Thanksgiving Pies - memories of Mom

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions - baking pies! I can remember my mom filling the kitchen with pie dough and all the yummy ingredients. My mom made the best pies!



The ingredients for successful pie-making, fresh apples, pecans, red tart cherries, pumpkin, evaporated milk and a holiday drink from Starbucks :-) She never had the Starbucks but you have to modify traditions to fit your own family - right?

Mom's cherry pie recipe. She always used the Minute Tapioca recipe with almond extract. Not the prettiest pie, but I bet it is yummy! I use the prepared pie crusts but crimp the edges between my fingers the way she taught me. She always cut the ( ) in the center of the top crust with the dashes down the middle. Hers usually looked better than this one - guess I need practice. I'm sure my brother Bill would say so- his favorite pie and he ALWAYS got the piece with the cherry pit in it- there is always one!

I don't remember my mom ever making a pecan pie - I'm sure she must have since the driveway was lined with pecan trees. I use Betty Crocker's recipe for mine.

Pumpkin pie - wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it! It doesn't show in the photo but Mom always used a knife to check the center of the pie so there was a telltale 'slit' in the center. I do it the same way .

French Apple Pie - another Betty Crocker recipe. Mom usually made a two crust apple pie but my family likes the crumb topping. I don't know what makes it French but the topping is not just a crumb topping that is 'sprinkled' on. It is packed on top and some settles down into the pie. I am not a big apple pie fan, but this one is so good served warm with some vanilla ice cream!

What are your Thanksgiving baking memories?

Stained Glass Technique

Had a great time tonight at my Technique Tuesday class - Stained Glass. A great group and lots of interaction. Here is the card they made.

Stamp sets - Sail Away, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock - Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party and Indigo Island, Window Sheets
Embellishments - Dyed Taffeta ribbon, Pool Party; Mica Flakes, Metallic Brads
Punches- Word Window, Modern Label
Inks - Pool Party refill, Island Indigo refill, Wisteria Wonder refill, Stazon White and Whisper White craft ink
I prepared the stain glass for this card since it takes a couple hours for it to dry.

This was a sample I made to show them how it looks to use just one color of ink. I used Melon Mambo. I also used the Dazzling Diamonds glitter on this instead of the Mica Flakes.

For the sample, they made a piece similar to this one with the Lovely as a Tree tall evergreen.

Another example I prepared. On this card the stained glass is used as a background for a stamped and punched ornament. I love the combination of Cherry Cobbler and More Mustard.

Demo Wish List

For the past couple weeks I have been participating in a "Wish List" among some of the SU Demonstrators. We are having loads of fun! One person posts her wish list of items - stamped images, designer paper, Big Shot die cuts. Someone offers to grant one of her wishes and that person gets to post their wish list. It is as much fun granting the wishes as receiving your own grants.

These are for one of the wishes I granted for a demo in Canada. We have been mailing things back and forth quite a bit. Kathryne wanted Circle Circus stamped on card fronts in Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi and Pumpkin Pie. I have had that stamp set for a while and have to admit I have not used it a whole lot. This re-awakened my interest in it :-) I wanted to do some cards of my own.

So - here is mine. I smudged the Chocolate Chip a little so decided I would use this one. It was fun and I am thankful that Kathryne made the request.

And of course, I have had many wishes granted. Stamp sets I have always thought would be fun but just never had the desire to own them. Or die cuts that I don't own but would like a chance to create with them.

These are some of the die cuts I have received from my wish list. Peek-a-boo frames that I will use for birthday cards with corny jokes printed on them. The answer/punch line will be hidden behind the frame. Tags to use to make book marks or Christmas gift tags for packages. Build-a-bear dies to play with. I have lots of those and will make some cute cards and scrapbook pages with them.

And stamped images.... the Christmas lodge from Jenn and Sarah which I am using to make some decorative boxes with my clubs. Make A Monster images from Kathryne are great for kids' birthday cards. Sincere Salutations and Snow Much Fun from Melanie. Melanie and I did several wish grants on our own - just the two of us - because we each had several things that were on the other person's wish list. And the Homemade and to Die For stamps from Brittany will come in handy for holiday gift giving. And many more - I have loads of things to play with from these new friends and others.

The SU Demonstrators are a great group of people. I am glad Cathy started this Wish List discussion so we can all get things to play with and show off without having to purchase. Of course, I did like coloring the Crazy for Cupcakes that Susan sent me I had to get the stamp set for myself.

Oh, Mica Flakes!

So, not knowing that the mica flakes from SU come in such a large quantity (about a cup of them in the container) I bought 2 of them so I would have plenty for some shaker cards for my SU clubs. What to do with all those mica flakes??? I have seen some cards using the dyed mica flakes and decided to give that a try.

You need just the mica flakes and some ink refills. I tried Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue and Peach Parfait.


