Happy Birthday Cards

Here are a couple of birthday cards that I came up with last nigth for a swap that I have to mail today. I used the It's A Party set for the swirly design done in heavenly blue on the white paper under the happy birthday from the Sentimental Delights stamp set. The Solid circle and round circular design is from Its A Party. THe base card is glossy white as well as the layered white piece. There is a small layer of heavenly blue to coordinate with the ink. The edges of the two top layers were edged in black ink. This card uses a circular pattern from It's A Party, ocean ink and paper and a giant brad from CTMH. The happy birthday sentiment stamp is from the Happy Birthday set.

Ribs- It's what's for dinner

As promised, I said I'd share the rib recipe if it was worth sharing. Let me tell you- this was a restaurant quality recipe!

When we found out we'd pretty much be snowed in this weekend, my husband had the idea to recreate a meal similar to what we had when our family went to Texas last year.

The menu:

BBQ Ribs

Ray's Salad

Steak Fries

Biscuits

Corn

The recipe for the ribs was fabulous. We have a Nesco roaster that my dad got us for Christmas eons ago. Dusty found this recipe on nesco

3 pounds spareribs or country-style lean ribs

hot water to cover ribs

1 large onion, sliced

2 cups BBQ sauce of your liking

1 bay leaf

Preheat nesco roaster oven to 250 degrees.

Set rack in preheated cookwell. Arrange meat on rack. Add onion, bay leaf and hot water. Cover. Roast for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.

Carefully lift rack out onto large tray with sides. Remove cookwell. Slowly pour out and discard hot water. Wash cookwell.

Set cookwell in heatwell. Cover. Preheat at 425 degrees and lightly wipe cookwell with cooking oil (we used Pam). Place meat on rack. Brush sauce evenly over meat. Set rack in preheated cookwell. Cover; roast 25 to 30 minutes or until sauce is set and edges begin to brown.

Serves 8.

Now for the salad....There is a resturaunt in a town near ours called The Kaiserhoff, that has a salad they are known for called Ray's Salad. I came across this recipe from an old co-worker that knows somebody who knows somebody....you get the picture. Here's the recipe for Ray's Salad:

1 can tomato soup

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup mayonaise

2/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 cup vinegar

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

Mix above ingredients with mixer. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Mix this with lettuce, croutons, crumbled blue cheese and bacon. Don't be alarmed that your lettuce is orange- there are several red ingredients.

Want a link on my site?

I have become extremely addicted to stamp blogs as of late. If I find a blog I like, I typically visit blogs that they've listed on their site as blogs to visit. One can never have enough inspiration for what I like to call "stamp-lifting" of ideas.

Long story short, if you'd like to be linked on my blog, feel free to leave a message on this post and I'd be happy to post your blog onto my blog.

And The Winner Is....

The winner of my first-ever blog candy is........drumroll please....... Lois! Thanks to everyone who promoted my blog on their blog and sent fellow stampers my way. Lois, please email me with your mailing address and I'll get your new book in the mail to you!

Be sure and check back often. I'm going to do more blog candy in the future!

The View Outside My Stamp Room

That's ice you see- NOT rain! We're getting a nasty winter storm here in Minnesota. We had thunderstorms last night and this morning it started snowing on top of all the rain that turned to ice. We'll be hunkered down in the house for the weekend!

I'm really looking forward to not having any plans this weekend. I plan to get a lot of stamping and perhaps a nap or two in this weekend! In a little bit, we're going to throw some bbq'd ribs in a crock pot- I'll post the recipe if they turn out good!

Looks like the perfect weekend to stamp until I can't anymore!

What does this card need?

I feel like this card needs something. Color combo is black, ocean and grey wool. Stamp sets are cheerful thoughts, small pleasures and solo "t".

I used what I think is called rolling technique on the circle stamp. I first stamped it in grey wool and then rolled the edges in black- its a fun technique that adds an interesting element. I don't think you can tell, but the just for you sentiment is mounted with foam dots for a little height.

Does it need something else?

Blog Candy

So I've done alot of blog browsing these past few weeks and I've discovered a ton of Blog Candy! It's basically a free gift that gets awarded to someone who makes a comment on a post on someone's blog. I've been gathering some blog candy myself this week and will have my first givaway on Friday! Leave me a comment on this post and I'll have my husband pick the winner! The drawing will be held Friday at 6pm. The prize includes this book- The Ultimate Scrapbooking Book! Its over 400 pages of ideas and templates. Spread the word and get an extra chance to win! Have your friends mention that you told them to stop by and enter to win, and you'll get an extra ticket in the basket. Good luck!

Just Because

LOVE-LOVE-LOVE this paper! Of course, its by chatterbox and is called Marigold. The green piece of paper is the reverse side of the patterned paper. The just because rub-on is from trademarks by american crafts. I'm totally addicted to rub ons. The photo clips are from closetomyheart

A Trip to the Fire Department

Dusty (my husband) is training to become a volunteer fireman with the North Mankato Fire Department. Over the weekend, we had some good friends come to visit for the weekend and we thought that Jared (7) would love to visit the fire house. We were right....Jared got to climb around on the fire trucks and sit in the jump seats. He even got to wear Dusty's fire jacket. It was a little big on him! Pictured, is Dusty, Jared and his little brother Josh.

I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Dusty in his uniform in front of the trucks he will ride in once he is a full-fledged fireman. The Engines are really quite impressive and its very reassuring to know that men and women like Dusty volunteer their time to fight fires.

Dusty will complete his classes in one month and is looking forward to becoming a fire fighter and being done with his classes.

A Valentine for Morgan

I made these valentine cards for my niece to give her little friends at daycare. I love this paper- it is a new design from Dreaming Up Designs by Jean M. I stamped the inside with Be Mine. paper- my sister is going attach a baby of Teddy Grahams to the back of the card.

Card for a friend

We were at a birthday party over the weekend for our friend Soren and his mom. They called it the 30/60 party because Soren turned 30th, his mom turned her 60. Anyhow, at the birthday party Soren announced some exciting news....he and his wife Anne are expecting their first baby on August 11th. Congratulations to Soren & Anne! I made this card to send them.

For You

Here is a fun little card used with So Sweet Seasons- I got this idea from another consultant a long time ago on the CTMH site. I used sweet leaf, white and black paper. I stamped the circle of dots from Small Pleasures in white daisy ink on the black card stock . I love these 2 sets of stamps- they are so inter-changeable