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It was a great wayt to start my "weekend".  My daughter wanted to go run some errands before she left for Germany for the semester.  Got a few things done for her.  Tomorrow, my other daughter comes home from college!!  Yay!  This means the cat can cuddle with her, not me.  I just wish Clyde, the cat, would sleep with her at night.  It will be great to have everyone together for one last time.  

I found a recipe that I haven't made in quite a while.  Herbed Green Beans.  I don't know exactly where the recipe came from, but it's just a fresh take on an plain, old vegetable.  They are a favorite of my husband and daughter.  My other daughter, on the other hand, absolutely hates green beans.  

Herbed Green Beans

1 lb. green beans

2 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup Parsley

1 1/2 Tablespoon fresh Basil (1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 1/2 Tablespoon fresh Oregano (1/2 teaspoon dried)

1/8 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Place beans in one inch of water, heat to boiling, reduce, boil uncovered 5 minutes.  Cover and boil 5-10 minutes until tender.  Drain.

Heat oil in skillet until hot.  Add remaining ingredients until garlic is golden.  Add the cooked beans. Cook 1-2 minutes until hot.

What's nice about this recipe, is that it can be done ahead of time if needed.  Cook the herbs ahead and set aside.  Just add them when you cook the green beans and make sure they are heated through.  I've done it before and it's just fine.  Or, cook all ahead of time and just microwave them right before serving.  I'm all about keeping things simple.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Yay!  Today was my Friday at work!!!  I don't work until Monday...I'm so happy.  Who wouldn't be right?  It was kind of a crazy day at work, so I was glad to leave today.  

When trying to design this card, I was looking at my card stock and Marina Mist came jumping out at me .  It was saying...You haven't played with me in a while!  So I dusted it off and went to designing.

I used the Aqua Painter with the Marina Mist to color the sky.  Leaving it blank made the card look unfinished.  The scene just needed a little bit of color, but not a lot.  If you would want more, just color more with the ink.  

The rest of the card was pretty simple. Usually, I start in the middle and work my way around that.  Helps to keeps things centered by doing it that way.  

Have you used the Shimmer Paper?  It's really cool.  Think of the Wink of Stella all on a piece of card stock.  It just has a great shimmer that is subtle, but adds so much at the same time.  It's a little bit thicker than the normal Whisper White so it's a great choice when doing just a little bit of watercoloring.  I recommend using adhesive little stronger than normal Snail.  My preference is Tear and Tape because the paper does warp just a little from the water.

Here is the color combo I ended up using on the card.  I kind of like it.

                                                

Click on the above picture for the dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

 

 

Here is a Valeitine's card I received from a fellow demo who is in New Jersey!  I've never met her, but I've seen in Facebook some of her work.  It's really exciting to receive mail from someone you don't even know.  The only requirement for the card exchange was that it had to be made with all current Stampin' Up products. 

Doing little things like this makes being a demo more exciting.  This card exchange was started by my upline.  For many of these exchanges or swaps, it's completely optional.  If you have time to make a card front, then you can sign up.  If things are crazy at home or your  not crazy about the theme, then you can just pass.  I do these swaps sometimes and come out with some pretty cool ideas myself.  Another great thing is that you don't have be local to me to participate in things like this!  

Just a few perks of being a demo.  The discount also helps.

This is the best time to join Stampin' Up.  Look at all the benefits from joining now.  The combination of product can be from the Annual or Occasions catalog.  Nothing from these two catalogs are excluded.  Since I had been involved in Stampin' Up Clubs, I already had a stash of items purchased.  Some of the things I chose for my starter kit were the Stampin' Scrub, adhesives, more stamping blocks, cardstock and inkpads.  Looking back it was kind of a weird mixture of items.  And...grid paper.  It's been a savior at club. I was able to check some items that had been on my long-term wish list.  

Come join me on my journey.  It's been an exciting time and looking forward to it continuing.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

Now isn't this just an adorable little Easter Basket?  I had to come up with a demonstration at a meeting, and I found this idea.  Immediately, I fell in love with this.  Everyone just loved it, especially since I had paper already cut and ready for them to make themselves. Something this cute, I couldn't just demo it, and they were thrilled that I had prepared one for everyone to make their own.  It holds about 3-4 chocolate Easter eggs, or even one Cadbury Creme Egg.  Wouldn't they look super cute on the Easter table?  

The pieces of paper are:

4 - 5 1/2 x 3/4

1 - 5 1/2 x 1/2

1 - 7 1/4 x 1/2

I added the ribbon for a nice detail.  It's the ribbon in the SAB catalog, the Shimmer Ribbon Pack.  Instead of just tying it around the handle, I wove it inbetween the basket slats.  Really easy and add a ton of color.  

Here are the two samples I made.  The left one I did at my demo meeting.  I used the Hardwood stamp on the dsp.  The cardstock was retired Tip Top Taupe and it just seemed a little bland.  It was perfect for what I needed.  The right one is what we did in my stamp club.  The base of the basket was embossed and then sponged using Sahara Sand cardstock.  The embossing really dressed the basket up.  Think how cute this would be in other colors too.

The only part of this that is not Stampin' Up are the brads.  They hold the handle to the basket.  Stampin' Up doesn't carry them anymore, but they can be purchased at any craft store.

I was very lucky to take a picture of the embossed basket when I did.  I came home from work on Saturday to find it shredded on the floor.  The dog really did eat my homework.  Fortunately, she didn't get the chocolate eggs, but the smell of them must have been in the basket.  Darn dog.  

The directions are in my gallery.  Just click on either picture and it will take you to them.  I also put this in the instructions, but if you don't see the step by step pictures click on  "Show Instruction Images" in the blue box on top of the page.  Once everything is cut and ready to go, the assembly of the basket is super easy and will just take you a few minutes to put together. 

