Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Oh Springtime, Where art thou?

It seemed like a good idea. Driving over the hill for a day of shopping in California. As soon as you are over the hill dropping into the valley you see it, green grass. And the ache for spring begins. In Sacramento they already have flowers blooming, not fair!!! It will be a good 6 weeks until we are planting our gardens here in Northern Nevada.  Our cars still have frost on them every morning. I wore my Down jacket and a ski cap while walking Dexter today. It's 27 degrees outside right now as I type this. Oh Springtime, where art thou?
 I guess springtime will just have to be in the craft room for now.
  I wanted to use some Mister Huey's ink spray mists that I got at Paper Daisies and the colors were perfect for springtime. First thing I did was cut out a chevron pattern stencil on the Silhouette. Then I laid that on the cardstock and misted. Loving the chevron background.


  I stenciled some pink diamonds randomly around the card. With turquoise embossing powder I heat embossed some flourish stamps on two corners of the cards. With black ink I stamped some words, cut them into little rectangles and then inked the edges.
For the flowers I rolled up some tulle ribbon and glue gunned it to a small circle. I Stuck some pop up tape to the back of the circle and presto I made my own flower! The small turquoise flowers I had left over from another project. I glue gunned them down, don't want them falling off!
I stuck one of the cards in a frame. I like the way the black pops all the colors out!
Here is one card on a picture stand.
Above all three cards lined up. I am aching for spring, can you tell?
Thank you for stopping by, if you are enjoying some warm spring weather, well enjoy it for me too!!
Have a great day, Lori

Watercolor1

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Baby Cards

  Welcome paper lovers! I have a couple of baby cards to show you today. A few things inspired these cards, first I wanted to use these stamps and second I am going crazy for the chevron pattern. When the chevron pattern became popular again I was not feeling it. But there are so many modern ways to use it, well I am hooked on it!

Panda Baby Card
 There is a funny story behind the stamps. One day while browsing through Michael's I found these clear acrylic stamps on clearance for $1. I hardly ever buy stamps cause I barely use the ones I have. But these looked like cute "boy" stamps and I just felt this weird urge like I was suppose to buy them. Later that day a friend called me and told me she was pregnant!! So I said "Do you want to know what you're having??" which kinda threw her off for a moment. I told her about the stamps and that she was probably going to have a boy.....and she did!!
   Love that story!
Baby Elephant Card

  Today I am joining in on a fun blog activity called a blog hop. One fun blog that I follow called Snack Cups and Smiles sent out an email today with the info for an "Aloha Friday Blog Hop."  A Cat Like Curiosity and What Jean Likes are co-hosting the Aloha Friday Blog Hop this week! Check out all three of these fun blogs just by clicking on their names.
  So some quick info on what a blog hop is; bloggers are invited to "link-up" a post from their blog onto the hosts blog. Sometimes the blog hop might have a theme such as recipes, DIY, crafts or gardening to name a few. Sometimes any topic is welcome. It is always fun to check out everyone's contributions to the blog hop. I am linking up this Baby Cards post myself. Thank you for checking out my post and please visit the Aloha Blog Hop!!

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great day, Lori

Friday, February 15, 2013

My 1st Twelve Months - Baby Boy

  Thank you for stopping by. Finally some paper crafting again! Today I have a four page layout for a baby boy's first 12 months. I don't really do a lot of 12x12 layouts, but I had this paper (that I love) and this idea for a first 12 months layout. I love the bright colors for a baby. The graphics on this line of paper have a cool retro look. I knew I wanted to make something special with it.
  Below are the first two pages of the layout.
  Below are pages three and four.
 For each "month" I made several flaps to lift and open so you can add photos and/or journal some of the many first year memories.
 I couldn't get a good picture of every flap open, but each month has a couple of flaps that open like a mini book.
  I love the thick chipboard stickers that go with this line of paper.
Below are close-ups of each month. Click on the pictures to enlarge.
  

I used the Little Boy Blue line by Cratepaper for this project. It is a good quality paper. I love this fresh bright retro look. All the paper for this project was purchased at Paper Daisies.
Thank you for stopping by today. I think there is a happy young family out there that this would be perfect for!! Have a great day, Lori

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Creole Crab Dip

Greetings from Marvin's Daughter. Today I have an easy yummy treat for you, Creole Crab Dip.
   My husband loves real crab. Well so do I. He isn't very fond of the artificial crab meat. So when I saw this recipe in People magazine as a suggested recipe for the Superbowl, I knew we would be having it soon....like the day before the Superbowl.
 Crab is a bit costly, so when we pick some up I always want to make something special. This is a great tasty dip. Thumbs up all around.

