Hippo Post!

Another Hippo post. I just love hippo's... while I was buying a hippo from Whimsy, I also knew about this hippo girl from WhipperSnappers. I had to get her too. I have a hippo Christmas ornament hanging in my craft room, that is of a ballerina hippo. Who thinks of these things? I am sure that my hubby is wishing no one did!!
Anyways, I mounted her tismorning and had to stamp her. Hope that you like her!
I am supposed to be working on a Christmas swap, and a Christmas in July Challenge... if you know me, you know, I really don't care for Christmas. Why can't we have Halloween in May? Now, that, is a fun holiday!!
So now you know some dirt on me. I'm not the Christmas type, I am the Halloweener type. My kids know this too, remember all of the baby kittens we had?
Well, two of the babies are black, and one is orange, one striped... Well, we have a black one named Spook... and a orange one named...Weenie. (short for Halloweenie..)
Well, if you know of any great hippo stamps... leave me a line letting me know!
Keersten

Pizzelle experience..

Maybe I should start with what a Pizzelle is... Well, it is a little Italian cookie. It means Lace Cookie. They are cooked on a Pizzelle iron. There are different kinds of irons, from ones you place on the stove, to the one I have here. They are all from 25-30 bucks... not bad.
You make up a batter, it has lots of eggs in it. You drop them on the iron and close and press, and when the light goes off, presto... cookies. They are very, very similar to ice cream cones. (the sugar ones..waffle cones? anyways, I love them!) The original recipe calls for Anise oil and seed, but... I HATE licorice flavor... so no anise for me! I made them once that way and the whole house smelled that way! I gagged for days.

Here is what the inside of the iron looks like. You can see that there is a pretty design. I have seen some irons that have removable plates. Pretty cool!

You batter is pretty loose, a little thicker than cake batter. I find that if I place my dollops up high on the iron, then they mash fully into the pattern.

This is what happens the first time..because you spray the first time on the iron so that they don't stick, then I never spray again. But, because of the spray, they do this weird fluffing thing.

Here is a pile of them made... after I ate about 8 of them... hee, hee... Anyways, I like them dark and crisp, but my kids like them like the bottom right hand side one... little fatter and lighter. It makes it kinda softer.

You can roll these when they come out of the iron. You can roll them into a log or cone. My SIL fills her's with sweet cream.

They are also really, really good with different flavors... one of our favorites is lemon poppy seed, and peppermint...

Recipe:

6 eggs, beat well

3 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 C sugar

1 C butter, melted

4 tsp bk powder

2 tsp of oil or extract

2 T vanilla

Beat eggs and sugar until smooth, then add in melted butter, vanilla and extract. Sift flour and baking powder into the mixture and mix well. Dough is very sticky and thicker than cake batter.

Enjoy and have fun!

Keersten

Hippo Post!

You have to have a Hippo in your life! This one got from Whimsy. I had to. My friend Joani, well, she says she enabled me. She knows I love hippos, and she saw this one while blog hoppin... and well, I had to have him.
He shipped super fast, especially since he came from clear across the states to me! I am very happy to add him to the herd. I used my favorite color combo... green and purple... I used a flower/vine stamp from SU on the bottom of the card. I sponged colors in to fill it in. I wanted to put him in a big puddle. (but I haven't figured out how to make it look like I want...) And, of course, I had to stamp Happy.
My boys got me a Hippo for Christmas... his name is Happy. So, I made this card for them! (don't worry, he is stuffed...he sits on my pillow...)

Happy Hippo Day!
Keersten

Color Challenge

Ok, I entered my first challenge today. It was a challenge from StampinUpLNStampers and the challenge was Pink and Black combo. Now you know that I am pink challenged. But these two cards are what I came up with.

The top card has a hole punched out of it, and then the top light pink layer is punched with the scalloped circle punch. The ribbon ties around it. I layered the inside with white, so that you could write in the card. The light pink (Pretty in Pink) I also put through my machine and used the StampinUp! embossing plates. This one is the swirls. I don't know if you can see it ok...

The second card is made from Rose Red and Regal Rose with a little Pretty in Pink and of course, black. I used the Petal Pizzaz and BoHo backgrounds. Its much prettier in person.

Anyways.. enjoy!

