Birthday Card & Chocolate Orange Curd Recipe!

I’ve been feeling really encouraged lately.
First email from myscrapbookart to say they’d featured a card on their blog, then I got news I’d won a challenge and a prize with Quick Cards and then I’ve also got to create something for a manufacturer but I can’t say any more right now.
For those that want to know, I’m in the Issue 101 Simply Cards and Papercraft and the Crafts Beautiful Christmas special which should be out in September.
This card is for one of my favourite friends- hope you don’t mind more Simple Stories papers- they’re just plain ‘ole happy! The stamp is from Hero Arts and background paper is from Pebbles.
She’s also getting these

The ‘orange curd’ is made by adapting the lemon curd recipe that I’ve posted about before. You just swap in the same quantity of any other juice. I’ve done gooseberry, blackberry etc. just heat up the fruit if it’s not a citrus fruit, push through a sieve and use the juice/pulp in the recipe. I’d picked up some cheap mandarins so used those.
Steve had come home with some melted chocolate. Part of his marketing recently has used chocolate oranges and Lindt orange chocolates. With all the heat they’d gotten a little melty- Steve asked how I could use them. Well I immediately thought of chocolate orange curd as I was making orange curd at that point. I scoured the Internet for a recipe and Nothing. No-one apart from the manufacturers has posted anything- so, I experimented.
I melted roughly 100g of Lindt orange truffles and set them aside whilst I quick made the orange curd. I added them both together once the curd was thickened and chocolate still melted. Mix together quickly and pour into warmed jars and voila. But do keep it in the fridge. It’s really really yummy. You could easily substitute any chocolate-
the 100g seems to be perfect. The kids have tried it on toast but I think it would lovely as an ice-cream sauce and equally nice as a spreadable icing on some cupcakes- maybe with a bit of icing sugar to make it more stable.

Well- better go.. Kids to look after. See you when I’ve stopped sniffing- this hay fever just won’t shift!!

The simplest card in the world? & Angels

An ultra quick post while I’m the car waiting to pick up some of the kids on the school. I know this is not the simplest card in the world- but it might be jolly close! Love it’s simplicity and the movement with the tiny sliver of cardstock that the thinner card goes, the more it takes on an almost fabric like quality.
I was recently challenged to think about the most expensive card in the world. Where would you start? It wouldn’t have to be full of the priciest materials but one where someone would pay top drawer for. What would it look like? Any ideas?!!
Hmmm.. Just seen that WordPress has decided to publish my picture before I even finished the post.
Ah well- technology definitely has a mind of its own sometimes!

Better go- an ‘angel’ dropped off a meal for me earlier. ( obviously not a real one). This is in addition to two angels in the past week. I’m very fortunate to know such lovely people.

I’ll see you when we’ve finished house hunting. A move is quite possibly an option!

Strength and Hope & Running away!

Ever want to take off and fly away for a couple of hours? No? Is it just me?!! This card says it all..’hope…believe…kindness…thankyou…together’. A catch all card if ever I saw one! It’s simply a deconstructed part of a word stamp from the Strength and Hope set.- the one thats raising money for Breast Cancer Research. I’ve just used the set really simply and apart from a bit of card and ‘Sweet Stitches’ paper, oh and a black marker; thats it!

Sometimes it all gets a bit much, doesn’t it? My house is chocka full of hormones, and yesterday, the balance shifted too much in their favour! After one successful truce, there was more of the same at teatime and my ability to smile through it had come to an abrupt end! I’m often thankful for Steve, but last night, I was deliriously happy I could just take off and not have to stick around. A change of scenery was going to be a perfect tonic. Before you all wonder at what dreadful calamity had happened, please rest assured it was more the last straw kinda thing rather than a major issue. After all, keep loading Buckeroo and it will seek to offload eventually! After practically dancing up the stairs to my local Costa, book in hand and my eyes on a very large skinny decaf latte, I was greeted by the baristas saying ‘Sorry we’re closed’. Fabulous. Great. I wandered through Tesco picking up a couple of things I needed and picked up a cheap scarf that will act as a reminder that I will have those kind of days again but with some faith and trust in God, decent good friends and a whacking great cup of coffee, it will be alright with the world and I can start another day realising my failings and human-ness but acknowledging that I need help to get through each day.

