Pumpkin Bread

In some areas of my life I am VERY organized.

Most areas I have pretty much under control...

And, as you might guess, in some areas, all "h-e-double hockey sticks" has broken loose.

My recipes fall in the last category.  I don't like to cook.  I don't cook much.  So organizing recipes has never been much of a priority.

Notice I said I don't cook.  I didn't say I don't collect recipes.

I have them in books people have given me. 
I have them in books I've bought (with the best of intentions). 
I have the ones I have copied from friends after enjoying their delicious creations. 
I have the ones I snipped from the newspaper because they sounded good. 
I have the ones I've torn from magazines because they promise to be quick and easy. 
I have the 10 recipes I actually use.
I have a few special holiday ones.
AND best of all I have the PRETTY and yummy ones I've gotten from 6x6 recipe card swaps.

I realized I know exactly where the pretty ones are because I have them all together with easy access on one great holder.

So...., I am making the recipes I use into 6x6 cards (even though I'm not in a swap) so I can find them when I need them.

And here is my favorite one to lose (but not anymore)

I tried to not put a pumpkin on the page because that is so "obvious" but I couldn't help myself!!

For the 2 of you who have never punched a pumpkin - just layer 3 large ovals, use a scrap for the stem and curl a very thin strip of paper around your paper piercer (or stylus) to make the curly vine.

Paper craft ideas you can take from this page:

When you have an "empty" spot and nothing to put in it - pull out your word window and wrap it around the edge of your page:

I added some tiny buttons from my stash but you could leave them plain or add a brad.  This used to be one of my fave tricks on cards and pages that "needed something" but somehow I stopped using it.  It popped into my brain after I spent about 10 minutes pawing through my embellishments looking for the RIGHT THING to finish this page.  I should have KNOWN the answer would be in my punch drawer!

Another thing you might not realize is that you can run chipboard through your Big Shot with texture plates!  I suspect this wouldn't work with embossing folders (and I don't want to mess one up trying it) but texture plates work well as you can see with my "P"

The "b" is textured also but it is just paper, not chipboard, because I needed to layer the other lettering on top of it.

My last tip involves the paper the recipe is printed on.  I tried and tried to get my printer to take so saffron cardstock (sometimes it will - sometimes it balks at the weight of SU cardstock).  Last night was a night to reject it. My solution was to print on whisper white and take the ink-pad directly to the paper.  This gave me great distressing which matches the background paper I had chosen.  I like it better than if the so saffron had worked. 

This recipe came from Janis Boyd, a WONDERFUL cook, who once upon a time worked with my hubby.

Here is the recipe if you don't want to struggle to read the photo:
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
1 cup nuts (optional)
2 cups (1 can) pumpkin
2/3 cup water

Cream sugar, oil & eggs. Add the rest and mix well.

Cook in greased and floured pans at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

(Makes 3 of the throw away loaf pans) Freezes well.

...runneth over

I'm finally finished with my rainy Hawaii trip scrapbook - this is one of those pools where you swim up to the bar...  only in this photo it is so full of rain water that it "runneth over" filling the pool deck too.

Showing you because I used some more left over chipboard.  These are some flower petals that SU used to sell and I turned them into raindrops.  Glitter Queen Eileen fancied them up for me - aren't they fab?

I wanted my base cardstock simple and kinda gloomy to match the day BUT it looked blah - so I layered a 11x11 sheet of the same paper with the edges sponged with ink.  Just the layer of interest I needed.  So file that in your memory banks until you need it someday.

Queen of Something...

Here goes another of those "I don't know why I made it" punch arts... 

or should I have said it makes me WONDER why I made a villain from Wonderland?

The Queen of Hearts is pretty complex - like a 4.5 on a 5 point scale so don't try this as your first punch art creation.  I don't want you shouting "off with her head" if you get frustrated!

