Something Yummy!

This time of year I always start thinking about baking, especially zucchini & pumpkin bread! Here's a quick & easy way to brighten someone's day :) ! That great sentiment is from the soon to be released ODBD set, Flourished Christian Symbols! I'm excited to share this recipe with you because it's one of my very favorites!! I think the vanilla is the key, plus it's really moist, I just love it...you'll have to let me know what you think :) ... I'll get back to that recipe in just a jiffy, but for now, onto a coordinating card, made with the same stamp set. This started with a completely different layout, but at one point I had the pieces laid out and saw that they made a cross, so I went with it! This next one was made with ODBD's soon to be released We Three Kings set (ODBD) and Taylored Expressions cupcake challenge #35 sketch!

and the inside of the card...using a couple more pieces from the We Three Kings set!

....and now, that yummy recipe :)

Yummy Zucchini Bread
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups shredded zucchini
2/3 cup water
2 Tbsp vanilla
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp cloves

Optional add-ins:

1/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup golden raisins and/or craisins
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of loaf pans (2 pans 9x5x3 in. or 3 pans 8 ½ x4 ½ x2 ½).
Mix oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add in eggs, zucchini, and water. Mix dry ingredients together and blend into zucchini mixture. Stir in nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips if desired.
Bake 60-70 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean from center of the loaf. Cool slightly. Loosen sides of loaves from pans and remove the loaves to a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

*For Pumpkin bread:
Substitute 15oz can of pumpkin for zucchini and increase bake time by about 10minutes.

Hope you enjoy that recipe and your weekend too :) ... thanks for stopping by!

Supplies for the Zucchini bread belly band~ Stamps: Flourished Christian Symbols Ink: Chocolate Chip Paper: White, Textured Red, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze & Ski Slope DP (SU holiday mini) Tools/Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Dew Drops

Supplies for the Cross Card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2) ~ Stamps: Flourished Christian Symbols Paper: Chocolate Chip, Real Red, White, Ski Slope DP (SU holiday mini) Ink: Chocolate Chip Tools/Accessories: Scallop Edge PUnch, 1/4" Chocolate Chip gg ribbon

Supplies for the We Three Kings card (size 5 1/4 x 5 1/2) ~ Stamps: We Three Kings Paper: Chocolate Chip, White, Ski Slope DP Ink: Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir, Copic Markers Tools/Accessories: Clear rhinetones, Kaiser self-adhesive olive rhinestones, 1/4" Chocolate Chip & Olive gg ribbon

Cupcakes & Muffin

Here's my card for this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge! This has been a super fun but crazy week at our house. It started with a sweet email from Taylor letting me know that she'd selected me to be this week's Featured Cupcake Sampler! Wow...what a fun & totally unexpected surprise : ) !! I have more new cupcake stamps, this time from SU (Crazy for Cupcakes), so what a great excuse to ink 'em up!! Later that day, we brought a 4 month old English Bulldog puppy home to be part of our family! (drum roll please....) here she is ~Her name is Muffin & she is a wonderful pup, but... oh my goodness, I'd forgotten how much supervision and time puppies require. With all the puppy fun and excitement, my planned stamping time just didn't happen this week. I sat down and started several projects, but there were just too many distractions from first thing in the morning, to late at night. Two of those projects were today's cards...lots of start and stop and fragmented thoughts... I have to admit, I think that shows in the cards and I was a little diasspointed in how they turned out. I really wanted the feature cupcake card to be extra special :( but I guess it's okay.

GOOD : ) news...I know where you CAN find some spectacular cards...right HERE! Taylor has an awesome sketch for you to try and she & the cupcake crew have created cards that are sure to inspire you!!

Here is another card I did with this week's sketch...using some fun new Hawaiian Papaya DP and less traditional cupcake colors, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss & Tangerine Tango! For those of you who use Copics, I found that YR18 is a great match for Tangerine Tango (that's the color I used on the candle)...

That's it for me. I hear a little someone shuffling down the hallway...I think it's time for me to sign off and take her for yet another trip outside : ) ! Thanks for stopping by & Have a great weekend!!

