No Time To Stamp?

Keyword ssnotime92 - There is no time limit. You can play this challenge and upload your project at Splitcoastand/or your Blog, anytime at all. You (and that means anyone and everyone, blogger or not!) can play as many times as you like!!! The point is to keep it simple, quick and have fun!!! Please link back here.

SUMMER RECIPES – We all love getting new recipes to try out. Today our challenge is to make a card, or recipe card, or anything at all that will either hold a recipe or that we can write a recipe on AND there’s one more part that’s optional, but would be fun. SHARE your favorite summer recipe with us in your post — I think we’d ALL love to get some new recipes. And it’s summer — the recipes don’t need to be hard — they can be as simple as what you throw into your favorite tossed salad, or a picnic dish, or whatever. I’d love to get some new ideas — have fun with it!!!

Check out the great samples for the Stamp Simply Challenge today on the blogs of these designers:

Special Announcement: Let us all bid a fond farewell this week to Becky. Becky has been with us almost since the beginning, quite early on. Her life is very full and very busy right now and she needs to relieve herself of some committments. Thank you SO MUCH, Becky! It has been truly a pleasure playing with you each week and getting to know you so much better. Our well wishes go with you on your busy summer schedule. Have fun!!!

• Sabrina, JuneGuest Designer
• Janine
• Jennifer
• Julie
• AJ
• Becky- thanks so much Becky, we’ve LOVED your work!!!
• Tammy
• Deb

Please bear with us as we are all uploading and linking on Thursday night. Everyone should be uploaded by Friday morning.

You can see all Gallery Submissions here. Thanks, girls!

Heres mycard for today, which does contain a recipe:

This card is 3.75″ x 9″ and fits a standard business sized envelope. This image from Summertime Journal Notes reminded me of a vintage outdoor/garden/picnic theme, so that’s the look I was trying to achieve here. The little Bon Apetite from the Recipe Set by JustRiteyou see sticking up on the top is actually on the inside of the card. My image was cut with pinking shears, corners matted with scraps, sewn on the machine, then mounted with foam mounting tape. All my background stamping is done with retired SU stamps.

On the left is a closeup of the top of the card where you can see the Bon Apetite which is peeking through from the card inside. And on the right is the button embellisment with the same Bon Apetite sentiment from the Recipe Set by JustRite, used on the small 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper — a size I am really having fun with!

On the left is the card inside. The striped ribbon is 1.5″ wide and from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store. The handwritten recipe card on the right side is attached with removable tape so it can be easily removed by the recipient. Although this will not fit into a standard recipe box, it could be used as a bookmark in a cookbook.

The recipe I shared is for Potato Salad for a Group. You can make this recipe as small or as large as you need. I make this all the time and am always asked for the recipe when I bring it somewhere. Well, there really is no official recipe, it’s just what I do, and I’ll share it here with you:

Potato Salad for a Group

For each 5# of potatoes, use 1 dozen eggs.

• Boil potatoes until fork tender but firm
• Boil eggs
• Cut both into bit sized pieces into bowl

Add to your preference:

• Onion
• Celery
• Green Pepper
• Salt
• Pepper

Mix in Dressing (recipe below)

Top with a good sprinkling of Paprika and Chives for garnish

Dressing Recipe

• Scoop Miracle Whip Light into Bowl
• Stir in prepared Mustard (to taste), I can tell when the color is a soft buttery yellow it’s how I like it!

And these are the JustRite products that I used to make my fun Recipe embellishment andtab today. The set is called the Recipe Set and it fits onto the fun little 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper. I said it the other day, and I’ll say it again today, I am really enjoying this size stamper — fits well in so many places.

Stamps: Recipe Set by JustRite, used on the 1 3/6″ Wood Stamper; retired SU Leaves ala Carte Wheel and Linen Background

Paper: SU Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Real Red, Not Quite Navy; Crafty Secrets Earthy Pad; Image from Summertime Journal Notes by Crafty Secrets

Ink: SU Bashful Blue, Barely Banana; ColorBox Chalk Yellow Ochre

Accessories: 1.5″ Striped Ribbon, Sewing Machine, Needle Thread, Pinking Shears, Wal-Mart Button, Deco Corner Punch, Petite Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinders, SU Mini Library Clip, SU Dimensionals, Glue Glider, Removable Tape

Shopping:

JustRite for the Recipe Set and 1 3/16″ Wood Stamper

Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for the Journal Notes image (Summertime) and May Arts 1.5″ Striped Ribbon

Once again, I am delighted to have you stopping in today! Hope you can take some time to cruise all the blogs linked above to not only see the girls marvelous creations but to check out some good and new recipes as well! It’s fun to get a new recipe that’s already been family tested and proven!!! Wishing you all a wonderful summer weekend! See you all real soon! I have some fun new stamps by JustRiteto play with next week — and that’s always a good thing!