It was only then that I realised I was by myself and a woman and at 7:30 in the evening that somewhat limits your socialising choices. I’d never appreciated just how limiting that was. I racked my brains for where to go- to be honest, a bit of solitude was the perfect tonic at that moment. Firstly I tried to think where the nearest coffee shops were-and realised they were shut. Next on my list was trendy cafe/restaurants. I didn’t want to eat and they wouldn’t have served me just a coffee, despite the fact I’d have loved to sit alone. Ok, I now drove past a coffee shop/bar- but it contained 5 blokes and I felt it was too awkward. What about a hotel lobby/bar I’ve been with several friends to?- nope, a little too exposed and I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I considered some local family friendly pubs and then tried to think of the last time I’d seen a woman in there alone..ermm…never. Crossed that one off the list. Lastly I thought I could go down to Otterspool Prom and just sit looking out across the Mersey; great except it’s  not reknown for being a safe place to hang out. At this point in preceedings, I admitted defeat, went through the McDonalds drive-through and then sat in my car for half an hour reading. It was just what the doctor ordered. I checked my phone, saw that a friend had invited me to crash at hers for a coffee, and thought, ‘why not’. I came home just before midnight, having set the world to rights after chatting about our kids, the BBC’s bias and agenda, schooling, counter culture parenting and a whole lot more. I had a good laugh- often at myself and left refreshed. 

There. Deep intake of breath. Confession over. We’re in this parenting thing for life, huh!  and today it’s fun! Oh, and PS, Morrisons in West Kirby do really dreadful lunchtime meals-I was thankful for the food but think it had done many minutes overtime being nuked in the microwave. (made me smile though- I discovered a new colour that peas could become given long enough!!!)

See you soon x

Butterfly Tag Card & Clearing Out!

Morning everyone! I’m thankful for Saturday! Such a busy week, it’s so good to be at the weekend! This is a busy card- but I love cards with lots to look at. I’m using tags again and the twill ruffle, plus the little vellum pocket. The little butterfly accents remind of traffic lights in spring!- would be nice if traffic lights were a prettier shade don’t you think!! The green base is using a really lovely colour called ‘Wild Wasabi’. I’m not a fan of Wasabi in food form- I’ll eat the sushi anyday just leaving the wasabi behind! This however, is a scrummy colour- kinda spring like on steroids!

The week has been full of complicated things- just to add an extra bit of ‘je ne sais quoi’ to my schedule. My phone decided to try and escape down the toilet whilst I was picking something up from the floor. It was completely submerged and I felt completely deflated!! It’s in the process of drying out- it’s present home is a bowl full of rice. There have been moderate signs of life- the touch screen is working again but there’s no light- which makes reading the phone a trifle difficult. We’re hoping that screen brightness will return soon but we do have a few more things to try if the next 24 hours don’t bring us any joy! The wonder of technology- you’d have thought Apple might have made it waterproof by now!!

This week I also went to my eldest’s Options meeting for her GCSE’s ; how to make a girl feel old! I have to admit though, some of the courses sounded so exciting that I was tempted to sign up myself. After realising I’m not really giving my brain much of a workout, I’m actively searching out opportunities  for cerebral exercise. If only you could do a degree in Papercrafting huh?!!

I have to get back to clearing out- another house viewing on Monday=waving goodbye to even more black bin bags full of stuff we’re attempting to be ruthless with. It feels soothing somehow seeing them go- and yet our house seems crowded still–perhaps that’s due to there being 7 bodies populating it!! My 3 year old has just come running in saying that he needs a hug. I had a lovely squeezy hug and then he pipes up ‘now please can I have chocolate’. Where did he learn that hugs equate Dairy Milk? He’ll be disappointed on this occasion- although I suspect he’s likely to try that one again very soon!!

xx

Card project- Cardstock- Wild Wasabi,Crumb Cake ,Whisper White, Daffodil Delight and Very vanilla. Punches- Corner rounder and border punch. Twill ribbon. Basic Pearls. Stamp- All a Flutter. Designer paper- Pink dot from Subtles pack. black and white paper from Newsprint pack. Brads from Subtles & Brights pack. Button from Designer Button pack in Brights. Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon and linen thread. Embossed dots from an embossing folder in my stash.

