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Spread Your Wings

Hi & hello!
Welcome to the Magnolia-Licious DT Blog Hop! This month the design team members thought it would be fun to each have their own take on Edwin, Magnolia Stamps' sweet little boy character. Too often he is used only for masculine cards which puts many people who HATE making masculine cards (like me) in a bind. I thought it would be fun to just let him (and my creativity) be. I think this card would be fine for a boy OR a girl. I see nothing wrong with giving a girl or a woman a card with a boy on it :)

I stamped Chasing Edwin from the new Butterflies collection twice using Memento ink onto Neenah 80 lb cardstock.

I cut him out (all except for the net) and put him on top of the base image with foam dimensionals: this way it looks like he is running right out of the card towards you :)

A halo of blue frames the image for depth and soft color to complement the green of his outfit.

The sentiment spread your wings and the butterfly are BasicGrey rub-ons. 

The base of the card is Stampin' Up!'s Rich Razzleberry; the Long Rectangle Scallops are cut with Bermuda Bay; the striped patterned paper is BasicGrey's Euphoria.

I added cardstock punched with Martha Stewart's Hydrangea Trio and a bit of White Opal Liquid Pearls for eye candy.

The lower left puffy sticker is by American Crafts.I added a few flower punches to the sticker as well.

The shine of the sticker makes the linen weaving pattern of the cardstock pop. I like how the colors, textures and shapes all go together.

There you have it: real men DO eat quiche, and DO accept cards with flowers on them :) Your next stop on the Magnolia-Licious Blog Hop will be Suzanne.

Are you a Magnolia fan? Let's see YOUR take on Edwin :)

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Strike Up The Band!

Hi & hello!
As you read this I am off with Allan to visit his family out west. We are headed to his hometown of Edmonton for a bit, then off to Jasper to hike some gorgeous mountains, and finally to Rosetown, Saskatchewan to visit the farm of his Aunt and Uncle. It is a bit of a whirlwind trip! I do have a couple of posts scheduled ahead of time like this one for the Angels Landing Blog Hop which has hopefully posted :)

Today two new adorable digi-stamp sets are being introduced, Marching Band One and Marching Band Two. They are sure to delight music lovers of any age. What is really cool is that the animals come in different sizes, some with jointed arms and legs to cut out for moving pieces. Too fun!

I colored the Cat with Clarinet image from the Marching Band One set with Copic markers, then mounted the image with foam dimensionals over Stampin' Up!'s new In Color Textured Cardstocks in Rich Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay, Core-dinations neon lime green cardstock (not sure of the name), and BasicGrey's Euphoria patterned paper.

I punched out scraps of these cardstocks and papers with the Martha Stewart Hydrangea Trio punch, then layered them, adding Pastel Raspberry Liquid Pearls in the center.

The sentiment also comes in the Marching Band One set; I cut a little flag to mount it on for eye candy and design balance. A bit of Crystal Stickles adds some sparkle to kitty's clarinet.

Your next stop on the hop will be Lynn McAuley's blog.

Be sure to hop to all the DT member's blogs for a chance to win Angels Landing digi-stamps! If you joined us mid-hop or get lost, Judi will post a master list of the Blog Hop schedule on the Angels Landing blog.

Thanks for stoppin' by! Happy creating!

Log Roll

 
Hi & hello!
Happy Friday! Today's card uses Aussie Animals and Pierced Tags from the Angels Landing collection of Digi-Stamps on the new Stampin' Up! In Color Textured cardstocks Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay.  I must confess I wasn't thrilled with the new colors at first, but they are quickly growing on me. Melon Mambo is a confusing name as the color is not a melon at all but rather a hot pink; Bermuda Bay is this lovely vivid shade of turquoise that I just know will become a favorite.

I love this size of card - it is tall and thin, yet smaller than you normally see for this type of card (about 6x3.5). I colored the koala bear with Copic markers then adhered him with foam dots to a base of Sassafras Lass Fawnd of You Too patterned paper from the Life is Beautiful collection. The darker brown patterned paper is the reverse side of the same paper; the die cut strip is also from the same sheet.

I took a couple strips of the patterned paper and rolled them around a pencil to create a log for the koala to sit on. From the side you can see the diamond pattern of the reverse side of paper so it all ties in quite nicely together and adds a bit of whimsy to a fun card.

The "For You" tag comes with both black ink and colored inks in the set. I just printed and cut the hot pink colored tag out, adding a K&Co. crystal to cover up the hole punch circle as I am using it as a card sentiment rather than a tag.

