Blue Snowflake, Blueberry Crumble Cake

Hello again, everyone!  Today I'd like to show you another cross-stitched Christmas ornament that I made last year.  It's a flat ornament, which made it easy to slip inside a Christmas card.  Here is the front of the ornament...

Supplies: embroidery floss from DMC, perforated paper from Mill Hill, ribbon from my stash.

And here is the back...

Additional supplies: striped paper from American Crafts, mitten tag from Bo Bunny, pen from Zig.

It was fun to be able to use some scrapbooking supplies in an embroidery project.  The pattern for the snowflake came from a back issue of PieceWork magazine.  (Side note: I'm sure that no one will be surprised when I mention that I checked out this back issue from the library.)  The snowflake motif was actually part of a larger, more complex pattern, but I chose to use just the snowflake shape on my ornament.  In fact, I hardly ever stitch patterns just exactly as they are printed.  I change the colors, or I stitch just part of a pattern, or I combine different patterns.  I guess you could say that I view cross-stitch patterns as suggestions, not as hard and fast instructions.

Now that I've shared a blue ornament with you, I thought I'd share a blue (well, blueberry) recipe with you.  This blueberry crumble cake recipe comes from the British YouTube channel of "Cupcake Jemma."  If you cook using British measurments, you can simply follow the instructions in the video.

And here is my "translation" of the recipe, using American measurments: 

Streusel topping: 3-1/2 Tbsp MELTED BUTTER + 1/2 c. BROWN SUGAR + 1/2 c. FLOUR + 1tsp CINNAMON.

 Wet ingredients: 3/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp SUGAR + 4 Tbsp CANOLA OIL + 1 EGG + 1/2 c. MILK. 

Dry ingredients: 2 c. FLOUR + 2 tsp. BAKING POWDER + 1/2 tsp. SALT + 1 tsp. CINNAMON (my addition). 

Blueberries: 8-oz. package FROZEN BLUEBERRIES.  No need to thaw first--just fold the frozen berries gently into the cake batter.  If you have access to fresh berries, by all means use them in place of the frozen berries. 

Drizzle ingredients (I used this in place of the cream that Jemma used): 3/4 c. POWDERED SUGAR + 1 Tbsp MILK + 1/4 tsp VANILLA. 

See video (linked above) for assembly instructions.  Bake cake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-55 min., or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

My husband is gluten-intolerant, so I used gluten-free flour, and the cake turned out delicious. 

I can say from personal experience that this cake tastes great accompanied by coffee, tea, milk, or juice.  (In this photo I had coffee in my cup.)  Since I'll be linking this post up with the T Stands for Tuesday blog hop, I want to wish you all a Happy T Day!  :)

Joy

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm joining in with the T Stands for Tuesday blog hop, as I often do on Tuesdays.  Today I actually am drinking tea, too.  It's pumpkin spice decaf black tea.

Last time I mentioned treating myself to a pumpkin spice latte from a coffee shop.  That kind of "designer coffee" is too expensive for everyday consumption, though.  This tea is a nice alternative for getting that autumn flavor at home and not blowing the budget.  :)

The little hang tag on each tea bag says "Cup of Joy," which I hope you can see in the above picture.  It's appropriate, because drinking the spicy, warm tea really does give me feeling of autumn joy.

The path from autumn joy to Christmas joy is short, and I have already started working on some handmade Christmas gifts.  I can't show any of the gifts that I'm making now (just in case the gift recipients read my blog, which would ruin the surprise), but I thought it might be fun to show you some gifts that I made for last Christmas.  Today, I'm showing you a Christmas ornament that I cross-stitched.  I adapted the design from the book Cross Stitched Cards for the Holidays.  The two robins and the word "joy" were actually three separate patterns in the book, but I thought that they would look good all together.

What kinds of projects have you been working on lately?  I look forward to catching up with you when I visit your blog!

I Couldn't Decide...

Looking for my City Crafter guest designer post?  Click here.

I couldn't decide whether to embroider something or make a card.  So I did both. 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned paper from Doodlebug; playing card & tab from October Afternoon; corner rounder from Creative Memories; embroidery floss from DMC; ink from Clearsnap.

Happy Halloween!  Hope you get lots of treats and no tricks.  :)

Guest Designing for City Crafter Challenge Blog

Hi, everyone!  If you're new to my blog, then welcome.  This week I am honored to be the guest designer at City Crafter Challenge blog.  The theme this week is a fun one: "Creatures of the Night."  There are so many directions that you could go with this challenge.  You could make something creepy, with a vampire image, or you could make something cute, with a nocturnal animal image.  I chose to go for the cute option and made a card with a goggle-eyed stamped bat.
 

