Friday, December 28, 2012

2012 Christmas Tag Swap - Part One

Shortly before Christmas I hosted my annual tag swap.

This year we had 18 participants so I've split the tags into two posts as I like to showcase all of them individually.

Each is so unique and gorgeous.

From Linda, this cute snowman;


From Regan, a tag on a large bottlecap with a sweet bottlebrush tree:


From my Mom, this very pretty snowflake embossed tag:


From Dianne, this gorgeous  poinsettia tag:


From Joanne, this tag with a shaker acccent:


From Avril, this ruffled snowman tag:


From Melissa, an embossed snowflake tag:


From Michael-Anne, a gorgeous tone on tone tag:


From Tammie, a beautiful tag featuring layered stamping:


Aren't they all so inspiring?

More to come soon!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Little Red Wagon #165 - Boxing Day and Papertrey December Blog Hop

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, we sure did!

Today I'm linking up my card creation to two challenges.

The first is the Little Red Wagon where we are to use a square on our project. I used a square card with an embossed square layered on top.


If you can, link up your square project up to Little Red Wagon, we love to see all the creativity out there!

And the second is the Papertrey Blog Hop to use white on white.

PTI products used include:
Hanging by a Thread stamp and die
Hawaiian Shores ink
Heart 2 Heart #5 stamp
Ribbon Tails die
Think Big Favourites #13(inside the card)

Thanks for stopping by!


Saturday, December 22, 2012

Grape and Gumdrop Trees

Are you looking for a unique way to serve grapes at a holiday party?

At an event I hosted earlier this week, I served grapes arranged to create trees:



Using styrofoam bases,I covered them in foil then used toothpicks cut in half to adhere the grapes to the styrofoam.

I also made a gum drop tree using royal icing to adhere the gumdrops.

These trees would be so fun to let children create too!


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Little Red Wagon - Christmas Tags!



My challenge at Little Red Wagon this week comes just in time for Christmas wrapping and that is to make a tag.

I host a Christmas tag swap every year so today my tag is the one I made for the swap:


I used a variety of products from my wagon on this tag:
- Tim Holtz dress form die(borrowed)
- a winged heart stamp from which I cut the wings out of to attach to the dress form
- Tim Holtz Christmas tag
- twine
- tiny (!) bells
- glitter pen(for the wings and 25)
- music note stamp by Stampabilities
- brown and cream ribbon

These were so much fun to make!

If you have time to make a tag this week please link it up at Little Red Wagon, we love to see what you create!


Friday, December 14, 2012

T'is The Season



Today a couple of cupcake adorned cards!



The cupcake stamp is by Stamping Bella, the cupcakes are coloured in copics and pencils.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Peace


I've had this bingo card for awhile and finally used it on a card:


Now i wish I had more!

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Little Red Wagon - We Wish You a Pink Christmas



I'm back today with this week's Little Red Wagon challenge and Regan wants us to create a pink themed seasonal card.

Love these papers I dug out of my wagon so I'm hoping this card has enough pink on it:



Please play along by linking up your pink and seasonal card over at Little Red Wagon.

We love to see what you create.


Monday, December 10, 2012

Christmas Cards

Over a few posts this week I'm going to share some Christmas cards I've made.

This first group uses a beautiful wreath stamp by Memory Box(click the photo to enlarge):


Background papers are a mix of Basic Grey and Lily Bee.I kept embellishments to a minimum so that they stay flat for mailing, some holly and a twine bow along with a doily!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, December 07, 2012

Classic Creme Brulee

One of my favourite desserts is creme brulee.



It is also known as burnt cream, crema catalana, or Trinity cream.

Its origins are uncertain, there have been debates as to whether the dessert's origins lie in France or Britain.

The earliest known reference of creme brulee as we know it today appears in François Massialot's 1691 cookbook and the French name was used in the English translation of this book.

In the early eighteenth century, the dessert was called "burnt cream" in English.

In Britain, a version of crème brûlée (known locally as Trinity Cream or Cambridge burnt cream) was introduced at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1879 with the college arms impressed on top of the cream with a branding iron.

In Catalan language, Crema catalana is a Catalan dish similar to crème brûlée. It is traditionally served on Saint Joseph's Day (March 19th)although now it is consumed at all times of year.

Regardless of what it is called or originated, most people love it!

I made it some years ago but wasn't really happy with how it turned out.

My Mom mentioned to me that she had tried a recipe from Canadian Living that was terrific. So I decided to make it the dessert for my tropical themed dinner(vanilla is grown in the tropics).

And I was not disappointed, it turned out great! I really liked the creamy texture, firm but not pudding-like.

Classic Creme Brulee

Ingredients

3 cups (750 mL) whipping cream
8 egg yolks
1/3 cup (75 mL) granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) vanilla
1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar, sifted

Preparation

In saucepan, heat cream over medium-high heat until steaming hot. In bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar; very gradually whisk in cream. Whisk in vanilla.

Skim off foam. Divide mixture among eight 3/4-cup (175 mL) ramekins or custard cups.

Place ramekins in 2 large shallow pans. Gently pour boiling water into pans to come up halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until edges are set but centres still quiver and small knife inserted into centres comes out creamy. Remove from water; let cool on racks. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until chilled and set, or for up to 2 days.

Fill two shallow pans with enough ice to surround ramekins; nestle chilled custards among cubes. Pat surface of each custard dry; sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.

Broil 6 inches (15 cm) from heat for 2 to 6 minutes or until sugar bubbles and turns dark brown, rearranging pans and removing each ramekin when ready. Chill, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes before serving, or for up to 3 hours.

Additional information :

Tip: When broiling the Crème Brûlées, watch them constantly, because caramel turns from amber to black very quickly. Enjoy the crunch and creaminess of Crème Brûlée within 3 hours of broiling, before the caramel melts.

Also at my Mom's suggestion I served it in small mason jars(but forgot to get a photo) which provided just the right amount of creme brulee.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Little Red Wagon - Home for the Holidays



I'm back with this week's Little Red wagon challenge, to create something with a house on it.

I used the Papertrey Boards and Beam set again this week to create a couple of simple cards:



I stamped them in black, added some glitter, green boughs/wreathes and a sentiment.

Easy peasy right?

So break out your houses and link up your project over at Little Red Wagon, we love to see what you create!