Going Old School…and Cherries Jubilee Cheesecake Bars…

Good afternoon, my friends!

Another cold and rainy day here in California…I really don’t ever remember rain this far into the spring before…we usually don’t get any after March or so…crazy!

Just one card to share with you today…This week’s Crafty Secrets’ challenge over at Splitcoast is to show our “school spirit”…go “old school”…Appropriate for the end of another school year, don’t you think?!

Here’s what I came up with:

A very “old school” image from Crafty Secrets’ “Childhood” Images & Journal Notes booklet.  I went with a much plainer look for this card…I really love the vintage lined paper for this…it comes from DCWV’s “Vintage Collage” stack.

Some homey old lace, Martha Stewart “Putty” seam binding, and some gingham ribbon, a “ruler” sticker from Crafty Secrets’ “Little Boys” stickers,  paper roses, buttons, and just a bit of glitter…

While making this card I was reminded of some of my favorite teachers…

My favorite, I think was Mrs. Erdelyi in Second Grade…She was young, beautiful and kind.  It was while I was in her class that I remember first falling in love with history (which was my major in college)…ancient Greece and Rome, Greek myths…my mind started to open to the wonderful world around me…

And some other very dear teachers in my life…

My wonderful Mother-in-law, Shirley, who taught P.E. in high school and college…

My husband’s grandmother, Minnie, who taught school in Wisconsin in the 1800’s…

Here’s Minnie with her students one year.  I love that we have this picture!  Reminds me of the image on my card…

My great-grandmother, Pauline…you’ve heard a few stories about her before, who taught in a little Arizona schoolhouse around the turn of the century…

Another of my great-grandmothers, Mary, who also taught in a small schoolhouse around 1900…

And the newest soon-to-be teacher in our family…my beautiful daughter, Chelsea, who’s a little more than halfway through her college preparations to become an elementary teacher…we’re so proud of her!

So thank-you, to all the wonderful teachers in our lives…past, present, and future…where would we be without you?

And now…something sweet!

Cherries Jubilee Cheesecake Bars!

Oh, my!  These are just about the yummiest things on the planet!  So easy, too! 

I saw a tiny picture of this on the Betty Crocker box I was using one day, went to their website, and found this recipe:

Cherries Jubilee Cheesecake Bars

1 box Betty Crocker cherry chip cake mix

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 packages (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 container Betty Crocker cherry frosting

3 eggs

1.  Heat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat dry cake mix and butter with mixer on low speed until crumbly; reserve 1 cup.  In bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch pan, press remaining crumbly mixture.

2.  In same bowl, beat cream cheese and frosting with mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Beat in eggs until blended.  Pour over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumbly mixture.

3.  Bake about 45 minutes or until set;  cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until chilled.  Store covered in refrigerator.

***I actually used fat-free cream cheese, and it was amazing!  ( and I didn’t feel quite so bad!)  Delicious!

Well, that’s all from me today…hope you all have a beautiful evening, and I’ll see you soon with something new…

 

***Just wanted you all to know I’m going to take a long weekend computer break!  (….starting tomorrow…Still need {want} to make lots of visits today!)  Going to enjoy some fun family time  & won’t post again until next week.  I hope you all have the most wonderful Memorial Day and weekend!***

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Teachers,Splitcoast,Old School,Chelsea Campbell,Shirley Campbell,Minnie Campbell,Pauline Udall Smith,Mary West Riggs

Sending Some Love Your Way…

Good afternoon, my friends! 

It’s pretty gloomy here in central California today…the clouds are filled with rain and just ready to burst! (I secretly love days like this!)

Well, as  my title says today, just sending some love your way today…not much to talk about, just a couple of cards and a warm hello to each and every one of you!

Here’s my first card:



This beautiful vintage image is from Crafty Secrets’ new “Calendar” Creative Scraps—there are now more gorgeous images on the back!



Isn’t it beautiful?!

I just typed up my own sentiment on the computer, added some beautiful black lace, PTI black grosgrain and satiny white ribbon..



…lots of Platinum Stickles just everywhere…Dazzling Diamonds on the image, and some gorgeous chunky clear German glass glitter on the beautiful Prima flowers.