   I usually try to have everything chopped and measured or at least ready to be measured. So when I am cooking, that is all I am doing. Less chance of "over cooking" something that way.
My husband says he knows something good is coming out of the kitchen when he smells sauteing shallots. And he is right.
 A few minutes under the broiler for a bit of crunch.
The dip is so delicious that you could just eat it with a spoon! I had some garlic bagel chips and celery that went great with the dip. I think some bell peppers (any color) would be great too.

As you can see it makes quite a bit of dip.  I put the extra in bowl for Grammy. She gave it a thumbs up too.You could use a pie plate or an 8x8 glass pan also.
  This would make a wonderful Valentine's treat for your special valentine.  Or take it to your next social event, it will be a hit guaranteed!
 

   Ralph Brennan's Creole Crab Dip

3 Shallots, peeled and sliced
5 tbsp. butter, divided
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
11 oz. cream cheese softened and divided
3 tbsp. mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 lb. crabmeat
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

   Saute shallots in 3 tbsp. melted butter in skillet over medium heat until tender. Add heavy whipping cream; simmer until mixture reduces by two thirds. Reduce heat to low; add 3 oz. cream cheese and mascarpone cheese. Gradually stir in remaining cream cheese; cook until thickened. Add green onions. Gently fold crabmeat into mixture over low heat. Pour into 1 1/2 quart baking dish or divide evenly among ramekins. Sprinkle with goat cheese. Broil on top rack of oven (6in. from heat source) until cheese is melted and golden. serve immediately with baguette slices or crudites.

 Let me know if you give this recipe a try, it's my favorite crab recipe...currently : )
Thank you for stopping by!   Have a great day! Lori

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Superbowl Chalkboard Art


  Greetings from Marvin'sDaughters. Today's post may appear to be about chalkboard art but it is really all about the San Francisco 49er's. My dad (Marvin) LOVED the SF 49er's. Watching them play brought my dad so much joy...... and sorrow at times but he was always a true 49er faithful!!

 And then there is my sister, Marvin's other daughter Pookie (Julie).
 My sister lives and breathes the SF 49er's. Seriously she was a fan at birth. She has rooms in her house decorated with a 49er theme. She wears 49er jewelry and carries a 49er purse. Back in the 90's she had Joe Montana checks. When she got her pool table we bought her 49er billiard balls. My husband even bought my sister a 49er door mat for her front porch.......he is a Green Bay Packers fan and he likes to wipe his feet on the 49er door mat........I know it's terrible, but all in good fun.

So onto the chalkboard art, you know another Pinterest inspired project. I really wanted to give chalkboard art a try. So I thought I would start my adventure with chalkboard spray paint. The 49er Superbowl was the perfect project theme. I already had the frame from Michael's. I used a 40% off Michael's coupon when I bought it. I painted the frame red with acrylic paint. I decided to use a piece of tough cardboard for the chalkboard. I didn't plan on keeping it at the time and wanted to use something I could just toss.
 I used the cardboard packaging from my Martha Stewart scoreboard. Even Martha's packaging is good quality. I cut it to fit inside the frame.
 In the picture below is my first swipe of chalkboard spray paint.
 I always go light on my layers when I spray paint, trying to avoid puddles.
 This was pretty light even for me.

 The chalkboard spray paint worked great, no clogging, went on nice and smooth. 
So of course I went looking for something else to spray paint.
 After letting the chalkboard spray paint dry for over 24hrs, you are suppose to rub the surface with the side of a piece of chalk
.This is to condition the paint, so that the chalk will work on it.
 Then you wipe the surface with an old t-shirt. And it should be ready to go.
 Had my chalk and set of chalk pens ready to create. Unfortunately I couldn't get the look I wanted with the chalk pen. Probably need to practice with it a bit more. The regular chalk worked great on the wood tags but not so great on the piece of cardboard.
 So time for plan B! I pulled at my white arcylic paint and then I cut some stencils with the Silhouette die cut machine.
 I wanted the paint to look like chalk so I went light with my stencil brush.
 I taped down the edge of the paper stencils with FrogTape. That way the stencils don't move while you pound away with the paint brush and the tape comes off the paper without tearing it.
I held down the small pieces of paper that went inside the numbers and letters with a pencil while I painted. You can see the pencils marks in the picture below.
 I am really happy with the way it turned out!!
 It has a fun chalkboard feel to it.
 So off to the Harbaugh bowl, oops I meant my sister's Superbowl party we go!
In the picture below I played around with some color in the ol' editing program to give it some 49er team spirit. Isn't technology great? All the fun things we can do to pictures now with just a click
 I hope you enjoyed my chalkboard art adventure. I think there is more chalkboard art in my future, probably something for Valentine's Day.
 And to all the faithful, GO NINERS!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for stopping by, have a wonderful day, Lori