Moxie Fab Challenge--it's the Domestic Goddess!

Good afternoon, all! Hope you're having a wonderful day!

My youngest daughter, Annie, has a day off from school today--teacher work day, I believe. So we're making cupcakes for her belated birthday party tonight, cleaning the house before all her friends arrive, and just having fun together.

I checked out a new blog--to me, anyway!--yesterday, Moxie Fab World (don't you just love the word "moxie"? I do!)...and fab it is! It belongs to Cath Edvalson, Creative Editor of "Paper Crafts" magazine. Every post is a joy to read--beautiful photos, the newest of the new in trends, etc.--you must check it out for yourself! Anyway, she's hosting a challenge to make a project that features any household object--not too tough!

I had already started this card last night, just for fun, then read about the challenge this morning, added the silverware, and called it good! Since it was already a kitchen-themed card, it was pretty simple to adapt it for the challenge. So, obviously, silverware is my featured household item!

So here it is:





This wonderfully vintage image is from Crafty Secrets' "Domestic Goddess" Creative Scraps. The silverware pieces are from Crafty Secrets' "Kitchen Classics" stamp set. I used SU! cardstock, Real Red & Wild Wasabi; my new favorite white cs is by Papertrey--this stuff is SOOOO thick--I love it! The red gingham paper is from Crafty Secrets' "Earthy" dp pad. Then, just various ribbon, crocheted lace, and buttons. I sponged everything with Rangers' Vintage Photo ink. Oh, can't forget my favorite accessory--real silver glitter! I probably use this too much, but I just can't help it! It actually tarnishes a bit over time, which makes it so perfect for the vintage projects that I do.

Okay, enough for now. Gotta run and help my daughter finish up & head out for some party junk food. See you all later, and have a great day!

When Holidays Collide.....

I guess I've just been in a holiday mood this week--DIFFERENT holidays! I made two cards so far this week--Christmas & Halloween. This is my first Christmas project of the year, and I had soooo much fun with it! Used 2 new products I picked up this week--"The Essential Glue Pad" and DecoArt "Snow-Tex"--both were fabulous!!!

The Essential Glue Pad allows you to stamp your image WITH the glue and then apply fine glitter, mica, flocking, etc., WITHOUT using a heat tool--is that cool or what?

The Snow-Tex is white TEXTURED paint--very thick, which you can (and I did) thin with a little water. You then just use a paintbrush and apply. I put a little in a bowl and added a bit of glitter, of course! This stuff is so great! I'll be using it quite a lot, I can tell!

If you click on the photo of my Christmas card, you can see the texture of the paint a bit better...

So here are my cards--both use Crafty Secrets products...the Christmas card uses the "Vintage Christmas" stamp set, and the Halloween card uses the "Halloween" stamp set. I love paper piecing to get a greater depth of color and I love raising bits of the image, so that's what I do...

Doing these two different holiday cards this week reminded me of a couple of pictures I took at my Mom's house a couple of weeks ago. Down in her craft/workroom, she also keeps her holiday decorations. She has bins FULL of holiday stuff just waiting to be displayed all over her house--she's a wonderful decorator! On top of the shelves, are the un-boxed holiday items, just all sitting together in a big holiday mish-mash:

That's all for today--just getting excited about the upcoming holiday season--obviously! This is the time of year I just start to feel alive--fall is magical, and that's how it's always felt to me--enjoy!

Pumpkin Crumble & a Cookie Card...

Just a quick post this morning...I've got a Crafty Secrets card and a recipe--I'm posting them together because of the CS challenge I'm guest-hosting on Splitcoast this week.


The challenge this week is to use baking--fall-inspired baking--as your inspiration. It can either feature food or use colors inspired by baking...warm, yummy colors! My card uses an image from Crafty Secrets' "Homemade" Images & Journal Notes--I love this little cutie baking cookies! Found some adorable little cookie cutters at Michaels--couldn't resist adding them. The cookie cutters on the left and the recipe card elements are from the "Sweet Stuff" set.



