What I Cooked | February 2015

Still going strong with cooking a new dish every week and learning new skills.  These are the dishes I cooked in February.  You can follow along every dish I’ve cooked in 2015 on my “Stuff I Cooked” Pinterest board. 

Cooking Light | Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Made this on 2/4/2015. It took me a long time just because I chopped a lot. I'm slow. I think next time I could do this in under an hour. Very tasty. Both of us loved it.

Cooking Light | Sausage and Black-Eyed Pea Hash

Made on 2/10/2015. Used raw beans soaked overnight. Normal cooking time of the dish did not cook the beans well enough. Need to cook beans separately if using raw beans. Dish has good flavors though. The fried egg on top makes it good.

Gimme Some Oven | 7-Ingredient Easy Zuppa Toscana

Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden is one of my favorite soups, so I decided to give this a try. This dish is also called Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Kale and Sausage.  Made this on 2/18/2015. I used slightly less cream than called for. I also replaced the kale with spinach because I can't chew kale with braces. It still turned out quite yummy. I didn't find the need to add any additional salt at all. 

Cooking Light | Shrimp and Shiitake Rice Bowl

This was probably my favorite dish I made in February, and it was pretty easy.  Made on 2/25/2015.  The cooking time was very fast, but the chopping and prep beforehand took some time.  You could do it in half an hour if you used chopped up veggies from a bag already. Great flavors. I would definitely make this again.

I’m gaining so much more confidence in my cooking skills.  This has been a great transformative experience for me so far.

Paper Issues | Saturday Mornings

I was on the Paper Issues blog on Wednesday with a 8.5x11 layout about my favorite Saturday morning ritual as of late. After I make my breakfast and my coffee, I love to turn on the Food Network and watch the Saturday morning cooking shows! I’ve been cooking dinners more lately (my husband Todd is the usual chef at our house) and I’d like to think that I’m learning some cooking skills through the magic of watching other people cook, ha ha.  Well, that and I love food, so I love to see the end result.

My layout is 8.5x11 but I cropped it to 12x12.  The white on the sides are the foam boards that I use to photograph my layouts.  I used mostly papers and embellishments from Crate Paper’s Notes & Things, which I still love and use all the time!  I love the Ephemera Die Cuts and Mixed Tags for layering on my page.

Since I used a woodgrain paper, I thought I would use some wood veneer stars to match the natural feeling of the page.  I added a splatter of ink on the side to carry the wood color onto the white part of my page.

For the bottom of my page I layered a few strips of paper, a wood veneer, a gold star, and a white doily piece to create a crevice for other papers and tags.

What weekend morning rituals do you have?  I love the easy laid back feel of Saturday mornings to just slow down and savor!

You can use my code LISTGIRL in the Paper Issues store for 20% off your entire purchase!  Treat yourself to some new scrap goodies for your weekend me-time.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by!  ♥

Evalicious | XO

Good morning! I’m on the Evalicious blog today with a 12x12 layout about a lunch date. 

One of my favorite ways to jazz up a white background is to use spray ink with a stencil.  It makes the white background not quite so bare and adds lots of interest.  I used a Heidi Swapp stencil on white cardstock for this one.  My layouts usually feature a centered composition, so I thought I would switch it up this time with a bottom composition.

I love how Evalicious products add just the right touch.  I layered some papers behind my photo, then I added some gold thread, Evalicious puffy stickers, round tag, snip snip tab, and round arrow paper clip.

For my title I cut out the “XO” freehand with scissors and stitched them onto my background paper.  I added a wood veneer and puffy sticker to the middle of each letter.

Finally I adhered some more puffy stickers and sequins for the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by!  ♥

Evalicious Supplies:

adventurer clear stamp set	photo shoot puffy stickers v2	photo shoot snipsnip page tabs
field notes wood veneer	round arrow shape clips	photo shoot round tags

Make A Card | Todd’s Valentine Card

This might just be the cutest card I’ve made so far!  This was my Valentine’s card for Todd.  I didn’t have any Copic markers yet, so I used my BIC markers and it turned out perfectly fine. 

A few of my friends on Instagram saw this and said, “Is that Noodle slurping noodles??”  Ha ha.  Noodle and his little orange cat friend!

Size: 4.25” x 5.5” vertical

Techniques:  stamping, manual die-cutting, coloring

Project Supplies:

• Papertrey Ink – Stamper's Select White cardstock
• Mama Elephant - Purrfect Pair stamp set
• Mama Elephant - Purrfect Pair Creative Cuts
• Simon Says Stamp - Paper Hugs stamp set
• Papertrey Ink - Shaker Shapes Circle Die
• Papertrey Ink - Pure Poppy cardstock
• Lawn Fawn - Circle Stackables Dies
• Studio Tekturek - Sweet Memories #01 pattern paper
• BIC - Mark-It Ultra Fine Permanent Marker
• Memento ink – Tuxedo Black ink pad

Tools:

• Fiskars Procision Trimmer
• Martha Stewart – Scoring Board
• Scotch - Advanced Tape Glider
• Fiskars Stamp Block Set
• Papertrey Ink - Double-Sided Foam Adhesive Sheets
• Tombow - Mono Multi adhesive
• Sizzix - Big Shot

Paper Issues | Good Morning

The newest linky party went live on the Paper Issues blog today!  This issue is called “Hip To Be Square” and is sponsored by A Flair For Buttons. 

