Getting Cricky Blog Hop Introducing New DT!

Welcome to Getting Cricky's Blog Hop & UStream Event!
We are tickled you are joining us. K Andrew Designs has so many wonderful stamp and image sets out that we are loving them so much, we wanted to share our happiness with you!

PLUS we want to introduce you to our Brand new Getting Cricky Design Team Members as well as re-introduce you to our returning DT Members.

The fun begins with the LIVE UStream event at the following times:

5pm Alaska (That's me!)
6pm Pacific
7pm Mountain
8pm Central
9pm Eastern
at
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/gettingcricky
There's always plenty of opportunity for PRIZES! (Be sure to join the CHAT, not just the social stream).  I will not be able to attend the live UStream Event with all of you, but think of me. I'll be there in spirit!

Immediately after the UStream, the HOP will begin so you can get to know the whole Getting Cricky Design Team!  The HOP begins at
http://www.gettingcricky.com/

So... grab a cup of tea, hot chocolate, or your favorite beverage and enjoy the hop. You'll get inspired and motivated to create some of your own projects... I guarantee it!

For a long time my favorite set was the FASHIONABLE FRIENDS, but lately, the CRAFTY FRIENDS set has had me giggling and coming up with all sorts of card ideas. You know I love making cards! I'm in a Crafty Pen Pal group on Facebook, and I always need lots of cards I can send out to my Crafty Friends. Have any idea yet which stamp set I'm going to feature in my card post?  LOL  You guessed it... CRAFTY FRIENDS!

Project #305 of this year

Card base is blue from Recollections cardstock stack.  Background flower & grass papers from K&Co. Berry Sweet pad. All the kitty papers & brackets from Colorbox 12"x12" pad (from Walmart).  Kitty from FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS cut @ 4 1/4". Keypad overlay Row 1, Column 10.

                                         

Grass from PLANTIN SCHOOL BOOK page 69 cut @ 1 1/2" and trimmed to fit. Keypad overlay Row 2, Column 8.

Brackets from PLANTIN SCHOOL BOOK page 68 cut @ 1". Keypad overlay Row 3, Column 10.

Sentiment stamp from K ANDREW DESIGNS "Crafty Friends" stamp set.

Thank you so much for joining us for this FUN Hop!

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL ORDERS will ship Next Week!  
EVERYONE who orders $25 or more 
will receive a FREE mini stamp set.  
EVERYONE who orders $45 or more 
will receive a FREE FULL STAMP SET (random) with their order.  
FREE SHIPPING CODE TO USE WITH YOUR ORDER IS:
postagevalue
Thanks for stopping by!

  Your next stop is Faithfule Creations.  

Have a fun weekend! Smiles! :) Janis

Lemon Squares Recipe with Progress Pictures :)

Do you love to cook?  I don't think I'd say I was "in love" with cooking, but there are a few things I really enjoy cooking because afterwards I really enjoy eating them! LOL  This post is dedicated to one of my hubby's favorite desserts:  LEMON SQUARES.

Here are the ingredients for the BOTTOM Layer:

• Lemon Cake Mix
• 1 Stick Real Butter
• 1 Egg

Here are the ingredients for the TOP Layer:

• 1 box 4x Powdered Sugar (or 10x is fine)  {Powdered sugar used to come in boxes of 1 pound. Now I think they come in bags of 2 pounds. The important thing to remember here is that you need 1 pound of the powdered sugar}
• 2 Eggs
• 8 oz Cream Cheese

Now.... here's what you need to do....  Before you begin make sure you have a clean working area and that your hands are washed. If you have long fingernails, make sure everything on your hands are clean. Be smart. Germs are NOT our friend.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter your casserole dish or spray with Pam.  I'm using a 13" x 9" pan.

I let the butter sit out to reach room temperature before baking. I have found it's easier to remove it from the wax paper wrapping before it's all room temperature and mushy. Took me a long time to figure that one out. LOL  These are the ingredients for the bottom layer: Lemon cake mix, 1 stick REAL butter, and 1 egg.

Mix the egg and butter in the mixer.

Then slowly add the dry lemon cake mix.

This will be thick, and lumpy. That means it's perfect!

Don't be scared if it dumps out the mixer into your casserole dish like this. This is perfect!

Mush it down and cover the bottom of your casserole dish with it.

Now.... on to the top layer... this is the fun part!  You'll need 1 pound of powder sugar (this is a 2 pound bag - only use 1/2 of this!), 2 eggs, and 8 ounces of cream cheese.  I let the cream cheese sit out until it reaches room temperature for easy mixing.

It should be thick and creamy after it's all mixed together. This looks yummy already!

