Thank You Secret Santa & Simon Says Stamp January Card Kit

I had a wonderful Christmas with the family. Now any chance I get I'm in my studio playing with my new stamping supplies. I received all kinds of stamps, punches, embellishments - but the biggest and greatest things of all are.....MY NEW COPIC MARKERS AND INKTENSE PENCILS!! Now I just need to work on my technique; it all looks so much easier in the tutorials I have watched.

 

My Secret Santa (my sister-in-law) went above and beyond this year. So to thank her I made her a card using Simon Says Stamp January Card Kit supplies and many of the things she got me for Christmas.

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All I want for Christmas!

So have I been naughty or nice this year? 

Hopefully my Secret Santa wasn't too overwhelmed by my massive wish list and realized what would be the coolest things to receive. We shall see! Happy Holidays to all!

1. Sizzix Big Shot

2. Copic Sketch Markers - 72 set (B)

Warmest Wishes Holiday Card 2012

I think most of my friends and family have received their Holiday card so now it is safe to post it without spoiling it for them.

I HAVE A CONFESSION: I can't take credit for this design, I saw Kristina Werner do a card very similar to this. She did a bit more stamping on the background papers where I used patterned papers from My Mind's Eye to save time. I make anywhere from 50-60 cards every year, so I try to make it a simple design. However, I think this card took me the longest yet in my history of making cards. All the cutting of the trees on the Silhouette and pasting them together with their trunks and stars seemed to take forever. Kristina used pre-made trees that were part of the My Mind's Eye -12 Days of Christmas paper collection from last year.

Hope this finds you all happy and healthy (my daughter just threw up from reading that!) OK, everyone give each other a hug and be thankful for your family and friends and enjoy the holidays!

Enjoy!!

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Hanukkah Card 2012

In my family we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. Neither side is religious at all, so we celebrate each holiday in our own way. For Hanukkah my girls enjoy lighting the candles every night, listening to some Hanukkah songs, playing dreidel and enjoying some chocolate gelt.

























I only make 10 or so cards for family and friends, so I try and do something quick and easy. Below is my design this year. I used my Silhouette Cameo and purchase the "8 Glowing Lights" design from the Silhouette online store. I cut that out of some silver paper and glued it on. I had some blue paper that I stamped with a dreidel stamp in versamark ink and glued that on. Wrapped some ribbon, tied a bow, put a splash of yellow Stickles on the flame, then rounded a couple of the corners of the card. Supplies are listed below.

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Sufganiot (Jewish Donuts)

This year I decided to spoil my family with some traditional Hanukkah snacks, Sufganiot, which a Jewish donuts. During Hanukkah, it is a tradition to eat foods fried in oil, to commemorate the miracle of the lamp oil that lasted for eight days when it should have only lasted for one.

This recipe is a Sephardic style donut called Bunuelos (aka bimuelos), a rustic yeast-raised and fried donut. Sephardic is a general term referring to the descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews. For Hanukkah, these donuts are traditionally eaten with honey; any other time they are also terrific with powdered sugar.

I found this recipe at pbs.org, it seems to take a long time to load the page so I have copied the recipe below.















Ingredients
1 package dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 cups warm water, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon oil
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (14.6 ounces)
Oil for deep frying
Honey (or powdered sugar)

Instructions

• Stir the yeast into 1 cup of the warm water and allow to proof. (If you don’t see bubbles after a few minutes, buy new yeast.)
• Mix in the remaining cup of water along with the salt, sugar and tablespoon of oil. Slowly stir in the flour, and keep stirring until you have a smooth, wet dough.
• Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for at least 1 hour. (I’ve allowed it to go four hours, stirring down occasionally, and it only gets more delicious).
• Put 3 inches of oil in a pot suitable for deep frying and bring to 370 degrees F. Line a tray with paper towels. Get a bowl of water ready.
• Moisten your hands in the bowl of water and grab about 3 tablespoons of the dough.
• Quickly form it into a rough ball and poke a hole through the center. These are supposed to be rustic, don’t spend any time trying to make them perfect.
• Drop carefully into the oil. Repeat for as many as will fit comfortably in your pot without crowding. Fry until golden brown on one side, then flip and brown the other side. Use a slotted spoon to remove to paper towels.
• Drizzle with honey (or offer honey for dipping, or dust with powdered sugar) and serve immediately.

Next time I make these I'll probably 1/2 the recipe, it makes a lot, I made about 10 or so donuts, which was enough for the 4 of us, but I could have made 12 more most probably.

Simon Says Stamp - November Kit - Happy Birthday MOM!

Sometimes I am a horrible daughter!! It was my mother's birthday last week and I didn't get around to making her a card - Oh, I just cringe with disappointment!! My job wore me out, my co-worker went on vacation, so by evening time I was pooped out. And between soccer practice, soccer games and weekend get togethers - I FAILED!! Can you tell I'm not happy with myself?

Nonetheless, I figured I better redeem myself a bit and make her a card for when I see her this weekend, and I better come up with a nice gift as well! I am her only daughter so it all falls on me, oh geez!, the guilt!!

The papers in this kit seem a bit darker, some a bit masculine, but then some not so much. It took me a little time, but I finally came up with an idea. I've been kind of in a slump lately, I think it's the lovely gray, wet weather we have here in the cold, dark, rainy Pacific Northwest.

Below are my list of supplies used. Just hop on over to Simon Says Stamp, they are by far one of the best places to get supplies.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy!!

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A Sneak Peek

Can you tell what I've been working on? That's right, Christmas cards!! Little by little I've been working away, I've got my assembly line going!  I think this year is the earliest I've started on my Christmas cards. I know it's not even Halloween yet, but the rest of my year gets pretty crazy from here on out, so anything I can do to get ahead help. The cards are quite involved this year so I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get them done. I also plan on doing some Hanukkah cards too, I haven't done those in a few years (sorry my friends). Still need to work out a design for those, but I only really need a handful so they should go pretty quickly.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, thanks for stopping by.

Thinking of You

Had some time to make a card last night. I worked with all the supplies from Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit. I really like the papers and stamps this month! I pulled out my Tim Holtz Distress Markers and colored the big flower and leaves on the front; it was a very therapeutic moment and I'm quite happy with the way they turned out.

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