Coffee Gift Set

Happy Friday!! Today I want to share a coffee gift set I made for a very close girlfriend of mine. I bought a template from My Time Made Easy for a coffee cup take out holder and to-go coffee cups. I fell in love the first time I saw these templates!! And I love they are available in svg format because I can cut them with my Cricut. I used the Free To Be Me 12x12 super paper pad from My Momenta for embellishing.

I was drawn to this peace sign patterned paper and the matching embossed peace sign cardstock. The bright fun colors are perfect for a birthday gift. The embossed cardstock looks great when sanded. I took my nail file to the paper and just sanded slightly.

I used my Cricut to cut all the flowers and added lots of buttons and fun baker's twine!

The coffee cups are made using the template and I snagged 2 lids from my local coffee shop to finish them off. I found some single serve coffee packs at Target and added those, plus some chocolate, to the cups. Some caramel coffee syrup and a Starbucks gift card round out the gift.

And I had to make a matching card! I paper pieced the cupcake using matching Momenta paper. And added a birthday vellum sparkly sentiment.

I really enjoyed making this gift. It took some time but it's so satisfying when the whole project comes together. I hope my girlfriend liked it! I will be making more of these for my coffee loving friends in the future!

Thanks for stopping by today and hope you're having a great Friday!

CR84FN Color Challenge 47

Hi Everyone, Happy Wednesday! Today is my last day of freedom...tomorrow I go back to work. I have been off work since my ankle surgery, which was back in December. I have been crutch free for about 1 1/2 weeks and things are going okay. Physical therapy is painful but i'm told that is to be expected. So here's to getting up before the sun rises to get my workout in, packing my lunches again, and jump starting my work brain. Wish me luck!

I participated in the CR84FN color challenge again this week...isn't this color combo pretty??

Here is my card...

To be honest, I think it's a little plain. I feel like it's missing something but i'm not sure what. Stamping? Butterflies someplace? I just wasn't sure, so I left it alone. I made some rolled flowers from plain cardstock, the scalloped flower was punched with my scalloped circle punch. I must remember to do that again.

I do like the sentiment, it's from a Papertrey Ink stamp set that was long forgotten in my stamp drawer. Here's to finding lost treasures!

Hope you all have a great Wednesday...thanks for stopping by!

Cake Batter Bark

Bark is a pretty easy sweet treat to make. If you can melt chocolate, you can make bark. And by starting with the basics (chocolate, white chocolate) you can create so many different combinations of deliciousness. I made toffee pretzel bark a while ago that was pretty darn good. And I just made this bark, cake batter bark, that was pretty darn good too!!

There is actual cake batter in the white chocolate part of the bark. It's only a few tablespoons but it's enough to catch that cake batter taste. This is a fun twist on the traditional chocolate bark recipe.

And I think the sprinkles add so much to the presentation. It reminds me of birthdays and cake and fun and rainbows and unicorns and all that is right in the world! So don't skimp when adding the sprinkles.

Here is the recipe. I saw the original recipe on the How Sweet It Is blog and I modified it a bit for my tastes.


Cake Batter Bark
modified from How Sweet It Is

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 oz white chocolate chips
3 tablespoons yellow cake mix
rainbow sprinkles

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using the microwave, melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Melt for 60 seconds, then stir. If more melting is needed, melt at 30 second increments until chocolate is smooth.
3. Spread the melted chocolate on the parchment paper. The chocolate will not cover the entire cookie sheet. Spread evenly.
4. Place cookie sheet in fridge for 15 minutes or until chocolate hardens.
5. Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave using the technique above.
6. Add 3 tbsp cake mix to melted white chocolate. Mix until all lumps are gone. Let this stand for 5 minutes.
7. Spread white chocolate on top of semi-sweet chocolate on the cookie sheet. Spread out until the edges of the two chocolates meet.
8. Generously sprinkle the sprinkles all over the top. If needed, press the sprinkles down a bit into the chocolate before it cools so they stick.
9. Refrigerate until chocolate sets.
10. Break into chunks. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!!!

