Sites of the week

I {heart} Rachel Ray’s magazine.

Truth is, I’ve only read a couple issues, but I know that a subscription is on my birthday wish list. When I picked this one up, I was immediately drawn to the colors and started thinking about all the SU! colors that matched…Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip and Groovy Guava…except Groovy Guava isn’t available yet, so Cameo Coral had to do.

Now I have to say…Blame it on Balcer!!! She is the one that MADE me get this Peony Panel by Stampendous stamp! Yes folks, she MADE me do it!! Um…ok…not really. I just REEEEAAAALLLY liked the card that she did here and was inspired to purchase and create with this stamp {funny thing is, that it’s not even the same exact stamp…smooches Jenn}. I stamped the panel in my Burnt Umber Palette ink pad and used my re-inkers and Aquapainter to color the image. I’ve noted before in other posts that I am no watercolorer, but I swear a stamped image and an Aquapainter makes it just about fool proof!
I used Paisley background on the Chocolate Chip layer and Floral background on the Certainly Celery layer. The ric-rac {how the heck do you spell that??} is actually paper!! It’s part of the Paper Frills collections by Doodle Bug Designs and it can be purchased at Recollections or eclectic Paperie.

Some stuff to look forward to:
1. First and foremost…A long weekend
2. Another tutorial with a challenge tomorrow
3. A fun announcement with some blog candy early next week
4. A funny joke this Sunday
5. Tony will be writing a post here next Sunday {he’s here the first Sunday of each month}

In case you haven’t noticed, I {heart} faux eyelets. I never thought to call them faux eyelets until Linda Bullard commented on them and referred to them as that. I have had a few emails asking what they are and how are they made. Well, it’s really very simple, and I thought this would be a fun little tutorial. I’d love to see your creations with them, so feel free to post a link in the comments.

Materials Needed:
Paper {such as your card/project}
Paper Piercer
Mat Pack or other Paper Piercing template/guide
Signo Pen

It’s only a two step process…

1. Pierce paper as desired.

2. Outline piercings with Signo pen.

Viola…faux eyelets

Don’t have a Signo Pen? Try a white out pen. It is a little more difficult because it is not as smooth to go on, but it works.

Ellie took a really nice nap this morning, so I was able to stamp a little and catch up on a couple SCS challenges {CC115 and SC125}. Yea!! I made this very simple and clean card with My Favorite Things stamps. The coffee/tea cups are from the set that is going to be released on the 1st. The sentiment is from MFT’s Simply Said set…very versatile and I {heart} this font! Well, that’s all for now {and today}.

Stamps: My Favorite Things
Paper: Vintage Violet, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Vintage Violet, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Palette Noir
Other: Olive brad, 3D glue dots, Ribbon

**Did you win a blog tart? See post from Monday and contact me ASAP. I understand that not everyone comes here daily; however, those who have not contacted me by Friday will have their tart given to another person. Sorry if that seems “mean” but I gotta do what I gotta do.

Last week I received a challenge in the mail from my friend, Jami. In a nutshell, her note stated that she was sad to see Stampin’ Fun for Everyone being retired, especially after just a year in the catty, and she wanted to see what a few of us would do with the images that she enclosed. At first I thought that I would make a card, then I got to work and it was looking like a pretty good ATC. Then, I remembered some frames that I had picked up a little while back and came up with a small piece of decor for my new stamp room. Thanks Jami for including me in this. It was lots of fun!
The image was colored in with reinkers and an Aquapainter. Her gloves are colored in with a white Sakura pen. I love the ribbon that is attached to the hanger. Can you tell that i{heart}ribbon, too?


Stamps: Stampin’ Fun for Everyone
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Same as paper
Other: Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Sakura Gel Pen, Paper Frills, Dimensionals

So, this is interesting…none of the winners {from yesterday’s post} have emailed me yet. Please email me asap. Thanks!

On Saturday I hosted a little potluck with some SCS friends {susiestampalot, steubner, s00zy66 and kikikaren}. Good food and conversation were in abundance. We stamped a little, but mostly just chatted and chowed. I made Faux Éclair, which was first introduced to me by Tony’s grandma a few years ago. I have yet to meet someone that does not like this super yummy dessert {even picky kids!!}. If you give it a shot, let me know what ya think!

Faux Éclair
9×13 pan
2 boxes Honey Graham Crackers
2 small boxes French Vanilla Instant Pudding
2 2/3 cups milk
1 Large (the big one) container Cool Whip
1 tub Milk Chocolate Frosting

Combine pudding mix and milk together.
Stir with wire whisk for about 2 minutes, or until thick.
Add most of the Cool Whip to the pudding. (I use all but about a cup)
Starting with graham crackers, layer graham crackers and pudding mixture. Use 1/3 of pudding mixture for each layer. You will end up with 4 layers of graham crackers and 3 layers of pudding.
Microwave tub of frosting in 5-10 second segments for a total of 35 seconds {with the lid and foil OFF}. Pour and spread frosting on the top graham cracker layer.
Refrigerate for at least 5-6 hours. {You don’t want the graham crackers to be crunchy.}

ETA: Someone asked what I did with the other cup of the Cool Whip. I use it for something else The big tub is just a little too big, but the medium size tub always seems to be lacking. You can always add more for taste, tho. Hope this helps.