Supplies: orange paper & orange/cream striped paper from Authentique; gingham paper from Bella Blvd; purple dotted paper from Pebbles; dark blue dotted paper from American Crafts; light blue dotted paper, green swirl paper, & star stamp from My Mind's Eye; bokeh vellum from Webster's Pages; chipboard frame & enamel dots from October Afternoon; black gesso from Ranger; metallic green paint from DecoArt; ink from Hero Arts; bat stamp from Unity; laser-cut sentiment from ScrapMatt's; upcycled bubble wrap.

On my blog I have a tradition of sharing a stash-busting idea each month.  This month, I'll be talking about the technique of layering.  It's fun to do, it's a popular trend at the moment, and it helps you use up your stash of scrap papers.  I used layering on this card in order to draw attention to my bat image, which is rather small.  The layers behind it help it stand out and look important and interesting.  I built up this layered mat using just scraps.  This was a great way to use up lots of leftover bits of paper.

I added a heavy coat of black ink to the edges of each of my paper layers.  Not only does this play up the nighttime/darkness aspect of the challenge, but it also make the rich colors of the papers really pop.

To add darkness to my card base, I randomly swiped on black gesso to make an interesting background.  I also painted a scalloped chipboard frame with the same black gesso.

My paper layers had a lot of green in them, so I felt like the chipboard frame and the background needed a touch of green, for the sake of unity.  I added this green by stamping with bubble wrap and green metallic paint.  After the paint was dry, I put my card together, first placing the layered papers on the card base, then adhering the chipboard frame, which I had dressed up with bokeh vellum and enamel dots.  I topped it all off with the cute stamped bat, and I added a sentiment and a couple of stamped stars as well.

I'll leave you with one last look at the card.  If you feel inspired, then go ahead and play along with the "Creatures of the Night" challenge at City Crafter Challenge Blog.  The challenge runs for a week.  Happy crafting!

Project: Library--COMPLETE!

Hello, T-Day friends and others!  You have been waiting a long time to hear the end of my son's summer library saga.  Although he finished visiting all the libraries in August, I've only now had a chance to document the adventure in my scrapbook.  Below you'll see the scrapbook page that I made.  A map of the libraries takes up a large part of the page.  The libraries highlighted in blue on the map are those that my son visited in the summer of 2015, and those highlighted in yellow are the ones that he visited in the summer of 2014.  Twenty libraries visited in 2014 plus twenty-one more visited in 2015 makes a total of forty-one libraries.  "41 and done!"

Supplies: yellow cardstock from Echo Park; red & gold cardstock from Neenah Paper; navy dotted paper from American Crafts; orange dotted paper from Pebbles; green swirl paper from My Mind's Eye; die cuts, alphabet stickers, & all other paper from October Afternoon; decorative tape from Scotch/3M; ink from Autumn Leaves/Stampology; pens from Zig; household stapler.

I've only included one photo on this page, but it's a favorite of mine.  There will certainly be more library-related scrapbook pages forthcoming, because I have more library photos to put into my album.

If you would like to see photos of the libraries that my son and I visited earlier in the summer, please refer to my posts for June and July.  Below, you will find photos of all but one of the libraries that my son and I visited in August.  The only library I don't have a photo of is Webber Park library, since it is in a temporary location in a strip mall at the moment.  Construction of the new (permanent) Webber Park library will begin soon.
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Augsburg_Park_Library.jpg

Augsburg Park library, shown above, takes its name from the park in which it is located.  It is very pleasant to sit down near a window in this library and be able to look out at a lovely green space.
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Lake_Community_Library.jpg

East Lake library is located on Lake Street, a busy thoroughfare in south Minneapolis.  One thing I liked about this library was its display of cat and dog books.  I checked out James Herriot's Cat Stories.  I have read it before, but it was a delight to read it again.
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:36th_St_Library_2.jpg

Hosmer library will celebrate its one hundredth birthday later this year.  It's a grand library, inside and out.  Please ignore the snow in the photo; obviously there was no snow when we visited Hosmer in August.  :)
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northeast_Library_2011.jpg

Northeast library is located in the "hipster" neighborhood of "Nordeast" Minneapolis, but this library is not only for hipsters.  It's a very family-friendly place, with lots of play areas for kids.  My son had fun spelling out messages with magnetic alphabet letters there.
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierre_Bottineau_Library_January_2015_02.JPG

