As Long as You're Not Allergic to Butter

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and are still basking in the glow, enjoying the kids playing with the new toys, the hubbies playing with their new toys (Eric is loving his Madden 2012 for the Wii), and I hear a lot of ya'll are cleaning stamp rooms and purging "schtuff". Don't know if that's exactly enjoyable, but I know it will feel good to "git 'er done"!


Anyway, I just wanted to pop in and show ya'll what my mom and I made for our neighbors and friends as little gifties. I found THIS recipe for Crock Pot Apple Butter on my new obsession, Pinterest (follow me!), and thought it would be a neat thing to try, especially for my mom, not being able to really shop or do a whole lot like she usually does for the holidays. It made our house smell, O.M.G. delicious (until I got sick and my smeller stopped working)!!

When researching this recipe, I thought it strange that a commenter said she made it, but her husband was 'somewhat allergic to butter'. HUH? There's no butter in it! So it's now a running joke around here...good thing we aren't allergic to butter...! LOL!!


We bought a dozen 1/2 pint mason jars and three batches later had plenty to fill them all! I decided they needed a cute little tag tied to them for "perfect presentation" and knew a little Verve-iness would fit the bill. First I used the Classy Label Die from Verve to cut the tags out of some Kraft cardstock then stamped them with the matching stamp from the Love Notes set for the frame and lines. The sentiment came from the Glad Tidings set along with the snowflakes which I heat embossed in white onto black cardstock. I love that look! The snowflakes were then a breeze to cut using the matching die, Snowflake Tidings. Lindsie helped me cut the trees with the Winter Fun Die Set. My mom totally enjoyed helping me assemble these, so it only took a few minutes. I punched a hole in them all at once with my Cropodile and tied the rugged jute cord around each lid and attached the tags in the knot. Simple and home-y, don'tcha think? (Not to mention delicious, as long as you aren't allergic to butter...NOT!)

Hey, check it out--Verve's having a GREAT SALE!!!!



SUSIE Q-TIP: Use your own handwriting on your projects where possible, especially when doing gifts like this. It makes them more personal, no matter how much you love your penmanship.

Stamps: Love Notes, Glad Tidings (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Black, New Leaf (PTI)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Chocolate Chip (SU!), Embossing Ink (Stampendous)
Accessories: Classy Labels, Snowflake Tidings and Winter Fun Dies (a Cut Above Dies by Verve), Heat Tool, White Embossing Powder (Stampendous), Cropodile, Jute Cord, Red Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Jody Boosters

TCP Tuesday 190--Peace on Earth

Well, I had a little accident. As I was backing my Expedition (lovingly referred to as The Beast) out of my parking spot at Walgreen's (that I have been to at least 50 times in the last couple of months), another lady was backing her Suburban out. We were both in each other's blind spots (ha--I typed blonde spots at first!), and of course, not seeing each other, bonked bumpers. It didnt' hurt my car at all, but damaged her little fancy chrome tow hitch cover. She said she didn't know how many times that thing had saved her truck from extra damage and we called it even. WHEW! I think she was in a hurry to get back to her shopping as I had heard her say in the store that they needed to rush out. I think she was trying to rush out of her parking spot too!


So in the spirit of forgiveness, I hope ya'll will forgive me for bringing my TCP TUESDAY card to ya'll on WEDNESDAY! I finished it up yesterday morning and I have to say I LOVE THIS CARD! Leigh is our Hipster Hostess with the Mostess and has come up with a fabby sketch as usual!


I was a little intimidated at first with all the flaggies and banners, but it really came together easily! I had never used the three wise penguinmen stamp from my Penguin Christmas set and found it to be a great choice for the sideways oval. I had a "jewel tone" color scheme in mind and quickly grabbed a few scraps and started just making the flags in all sizes at random. I then colored the image and put it together, using a little Purple Plum Divine Twine. I think this may be an all-time favorite card of mine. I feel like saying something like the little girl did in the movie, "Despicable Me" because she couldn't love her new toy more--"IT'S SO FLUFFYYYYY!!!!"



Ok, I have lots more to do today, including fight off a massive sore throat--UGH. We totally want you to play along with us in this week's TCP TUESDAY CHALLENGE. Alma has all the swanky details as to what you might win if you do, over on her blog HERE.

SUSIE Q-TIP: I **may** have organized my polkadot paper along the way by color as I was making this card--I do that sort of thing. A lot. Nothing fancy, just kept them all in the same pile as usual, but put like colors together. I didn't even put them in rainbow order after that. Not necessary, unless you do that sort of thing. A lot. Polkadots are my favorite, so they get their own special place in my paper stash. If nothing else is organized, at least semi-organize your "go-to" items so that they can be easily gone through when you need them.

Stamps: Penguin Christmas (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Enchanted Evening, White, Black Harvest Gold (PTI), Various Patterned Papers
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Labels Ten and Star Nestabilities, Copic Markers, Purple Plum Divine Twine (TCP), Button, Rhinestone Star (Pizzazz Aplenty), Jody Boosters
Finished Size: A2

No More Blazyness!! Viva la Verve!!

Well, I'm sorry I've been a little "blazy" (my new word for blog-lazy) lately. I've really not had much time to craft at all, with the holiday bustly and taking care of my mom (she had gotten pretty sick over the last couple of weeks, but is now on the road to recovery, we hope!). Now that I'm done with my shopping and the girls are out of school, I can at least stay on task with things a little better without having to jump up and leave to go pick them up, etc. I've decided to make part of my New Year's resolution to be more consistent in my stamping and blogging. I NEED it for my sanity!! I think I can, I think I can...Anyone have any tips on how to get that done for me?


