Happy Tofurkey Day!!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your tofurkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!!!

*Happy Thanksgiving Everyone*

Warm Greetings on a snowy day!

I woke up to snow today! I thought it was appropriate that I post one of my Whipper Snapper cards using the snowman image from 'Think Snow'. I am usually drawn toward round, chunky snowmen, but I love this slimmed down version. I punched 3 snowflakes and layered them with pop-dots for a 3-D effect. I did the same thing with the main image panels. This is the first time I've used my new argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder. I love the look!! It reminds me of a warm, cozy sweater.

I have more projects that I'll be posting in the next few days.

Stamps: Whipper Snapper - Think Snow
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, SU real red grosgrain ribbon, red brads, pop-dots, Copic markers
Paper: SU chocolate chip, real red, kraft

New Moon Day

The big day is finally here, I'm seeing the movie tonight.

I found these chocolate fangs in early September when the Halloween candy was just put out. I bought them and knew I wanted to make something fun for me and my Twilight friends (I'm nerdy like that!). I decided to make little treat bags with decorated toppers. I made a total of 19 bags. I really *despise* mass producing stuff, but these were fun!!

I used a cuttlebug for the black background, added a red strip of paper, a clear embossed moon, a punched out bat, 2 confetti hearts, a computer printed message and 2 brads to hold it together.

Not only do I get to see my good friend and go to a movie today, but we're eating at PF Changs for dinner which is my favorite restaurant!!!!! I already know what I'm ordering - vegetarian lettuce wraps. LOVE THEM!!!

Stamps: None

Accessories: Martha Stewart Bat Punch, SU word window punch, Cuttlebug folder - Textile, confetti hearts, circle punch, clear embossing powder, black brads, Halloween candy fangs, computer printed message (Papyrus), clear cellophane bags

Paper: SU real red, black, white

Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup

I love anything pumpkin. Not just during Fall, but all year long. I make a lot of pumpkin foods, but they are usually sweet - cookies, cake, breads. I've always been scared of pumpkin soup though - it always tastes like baby food to me. I decided to try this one since it had curry in it and I love curry. It was a winner!!!

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com (LOVE that site!!)

Coconut-Curry Pumpkin Soup

1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (15 ounce) can 100% pure pumpkin
1 cup light coconut milk

Directions
Heat the coconut oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the vegetable broth, curry powder, salt, coriander, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir until the mixture comes to a gentle boil, about 10 minutes. Cover, and boil 15 to 20 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Whisk in the pumpkin and coconut milk, and cook another 5 minutes.
Pour the soup into a blender, filling only half way and working in batches if necessary; process until smooth. Return to a pot, and reheat briefly over medium heat before serving.

*I tweaked this recipe a bit. I used olive oil since I don't have coconut oil and I only used about a tablespoon. I added another 1/2 tsp. of curry powder and omitted the salt. As written, this is a vegan soup. We topped the soup with pine nuts and crumbled blue cheese which really made this outstanding!! Served with whole wheat rosemary rolls, it was a yummy, Fall dinner :)

♥ Kitty love ♥

*Happy Hump Day!*

I love this picture of my kitty girls - they make me so happy.

Kiki is on the left, MuShu is on the right.

OPERATION DRINK TEA

I love tea. I cleaned out my tea drawer/cabinet recently. I knew I had a lot of different kinds of tea, but I didn't realize just how many I actually had. I was shocked!! They are all different except for the 2 Gingerbread Spice - I bought one box and didn't care for it and then bought another box the following year not remembering that I didn't like it. My husband and I are now on a mission to drink tea....lots of tea. I counted over 75 DIFFERENT kinds of tea - that doesn't include the multiple packets of each flavor!! I may have a tea fetish....or a hoarding problem.

I drink iced tea year round and I brew it with a blend of black and flavored tea bags to mix it up. It's been fun trying different combinations. The latest was Peppermint - it was really good!

I may need to get creative. Maybe make some tea bread, tea and crumpets, tea and cookies, high tea, hot tea, cold tea, sun tea, tea for 2. The word 'tea' is looking strange now.

Whipper Snapper Featured Designer!

I just about fell out of my chair when I was asked to be a featured designer for the November/December Whipper Snapper release! Anna Wight is my stamping idol (and she's really sweet in person too!) and I'm super excited to be designing samples with her new stamp sets. The new sets are Think Snow and Gardening Snowman. All the stamps are really cute, but I fell in love with the adorable penguin image. I used my new Martha Stewart icicle punch - it's really easy to use and I love the look. I layered the punched snowflake (also from MS) so it would stand out on my white background and I used my brand-new-from-the-package-I-just-got-at-the-store Labels 3 Nestabilities Dies. I think this is my favorite shape so far. Those things are addicting!!


I have more samples that I'll be posting so check back!! :)


Other featured designers for November/December:
Amy Rohl
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/rohla
Blog: http://inkaboutme.blogspot.com

Carla Murphy
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/cardsbycarla
Blog: http://cardsbycarla.blogspot.com

Gabriela Divine
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/gabydee
Blog: http://gabiwithaneye.blogspot.com

Randee Elsing
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/Randee_E
Blog: http://www.mystampingground.blogspot.com

Anna Wight
SCS Gallery: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/sweetmissdaisy
Blog: http://sweetmissdaisy.typepad.com

*I wasn't going to start a blog, but I thought this fun designer adventure would be a great way to start out! I can tell I'm going to enjoy sharing all of my pictures - I take A LOT of pictures and I know how to upload. Watch out!! LOL!*

♥ Jennifer


Stamps: Whipper Snapper Think Snow
Accessories: MS snowflake punch, MS icicle punch, Labels 3 Nestabilities, rhinestone brad, Copics, SU! dazzling diamonds glitter, clear glaze pen
Paper: SU! Chocolate Chip, SU! Ballet Blue, White, DCWV Winter Matstack