Keersten

Birthdays and more

Couple of days since my last post. Sorry!! But, I have been busy, check it out! First, my girlfriend from high school, came home to visit, she brought her 4 girls. The 12 year old, Caitlyn, was having a birthday wednesday.. so, I made her a notebook, I took the covers off and made some out of chipboard. Then I covered them in DP...and since, bad adoptive aunt that I am, I didn't know her favorite color...so I used pink, yellow and green.. I cut her initials using Quickutz, Abigail... then the cupcake is from TAC and I punched circles to match the DP. I made two different kinds of clips to put in the book and a pen, I decorated them with the punched circles too, but didn't take a picture of it.

Then, what is a birthday without cake?? So, I found these scrumptious little cake balls from Bakerella that are just wonderful!! You make them with a Red Velvet Cake mix and a can of cream cheese frosting... plus I used vanilla bark to coat them in! Very easy, and very very good!

Here is one of those little bites broken open! I say little, but you really don't want to eat more than one! They are about the size of a golf ball! I got 45 balls from my one cake mix. They are super easy to make. AND... everyone loved them!!!

To make: One red velvet cake... from box mix. Make according to directions. Take cake after it is baked and cooled, and crumble it in a big popcorn bowl.. or your biggest bowl! After you crumble it up, then take a Can of Cream Cheese Frosting, and dump in the bowl and start mixing. It is really goopy and messy, and fun. Once it is all mixed up, then take cake in hand and roll into balls. I used my cookie scoop so that my balls would all be the same size, but you have to roll them by hand to get them smooth...

Pop those little buggers in the freezer, and when they are good and cold and don't fall apart, you melt your chocolate, or bark. I used Vanilla Bark, and I used the whole package. I melted it in three different batches in case it hardened or seized on me. It worked great. I put toothpicks in them to help with holding them, I hate fingerprints in my dipped stuff. I saw on Bakerella where she put hers on skewers... nice idea.

Anyways, that's it! Red Velvet Cake, Frosting and Vanilla Bark!

This skirt, I also took to them. It was for Emily... she loves pink. She loved her skirt too!

And this one, I made for MacKenzie, she loved it too, but I think the Birthday sister, Caitlyn, loved it best, as she is the one who managed to get it on first!

For the oldest sister, (Kelsea) I made her a set of marbles with the YW values on them. I made her a set earlier, but put magnets on them and she didn't have a magnet board... So, I remade them and put push pins on the backs so she can use them on her cork board. I also sat down for a couple of hours with her and helped her sew a couple of dresses for her youngest sister...

So, sorry for no posts lately, but I was busy!! Hope you enjoyed what I made!!

Keerst

Good Morning!!

Good Morning!! I had to share a couple of cards I made last night. The first one is one that I cased from the SU files... Mine of course, is different..but I wanted to use my new circle set, plus my punch. I used an marvy punch for soooo long. I used to have to stand on it to punch my circles out. Well, I broke down the other day and searched and searched for an 1 1/4 inch punch. You have no idea how hard they are to find!!

But, I did find one! Now no more standing on the punch to get it to punch through paper!!

Then, my friend called me. She bought some pigs for her kids to do a 4H project with. They got cows, a lamb and a goat too.... Anyways, a very, very kind neighbor came over and said, I've got some tailings from my hopper... would you like them for pig feed? Of course they would! So, they got 10! Yep 10! Bags of feed for free for the pigs. So she asked me to write him a Thank You Note. So this is the little oinker I came up with!

Hope you are having a great day!

Keersten

Cased Punch...Sweet Pea

I was blog hopping the other day... I came across this blog by Andrea Walford and she has the cutest punched things ever!! This one was my favorite. She did a sweet pea! So, I totally cased her punchie... I had to make me a sweet pea!
It uses the large oval punch, punch two green
3/4 circle punch, punch 2 green, 1 flesh tone
And that's it! You sponge around the punches for color and depth, then the large oval, you cut the sides of it off and use them for the pea sides.
I stamped behind mine using the Priceless stamp set from SU!, and then I punched some little flowers out using the center of the flowers from the A Beautiful Thing stamp set...
Then I punched out all the letters using my Abigail quickutz...
You highlight with your white gel pen, and of course, the eyes are marker...
Its mounted on a white card, then purple DP...not sure where I got this, but I have a whole ream of it... (one sheet is good, 50 better??)
Hope you like my version!

