Merry Christmas!

Yes, I've finally updated. Sorry but things have been busy here with the holidays.
I finally sent out the Christmas/New Year's cards on Mon. I wanted to get a picture of the family but we had to wait until they all arrive home. Hope all is well with everyone and that your time of Christmas celebration was a special one with family and friends. Remember that Christ may have come as a baby but He grew up. Taking on all of our sins as He died on the cross. We have life in Him, through the blood he shed for us. Let us share that gift with one another.

Happy Day

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...it's been awhile since I've had the time to make an entry and this one will be brief. I hope to work on Christmas cards this week and of course watch the Packer/Cowboy game on Thurday night. We were able to put up most of our Christmas decorations in the house this past weekend. I have to do it when I have the time so the tree is up but no lights or ornaments yet. Those will wait until Anders and Victoria come as well as some baking. They will have the time and I won't. Here's a cute picture of them from when I visited in Aug. at Fiesta Texas.

Amazing Appetizers

If your looking for some yummy appetizers try these.

Baked Vidalia Onion Dip:
2 Med. size sweet onions, such as Vidalias
1pkg (8oz; 2 cups) pre-shredded Swiss cheese
2 cups mayonnaise, preferably Hellmann's
1/4 tea. cayenne pepper or paprika
Tortilla or corn chips, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Chop the oions; you should have about 2 cups
3. Place the chopped onions and the Swiss cheese and mayonnaise in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine well. Transfer the onion mix to a 2-quart glass or ceramic casserole or baking dish and sprinkle the top with the cayenne/or paprika. Bake until the dip is golden brown and bubbling throughout, 22-25 minutes.
4. Serve the dip warm, right fromt he casserole, with chips. Serves 12-16 (makes 6 cups)

Aromatic Mushroom Galette:

1pkg (8oz.) refrigerated crescent rolls
2 cups(8oz) pre-sliced mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, crushed in a garlic press
2TAB olive oil, or butter, melted
1/2 cup pre-grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tea. dried oregano
Salt

1.Preheat the oven to 375 F
2. Unwrap the crescent rolls and unroll the dough; you will have 8 triangles. Place an ungreased baking sheet or pizza stone on a work surface. Arrange the triangles of dough so that they form an 8-pointed star. The pointed tips should face away from the center of the star. Start by placing one triangle in the 12 o'clock position, one in the 6 o'clock position, one at the 3, and one at 9. Place the remaining 4 in the remaining empty spaces. The edges of the dough should overlap each other slightly, but there will be a hole in the center of the star. Using your fingertips, press down on the dough to seal the edges where they overlap. To fill the hole, press the base of each triangle toward the center until the hole is evenly covered with dough. Then, using your hand, press down on the dough so that it is flat, with no gaps.

3. Place the mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, and the parsley and oregano in a mixing bowl, and stir to combine. Season with salt to taste. Spoon the mushroom filling into the center of the dough, then pull the tips of the dough up, and fold them over the filling to create a bundle. There will be gaps between the triangles of dough on top of the filling. Press down slightly on the bundle. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over the top of the galette. (I just sprinkled some on top, because this is alot of cheese!)

4. Bake the galette until the crust is deeply browned and the mushroom filling bubbles, 22-25 min. Remove the galette from the oven, run a metal spatula underneath to loosen it, then slice and serve warm. Serves 6-8

Wow, it took me longer to type that last one then what it takes to make it!!!
Hope you try one of these and enjoy it.... They are from The Dinner Doctor Cookbook by Anne Byrn. Check-out the rest of her Cookbook...it's a great one!

This is a project my son and a friend did this spring. They entered the Stuck at prom contest. You make your prom cloths out of duck tape. They didn't win but they had a lot of fun doing it, with friends and family pitching in to help. Photo taken by Scott Kirwen.

How about them Packers!!

I really enjoyed watching the game today but never expected a shut out. Wow!! That was just so sweet to take in! Let's hope the rest of the season can go as smooth, although I'd like to have some nail bitters just to keep it interesting, all shut outs would be boring.
Can't believe how fast the weekends go.
Have a great week!

Card 2

Needed to make a Birthday card for work. Since I'm in a hurry, I scanned this abit crooked, Yikes!
Once again a semi-case off of Splitcoaststampers...gotta love that site.

Sets: Doodle This, Happy Everything
Paper: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, White
Ink: Basic Black and Real Red
Acc: Rhinestone brad, white gel pen, glue dot,blender pen

Cards for today

This looks so much better in real life. It's hard to tell that there is a saying at the bottom of the white piece and that it is done in greens.

Sets:Doodle This and wonderful words
Paper: Certainly Celery, Old Olive ,Almost Amethyst, white
Ink: Basic Black and Almost Amethyst, Old Olive marker
Acc: Crystal effects, dimenionals

This one needs something more...??

Sets:Holy Triplych, Baroque Motifs, Star Studded Season
Paper: Sahara Sand, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke
Ink: Versa Mark, Encore Gold, Basic Black
Acc: Watercolor crayons, blender pen

I think I need to do something more with this but not sure what...any suggestions? It's a partial case of a card off of Splitcoasterstampers...love that site. I tweeked colors and paper a bit.

Working on my Christmas designs

Sets: Doodle this, BG linen, Star-studded season
Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, Confetti Cream
Ink: Garden Green, Versa Mark
Acc: EP Gold, ice rhinestone brad, gold cord, dimensionals

Here is my first try at my Christmas cards, I have a few ideas in mind as I usually send about 60 out.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Paper: Purely Pomegranate; Wild Wasabi; very vanilla
Ink: Purely Pomegranate; Wild Wasabi
Accessories: 1/16" punch; Rich Regals brads; pop-up dots

This card was done for a male birthday.

Stamps: Wanted, Bronco Buster; Circle of Friendship

Paper: Blue Bayou; Creamy Caramel; Very Vanilla

Ink: Versa Mark; Brown

Accessories: 1/2" punch; 1"punch; silver brads;glue dots

Techniques: sponging

Yes, it's coming

I haven't had the time yet to download anything yet so I know it's kind of boaring but I hope to get to it this weekend and fix it up. So just hang in there. Have a great Friday.

Something new

Well I thought I'd try something new and start a blog...why you ask? I hope to get inspired and inspire others to get creative. Also to maybe link with others with the same intrests out there in the big wide web.