Happy Advent to you!

Can you believe it's December already? I cannot. I'm definately in denial, wishing I had a few weeks ago back again so that I could properly prepare for the coming of this glorious season! One thing I got right, I made sure to have my little one's Advent Calendar ready for this day, the first of Advent! It's a little something he looks forward to each year, the opening of the little windows on the calendar countdown to Christmas! I was quite surprised to find that a few of the Belles 'n Whistles Stamps characters had actually made it onto this year's calendars! If you look closely, you'll see what I mean! Gingerbread Love, Belle's Carols, Jingle Bells and Rockin' Around...they're all on there!

Oh alright, you got me...I photoshopped them in! But darn they look as if they belonged there in the first place, don't they? LOL! ;D That's how adorable Elisabeth's designs are (as you know)!

Mini tutorial:

How-to enjoy your Chocolate Advent Calendar, Day 1

1. Hunt for and then open window number 1

2. Expose chocolate piece

3. Pop chocolate out of window to reveal the Christmas image molded onto the candy

4. Place chocolate between teeth, bite down and enjoy!

Now if you haven't joined us over at the Belles 'n Whistles blog yet for our daily Advent Giveaways, please do! We're counting down the days to Christmas and would love to have you join in! Each day starting December 1 and through Christmas, one lucky winner will be selected to receive an Advent Goody Bag made up of Prima flowers, some embellishments and an assorted mixture of Magnolia and Alota Rubber stamps! Each bag will also contain a Belles 'n Whistles rubber stamp of course...in all, a value of more than $25, each day! Christmas day will hold an extra something-special for it's lucky winner, but I'm not telling just what, not yet! But besides the great opportunities to win some goodies, we'll be showcasing some wonderful projects by the fabulous Belles 'n Whistles Design Team so do join us each day!

Here is the posting I used for the first day of Advent yesterday! I had the honor of "opening" the Advent Calendar's first day on the blog...very exciting! A week prior to that, I shared with this decorated bag below, sporting the very cute stamp, Jingle Bells on it. Yesterday I got to share the gift I had created to go along with this bag!

A few of my favorite things about Christmas are the sights and smells and sounds of the holiday! My jingley bells on the bag are a favorite Christmas sound of mine...now I share with you an easy-to-put-together gift that captures the sights and smells nicely...Lighted Potpourri!

A few supplies are all that's required: A glass jar (I chose to work with a glass block from my local craft store), some potpourri, a set of miniature lights (plug-in or battery operated, whichever you prefer) and some ribbon or other Christmassy embellishment.

Start by inserting a few of your miniature lights into the bottom of the glass jar/block.

Next, add some potpourri.

Work in layers alternating a few lights then some potpourri, a few more lights and a bit more potpourri until you've filled your glass jar or block. Take the time during this step to position lights as you'd like them to show in the jar.

Last, finish by hiding the light's wires with your ribbon or other Christmassy embellishment. Turn off the house lights and enjoy! The soft warmth of the lights will help to gently release the wonderful smell of your Christmas potpourri...I'm using a Holiday Cranberry scent, yum! Talk about lighting the way to Christmas! ;D A simple gift to make though sure to brighten someone's day (and night)!

Alright now, I want you all to go to the Belles 'n Whistles Blog to sign-up for a chance at winning one of the Advent Goody Bags! =)

Enjoy the sounds, the sights and the smells of Christmas!

Summer =)

Ho-ho-wholy Cow...Two cards!