Anyway, it had been a long while since I was able to play in a Viva la Verve Challenge, and this particular sketch had piqued my interest ever since it came out for November's Week 2 Challenge. My sweet friend, Jackie Pedro thought it up all by herself (she's smart like that) and she did a great job! I had been wanting to use this little snowman from Verve's Snow Wonderful stamp set and I managed to use its included background stamp and my favorite sentiment along with it. I am so thankful to have a little Verve in my life...it makes me HAPPY!

Ok, well I have to run. Now that everything is starting to settle down, I've realized how much crafty stuff I have to do and projects to make as gifts before Christmas! ACK!! I'll be back tomorrow with my TCP Tuesday Sketch Card--YOU WILL LOVE THIS SKETCH from Leigh!

SUSIE Q-TIP: When tidying up the threads after you've done a little sewing on your project, it's a good idea not to pull too hard on the bobbin thread (even though you've thought it was a loose thread), because you may just pull the bobbin thread all the way out of your project which will leave the top thread with nothing to anchor it down and have to use all sorts of tape to make it stay without having to redo the sewing. Don't ask me how I know this. I don't want to talk about it.

Stamps: Snow Wonderful (Verve)
Paper: Hawaiian Shores, White, Plum Pudding (PTI), Gift of Love (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Cool Caribbean (SU!)
Accessories: Snowflake Lace Paper CutUps (The Cat's Pajamas), Labels One, Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Seeing Spots Embossing Folder, Sewing Machine/Thread, Copic Markers, Stardust Stickles, Plum Pudding Ribbon (PTI), Lavender Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Jody Boosters
Finished Size: A2

TCP Tuesday 189--A Cool Yule!

Well, it's me, Susan here and I'm your Hostess with the Mostess this week for the TCP Tuesday Challenge from The Cat's Pajamas! As ya'll know, I love to bring on the swanky STAMP challenges for TCPTUESday, and this time I'm doing that and don't forget, we are now combining the stamp challenge with using one of your handy dandy CUTUPS DIES from The Cat's Pajamas as well for this challenge!


As I'm sure we are all in need of that one last Christmas card, the challenge this week is to use any CHRISTMAS STAMPS from The Cat's Pajamas. The CutUps die we will be pairing with it will be the BIG SCALLOP, that cool bracket-y looking one!



Here's all the swanky details on how YOU can play along!:

Here are the details for this challenge:

1. Each Tuesday we will give you a challenge.
2. You will have until the end of the month to complete the challenge.
3. Add your entry to the guestbook on Alma's Blog and/or upload to the SCS Gallery, using the keyword TCPTUES189 for this week's challenge.
4. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, highly encouraged. {Unless it is a challenge calling for a specific stamp, like this week)
5. There will be one randomly chosen weekly winner, announced on Tuesdays.
6. There will be one winner, The Swanky Stamper, announced the 1st of each month. They will win several sets from an upcoming release and get to play along with us at our Pajama Party and Blog Hop.

Sorry to make this all short and sweet today, but my mom fell a couple of weeks ago here at my house and she's not ANY better! I'm taking her to the Doctor this morning for that and several other issues that have arose due to her fall. Say a little prayer for her!

December Sketch For You To Try

Well, this is it. This is the last sketch from Jen's Sketch For You To Try for this year. I have to say that SFYTT is some of the funnest (yes, it's a word) stamping I do every month and I look forward to sample-ing it up for ya'll again next year! We've had some of THE BEST and most generous stamp companies sponsoring us this year. Check 'em out:

The Cat’s Pajamas
Verve Stamps
Your Next Stamp
Skipping Stones Design
Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps
My Favorite Things
Anita Be Stampin’
Stamping Bella
Unity Stamp Co.
Amber Ink

A HUGE SUPER BIG THANKS to ALL of ya'll!



Ok, here's December's Sketch:



This month, the SFYTT team is using the sketch along with stamps from one of our sponsors from this year. I chose to work with VERVE. I used a few stamps here: Fluttering By (Stamp set of the month and 40% off right now), Making a Statement for the sentiments and Wishful Elegance for the Jotted Heart pattern. Have ya'll ever tried Verve Stamps? NOW is the perfect time to do so--you'll love them! BTW, select Plain Janes are 30% off too!

Here's a closer look at my card--I love all the layers!:


SO, who's done every SFYTT sketch, every month for the entire year? OMG, ya'll aren't going to believe the prize package for a random participant who has--Gift Certificates, stamps (of course) and a year's subscription to the SCS Fan Club. Head on over to Jen's blog HERE to make sure you get the scoop on how to enter. She'll be drawing a name on Christmas Day!

As for this month's sketch, my SFYTT sisters have a bit more inspiration for ya'll. Ok, A LOT more inspiration--they are all very talented!:
Amy Sheffer
Megan Lock
Amber Hight
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Terri Moore
Jen Tapler
Becky Carafa
Iwona Palamountain

SUSIE Q-TIP: "Shadow stamp" a sentiment by using a lighter color to stamp with first and then stamping over it, slightly askew, with black or a darker color.

Stamps: Making a Statement, Fluttering By, Wishful Elegance (Verve)
Paper: White, Black, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, A Gift of Love (Bo Bunny)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), So Saffron (SU!), Tide Pool (SUINK)
Accessories: Jotted Heart Die (Verve), Seeing Spots Embossing Folder, Sewing Machine/Thread, White Grosgrain Ribbon, Circle Punch, Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Jody Boosters
Finished Size: 5" Square