Parts:
Skirt - full hearts
Chest - wide oval in red, 1 inch circle in black
Sleeves - medium oval
Her right arm (left side) 1/2 inch circle, modern label repunched with circle from itty bitty pack
Her left arm (right side) medium oval and same hand as above
Collar - 2 large ovals and medium heart to heart
Face - 1  1/4 circle, 1 inch circle
Mouth - 1 inch circle trimmed
Teeth - 1 inch circle around 3/4 inch circle
Eyes - small heart
Tongue - small heart to heart
Crown - hole from scallop circle - trim toward the hole so you have points on top
Eyebrows - leaves from 2 step bird
Hair - 3 tails from 2 part bird, 1/2 inch circle. circle itty bitty pack, scrap of red

I can't remember what I grabbed for her nose but a leaf from the 2 step bird would work.

Mini Me

No, the title mini me does NOT mean I punched a small version of myself....

Mini Me is the the title of this scrapbook page.

This photo was taken December 2009 and was the first time I realized just how much kiddo who lives at home looks like her mama.

The reason I show you this is so you can see that you can MIX your left over chipboard letters.  There are 3 different styles plus the "negative" portion of one of them and yet, it works!

For the large circle I traced a plate and since I can't cut straight (hence the love of punches) I used my distressing tool to rough it up and disguise any boo boos. 

To keep with the distressed look, I didn't totally ink my chipboard.  I just dragged it over the open ink pad a couple of times.  The title chipboard has been finished with crystal effects.  The flowers were finished with a little "bling"  (thanks Eileen!)

The ribbon was from my stash and was really too white for this layout so I used a stipple brush and pounced on some river rock ink to dirty it up a bit.

You might also note that the photo has a mat and a partial mat.  You don't have to have things even on all sides - change it up a bit!

I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays for this layout - don't remember which date it was from (something in 2010).  I LOVE this site for sketches!!!

Daisy Drives A Lot

Not Driving Miss Daisy (old movie title) but Miss Daisy, all I do is drive!

Ever feel YOUR name is Daisy Drives A Lot? 

Let me tell you it is WONDERFUL when your last child gets their license and you only drive when YOU need to. 

I hope you can find a use for Daisy here. 

Maybe you can use this character on a page about your long commute to work.

Or about all the things you overhear while carpooling

Or maybe you DRIVE ME CRAZY on a page or card

I used some parts from SU's two new punches, the cupcake and the flower one that I can't remember the name of (you know, the one that has the feather duster looking thing? -let's call it the Feather Duster Flower punch from now on.  OK?)  I'm sure there will be many fun uses for these punches but I spend most of my weekend scrapbooking and didn't play punches until the last couple of hours when I was too exhausted to think.

Daisy Driver Parts
Face - Owl (upside down, feet and ears cut off)

Hair – Full heart (upside down)

Bangs – medium oval

Eyes – circle itty bitty punch pack

Lips – modern label – punch tip with circle itty bitty punch pack

Neck – word window (1/2 lengthwise)

Shirt - feather duster from the new feather duster flower punch

Collar – slot (retired) or use a small scrap strip

Hands – modern label repunched with circle itty bitty punch pack

Car parts

Seat back – Key Tag (retired) or use a rectangle and round the corners

Steering wheel – 1 inch circle around the ¾ inch circle hole

Dashboard – wide oval

Rear-view mirror – word window repunched to shorten

Rear-view mirror mount – cherry from cup cake punch

 
Sometimes it is hard to judge the scale of these characters. Daisy Driver here is 3.75 inches tall.

Faster than a Speeding Bullet

Who is faster than a speeding bullet?  That would be Batman! 

He is also able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (if memory serves me right). 

I can't leap tall buildings, but I was faster than a speeding bullet to type this post when I saw the BATMAN Anita punched.  AMAZING!!!!!!!!! 

Anita is the mother of Lucia at Ink Me Baby One More Time.  I've sent you to her blog at least a dozen times - Much Good Stuff there.  The direct link to Batman is HERE.  And from Lucia's post it sounds like there are more heroes to come.  WOO HOO.  Go Anita!

