Beautiful Butterfly

Can you tell I have a thing for butterflies? They’re just so pretty and always add a fun little accent. This card features the new big beautiful Swallowtail stamp from the Spring Catalog.

• Stamps: Swallowtail, Loving Thoughts, Bloomin’ Beautiful
• Card Stock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party
• Ink: Versamark, Pool Party
• Accessories: Pool Party embossing powder, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Glue Dots, Rhinestones

This is another fast and easy card with lots of wow! I started off with a piece of Whisper White card stock cut at 5-1/2” x 8-1/2” and scored at 4-1/4”. I cut a piece of Wisteria Wonder card stock 3-7/8” x 3-7/8”. I rubbed the Embossing Buddy over the Wisteria Wonder card stock then stamped the Swallowtail image onto the card stock in Versamark ink. I covered the stamped image with Pool Party embossing powder, tapped off the excess, and heated it with my Heat Tool.

I used my Aqua Painter to pick up a little bit of Frost White Shimmer Paint and painted it inside the entire butterfly shape. To dry the Shimmer Paint/water faster I used the first setting on the new Heat Tool. Then I adhered this panel onto a 4” x 4” piece of Elegant Eggplant card stock. This panel was adhered onto the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I stamped the greeting onto the bottom of the card front in Pool Party ink. I stamped the butterfly image from Bloomin’ Beautiful onto a scrap of Pool Party card stock in Pool Party ink. Then I punched out the butterfly with the Bitty Butterfly punch and adhered it onto the card front with a Glue Dot. Some Rhinestones finish off the little butterfly with some sparkle.

Sweet and sparkly! Just how I like it! 

Perk Up!

I have a fun card to share with you today! It could be used as a get well card, or just to cheer up a friend.

• Stamps: Morning Cup
• DSP: Floral District
• Card Stock: Raspberry Ripple, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Baja Breeze
• Ink: Black Stazon, Raspberry Ripple
• Markers: Raspberry Ripple, Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze
• Accessories: Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Curly Label punch, 3/16” Corner punch

I started this fun card by cutting a piece of Raspberry Ripple card stock cut at 5-1/2” x 8-1/2” and scored it at 4-1/4”. Next I cut a piece of Floral District DSP 2-1/4” x 3-3/4” and used the 3/16” Corner punch on two opposite corners before adhering it onto the card front.

I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 2-3/8” x 3-5/8”. I stamped the images from Morning Cup onto the right side of the card stock in Black Stazon ink and colored in the images with markers. I adhered this panel onto a 2-1/2” x 3-3/4” piece of Daffodil Delight card stock. I stamped the greeting from Morning Cup onto a scrap of Baja Breeze card stock in Raspberry Ripple ink and punched it out with the Curly Label punch. I adhered the label behind the Daffodil Delight card stock.

I wrapped a piece of Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain ribbon around the panel and tied it into a knot. Then simply adhered the panel onto the card front with a few Stampin’ Dimensionals. 

Craft Project Central!

I have some catching up to do on sharing Craft Project Central projects, so here we go! 

Jungle-in-a-Box Gift Set: 

Who doesn’t love a Jack-in-the-box?  How about a little Jungle-in-a-box?  Give this cute little jungle animal pop-up gift and matching card set to a young one (or one young at heart!) for a fun little birthday surprise!  This cute project is surprisingly easy and in addition to being a great gift set, makes a fun class project!

This fabulous project comes to you designed by Tara!

By the Tide Picture and Card Set: 

This nautical picture and matching card are perfect for gift giving or for hanging in a room in your house!  The 8" x 10" frame can be changed to white or brown to match any decor.  Not only is the picture beautiful, but it is quick and simple to make!  This project is also a fun camp, class or club project!

This fun project comes to you designed by Chris!

Spring Treats and Place Setting: 

Wanting to celebrate the arrival of Spring?  Here are some fun treat containers to give as favors as well as a matching ensemble to set your table up, with cute place cards and napkin holders! 

This fun project comes to you designed by Heidi!

Slip Cover Candy Box and Card (March Bonus Project): 

Every once in a while you need a little something to give to a teacher, neighbor, friend or any other special person!  Make the little something even more special by making it yourself.  Here is a pretty Slip Cover Candy Box and a matching card sure to wow the recipient and let them know you think they’re special!  Make several sets and then just fill them with candy when you are ready to give the gift!