I put some flakes in a plastic bag (about a tablespoon) and added 3 or 4 drops of ink. Then I shook, squeezed, anything to spread the color to the flakes.


I made some birthday cards using them. I don't have the large cupcake die so I had to make up my own. I used the Elegant Lines embossing folder on a piece of card stock and then punched out one-half of a 2 3/8 inch scallop circle. I spread some Tombow glue on the scallop and dropped some of the dyed mica flakes on that. The base of the cupcake is Crumb Cake card stock which I ran through the crimper.

This cupcake has a band of Chocolate Chip scallop dotted ribbon around the middle. I also played with my new tag punch and Tiny Tags. The Happy Birthday is from the Bring on the Cake stamp set.

I paired up the Rich Razzleberry taffeta ribbon with the Peach Parfait. Don't these look almost good enough to eat?

Here are all my cupcakes together. I think I will make a few more since I have plenty of the dyed mica flakes left. What ideas do you have for the mica flakes?

Card #4 for the Christmas Stamp-a-Stack

I have decided on the fourth card design for the Christmas Stamp-a-Stack I am holding in November. Isn't this a beautiful card?

Card stock - Always Artichoke, Real Red, Whisper White
Stamp set - Greeting Card Kids, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink - Many Marvelous Markers
Embellishments - Real Red taffeta ribbon, Mica Flakes
Tools - Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Blender pens

Won't you join us? Dates are Friday Nov 4th (6:30 p.m.), Sunday Nov 6th (2 p.m.), and Monday Nov 7th (6:30 p.m.)


$15.00 for all 8 cards - envelopes are included. Everything provided - just come join the fun :-)

New Workshop Added - Christmas is coming!

I am offering a Christmas card workshop on several dates in November - Friday, Nov 4 (6:30 p.m.), Sunday, Nov 6 (2 p.m.), and Monday Nov 7 (6:30 p.m.) Pick the date and time that fits your schedule and come have some holiday fun! You will be making 8 cards in 4 basic designs (2 of each). Cost for the workshop is $15 which includes envelopes.

Each card design has 2 options so you can make the two cards the same or make one of each option. Here are some photos of what I have planned so far (may have some minor changes when I get out my supplies).


The first card design will use the Stitched Stocking stamp set and coordinating punch. It also features the eyelet border punch and the mini brads (love those things!)


The second option uses the lace border punch - reminds me of the Victorian gingerbread in my childhood home. Brings back lots of Christmas memories. This one also uses the baker's twine for the stocking hangers.


The second card design uses the stripe embossing folder and the quilted satin ribbon. The Occasions alphabet stamps and Cherry Cobbler baker's twine are featured on this option.


For the second option, I chose the Four the Holidays stamp set (there are 4 holiday greetings to chose from).


The third design highlights my favorite The Sounding Joy stamp set. The option on the left is tied with the Poppy Parade cotton ribbon. The right sports the Cherry Cobbler ribbon and a miniature jingle bell.
Now I just have to decide on the fourth card - something with the Mica Flakes I think - I have seen so many cute ideas with those.

Looking forward to sharing these wonderful products with you - pick a date and come join the fun!

Another OMG album

Another of the OMG albums. This one was a little challenging. The wedding colors are black and white with a little pewter. The person requesting this said I could add a color if I needed but I think I did pretty well with just Basic Black, Basic Gray and Whisper White (and a little bit of Wild Wasabi for leaves).

The dotted piece along the bottom is from the wedding invitations. The stamped images are non-SU stamp sets I had from before SU days.

This is the back of the album. The image is from the new hostess set, Ain't Love Grand. I would put a photo of the couple in their 'getaway' car here.

This is inside the front cover - Basic Black DSP and a set of bride and groom hearts look pretty nice here. If you would like to see how I make the bride and groom hearts, I have a tutorial here. The large open area above the intialed hearts could house one large photo of the couple or a collage of smaller photos.

The center spotlights the wedding invitation. I intend the narrow areas on the side to be individual photos of the bride and groom coordinated with the bride and groom hearts (of course, they can do whatever they want - I do offer to add their photos for a separate fee).

This is one of the side sections that flank the invitation. This could hold photos of the bridesmaids in one section and groomsmen in the other. The circular areas could also hold photos.

This is inside the back cover. The flower is all white but the 5 petal flower is sponged with Basic Gray to make it more visible against the white background. This provides another large areas to place a single photo or several smaller ones.

The section with the three hearts is one side of the open back display. I imagine the bottom section here with the grooms family and maybe the smaller one the groom and parents or grandparents. The opposite side would be for the bride's family.

The inside back has a frame with a window sheet. The sentiment is from a retired stamp set. I imagine a photo of the bride and groom in the circular frame - probably kissing :-)

And here it the little gift card and envelope I made to go along with the album. My customers seem to like that extra little touch.

So, I don't think I did to badly using just black, white and gray. My husband asked if it was for a black tie event - so guess it looks pretty classy. I hope the couple likes it.