New Stampin' Up! Mini Catalog

The New Mini is now available to order from....Yippee!!! 
What a Gorgeous Catalog, I love the Green.

There are some great items in this catalog. I really like the Paper Doily Sizzlits on page 7 and the Framelits on page 6. The Fashionable Hearts Embosslits Die on page 35 is very cute. The new colors in Bakers Twine (page 35) are great, I love Island Indigo & Pool Party they are two of my favorite Stampin' Up! colors. New Dazzling Details (Cherry Cobbler) & Smooch Spritz Color (Blushing Bride) page 9. I haven't purchased the Edgelits dies but they look like they have some great possibilities. There are some very cute stamp sets although I am unsure about the Gnome Sweet Gnome on page 41, I received this set free for participating in Decembers Book-a-thon, I don't think I would have purchased them otherwise....We will see. There are a few more designs to the Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps, which means that I am going to be purchasing them soon. Pleated Satin Ribbon to coordinate with the Twitterpated DSP, Oh my, Very pretty! Scented Clear Embossing Powder (page35) in three scents Vanilla, Cherry, & Melon. I purchased the vanilla and it definitely smells like vanilla, now we will be able to use more of our senses when giving or receiving cards.

I have to say when I first saw the Paper Doily I new it had to be in my pre-order. I was excited to open my box, when it arrived on the UPS truck, just before Christmas weekend. As my family was going out of town I had very little time to play with anything I had received, but I took a few minutes for the doily die and I have to tell you that first couple of tries I was feeling a bit disappointed as it just was not cutting through all the little spots like it should have. So I logged on to Stampin' Connection and did a little searching and found I wasn't the only one having problems. Between it not cutting all the way through and the pieces sticking between the little cuts on the die I was very frustrated. 

Well I tried one suggestion, place packing tape evenly on die to cover and this stops the pieces from sticking and can help give more thickness to  help the die cut through. It worked to stop the sticking but the die still wasn't cutting thru, which was more bothersome to me than the sticking, because I was ripping the doily trying to get the few pieces out that weren't cut all the way through. I solved this problem by taking a square piece of the cardboard paper that comes with the DSP to keep it from bending (and tell you what it is) and using tab 2, two standard cutting mats, the square cardboard, the die and my DSP or CS I was able to get the die to cut through perfectly every time!!!!!!

I hope you all enjoy.

DanicaA

Last Day to Order From Holiday Mini Catalog

Well, it is the last day you can order from the holiday mini catalog. We do have a few items carrying over but the stocking punch is not included. So if you have anything on your wish list that you haven't purchased be sure to order today. 

I got my last order in last month, although I was hoping the quilted satin ribbon would carry over. They did carry over the Dazzling Details & Glimmer paper which I was hoping for although I had purchased those items also just in case. 

Hurry and place an order for those items you just have to have. You can Purchase by clicking this link Tikvah's Treats by DanicaA

Desserts for All Occasions - Almond Orange Streusel Cake

Almond Orange Streusel Cake

Cake made in Spring Form Pan as a single layer

Streusel

1 c firmly packed Brown Sugar
1 c sliced or slivered Almonds
1/4 c All-Purpose Flour
3 T Earth Balance Soy Garden*
1 T Orange or Lemon Zest

Cake
1/2 c Earth Balance Soy Garden
1/2 c Sugar
2 T Ener-G Egg Replacer *
4 T Soymilk or Water
1 T Orange or Lemon Zest
1 T Vanilla Extract
2 c All-Purpose Flour, sifted or Pastry Flour
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Baking Soda
2/3 c Orange or Lemon Juice (you can also do a combination of the two)

Glaze
1/2 c Confectioners' Sugar
2 1/2 t Orange or Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 9-10 in pan (you can use a tube pan or a spring form pan)

Prepare the Streusel in a medium bowl . Mix together brown sugar, almonds and flour. stir in the soy butter and zest. Set aside.

In a large bowl , using an electric mixer, beat together on medium speed butter & sugar until fluffy. Add Ener-G egg replacer and Soymilk or water, beat until well mixed. Beat in Vanilla and Zest.

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder & baking soda.

Reduce mixer speed to low. Alternately beat flour mixture and juice into egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour.

Spoon half the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the streusel. Top with remaining batter and streusel.

Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

To prepare glaze, stir together confectioners sugar and juice until smooth.

Place cake on serving plate and drizzle with glaze.