Keersten

Trading Cards..

These two owls trading cards use stamps I got from my friend Joani from her "The Angel Company". I really liked the little owls! I stamped in versa mark and pastel chalked them.Sorry the scanner cuts off things funny.
These I colored with my gamasol and prisma color pencils. I did it when my kids went fishing and we were at "fishy land"

Anyways, quick post...hope you like them!

Keersten

Inchie Swap...twist

My card using 3 of Norma's inchies...
I signed up on one of my Yuku Groups for an inchie swap. The twist was, you had to send 6 to a friend, and then take 3 of them, make a card from them and send the card you made, back to the sender of the inchies.
Well, Norma sent me these inchies today, and I got busy making a card for them. My card is on the top of the post!
It was really fun making a card using things from someone I know!!
Thanks Norma!!

Keersten

Another "in color" cased...

I told you I had another idea from Kelly's blog... with this window punched in the card. Kelly took it one step further and put a clear acetate sheet, behind the punch out. Then she cut the end of a jeweled brad off and glued it to the acetate. I was too cheap to buy SU's jeweled brads... so I used some of the $ rhinestones I got at the local scrap store!! The rhinestone is pale yellow.

This is what it looks like when you open the card... I thought it was cool. I used the new crushed curry and melon mambo! I also used regal rose and banana. I used the new Circle Circus stamp set too.

Hope you like it! If you do, leave a message!!!

Keersten

New "in colors"

Everyone is talking about the new "in colors" from SU. Well, to tell you the truth, I have never liked all of the "in colors" (I know, plug your ears!) I always buy one or two that I like...like wasabi...tangerine... but these new colors came out. I actually like almost all of them! I am not a blue person...so, I didn't get the blue. Not crying. I did get the other 5. There is a really soft brown, and I had to use it (I know! me and brown!) But, I got this darling little bird stamp too, and as you can see, she works pretty well with the brown! (least I think!) I branched out again and got the top note. Not quite a big fan of it yet...but working on it! So, this little girl here, she uses the soft suede, dusty durango... only orange and apricot blossom. The stamp set is called Wings of Friendship.

So, while I'm using the little bird... I try another card, and more "in colors" I love this crushed curry business! But then, I love yellow...hmmm.... I had... note the HAD to get the Medallion stamp. Love It! I just did plain ole markers on the rubber...I used crushed curry, dusty durango, soft suede and old olive. I used the scallop punch and a little hole punch too... I popped the birdie up on the card...

And...the Dusty Durango was still calling me...plus I got these cool papers at the scrap show the other day...who would think that plaid and flowers worked? I used the True Friend stamp set, the scallop round punch and my markers again on the center medallion. The medallion is on the inside of the card....(old olive, summer sun, bravo burgundy, elegant eggplant, pumpkin pie)

This last card, I cased the sketch from Kelly so thanks for the idea girl! I have an idea to make one more like her card...but if I make it, I'll show you later!!

Keersten

Notes and Lopes

I hope your wondering what this is!!! This is the cutest little gift I have seen in a while! (while being a relative term in ink land) This little package is made from one 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper and the notes and lopes inside are made from half sheets of 4 different colored designer papers...

Undo the bow, and it folds out to 4 different pockets, on two different sides, making 8 pockets in all. I put 2 notes/lopes in each pocket making 16 note/lopes.

Here is a few of the note/lopes. I went to the local craft store and they had bunches of rhinestones for a buck...so...I had to use them of course! I stamped sentiments on the outsides and some images. Then I punched some little flowers and used the rhinestones to decorate.

Here is one up close. Sorry it looks a little blurry...I guess that is what happens when "I" re size things!

To make this cute little thing. You take your 8 1/2 by 11 paper, and fold it in half (hot dog wise), then you take each side and fold it in again so your paper is a W....unfold the last fold, and fold it under. So you have a really long paper, and the two ends are about an inch, with the designer paper out.

Then you fold the whole thing in half, (hamburger wise) and fold the two ends backwards, making another W. You can see in the second picture.... Now you have your 8 pockets.

The little note/lopes are made with 2 1/2 inch by 4 1/4 inch paper... you just fold them triple and cut the one end to a point, making an envelope. You can see the lope on the last pic...and the front of one there too. So each one is a mini note and lope.

Hope I made sense! If not, let me know and I will take pic's and walk you through it on here!

