Cheesecake!!!

I love cheesecake. Baking a cheesecake from scratch has been on my list of things to try for years. I bought a set of springform pans several years ago, but I didn't get around to actually making a cheese cake until this weekend. Oh my goodness! It was one of the most delicious desserts I've ever made!

I used a cheesecake recipe from The Kitchn and it was fabulous. Not only did the results turn out great, the recipe really walks you through every step and included helpful tips and information to help you get it right. Here is my cheesecake just after I put it in the oven:

 

 It baked beautifully, with no cracks (apparently cracks are an ever present danger in cheesecake making?). I did get one strange lump. I'm guessing it is a bubble that didn't make it all the way to the surface.

 

Of course the hard part is waiting to eat it. I baked this on Sunday to be our dessert on Monday. While it cooled on the counter, I pondered what to top it with. It was going to be a strawberry sauce until I remembered I had a bag of Cherry Berry Blend in the freezer.

 

I picked this up in the fall with no particular plans for it- I just though the mix of fruits sounded tasty. It was a perfect pick to go with the cheesecake. I did end up slicing up some fresh strawberries to go with it as well, and here is my final result

 

It was soooo good! Creamy and dense. I think this recipe would be considered New York Style cheesecake, as it includes sour cream. Whatever the style, it is a keeper and I will DEFINITELY be making this one again. In fact, my oldest has already said that he wants me to make this for his birthday in November!

My next cheesecake goal is to make a key lime cheesecake. I wonder if replacing the lemon juice in the recipe with key lime juice would be enough or if it would need more. Hmmmm... I might need to find some smaller springform pans to do some small batch testing. 😉

You're Invited

Invitations aren't something that many of us who have been under Stay-at-home orders have been thinking about lately, but the theme of the current challenge on the Art Impressions blog is "You're Invited" and is all about invitations. They have released two new invitation stamps sets, Greenery Invites and Floral Invites and they are beautiful, but I don't have them. I was inspired by the sprays of flowers and foliage in them though, so I went digging through my collection to see what I could find.

I had kind of planned to make something with my collection of watercolor stamps (they really aren't getting enough love lately!), but in my digging I came across this set:

A few years ago Art Impressions had grab bags available online as part of their annual warehouse sale, and this was part of one of the grab bags I ordered (I'd love to be able to attend the sale in person someday, but Michigan is a long way from Oregon!). I'm pretty sure that none of these images are available for sale anymore, but that floral corner piece really called my name. Here is what I ended up with

I used three markers to color the stamp (Marvy Olive Green, Marvy Magenta, and Stampin' Up! Close to Cocoa) and I stamped it twice on watercolor paper. Then I used a damp brush to blend out the colors.

I'm sure I probably have a stamp somewhere with the phrase "You're Invited", but I wasn't really in the mood to hunt for one. I decided to create my sentiment using the Mama Elephant Calli Letters stamps set. I'm honestly not sure it was any faster than hunting would have been, but I love the final effect.

Since I was stamping with VersaMark to emboss, I wouldn't have been able to see each letter as I stamped it. To solve that problem, I stamped the words with dark grey ink on some scrap paper first, cut them out and positioned them where I wanted them on the card. Once I was happy with their position, I taped the words together and also taped them to a scrap of acetate that was aligned so both the card and the acetate would line up in the corner of my MISTI. If that doesn't make complete sense, here's a picture of the words taped to the acetate

Then I could line up each letter over top of the "pattern" and I would be sure everything would end up in the right place. I had to add the comma in myself with my VersaMarker. I also used it to add the lines framing the other two corners and then everything got embossed in gold.

The finishing touch was a little bit of Wink of Stella on the flowers. I'm such a sucker for the sparkle that adds, but it's not easy to photograph!

Here's one last shot of the completed card, because, why not?

I hope you like my card. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Mother's Day Cards

I made three Mother's Day cards this year, but only 2 designs. The first card I made, I made 2 of- one for my mom and one for my mother-in-law. I know they won't mind getting the same card, and for all the work that went into one, I figured I might as well make two at the same time.

The flowers were stamped with the Peaceful Reverie set from Altenew. I really like the stippled effect of the layering in this set. I used a combination of inks from My Favorite Things, Lawn Fawn, and Papertrey Ink.

Once the flowers were all stamped, I used the Double Cut Alphabet die set from Concord and 9th to die cut the letters from the front of the card. I cut the letters again from olive green card stock and pieced it all back together and inlaid it into the openings on the card front.

