Hello Card

Just a set of cards I worked on today.  I used Stampin Up hexagon punch for the first time and thought of all kinds of ideas!

Matthew Graduates

We went out to Beloit, KS where Matthew has been for the last 9 months in the Heavy Equipment Operator Program for graduation.

Sorry for the blurry picture.  This is what happens when I zoom in too far on my phone.

 There was a really touching moment when the President of the college gave a diploma to the mom of a military man killed in action.  One of the young man's goals was to graduate from college so his mom wrote the school and they helped fulfill his dream.  There were tears from young and old alike.

Congratulations Matthew!  You made it!

Ahhh... the power of prayer!  :)

Customized Trellis for Mom

All the kids went together on 2 customized trellis's for Mom.  It started out as a Christmas gift and ended up being Christmas/Mother's Day due to the price of metal and how long it took to finish.  Jake built them and we painted them.  Mom picked out what she wanted them to look like.  It's a good thing she didn't need them until spring!

 We slipped over to their house one evening when we knew they were gone and set them up.  I mean, Jake set them up and did all the physical labor and I took pictures :)

 Both of them up in her rock garden.

 The very talented crafter with his finished product.

Merry Christmas and Happy Mother's Day Mom!

A Rainbow & Cupcake Wrappers

 We had the most beautiful rainbow a couple weeks ago.  It was so vivid that I couldn't resist a picture.

So, these are the cupcake wrappers I have been working on for the past 2 weeks.  You may remember that I said I needed over 1000 of these puppies.

Here they are.  All done!  Packed up and ready to go.

And this picture.  Just because.  I love Grandpa's argyle bling on his cheetah print sunglasses.  Hehe.  

There's A Reason I Have Been Absent...

I promise there is a good reason I have been M.I.A. for awhile now.  I have been super busy crafting!

I tore into my craft studio to re-do some things and 2 days later, I got several orders.  So I set up my machine in the living room.

This is the beautiful inside of the closet in my studio.  Obviously, I am being sarcastic.

Repeat after me.  I. will. never. use. wallpaper. ever. ever. ever. 

Closet before:

yes, I know it looks like a small tsunami hit.

Studio before:

The tsunami didn't limit itself to the closet.

Before:

 After:

My brother-in-law built this magazine rack from an old door for me in shop class. 

 The new and improved closet.  There happens to be a window in this closet that is covered up on the outside of the house with siding, so I just hung a rug up over it.  I took the doors off the closet and opened it up a little bit.  Which is going to make me more accountable to what it looks like at all times... hopefully.

I used a tension rod in one corner of the closet for wrapping paper.

 Closet after:

 Studio after:

My sister-in-law made me the ribbon display.  It is just an old drawer from a dresser that she painted, drilled some holes in, and used dowel rods to hold the ribbon. 

I used another tension rod on my dresser to hold washi tape.

 And my pegboard that holds my cutting mats and other craft supplies.

I found this shelf at a garage sale for $2.00 and painted it to hold my stamp pads.

 This is looking into my studio from the hallway.

And of course, I have a picture of my handsome husband hanging above my work table.

So there you have it.  I have been busy, busy, busy.  I have also had company here and worked on an order of over 1000 cupcake wrappers.  Yep.  That is a 1 with 3 zeros.  My husband is ready to have me do his laundry, make him meals, and do some cleaning again.

I also just wanted to add that we appreciated the many comments, e-mails, cards, and messages that you guys sent me in regards to my infertility post.  We can not thank you enough for the encouraging words and prayers!  It means so much to us!  May God bless you all!

100th Post!

Wow!  I can't believe this is my 100th post!  I have a great recipe to share for this special occasion.  Pinterest came to my rescue a couple weeks ago when I needed to take a dessert somewhere. My husband thought it was fantastic and has requested it a couple of times since then.  Let me introduce to you:

APPLE FRITTER CAKE

original recipe: Nerdy Baker

I tweaked it a little bit after I made it the first time and we liked it best with this recipe here.

Filling:

2 heaping cups apples, diced

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

pinch of grated nutmeg

1/4 c. cornstarch

4 t. water

Mix:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

Cake:

1/3 c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. cinnamon applesauce

2 eggs

2 1/4 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 c. Greek yogurt

Glaze:

2 c. powder sugar

1 t. vanilla

6 T. milk

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine filling ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat for about 6-8 minutes or until thickened and apples are soft.  Set aside to cool.  

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add applesauce and vanilla.  Mix.  Add eggs, beating well.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Add to batter, alternating between Greek yogurt and dry ingredients.  Beat until combined.

Spoon half the batter into a greased 9 x 13 dish. (I use glass)  Spread the apple mixture over the batter as evenly as possible.  Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Cover with the rest of the batter, adding the remainder of the brown sugar/cinnamon mix to the top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

While cake is baking, mix glaze together.  Immediately after cake is done, pour glaze on top and try to get it spread evenly.  Let the cake sit for awhile for the glaze to set up before serving.

Enjoy while still warm with ice cream and caramel topping.  So delicious!

Seriously.  Try this cake.

The One Where Jacob Got The World's Ugliest Cake For His Birthday

It was Jake's 32nd birthday Friday and I told him to look on my Pinterest page for what he wanted me to make for his cake.  He chose this one Trisha Yearwood's Key Lime Cake.  So I read this instructions and all the reviews said it was a super easy cake.  Something a beginner could make.   Ummm... thanks.  What does that make me?  It all started out good...

 And quickly got worse...

 And worse...

I have no idea what I did wrong.  Apparently I was still half asleep when I started this Friday morning at 6:00.  By 8:00 I was needing to leave for work and the above picture is what it looked like.  I told Jake I was sorry but he was getting a boughten cake mix and these were going in the trash.  He encouraged me to just trim the tops off and use this one.  So I did. 

It did get better.  It tasted fabulous, but boy was it a sight.  When I tried to frost it all the moist crumbs stuck in the cream cheese icing.

This is the only picture I got of the birthday man as he was being a complete stinker and wouldn't let me take one.  So I told him the bad one goes on the blog :)

 The candles were really cool!  The flame was the color of the candle!

Anyway, he turned 32 even despite the fact I had a fail with this "it's-so-easy-a-beginner-can-do-it" cake.  Happy Birthday to my Husband!