Again, please ignore the snow in this photo.  Don't ignore the interesting architecture, though.  Pierre Bottineau library is housed in a historic building that is over one hundred years old.
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Southeast_Community_Library,_2013.jpg

Southeast library is located near the University of Minnesota campus.  My son got a taste of college life when we visited here.
 

image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walker_Library,_Summer_2014.jpg

Finally, Walker library is a beautiful, long, low building in Uptown, another "hipster" neighborhood of Minneapolis.  Like Northeast library, Walker caters both to hipsters and to families.  We planned our visit for "Lego Mania" day, and my son had fun playing with Legos there.

At the end of August, after my son and I visited the last library on our list, I celebrated with a cup of coffee...a pumpkin spice latte from Dunn Brothers Coffee, to be precise.  Now I'm ready for autumn.  :)

Geek Chic Robot Tag

Supplies: B/W striped paper & robot stamp from My Mind's Eye; all other paper from October Afternoon; swirl/flourish stamp from Unity; grey ink from Autumn Leaves/Stampology; black ink from Hero Arts; chipboard from ScrapMatts; Liquid Pearls & Stickles glitter glue from Ranger; thread from DMC; pink tulle from Wyla; black tulle, straight pins, clock face, roses, & sequins from my stash; pen from Foray; household office hole punch.

When I saw that the prompt for the current challenge on the City Crafter blog is "Geek Chic," I knew right away that I wanted to make something with my robot stamp.  It's one of my favorite, most-used stamps.  Since I use it so often, I decided to come up with a fresh approach this time.  I took my inspiration from the "chic" part of the challenge title.  For me, the word "chic" conjures up images of femininity and haute couture.  So, I decided to give my robot stamp a ladylike look.

I started by stamping the robot lightly in grey ink.  Next I sewed along the main outlines with dark grey thread and went over the smaller details with a fine-tipped black pen.  Then I sewed a little hair bow and a tutu for the robot.  I also added pretty pink Liquid Pearls accents for that extra feminine touch.  Does Ms. Robot look chic?  :)

The decorative swirls around the edges of the robot image are from a Unity stamp.  I stamped them with black ink, and after it dried I added dabs of pink glitter.

To play up the haute couture theme, I added sewing notions like straight pins, sequins, and a chipboard spool and buttons.  I also tied some lush pink tulle through the hole of the tag.

I finished the project by adding lots of layers to the tag.  This project was a little different from what I usually do, but it was so fun.  Moreover, it fits my personality really well, since I like both sci-fi and fashion.  I definitely enjoyed the technique of embroidering over a stamped image, and it's something I'd like to do again in the future.

ETA: Well, what do you know, I won the City Crafter "Geek Chic" challenge with this tag!  I am very excited and honored.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my tag.  Take care & have a good week!

Can You Tell...

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned & white papers from Bo Bunny; stamp from Lawn Fawn; stamping ink from Hero Arts; edging ink from Clearsnap; colored staple from Target.

...that I love this paper?  I used it last month to make a scrapbook page, and now I've used it again to make this card.  Halloween is only 31 days away, so it's time to start getting ready!  :)     

Into the Woods

Are you ready to go into the woods?  The theme this month at Berry71Bleu is "forest."  That theme perfectly fits my vacation photos from August, so I just had to play along.  Here is the scrapbook page that I made.
 

Supplies: green bokeh paper from Webster's pages; enamel shapes, alphabet stickers, spray mist, die cut arrow, damask paper, & ledger paper from October Afternoon; orange leaf paper from Doodlebug Design; all other patterned paper from Lily Bee; doily from Michaels; laser cut banner from Scrapmatts.

Below is the mood board for the challenge.  I see lots of greens and browns, with a few pops of orange and scarlet.

You may never have heard of Pine City, North Branch, Hinckley, and Sandstone, the places where I took these photos.  They are pretty, wooded places in the heart of Minnesota.  And they are beautiful to visit.  Here are a few detail shots.
 

This historic Ojibwe winter lodge is in Pine City.

The woodland fairy is cut from a greeting card that I recently received in the mail.

My family passed through a lot of doorways--both natural and constructed--while on vacation.

We had sunny weather on some days, but grey and rainy weather on other days.  It doesn't matter, because the forest is beautiful in any weather.

It was fun to get these vacation photos scrapped.  And I am so please that I was able to fit ten photos on the page!  Thanks for the inspiration, Berry71Bleu.