Bake Sale!

     This past weekend I was asked to make something for a bake sale to support our local Historical Society.  I am always honored when I get the call to make something.  This is a small village and the committee is fairly full of the oldies.  They are hard to infiltrate.
     I knew I wanted to make cupcakes because you can sell them for more than cookies and bring in the big bucks! lol!  After cruising on Pinterest for awhile I did an internet search and decided on a butterfly/dragonfly cupcake.  I think they are the cutest little cupcakes ever!
     Although I didn't save one for myself, my boyfriend and kids went to the fire hall and bought their own and said they were very good!  I hope they all sold!  Here is a photo of one!

Helpful Hint From Jenny B!

Wow!  I’ve been really bad about blogging my creations!  I guess it’s because I limited myself to scrapbooking and crafts.  Truth be told, I’ve been planning a garden for months and started seeds a few weeks back…

Today I’m going to let you in on a secret – well, it was a secret to me, it may not be to you.   A while back I was using my Cricut and I used some paper on it that must have been extra fuzzy or something because it left an awful mess on the cutting pad when I pulled it off.  It was a brand new cutting pad!  I was so angry because it was darn near impossible to put anything else on it for fear of getting the remnants on new cuttings.

After cursing myself out – You should have known better!  Why did you do that?  Where is your brain???   And realizing I would never even think to say these things to a fellow crafter, I decided to try and fix the problem.  How could it hurt?

I thought and thought and then I grabbed cotton balls and rubbing alcohol, and started rubbing.  To my surprise, the paper came off and the sticky-ness stayed!  Not as strong as it was before, but I definitely could use it after the cleaning!  So if you get some paper fuzz on your cutting mat, and you decide you can’t use it anymore, try this out – it’s worth it and cheaper than running to the store for more mats.

Happy scrapping!

 

 

Birder Candle

        I started this candle a couple weeks ago, then got side tracked while life was going on around me.  I started with a clear jar, that may or may not have had a candle in it before.  I just take old jars and throw them in a drawer until something catches my eye that I can use them for.  I saw a great tutorial on the Plaid website: https://www.plaidonline.com/burlap-wrapped-candle-holder/4313/project.htm?utm_content=bufferd28f4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=plus.google.com&utm_campaign=buffer , so i decided to give it a try - Jenny style.

        I loved the little candle I saw on the site and I had some Modge Podge and some Tim Holtz Grungeboard (Nature) and some old burlap I picked up at a yard sale so I thought "Why not?".  It was definately something to add to my creative flow.  I've been practicing for a play the last six weeks and our final performance was this past Saturday.  Today was the perfect day to finish.

        The burlap was secured onto the glass with Modge Podge and then sealed with the Modge Podge as well.  I painted the grungeboard bird and glittered the dragonfly.  I added some raffia wrap-a-round and flowers and secured it all with hot glue.  The only time consuming part of this project was waiting for glue and paint to dry.  I plan on making more as gifts.  I think they'll be well received.  

        Here is my finished project.

Modge Podge
Tim Holtz Grungeboard
Galleria Acryllic Paint
studio G Glitter Glue
Colorbok Layered Flowers

Happy Birthday Kid!

This weekend was my grandson’s birthday party.  I had asked him several weeks ago what type of cake he wanted for his birthday and he said a Mario and Luigi cake.  Then, a couple days before the party he changed his mind and said a hot air balloon cake.  We stayed with the Mario cake because he got the hot air balloon cake the year before for his 9^th birthday.  Something new every year.  And maybe he thought we couldn’t do a Mario cake.  I don’t know.  It’s not like the kid to doubt me.

I searched on-line for a decent, simple drawing of Mario and Luigi and found one that I thought I could draw. 

Since I am in play rehearsals nearly every night, and I work during the day, I enlisted the help of my boyfriend to make the cake.  I had made cupcakes the week before using a recipe from the latest AllRecipes magazine and the cake was awesome so we thought we could convert it to a sheet cake, which he did very well.  So we started out Friday evening with a super moist chocolate cake.

At 9pm, after the kids were in bed we began the frosting part.  I made up the frosting using the classic Wilton Buttercream Icing Recipe.  Never fails – I love it.  Then I mixed up some black frosting to outline the guys.  We followed the colors for Luigi and Mario and then my boyfriend suggested we use their shirt colors on the opposite sides of the cake instead of having one solid color for the background.  It was a great idea because it totally makes the cake pop!  We took turns doing the piping.  The first time I made one of these cakes with my boyfriend he was shocked at how easy it was to pipe – and fun – so now he helps on every single cake.  We finished at 10:30pm. 

 

 

         The next day we celebrated at Pizza Hut Wing Street and the cake was a hit.  The kid loved it as well as the waitresses.  I left some cake there for them because they were awesome and so accommodating!  I think this is the best cake we’ve done for either kid so far.

Apologies All Around...

     I would like to apologize for my lack of creativeness on paper (or anything else) the last several weeks.  I have joined a theatre group and we are getting down to the last several weeks of rehearsals and once I get home from work I spend time with my guy and turn around and leave again!  Busy, busy, busy!

     I got home the other night at 10pm after a complete show run-through and the dogs were absolutely going crazy!  He told me they had been watching for me since 8pm, wondering where I was, why I wasn't there with them.  My boy (Toby, the beagle) was all wiggles and howls when I walked through the door.  It was like I was gone for a week instead of four hours!  It's nice to come home to that, even if I hate that they're so upset when I'm not there.

Not everyone has a Barrot (A Beagle-Parrot)!  But we do! 
Here is Toby on my boyfriend's shoulder.
It's usually mine so I was lucky to get this shot! lol!

     This weekend we are having a birthday party so I will definitely get some good photos to scrapbook and make some great memories too!  I hope everyone has a warm and creative weekend!  Sub-zero weather is being served up here, maybe I'll have a chance to create after all!

DCWV January Stack-a-holic Challenge

   First, this is not the project I was going to try to get to today.  The first project I wanted to do was to sand and paint this great bird feeder we have - except I can't find the sand paper and my boyfriend has the flu, so I am out of luck on that one til I get to the store or he gets better.

   I've been wanting to get to the DCWV challenge so this evening seemed like the best time.  Although I'm not sure if I will be asked to drive said boyfriend to the ER.  He should have gone earlier but he thought he'd be ok.  He's got a temp of 101.2.  And he's a man.  And he's sick.  So I'm basically living with an oversized child right now.  I just hope he feels better soon.

   Anyhoo, I got down to business and took the card challenge.  Here is the challenge drawing:

   Here is my interpretation:

   I used plain cardstock, patterned paper (Switchboard)  from Pinkpaislee, burlap paper from DCWV, and dimensional hearts by Pebbles.
   
   The notebook border was made by using my Creative Memories border maker and the tag was made with the Creative Memories Shape Maker Circle Tag.  I used my Fiskars 3-in-1 Tag Maker that I won several months ago.  I do love that little piece of equipment!  Actually, I love everything I have or I wouldn't have it!

   We just received Christmas gifts from my bf's sister this past week and I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell her thank you!  I will be writing her a personal note and then sending this out and I hope she likes it as much as I do!

New Posts Soon!

   I apologize for not posting lately!  Getting cleaned up after Christmas and now coming down with some kind of flu-ey thing has kept me from the studio longer that I expected.  If my nose dries up today I AM starting a new project and will post photos.

   More to come...

   Meanwhile, take a look at my partners for the last couple of days!