Sailing into Scrapbooking

My friend Eileen, the glitter queen, is not a scrapbooker.  She makes B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L cards but hasn't been into scrappin'.  (She doesn't like to do punch art either)
BUT
Just so you know, ANYONE can be converted to scrapbooking 'cause LOOK AT THESE!!!!!

Yes, that is right - Eileen made this darling sailboat album for a friend and his family.  Yes, that is right, she  CUT ALL that paper in the shape of the sailboat, and adhered it and put in all those details.  (and I just showed you a few pages of the album) 

I'm not sure I love anyone enough to do that....  well, maybe three people but really? all that cutting?....  naw, I'll stick to punching!

I made the anchor and the life preserver for her - but of course she improved them by adding crystal effects so they would shine (she does like shiny things!)

Eileen reports that they were thrilled with the project (and they gave me permission to post the photos). 

Well, who wouldn't be thrilled with such a darling album?

I, myself, am setting sail this morning (in my car) for a 3 day scrappin' weekend - the car is loaded down with WAY to much stuff - ready to launch. 

I want you to know that I followed my own advice about getting a ton done and COULD get by with a lot less..... but what if the punch fairy stows away with me?  I have to take ALL my punches just in case!!!  RIGHT???

The Stone Age

I thought I was done with the Stone Age with Fred and Wilma, but the Inspiration Fairy found some really funny clip art and I thought it would be great for a birthday or masculine thank you when you need to say....

YOU ROCK!

I Love Tex-Mex

One of the reasons I love Texas is the food.  Tex-Mex is just the best EVER and that is what my true love and I will eat for Valentine's tonight.  Of course with "THE DIET" I will only eat about 4 chips, 1 fajita and NO margarita but the little bit I eat will be DELICIOUS.

And why do I tell you this?

Because I had nothing to post today so I sat down last night with my FULL HEART punch and asked myself what could I do with it?  First came a love bug made with only hearts - but it wasn't cute so it crawled into the trash can. 

Then I punched a couple more hearts and was just messing around with them and accidentally put them together and it looked like a sombrero.  Resulting in Mr. Tex Mex (and you got the food info simply because I was in a chatty mood.)

Here he is..... Mr. Tex Mex

Sombrero is 2 full hearts laying on their sides and overlapping.
The ball fringe is the throw-away from the spiral punch
The zigzag is from the pinking hearts border

Now pay attention here:
The yellow zigzag is the throwaway from the pinking hearts border

But the blue zigzag is not because it wasn't long enough. 

So I thunk and I thunk and I thunk some more and decided to punch the pinking hearts border twice, then use my paper trimmer to trim off just the edge.  PERFECT!  I was even able to curve it just a bit as I adhered it.

Usual stuff for the rest - nothing new.

Hope you have a very Happy Valentines Day with the ones you love.  I'll be loving me some (just a few) chips and salsa!

just a story

Yesterday, we had a craft supply sale - HUGE sale.  Three of us sold retired things and two have left SU and they sold TONS of things, so we made money and had a lot of fun.

I decided at the last minute to bag up some of my punch art and sell it.  I must have overpriced it because only about 5 things sold (but I love it all, I can't sell it at garage sale prices!)

I did have lots of looky loos with kind words.

One little boy - maybe 7 stood and looked at all of it - naming all the characters he knew, Spider Man, Charlie Brown, Rabbit, etc.  But the part I loved was when he got to the fat lady bowler he excitedly announced "and this is YOU!"  Oh my gawd it was soooooooooooo cute!  I told him he was exactly right and laughed all day.  When I'm tempted to cheat on the diet I started yesterday morning I'll remember his comment and put the fork down.

Kids - ya gotta love them!

Fat Frog

After making the fat cat, I sat and thought "what other animal could have BIG FAT hind legs?"