The rectangles are die cut with Spellbinders Long Rectangles.

Be sure to check out the Angels Landing Blog to see what the other DT members have created for you today. Thank you so much for stoppin' by! Happy creating :)

The Budget Gourmet: Mac 'n Cheeseburger Casserole

The end of the month always brings us an empty fridge with bits and pieces of leftovers - a half can of diced tomatoes, a few veggies that aren't enough of a serving on their own etc. We budget for the month and try to hold out doing our big shopping until the first when we head to Costo and go crazy. Feast or famine.

I love making this casserole at times like this. It is good for so many reasons: you can throw almost anything but the kitchen  sink in it and it still tastes great; it takes care of those odd bits of veggies languishing in your fridge; it is cheap to make and satisfying, and it disguises veggies so well even the pickiest kids will eat it up.

The recipe is from Campbell's Soup. I found it in a magazine last January, made it and loved it but feared the recipe was lost forever after one of my cleaning frenzies. I hunted it down - it is from a Canadian cook booklet.

I will post the recipe as is, but I do make changes: I hate the starchy, pasty taste of food with dry pasta cooked in so I cook the pasta half the recommended time then drain it rather than adding it dry (bleck); I add no salt even to the pasta water as the soup is so salty, and use no salt tomatoes etc.

Recently we made it with only half a pound of meat, garlic AND garlic powder (what is a meal without garlic??) red onion (we had no white), shells (had no elbow macaroni) and leftover baby spinach in place of mushrooms which we didn't have. We also add the cheese (Mozzarella as I had no cheddar ha) then finish it off in the oven rather than adding it at the end so that the cheese is brown and bubbly. Feel free to make your own substitutions. About the only thing I would not change is the diced tomatoes and the red peppers.

Mac 'n Cheeseburger Casserole

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup diced red and yellow peppers
1 can diced tomatoes (recommend no salt added)
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cups uncooked elbow pasta
2 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBS Chili Powder
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Brown ground beef, add onion, mushrooms, celery and peppers. Cook and stir for three minutes.
2. Add all other ingredients except cheese and stir together.
3. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish and bake covered at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until pasta is tender.
4. Sprinkle with cheese and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Let me know if you try it! Thanks for stoppin' by!

July's Magnolia-Licious Sketch

Hi & hello!
A quickie post as we are sanding, painting and priming rooms today in OUR NEW HOME! That's right we bought our first home  - it is so exciting and scary at the same time as there is so much to do. I have more news but I can't reveal it just yet (this is not big nor too exciting for anyone but me but I will share eventually anyway lol) :)

So onto the fun stuff -the July Magnolia-Licious sketch is up and running. This month my sweet and most talented DT sister Jacque made a lovely layered sketch full of details.

For such a sweet, feminine sketch I decided to use Valentine Tilda sitting on the Swirl Key image, both from the Magnolia-Licious store.

The images were colored with my usual Copic markers, then mounted on Basic Grey Porcelain patterned paper background with chipoard accents also by BasicGrey.

The colored pearls are by K&Co.

This little card will be headed out to my Magnolia-Licious Yahoo group sister. Each month the group sends one card to a fellow group member. We also get fabulous store discounts and little treats when ordering so be sure to join if you haven't yet already :)

Thank you so much for stoppin' by. Have a creative and happy Sunday friends!

Circled Borders

Hi & hello!
Welcome to my stop on the Sweet 'n Sassy Blog Hop! My sweet 'n simple card uses the new set Beautiful Borders, which was designed by DT member Tami Mayberry. I simply stamped the circle border in Ancient Page Chocolate ink, then die cut a bunch of circle and scallops with my Nestabilities. A  couple of K&Co. Flatback jewels add a bit of sparkle to the circles. The circle cut cardstock in the center is a Bazzill Edger cut to fit, I like how it mimics the stamps.

Be sure to check out all five of our new stamp sets here. While you are there  also check out the Christmas in July Stamp special. All Christmas sets are 15% off, and you get the fantastic Holiday Greetings sentiment set free when you spend $25 or more. There is so much more to the special, check out the link for all the details and freebies being offered.

While I am sad to see Design Team members Faith, Cindy, Deb, Laurie and Sarah departing, I look forward to seeing our new team members. They are amazing women who inspire in both artistic talent and kindness. They will be missed on the team but you can bet I will be following their blogs :)

Hope you Canadians had a BBQ-riffic Canada Day, and that you Americans out there have the happiest Fourth of July!

Your next stop on the hop is Korin.

Thanks for stoppin' by!