Along with the challenge this week I'm asking everyone to share a favorite recipe--something you love to bake for your families around this time of year. My girls told me I HAD to share this recipe...I made it up a couple of years ago, and they can't get enough of it. Not exactly health food, I must admit!

Here it is:

Julie's Pumpkin Crumble

Crust:

1 box Butter Pecan cake mix (or white or yellow)
1 stick butter (melted)

Mix together until crumbly & press into 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350 for about 5-8 minutes--just till lightly browned.


Filling:

1 can Pumpkin Pie mix
1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
handful (or so) Oatmeal
1 bag white chocolate chips

Mix together and pour into baked crust. The white chocolate chips will sink to the bottom, adding another luscious layer to the crust.


Topping:

1 box Butter Pecan cake mix (or other...)
1 stick melted butter (melted)

Mix together until crumbly and sprinkle all over top of filling mixture. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until it's not jiggly.

It's just decadent--sorry!

Enjoy!!!

A Few of My Favorite Things.....

Apparently I'm not done blogging today...

Just finished this little card using a beautiful Crafty Secrets' image from the "Little Dolls" Images & Journal Notes booklet, and it reminded me of some photos I took at my Mom's house a couple of weeks ago of favorite things from my childhood--and hers. Thought I'd share a few of them with you.




This is a very special doll. My great-great grandfather, Theodore Brandley, bought this doll while on an extended trip back to his homeland of Switzerland, and had it shipped to his young daughter, my great-grandmother, Anna. It was then handed down to my mother and is intended for me....Mom isn't quite ready to give it up yet! It was always in my room when I was young and it used to spook me a little...I would get out of bed & lay it gently down on my dresser so her eyes would be closed! Also, knowing that her teeth were real (really!) didn't help me much, either! But I adore this precious keepsake, handed carefully down through the years, and will just as gently deliver it to one of my daughters...




This is a close-up of a beautiful doll from the 1940's that was given to my Mom when she was pretty young--can't remember who gave it to her, but I love it, too. It would always sit next to the older doll on my dresser--there was another with dark hair, but I didn't find her this time. Love her beautiful, soft face...




This music box belonged to my Mom's little sister, Judy, who passed away when she was just seven years old. She had cancer, and was also blind as a result of the cancer. Though she had so many problems, she was a scrappy and funny little girl, I'm told. She loved this music box, which sat by her bed. I've always loved it, too, and at my Grandmother's house, would sleep in that same bedroom when I was visiting, and would gently wind it up before I fell asleep at night and listen to it's sweet music. Can still hear it in my head... Mom's kept it very lovingly all these years.

Well, enough for today! Thanks for putting up with me twice today--I'll try to pace myself a bit better--guess I had a bit on my mind today. As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you're day is filled with wonderful things!

Creative Time with Grandma

We were so lucky to have my parents here this week! I have 5 other siblings and we all want the folks to visit, so we don't get them very often! (Plus, though they live in Utah, Dad still commutes each week to L.A.--his boss won't let him quit! Pretty amazing at age 72!!!)

We had a wonderful time together, but the best part was time that my two younger daughters had to learn from Grandma. My Mom is famous for her cinnamon rolls, and she took an evening to teach my girls--they LOVED it!





My girls have also really been wanting to learn to sew--and again, Mom stepped up to the plate. This is not my strong point, so I would have been a terrible teacher! They made some adorable things, which I may post later, but they really caught on and enjoyed every minute!





While all this girl stuff is going on, my Dad just loves to sit out back and gaze at the mountains--he loves California, and really appreciates the beauty here. I just love walking by the windows & seeing him soaking it all in!




Thanks for enduring more about my family--I'll have more cards & things up later today. But since this week was all about family, just thought I'd share a few moments of it with you....thanks for checking in!