 

Teeny Card & Blog Candy Winner!

I should say Good Afternoon! But I’ve been getting everything wrong. I came up to a friend late this afternoon and said ‘Good morning’- she giggled and I felt really stupid! I also nearly made a big mistake- which is linked with this card. I was preparing to take an evening at the Stamping club I go to and this little card was for one of the examples of the type of thing we were going to make. I was half an hour off going and thought I’d just double check that I had the right time. I did. Unfortunately I would have been 2 weeks too early. Duh!! Is this what senior moments are like? Am I destined to live like this for the rest of my days (he he he!!)

This is a really tiny card (only about 10cm x 3.5cm) but I love the ruffled and ribbony textures. The paper is adorable and if you look carefully you’ll spot the ‘Bliss’ stamp which is part of the Bliss Sale-a-bration set. Add a few swirly pearls, a flower brad, a handmade flower and a little stamped butterfly and that’s it. I also cut out an image on one of the other designer papers in the Love Letters set. It’s really useful making tiny cards so that the smaller stamps you might have in your stash can take centre stage rather than looking too diminutive on your cards.

It’s also time to announce the winner of my blog candy……..

and the winner, who was picked out by one of my daughters is….

LYNNE FAHEY!!   Please get in touch Lynne and let me know where you want the bag sending too! On the topic of the bag- I will be recreating some similar- so please let me know if you’re interested. Prices and colours to follow!!

Thanks for all your lovely comments recently- both about my bag and cards or comments in general! It is so great reading them- I do appreciate it!

Well I need to go and find homes for some cakes. My hubby is starting to complain that our kitchen looks like ‘perma-cake’ (whatever that is) and is akin to an industrial bakery. He thinks I should get a prize for the 100,000th cake to come out of our oven (which is sadly probably not as far away as it should be!) If you’re down my way- please call in and relieve me of some of them (coffee or lemon drizzle)- I’ll only eat them and that is NOT good! Is there a known condition that causes the sufferer to have a compulsion to make cake?

Till later! xx

Card recipe: Base- Crumb cake, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Ribbon- Real Red and Marina Mist. Ink- Stazon black and Early Espresso, Basic Pearls, Flower brad, Papers- yellow (butterfly) from Greenhouse Gala and houndstooth and flourish from Love Letters.

 

Bliss Sale-a-bration set & How you live

Here’s something a little different from me. I started out stamping with a more ‘artsy’ style. The CAS style has gradually become more ‘me’. I was going to do something bright and funky with this floral stamp (reminds me of a chandelier)but  I thought I’d use the watercolour paper and a spray bottle to disperse the dye ink. I’ve used Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler. The ink really bleeds beautifully into the watercolour paper- you can see here better- including the top left hand bit that bled too much!!. I mounted the images on dimensionals – but its hard to tell in the photo. The little butterfly is really gorgeous in the set. It’s got interesting script details and looks pretty surrounded by pearls. Hard to believe that it’s free, isn’t it!

Have you noticed how little people actually smile? I felt particularly smiley as I went around the shops this evening. I didn’t actually smile at anyone, but had a smile on my face. People looked at me very strangely! I was smiling remembering as I was crafting last night. I had a radio station on called ‘Last fm’. It’s made up of songs available on a radio channel all over the world. You can put your favourite artist in and it selects other bands and groups that are similar. I’ve found some of my favourite music artists this way. I was listening to a song called ‘How You Live’. Some of the lyrics said… ‘It’s not who you know, or what you did, but the way that you lived’. The song is all about living your life to the full and doing it meaningfully. I loved it and it’s made me think a lot today. I guess that’s about not leaving my ‘Bucket list’ until I’m 60, doing the things I know I should do now and making every day count. A Carpe Diem really. Feeling inspired? I am.

I’m off to do some research about a family holiday with a twist!

Card recipe. Cardstock, Basic Black, Whisper white, Crumb cake. Watercolour paper. Bliss stamp set. Basic Pearls, Ink, Early Espresso and Cherry cobbler.