Well it's the most I've made in as short a period of time for as long as I can remember, LOL! Two cards in two days, whew! We've kicked off the Belles 'n Whistles Christmas release with an awesome Blog Hop...wanted to share with you two of the new Elisabeth Bell stamps here--the very cute Rockin' Around and The Christmas Tree! Belle and here teddy are whisked away to fun times when upon their trusty steed! I tried to make him a little Pinto! =)

Copics, Primas, Ice Stickles and Basic Grey DP...that's about it for this one! ;D

For the Belles 'n Whistles Blog Hop, the project I created was a holiday desk-top scene. I chose to use the very sweet stamp Belle Sitting with Teddy. She's a wonderfully versatile little Belle! Here, I decided to have her sitting in front of the Christmas tree, waiting for Santa! Either she's waiting for him or she's looking at the tree, wondering why I didn't do more decorating on it for her, LOL! Okay--no, she's waiting for Santa. And we're getting an outsider's view of her and her favorite teddy through her decorated Christmas window! The tiny part of the tree you see is actually "The Christmas Tree". And once again, the wonderful Elisabeth Bell has designed some other real lovelies to go along with The Christmas Tree--you can see them all in the store!

The wall of the house (DP) is from the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper pad, the window frame and portion of a front door was stamped using an Alota Rubber Stamp called Screen Door. The window is a piece of acetate, the curtain--a portion of a paper napkin. The half-wreath on the door and the lighted bough above the window are Canadian pine stems from the local craft store. And the lights are battery-operated minis which I've carefully made to look as though they are part of the bough.

And yes! Belle's lights actually do light! (She was surprised to see this herself, even on the balls of her tree, LOL!)

A side view...

The only thing missing is a holiday greeting...I haven't yet decided whether to add that now or wait and turn this into a little count-down-to-Christmas calendar, with some calendar numbers in the upper corner.

Now I also baked cookies for the hop, so I'll share the recipe with you here as well....the cookies Belle decided she wanted to leave for Santa are called Chocolate Krinkles. We baked a bunch up, just to be sure they were delicious enough....they were! So we'll be sure to bake another batch on Christmas Eve again since we've eaten all of these, LOL!

Chocolate Krinkles
2-3/4 C all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2-3/4 tsp baking powder
1-1/8 C shortening or butter
2-3/4 C sugar
1 C Cocoa powder
6 eggs
1 Tb pure vanilla extract
1 C powdered sugar

Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In another bowl, cream together shortening, sugar and cocoa. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition. Add vanilla and beat until well blended. Gradually add flour mix and mix until combined. Chill dough at least 2 hours in the refridgerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop dough by tablespoons into the powdered sugar and roll to coat well. Bake on greased cookie sheets for 10-12 minutes. Let stand on cookies sheet for a minute before loosening them to cool on wire racks.

Yields about 4 dozen.

Other outstandingly wonderful Christmas creations can be found on the Belles 'n Whistles DT blogs here...

1 - Rosette
2 - Lynda
3 - Kathrin
4- Jacque
5 - Iris
6 - Anki
7 - Jodi
8 - Lilian

Christmas is coming....time to start Rockin'!

Summer =)

Belles 'n Whistles Fall Release Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Belles ‘n Whistles Fall Release Blog Hop….whooo hooo! There's a new set of yummies coming to the store tomorrow, September 19th, so I’m glad that you’ve joined us! If you've landed here from our Belles 'n Whistles blog, under the direction of Anki, our wonderful "Mistress of Ceremonies", great...continue on! If you've accidentally stumbled here on your own, take a moment go to our Belles 'n Whistles blog to start the hop off right--you'll be glad you did! ;D You will want to be sure to visit each of the DT members blogs during your hop and leave comments while you are there…the end result will have you back at our Belles ‘n Whistles blog for a chance at winning a complete set of the new Elisabeth Bell beauties you are about to view!

Now this is no ordinary blog hop—oh no! This is a yummy one, full of delectable treats for your eyes as well as your taste buds (should you choose to indulge with us later, LOL!)! You’ll soon see what I mean!

There’s something about Fall that gets me excited! Perhaps it’s the cooler morning and evening hours—cool enough for long-pant pajamas and socks, yummy soup dinners or hot chocolate with whipped cream for dessert, mmmm! Perhaps it’s the anticipation of all of the yummy holidays soon to come! In any case, Fall is a wonderful season! So wonderful, it got me motivated to participate myself in this scrumptious Fall blog-hop release, LOL!

