Happy Birthday at Cardz 4 Guyz

It's our third birthday at Cardz 4 Guyz so naturally this week our theme is Happy Birthday.

For my card, I've used a new stamp and punch set that I won from Cardmaking and Papercraft just before Christmas, it is meant to be a Christmas set, and the punch and stamp combo will make all kinds of festive characters as well as this little teddy bear, but I thought the bear would be perfect for a child's birthday card. The sentiment is from Dies R Us . I didn't have much of the blue background card, so I cut the sentiment from the middle of it before assembling the card. I don't normally cut away the insides of the card I use for layering (I know there's a name for the technique but it escapes me right now) as I worry that it might make the card too squishable, but removing a small piece like this still leaves plenty to support everything. 

 I am sharing this with
Glitter and Sparkle - Anything Goes
Sparkles Monthly Challenge - Happy Birthday

Another card with my new stamps

Well, one of my new stamps actually....

 

I can see this silhouette daisy from Oak House Studio  is going to become a real favourite. This time I have stamped it on glossy paper with Versamark and them embossed it with clear powder, and brayered over it with Kaleidacolor Fresh Greens. The sentiment is from the Uniko stamp set Flower Power 2.

I am sharing this with
Less is More - Ombre
Sweet Stampin - something new (the daisy stamp)

More new goodies

I mentioned the other day that just before Christmas I won a wonderful box of goodies from Oak House Studio - well, here is a make using some of the goodies from the box.

The flowers are from the Double Daisy set - I stamped the silhouette one then masked it and stamped three outline ones around it. Then I used Pure Colour Chemistry liquid watercolour in Lemon to paint the yellow petals of the outline flowers and the centre of the silhouette. My goodness that ink is intense! Just three drops was enough to paint all this! I used the same ink in Antique blue on an almost dry brush to add a few details, although next time I do that I think I will dilute it a bit. this is the very first time I've used these inks and I have a lot to learn.

The sentiment is from another of the stamp sheets in the goody box, stamped  and heat embossed in black.

I am sharing this with:

CAS Mix Up  - my choices are masking and heat embossing



Just Us Girls


The Flower Challenge

RECIPE: Loadsa Veg Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie? Cottage Pie? What's the difference? Well, technically Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb and Cottage Pie with beef, but I tend to use the words interchangeably, what really matters is that it's the kind of delicious, warming comfort food perfect for a gloomy January day, and by cramming in lots of veg you can kid yourself that it's healthy too, especially if you serve it with broccoli and mashed swede as I did.

Ingredients (to serve 4)

450g minced lamb (or beef)
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, thinly sliced
130g mushrooms, wiped and sliced
130g frozen peas, defrosted
350ml beef stock
1 tbs plain flour
4 large potatoes
a little milk and butter
seasoning

Pre heat the oven to 160C, 140 Fan, 325F, gas mark 3.

Place the meat and onions in a flameproof casserole dish and fry together, stirring frequently, over a high heat until the meat is browned and the onion softened. Unless the meat is extremely lean, you don't need to add any fat, the onion will cook in the fat that comes out of the meat.
Reduce the heat to very low and stir in the flour then blend in the stock. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, then mix in the carrots, mushrooms and peas. Taste and season.  Cover and cook in the oven for about an hour until the meat and veg are all tender. If you have time to cook it for even longer,  you will get a richer tasting, more unctuous mixture.

When the meat mixture is ready, remove it from the oven,  uncover and set aside to cool. As it cools, it will "set" slightly and make the potato topping easier to add.

Increase the oven temperature to 220C, 200 fan, 400F, gas mark 6.

Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and boil in salted water until very tender. Mash with seasoning and a little milk and butter - a potato ricer makes wonderfully smooth, fluffy mash. Carefully cover the top of the meat mixture with the potato, adding a fairly small amount at a time evenly over the surface so it doesn't sink into the gravy below. Spread to cover the surface and decorate roughly with the prongs of a fork. Dot with a few tiny specks of butter and return to the oven.

Cook until fully reheated and crispy and brown on top - about 30 minutes.

A Facebook Birthday

This is a card I made for the birthday of my friend Claire, who blogs at Ninja Killer Cat where she shares recipes, reviews, random musings, beautiful photos and lots of gorgeous pictures of her beautiful cats. She's also very active on Social media so I thought this image and sentiment were perfect for her!

 

 

I used the Stella Facebook Birthday digi set from Bugaboo Stamps and coloured it in with Promarkers (tip: your ink is less likely to bleed when using Promarkers on a computer  print out if you let it stand for 24 hours between printing and colouring). The papers are printed from the La Pashe CD Flippin' Families.

I've never played along at Digi Choosday before but I'm dropping in there to share this card.  And at Pia's suggestion, I am also making my first ever entry to the Anything Goes challenge at Catch the Bug.

Sue's wedding card

A few months ago, Sue from Zouave Cards married her long term partner Roy, and this is the card that I made for her.

Does it look familiar? It just might if you are a reader of Quick Cards Made Easy, because it appeared on the letters page of the new issue which came out this week!

Brown paper packages tied up with string...

Well, Kraft and twine really.....

And isn't the camera a fibber? Those two pieces of kraft look very different shades, and yet they are stamped on the same side of the same sheet of card! The textured background paper is from a DCWV stack and the twine is garden twine, which I used instead of bakers' twine for a more rustic effect.

I am sharing this with
Christmas Card Challenges - Colour Challenge
Jingle Belles - Presents
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - CAS or anything goes
Perfectly Created Chaos - Texture   

The parcel stamp is a loose UM from my collection - I can't recall where it came from - stamped and embossed in white. The sentiment is from Lili if the valley.