I cook and bake pretty much like I stamp — quick and easy!!! This cheesecake recipe is probably my most requested recipe, and although I did share it here about a year ago, I thought I’d pass it on again. This is always my go-to desert recipe as it is, just as the title says, so quick and easy, but it is also lovely to look at topped with berries and absolutely delicious! And it requires NO baking! I’ll make a few of these for Christmas Eve.

CHEESECAKE

Make, or buy prepared, standard deep dish graham cracker crust use a larger pie pan or else it will overflow.

For filling:

• Mix 1 envelope Knox gelatin in bowl with1/2 cup sugar.
• Add 1 cup boiling water and stir until dissolved well, about 5 minutes.
• In mixer, beat together 2 8-oz. packages of softened cream cheese and 1 tsp vanilla, beating well until smooth. Slowly beat in gelatin/water mixture. Pour into prepared/cooled crust.
• Refrigerate until firm about 3 hours. Top with cherry pie filling or topping of your choice.

Sorry I have no stamped projects to post, but I will, real soon!!! I still have gift sets I want to make and many thank you notes could have been sent already if only I had them made!!! Time, time!!!! I know it is something we ALL struggle with. Hope this simple cheesecake recipe helps some of you out in the time category. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas week!!!

for busy nights. But these are also great to take along. I so enjoyed all your responses to one of the questions I posed during Stamp Simply Celebrates! Pasta certainly ruled the roost for busy night recipes, along with pizza and just about anything quick!!! Thanks so much everyone for contributing — it was fun! Here’s the postif anyone would like to read it — lots of recipes are included and I do thank you for that!!!!

Since I have no new cards to share tonight, I thought I’d share 2 recipes that are tried and true in this house. I shared this recipe for Chicken Wings last year, butsince my friends continually ask me for it, thought I’d pass it along again. And the 2nd recipe is for Crock Pot Roast Beef Au Jus — delicious!!! But we always make it out of venison (yes, we eat a lot of venison)!!! It is absolutely delicious out of either venison or beef.

These Chicken Wings are GREAT to bring to a buffet or pot luck. They are sure to please!

Chicken Wings - frozen in bags - 5 - 8# (thawed). Marinate them for 24 hours in:

• 1 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 cup Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Oil

The ingredients want to separate, so mix it up once in a while. Drain. Bake at 350 for 1 hourin a single layer, uncovered, on a cookie sheet withsides. Transfer to crock pot for easy serving or a pot luck dish. Everyone is guaranteed to love them!!!

Note: 8# of wings fills my 3.5 qt. crock pot to the brim, with a few wings left over that don’t fit. And when I do 8# of wings, I make the marinade with 1.5 cups of all ingredients.

This Crock Pot Roast Beef au Jus is GREAT served on French Bread or Crusty Rolls, and you use the liquid in the crock pot as the dip — oh so yummy!!!! My guys like the dip so well, on occasion I will double the au Jusingredients just to get more of the au Jus for them!!!

Brown 3 to 4# of sirloin tip or any nice roast on stove top in a bit of oil, just to brown it up a bit. Transfer to crock pot. Slice 2 cups (about 2 medium) onions into thin rings and place on top of meat (I use more). Then add:

1 cup of coffee (a liquid cup of coffee, not the grounds - LOL)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves (I add more)

1/2 tsp minced fresh garlic (I use jar garlic and add more)

2 bay leaves (I use more)

Cook on low for 10-12 hours, or on high 5-6 hours, or any combination of the two. When meat is done it is super soft andfalls apart when gently pulled with a fork.

Serve on French Bread or Crusty Rolls with au Jus for dipping!!!

Again, thanks for stopping in!!!! I have more gifts to make so I hope to get some card sets up soon!!! Time will tell!!! I finished trimming the tree this evening and tried to photo it to share, but my night time photos did NOT come well. I’ll try again in the daylight tomorrow!!! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!

