Wishing You a Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone is enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I pray that you are safe, healthy, and with the ones you love on this blessed day.  

I apologize for not posting much in this past week, but as a friend of ours says "Sometimes life gets in the way."

I'll leave you with these paintings by Norman Rockwell. Rejoice in what you have and pray for those who have not.

Sue

Gorgeous Candy

The Purple Pumpkin has some terrific and unique blog candy.  Go take a peek...
just click here.

Make sure you check out her other collections by paging down past the linked post. 
I've never seen such stunning creations.

Sue

Christmas Card #7

Another Santa... You know the saying, "Think Christmas, Think Snow, Think Santa, Ho! Ho! Ho!"

The base of the card is a standard A2 in green.  I used a pre-made blank card from DCWV.  Michaels had a box of 30 in Christmas colors with white envelopes.  The red card was just that red card stock.  It came from a collection of papers that Mary sent me as a gift.  The paper is shiny and heavy.  I used a Sizzix embossing folder from the Flower Vine & Twizzle Set then sanded off the red.  I inserted gold brads on some of the motifs.  Another paper from that collection is the white/red dot I used for the border.  The scalloped edge is punched on the EKS "scalloped scallop punch".  I glued a thin green ribbon across the top of the border.  The golden reindeer are from a ribbon I  purchased at Really Reasonable Ribbon (link on side bar).  They have beautiful ribbons.  The winter white roses are from Prima.  Santa came from a calendar (365 days of scrapbooking) I received for Christmas 3 or 4 years ago.  I adhered the image on green card stock, then trimmed it and mounted it to the card with foam tape. Everything is chalked with walnut brown.  Here are some closeups of the card:

Have a great day.

Sue

Holiday Cookbook Day 4

It's two for one day.  I'm taking a break from the sweet stuff and heading over to some appetizers.  When I make cheese spreads, I make these two at the same time.  They are similar in structure and require like ingredients.   

The first spread recipe came from a co-worker.  My son loves this spread so I make it for every holiday.  In fact, he's the one who made sure I got the recipe in the first place.  I've seen it on the web as Dried Beef Spread, but we just use the Buddig beef from the deli case of the grocery store.  
This is a simple but hearty spread, and usually a favorite with the guys.


The second spread is a creation I made because I like smoked salmon, but it is way too expensive for my budget.  This recipe turns out creamy and spreads well on crackers or cocktail bread.  You can use canned salmon but you need to skin and bone it (sorry but yuck!). I was really happy when Bumble Bee and Chicken of the Sea came out with the sealed bags already cleaned.  I use one large or two of these packages. This is my daughter-in-law's favorite so I make it for every holiday.  Notice a pattern here? :)

So, everyone start your mixers!  

The double page spread (no pun intended):

Page one:

Page two:

These are 6" by 6" cards with a 2" border at the top. I chalked the edges with light blue. The words "fish" and "beef" are cut from "From My Kitchen".  The cow is from Paper Doll Dress Up (pg 47), and the little boy fishing is from A Child's Year.  All were cut at 2".  Since the cow didn't have layers, I cut out 3 (1 pink, 1 white, and 1 brown) then pieced them to make the final cow.  Isn't he cute?  I love animals and cows are near the top of the list. I used  3 buttons on each page tied with dark brown jute.  The titles are printed on my computer.  I was looking for a button that said "go" so my card would read "eat beef" and "go fish", but I didn't find any.  So "cheese" is there until I find a "go".

Hope you like them.  If you have a chance, leave a comment.  It's so nice to hear from you.  I won't be posting tomorrow, but this weekend I'll post my Stuffing Sandwich Bread.  I can smell the sage now...

Sue

Winner Second Request for address.

The second prize winner....

Hey, Nicole Z. are you out there?  I need your addy to send your prize.  Please email me
at suescraftymess at gmail dot com.   Thanks    Sue


#101 is Nicole Z. Here's the comment:

Nicole please email (suescraftymess at gmail.com) so I can get your address to mail the mini album.

Christmas Card #6

Here's Christmas Card #6 - Good Ole St. Nick. 

Since I grew up in the 50's my early remembrance of St. Nick is the "Coca Cola Santa."  He was always bright, red, fat and jolly.  I started to like other Santa images when my mother began her collection of  Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus figures.  Now my favorites are the old European Santas with long hooded, coats and "grand fatherly" expression on their faces. 

A close up of the top of the card I cut the flowers from Walk in my Garden.

A close up of St. Nick

And the inside of the card

 The papers are from DCWV Christmas Stack (last years).  The card is a standard A2.

Holiday Cookbook Day 3

Welcome to day three of the Holiday Cookbook series.  Today is one of my favorites - Lemon Bread.  It's very easy to make.  If you like lemons, this will be your cup of tea.  In fact that's what I like.  A slice of lemon bread and a cup of hot tea - yummy.  When you slice this bread the fragrance pops like a breath of Spring.  I also like that it is a light treat.  So many of the recipes I make at the holidays are heavy and rich.  Lemon bread is a laid back sorta light and airy way to have a pick me up.  So here it is:

The double page spread:

The individual sheets:

I had some problems with the camera today so everything seems muted.  Sorry.  I started out with  6" by 6" squares of blue patterned paper.  I added a 1 3/4" strip of glitter paper to the opposite sides. These papers were in a stack I bought at Big Lots.  Before adhering the strips down, I attached a piece of heart lace.  The lemons and the words were cut from Preserves.  I used the blue paper for the shadow cut and a yellow card stock for the word.  The lemons were from a really bright yellow card stock.  I embossed it with the Swiss Dots folder (Cuttlebug) and dabbed ivory chalk over the top to tone the yellow down.  The green and blue flowers are Petaloo Color Me Crazy Jeweled Floretttes.  I used markers to color them.  Everything is inked with Tim Holtz Walnut. The buttons are from my stash.  The recipe is printed on DCWV paper from either Stack 6 or 7.  If you have any questions, please let me know.  Leave a comment if you have the time.
Thanks
Sue