Sketch Challenge {003}
Here’s a sketch challenge for ya! This one will be a contest for you, too! (I am working on my piece o’ art and will post it within the next couple of days.) I have a prize pack (aka BLOG CANDY) in mind and I think you will like it!!! This is a very basic sketch (lines in the dirt) … use it and show me what you can do with it! Rules & Guidelines: 1.) Create a piece of artwork, email (inkysmiles@gmail.com) a URL (link) to me to view/download it BY Aug 9th by 6:00 PM (MST). Make sure to post a comment on this post to let me know you’ve sent something. 2.) I will collect up all the pics of your artwork and post them all in a new post with your name on them on Aug 9th by 8:00 PM (MST). 3.) The contest is VIEWER’S CHOICE. Round up your friends and get them to vote for your piece of art! The artwork with the most votes will win. Votes = comments posted by UNIQUE users for your artwork. 4.) Voting opens once the post is up and will be closed on August 16th (when I get back from vacation). The winner will be announced on August 17th. 5.) Any and all product allowed. 6.) Consider using some of the following: something metal something “fibrous” other than paper something shiny some “non traditional” embellishment a “new to you” technique
CTMH Retiring Stamp Sets… Sooo Sad!
Just an FYI….. Get em’ from your consultant while you still can. I got the list of Retiring Stamp Sets from a friend today… kinda sad to see some of these go! Thankfully I have already purchased the ones I love in this list! Get them before they’re gone. C1237 RELAX C1238 R&RC1240 SPLISH SPLASH C1241 THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (SPANISH)C1242 THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (FRENCH) C1246 HOLLYDAYSC1248 WINTER REFLECTION C1249 WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOODC1250 REJOICE C1253 NUTCRACKERSC1254 FAIRY WISHES C1255 JUST BECAUSED1002 THE SIMPLE THINGS D1003 GIRLY GIRLD1012 CONFETTI AND FAVORS D1022 BABYD1023 GOD BLESS YOU D1025 ALL YOU NEEDD1026 BEAUTY SEEN D1027 JOYD1030 WEDDING D1031 GIFT TAGSD1032 FALL D1036 HERITAGED1038 CHILDHOOD BOY D1051 EXPECTINGD1054 SPECKLED BACKGROUND D1055 BEST FRIENDSD1060 SANTA’S HELPERS D1062 ZOO FRIENDSD1066 ROMANTIC BACKGROUNDS D1068 POLICED1069 ARMY D1070 MARINED1071 FIRE FIGHTER D1072 COAST GUARDD1075 NAVY D1076 AIR FORCED1084 LOVE TAGS D1087 ELEGANT FLORALD1090 RETRO FLOWERS D1091 GROOVYD1092 FLOWER GIRLS D1095 CHRISTMAS TAGSD1096 HOLIDAY BORDERS D1101 BLUE JEANS D1102 TEACHER’S PRAISE D1105 SNOWMAN HOLIDAYSD1112 SEASONAL CELEBRATION D1114 CREATE-A-FILED1116 BE MINE D1117 SQUARE ELEMENTSD1118 CIRCLE ELEMENTS D1119 EASTER GARDEND1120 BRILLIANT BOOKPLATES D1121 BEAUTIFUL SPRINGD1122 SPRING FLOWERS D1124 TO LOVE MORED1125 THE GIVING HAND D1129 SLIDE FRAMESD1132 PLAYFUL TAGS D1133 SEED PACKETSD1134 ELEGANT SCRIPT D1144 DOWN ON THE FARMD1145 FRESH PICKED D1147 GRAPEVINED1149 TEA PARTY D1150 GARDEN VEGETABLESD1161 WITCH’S BREW D1162 SANTA’S WORKSHOPD1173 JEWISH REMEMBRANCE D1180 HAPPY HAUNTING
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less
So tonight I am wondering what to make for dinner…. Brent is sick of me “not knowing what we want to eat for dinner” until 9 pm… way tooo late for dinner….. so tonight I am searching out some fun, new, easy, and QUICK recipes…. I just stumbled across this way cool article on Food Network by Mark Bittman (author of some cool cookbooks)…Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less A lot of these meals are a bit “gourmet” (aka ewww) for my taste buds… but I bet we could take the general idea and run with it…. kinda like scrapbooking… “oooh nice card/layout , but I like this color combo better…..” Hehe! I’m kind of liking #2 with some grilled chicken… MMm MMmMM GOOOD! 2.) Toss a cup of chopped mixed herbs with a few tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan. Serve over angel-hair pasta, diluting the sauce if necessary with pasta cooking water.or #15 but substitute some hard salami or blackforest ham….. 15.) Call it panini: Grilled cheese with prosciutto, tomatoes, thyme or basil leaves. or # 39.. mmmmmmmm Taco Salad is always a winner! 39.) Taco salad: Toss together greens, chopped tomato, chopped red onion, sliced avocado, a small can of black beans and kernels from a couple of ears of corn. Toss with crumbled tortilla chips and grated cheese. Dress with olive oil, lime and chopped cilantro leaves. and I think we will have #64 on Sunday with Chicken Parmesan (Brent makes the BEST Dutch Oven Chicken Parmesan in the world!!! OOOOOH!! YUM! 64.) Pasta with fresh tomatoes: Cook chopped fresh tomatoes in butter or oil with garlic until tender, while pasta cooks. Combine and serve with grated Parmesan. or maybe #97…. ooooh! 97.) So-called Fettuccine Alfredo: Heat several tablespoons of butter and about half a cup of cream in a large skillet just until the cream starts to simmer. Add slightly undercooked fresh pasta to the skillet, along with plenty of grated Parmesan. Cook over low heat, tossing, until pasta is tender and hot. AND THE WINNER IS:19.) Chinese tomato and eggs: Cook minced garlic in peanut oil until blond; add chopped tomatoes then, a minute later, beaten eggs, along with salt and pepper. Scramble with a little soy sauce. LOL! #19 inspired me….. I just sent B off to the supermarket to fetch some fresh veggies… We’re having Fried Rice! What’s on your menu? Inky Smiles!eRiN
7/30/07:: Email Subscriptions SOLVED (I hope…)
LOL! Ok, so I think I have it solved now. Seems there was some problem with the html… well, that’s what the Feedburner folks said anyway… so I reloaded the subscribe tool and tested it on a friend and looks like it works! YAY! Isn’t technology lovely? Inky Smiles!eRiN
7/29 Fantabulous Girlfriends Swap Results…. Oh my!
