A small diversion from papercrafts today.....baking!

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer

   I finally took the plunge as I reported earlier this year when I purchased the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer as my own personal 'birthday present'. Yes, I am that shameless!

But it is on my humble counter and I put it to good use making my lo-fat biscotti recipe!  Recipe to follow!
I LUV it for this fact alone - I have trouble making biscotti because the dough is so thick to keep kneading!! But the KA and the dough hook make it like cutting through soft butter - its marvelous! And so quick!

Honestly - I keep trying new ways to make the biscotti shape - this time, I got super-lazy and just poured the dough on to my large cookie sheet (plus parchment sheet) ...and made one fat loaf!  Afterwards I cut it down the middle, and then sectioned it into the smaller size sections. So it doesn't have rounded corners on both ends - you're gonna eat it - who cares much!  {it saves time!}

Now staring at it day in and day out - I began to turn my thoughts to 'what accessory should we get next?' .....and that is when my guilty logic came into play,

.....the ICE CREAM MAKER!   

" Why we could have PUMPKIN ICE CREAM FOR THANKSGIVING!!!! "

And so yes, introducing my newest 'baby' .....ta da!

Don't they look 'sweet' together - ha ha! 

I'd be really happy to hear from anyone who has one! Please let me know how it is working for you - what recipes you have to make ice cream!!!!  I know its gonna be awesome to make some - can you tell 

I'm excited!  

MEANWHILE

 I have looked up a great video on this accessory from 

a lady who I consider the best presenter - JO RICHARDSON!!

I just adore her videos - I have been watching them to learn about the Kitchen Aid and she is terrific at demonstrating the machine and all its attachements. So check her out!! 

Hi Jo! 

Of course they are only lo-fat if you keep them plain - which I often do not! 

 I will drizzle melted chocolate or add nuts - but you can just add 'flavourings' to keep them at the reduced rate of 2 grams each/for 36 slices. Again - mine are more like 6 grams each because I do not make

the tiny biscotti, but the more Americanized size - longer, thicker. Ummm! 

So make it in your own happy way! They are still better than most choices!  OK, here's the recipe.....!

My ' CLASSIC LO-FAT BISCOTTI  ' Recipe

comes from the Joy of Cooking Recipe Book.

Preparation

Position rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Grease/parchment a cookie sheet.

Ingredients 

Whisk together thoroughly: 

3-1/2 cups all purpose flour; 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt.  

Beat on medium speed until well blended: 

1/4 cup corn or canola oil; 1-1/4 cups sugar; 2 large eggs; 2 large egg whites; 

1 teaspoon finely-grated lemon zest; 1/2 teaspoon finely-grated orange zest; 

1 teaspoon anise or almond extract; 1 teaspoon vanilla.    

  Gradually stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until well blended and smooth.  

 [*note - the dough should be moist yet holds its 'shape'  -  if you feel its too runny,  add more flour till the dough is stiffer - if you add too much flour, you can add more oil.  On my first try, I did one log first - then the second I adjusted - as you learn by doing!]

  Shape the dough into smooth, evenly shaped 11 x 1-1/2 inch logs:

 either by - a) wrapping each log in plastic and rolling it back and forth until smooth,

or b) by shaping it with lightly floured hands.  

Arrange the logs:

as far apart from one another as possible on the sheet and press to flatten slightly.  

Baking Stage 1

Bake for 25  minutes.  

Remove the sheet to a rack. 

Baking Stage 2

 When the logs are just cool enough to handle,

 carefully transfer to a cutting board :

cut crosswise, on a slight diagonal, into 3/8 inch  thick slices.

Lay the slices flat on the sheet. 

 Return to the oven and bake for  5-10 minutes.  

Turn the slices over and bake until lightly browned 5 minutes more.

  Transfer the biscotti to racks to cool. 

*Note: personally, I have adjusted the slice thickness and baking times to suit our preferences. We often skip the Baking Stage 2 because we like them a bit more 'softer' than is the European norm. Biscotti are meant to be dipped in a liquid such as coffee, hot chocolate or a glass of milk, therefore the dryness/hardness is a desirable quality. This also means they can be stored for a long time in a cookie jar. 

