it. I discovered cutting it at 3 1/2" and folded it in half horizontally.

This picture shows the top being removed to show the gift card holder pocket. You can either attach the gift card to the white tag space or write a message here and use as a gift tag.

On the inside tag I stamped a little "Rudolph" an attached a red bead for his nose. Isn't he cute!!

It's getting close to our Christmas season so I thought I had better get started.

Here are the specifics.

Supplies all from CTMH unless noted:

Evensong paper 

Cranberry C.S.

White Daisy C.S.

Gratitude stamp set

Cranberry ink

Chocolate ink

Black ink

Silver brads

Ecru sheer ribbon-misc

Stickles-red and Frosted Lace

Studio G $1.00 stamps-reindeer and Merry Christmas

Red glittered brad-misc

Red bead-misc

Coluzzle-tab template

1/16" hand punch

1" Circle squeeze punch- Fiskars

Paper Crimper-Fiskars

Directions:

*It is optional to paper crimp or not. But if you do this step I suggest you do it first before cutting your paper to size. Because it shrinks up the paper just a bit and because once you fold the pocket the one side is 3 layers thick and difficult to crimp. So do that now if you want that look.

1. Cut a 6x9 piece of patterned paper. Score at 3 1/2 and 7 1/2 then rotate and score at 1" on the long side.

2. Fold on score lines. Fold over the wider side first and  and then the shorter side gets glued on top of the 3 1/2" side. Lastly fold up the bottom flap and you now have a pocket.

3. Using the circle punch go in about halfway and punch out a notch.

4.Make the tag- cut the cranberry C.S. 3 1/4 x 4 3/4 and the White C.S. 3 1/8 x 4 5/8.

5. Stamp a  little reindeer in the bottom right corner. Glue these 2 pieces together.

6. Make the top of the pocket by cutting shape #48s from the Accent Essentials cartridge at 3 1/2" Fold in half lengthwise. Stamp Merry Christmas on the lower right side.  Punch a 1/16" hole in the bottom 2 corners very close to the edge. Insert the (2) silver brads. Take approx. a 12" piece of ecru ribbon and tie around upper portion of this piece in a knot on the left side. This is just for embellishment it doesn't actually hold anything closed.

7. Apply stickles to center of flowers.

Tip for Embossing

I have been experimenting and trying some different things in my efforts to make working with embossing powders easier.

In an earlier post I mentioned using an Embossing Buddy. It is a product that has a powder inside a little bag that you pounce and /or rub it over your paper before stamping with your Versamark or Embossing ink pad. Then when you apply your Embossing powder it only sticks to the area that has the ink. It removes the static and makes getting the excess off where it doesn't belong and back into the container. Along with using it on your paper I have also discovered that if you rub it over your craft tray it also helps so it pours from the tray easily back into the bottle. The static is removed from there also.

I am not sure how easy it is to find  a Embossing Buddy to buy so I also figured out that you can make your own. Now you all might be way ahead of me and have already made your own or know about it. But just in case you are hearing this for the first time here are the instructions.

Supplies:
a pair of old pantyhose or knee high length hose
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
measuring scoop
stiff bristle brush
small soft bristle brush

1. Take your pantyhose and cut off a leg at the knee.
2. Place 2 tablespoons of cornstarch  in a toe of the stocking.
3. Tie a knot close to the bulk of the contents.
4. To  give it more body and a thicker level for the cornstarch to go through fold the nylon back over itself and tie a knot.
5. Trim off excess. Now you have your own homemade embossing buddy.

Using one of these makes embossing a much more pleasant experience.

To Emboss:
1. Rub the paper with the embossing buddy.
2. Take the stiff brush and brush off any extra cornstarch.
3. Stamp
4. Pour on the embossing powder.
5. Use the soft brush to brush any loose particles of embossing powder
6. Heat with heat gun until melted.


Give it a try and see what you think.

