Clubbing Stampin UP Style

A couple of weeks ago, I had my club members over for our bi-monthly get together.  I love having them over to play with paper and make cards.  I love that they make the effort to come, when their lives are so busy.  Thanks to Stampin UP for providing opportunities for me to find new friends and strengthen the relationships with the friends I already have!

The cards we made...in no particular order...

I love the brick pattern of the back ground. I saw this technique on another card and figured out how to do this with my simply scored tool.  The horizontal lines are every 1/2 inch.  The vertical lines are also every 1/2 inch, but alternated every line so that they seem to be an inch.  Confused??? :)

Stamps - Wonderous Wreath, Holiday Invitation
Ink - Hello Honey, Tangerine Tango, Blackberry Bliss
Paper, Blackberry Bliss, Very Vanilla
Accessories - Wonderful Wreath die, in color sequins, simply scored

This lovely little number is a case from a project I saw on pinterest.  I love how you can color on embossed images with our blendabilities.

Stamps - Ornamental Pine, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink - Versamark, Memento ink pad - black
Paper - Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Silver
Accessories - White embossing powder, Blendabilities (old olive, smoky slate, crumb cake) Seam binding ribbon cherry cobbler, snowflake embellishment

The last project was one that I made at a demo get together made by Lea Christensen.  I alterred the design slightly.

Stamps - Bright & Beautiful
Ink - Versamark
Paper, Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky, All is Calm DSP, Whisper White
Accessories - Silver & White embossing powder, frosted sequins, Silky Taffeta ribbon, Stars framelits, silver 1/8in ribbon


This is a non-traditional card as the inside is actually underneath the stack of stars. 



Fall officially arrives tomorrow, the Halloween decorations will be put up at my house and the pumpkin spice candles come out.   The roller coaster ride through the holidays begins!
Ta Ta for now.

An Evening of Tapas

I am taking a chance to share some of our summer activities.  Hopefully there will be more posts to come.

Our dinner group got together at our place for July.  We purchased a new camera for our upcoming vacation and decided to give it a try.  I definitely need practice shooting food shots, but I think I will enjoy the practice

If you really want to make A Friend, go to someones house and EAT with THEM.  The people that give you THEIR FOOD, give you their heart. 

We created a night of Spanish Tapas.


This is the place setting.  I found these place mats and napkins at the Square Nest, which happens to be one of my favorite stores to browse around and find a new decor item for the home or a new snap for my Ginger Snap addiction.  




Here is the layout of all the food we served.  We can't wait to dive in!!

As you can see there is a bowl of steamed clams, shrimp, and squid.  I did not get a pic of that dish.






In keeping with the Spanish theme...these are mushrooms filled with a chorizo stuffing










This is a traditional Spanish potato tortilla.  I love the simpleness of this dish.  We served it with a romesco sauce which is made from roasted red peppers and lots of garlic.

This is crostini served with a creamed cheese mixture, beef and a fig jelly.







We made a salad of cucumbers, honeydew and cantaloupe melon with a sweet poppy seed dressing.








We prepared a cheese plate which included Spanish cured meats, cheeses and a mix of olives.

Of course we had to make our traditional tomato gazpacho.  This is one of my favorite summer soups.   Cold, refreshing and good for you.

These are empanadas.  I love me a good meat pie.










For dessert we served a lemon mascarpone filled tart and topped with fresh berries.  Since I forgot to take a picture, I have thieved the picture from the site I used the recipe from.  I added blueberries to the fruit mix.



Recipes and instructions are offered at requests.  We have such a good time taking these chances to create food items we don't eat on a regular basis.


We already have our menu planned for the next time we host.  Ralph and I love to cook, eat, and a chance to share one of the things we love!


 Ta Ta for now

Use Your Words - Blog Hop

We have been on vacation and I meant to grab my card making bag with all the supplies to make the cards for this blog hop.   Needless to say, the bag sits in the craft room in the same place I left it.
 
I have flipped through my stash of cards that I have actually taken photos of and I think these two might work...

The first is a card I made for a swap at the Stampin Up Convention.  I love the white on white and dots on dots.

Ink - So Saffron

Stamps - Something For Baby

Paper - Whisper White, Soft Subtles DSP

Accessories - Pefect Dots and Large Polka Dot EF's,  Baby's First Framelits Dies, Bermuda Bay Bakers Twine, Little Letters thinlits

The second project is a gift card holder and I think the best Words anyone can say is Thank You.

 

Ink - Crisp Cantaloupe, Blushing Bride, Strawberry Slush

Stamps - Pictogram punches, Million & One

Paper - All Ablooom DSP, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Pistachio Pudding

Accessories - Whisper White 1/4in cotton ribbon, Itty bitty Accents Punch Pak, Corner Punch

Go see what Jeanna and her amazing creativity has come up with