Enjoy baking biscotti - they make great hand-made gifts presented nicely bagged and tagged! 

Put a couple into a mug - wrap with cellophane and a ribbon/tag!

Or try our NEW Cellophane Bags in our MINI HOLIDAY CATALOGUE!!!

Crafter-mornings All!

Here as promised, is my version of the template I posted earlier!  

But first - I need some inspiration - and this is how I found it - by looking around the house and creating a small vignette of  what represents 'meaningful - and thankful' to me!  And I found it in an odd assortment of little and not-so-little items just layin' about!  It started with the large origami heart made for me by my daughter when she was about 10. She created it out of poster board - wow, can imagine how hard she was pressing on those folds, lol!  At the time, she gave it to me chock full of smaller origami hearts that each had a promise on it - for folding the laundry, free "anytime with her" (yeah - they know!), etc., etc.  So then I gathered her picture that I love, and my 'second' parents picture in a frame I decorated in the '80s, and my dog's blanket! Oh - and a candle holder my daughter and I stained plus the velvet rose I made for a smaller candle holder. Enough to pull together my theme of love and appreciation!

My inspiration....

I shall scrapbook this picture soon too! 

This I highly recommend - to take visual vignettes for your scrapbooks! 

And here is my card!

As you can see I have followed yesterday's TEMPLATE pretty closely! 

Our WORD PLAY Stamp Set provided the sentiment - this is a very good stamp set to have as it has many appropriate greeting/sentiment stamps in it. 

USING OUR COLOR COACH TO GUIDE YOU WITH COLOR COMBINATIONS!

To gain more inspiration - or to push yourself in NEW DIRECTIONS - and great for BEGINNER STAMPERS - our COLOR COACH from STAMPIN' UP! is excellent. 

Here is how it works.

For my card I used the following:

  Stamp Set: Word Play; Cardstock: River Rock {card base, tag base}, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango and Big Shot die and embossing folder {not shown}: Two Tags and Perfect Polka Dots.

AND...the Color Coach {shown in the bottom right of pic} - which gave me

 my inspiration for my colour choices!  

All you do is flip to the card of the main colour you are interested in - mine was River Rock...

....which is this card flipped open.  

CLICK on pics to see LARGER! 

Now you can see, the card pertaining to River Rock shows 2 COLOUR COMBINATIONS - one is Creative Combination calling for Marina Mist and Cherry Cobbler to be paired with River Rock. 

The second combination, Sweet Set uses River Rock with Not Quite Navy and Tangerine Tango! 

Therefore - I used Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy as the main layers on top of my River Rock - AND - 

used Tangerine Tango to create a flower accent - a little pop!  

Of course Whisper White is a good neutral and brings lightness to the whole card. 

So there you are - choose any of our colours, and you can find valuable help 

with the COLOR COACH - the above example is for the colour REAL RED - and the two combinations may surprise you - Real Red, Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie - that sounds like a delicious FALL COLOUR COMBO while Real Red, Bashful Blue and Crumb Cake would make a

terrific CHRISTMAS combination!  

The COLOR COACH is available for order - you'll be

pleased with it - as it is simply 'full' of great ideas! 

It is in a handy form, easy to read and use! 

Crafternoons Crafters!

Here is a template to inspire you!

Think of many ways to decorate this for Fall /Halloween or any Holiday?  Share it if you do - be awesome to see YOUR work!!!

basic layout - ignore the white space beneath the green please! Or use it! 

On my next post - I'll show you MY VERSION - see you then!

Crafternoons friends and maybe by the title of this post, to some really crafty crazy people like myself! :)

LOOK what I have been doing - do you like to recycle?  Well if you have followed me long enough, you may have noticed, I like to - " re-purpose " things as they say!  So, bit of the explaination here is that I drink coffee many times over at a few places.  Not to be pluggin' here for good ol' Tim Horton's but one day, I was staring down another cup of joe, when - I simply thought - "this would make fun paper for something!"

And here it is.....my projects!