As you can see, I used a lot of square pieces of paper and photos on this page.  I used my Marvy 2.5” square punch to punch out a bunch of squares of patterned papers from Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Open Book collection.  I also punched some squares from the 6x6 paper pad.  The three flair buttons are from A Flair For Buttons and their design and color fit perfectly with my page!

I used a bunch of vellum shapes and accent stickers from Maggie Holmes Open Book to layer on my page.

The three photos I used of the latte, the homemade banana waffle, and the homemade egg frittata muffins are all different breakfasts I’ve had this year.  Mornings are my favorite, and breakfast is my favorite!

Be sure to link to this Hip To Be Square link party at Paper Issues for a chance to win a prize!  You can use coupon code IHAVEISSUES15 in the A Flair For Buttons store for 10% off any order through the end of February. 

And as always, you can use my code LISTGIRL in the Paper Issues store to save 20% off your entire purchase!

Make A Card | 60th Birthday Banner

I made this card for one of my coworkers who turned sixty this week.  I’ve worked with him since 2003, so I consider him a friend as well.  I thought I would try to diecut the “60” into the circle while leaving the bottom intact.  It didn’t turn out perfect but it was pretty good.  After I diecut the circle and the 60, I diecut the same numbers from adhesive glitter foam sheets and adhered them.

Size: 4.25” x 5.5” vertical

Techniques:  stamping, partial die-cutting, ink-blending, embossing

Project Supplies:

• Neenah - Solar White 110 lb cardstock
• Limba - White Embossed 110 lb Wood Grain Paper
• Lawn Fawn - Circle Stackables Dies
• Simon Says Stamp - Simple Numbers die
• Fiber Craft - Glitter Foam Sheets
• Hero Arts - Friendly Flags stamp set
• Papertrey Ink - Heart-2-Heart #2 stamp set
• Brilliance Ink - Pearlescent Sky Blue, Galaxy Gold
• Versamark - watermark stamp ink
• American Crafts - Zing! Embossing Powder - Metallic Blue
• Studio Calico – Clear Blue, Lavender Soda, Something Blue ink pads
• DMC - Metallic Thread – gold

Tools:

• Fiskars - ProCision paper trimmer
• Martha Stewart - Heat Tool
• Martha Stewart - Scoring Board
• Sizzix - Big Shot
• Fiskars - Stamp Block Set
• American Crafts - Mini Stapler
• EK Success - Powder Tool
• Ranger - Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Tombow - Mono Multi adhesive
• Scotch - Foam mounting tape

Make A Card | Todd’s Birthday Card

I made this card for Todd’s birthday, which was last week.  I thought it turned out pretty well. This was the first time I tried ink-blending a background and also partial diecutting.  I had to practice on some scratch paper first!

I used Brilliance ink in Pearlescent Sky Blue on the background, sweeping it up from the bottom with a mini ink blender.  You can see the shiny-ness in this photo below.

Size: 4.25” x 5.5” vertical

Techniques:  stamping, partial die-cutting, ink-blending, coloring

Project Supplies:

• Papertrey Ink – Stamper's Select White cardstock
• Neenah - Neenah Solar White 80 lb cardstock
• Lawn Fawn - Circle Stackables Dies
• Simon Says Stamp - Quite The Pear stamp set
• Simon Says Stamp - Pear Images Dies
• Simon Says Stamp - Handwritten Sentiments stamp set
• Memento ink – Tuxedo Black ink pad
• Simon Says Stamp – Slate ink
• Brilliance - Pearlescent Sky Blue 
• BIC - Mark-It Ultra Fine Permanent Marker
• Papertrey Ink - Double-Sided Foam Adhesive Sheets
• Kelly Purkey sequins
• Glue Dots - Micro dots

Tools:

• Fiskars - Procision Trimmer 
• Martha Stewart – Scoring Board
• Tombow - Mono Permanent adhesive
• Fiskars - Stamp Block Set
• Sizzix - Big Shot

Evalicious | You Make Me Smile

I’m up on the Evalicious blog today with a layout celebrating love!  Valentine’s Day is coming up and I can’t help but use a bunch of reds and pinks on my layout.

These photos are actually from Thanksgiving Day. We went to the beach after having our Thanksgiving meal.  Since I have six 2-inch photos, I divided my page into thirds.  I adhered three patterned papers down and used my sewing machine to sew a border around the edge with red thread. Then I adhered a piece of vellum in the middle as a backdrop for my six photos.

I cut a strip of paper and adhered it to the top of the layout. Then I used a blue banner from Hello 2014 Miscellany V1 Puffy Stickers. I stamped a banner from Daily Life Clear Stamp Set and stamped the “You Make Me Smile” sentiment in pink inside the banner. Then I cut it out and adhered it with foam adhesive.

I used a wood veneer banner from Field Notes Wood Veneer on the bottom of my layout to mimic the banner on top. I added my journaling and also added some Ledger Alphas Puffy Stickers to spell out “Me & You” on the bottom strip of paper.

I stapled a clip from Arrow Love Shape Clips to the lower right of my vellum. I love how that turned out!

I added some red and pink sequins to the top and bottom of my page for the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by!  ♥

 

Evalicious Supplies Used:

photo shoot badge buttons V1	photo shoot snipsnip page tabs	daily life clear stamp set
adventurer clear stamp set	miscellany shapes puffy stickers	ledger alphas puffy stickers
arrow love shape clips	hello 2014 misc v1 puffy stickers	field notes wood veneer