See how thick this is?  This is perfect!

Spread it out to cover the bottom layer completely.

Place it in your pre-heated oven.

Set the timer for 45 minutes. Do not cheat and open the oven door. I promise... it will be fine in there without you looking at it. :)

Depending on where you live, your altitude, your oven variations, etc, you may need to leave it in a little longer.  You know it's done when the top layer is light brown.

Light brown.  Smells delicious!

See the crusty looking edges?  Perfection!  Okay, I have said 'perfect' and 'perfection' a lot in this post. Rarely do I do anything that's perfect or to perfection. LOL  I wish you could smell the delicious aroma in this house. Oh my yumminess.  I can't wait for dessert after supper now.

I will be adding this to my friend, Maria's, Inspire Me Friday's Link Up Party!

If you give this recipe a try... PLEASE let me know how your's came out. :) Smiles & Lemon Hugs  :) Janis

Snowmen & Birdies

Hello again!  I was in the mood to make a SNOWMAN card today. It's currently SNOWING outside, and that makes me VERY HAPPY. I love the snow!  So.. let's see... over at our house we've got snow falling outside, clothes in the washer & dryer, chicken & rice cooking in the crock pot for supper, and some Cricut Snow cutting going on. Yep, sounds like a GREAT day over here. I hope you are having a FUN day in your part of the world too.

Project #311 of this year

Card base is pink cardstock from Recollections. Background snow glittery paper is from We R Memory Keepers cut @ 5 1/4" x 4". DOODLECHARMS used for Snowman, Snowballs, Snowflakes, and Heart. CREATE A CRITTER used to cut birds.  Carrot nose was cut freehand. Rhinestones for snowman belly, snowman eyes, and bird eyes are all from Recollections. Faux stitching around card base and to enhance cuts. Chalk added to mouth and cheeks. Ink added around edges of background paper.

Snowman cut @ 3 1/2" (Doodlecharms)

Birds cut @ 1 1/2 and 1" (Create A Critter)

Snowflakes cut @ 2 1/2"
Snowballs cut @ 1 1/2" and 1" (Doodlecharms)

Heart cut @ 1" (Doodlecharms)

This is my submission for the following challenges:

Anything Challenge #53 – stitches real or faux (every 2 weeks)

Fantabulous Cricut #84 – for the birds (every Monday)

Clear It Out – My favorite holiday (1^st & 3^rd Tuesday)

Creative Card Crew – Love or romance (every other Tuesday)

Scrappy Moms – use Doodlecharms (every Tuesday)

Crafting For All Seasons - #13 texture (every other Wednesday)

If you also like to play in challenges like I do, please refer to a GREAT list of CHALLENGES I LOVE to play along in by CLICKING HERE or by visiting the CHALLENGES page tab at the top of my blog.

Snowy Hugs :) Janis

More Crochet Scarves

I have really been enjoying crocheting some scarves for family lately. It's so relaxing and doesn't take much yarn at all.  Here are 2 more scarves I made over the weekend.

Project #298 of this year

The above black and rose scarf is for a family member who contacted me on Facebook and said, "I think you are drawing my name for Christmas this year, so I'd love you to crochet me a scarf."  LOL  Fixed Christmas drawings... something's not right about that. hahahaha

Project #297 of this year

The above "Turqua and white" scarf is for our daughter, Keri. Yes, the name of the yarn is actually "Turqua". I love it. Turquoise and Aqua. It's beautiful!

I started making myself a scarf, but ran out of yarn. So it's half done, and I've set it aside to work on another one until I can go get a refill on that particular color I need for mine.

Here are some other scarves I've made recently in case you missed those post last month....

The burgundy & black one is for our college student - her school colors.

This multi-color one for BonBon. She's so pretty wearing it on our walks.

I've used this book by Darla Sims and the book shown below also by her for the patterns for all these scarves.

I love these crochet books because they give you the pattern repeat so you can make anything you want any size you want. The older books I have have projects in them with directions to complete that particular project. So an afghan may say chain 154 then go to Row 1.  Well, what if I want my afghan larger or smaller? I had no idea how to adjust that.  That's why I like these 2 books so much by Darla Sims. Because it will say "chain 8 plus 3" for pattern repeat.  So I just keep chaining 8 until I think my scarf or other project is wide enough, then add the plus 3 chains and start for Row 1. It's so easy. I LOVE these books!!

All of my scarves were crocheted holding 2 threads of yarn together and using a size K hook. I like the larger hooks like the K one. And holding the 2 threads together for the entire project, makes the project thicker... and hopefully the scarves warmer.

