Valentines 2011

I was in the mood for some crafting so I invited a few friends over and we made cards for Valentines Day. These are a few pictures of the cards I made.

I cut out some heart shapes from extra felt I had in my scrap booking supplies. It is always a fun challenge to see what I can make using leftover paper scraps or embellishments.

I  have started using a short cut with little projects like this. I use my low-temp glue gun to glue everything together. I do this for little projects that I know won't last too long, it saves my glue runner for larger projects and I still get the same outcome.

I made about 20 of these Valentines cards for my 5 year old to give out to friends. I didn't spent too much time or money making them knowing the would probably just be tossed in the trash once the candy from the inside was gone. Whatever happens to them doesn't really matter much, it was just fun to make them.

 Card I made for my hubby.

Fun Valentines Day breakfast for my girls. I made pink pancakes and then using a cookie cutter cut out hearts. They got to eat the other pancake "scraps" left over from cutting out the heart shapes. Simple but lots of fun. My husband even pulled out some of my scrap booking paper and made some simple cards for our girls. Valentines 2011.

Why the Crafting Blog you ask? Here is a look back...

When I started this blog back in 2009, this was the first post:

**~**~**~**~**~**~**
Hello~

This blog is a new adventure for me and I hope you are along for the ride.

I love to create and am truly the happiest when I see something in my mind and then give it shape and form through paper or fabric or whatever I find in my hands. This blog is a COLLECTION of my projects, creations, and thoughts as I learn a little bit more about myself and what my talents are and what they can be. I invite you along for the journey and hope you find some inspiration or even just a smile along the way.

~Sincerely Sarah
 
**~**~**~**~**~**~**
 
It is nice to reflect and see the fun things I have created so far. Not all of my creations made it to this blog, a lot of them were made and given away before I took pictures to post and many more were started and then tucked away to be finished another day. I hope that those of you who stop and take a look around my blog will see beautiful works of art and opportunities to learn and grow (like when I made the edible arrangements, that was definitely a learning experience) and realize you can and do make your own wonderful creations in life. For some of you, your creation might be an organization system that makes your house run smoother and for others it might be a wonderful meal plan that incorporates healthy and fun foods into one great menu. What ever it is you create, I hope you find some "inspiration or even just a smile along the way". Thanks for stopping by.
 
Here is one of my recent projects, I started it over a year (or maybe two years) ago when I bought some scraps of fabric on sale. It isn't too fancy but it was fun piecing it together without any pattern or idea how big it was going to turn out. After much consultation with my sisters, I cut and pieced the top together and then my mother and I put the top and bottom together and hand quilted it. I made the binding (out of scraps from the top) and it sat in my closet of unfinished projects until a few days ago when I pulled it out and finished off the binding. I gave it away to a friend who is having a baby girl and am glad it found a nice home.
 

Happy Crafting!

~PRETTY IN PURPLE~

My Cake Making Adventure...

Katelynn and my wonderful friend Rebecca helped me make this beautiful cake for a baby shower.

I thought it would be fun to show is step by step creation. Enjoy!

 My special helper! Katelynn loves to jump right in and help me cook or bake. The recipe I used is one of Rebecca's special recipes that includes box cake mixes, sour cream, extra eggs, and pudding (just the dry powder). This cake is a white cake with cheesecake pudding. Supper yummy!

 Prepping the pan with a flour, oil, and Crisco mixture to make sure it will come out easy.

 All done baking. Ready for the real work to begin.

 Rebecca was kind enough to let us use her house for our little cake fiasco.

After we took the cake out of the pan, I cut it in half and she leveled it off. She also added a raspberry filling before layering and shaping it.

 Carving the cake to get just the right shape. You might notice the slightly blank looks on our faces, we worked for 4 hours to get this cake finished and called it quits around midnight. Rebecca is such a trooper! Thanks a bunch for all your help.

 I made the fondant frosting out of marshmallows, powdered sugar, Crisco, water, and gel food color.

 Mixing the powdered sugar into the marshmallow mixture for a nice stiff fondant.

 Rebecca adding a light layer of regular frosting as a "crumb coat" to keep the little crumbs from getting all over when we put the fondant on. This is the second cake like this Rebecca has helped me make. Look back through my other post and you will see a pink and black version of this.

 Look at all that yummy mess! We snacked on the scraps left over from carving the cake. Mmmmmmm........yummy.

 After the fondant was well mixed, it was rolled out into a thin sheet and layed over the top of the cake.

 Fitting the fondant sheet snugly around the cake shape to bring out the details. 

 Adding the flowers to the dress and a rope around the edges to finish it off.

 A little detail was added to the neck line and Voila! It is finished...thanks to the talents of....

 Master Cake Maker #1: Rebecca (she is a self taught cake connoisseur, she did all the hard stuff)

 Cake Maker #2: Sarah (on the next cake I have decided to attempt it all on my own, that should be interesting)

Final presentation of the cake at the baby shower. Everyone loved it and commented on how good it looked...and how it tasted even better!

January 2011

Holiday Crafting 2010

Joy! That is what Christmas is all about. I got the idea from one of my friends and had a lot of fun making these little "JOY" blocks. I made many sets of these to give away to friends and family.

 Here are a few different versions and sizes of them.

 And here is my little Katelynn making a gingerbread house. Cute little crafty creator. She is following in my footsteps already.

Black and Yellow B-Day cards :)

Katelynn's little friend was having a birthday party last week and we needed a card so this is what came out of that little creative moment. It didn't take long to whip them up but I realized that I make cards for everyone else and give them away and then I don't have any on hand when I need a quick note. So, I have decided after I finish a few other projects I have in the works, it's back to making cards :)The large card with "birthday wishes" on it was actually intended for Katelynn's little friend for her birthday......but she chose the one that says "best friends" instead. It worked out just great for a little birthday card.

I like the black and yellow combo, it added just the right dimension. Can't wait to get back into my paper supplies and make some more beautiful cards. I'm feeling a girls craft night coming on! Rebecca, Rachel...are you ready to get crafty?!

Homemade Bread, Ummm....Ummm....Good!

Katelynn and I made some fresh bread last Tuesday and boy oh boy was it fun...and tasty!! Making bread isn't really a "crafty" thing but it sure is a good thing to know. I grew up watching my mom make bread at least once a week and when I was old enough she let me help...kind of like what Katelynn is doing now. When I moved away to college my mom gave me a big (huge is a better word to describe how big it was) plastic bowl and said "here is your bread maker". I have used that bowl ever since...and it works just fine for me.Katelynn was a good helper and she did a great job mixing it all together. I think her favorite part was playing in the dough :)

Here she is with her tiny loaf of bread that she mixed and put into the pan herself. What a good little bread maker she is :)This batch of dough made about 6 loaves. I think it is the best I have made yet. I had a great teacher teach me, thanks mom for always having fresh hot bread to warm our tummies and home while we were growing up!

Cards for my friends

These are fun cards I made for a few of my friends. I just love the orange and purple combo...it adds a bright, spring look to each card. I find that the hardest part of making a card or any creation for that matter is coming up with a the layout or pattern from scratch. These didn't take too long. Once I knew which patterned paper I wanted to use, the rest fell into place.


I'm sure there is more I could have added to them but I like how simple they are, not too much, just right!

Thanks to my wonderful friends who always support me and encourage me to get creative and have fun.

HAPPY CRAFTING!