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

       

      

Yesterday was Saturday and I had to work.  Bummer.  But...after work we went and saw BLACK  PANTHER.  It was a great movie.  We all really liked it.  Yes, we got reserved seating at a local theater so we didn't have to stand in line for hours to get a good seat.  Totally worth the money.  

These were the cards I gave my club members this month.  They are very simple, but totally adorable.  I had no idea if anyone had a favorite fruit, so I randomly put them in with their orders.  I hope they didn't get a fruit that they don't like.  Usually the is a watermelon.  Thinking outside of the box, I decided on an orange instead.  I think it's kind of cute.  

I saw an idea on Pinterest about this card.  But it just had the fruit, bowl, and saying.  It needed a little something extra.  So I added the ribbon on each and also the fruit piece in the upper right corner.  Originally, I had thought about pearls, but I had extra fruit ready, so why not use those.  

Do you have a favorite?  I'm thinking strawberries.  With the pineapples a close second.  

The basket is stamped in Early Espresso and colored with a Crumb Cake marker.  I chose to use regular marker, not a Stampin' Blend because the Blends have a tendency to bleed through the cardstock.  I didn't want to see that on the inside of the card.  An alternative if you want to use the Stampin' Blends is to stamp and color on a scrap piece and cut it out.  It's another step, but the fussy cutting wouldn't be too bad.  

I'm not listing all the colors that were used.  Instead, click on the individual picture, and it will take you directly to my gallery for that particular picture.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

Today there are more SAB items you can earn for free!

Stampin' Up has done it again.  Adding more items to the SAB sale.  How exciting is this!  My club people were pretty excited.  Almost all of them ordered the Eclectic Expressions.  With the Happy Birthday and Thank You in the set, they will get a lot of use.  Who can't use a new and updated version of those?

                                            

This new embossing folder really caught my eye.  A basket weave.  Totally cool.  Of course, the stamp set is really nice too.  This bundle you can earn FREE with any $100 order.  SWEET!  

And we can't forget about this new DSP pack . A new Foils Speciality Pack.  There are three different foils in it - Rose Gold Foil, Silver Foil, and Gold Foil.  These will make some very elegant cards.  Which foil is your favorite?  I'm almost leaning towards Rose Gold.   

Take advantage of these deals!  There's no limit to how many free items you can get.  They can be earned now through March 31, 2018.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

Anybody ready for some pizza?  In this household, we are always ready. 

This recipe is actually for the crust to be made in a bread maker.  I got one from my Grandma for our wedding 23 years ago and it's still going strong.  But then again, for the past 10 years (at least) the only time it is used is for thie recipe.  

The crust is perfect Every. Single. Time.  

I usually make two batches of the dough.  Split one in half and it makes a decent cookie sheet size pizza.  We each get our own sheet and we always have plenty of leftovers for several lunches, or breakfasts.  My girls love it for breakfast.  If I need it for a leftover dinner, I usually have to warn them and I have to hear them groan.

There is one suggestion for this recipe.  When baking two pizzas at the same time, half way through the bake time, switch the pizzas on the racks.  This way they get even bake time.  We have found that if you don't, the bottom pizza crust gets very crunchy.  Trust me.  It does make a BIG difference.

See what I mean? This is just one of the four we made last weekend.  I had 3 meals out of just this pizza and it was delicious.  Now, here's the recipe.

Favorite Pizza

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoon warm water

2 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

3 cups bread flour (I just use all-purpose flour)

2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, if desired

1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, if desired

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoon bread machine yeast (one packet)

Pizza Toppings

Carefully measure and place all the ingredients, except the toppings, in the bread machine.  Do this in the order recommended by the manufacturer.

Select the Dough/Manual cycle.

Heat oven to 400 F

Grease 2 cookie sheets.  Divide dough in half.  Pat each half into cookie sheet with floured fingers.  Add pizza toppings to taste.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until crust is brown.  (Don't forget to switch the pizzas half way through!)

If you don't have a bread machine, I'm sure you can make this recipe, but I'm not sure how to do that.  Google it.  Even though the recipe says that Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings are optional, I highly recoommend them.  It adds another layer of flavor to the pizza.  

I found this recipe from a Betty Crocker cookbook for bread machines long time ago.  It's sad when the book opens right to the page.  In the summer, we do grilled pizzas on the outside grill.  When it's warmer, I'll share that recipe with you.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

I hope every one is having a great Valentine's Day!  We normally don't do much for this holiday, which is our choice.  Also doesn't help that it always happens that my husband end up travelling this week for work.  Currently he is in Orlando, FL.  I know he doesn't get much free time to enjoy anything, but there's no snow and it's warm down there.  Two things we can't say here in Wisconsin.  

This was a challenge for me.  I had to make a Valentine's Day card, but don't have anything current from Stampin' Up for this holiday.  Improvise was the key.  The hearts were from Mini Treat Bag Thinlits and the stamp wasthe Timeless Treasures set.  Not to bad, right?  

The first heart I used the watercolor pencils on.  The colors were Melon Mambo, Real Red and Rich Razzleberry.  Color on a piece of Whisper White, making sure you colored enough for the heart size.  Then blend with the Blender pens.  Who needs DSP?   Create your own paper!

I should have taken a picture from the size.  To adhere the hearts, I tried something different.  A glue dot was used on the bottom point.  On the top two sides, a mini dimensional.  This was on each heart.  It just gave it a different dimension.  

                                          

This was a fun card to create.  This just goes to show that you can make a Valentine's card that is not specific for this day.  I hope this inspired you to think outside of the box and see what you can do!

Click on the picture for the dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper