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Did you forget Stampin' Up has a designer series paper sale going on?  They don't do this sale very often, so I was excited that they brought this sale back again.  So take advantage of it.  There is paper in the Annual Catalog as well as the Holiday Catalog.  Once Christmas is over, we will have to come up with new projects to create and this is the perfect way to plan ahead.  They also make great Christmas presents.  

Only 2 weeks left!  Don't wait until the last minute to get your order in. 

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

Now, I'm not into hedgehogs generally, but isn't he just adorable?  I saw this on Pinterest and had to case him.  Can you tell what he was stamped from?  Painted Harvest stamp set!   Yes, he's the sunflower stamp.  Now who originally came up with this idea is so clever.  Never would I have thought to turn a sunflower into a hedgehog.  I made 2 of these and sent them to my girls in college.  Now I'm just waiting to see what their reaction is.  If anything, I'm sure they will love the little spending money I tucked inside for them.  

Now, it did take several tries to get the hedgehog looking right, especially with the color combo.  The hedgehog (or sunflower) consists of 2 stamps.  After experimenting, I had finally figured it out.  Sahara Sand was the larger stamp and Soft Suede was the smaller one.  Try the colors out before you actually stamp the final image.  It'll save you frustration later on.  Because I didn't want the whole entire sunflower, I placed a post-it note where I wanted him to lay.  For the face, I saw that you could use the face from Foxy Friends stamp set.  I don't have that set, so I just used my Soft Suede marker for the eyes and nose.  

                                                                                                

It's been a rainy week here in Wisconsin.  Here's to hoping we will see the sun tomorrow.  

Click on the card picture for dimensins and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

Ready for another recipe?  I just made this one about 3 weeks ago and of course I didn't take any pictures.  I've got to get better at that.  Anyway, it's Old-World Manicotti.  It's kind of putzy but worth it.  I make my own spaghetti sauce but the recipe actually calls for jarred.  My family gives me no mercy if I used jarred sauce.  They claim I've spoiled them for any other.  I'll share that at another time, but in the meantime, use a good jarred sauce, not a cheap one.  

Old-World Manicotti

12 large manicotti shells

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons dried basil, or 6 tablespoons fresh, chopped

1 jar spaghetti sauce, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese 

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  

Cook pasta according to package directioins.  Drain, rinse with cool water.  Let pasta dry on paper towels.

For filling, in large bowl, stir together 3 cups mozzarella with ricotta, and basil.  Using a teaspoon carefully stuff pasta shells with cheese mixture.  

Spoon 2 cups spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dish.  Arrange stuffed pasta over sauce.  Pour remaining sauce over top of pasta.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.

Bake manicotti for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan.  Bake for 10 minutes longer.  Serve immediately.

Optional:  I typically add 1 pound Italian sausage in with the cheese mixture, while decreasing the mozzarella cheese from 3 cups to 2 cups.  Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the top of the shells.  By adding the Italian sausage, it will make more than 12 manicotti shells.  

These are great if you have company and need to make them ahead of time.  Just heat in the oven for a longer time, until they are hot in the middle.  They also freeze well.  My girls brought them back to college with them.  All I did was wrap 1-2 in a piece of foil and place them in the freezer.  Now all they have to do is take out of the freezer in the morning and that night they have a home-cooked meal, made with love from their mom.  

Hope you try it.  They are worth the time.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

Happy Wednesday.  I can't believe that it's already Wednesday.  It's hard to believe but we have to start thinking Christmas cards.  Yay?  I look forward to Christmas itself, just the hoopla ahead makes me crazy.  Not to mention how crazy Christmas shoppers can be.  

I was playing around with this new bundle.  It's called Ready for Christmas.  Doesn't it look like a bundle of fun?  I have several ideas I can't wait to see how they actually look on paper.  My Christmas tree is just stamped in Old Olive, but look how alive it looks down below.  Same tree but doesn't it look completely different?  I think the dog is my favorite stamp of the whole set. Since I have a Sheltie, I wish it would have been an image of her.  Doesn't every dog owner wish that?  

I decided to keep my card simple.  Christmas tree and presents.  Every kids dream.  You can see the pearls on each of the present bows.  What you can't see on the picture is that I used Wink of Stella on the bow so they also shimmer.  Adds a lot of shimmer for just a swipe of a brush.  

  

On my card, the black background paper is retired.  I used it because I wanted to keep the colors at a minimum.  You can use any dsp  you have in your paper stash.  Just remember to change the colors of the bows to match. 

Here is the color combination I used for this card.

                                                                             

 Give me time.  I promise you will be seeing more of this stamp set.   Click on the picture for dimensions and instructions.

Until next time...Stampin' Always,

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Who doesn't love coffee?  That is, besides my daughter and husband.  Anyway, this could be a cup of hot chocolate, Chai tea, herbal tea.  Or how about hot apple cider?  All are sounding pretty good at this time of year.  Soon it will be out with the iced drinks and in with the hot drinks. 