CAS-ual Friday challenge #37

I am back with another CAS-ual Friday challenge! This one is a sketch challenge and I couldn't wait to dive in.

Here is my card...

I used the Kaleidoskope Pyramid paper pad from My Momenta, a Papertrey Ink sentiment and a random button and my beloved baker's twine.

I cut the doily with my Cricut. I purchased a bunch of svg doily files and I love using them!

That's all I have today. Hope you are having a great Saturday!!

2012 Desk Calendar

Do you have a 2012 calendar yet? Yes, I realize it's almost February. But it seems like come the 1st of the year, I am always scrambling for a new calendar. I discovered a free calendar download on the Very Merry Vintage Style blog and immediately saw potential. When I received my first Momenta products in the mail, I started making this 2012 desk calendar.

This started out as a $1 wood frame I bought at my local craft store. I used the Free To Be Me super paper pad and started altering it. I mod podged the base of the frame with paper and then fussy cut some flowers to add.

My life is not complete until I use baker's twine on my projects, so I added this banner with twine in the corner.

And some glittery letters!! So I don't forget what year it is.

After printing the calendar on white cardstock and cutting it out, I alligator clipped all the months together and attached to the middle of the frame.

When I am finally able to get back to work, I plan on having this bright fun calendar on my desk at work. It might make the transition back to work a little bit easier.

This project was my first on the My Momenta blog. Don't forget to check their blog everyday, there are new posts by all the designers on a daily basis. Lots and lots of inspiration to be found over there!! And did you know you can design your own alphabet stickers at My Momenta? Check out the video HERE and you can email Momenta for a FREE pack of stickers to try it out yourself! Pretty cool stuff.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Moxie Fab Trigger Tuesday

I decided to play along with Trigger Tuesday at the Moxie Fab World blog this week. This challenge was posted a while ago, but I've been discovering all sorts of new blogs and challenges lately!! Here is the trigger photo...

I made some of these pom pom decorations for a daughter's 7th birthday party and think they are so fun!! They also immediately made me think of a Bo Bunny stamp set I have collecting dust. So I pulled out that stamp set and some acrylic paint. I've also been seeing all sorts of wonderful mixed media art pieces in blogland lately and it made me want to get out my acrylic paints. I used the paints with my stamp and came up with this card.

It's a little bit messy because of my stellar acrylic paint technique but I like it. I chose to pair the kraft and white with purple and blue, my two favorite colors. And maybe secretly because I have purple baker's twine I wanted to use. Or perhaps my love for baker's twine really is no secret?

The sentiment and little swirly-do stamp is from Papertrey Ink. I didn't quite know how it was going to stamp over the acrylic paint, but it did just fine!

 

I loved this trigger photo and hopefully will be playing along with more Moxie Fab challenges in the future. Thanks for stopping by today, Friends!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Since I was confined to crutches all of December and much of January, I haven't been baking. No holiday baking, no Christmas cookies, no homeade garlic rolls...nothing in the kitchen department. And boy, have I missed it. This past week I have been trying to get around more without the crutches and thought it would be a good time to try out some easy recipes in the kitchen. My husband came home with fresh blueberries from the market this week (huh?? fresh blueberries in January??) and I figured it was now or never to bake something tasty. Enter the Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast cake...

I made this for my kids as a special breakfast treat. It does taste amazingly like cake and won't become an everyday indulgence. But it was delicious and appreciated by my kiddos!

I ended up using frozen blueberries because my kids ate the fresh ones so fast I couldn't get my hands on them. And I didn't have buttermilk. So I made my own. You add 1 tbsp vinegar to a 1 cup measuring cup. Then add milk to reach 1 cup. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and use that as a substitute for the buttermilk. My kids have already requested this again for breakfast so I think it was a hit.

Here is where I found the recipe: Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake. 

Expect to see more baked goods in the future! I think my baking days are baaaack!!!