This pretty project comes to you designed by Kim!

If you would like to subscribe to the March edition of Craft Project Central and get 10 wonderful tutorials for only $10 then click HERE! 

Scallop Square Spotlight: 

The popular Scallop Square Bigz die has been out for a while, but there are so many new, cool, and fresh things you can create with it!  This project will show you how easy the Scallop Square makes it to create a Lidded Window Sheet Box, an Open-Top Handle Tote, a Slide-Out Pocket Card and a 4-Way Treat Holder!  Any of these would make a great favor and invitation for all of your parties!

This great project comes to you designed by Julie!

Shadow Box and Greeting Card: 

This pretty shadowbox made of card stock boxes is a fun way to make customized home decor and is also fun to make as a special gift for someone who loves crafting and can appreciate the thought and time that went into making this beauty!  It’s also a great way of showcasing some pretty crafting products!  In addition, this project makes for a fun Stamp Camp project or as an advanced class project!

This beautiful project comes to you designed by Monika!

If you would like to subscribe to the April edition of Craft Project Central and get 10 wonderful tutorials for only $10 then click HERE! 

Blossom Punch Rose Tutorial

Here is the tutorial to create the rose that I used on the gift box I posted yesterday. Take a look!

1. Use the Blossom Punch to punch out three flowers from Daffodil Delight card stock. Then sponge around the outside edges of both sides of the flower with Daffodil Delight ink and a Stamping Sponge. Use paper Snips to cut approximately 1/2” toward the center between each of the petals.

2. Use a bamboo skewer (like the kind you would use to make a shish kabob) to curl both sides of the petal towards the center of the petal. Repeat on the remaining petals and on the remaining two punched blossoms.

3. Take one blossom. On one petal use Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive to glue one side of the petal to the other side of the same petal to create a small tube. This will be the center petal of the rose.

4. Fold up the other petals one at a time so that they curl around the tight center petal. 

5. Use Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive to adhere this tight bud inside the second blossom.

6. Fold up the petals one at a time so that they curl around the center bud. These don’t have to be as tight.

7. Repeat the last two steps to add the final blossom.

8. Now you can use your fingers to make the petals on the two outer blossoms curl down. Use tweezers to curl down some of the petals on the center bud of the flower. Spray the flower with Gold Smooch Spritz.

9. Use the Blossom Builder Punch to punch out two of the larger leaves from Lucky Limeade card stock. Fold the leaves in half and run them through your crimper at an angle. Sponge on both sides of the leaves with Old Olive ink and a Stamping Sponge. Adhere the two leaves onto the back of the rose withMultipurpose Liquid Adhesive.

Your rose is finished!

Spring Rose Gift Box

I helped the Easter Bunny make this box this last Sunday for my Mom for Easter. She is always getting something for the grandkids, and rarely gets anything from the Easter Bunny. I told her that the Easter Bunny must have made a mistake. He left this box of sweets at my house and it’s clearly meant for her since yellow is her favorite color.

So here is how I helped the Easter Bunny make it.

• Stamps: En Francais, Well Scripted (retired), Flowering Flourishes
• Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade
• Ink: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Versamark
• Accessories: Small Oval Punch (from the Holiday catalog),Dazzling Detials, Decorative Label Punch, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon (retired),Pool Party embossing powder, Heat Tool, 3/8” Circle Punch (Itty Bitty ShapesPunch Pack),  Sticky Strip, Paper Snips,Stamping Sponge, Multi-purpose Liquid Adhesive

I started off with an 8-1/2” x 11” piece of Very Vanilla card stock. I scored it as shown below. I used Paper Snips to trim on the lines indicated in red below. On the front side of the box I added Sticky Strip inthe locations indicated with the blue lines. Then I flipped the card stock overand adhered Sticky Strip onto the back of the card stock in the location indicated with the green line.

I stamped the En Francais background image onto the card stock twice in Crumb Cake ink. Then I stamped the largest image from Flowering Flourishes onto the card stock several times in Daffodil Delight ink. I folded on all of the score lines then removed the Sticky Strip liner from the side tab and adhered it behind the other end of the card stock to form a tube. Then I folded in the bottom flaps, removed the Sticky Strip from the last bottom flap and adhered it in place.