Next, something a little different…



Isn’t this  fun?!  “Let them eat cupcakes”…love that!This is from Kristin Hubick at Retro Cafe’ Art….so many great images!

Marie is usually kept to all the sumptuous, soft pastel colors in artwork…I felt like she needed to pop a bit more on some black—I like it!

Black and pink grosgrain ribbon, black sequins backing fabulous crystal rhinestones…



…lots of Platinum Stickles again…I’m just a little hooked on that stuff!  Dazzling Diamonds, again…pretty much everywhere…and that’s about it!

I love the way colored images—especially vintage ones—just pop off the page when backed with black.  My tastes have really been influenced  by my Mom…she’s an amazing artist and so great with color…

She would always choose things backed in black, I would usually go for the same things backed in white or cream….she eventually swayed me over to the “dark side”! (Never admitted that to her yet…ssssshhhhhhh!)

Well, that’s all for today…hope the day is beautiful for you, no matter the weather!

See you soon with something new…

Julie

Family…a Link to Our Past, a Bridge to Our Future…

"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.”  --Alex Haley

I’ve always been drawn to my ancestors…those who came before me, those who made me who I am…

I’m fortunate to belong to a family that appreciates these things, and from the time I was a young girl, I’ve been told the stories, showed the pictures, taken to the places where the stories and pictures took place…a wonderful childhood…

“The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”  --Thomas Jefferson

My blog experience so far has been an extension of this great love of mine…I love to create vintage-style cards and be reminded by the images I use of my family…those here now, and those long gone.  To me, it’s another way to preserve these memories, and share them with my family…and you.

Today, I made a card with one of my favorite old family photos…

This is the Ostlund Family, taken about 1906.  My grandfather, Dow, would be born 6 years later…I love this sweet family scene.

My great-grandmother, Anna Brandley Ostlund, the mother in the photo,  is very dear to me.  I was so grateful to have been able to know her…

She was born in 1882 and had such an amazing and full life.  I love these early photos of her…

She was born to Johann Theodore and Marie Elizabeth Braendli, both Swiss immigrants, well-skilled in the  baking arts.  They ran a bakery in a small town in southern Utah when Anna was a girl.

                             {Anna & her brothers}

In her life, she would live in a chicken coop for a time due to hard family circumstances while her father was far away in Europe (her mother wouldn’t write and tell him…didn’t want to worry him!), lose her mother when she was still a young girl, leave the west for a new home in Canada when she was 16, run a frontier general store…

Marry a handsome barrister, Hjaldermar, of Swedish parentage…become a wonderfully loving mother and grandmother…and end her life in Arizona, surrounded by family who loved her.

Many more stories for other days…

“Family faces are magic mirrors.  Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future.”—Gail Lemet Buckley

When I look at Anna,

I see my the woman who’s eyes and nose would instantly turn red with emotion whenever we walked into her home for a visit…I see my mother who resembles her so much (my mother has her nose and eyes, which turn red the same way when she’s emotional…I love that!)…I see my youngest daughter, Anna, who is named for her.

Thank-you for letting me share my feelings and more of my family memories with you…

One more card before I go today…

“Together is a wonderful place to be”, it says…perfect, isn’t it?  This beautiful image is from Crafty Secrets’ “Family” Vintage Postcard Kit.  Instead of making a wall hanging out of it, I decided to place it on a card…maybe this will go to my Mom (so many of my cards end up with Mom!)

Some lace, grosgrain & gingham ribbon, glitter (of course!), Dazzling Diamonds, and that’s about it!

Hope you’re having a beautiful weekend, and I’ll see you back here soon with something new…

***Just wanted to add a bit about our on-going theme on modesty...you can read what other Mothers have to say by going here....

I have so many thoughts on the subject that I'll be sharing with you in weeks to come.  To go along with my earlier words on this post, when I look at the image of my great-grandmother....modesty personified. 

There is something so inwardly--and outwardly--beautiful about a modest woman.  There is a glow.  Confidence that she knows herself and what she's meant to be.  There is no need to go along with the trends of the day, to conform to what society tells her is "normal".

This is the kind of beauty I want my daughters to possess.  Classic beauty.

Julie