Hi everyone!!! So glad you are stopping in — we have SO much lined up over the next 12 days. The schedule is full and we welcome you all to take a peek. Thecomplete schedule which we are calling PARTY CENTRAL is located at the TAB above my BLOG BANNER — look way UP — click there and you will see our full schedule of events for the next 12 days. You can refer there at any time. Right now all links lead to the Blog URL’s — but as the scheduled posts go live daily, the links will be changed appropriately.Once at Party Central,please take a moment to read about our KEYWORD for SCS uploads(SSC08) and our Rules of Blog Candy Netiquette. Thanks so much!

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!!! You DO NOT have to have a Blog to play — uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. Thanks!

The main attraction today to get us started is over at Janine’s Blog, 2bKrafty. Janine’s creativity on this one was way over the top — be sure to check it out — it involvesher lovely Featured Project, a Challenge, AND Blog Candy!!!

In addition to Janine, above, the following girls have some GREAT Cookies, recipes and packaging to share with you: Jennifer, Darlene, Deb, AJ, Barb, Jerri, LeAnne.

And I have some Blog Candy today, too!!! The Blog Candy I am offering was very generously donated by JustRite. Here it is:

The winner of today’s Blog Candy will receive, direct from JustRite, the Curlz FontEnsemble which contains 3 different sizes of font in handy stackable storage trays, plus the Harmony Rectangle Stampers. They come 2 in a box, one large and one small, as shown in the photo above. To be eligible to win, merely leave a comment on this post telling me what it is about the JustRite product that MOST appeals to you — for example, the ability to do monograms, the snap in grids, the comfortable to hold wood stampers, the variety of font available, etc., etc. Inquiring minds like to know — LOL!!! This Blog Candy post is closed for entries at 6:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec 6. Shortly after 6:00 a winner will be selected by random.org. The winner will be posted both on this thread and at PARTY CENTRAL.

OK, now on to my project for today. In keeping with the spirit of Janine’s Cookie Recipe Exchange Challenge (see details here), I wanted to play. I made some cookies, that I’ll show you in a bit, but first here is the little treat bag I made to put them in. This bag is fairly small measuring 2″ x 3.5″ with an overall height of 4.5″; however, the part that holds the cookies is only about 2.5″ high — you’ll see when I show more pics, but here’s the first:

I made this bag easily with my Scor-It, using SU Holiday Treasures DP, the Baking Ensemble by JustRite for the heart shaped focal image, Curlz Font by JustRite for my name tag, and some 1.5″ wide ribbon and some baby rick rack. I used my Petite Circle Nestabilities to cut, emboss and frame the focal image and a Tags die, also by Spellbinders, for the name tag. A SU 1 1/4″ punch was used on the bag to form the handle. A tiny gold safety pin holds the tag on the ribbon. SU Riding Hood Red ink was used.

Here’s a side view of the bag. 4 of my cookies, shown below, fit perfectly in this little bag. I think this bag would be just perfect for a little gift of cookies, or anything that fits in it for that matter. It would be lovely to give to a teacher or friend, and many of these filled with goodies on a table would make perfect table favors and/or place cards for the table. Fun for everyone!!! And now, here are my cookies to go inside:

These cookies are called Bon Bons, and I never made them before. But I wanted to include them here as I remember these cookies so well from my childhood. My Mom made them every Christmas, with a cherry in the center and pink frosting. I will say my Mom’s were perfectly round and much prettier than my first attempt, but the taste is absolutely the same — just yummy!!! I had to get the recipe from my Mom, so she just gave me the old cookbook they were in. It appears to be a promotional book put out by Gold Medal. It says this recipe was from Mrs. Joseph J. Wallace, high in her Rocky Mountain home near Whitehall, Montana. Delicious cookies!!! Here’s the recipe:

BON BON COOKIES

From: Sharon Johnson Original Recipe by: Mrs. Joseph J. Wallace, Whitehall, Montana

Mix thoroughly: cup soft butter; cup sifted confectioners sugar; 1 Tbs. vanilla; Food coloring (if desired)

By hand, mix in: 1 cups sifted Gold Medal flour; 1/8 tsp. salt

If dough is dry, add 1 2 Tbs. cream. Wrap level Tbs. of dough around filling. Place 1 apart on ungreased baking sheet and bake until set, but not brown in a 350 degree oven (12 15 min).

Dip tops of warm cookies in icing.