This is PART ONE of this two part swap, the brain child of our hostess Alisha Trussell. Part 1 – Create a card with Random Stamping, Make It Tight, Have Fun Part 1a – Create 8 each 5×7 pieces of the same Random Stamped paper that you used on your card and send in with your cards. Part 2 Co-Create- (In development in each artist’s studio) We will each receive 1 piece of everyone’s Random Stamped 5×7 paper. We need to create 1 card with the original artist’s RS paper and then send it back to Alisha. This is a FABULOUSLY fun swap! I can’t wait to see what everyone does with my personal “designer” paper and can’t wait to play with theirs! We have a month to complete Part 2 & I will post those results sometime in Sept. ——————————————————————————————— Our swaps are in everyone’s hands now and so I can officially post the cards I received. (I already posted my card previously.) I am overwhelmed by the talent of these girls. Their artwork is FABULOUSO! All cards are made with CTMH products. Please DO NOT COPY these ladies’ artwork for ANY sort of publication or contest purposes. Let’s keep art sharing fair. Click on each photo for a larger view. Alisha Trussell – our fearless leader.. she has to be fearless because she’s dealing with 7 crazy ladies and 4 little monkeys at home! Can you believe her card??? She SEWED it with gold thread over the random stamping and then hand pieced the gold thread around her stamped flower on the sentiment piece. The sentiment is stamped over the top of a layer of cardstock, then mulberry paper which is stamped with the flower, then covered with a double sided adhesive sheet, then the flower & stem is lined with gold thread (had to have taken HOURS) and then covered in UTEE and heated and melted. She stamped Thank You with Staz On. WOW! Barbara Lamunion – WOW! WOW! WOW! (You’re gonna read a LOT of WOWs in this post!) This RS paper is something else! She used LOTS of various stamp sets in her RSing. This is a FABULOUS card and I wish I had GOBS of her RS paper to play with. I think it would make the most fabulous B&T patterned paper!! Her flower is something else, too! It looks like leather! I just want to run my fingers over it and feel the texture! Terri Howard – TERRI! Sneak in a little bling… I love the GINORMOUS (yes that’s a real word..) Grommet from Making Memories with a little spring bling popping out from CTMH. I love the ribbon tied across the card, drawing your eyes to the bling. AND the random stamping is something else! It looks like color emerging, but it’s not… It’s kind of a cool tye dyed effect RS. LOVE IT! Brenda Harmless – OOOOH la la!!! I have got to “get me one of them Cuttlebug thingies”! She embossed the dark green paper (NE Ivy?) and then reversed the paper when she adhered it to the page so the bubbles point DOWN rather than up… soooo cool. I love how she made the sentiment look just like a fishing bobber… and the tails on the fish are hand cut with a craft knife and popped out with a little pop dot – 3-d tails, watch out! Tiffany Cheney – OOOOOH WOW! This picture does not do the RS on this card any sort of justice at all! You can’t really see the very background stamp on the large square RS piece. It’s a word stamp (Romantic Backgrounds?) done in , I think, Bamboo ink. Very subtle, but very elegant! She added just a touch of my fav embellishment, Liquid Glass, to the blue focal point flower. Susan Hankins – This card is sooo fun and sassy! (Kinda like the artist!!! *grin*) This is a very cool color combo, too! I love the little boingy centers of the buttons (CTMH craft wire) and the clip that she created from cardstock. Love the little ribbon tucked neatly behind the flower! Pam Klassen – Our resident Canadian… WHOA… WOW… WOW…. What is that lovely sparkley glob of glittery bling in the center of the rose, you ask??? It’s a variety glass beads piled onto what looks like a big old lovely lump of Liquid Glass. These photos do not really show the sparkly effect well at all. I love Pam’s RS It’s done over textured cardstock and looks like watercolor painting. Pam finished off the edges of her papers with her trademark paper rolling technique. I LOVE how it works with the rose and leaves!