Supplies for the first card ~ Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes (SU) Paper: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Bella Rose DP, Prism Bronze Ore Metallic Ink: Palette Noir, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, White Craft Tools/Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Paper snips, Paper piercing tool/mat pack, Photo corner punch, Irridescent Ice EP/Heat tool, Crimper, Large Oval punch, sponge dauber, Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, rhinestones, Dimensionals

Supplies for the second card ~ Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes (SU) Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, White, Hawaiian Papaya DP Ink: Palette Noir & Chocolate Chip marker for the doodling Copics: YR18, Y17, YG03 E15, W1 Tools/Accessories: Word Window punch, Large Oval punch, Scallop Edge punch, Copper brad & Cord (SU retired), Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Dimensionals

Splendid Little Give-a-way!

A few more yummy cards to show you from Pink Poison/Splendid Little Stamps! AND, a chance to WIN one of 4 FREE stamp sets to be given away during the month of September! Check out all the details right HERE : ) !!! It's a Splendid Spree Give-a-way! It's easy to enter, so be sure & get your name in that drawing for some splendid little stamps!! Today's cards all feature a stamp set that has been temporarily discontinued, but if you like the set (what's not to like?), just contact Marie at Pink Poison and she'll be sure to let you know when it's available again. I LOVE store bought cake....love it!!! So these images really were especially fun to play with. My first card uses Taylor's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge Sketch (#30) (awesome sketch!!) and Pink Poison's Fancy Cakes set. I used some Prism Silver Metallic Cardstock (if you double click on the photo, you can really get a good look at that metallic cardstock!) and some shiny little Swarovski rhinestones (available at walmart in the bead/craft department) to give it some extra special shimmer and sparkle : ) !

Mmm....what's your favorite flavor of cake? Mine is right here....Chocolate Fudge, preferably with Chocolate filling! Yum!! These next 2 are enclosure sized card (or could be used a place settings...wouldn't that be fun?) ~

Aren't those little forks and spoons just adorable? I picked up this punch, made by All Night Media, when I was in Seattle last Spring. It punches out a tiny little fork, knife and spoon. I used shiny silver cardstock...made 'em look like the real thing! I know it's hard to tell proportion in the photo, but the fork and spoon are about 1" tall.

This last little enclosure card is a white fluffy cake with colorful frosting...that's the beauty of stamps, YOU get to decide what color & flavor the cake is! When my daughters were little, they would have loved this Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Liliac and Green Galore cake at their parties (actually, they probably still would!). For my younger daughter especially, it could never be too bright, too colorful or too glittery, lol!!

Thanks for stopping by : ) ... lots more to show you in the next few days, including that mini gift bag tutorial!!

Supplies for the first card (4" square) ~ Stamps: Fancy Cakes (PP) Paper: Prism Silver Metallics, Pink Passion, White Ink: Palette Noir, Pink Passion Copics: RV00, RV02, RV04, RV10, g14, YG11, Blender Pen Tools/Accessories: CB with Swiss Dots EF, Ticket Corner punch, rhinestones, Dimensionals, Spica clear glitter pen, Sakura Clear glaze pen

Supplies for the second card (4 1/4" square) ~ Stamps: Fancy Cakes (PP) Paper: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, White Ink: Palette Noir, Chocolate Chip Copics: E09, E13, E15, R43, R46, G14, YG11, B00 Tools/Accessories: CB with Round scallop Nesites & Swiss Dot EF, Large oval punch, 1/4" circle punch, Gold brads, Red gingham & White taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals

Supplies for the third card (3" square) ~ Stamps: Fancy Cakes (PP) Paper: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, White, Bella Rose DP Ink: Palette Noir Copics: E13, E15, E09, E02, R43, R46, R02, G14 Tools/Accessories: Ticket Corner punch, Paper piercing tool, flatware punch (all night media), Sakura clear glaze pen, Spica clear glitter pen, Dimensionals