A quick banner and sentiment (from a retired My Favorite Things set), plus a bit of layering, and the cards were done!

A day or two after I finished these cards, my dad texted to ask if I could make him a card to give my mom as well. He's on the high-risk side and is trying very hard to stay away from stores and other public places when possible. So, back to my craft room I went.

This one went a little bit faster than the others, mostly because there was significantly less stamping. It uses a set called Welcome Home, from Altenew, along with just the "happy" half of a retired MFT Happy Birthday die, and the Lawn Fawn set Happy Happy Happy.

The final touch was the addition of some hot-fix rhinestones. I hadn't used them on a card before, but the iridescent color of them went so well with the purples and greens on the card that I just had to. I think they were the perfect touch. It's hard to see the sparkle they added from these pictures, but it was  very pretty in person.

As for receiving cards, my husband and both of my boys took over my craft room last Saturday and spent several hours making me cards. They all worked hard and made me some very lovely cards!

They made me heart shaped pancakes for breakfast on Sunday, and I had a lovely day. I hope you all had a nice Mother's Day as well.

I'd love to hear what you think of my cards. Please feel free to leave a comment!

KAM Snaps on Dish Towels

I don't know about you, but sometimes little things drive me crazy. One of those things used to be my dish towels falling off the dishwasher or oven door handle every time their doors were opened. There are towels sold with special hanger tops to prevent this and plenty of patterns online to make your own. But I already had a bunch of towels and I didn't really want to sew something to their middles. It seems like that would make them less convenient for drying dishes and other tasks that don't involve hanging from an appliance handle.

Then I had a brilliant idea. KAM Snaps! If you've never used them, they are plastic snaps. You need the special tool to install them, but they are super easy to work with. I put one snap on one side of each of my towels (okay, on the sides of several towels. I just did the ones that I generally hang up).

I just hung the towel over the oven door handle to determine how far apart to put the two halves. Now I can still fold my towel into neat thirds (or even in half or in quarters) to hang it up, and then I can snap the front to the back and it doesn't fall off!

Since the snaps are plastic, I don't have to worry about them scratching anything when I use the towel, and I was able to find a variety set of snaps that included grey, cream, and black snaps, which perfectly match the towels I put them on.

If you are looking to get started with KAM snaps, here is their website: https://kamsnaps.com . I actually got my original set (with the snap tool and a variety of white and bright colored snaps) a few years ago from Amazon, but I know they are available from other places too.

I hope someone out there can make use of this handy idea. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Virtual Card Night

I get together with a small group of family and friends one a month to make cards. The group includes both my mom and my mother-in-law. There are five of us total and we take turns hosting each month.When its your turn to host, you are responsible for coming up with the cards everyone will make and supplying the materials. We all bring our own basics (scissors, adhesive, paper trimmer, etc.) but the rest is up to the host.

It was my turn to host in March- just as things were really starting to take off with Covid-19. We decided that it was probably safer to skip our usual March night and wait until April. Well, clearly things didn't get any better in April. SO... I decided we should try having a Zoom card night. I put together kits that included card stock, die cut pieces, and even two sets of stamps. Each card used the Lace Bouquet stamp set and many included greetings from the Think Big Favorites #16 set (bought for a bargain from Papertrey Ink's Blow Out Sale- amazing deals!).

Here is what I included in each kit:

I even included some snacks/dessert (FYI- those are Oreo Thins Bites, the White Fudge Dipped flavor, and they are soooooo good!)

Then I had a lovely (snowy!) afternoon driving around to everyone's houses and dropping off their envelope of goodies (Don't worry- I stayed at least 6ft away!). I told everyone to wait until our meeting to open them so they could find out what was inside together.

You can also see that I included pictures of the cards I made with the same supplies (of course adding in inks and white card stock). Here are bigger pictures of the cards:

 

  

 

   

  

 

 I'll be honest, most of these are not my original design. I found them online and copied many of them fairly closely. The purple Birthday Wishes card was all mine, however.

We had a great time and spent over three hours together on Zoom crafting and chatting and it was almost like we were together at one table. It worked out so well, we are trying it again this month. My mother-in-law will be hosting this time, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she has designed for us! 

If you have any questions on the supplies or techniques used on any of these cards, please leave a question in the comments below!
 

Bicycle Basket Liner/Bag

Well, it's been a really long time since I've posted something, but that's okay, right?