I'm not a rocket scientist but even I could come up with this:

See the similarity?

Same hind legs

Same Chest

Same head (kinda)

For the frog:

Snipped in a circle on the full heart (on the cat it was cut flat)

I flattened the head oval a little (very little)

cheeks - circle itty bitty punch pack

eyes - word window and circles

drew on mouth

Legs -  wide heart to heart next to hole of same

Feet are the cool thing I learned on this one!

Punch a scallop oval and toss it - keep the hole

Trim from the hole to make a triangle or pie shape -  thin (front) feet and wider (back feet) for that nice WEBBED look.  Simple yet effective!

Also, I attached his chest with a dimensional so he would have more depth and would POP (hop) off the page.

Fat Cat

Ever have those chores you HATE to do?  For awhile mine was vacuuming - I'd put it off until it HAD to be done.

After that it was grocery shopping - I'd beg my kid to go with me so I didn't have to do it alone - I dreaded grocery shopping.

Mopping has had it's turn as the dreaded chore, as had bill paying (thank goodness that didn't last too long)

Right now - it is taking photos of punch art.

You've probably noticed I've just been throwing them down on notebook paper or scrap paper and snapping a photo.... same thing today...  wonder how long this one will be the "hated" task?

Hind Legs - Full Heart - trimmed off at point end

Chest - medium oval

Head - medium oval

Ears - small heart to heart

Paws - circle itty bitty punch pack

front legs - modern label but I had to slim it some

Tail - large oval around a hole

Bow - 1/2 inch circle and small heart to heart (2)

What I figured out on this kitty was the EYES

I wanted a curve and point

I saw the HOLE left by the 5 punch flower in my punch droppings

Grabbed my smallest circle and snipped the "inner points" on that hole

Sounds weird - just punch a flower and you'll see what I mean.

To get them identical - punch two - layer your "holes" (now that does sound weird) and punch them at the same time.

Oh yeah - I'm sure there is a simpler way to do this  - I'm just telling you what I did.

Tune in next time to see another beast built almost the same way.

Vote on his mouth.... I can't decide

What kind of mouth should I give him?

Please vote in the poll and/or leave a comment.

Saw a funny clipart of a guy watching football in his recliner but football is over so I thought I'd punch him watching basketball (ball still to be added to this).  I got stuck on his facial expression.

So, how does your man look when he is watching basketball?

March Madness is coming soon - help me finish this character!   Thanks

Playing Dress Up

Yeah, well.... I was gonna make a cowgirl to go with last weeks cowboy, but with the I Fairy, things don't always go the way I plan.  Instead, you get.....

Playing Dress Up!

Hat - Large oval parts and pieces - tips below

Dress - wide oval repunched on sides with same and at neck with word window

Necklace - Scallop oval around large oval hole

Hair was a circle trimmed with scissors to frame face

Shoes are 5 petal flower trimmed (use 2 for each shoe so her foot can be "inside" - sponge color on back to look like a shadow in the too big shoe

The rest is the usual stuff

Hat Tip:

To make the hat look right, I took the back base large oval and laid a small oval "hole" piece over it and sponged pink into the hole to make the "shadow"

The hat brim is large oval next to large oval hole making a thin curved piece (make 2) then adhere one over the other so they curve opposite directions - cover the "seam" with your flower

Crown of hat is just another bit of large oval.

I'll try again on the cowgirl later.

Guest Puncher - Marci Long - Bo Peep and Alien

Oh my, my, my, but we have some talented ladies out there in reader land.

Marci Long needed a Bo Peep and Alien from Toy Story to go with the Buzz Lightyear I had made.  I had no interest in working on them right then so I suggested she try it herself.  And what that heck was she waiting for?  Look at the awesome job she did...

Didn't need me at all did she?

Here's the link to my original Buzz for directions on him.

If Marci can design them, surely you can look at the photo and figure out how she did it.

I'm the lucky one - I got to see a DARLING photo of Marci's grand kids in their Halloween costumes of these same 3 Toy Story characters.  Marci made these characters for their goodie bags.  Now is that is a thoughtful grandma, huh?

Thanks Marci, for sharing these with me and allowing me to show them here. 

I have a feeling these will be copied many times over.  Please remember to give Marci credit for her work.

I Spy - Birds on a Branch

Promised if I "spied" someone taking my punch ideas to another level I'd clue you in and Lisa of You Make Me Ink took my birds on a branch (inspired by a t-shirt) and made it absolutely hysterical.  You must go see what she made and the expression on the bird's face - just click HERE.  I love her color choices and the details she used.  What a fabulous card! 

Fortunately for me, our four days of ice and snow are over - we had no school, rolling power outages and wrecks galore. Keep in mind that my husband was golfing in shorts for 3 of the 4 days prior to this storm and I saw people back out in shorts again yesterday as we began to thaw.  We just aren't used to this or prepared for it. 

But hey, it kept me home and at my craft desk more - I'll have some new stuff for you this week but for today - make sure you check out Lisa's birds.

Not the Dallas Cowboys...

Ha, you'd never know it by all the hoopla the Super Bowl is getting around here but another big event is going on in North Texas right now - the Stock Show and Rodeo in Ft. Worth. 

In honor of that, I made a little cowboy...

Hat - large oval and the very "top" part of butterfly in brown - word window in red
All the rest is the usual stuff

Belt buckle is brushed silver paper, embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and strategically punched with the medium oval. 

Yes, this belt buckle is proportioned correctly - they wear them BIG - this IS Texas!

Wiry White Hare

I've done Bugs Bunny and I've done Rabbit from the Hundred Acre Wood, soooo, to distinguish him from the others, I guess we should call this little guy a wiry white hare.  (Not to be confused with those wiry white hairs that have appeared on my head)

Head - medium oval and half a butterfly
Nose - small heart
Belly - wide oval and small oval (pink)
Hind legs - full heart
Front paws - medium oval
Ears - large oval near small oval hole

Whiskers - thin wire curled around the end of a thin paintbrush.  SU used to sell this wire - I suspect you can find it at a big box craft store or maybe even a hardware store.

Note: He is also cute if you just make his head and leave off the body.

I worked on this springtime guy while the temps in North Texas were in the teens, the wind chills worse, the rolling power outages occurring frequently, the schools closed, and the roads icy.  I don't know if the ground hog saw his shadow or not but I'm doing my part to THINK SPRING!

And I hope all these Super Bowl Fans who have descended upon us this week take this cruddy weather back home with them - they are used to it - I'm not.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Waiting on the recipe....

Yes, another unfinished project... just WAITING on me to add the recipe.  Waiting... Waiter...  You knew I couldn't resist that one.

Couple of retired things here - Key Tag which as we have discussed before you can get from a rectangle and a corner rounder - and the slot punch which you really can't get but you can substitute little straight scraps.  I really can't imagine why SU retired that one and I think they should bring it back - even ladies who don't do punch art used it to put ribbon on cards...

I won't keep you WAITING any longer (giggle)
Here's the recipe for the waiter:

Hair - small tag punch shortened
Face - key tag (retired)
Eyebrows and moustache - slot punch
Eyes - a standard hole punch in white and black
Nose - small circle (itty bitty punch pack) trimmed on sides
Mouth - small circle next to small circle hole (just need that sliver)
Shirt - key tag (still retired) punched at top with key tag and I inserted the bottom into the ornament punch to get the point (you could cut with scissors)
Tie - Full heart next to full heart hole (just need a sliver and then trim to shorten
Arm - small tag  - trimmed (hint - the elbow is the small top part of the tag punch)
Gloved hand - wide heart to heart
Tray - scrap
Serving Cover - Wide oval end and a standard hole punch

Remember you can change his expression by moving the mouth and eyebrows!