Mmmmmmmmmmm….I love this time of year. Strawberries and the promise of a beautiful summer ahead. It seems that we spend so much time longing for summer here in Canada that the days pass by so quickly.
It’s been a crazy busy week here. Deadlines. Projects. A visit from Grandma and a baby cousin among others. The first week of all the kids home from school. I’m sorry I don’t have a project to share with you today but I do have a recipe. I made this simple but yummy dessert yesterday for my company and thought I’d share it with you.
If you’re looking for the Ways to Use it Challenge today…Lindsey has graciously stepped in to host it for me and you can find it here. Looks like a super fun challenge! I’m wishing I had thought of it!!! I hope you have a little more time than I for some stamping fun!
Strawberry layer dessert
Large package of mini jelly rolls
2 Quarts Strawberries
1 6 serving package of vanilla pudding mix, cooked variety not instant
1 package Strawberry gelatin
1 large tub whipped Topping
Slice jelly rolls approximately 3/4 inch thick. Line bottom of 9×13 pan with rolls. Wash, hull and slice strawberries and layer evenly over jelly rolls. Cook vanilla pudding mixed with gelatin and 3.5 cups water on medium heat, stirring until thickened. Cool slightly. Pour over strawberries and chill. Once set, cover with whipped topping. Enjoy!
Sorry no photo to go along with it. I had eight kids in the house yesterday… I think you’ll get the idea! Hmmmm…maybe I should make it again. Just for the photo of couse!
Have a great Thursday! I’ll be back with a project tomorrow!
Julia
I’ve been wanting to scrap these photos of two of my boys for a while now. Take on the first day of school last year while waiting for the bus, these pics show a glimpse of their relationship. I love how much patience the older has with the younger…well, most of the time! My youngest was quite unhappy to see him leave on the bus. I think perhaps being the youngest of a large family is a pretty good place to be.
{Hold On
This layout was designed using Lesley’s sketch design for this weeks CHF layout challenge. I hope you’ll play along…it’s a great sketch for anyone and if you’re just starting out, it’s super easy to follow. Here’s the challenge link.
Also…check out what Lesley and Kristine have done with this sketch!
The sketch
Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!
Julia
Supply List:
Stamps:
-Brother from For the Men stamp set (The Rummage Bin Line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
-Embrace from Big Inspiration set (Mona Lisa Moments line) by CHF
- Writing Paper Scrapblock™ by CHF
Ink:
-Burnt Umber Palette ink by Stewart Superior
-Brushed Corduroy Distress ink by Ranger
Paper:
-Cardstock by Prism
-Patterned Paper by My LIttle Yellow Bicycle
Other:
felt bird by Maya Road
foam leaf by American Crafts
felt letters by American Crafts
ribbon by Making Memories
I love water. There’s something so soothing about it. For seven years we lived near one of the Great Lakes and I really do miss the sound of the water. Each summer, we do spend as much time as possible at the lake though. Nothing quite like the waves to rock you to sleep.
While this design doesn’t have a lake, it does have a beautiful stream. The new Thomas Kinkade Streams of Living Waterstamp is released today from Cornish Heritage Farms. I used an older Thomas Kinkade sentiment with this design, Always on my Mind…I love how you can use different ones with different images.
Always on my Mind {click to enlarge}
The card reads….You are always on my mind….and in my heart and prayers. Inside sentiment is computer generated. I thought this would make a nice card for someone going through difficult times. I’m sure you know someone. We all do. It’s nice to be able to uplift someone by taking the time to create a card and let them know we care.
This design is colored with my Copic markers. This design in particular is very easy to color as it is more of a distance view. Check out the other samples our design team has created for some gorgeous ideas!
Lisa has done another CHF video for you. Here it is on stamping Thomas Kinkade images…
Check back tomorrow for another layout challenge. Thanks for stopping by…
Julia
Supply List:
Stamps:
-Streams of Living Water (Thomas Kinkade line) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink:
-Black Adirondack ink by Ranger
Paper:
-Simply Smooth White by Prism
-patterned paper by My Mind’s Eye
Other:
-flower by Prima
-photo turn by Creative Impressions
-markers by Copic www.ellenhutson.com
- button by My Mind’s Eye
-sewing machine
Mmmmmmmmmmmm…..chocolate! I love chocolate! It definitely is my downfall! Kim suggested a favorite food inspired challenge for today’s challenge and I knew right away that my design would be brown, brown, brown. I honestly wasn’t sure how it would turn out! While I love using brown in my designs, it’s not often that I would make an all-brown design. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge as I love collecting brown embellies but I had a LOT of fun creating it! It’s hard to believe that for years…I hated the color brown. I think perhaps it had something to do with having an overload of it being a child of the 70s?!
Inspire
There is actually more stamping on this design than you see at first glance. I loved making my own “patterned” paper by stamping two Scrapblocks™ on this design…Vintage Ledger and Pindot. I’m just going crazy over this Big Inspiration word set released this month. I just want to stamp it on everything! Tucked into the Making Memories glitter chipboard frame, I stamped a flower from Kim’s Silhouette Blooms 2 set and added some Stickles to the flower centers.
Quick Tip: When creating a monochromatic design…use lots of different textures to provide interest in the design.
Kristine, Lesley, Sherrie, Val & Dawn have worked up some fun designs for this challenge as well. Be sure to check them out! Want to play along? What’s your favorite food? We’d love to see what it is and how it inspires you! Check out the details here.
Here’s one of my favorite chocolate recipes. You can also find some of my other favorite recipes if you click on the recipe category here on my blog.
Chocolate Cheesecake
1.5 cups Crushed Oreo Crumbs
2 tbsp. Butter melted
3 pkg Cream Cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
8 squares of semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
3 eggs
Heat oven to 325°F. Mix cookie crumbs and butter, press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add chocolate; mix well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until well blended. Pour over crust. Bake 45 to 50 minutes until almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake. Cool before removing sides of pan. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Enjoy!
I wanted to share this new Thomas Kinkade design with you today…thought it would make a nice Sunday entry. I just love this peaceful image and beautiful scripture sentiment. While thinking about how to start this project, I decided to go with a soft blue color scheme to work with the peaceful look and the water part of the sentiment. After stamping a few images, I was trying to decide my layout for this design…how would I fit that sentiment on the design? I was so excited to come up with this idea. I think it’s brilliant but of course…I may be a bit biased. This Streams of Living Water stamp will be released on Tuesday at Cornish Heritage Farms.
Still Waters Design
To create this simple, faded out look, I first inked up my full image with Versamagic Chalk Ink. I then took a folded piece of tissue and lightly blotted an area, just slightly larger than my sentiment. The image was then stamped onto Simply Smooth cardstock by Prism. The blotted area still slightly showed the image and it was the perfect spot to stamp my sentiment.
The rest of the design came together quickly. Some some matting and stitching and then an embellishment I’ve been meaning to try for months. I bought a package of stick pins at Michael’s ages ago and finally pulled them out. So easy to add some beads…yes, from a long ago purchase and stored in my stash…and then adhere them with Ranger Glossy Accents. A great embellishments for this design. I think you’ll be seeing lots more of these in the future. I feel like going into mass-production!
Wishing you a beautiful day,
Julia
Supply list:
Stamps: Streams of Living Water (Thomas Kinkade line) By Cornish Heritage Farms, Victorian Floral Backgrounder by CHF
Ink: Versamagic by Tsukinkeo, Black Palette Ink by Stewart Superior
Paper: Simply Smooth White and Mystic Medium by Prism
Hmmmm…maybe I should make it again. 