A Quick Recipe

Today I have a quick post with a recipe for a candy. I will be back in the next few days with a project.

My recipe is really quick and easy but with a big payoff in taste. So here we go:

3 simple ingredients

Poor Man'sTurtles

Ingredients:
A bag of Rolo's
Pecan halves or whole pieces
Waffle Pretzels (these are square shaped pretzels)
Supplies:
Parchment paper
cookie tin

Here is how they look going into the oven.

Step 1: Unwrap your Rolo's (this is the longest step in this recipe)
Step 2: Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet
Step 3: Place the waffle pretzels down first. You can make however many as you want. Just a few or fill your pan. If I fill a cookie sheet I make approx. 24
Step 4: Place a Rolo on top of each square pretzel in the center of the pretzel.
Step 5: Place in a pre-heated 350 oven for just 5 minutes
Step 6: Immediately when taken out of the oven place a pecan piece on top of each Rolo pressing down slightly. The Rolo's will have the caramel squeeze out but no worries.

 This shows me adding a pecan piece to the top of each Rolo and pressing down.

Step 7: Let totally cool!!!  If you're in a hurry you can place them in the refrigerator or even freezer while still on the cookie sheet to harden and cool faster. Once cooled they will be firm again and because it is on the parchment paper any amount that overflowed will stay with the candy piece when you peel them off the paper.

They are cooling on the rack but if you look close there is one missing.  If I had waited it would have peeled off clean with no chocolate or caramel left behind.  I just couldn't wait!!! lol

Warning-- these are addicting!!! If you have had these at my house or when I've brought them scrapping leave a comment below and let everyone know what you think of these little gems. I LOVE them lol Can you tell?

I hope you give them a try. Enjoy!!

An Anniversary card

Today I have a wedding anniversary card for you. I used a new stamp set from CTMH called Childhood Portrait. I don't have the paper line that is featured with this stamp set yet so I used a romantic paper pack from Colorbok' titled Vintage Rose. I hope you like it. This is for my daughter and her husband. I thought this stamp was perfect.

I used CTMH Cocoa ink for the tree and the kids on the bench and CTMH Olive ink for all the paper edges. A misc. sheer brown ribbon with a little bling in the center of the bow was added. I don't know how well it is showing up but I used a dauber and colored the upper background of the stamped piece in CTMH Heavenly Blue, and the lower section with  Desert Sand. I have Happy Anniversary stamped in the inside.

Be sure and stop by tomorrow for a Tip when embossing.

Hand Puppets

Do you remember as a kid playing with Hand Puppets? Well where I live we just got a brand new Big Lots store. They had some Martha Stewart kits for some really cute Hand Puppets. With having a young Granddaughter I thought these would be fun for her and her Grandma & Grandpa  to play with together. When she gets a bit older she and I will make some together but for this group I made them for her.

Here is the Lion

Here is the Bird

Here are the Frog, Pig and Bunny

Aren't they cute? I think we will have so much fun playing with them.

They are made from felt pieces, crepe paper , sticker decorative paper, flat backed beads for eyes and pipe cleaners for tails. The bags are 3 3/8" x 6 1/4".

Glitter Anyone?

I posted a few days ago about using the Glue pad as one way of using Glitter. Today I want to show you another way when working with Glitter. I got a kit from Martha Stewart that is a card kit using glitter and sticker paper. This method is using a die that is cut from sticker paper. The individual cuts are peeled off and glitter applied. Doing the smallest areas first works the best. I also found that after applying the glitter pat it on the area before dumping off the excess. That helps to give a more solid filled in look on the sticker paper. The examples that I have here are the results of this method. I will return with them on a card or finished project in the future.

 

 

 

They really sparkle in person. Now I am wondering if you used sheets of Score Tape or some other sticker paper and you punched out a design or cut a design if it would work the same way? I have another product which is a Rub On that can also be glittered. I will give that a try next and let you know what I discover. 

ENJOY!!