Harry Potter Poll
Just a few days left to vote on my Harry Potter poll. I’m just curious to see what people think of the latest/last book.
Sneak Peek (from July 2) Revealed
I promised I would reveal the entire card. The Hostess from the swap this card is in has sent the cards out and I received mine this afternoon. WHOA NELLY! They are soo cool! Anyway.. Here’s my contribution to the swap. Our rules (more like guidelines, anyway) were:1.) Random Stamp *2.) Make it tight.3.) Have fun. * I am not a huge fan of random stamping… I think mostly because it’s such a challenge for me…. and then having to use it on a project… that’s another thing. This was a LOT of fun to make and I’m not so leery of random stamping anymore. YAY! Alisha did say that she wanted us to all “think out of our boxes”. It worked! Details:Standard size 4.25×5.5″ Supplies:Stamp Set – Snap, Crackle, Pop – CTMHStamp Set – Let Freedom Ring – CTMHAll inks by CTMH unless otherwise noted.Antique Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holz (Ranger)Versamark ink for embossing by TusenikoOutdoor Denim & Gold embossing powder by CTMHSilver embossing tinsel by RangerEmbossing Buddy by Stampin Up!Liquid Glass & Glitter from CTMHWrite N Rub Pen by Tonertex Foils, LTDGold eyelets by Making MemoriesGold star brad by Making MemoriesCircle punch by Creative MemoriesCrop-O-Dile for eyeletsFoam TapeCorkGold elastic ties from supply storeXyron adhesiveScotch ATG Gun & Gold adhesiveCranberry & Outdoor Denim cardstock by CTMH.White Cardstock (base) & Cream cardstock by Provo Craft. Techniques:Paper rolling (along center of card)Direct to paper ink distressingSandingStampingPaper Piecing *FYI: Cork does not run through a Xyron machine worth a hill of beans. Hehe!
Strawberry Jam Recipe (No Pectin Added)
I used this recipe for my first batch and then the Pectin added recipe which you can find in the box of powdered Pectin. The no added pecting recipe takes quite a bit longer than the pectin added one, but they both taste fabulous. So, the recipe choice is really in the taste buds of the person making the jam 🙂 Strawberry Jam (No Pectin Added) Ingredients:2 quarts fresh strawberries, washed and hulled6 cups white sugar Directions:In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in small batches. Be careful not to make too much juice because too much liquid can cause jelling problems. I crush the strawberries one layer of berries at a time with a potato masher. You can also slice the berries and smash with a fork or your fingers, too. Don’t stack a huge pile and try crushing them all at once. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries & sugar. Stir with a rubber spatula over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot, sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe any excess jam off the top of the jar and place a sterilized lid on the jar. Screw down a ring to hold the lid in place while processing. Process in a boiling water canner for at least 10 minutes (depends on altitude). (If you’re going to eat it right away, don’t bother with processing, and just refrigerate.) JELLING TESTPlace three plates in a freezer… after about 10 minutes of boiling place a tsp of the liquid of the jam onto the cold plate. Return to freezer for a minute. Run your finger through the jam on the plate… if it doesn’t try to run back together (if you can make a line through it with your finger) it’s ready to be canned.
STRAWBERRIES!!
MMMMM Summertime means sTrAwBeRrIeS, lemonade and pbj’s (because it’s way too stinking hot to cook!) Brent and I both had the day off yesterday. The 24th of July is Pioneer Day, a state holiday in UT. It’s the day we celebrate the pioneers settling in the Salt Lake Valley back in ooooh, way back when… 🙂 But it was cool to have the day off with Brent, spend some time together and get a few things done around the house. Most of the morning was spend making homemade strawberry jam. I usually make homemade freezer jam, but this year I decided to make home canned/bottled jam. It will last longer and doesn’t take up precious real estate in my freezer. Brent even helped out! He was so excited to see all the finished bottles lined up on the counter cooling. Each time a lid would POP (seal), he’d keep count… POP! – “Three”, POP! – “Seven!” LOL! We tried two recipes… one with pecitin and one without. They both taste fabulous, but the Pectin recipe was a LOT faster and the color was much prettier. You have to cook the non-pectin recipe a lonnnng time and it gets really dark and almost looks like raspberry jam instead of strawberry jam. We ended up with 21 half pints of strawberry jam. We made one batch (see left photo), then had a ton of strawberries left, so Brent ran to the store and picked up more half pint jars.) This is WAAAAY more than B and I will eat in a year. Perhaps I will have to create a cute little tag or something for a couple jars and give some away… hrmmmmm…….
Hey friends!
I’ve switched my blog feed to a new service: Feedburner. You will need to resubscribe with this new service to receive updates from my blog. I hope that this new service will be better for all of us. Hope to see you soon! Inky Smiles! Erin