The leaves are starting to turn here in Wisconsin.  We went to La Crosse to visit our daughter at college yesterday.  The further west we got, we did notice the leaves were much more colorful than at home.  We walked around the campus and then it rained.  It was a good time to duck into the campus bookstore.  We had lunch downtown and went down to the Mississippi River.  Except for the rain, it was a great day.  

We are making this card in club this Tuesday.  The large cut-out leaf is from the Copper Foil Sheets.  It's hard to photograph, but it's beautiful.  Underneath is some of the Copper Trim.  You can it wider by spreading it out with your fingers.  I did this and underestimated  how much I should have used.  I cut off about 5 inches, but should have done more like 7-8 to see more of the edges.  I like it because it adds another layer to the card.  The only pieces I used dimensionals on are the cup lid and the "Perk Up" mini cup.  For fun, I stamped the mini cups on the inside.  But thinking about it, either kind of leaf would be cute too.  

                                                               

Click on the card picture for the dimensins and instructions.  Hope you enjoyed my card.  Have a good week everyone!

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

And a Happy Thursday as well.  I'm excited that I'm done working for the week.  It was a very busy day at work and I couldn't wait for 4:00 to come.  I'm off for the weekend!  Yippee!  It'll be a busy weekend for me.  One daugher is coming home for the weekend to work.  My husband and I are going up to La Crosse to see our other daughter.  Sunday will be our "relax" day and I'll be spending quite a bit in my stamp room getting ready for club on Tuesday night.  As we all know, it never ends.  

Here is an oldie but goodie recipe.  Apple Crisp.  You know it's old when it calls for oleo.  Know what that is? Butter.   My grandmother used to say oleo when she was referring to butter or margarine.  I actually doubled this recipe and it fit nicely in a 9x13 pan.  My husband absolutely loved it and wouldn't argue if I made it again.  The top was nice and crispy, just the way he likes it. I really have to start taking pictures when I made some of these recipes.  My problem is that I remember too late and there is not enough photograph.  Another thing I change, is that I usually mix some cinnamon and nutmeg directly in with the apples, not just in the crumb top.  If you want to "cheat", you can always use Apple Pie Spice.  I know some stores carry it.  Besides, a little extra cinnamon will definately not hurt this recipe.

Apple Crisp

3 cups cooking apples, peeled and sliced

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup oats (I used Quick Oats)

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

5T butter or margarine (or Oleo as grandma used to say)

Heat oven to 375.  Grease small pan.  Places apple slices in pan.  Mix remaining ingredients thoroughly.  Sprinkle over apples.  Baket 25-30 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden brown.  

It's such an easy receipe.  That's just one reason to love it.  Besides, it tastes absolutely yummy.  

This is all I have for tonight.  I'll have more tomorrow.

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

Isn't this totally cute?  I saw these on  Pinterest and had to make them.  Just imagine them with a Halloween or even a Christmas design on.  I think they would be perfect for those people who sell items at craft fairs and those moms who need treats for their child's class.  They would make excellent stocking stuffers or just a fun little treat.  It's something that is super easy to recreate if you need to make multiple of them.  Do you see what's inside?  It's a Caramel Apple Sucker.  Yum.  I even gave them to my girls and their roommates.  Even in college, they still like a little treat.  

I used these as a demonstration for my monthly demo meeting and I had enough for everyone to make their own.  They really liked them.  My upline couldn't figure out how I stamped the leaf since it's just a plain stamp.   It's the baby wipe technique.  Take your ink refillers and add ink drops in multiple colors. Viola.  Your new ink pad.  Once in a while, you may have to do another wipe because it does get dry and fade out.  The longer it sits, the more the colors blend together.  Here I used Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie.  But any color would work.  Here is my baby wipe after I stamped off it several times.

     Here is the color combination I used with this project.  

  

Click on the picture of the treat for the dimension and instructions.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper

 

 

 

 

Happy Day!

Stampin' Up has another great special for us right now!  World Card Making Day is actually on October 7.  That is just one day, but we get the specials for ten days!  Isn't making cards one of the things us stampers do best?  Doesn't it make you smile when amongst the junk mail and bills, you get a homemade card?  It's like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day.  Stampin' Up has taken some of the best selling stamp sets and discounted them for us.  

Each stamp set that is on sale has a coordinating designer series paper on sale too!  For certain dsp packs, it's a BOGO!  Buy 3 get one free!  It's a great deal for the stamp set and the coordinating paper.  

Ever try the Fast Fuse?  That is on sale too.  Buy one get 2 refills free! Wowzers.  I'll confess.  I've never tried the Fast Fuse myself.  But with this deal, I may have to buy one or two.  

Oh,I almost forgot.  Also included in the sale are the Note Cards and Envelopes.  We can't make and send cards without them.  

Now, could Stampin' Up make it any easier for us?  Besides making the actual cards, I don't think so.  Like any order over $150, you also earn Stampin Rewards.  That another 10% of your order on any items of your choice.  

If you have any questions about any one of the sales, just contact me and I'll help you out.  

Until next time...Stampin' Always

Cheryl, HomeStyle Stamper