Vellum Votive Covers

Today I wanted to show you how to make some cute Vellum Votive Covers for Christmas. We will do some stamping, coloring with markers, and using embossing heat tape.
Let's get started:
  


  

• Supplies: 
• vellum (2) pieces cut  at 2 1/2" x 6" for each votive. I cut a total of 6 for 3 candles. This size can vary depending on the size of your votive holders.
  
• Glass votive holders (3)
• stamps of your choice (I used Merry Pursuits by CTMH)
• markers- CTMH colors  Olive, New England Ivy, Cranberry, Cocoa, Parchment, Blush and Vineyard Berry. Cocoa ink pad
  
• stamp press from Fiskars

• In the picture above I show the heat tape roll, score tape and a gold polyester tape that is 1/8". All 3 of these are heat resistant and can be used with glitter, micro beads, glitter, foil etc

• heat gun
• Moss Tinsel Embossing Powder
• Embossing Buddy
• Embossing Tray

Directions:

1. I stamped with cocoa ink my little elves. Use 3 of the 6 vellum pieces and stamp a different elf on each piece. Make sure you allow time for the image to dry before going on to the next step.

2. Turn the vellum over and begin to color using the markers. Again allow enough time for the ink to dry between colors. The pictures below shows an image starting to be colored and then a completed colored elf.

3. Using the Score tape adhere the remaining 3 pieces one to each of your stamped vellum pieces on each short end.

4.  Place a strip of the Heat tape on both of  the short ends on the stamped side.

5. Sprinkle the embossing powder over the heat tape. In the picture below I show the heat tape roll, score tape and a gold polyester tape that is 1/8". All 3 of these are heat resistant and can be used with glitter, micro beads, glitter, foil etc.

6. Heat with the heat gun being careful  not to hold the gun in one spot very long. This process is fairly quick.  Take caution.

7. Place the finished piece over a votive candle and light

 Aren't they Cute?!! Give it a try. There are many possibilities you could do. They make cute gifts as well.

Have you tried a glue pad?

There are some questions that have come my way about using a Glue Pad. There are a few different ways of using a Glue Pad but I am going to talk about stamping and using glitter with a Glue Pad.

Supplies:
Glue Pad
Stamp of choice
Cardstock- orange and black
Glitter-Black from Martha Stewart
 Cricut & Mini Monograms
Bowl of  warm water
1/8" hole punch
Black 1/8" ribbon

In my example I took a pumpkin stamp and  instead of ink I pressed it onto a glue pad.
Stamp as you normally would onto your cardstock or paper

* VERY IMPORTANT  wash your stamp immediately. You don't want the glue to dry onto the stamp. If it does it will ruin your stamp.  You will want to have a bowl of  warm wateras part of your supplies. Drop your stamp in the warm water right after stamping. This will dissolve the glue.

Sprinkle glitter over the image
Knock off excess glitter and Viola you have a Glittered image.

I used Black glitter from Martha Stewart.  I cut the image out and then  pop dotted the pumpkin on a scalloped square cut from my Cricut and Mini Monograms. If you are in my Fiskars monthly product swap  you may recognize these when you get your package.

See you again tomorrow for another tip or technique.

Stamping on a Candle

This is not a new technique but I thought with Christmas coming and all of us  needing to make some gifts that it would be a good one to show again.  It is a technique  of stamping on candles. One method is stamping directly on the candle. But I am showing you another method here. This technique is stamping on tissue paper and embossing it and then putting it on the candle. Let's get started.

  Using a textured candle is ideal so when you are applying the tissue to the candle it is more forgiving. I only had a smooth candle on hand so that is what my example is.

These are the supplies you will need. A textured candle, versamark ink pad, stamp of your choice,embossing buddy, tissue paper, embossing powder and a heat gun.

I cut my tissue 4 1/2 x 10 1/4. Depending on the size of your candle you may need to cut differently. This was a 3x6 candle. Then take your embossing buddy and rub over the entire surface of the tissue paper. This will keep the embossing powder from sticking in the wrong places. Now stamp all over the tissue paper using the versamark ink. Apply embossing powder. Place the tissue paper in a box , so you don't have to hold it, and heat with the heat gun. Move the heat gun as soon as you see it melting. The tissue paper is thin and delicate so keep the heat gun moving to avoid burning it.  This picture shows my completed embossed tissue paper.

This is the candle now with the tissue paper melted on to the candle.

 

I took the candle and put it in one of those tall clear bags to package it. I tied a ribbon around the top with a tag attached.

You could do different colored candles with matching tissue paper color and a variety of stamps. How about a green candle with green tissue and emboss with white trees on it. They would look like snowy trees. Give it a try and see what you can come up with. Have Fun!!!

Tasty Apple Crisp

 For today I decided on giving you a recipe instead of a project. I think you will think it was worth it.
So I am giving you  all a really good recipe for Apple Crisp.
This is a perfect dish for this time of year.  The recipe came from the "News of the Highlands" This is a newspaper in Highland Falls, NewYork.  My husband grew up in Highland Falls NY,which is 60 miles north of the city, and still subscribes to his hometown newspaper. Last week they had a title "Mmm...bake a fall apple crisp.  So I decided to give it a try. Well the title was right!!! This is a very yummy Apple Crisp. So here is the recipe so you can give it a try.

Apple Crisp
For the crisp topping:

• 6 Tblsp cold butter , cut into 1/2" chunks, or you can use 6 Tblsp canola oil or a flavored nut oil (hazelnut or walnut)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats or 1/2 cup chopped walnuts,hazelnuts,or pecans
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• using your fingers, a pastry cutter, or a food processor, work the butter or (oil) into the rest of the ingredients until you have a coarse crumbly mixture. Set aside.

For the  fruit filling:

• 2 1/2 lbs. apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch thick chunks.
• 1/4 cup raisins(optional)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 tblsp lemon juice
• 2-4 tblsp sugar, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
Butter a 2 quart baking dish
Toss the fruit with the other filling  ingredients and adjust the sugar to taste. Arrange the fruit mixture in the baking dish and cover with the topping. Set the dish on a sheet pan to catch any drippings.Bake until the fruit juices are bubbling and the topping is brown, about 1 hour and 10 minutes
Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with whipped cream.



ENJOY!!!

I have a Cricut Tip for you today...

For all of you Cricut lovers out there....This is a you tube video for a really cool technique when using the Cricut. This video  was done by Clever Someday. She calls it a Hinge Technique for cutting out printouts. She explains it very well and I am so glad I stumbled upon this. All the credit goes to her of course. I just wanted to share it with all of you. Be sure and stop by her site to see lot's more.

I gave it a try and here is my result.

This is the first couple of steps I am showing here. The paper was attached in the hinge fashion with blue painters tape. I moved my mouse down to the paper and in a bit and took note of those numbers that appeared on the screen. Make note of these so you can complete this technique. Mine were 1 1/4 for the Left/Right and 4 1/4 for the In/Out. I then cut a 3 1/2" circle out of the red cardstock. Then I placed my design I had made under this circle.

Step 2 This is showing you my design now placed on the mat.

Step 3: I have brought up the red card stock to make sure I like how I have my design placed within that circle. I would now bring the red paper down and proceed to cut the 3 1/2" circle out of the square that is now on the mat.

Step 4: Here is my end result of my design cut out.

I  made my design using a different way then she did. I wanted to show you another way of getting  a printout you could use in doing this. So I used Microsoft Word 2007. I used the Word Art function and a circle shape to make the Merry Christmas part of this. I printed that out on white card stock. Then I stamped my Owl and holly. I used Markers and Glitter and Stickles to finish decorating the owl.  I cut it in a square large enough to handle and be able to center under my cut circle.

With this technique you could make a number of different sizees and different shapes. I hope you give it a try and see what you can come up with.

Thanks again to Clever Someday for this video and instruction.

Top Note Pumpkins

Well I guess I should try and explain what a Blogtoberfest is first. So here goes:
What is Blogtoberfest?
A month-long celebration of sharing and teaching. Tresa Black of Fabulously Artsy is challenging herself and others to share as often as possible throughout the month of October with tips, techniques and tutorials.

I decided I would join her in this and have my first post today. (I just found out about it yesterday lol)  I hope you enjoy and be sure and check out all the other Bloggers that are also doing this throughout the month.

Top Note Pumpkins

I have seen a variety of ways of making Pumpkins on the internet. So I decided to try the version where you cut out the Sizzix Top Note Die 12 times and attach them all together. 

Directions:
Cut out 12 of the Top Note Die using orange cardstock
 Random stamp each one of them using a variety of Fall themed stamps

Fold each Top Note in half the long way.

Cut the peak off of the bottom of all 12 so it will stand.
Glue one side of the folded top note to another one and continue until all 12 have  been attached forming a circle. Just before closing the last side I inserted a brown pipe cleaner for the stem and attached leaves on to it as well. I curled the top around a pencil.


I had a few extra ones cut so I folded them the short sides together instead of the tall sides like I did in the first one. It isn't near as full due to the difference in number of top notes but I think it is cute too. So depending which way you fold you will get either a tall pumpkin or a short fatter pumpkin.Also depending on the number you put together will determine how full your pumpkin is.  This is a good way of having a variety in your pumpkin patch. 


Supplies:
Orange cardstock from Michael's, also a misc scrap of Green for leaves.

Sizzix Top Note Die ( I used my Cuttlebug to cut them out)

Autumn Terracotta ink and marker.
Daubers
YES glue ( I found this really made it sturdy and using YES glue keeps your paper flat.
Variety of Fall theme stamps( I wanted it to be able to be used for both Halloween and Thanksgiving)
Brown Pipe cleaner


Hope you enjoy this project and give it a try.

I added a Countdown to Christmas

I know we haven't  even celebrated Halloween yet but I thought before Christmas sneaks up on all of us I would put this cute little Christmas Tree with a banner counting down the days to Christmas on my blog. I'm trying to do a little of my Christmas projects, cards, baking, gift making etc. starting now and as often as I can. That way I hope to be ready long before that last week before Christmas that is usually the crunch time for me. I am trying really hard this year to be ready long before that. I will try and keep you posted on how I am doing in this goal. Maybe my little Tree will help you too!!

Leave a comment here and let me know how you are doing on your Christmas projects and plans.

You don't want to miss this....

There is a wonderful Giveaway that you need to check out. It is at a blog of one of my Favorite Bloggers. She is Fabulously Artsy. Also at this same site Fabulously Artsy is having a Blogtoberfest that I am going to take her up on this challenge. I am going to try and post as much as I can this month with tips, projects etc. I am hoping I can do this for all of you. By clicking on the highlighted words in this post they will take you directly to the post about her giveaway and the blogtoberfest. Be sure and check her out and come back and stop by here too. Have Fun!!

I have added some New features

I have added a search box right here on my blog where you can search the web while you're here and another search box to search for entries on my own blog. I hope these will be useful for you. The search box for the web will open in a new window for you.

I have also added some ads that are related to my type of blog which is Crafting of all types.

One last thing I am trying to get more Followers. Pass the word to all your friends and relatives. You won't be bothered as one of my Followers. It would be a benefit to me if I could increase my number of Followers. So I hope you can help me out. I will try to add interesting projects and topics to my blog on a regular basis for you.

I am learning and may need to make some changes as we go along so it all runs smoothly for everyone. If you have any suggestions let me know. I will place close attention to how these are all working.

Thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment while you are visiting here. I would LOVE to hear from you.