Pinterest and Catalog Living

Happy Saturday! We're enjoying a sunny day here after days of rain which is nice.

I've been meaning to post about these sites for awhile and am now finally getting to it.

First is Pinterest. No doubt like me you browse the internet finding all kinds of great inspiration but then forget where you saw a certain idea. You can file links but even then that takes some sorting through to find what you are looking for. With Pinterest, you create an account with 'boards' then as you are browsing you can 'pin' the picture to your board. The great thing about this is then all you do to go back to the site you found the item on is by clicking on the 'pinned' picture. And you can also follow people whose boards you like. Click here to start pinning!

Second is Catalog Living. This is a blog by a comedian who bases comments on the various catalog layouts in terms of the people who live in the catalog. The humour is subtle but amusing, here's an example:

It only took one beer to get Gary to try the old “hat full of apples” gag he was so fond of pulling on Elaine.

Catalogs used include Pottery Barn,Restoration Hardware, West Elm and others.

Well, that's it for today, let me know if you sign up for Pinterest and if you like Catalog Living.

Thanks for stopping by.

Little Red Wagon Challenge #78 - For Mom!

I think I say this every Wednesday but really how can it be time for another Little Red Wagon challenge already?

This week Avril is challenging us to create something for Mom.


I dug out my Papertrey Lily of the Valley stamp set(that had not yet seen ink) to create this card:



And I followed this week's sketch 112 at Card Patterns. Not sure it you can tell that I've coloured the flowers in a white glaze pen. Then I layered it up with my favourite October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper.

Please join us over at Little Red Wagon with your creation for Mom, we love to see what you create.

Hot Cross Buns

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've been wanting to make hot cross buns for years and finally did it on Good Friday. I even made them the old-fashioned way with hand kneading. Brittany was quite interested and enjoyed punching the dough down after the first rise.

Here's the dough after the first rise:


The buns have just gone into the oven after the second rise:


Here they are just out of the oven:


And the final buns with my wonky crosses:


For a recipe I turned to a Canadian institution and that is Canadian Living magazine. Here is the link to the recipe I used, hot cross buns. It is a traditional and very fragrant recipe with cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, currents and citrus peel.

I liked them and will definitely make them again!

Thanks for stopping by!

April Papertrey Blog Hop - Boys To Men

Happy Monday!

Today is another Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and this month our challenge is to make masculine cards.

I made a baby boy card that I hope still qualifies. It uses PTI Green Boutique paper and Baby Button Bits stamp set as well as Ripe Avocado ink.



Not sure if you can tell in the photo but the pea pod is popped up on foam dots, love using that technique for added dimension.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all have had a nice Easter weekend.

We celebrated at my Mom and Dad's house yesterday and I will share more photos in later posts but wanted to share some of our creations today.

Here's a pic of Mom's lovely table setting:



And a closer view of the table treats we all made:



Mom made the nests, Sherry made her famous chocolate cream filled eggs and I made little pop top can treats.

A closer view of my pop top can treats. I took this idea from Jeannie who had made these for our Valentine swap. Simply remove the bottom of the can, remove the contents, clean and then stuff with goodies. The can bottom is glued back on and you can decorate as you desire.



And since I had the Rusty Pickle(are they still around) paper out, I made a few simple Easter cards!



I also used my new diamond glimmermist to create the crumpled flowers, so fun!

And here's preview of the Hot Cross buns I made from scratch. I'll share more photos and the recipe later this week.



Enjoy the rest of your Easter Sunday and thanks so much for stopping by!

Little Red Wagon Challenge #77 - Clouds

Wow, another week has flown by and it's time for another Little Red Wagon challenge!

This week Joanne has challenged us to use clouds on our creation.

I decide to use an idea I've seen around and used a cloud die to create a cupcake top.



I cut the cupcake "cloud" top out of felt then added buttons and beads.The cupcake base is made of crimped kraft paper. I then decided to create a gift tag that can be added to a gift or layered on a card.

What way could you use clouds on your creation? Please pop over to Little Red Wagon and link it up, we love to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!

Rare Photo Op

It's not often I get good pics of me, my Mom and my sister.

But at a bridal shower last Sunday, we took these photos:





I think they're great! I can't wait to scrapbook them with layers of vintagey paper, flowers, lace and doilies!

Dilly Sour Cream Cheese Bread

I found this easy recipe on Cherry Hill Cottage and decided to give it a try as we love cheese and dill in combination at house.



My loaf looks a little different than the one at Cherry Hill but it still tastes very good, I'd make it again.

Dilly Sour Cream Bread

3 c. biscuit baking mix
1-1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. sour cream
1 egg, beaten
1 T. sugar
3/4 t. dill weed
3/4 t. dry mustard

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl; stir just until moistened. Pour into a well-greased 9"x5" loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack for 2 hours before slicing. Store tightly wrapped. Makes one loaf.

Enjoy!

Little Red Wagon Challenge # 76- Easter

Hey all! Is it Wednesday already?! I don't think I've recovered from my busy weekend yet, lol.

Anyway, it's also time for another Little Red Wagon challenge. This week Dee challenged us to create something for Easter.

I decided to create a card inspired by Papyrus cards that I just love:



I used Jubilee papers by Memory Box that are lovely. And you can't really tell in the photo but the eggs are popped up on foam tabs, gives it great dimension.

If you can please link up your Easter creation over at Little Red Wagon,we'd love to stop by and see what you have made.

I'll be back tomorrow with an easy bread recipe.

Little Red Wagon Challenge # 75- Pale pink , yellow, white and gold

It's my turn to set the challenge over at Little Red Wagon this week.

And I recently found these earrings at Nest Pretty Things:



So this week my challenge to create something based on this inspiration photo and that uses primarily the colours pale pink, yellow, white and gold.

I created this card:



So if you can, link up your creation over at Little Red Wagon, we love to see what you create.

Happy Spring!

After that snow the other night I decided maybe we need to welcome spring into staying,so I created this card based on Card Patterns sketch #109.



Think it will work?

Thanks for stopping by!

Maple Syrup and Pancakes!

Brianne went to the Maple Syrup Festival in Elmira this past weekend. And it was perfect timing as we had just run out of maple syrup! We won't run out for awhile now as she brought us home a 4 litre jug of it!

So with the freshly made maple syrup we had to have pancakes for breakfast yesterday. We added raspberries to a family favourite recipe that I thought I'd share as part of Melissa Frances' recipe exchange.



The unique thing about this recipe is that you can replace half of the milk with club soda. The soda seems to make them a little more fluffy.



Here's the recipe:

Keith's Pancakes

1 cup milk(can use half milk and half club soda)
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp.salt

Mix dry ingredients, beat egg, add milk then beat well. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just moistened, should be some lumps. Pour onto hot griddle, when cooking flip only once.

Enjoy!

Snow!

Ok, so we're all sick of the snow by now, it is April 3rd afterall. But look, its so pretty!









Is it snowing where you are?

Antique Store Finds

Well it seems like its been awhile since I posted. I've been lacking blogging mojo.

But today I thought I'd share some items I found when we were in Saint Clair, Michigan last weekend. We went for a scrapping break and walked to a nearby antique store.

I found some cute little drawers made of cheese moulds, some mini Washington DC postcards to use when I scrap my Washington photos and, can you believe, an Oktoberfest postcard? It's from 1978 and since my husband is very involved in Oktoberfest I thought he'd get some amusement from it.




I've been looking for some old books for a little while too and found these two with some interesting spines.



I love finding treasures in antique and thrift stores, how about you?