Stampin' Up!'s SIMPLY ADORNED Jewellery - largest Bevelled CHARM and 24 Inch Necklace

Charm 'opens' and you can create a decorative insert!  Make as many as you like - change them for 

your occasion!   Add ribbon and a BAUBLE like I have done using the BLACK GLASS BAUBLE. 

Necklace Chain has a pretty TOGGLE and an exclusive SU! charm

You can actually use the toggle in the front! 

Comes as a BRACELET too! 

Detail - layers of folded scallop circle shapes

So I love em!   And hopefully I will think of more ways to recyle!

Naturally we are experiencing cooler weather - but sometimes by supper, you might discover that you should have worn a warmer jacket {or so my daughter is discovering - but when you're that young,well...}...and  I can see the beginnings of the trees changing their leaves and I know that signals Fall has or is arriving soon!  And of course - the inevitable discussion if we should bother getting our long-haired dog, one more trim or let his winter coat start growing.

But I am ok with that as Fall is one of my favourite seasons - actually, it IS my fav. And I know it is also for many people. We love to go to fall markets - down to the Beaches area and soak in the atmosphere, wearing our favourite cozy sweaters, sipping on cider....ith my daughter pulling on my sweater sleeve...I will oooh and aaah at Pier 1's dinner settings! Hopefully they haven't moved on to Christmas yet, lol!

Which is why I have been busy making preparations for Thanksgiving!  In fact, I have to - because as always I run out of time near the last weeks before a big holiday!! At least this way, I have a few things done in case I come down with a cold.  Just being practical :)

So without further mutterings, I'll show you what I've been up to!!!

FALL CARDS 

 Have you seen our SPICE CAKE DESIGNER PAPER?  It is one extremely pretty set - the colour combos and the prints are splendiferous!!!  And its flying out the window as many crafters are lovin' it! So grab some while you can - its also in digital downloads!

And combined with the top selling NEW LEAF stamp set - GENTLY FALLING - you'll have such a nice time making all sorts of projects. But first, here is a sample of a card I made ....

.....lots of simple layers!

[More STAMPIN' UP! Supplies=Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, More Mustard Cardstock 

Early Espresso and More Mustard Classic Ink, Early Espresso Ribbon {Mini Holiday Catalogue}]

The fun part of this card is that GENTLY FALLING stamps come as a 2-step technique set.  You choose your LEAF SHAPE among the set, stamp it as I did here in the More Mustard ink - the Maple Leaf shape - then you choose its companion stamp {here in the brown ink outline}....and stamp 'over top' of the first shape!  Its always fun to see the results - never gets boring!!!!

Cut out the leaf and layer, layer,layer plus add some ribbon - and there you are! A great sentiment underneath and this is such a pretty card to give. I'm sure you can think of someone, yes?

Moving on......

HOME DECOR  

FALL WREATH and BANNERS

If you turn to the inside pages of our MINI HOLIDAY CATALOGUE - you will see a paper rosette wreath that everyone is ooohing over and claiming they want to make - well, I am no exception.  ALSO I think this IS the year of the BANNER too - the ideas for them are all over the net, mags, crop circles, - everywhere!

So I have started one.....and I haven't stuck to any one look yet - so I begin with basic fall colour - ORANGE! ..... and make my rosettes...some I have 'distressed' the edges with brown ink {chocolate chip ink} ..or I "glitter" the edges......later on I will add LAYERS on top ...but these are just the beginnings....

...and here I have also played with sizes...

.....so when you see my finished BANNER ...you will know it didn't happen overnight, lol! 

SIMPLY SCORED TOOL             

 [top photo - the scoring tool to make projects like these super easy!]

If you think you'd like a home demonstration of this project - let me know!  Local Stampin' Up! parties and workshops are fantastic way to pass time with friends, family, co-workers!  

Book early as this is our busy season! 

crafternoons  friends!

now go on and enjoy your day :)

WE FOUND AN INJURED BABY GOLDEN FINCH 

and TOOK IT TO A RESCUE CENTRE CALLED 

THE TORONTO WILDLIFE CENTRE

PLEASE READ ABOUT IT HERE! 