Filling possibilities: Well-drained maraschino cherries, pitted dates, gumdrops, or tsp. mixture of 1 sq. unsweetened chocolate, melted, and cup shredded coconut.

Icing: 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar, 2 Tbs. cream, 1 tsp. vanilla, food coloring, if desired.

As for the HOW TO on this box/bag, it is made with one full 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. Using the Scor-It, score 2.5″ in along the 11″ sides, and score 4.5″ in along the 8.5″ sides. It’ll look like this:

On this box/bag there is NO cutting or slitting to make tabs. It is all just in the way it is folded. I got this template from the 3-D Design Challenge Blog. This project was called the One Sheet Box Challenge and here’s the link to their One Sheet Box Folding Video. Please check these links as it’ll make it clear. It’s a bit confusing at first, but once you see it and do it, it’s as easy as pie and makes total sense.

That’s it from me for Day 1. Be sure to run over to Janine’s if you haven’t been there yet — she’ll have a ton of links for you to check out many great Cookie Recipe Exchange projects!!! Thanks so much for coming!!! Hope to see you all again tomorrow!!!

The winner selected by random.org is Sara, #122. Congrats! Sara!!! Here’s what Sara had to say:

Sara - Congrats on all of the hits!! Those cookies look so YUMMY!!

I think its cool that they have the larger size fonts, most stamps are the smaller sizes but sometimes you just really need the bigger sizes.

Dec 1, 9:09 AM

Thank you ALL so much for playing — MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

OK, this is the LAST of the cherries, I promise!!! This project just got away from me and took on a life of it’s own, but I’m done now — out of cherry paper — LOL!!!

This never started as a gift set, but just kind of evolved asI couldn’t quit playing with the cherry paper (Summer Picnic by SU). The stamp used is from Tart and Tangy by SU.

The card, which has a pocket inside to hold a recipe, was made about a month ago for a swap and details, with template, can be seen here.

The recipe box was uploaded a few days ago and can be seen, with template, here.

The gift bag is an 8 x 10 handled bag from Wal-Mart, just decorated to match the above.

The jar is cookie mix decorated with my last few inches of red ribbon and the last of my cherry DP. Typically when I do a jar, I like to wrap the paper entirely around the jar. Well, even though my paper was 12″, it wouldn’t quite make it around this jar — bummer — short by about 1/4″. So it doesn’t wrap all the way around — I just made it to go around 1/2 the jar and taped it on well with my ever so trusty Carpet Tape, seen here.

That’s it for now — no more cherries!!!! I hope to do and upload another project later today. Thank you so much for stopping in!

This is unreal!!! If you signed up for the Scor-Pal I have posted as Blog Candy — well, your chance to win just doubled!!!! Diana Crick, inventor of the Scor-Pal, has decided to throwa”Deluxe Scor-Pal Package” into the ring since interest seems to be so high. The “Deluxe Scor-Pal Package” consists of one Scor-Pal, a Scor-Tote, extra Scor-Tool and a roll of 1/4″ Scor-Tape. How cool is that!!!

So on Monday night, March 17, at midnight Eastern time,I will be having the random number generator select 2 numbers. The first number to pop up will receive the Scor-Pal Ioriginally listed(the original Blog Candy), and the second number selected will receive the “Deluxe Scor-Pal Package” that Diana has just donated. So, in this case, the 2nd prize is actually the larger prize — but that’s OK — it’s still a win/win situation for 2 people!!!

VERY IMPORTANT: All sign ups for both Blog Candies are still at my original post HERE. Only 1 entry per person. If you signed up before, you now have a chance to win either prize — do not sign up again. One entry per person. If you have not signed up and you’d like to, click HEREand sign up at the original post.

COMMENTS ON THIS POST ARE NOT IN THE BLOG CANDY DRAWING!!!

OK, now that the excitement is over, I’d like to share a fun little project with you I did this evening, using the Scor-Pal. This is a little gift — it’s a recipe box with 12 index cards inside on which recipes can be written, using the new SU set called Tart and Tangy and their new Summer Picnic Designer Paper. Fun!!! Here it is:

Isn’t it cute — love this paper! This is a simple box base, no top. It is made to easily house standard 4 x 6 recipe cards. The Real Red box is covered with the Summer Picnic DP and decorated with a ribbon and tag made from Tart and Tangy. The *Recipes* label was computer generated. The recipe cards are fun and so quick! I corner rounded the tops on a standard 4 x 6 index card. I then cut strips of coordinating DP 1 1/4″ x 6″ each, corner rounded the top two corners on each and adhered them to the index card. I then added a Round Tab punched tab on top and I was done. Oh, those tabs were stapled on — quick and easy!!!