I hope everyone has a very nice Thursday. You know, Thursdays are my favorite days of the weeks. Smiles! :) Janis

Bird-aclicious!

Hello again!  If you missed my earlier post from today, please scroll down to see 2 more cards with animals I've posted today.

My good friend, Pam, and her good friend, Glora, have a brand new challenge site that just started last month! The 2nd challenge has just begun, and of course I had to play along again!

SIMPLY CRAFTS CHALLENGE BLOG

You can play along too by just clicking HERE for the current November challenge. Here are the General Rules as posted on their site: *Starts first Wednesday of the month and lasts for 2 weeks. *Use specific cut that is being challenged. If you don't have that cartridge, you can use a similar cut from another cartridge. *Must be a new project for this challenge. *Become a follower. *Have fun.

November's challenge is to make a project of any kind using the TURKEY cut on the CREATE A CRITTER Cricut cartridge.

Project #309 of this year

~ A2 size card using cardstock from Recollection's Spice Market stack

~ Pattern papers from various Autumn stacks

~ Buttons from Hobby Lobby; Twine from Joann's

~ TURKEY cut from CREATE A CRITTER p. 70 cut @ 3 1/2"

~ Stamps from K ANDREW DESIGNS "Owly Hoo" Stamp set

This is so fun! I love challenges! And I love 

K ANDREW DESIGNS stamp sets!

Come play with us!  Gobble Gobble :) Janis

Cat Crafting

I can hardly believe it's November already. Since the snow has arrived, Bonnie is asking for a Christmas tree every day. LOL  Here's a card I made for one of our daughters using Christmas papers... why not?

Project #296 of this year

Background papers from Martha Stewart Holiday stack.

Stamps from K Andrew Designs "Crafty Friends"

CHORE CHART Cricut cart used for Cat 

cut @ 3 1/2". Keypad overlay Row 5, Column 8.

Prima Flowers.

Recollections Red Rhinestone.

Ready... Set... CRAFT!

But first.... here's one more card to show you.

I thought it would be fun and challenging to use as many different pattern papers on one card as possible.  How'd I do? I've got 4 on here. :)

Project #306 of this year

Card base is a faded red from Recollections. The whole package I bought looks faded. I'm not sure if that's on purpose or not, but hey, let's just roll with it, shall we?

All the background papers are from DCWV The Glitter Stack cut at various sizes. No real pattern here. Just playing with layers.

The heart border punch is one I got from Michael's by Recollections. I got it when it was on sale last February. I like sales & coupons!

Googlie eyes from Michael's. Rhinestones from Recollections. Ribbon from Joann's.

PLANTIN SCHOOL BOOK

Brackets p. 68 cut @ 3/4" and 1"

SWEETHEARTS

Frog & Crown p. 42 cut @ 3 1/2" with shadow

Heart Kisses sentiment from K Andrew Designs OWLY HOO stamp set!

This is another awesome stamp set!

Smiles :) Janis

Perk Up! & A Sweet-alicious Card....

Welcome to NOVEMBER!

I have 2 cards to show you today that I made....

Project #294 of this year

A friend of mine's son is having his tonsils & adenoids removed. I thought I'd send him a little doggie card. Boy cards are HARD for me to create! I keep wanting to add buttons, ribbon, rhinestones, etc.

Cardbase is Kraft cardstock 5 1/2" x 4".

Glittler dotted background mat from either a Recollections Collection Pack or DCWV 

cut @ 5 1/4" x 3 3/4".

Orange sentiment dotted paper also from DCWV cut @ 1" x 3 3/4".

Blue sentiment pattern paper from DCWV Winter Combo stack cut @ 3/4" x 3 3/4".

Perk Up is 2 clear stamps from K Andrew Designs "Coffee & Tea For You & Me" set.

FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS Cricut cartridge for "Dog2" cut @ 4". Keypad overlay 

Row 2, Column 2.

The 2nd card is just silly...

Project #296 of this year

FOUR LEGGED FRIENDS Cricut cartridge for "Dog9" cut @ 4". Keypad overlay 

Row 2, Column 9.

SWEET TREATS Cricut cartridge for "IceCream5" page 34 cut @ 4". Keypad overlay Row 2, Column 1.

Stamps from various K Andrew Designs sets.

"Our Friendship is" from "Coffee & Tea For You & Me".

"Sweet" from "Winged Things".

"-aclicious" from "Crafty Friends".

Background paper from Cupcake collection cut @ 4" x 5 1/4".

Rhinestones from Recollections.

Solid papers from Recollections & Colorbox pads (Walmart).

Have a fun, creative day, everyone! Smiles :) Janis