Keersten

Our Family Vacation!

This was the Yahoo! of the whole trip! Now, maybe you know and maybe you don't, but Mr. Hunter here, in his short life of 9 years, has visited the emergency room 14 times.... SO, that being said... He was off fishing on his own in the campground. The campground consists of an upper level, where we were, and a lower level. A bridge separates the two sides, and, a river runs all through the campground. (its shallow, don't have a heart attack!) The campground hosts were having fun and were driving their golf cart all around. Pretty soon, we could hear the golf carts horn, they were laying on it and coming to the upper level. My friend and I look at each other and start counting kids! We were Uh Oh! Which one?? Well, I could see Hunter's purple shirt on the side of the cart. They started across the bridge and the hosts held out their hands with a thumb's up sign. Which my girlfriend and I looked at each other and said, does that mean its not that bad?? Well, they pulled up beside us and jumped out and here jumps Hunter. He has this big ole fish on his pole which is bent in half! The campground hosts were talking so fast! Apparently, no one has ever caught one that big in this area... remember, its very shallow.., so they were driving Hunter from site to site, showing off his big ole fish!
He was very very proud of his catch!

After a long day fishing and tubing, this is what they do...

Here are some of us getting into the tubes to go floating. It is a favorite thing to do here, and we start right after breakfast, we take a break for lunch around 2, then head out at 2:30, to keep tubin til around 7 or 8 at night. The kids take breaks and fish and then catch the ride to tube again. In this pic, is my girlfriends hubby Troy (striped shirt) and his uncle Tracy, in white, and Maddie is in yellow, Abbie is in pink (she has a broken arm too!) and Tate is the little guy.

They are headin out to float. It takes about 30 or so minutes to float the length of the campground and down to the corner where we moms can pull the trailer around. They climb up the hill and ride the trailer back to the upper part of the campground to put the tubes in and go again!

Hunter out by his self, ahead of the pack. The wind started blowing. It took about 45 minutes to make a trip, sometimes they would just sit there, it was really funny.

Jade, Hunter and Kobe heading upstream to put in. There is a deep spot here, about 4 feet deep in some places, but there is lots of rocks here too, and it makes the water froth white, so the kids call it the rapids. They put in about 20 feet above the "rapids", so that is where these guys are headed. Aunt Terri got really cool tubes, that have hard bottoms, so that they don't have to get their tush's wet...or scraped...:0)

In some places, the river is about an inch deep... they can always stand up in no matter where they are, and it is not swift, so there is no worry about them falling in and not being able to stand up.

My kids love camping here. They call it "fishy land", as they can always catch a fish here. Surprising, but really fun for them!

So, that's where I was all week!!

Keerst

Missing...

Hi. Short note to let you know that I will be out for the week.
Sorry,
Will catch you up when I get back.
Thanks
Keerst

Friends Card & Swap Card

I hosted a Black and White swap. This is one of the cards I received. My friend Shirley made this one. I haven't gotten the rest yet, but had to show this one to you. I really like Black & White cards. She said her punch on the bottom, the squares...is a punch from Creative Memories...Cool. I know the verse is from SU, and she has the same size inside, that says, Best Wishes.

This card is from my friend Joani,

Her mom makes the little crocheted flowers! I love them. If you want some, please visit her site and she can hook you up with some! Her mom makes several different colors and they are just adorable. I love how she accented this card with them! She always makes cool cards!

Sorry my share isn't something I made, but I thought you would enjoy them!

Keersten

Mini Purses!

Mini Purses! I had such fun with the larger ones (6X6) that when I went to Michael's and they had these little envies in the dollar bin, I grabbed 12 different colors. (there were 12 envies and 12 note cards in each pack) They are 3" X 3". These are a orange and a more mustard color...

This is inside of my orange one. I had to use some circles. They were calling! :o) They have the pullouts too, for photo's inside the envies.

Closer look at the circles...

Inside of the more mustard one.

The centers pull out of these too, for photos. These have larger pull tags on them.

I used the Delight in Life verse from SU on this one... Its hard to see in my professional photo!

My envie find came in Green Galore, Positively Pink, Real Rust, Creamy Carmel, Choc Chip, Close to Cocoa, Lavender Lace...12 different colors! I am excited to go and make more!

Hope you enjoyed these two!