So, now that we are all home social distancing and trying to wait for a cure or vaccine or something, I've got a little more crafting time on my hands. The first project I tackled with some of my free time is a liner/tote bag for the basket on my bicycle. I don't ride well with a back pack on, and when we take our bikes on family vacations, I need a place to put my stuff when we go for a ride, so I bought a bike basket. I decided it needed a liner to keep my stuff from banging around in there, and to spiff it up a bit!

Here's what I ended up with:

This is the view you'd see when on the bike. The yellow cord is actually bungee cording with a cord stop (I just tied the loose ends in a bow). It runs through a casing at the edge of the pink fabric to keep the bag in place on the basket.

The green layer also has a casing at the edge that the pink/green ribbon runs through so it can be gathered to close the bag.

This picture was taken mid construction while testing the ribbon- notice that the fabric is pinned to the basket. You can see part of the body of the bag in the background.

I also added ribbon loops with D rings so I could attach removable straps. Each strap just folds around a ring and snaps to itself. I will admit I had to have my hubby help with the snaps- I just couldn't wack them hard enough with the hammer. Now, if I stop somewhere on a ride, I can take the whole bag with me, like a purse, and leave the basket on the bike.

There is also a hidden pocket inside that is the perfect size for my phone.

I'm really happy with how well this turned out- especially considering I created the pattern from scratch. I just laid the basket on some large white paper and traced each side and the bottom as best I could. I also am pretty impressed that I had all of the fabrics and hardware already, and I picked out and cut the pink and green fabric long before I realized I had the perfectly matching ribbon! Talk about meant to be!!!

Here's one more shot, more from the side.

I've used it on several bike rides with the family so far, and I'm looking forward to someday being able to take it (and my bike) somewhere farther away for a ride! Someday...

I've also been making cards and sewing some masks (like everyone else on the planet with a sewing machine, it seems!), but my next big project is a Christmas tree skirt. It is for a small tree that only gets decorated with Hallmark Crayola ornaments. Here's a sneak peek:

It's got a bit of a funky twist thing happening toward the center, and I think that's the reason for the large gap... that number of pieces should have made a complete circle. But I'll just add a couple more and it will be fine. I'll try to post more pictures when it's done.

I hope anyone who might read this is staying healthy, and of course, staying home!

Balloon Birthday Cards

Both of my kids had birthday parties to go to recently. This means that there were cards to be made!

First, my youngest was invited to the party for a girl in his class. I don't get to make very many girl birthday cards, so this one was lots of fun. We had learned from her mom that she likes to draw with glitter pens, so I decided that she needed some sparkle on her card!

A few months ago I picked up several ombre ink pads at Michaels. They were their Recollections brand. I also bought the Ombre Sentiments: Birthday stamp set from Papertrey Ink and really the two are a perfect match. I used my MISTI to perfectly line up the sentiment three times on a narrow strip of card stock that was mounted on the left side with foam dots. 

The right side, as you can see, was filled with glittery balloons! I dug out several shades of pink and purple cardstock that seemed to go with the ink colors and covered a small piece of each color with double sided tape (2.5" wide, from Stamp On It). Then I punched out 2 different sized balloons from each color. I removed the other side of the paper on the tape and covered each balloon with micro fine glitter from Sweet Stamps. Even after burnishing the glitter, it still made gave the balloons a very white-ish look, so I went over the glitter with a Spectrum Nior alcohol marker in a color that matches the card stock and they were instantly spectacular!

Some of the balloons were glues flat to the card and the other were popped up using two different thickness of foam dots. I loved the way the final product turned out. It was a little bit hard to give it away!

The following day, my oldest attended the birthday party of one of his best friends and fellow Star Wars geeks. My son requested the card be something Star Wars, but had no further suggestions or ideas. After a quick Google image search for "Star Wars cards", I was inspired to make this:

I finished it just barely in time for him to sign it and get it in an envelope before we dashed out the door to the party, so this is my only picture. BB8 was assembled with a variety of circle dies and punches and some hand cut scraps of grey. The balloon on this one is a die (from this Jillian Vance set) and was cut from yellow vellum and white card stock. I was just going to use the vellum, but the black background overpowered it, so I backed it with a white die cut. A little bit of orange and white twine finished things off nicely.

It was reported back to me that the birthday boy liked the card, so I am counting this one as a great success as well!

I hope you liked my cards today. Thanks for visiting, and don't be afraid to leave a comment and say "Hi".