Supplies for the fourth card (2 1/2 x 3") ~ Stamps: Fancy Cakes (PP) Paper: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, White, Bella Rose DP Ink: Palette Noir Copics: E13, E15, E09, E02, R43, R46, B00, G14 Tools/Accessories: CB/Scallop Rectale nesties, Paper piercing tool, flatware punch (all night media), Sakura clear glaze pen, Spica clear glitter pen, Dimensionals

Supplies for the fifth card (3 1/2 x 2 1/4") ~ Stamps: Fancy Cakes (PP), Bitty Birthday (sentiment, SU) Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, White Ink: Palette Noir, Lovely Lilac Copics: YG06, B02, B05, V04, V06, C1 Tools/Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, 1/4" circle punch, Turquoise brads, Word window punch, rhinestone, Sakura clear glaze pen, Spical clear glitter pen, Paper piercing tool, Dimensionals

Splendid Little Cupcakes

I've been wanting cupcake stamps for soooo long! I was patient, and it was worth the wait....I got the sweetest cupcake stamps (and sentiments) from Pink Poison, aka Splendid Little Stamps, this week!! This is a brand new stamp company and Marie has designed some amazing stamps sets!! You can see 'em right HERE!! These are deep etched rubber stamps, mounted on cling cushion and arrive ready to be trimmed and used with acrylic blocks. And, here's the best part....they stamp bee-a-utifully!! When Marie emailed me to ask if I might like to do a little card designing, I popped over to her site to check out the stamps and after a few audible gasps of delight, emailed her back with a resounding YES please (and a great big thank you!)!!! I'm excited to be part of the team and look forward to sharing these delightfully fresh & fun stamped images with you!

I used the new SU Sweet Always DP for the first card & did some paper piecing on the cupcake. I used the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge Sketch (#30)! This is a great example of how the right DP can just pull an entire card together! Here's a peek at the inside ~ Here's my cupcake trio card. It's 6 1/2 " tall and 3" wide. I think I may have gotten a little carried away with Dew Drops this week, but they're so fun and fit the cupcake theme perfectly ~

And here is a fun little red & black card, kind of has a nostalgic feel to it, maybe like a 1950's Ice Cream Parlor (is it just me or is anyone else getting hungry?). I apologize, but I didn't keep track of which Copics I used to color these last 2 cards. I will try to be better at noting which colors I've used, I promise : ) ! I'll have more Splendid Little cards to show you over the next few days. Now that you've see a few of the stamps, let me introduce you to the rest of the Splendid Little Design Team ~

Paula Bloom http://prbloom.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Pam Miller http://quietsanity-pammyrn.blogspot.com/

Ana Wohlfahrt http://www.inkastamp.blogspot.com/

Faith Hofrichter http://stampinwithmarkiesmom.blogspot.com/

And here's the brand new Splendid Stamping Blog~ http://splendidstamping.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by...hope you have a splendid little weekend ;)!!

Supplies for the first card (size 5" square) ~ Stamps: Cupcake Set Paper: Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, White, Sweet Always DP (new from SU) Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose Accessories/Tools: Photo corner punch, Crystal Effects (on the cherry), Flame Dew Drops, orange striped ribbon (amuse) Sakura clear glaze pen, Spica clear glitter pen, multi colored sentiment was done with Eclipse masking tape and a Stamp-a-majig, pink rick-rack on the inside, Dimensionals

Supplies for the second card (size 6 1/2 x 3") ~ Stamps: Cupcake Set Paper: White, Regal Rose, Sweet Always DP Ink: Palette Noir, Copic Markers Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Flame Dew Drops, Silver Bell Dew Drops, Chunky SU Glitter, Clear Spica glitter pen, 1/4" pumpkin gg ribbon, pink rick-rack, Paper snips for paper piecing, Dimensionals

Supplies for the last card (size 4 3/4" square) ~ Stamps: Cupcake Set Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, White Ink: Palette Noir, Copic Markers Tools/Accessories: Photo Corner punch, CB with Swirls EF, Paper piercing tool/mat pack, Chunky SU glitter, Stamp-a-majig, Black gingham ribbon, Dimensionals