I wrote about our experience on Friday and Saturday on my older blog, 

Beverly's Stamping Beehive

http://bstampingbeehive.blogspot.com

I was worried about how to support the centre for all the outstanding service I have

been learning that they do - in our case, money was extremely tight this past while

because of my daughter's school tutition and expenses....so I thought in the meantime, 

I could at least donate some hand-made cards which they could give to their dedicated staff,

 or generous donors or  their caring volunteers.

Using an older retired SU! set - and a very pretty one to boot - and one of my 

absolute favourites: WINGS OF FRIENDSHIP I made a set of cards.

The  inside "Thank You"  greeting is from another retired set,

 a set made for our own SU! charity cause, 

Ronald McDonald House - called VERY THANKFUL. 

Here is a HOLIDAY VERSION I could give them as well! 

This is made from our current JOLLY BINGO BITS set

and the greeting is from retired  ' Bright Christmas '

So you see, us Demos still have good reasons to dip

into our own collections as well!  

Not to make this post more about SU! than I care to - but this does 

reflect an important point - BUY stamps that you  LOVE!

Because you should be able to use them over and over. 

Unfortunately, for our purposes of showing what to do with

the current sets, you don't get to see how much we use them on project after project

 - and a well used set is always a good sign for an excellent stamp set choice! 

SO GO FOR WHAT STRIKES YOUR FANCY!

Back to our bird.....

PLEASE READ THE POST I'VE PROVIDED THE LINK TO ABOVE

ITS A GREAT ORGANIZATION AND OUR EXPERIENCE WHICH I 

HAVE DETAILED ALSO IS MAKING AN EXCELLENT POINT -

THAT HAVING RESOURCES OF CARING PEOPLE TO HELP INJURED AND SICK ANIMALS

IS WELL NEEDED IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. 

THANKS FOR READING! 

[ugh - sorry for the annoying spaces - sometimes my blogger drives me crazy!!]

This is sure to please a bingo player - and its fun to colour with Stampin' Up! Markers in the colors shown here or choose your own palate!  

The fun part with this card is that the BINGO part is a separate stamp - our BINGO CARD BACKGROUND STAMP and then you can stamp each individual square with any one of the co-ordinating teeny stamps from JOLLY BINGO BITS STAMP SET!   I mean it doesn't get more fun than that!  

The variety you will enjoy with both of these stamp sets is huge - you can alter the bingo background stamp and you have the bingo bits stamps to add a little decoration to an envelope - a border on stationary - tags - and all manner of projects!  Its great value! 

AND NOW THERE IS A HALLOWEEN BINGO BITS!  SPOOKY BINGO BITS!!

BINGO CARD BACKGROUND STAMP  # 120851

JOLLY BINGO BITS STAMP SET #120857

SPOOKY BINGO BITS STAMP SET # 123944

Ever have a project on the go for a really long time?

Yup, well, that's this project for me....I worked on it for the last year!  A page at a time, and only when I felt like it.  But none of that matters because it's finished - although I still have more chipboard pages I could add, but I am happy with a mini-album of this size - not too large, not so small! :)

Isn't it delish?

The basic SUITCASE ALBUM is a retired STAMPIN' UP! CHIPBOARD ALBUM .  If you recall, these special shaped albums were all the rage a couple of years ago - and I grabbed several of ours. I have a large BIRD album to do next - yay! 

I had a lot of fun putting this together - we sell chipboard now in a size that can be cut to suit your own size and/or shape - and chipboard is a dream to decorate!  

SO! -  go ahead and create one yourself - they're a fun way to pass your time!  And maybe you can create one in slightly less time - lol ! 

As a mom of an university student in her final year, there really isn't much to buy once we're past the books, and tuition. We have accumulated plenty of school supplies so I have chosen to help her with clothes mostly.

BUT - being the crafter, I couldn't help but present her with a little offering, now could I?

I did decide on note pads, some cool looking pencils, sharpener, binder and gum - yes, the gum is a must! Oh and so is the hand sanitizer - egads!!!

Now established facts - she loves owls.  Stampin' Up! has an OWL PUNCH.  

Not too far of a stretch here, lol!