This is a family favorite. I have made this cake many different ways. Sometimes I will use a tube pan but more often than not I use the spring form pan and instead of doing two layers I usually do a single layer and spread the streusel on the top. You could probably use less of the streusel doing it this way but I always use it all. I have made this for Breakfasts and for Dessert after special meals. This is a rich and delicious cake.

Serve with coffee or iced tea and you have a wonderful dessert for company.

*These items can also be purchased at your local health food stores

I hope you all enjoy!
DanicaA

Cindy's November Craft Camp Project 2

Here is the second project I demo'd at Cindy's Nov 13 Craft Camp. I am finally taking the time to blog this craft camp's projects. I need to get this done now as I am already working on ideas for January's Craft Camp .

Again I am using the Serene Snowflakes stamp set. This is still my favorite stamp set.....Maybe I need to start playing with other stamps. I may find I like them just as well.

This is another card cased from Stampin' Connection. This card is by Julie Leblanc 

I had a number of supplies left over so I put them all together and will either save them for the bazaar our local museum has yearly or see if I can sell them in a local boutique.

I love the color combo Island Indigo, Pool Party and Very Vanilla.

 I used two different stamps from two different sets for the Season's Greetings saying. I used Curly Cute and Many Merry Messages. The inside saying is also from Many Merry Messages.

As you can see, I have packaged the cards up and added a small piece of paper with the inside greeting stamped on it and slipped inside. I have also included coordinating envelopes, that I stamped with matching stamp and colors.

I hope you all enjoy.

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Island Indigo and Very Vanilla Cardstock, Island Indigo and Pool Party Classic stamp pads, Serene Snowflakes Stamp Set, Curly Cute Stamp Set, Many Merry Messages Stamp Set, Island Indigo 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones and Very Vanilla medium envelopes

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!!

 I have all kinds of plans and goals for the new year.

 Many of you probably do the same each year....you sit down and write out goals and plans and stick to them for a week maybe two maybe even for a month or longer and then they fall by the wayside. I know that I usually have this problem, so my first and foremost goal for the year is to keep all my goals and plans all year long.We will see how I do as Blogging daily is a goal I have. I am trying to think of ways to make sure I stick to this goal, one way will be to schedule posts, and maybe choose days of the weeks for similar postings.... Hmm.....We will see!

I hope that you all have a wonderful and productive 2012. May dreams come true and hopes be realized.

God Bless!

DanicaA

Vegan Peanut Butter Blondies

Vegan Peanut Butter Blondies

1/3 c Earth Balance Soy Butter *

1/3 c Applesauce

3/4 c Peanut Butter

2-1/4 c Sugar

6 T  Ener-G Egg Replacer *

3/4 c Soy Milk

1 T Vanilla Extract

1-1/2 c All purpose flour (sifted)

1-1/2 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

1-1/2 c Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 c chopped peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 15-in x 10-in x 1-in pan by either lining with parchment paper or spray with Pam.

In a large bowl, cream first four ingredients together until light & fluffy. Beat in Ener-G egg replacer, Soy milk & vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder & salt; beat into creamed mixture just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips & peanuts.

Spread in baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 36 servings

*These items can also be purchased at your local health food stores

I hope you all enjoy!
DanicaA

Cindy's Craft Camp Project 1

This is one of the projects that I demo'd at Cindy's Craft Camp Nov 13.

I really love this Serene Snowflakes stamp set. What makes this project fun is the fact that you actually use a whole sheet of card stock to stamp the background and then cut down to size. This allows you to create multiple cards that are similar but because you are stamping randomly on an 81/2x11 or 12x12 sheet your cards will not be identically stamped.

This card was CASED from Candace Lawlor another Stampin' Up! demo from Stampin' Connection. thanks so much for the idea. 

I hope you all enjoy.

DanicaA

Project Recipe: Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Whisper White Cardstock, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Bashful blue, Basic Black Classic Stamp Ink, Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Serene Snowflakes, Many Merry Messages Stamp Sets

This will be my first blog post, I hope you all enjoy.

This is a card I CASED from Stampin' Connection. I love the stamp set and am working on a few make n take projects for a Stampin' Up! table at Cindy's November craft camp. This was going to be one of the make n takes but I decided I was making it to complicated, so I will do two simpler cards (I will post them later) using the same stamp set. For this card I didn't have the SU ribbon yet so I used some that I had on hand.

I hope you all enjoy!

DanicaA

Project Recipe:
Stampin' Up Serene Snowflake Stamp set, Not Quite Navy CS, Marina Mist CS, Whisper White CS, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist & Not Quite Navy classic stamp pads, mini brads, snowflake punch, Frost White Shimmer paint, organza ribbon, and satin ribbon