A Brusho Birthday Card

I think this may be my new favorite card ever - I mean EVER!!!  For those of you who make cards, you know how much fun it is when you start to put something together and it takes shape on paper even better than you had it in your head.  That is how this process played out.

What did I do before Pinterest?? When I am stuck for inspiration and ALL of the blogs I follow are not quite "directing"  me (don't get me wrong - I have a list of projects that I want to try because of all of them - but wanted something different for the birthday of this friend - just not sure what!)

And then I saw some fun ideas using Brushos and that was all I needed.  I had created some background sheets while playing with them  and wasn't sure what to do with them and this seemed like just the right project. I am still learning and am a bit heavy handed with the sprinkling of the Brushos, but working on that!

I still want to use them to cut out some shapes, but this time I just cut out a simple cylinder shaped background and let the white image on top pop - and I think it does!  This is so simple with just the white and red, but I love how it all came together and am eager to try similar  ideas again.

Love the way the Silver Bullet cuts the thin lines in this image. And look at the fun splashes of color that you get from the Brushos.  This is the Rose Red color.

So not only did the idea succeed (and look at the detail in that butterfly cut), but the stamped greeting was exactly what I wanted.  I know that seems like a no-brainer, but I have rarely had a stamping success like this one. No matter what I do, I either slip with the stamp, or the ink goes down too light in one area or - well you get the picture.  But not this time.  I used my new MISTI tool that everyone is talking about and loving and you can add me to that list.  I was able to position the greeting perfectly and stamp it. The first image was a little splotchy, so I re-inked it and did it again.  Perfection.  You don't have to worry about the positioning being off because nothing moves or shifts and you get a stamp in the exact same spot each time.  I know I will be stamping more now - and loving it!  If you don't already have this tool and you like to stamp -it is an investment worth making. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!

The central image is a png I found on the internet that  I just traced in SCAL.

The greeting is  Hero Arts stamp.

The image has tiny foam squares behind it to give it dimension on the card.

So........Happy Birthday to my dear friend, Robbie. I hope she likes this card as much as I enjoyed making it.  Cannot wait to try some other ideas that have emerged from doing this...

Pin It Now!

Happy Father's Day!

Sometimes simplicity needs to take over when there are no ideas in your head!  Such was the case with this card.   First of all, I needed a masculine themed card - strike one for me.  It's no secret that I have a hard time with those.  Strike two came when I realized that tomorrow(now today!)  is THE day and there was NO way I was going to get it in the mail and delivered in 24 hours. So that destroyed whatever ambition I had to get it done - which became an overwhelming obstacle for most of the day.

So I gave myself a swift kick (mentally) and vowed to at least get it up on the blog so the wishes would be there and the promise of the delivery in a reasonable time (my definition of reasonable is totally different than the post office) would have to do..........

So..... for my oldest son on his VERY FIRST FATHER'S DAY.....................

A simple print and cut with patterned "Happy" letters - found the idea on Pinterest                           (a treasure chest of ideas no matter what the topic!)

Did a little scoring to give the card some dimension and added cut off brads for interest.

Preppy Carter J!

Carter and Dad - what a pair!

Sending love and hugs and wishes for a great day with that beautifully handsome  4 1/2 month old. 

 The time is flying SO fast!

Pin It Now!

Mixed Berry Cobbler Crisp

This dessert coincided nicely with the Memorial Day weekend with the red and blue  (and of course a scoop  of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream would be the perfect touch of white for a patriotic theme.)

Also, at least in CA right now, berries are a great price so I had beautiful fresh blueberries and raspberries in the fridge.   And I played with the original recipe and used coconut sugar to make it a little healthier (gives a lighter caramel taste and you don't get such a sugar rush) and added rolled oats, because they I can justify a few bites for breakfast - right??  I do the same with oatmeal raisin cookies - if they have oats in them, they are okay any time of the day :)  Some call it cheating but I call it healthy eating!  I can rationalize about anything!

Mixed Berry Crisp

adapted from Bake or Break

3 c. assorted berries (I used 2. blueberries and 1 c. raspberries)
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. organic all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter (1 stick), softened
3/4 -1 c. coconut sugar (if  you want it sweeter, use the 1 c. as coconut sugar is not as sweet as brown sugar.  I was perfectly happy with the 3/4 c., however)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease a 9x6" rectangle pan or an 8-9" round baking dish.

Place the clean and drained berries in the prepared baking dish. Drizzle the lemon juice over the top of the berries - no need to mix.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

For ease of clean up, I prepared the topping in a food processor.  (If you prefer, you can beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until creamy and then mix in the flour mixture until crumbly and proceed).
Place the softened butter, vanilla and coconut sugar in the food processor and pulse until it is nice and creamy and well blended. You may need to scrap down the sides once, but this will blend quickly! Add the flour mixture and the oats and pulse a few quick times until you have a crumbly mixture that is well incorporated.

Ready for the oven...

Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the berries so they are covered evenly.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the fruit is bubbly.

Freshly baked...

This is SO delicious. You could easily double the fruit and use the same amount of topping if you want . And this would be delicious with peaches or apples or apricots or.....  I cannot wait to make it again and doing most of the work in the food processor made it even easier!

Pin It Now!