So I began with the colour of the blue binder , and the black pencils and was soon scrapping and punching, sponging away at making owls whilst watching another episode of Poirot on my laptop. 

The binder has a spine insert - so I used the paper insert as a template and our new SCORING TOOL and scored a 3x11 strip of black cardstock.  With the use of 'markers' the SIMPLY SCORED scoring tool makes a breeze out of creating folds in your paper - you no longer have to squint and stare to make sure you have the correct alignment AND you can repeat the same marking on another piece of paper - not bad when you have a gazillion folds to make for wedding invitations for instance!   

Voila!  I scored my newly-made spine insert!  On to stamping!!!

 With our BFF STAMP SET and WHITE CRAFT INK [ to stand out against the black cardstock] -- I stamped in a haphazard way and glued on two of my owls and before you know it, I had my newly-decorated spine!  It's cute and edgy - just right for someone her age. 

Now I'm on a roll - so what else could she use?  I decide on a A CORNER BOOKMARK!  These are like making a giant photo corner - again, using the SIMPLY SCORED board, I scored a couple of folds and in a matter of minutes, I had created my bookmark!  I shall do a separate post on creating a CORNER BOOKMARK - so stay tuned! 

 Also with our ROUND TAB PUNCH, there is no need to buy PAGE TABS - as this is what this punch is for. I punched out about a dozen as we can always make more!   We can draft up some labels for her tabs later on when she has a need for them.  And finally, I gave her some WHITE LIBRARY CLIPS.  

My third OWL has crazy eyelashes - ha ha.  She looks kinda sleepy which is not too far off from my daughter's look in the morning :)  I placed her gingerly on a label I made to cover the gum - just so we can use the owl in another spot later.  

And with a bit of ribbon tyed around the pencils - I think it all makes a good presentation....because in the end, we just want to mark Back-to-School as "special" and send them off with enthusiastic hopes of a great year ahead! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Exclusive STAMPIN' UP! SUPPLIES used for this PROJECT.

CONTACT ME if you have an interest in any products - I will be glad to help! 

Cardstock = Marina Mist, Basic Black   Ink=Basic Black Classic Ink, White Craft Ink

Ribbon = Basic Gray Striped 1-1/3"

Tools = Simply Scored  (NEW!) - scoring tool;  Owl Punch, Round Tab Punch, and  tabletop paper cutter, craft scissors

Stampin' Up! has released its latest HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG {catalogue}  - or catty as we call it for short!  

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS RIGHT?   

Yup - lots of new goodies (gush, gush)!!!!!

Moi has her new goody package on its way right now - and I can't wait!   It took me an awesome long time as it always does to narrow down my first order!  Usually I put in 2 large orders to cover everything AND to receive enough points to earn those fabulous FREE items!

One thing is different this time around - HOSTESSES and DEMONSTRATORS and CUSTOMERS who qualify for the FREE items now  have more CHOICE - as we are no longer limited to the Hostess Section of the catalog but can choose from throughout the entire catty!   So keep that in mind!

My workshops for the Holidays will be awesome - because our Mini has soooooo many awesome NEW PRODUCTS - like a STOCKING DIE for the BIG SHOT that is to die for!!!!   It will make cards, tags, gift holders - decorations - wait'n'see!  I am sure someone will think up even more clever ways to use that die!  It also has a co-ordinating {but of course!} die of STOCKING ACCENTS - cute little decorations which can also be used in a multitude of ways!

AND THE VELVET RIBBON - aaaaahhh!  It's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!   

Well I will be featuring the new stamps soon - very soon and I will be posting my workshop schedule too.

JUST WAIT TILL YOU SEE STAMP SET SUITES: 

CHRISTMAS LODGE or PINECONES and POINSETTIAS!!!

AND LET'S NOT FORGET ....

THANKSGIVING!

HALLOWEEN!

VALENTINES!

It's all there!  

MEANWHILE - IF YOU'D LIKE TO BOOK A FUN TIME TO CREATE CARDS AND FUN PROJECTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS - PLEASE CONTACT ME !

   SEE SIDEBAR PHOTO AND CLICK TO     VIEW THE HOLIDAY MINI!