Black Cat on Fence Card

After embossing the tree, I inked it with Distress Ink and
colored the leaves with a Promarker.

The fence and cat are clip art images I traced and cut with my Silhouette.

Creamed Corn Cornbread

This recipe by Alton Brown makes really good cornbread with a nice crispy crust.  Most cornbread recipes that include creamed corn have a mushy texture and this one does not.  

I omitted the sugar since we don't care for the sweet taste in cornbread.  

After pouring the batter into the preheated skillet I added chopped jalapenos to half of it since DH likes jalapeno cornbread. 

 CREAMED CORN CORNBREAD

2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup creamed corn
2 tablespoons canola oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet into the oven.

In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk together to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn, whisking together to combine thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine. If the batter will not pour, add more buttermilk to the batter.

Swirl the canola oil in the hot cast iron skillet. Pour the batter into the skillet. Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch, about 20 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

Umbrella Card

The umbrella is a clip art image, traced and printed using Silhouette software.  It's printed on Tim Holtz paper then shaded using Promarkers.  It was pop dotted on the card front for dimension.

The sentiment was printed using Hallmark Card Studio software.  The background on the card base is a mixture of Tim Holtz and other brands of stamps using Always Artichoke ink.

Preserves Cartridge Cards

One reason I'm so hesitant to replace my computer is because I still have Cricut Design Studio software and all the cartridges in it up to the last update before Provocraft abandoned the program.

Using Make The Cut and the print screen tool in Windows I can
capture, trace and cut any of the images in the hundreds of cartridges in Design Studio.

 These cards were inspired by some seen online a few years ago.

I had honestly forgotten about the cute images on the Preserves cartridge until searching through my "Ideas" folder and seeing
these.

 Make The Cut software makes it simple to trace and resize images.  It's also super easy to eliminate elements of the design that you don't want to use.

Each of these cards has pen work added and that makes me think of Mary Engelbright.

The edges were inked with Chestnut Roan ink.  I added some pen work with a white Signa pen and Stampin' Up markers.

The sentiment was printed on my computer and attached with some copper colored brads.

Wood Burned Christmas Project - Wooden Spoons

 These were inspired by some wood burned items I saw online.

The wooden utensils came from Bed Bath and Beyond.

I free handed the designs onto the spoons with a pencil then followed the lines with a wood burning tool.

By using a pencil, any remaining lines are easily removed with an eraser.

Cocoa and Candy Cane Holder

This idea was shared on Pinterest by Peggy Wilson.  I modified the original design and will be making several of these to tuck inside packages this Christmas.  The candy canes I had on hand are a little too large so I'll have to pick some up tomorrow to finish them up.

Using Hallmark Card Studio, I printed the sentiment onto the front.  Then I trimmed the upper right corner off and glued the front edge of the card to the back to make a pocket. 

The steam and cup of cocoa are clip art images.  They're mounted onto a 2 3/8" scalloped circle and a 2 3/4" inch circle.  The lower band is 1 1/2" wide.  I added some stitching with a Signo pen, then tucked in the candy cane and cocoa packet.

A closeup of the verse.

My Favorite Christmas Bread

BISHOP'S BREAD

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1 /2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped dates
10 oz. jar Maraschino cherries, drained well and chopped
6 oz,. package of chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts

Combine eggs and sugar.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add to egg mixture.
Stir in dates, cherries, chocolate chips, and nuts.
Pour batter into well greased 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan.
Bake at 325° on lowest rack in oven for 1 1/4 hours or until
tested done.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes and remove to wire rack to completely
cool.
When cool, wrap in foil and let stand overnight before slicing.

Butterfly Duo Die Card

A quick card using some Tim Holtz paper scraps and Distress ink to try out the Butterfly Duo die.

This is an A2 sized card.

Coffee Cup Card

It's been a long time since I've purchased any supplies for making cards so I treated myself to some Tim Holtz dies and embossing folders. 

First I fell in love with the butterflies, then the tea cups and coffee cups.  It was too hard to decide which ones to buy so I just got them all!

The edges are inked with Chestnut Roan.  The band is crimped using a Fiskars crimper. 

I printed the sentiment on my computer and added some random coffee bean stamped images.

The dies are Tea Time, Fresh Brewed and Butterfly Duo.

DH's Birthday Card

This is the card I made for DH's birthday.  He enjoys guns and hunting so it's appropriate!

The Elmer Fudd image is clip art.  I did two print and cut images using my Cameo then fussy cut out his hat and clothing and layered them onto the base image using pop dots.  Then I pop dotted the entire assembly for dimension.

The edges of the elements were inked and I added some pen work.

The sentiments were printed using Hallmark Card Making software.