• Cut your cardstock 10 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches.
• With the short side up against the ruler edge on top, move the left edge of the paper out to the 1/4″ mark on the ruler, then score at 3 and 5.
• Turn your paper so the long end is up against the ruler edge on top, and score at 2.
• Slide the paper to the right so the right edge is up against the rail at 12, and score at 10.
• Cut on the score lines as shown in the photo, trimming a bit away on the center tab to allow the box to fold easily.

Such a quick project!!! I’m sure you’d have fun with it!! Here is the supply list:

• Stamps: Tart and Tangy
• Paper: Real Red, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Summer Picnic Designer Paper
• Ink: None, but markers in Real Red and Old Olive.
• Accessories: Ribbon, Corner Rounder, Round Tab Punch, 1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″ Round Punches, Cropadile, Eyelet, Crafter’s Tool Kit, Staples, Computer Generated Sentiment

Remember, a comment here DOES NOT sign you up for blog candy, you must go to the orignal post HERE

Thanks so much for stopping in!!! Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

This is a card I did for Jami’s Swap for the Occasions Mini. I had to use Tart and Tangy and I chose to use the Summer Picnic Designer Paper that coordinates with it — fun!!! I made a card that has an inside pocket that will hold a recipe. Here it is:

I used the fun paper with the cherries on it and the cherry stamp since I was enlcosing a recipe for Cherry Cheesecake. I also put a tab on the top to sort of look like an index tab in arecipe box. I made the card shorter so that the top of the tab is at 4 1/4″, so it still fits into an envelope. I colored my cherry stamp with markers. Here’s a picture of the inside:

Isn’t it cute? A fun way to enclose a little something extra with the card. This would also serve well as a gift card holder. This is a really good and really simple Cherry Cheesecake recipe. If you’d like it, here it is:

CHEESECAKE

Make, or buy prepared, standard graham cracker crust — use a larger pie pan or else it will overflow.

For filling:

• Mix 1 envelope Knox gelatin in bowl with1/2 cup sugar.
• Add 1 cup boiling water and stir until dissolved well, about 5 minutes.
• In mixer, beat together 2 8-oz. packages of softened cream cheese and 1 tsp vanilla, beating well until smooth. Slowly beat in gelatin/water mixture. Pour into prepared/cooled crust.
• Refrigerate until firm — about 3 hours. Top with cherry pie filling.

OK, now back to the project at hand — I have prepared a template for this card. Using the Scor-Itmade this super quick and easy. Here it is:

• Cut your cardstock 5 1/4 x 11
• Score in half at 5 1/2
• Using a paper cutter, cut off 1 1/2″ from the right edge, as shown in photo, ONLY up to the score mark
• Now comes the fun part, and it is so super easy using the Scor-It. Just push your template up against the raised metal rail, as shown in photo. This gives you the perfect line to score on without any thought or measuring — just run the tool straight on down to score the paper. Done — Perfect!!!
• Round your corners, fold the flap up, securing sides with red sticky tape to form pocket. Decorate as desired.

All the entries for this swap will start being uploaded at SCS today, 3/03, so if you’d like to check them out, click here. The keyword is jswap208.

And here’s a complete Supply List:

• Stamps: Tart and Tangy, It’s Your Birthday
• Paper: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Whisper White, Summer Picnic Designer Paper
• Ink: Black Stazon, Markers in Real Red and Old Olive
• Accessories: 5/8″ Grosgrain Ribbon, Stapler, Brad, Dimensionals, Scor-It, Crafter’s Tool Kit. Punches used: 1 1/4″, 1 3/8″, Scallop, Corner Rounder, Round Tab

Hope all the swappers who got this enjoyed it — it was fun to make!!! Thanks so much, everyone, for stopping in — truly appreciate it!!! I have a full agenda this week and should have regular uploads. See you later!

I wasn’t planning to do any copper cards today, but once I saw the Ways to Use it Challenge at SCS, which was to use metallic paper, how could I not? I only have one card today, but I’ll add it to the rest in my copper card series.