I sponged around all the edges except the top with Daffodil Delight ink and a Stamping Sponge. I pushed in at the top of the sides and squeezed the front and back together to allow the box to close. I used the Small Oval punch on both the front and back. For the tag I stamped the image from Well Scripted onto a scrap of Daffodil Delight card stock in Versamark ink. I covered the stamped image with Pool Party embossing powder, tapped off the excess, and heated it with my Heat Tool.

I punched out the greeting with the Decorative Label punch, sponged around the edges with Daffodil Delight ink, and used the 3/8”Circle punch to punch a hole in the tag. I filled the box with some Lindt truffles then I threaded a piece of Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon through the holes in the box and the tag then tied it into a bow.

I added some Dazzling Details onto the flower swirls on the front and back of the box and allowed it to dry. I adhered the flower onto the box with some Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive. Mom really loved the box!

Come back tomorrow for a full tutorial on how to create the rose! 

Pinterest Desserts

If you've been on Pinterest at all you know that there is a wide variety of just about everything that you can find and pin to your own boards. If you haven't been on Pinterest, you should definitely try it out! Well I found and tried out a couple of dessert recipes that I've pinned so I thought I would share these two delicious pies with you. 

Strawberry Cream Pie

First up is a Strawberry Cream Pie. This recipe was created by Nikki at Chef in Training. I just love Nikki's blog! She always has the most wonderful recipes. Here is a picture of her delicious looking pie. 

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Now here is a picture of mine. My swirls of chocolate were not anywhere near as even as Nikki's, but it still looked delicious. In her recipe she mentions that you can use either Vanilla or Almond extract. I've tried both and let me tell you, it is OMG amazing with the almond extract! Her recipe is super simple and turns out a wonderfully delicious pie! You can find Nikki's recipe HERE. 

Blueberries and Cream Pie

The second pie is a Blueberries and Cream Pie. Now I was pretty skeptical about this recipe. I"m not a huge fan of blueberries, but it looked delicious. I think this is now my favorite pie ever! (Well...other than Mom's apple pie. Nothing is better than Mom's apple pie.) Anyway... unfortunately I can't find the website that this was originally pinned from. All of the links I've found seem to be broken. But thankfully I had saved a printed copy of the recipe! The original blog was Gingerbread Bagels. 

Ingredients (8-12 slices)

For the Crust (makes 2 single pie crusts)

4 cups cups flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 3/4 cup cold shortening, diced
1/2 cup cold water
1 large egg (cold)
1 large egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon water (for egg wash)

For the Filling

3 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Crumb Topping

2 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg (about 1/16th teaspoon)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

Note: I also added a small package of slivered almonds (about 1/2 cup) to the topping. 

Instructions

For the Crust

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and kosher salt. Put the bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes. It’s important that the ingredients for the pie crust are very cold. Dice the shortening and also place it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Take the bowl out of the freezer and add in the shortening. Using a fork, cut the shortening into the flour. The mixture should resemble small peas. Mix together 1/2 cup very cold water (I put the water in the freezer) and 1 large cold egg. Add it to the bowl and mix the ingredients together in order to incorporate everything.
Put the dough onto a floured counter and form it into a large circle. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Take the dough out of the refrigerator and take off 3/4 of the dough. I always use a little more so it’s easier to roll out. You can reserve the extra dough you don’t use for another pie.
Flour the counter, rolling pin and the dough. Roll it out into a large circle. Then roll the dough onto your rolling pin. Roll the dough over the pie plate (a 9 inch pie plate) and press it into the insides of the pie plate.
Crimp the edges of the pie or if you can just take a fork and crimp the edges.
Place the pie in the refrigerator while you work on the filling.

For the Filling

In a bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and flour. Add in the sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Take the pie out of the refrigerator and put the blueberries on the bottom of the crust. Pour the filling over the blueberries and spread it out.

For the Crumb Topping

Mix together the sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Pour the melted unsalted butter into the bowl and mix everything together.
Add in the flour and mix until the ingredients form a crumble topping.
Crumble the crumb topping over the pie.
Mix together 1 large egg and a Tablespoon of water and brush over the edge of the crust.
Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Let the pie cool before cutting into slices. Then enjoy!

I hope you enjoy these fabulous pie recopies!