This card uses my favorite snowflake stamp in the retired set called Snowflakes by SU. It is copper embossed. My metallic paper comes into play on the round tab punched ornament topper and the strip of brushed copper metallic paper. I think these few sheets of paper in this color scheme in the Fruitcake pack byBasic Grey are just the most perfect papers to pair with copper. Not only is the color a good color, but the design in the print reminds me of the shapes and forms that appear when copper oxidizes. Believe me — I KNOW!!! I have a copper and slate tabletop fountain and I rarely clean it because I LOVE that greenish growth that appears — the colors and shapes just fascinate me — and it drives the rest of my family totally nuts because they view it as *dirty*. I, however, view it as *beautiful*. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!!

• Stamps: Snowflakes (retired) by SU
• Paper: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy (it looks dark in photo), Brushed Metallic Copper, Fruitcake DP by Basic Grey
• Ink: Versa Mark
• Accessories: Copper Embossing Powder, Ribbon, Brads, Copper Leaf Pen (to coat brads that were the wrong color), 2 1/2 and 3″ Marvy Punches, Round Tab Punch, Crafter’s Tool Kit, Cuttlebug, Snowflakes Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Sorry I didn’t get ribbon tying photos last night. We had our Hostess Club Christmas party. We ate too much and our project was too time consuming, but a good time was had by all. I made Chicken Wings, which are super simple and super good. Everyone wanted the recipe, so I’ll share it here — it’s quick and great for get-togethers at this time of year.

Chicken Wings - frozen in bags - 5 - 8# (thawed). Marinate them for 24 hours in:

• 1 cup Soy Sauce
• 1 cup Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Oil

The ingredients want to separate, so mix it up once in a while. Drain. Bake at 350 for 1 hour (or less if done sooner) in a single layer, uncovered, on a cookie sheet withsides. Transfer to crock pot for easy serving or a pot luck dish. Everyone is guaranteed to love them!!!

Thanks much for looking!!! I have a fun challenge for tomorrow morning — hope you can check back. More of you played last weeks challenge than any other — thanks much!!! Remember, you can go back and play any of them at any time!!!

This is a grouping of7 items all made with Dashing DP and the adorable little snowman from Merry and Bright. Actually, this grouping was prettymuch an after-thought. Last week I had a workshop and we made the card (which you can hardly see) in the back, far left. I had some left over pieces of DP cut to size for that card. I had a quiet Friday evening here and decided I would challenge myself to use up each cut piece of that DP, and get myself a few Christmas cards done as a result. So that’s what happened. Then when I had used up all the cut pieces, I wanted to do a couple more items! Here’s what I ended up with:

• 5 standard cards
• 1 tent topper gift holder
• 1 bookmark with sleeve (and jingle bells!)

The card on the left is the one we did at the workshop, and that card uses all SU supplies. For the other cards I gave myself the liberty of using a variety of my Marvy Punches and the tent topper uses a rectangle and rectangle scallop Nestability Die by Spellbinders.

It isn’t visible from the front view, but the tent topper is actually a gift card holder. I cut my paper 4 1/4 x 10 1/4, and scored it (on the Scor-Pal) at 4 1/4 and 8 1/2. That will then fold into the 4 1/4″ square necessary for the tent topper and it leaves a 1 3/4″ flap to turn up for the gift card holder. Here’s a picture of the inside:

Here’s the last 2 cards:

And here’s a bookmark I made with a sleeve for gift giving — and I added jingle bells to this bookmark — I’ll probably give it to one of our God-children along with the gift card holder above! My Stamp Simply Challenge on Friday was to do one of these bookmarks with a sleeve. You can click here to find the tutorial.

• Stamps: Merry and Bright, Many Merry Messages, Star Studded Season
• Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Dashing Designer Paper
• Ink: Black Stazon. Markers in Real Red, Certainly Celery, Only Orange, Sahara Sand.
• Accessories: Ribbon, Dimensionals, Crafter’s Tool Kit. Variety of punches and dies. Jingle Bells from Christmas craft section of Wal-Mart.

Again, thanks much for looking and for all your comments!!! I truly appreciate it!!! If all goes as planned, my next upload will be a very pretty gift set — crossing my fingers that all goes well — LOL!!!

What’s for Dinner? I found a recipe the other day for a crock pot chicken dish to be served over noodles on Nancy Riley’s Blog. I tried it and it was delicious!!! Even all my guys, who are meat and potato lovers, loved it!!! Check it out!!!