I’ve chosen to showcase the new stamp called, “Mmm! Yes Please!”. “How absolutely adorable!”, is what I thought when I first laid eyes upon them in Elisabeth’s gallery! This pair is truly a favorite of mine! ;D And what an appropriate scene for fall…a nice toasty pie, fresh-from-the-oven, shared with a loved one! Mmm, yes please! I’ve colored them in using Copics and have accented here and there with my favorite embellishment—Diamond Ice Stickles!

Now to go along with the yummy stamp image is a yummy treat for you to try, Quick and Easy Apple Dumplings! Here is the recipe I use:

INGREDIENTS
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
2 (10 ounce) cans of refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12 ounce) can or bottle Mountain Dew

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Cut each apple into 8 wedges, peel and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in a triangle of crescent roll dough. Pinch dough to seal around the apple and place the dumplings in your baking dish. In a small saucepan, melt butter and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Spoon this mixture over the apple dumplings then pour the Mountain Dew over them. Bake these for 35 to 45 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

The dumplings finish baking in a wading-pool of delicious syrup--their bottoms are soft and theirs tops nice and crisp. The syrup can be spooned onto the scoop of vanilla ice cream that really ought to accompany these treats…mmm, mmmm! I like to remove the dumplings from the pan and serve them right away. =)

Before I sign-off, guess who's comment was randomly chosen from all of the wonderful suggestions regarding how this new release should be done (Belles 'n Whistles blog post, September 8)......the lucky winner of one new Fall image stamp of her choice is.......Alex!

Alex said... I LOVE blog hops! I really enjoy seeing what people create with the stamps. I think it shows them off so nicely and often I find I love ones when used that didn't grab me as much just seeing the image. Blog hop -please!!! :)September 10, 2009 2:02 AM So Alex, please contact me with your information and chosen stamp design! Congratulations! =)

Well now my posting here is done, yet we've only just begun! You'll need to hop over next to Iris' scrumptious blog to see what goodies lie in store for you there! Don't forget to leave your comments at each blog and to check out the Belles 'n Whistles store September 19th for the new stamps!!

Summer =)

Happy Birthday to you...(I'm singing)

happy birthday TO you, happy BIRTHday dear Rosette, HAPPY birthday TO YOU!!!

Woweee! Three special friends birthdays, all in the same month! And they are all such wonderful people!

Dearest Rosette, may your day be filled with peace, with joy and with happiness and may He bless you, today and always, with everything that makes your vibrant spirit sing, your cheerful heart rejoice, and your birthday absolutely beautiful!

With much love and aloha Rosette!

Summer =)

How to Summer, Part II

Go to the Beach! A friend of ours asked us to come along with he and his family to the Sandbar over in Kane'ohe bay today...what a treat! We jumped on his boat and headed for a quick drive out across the bay to the infamous Sandbar, where the tide is low enough here to expose a nice loooong bar of sand. People take their boats out to the bar, anchor and set-up for a day at the beach with tents, barbeques, beach chairs and more!

A little more sunscreen on my arms and legs would've been really nice! By the day's end, my legs were as red as a lobster (or so it seems, LOL!) after sitting out on the beach chair in the sun all day.
The best way to cool down after a loong day out in the sun?

Ice cream, of course!

Though not just any ice cream, oh no! 2 scoops Baskin Robbin's: Cherries Jubilee and World-Class Chocolate (on the bottom)...yum, YUM! =) Nothing could be finer after a long day in the sun, LOL!

Hau'oli la hanau 'ia 'oe...

hau'oli la hanau 'IA 'oe, hau'oli LA hanau 'ia Jodi, HAU'OLI LA hanau 'IA 'oe! Well! How's that? Two good friends and DT member's birthdays, one right after the other! That means I am TWO cards behind now...yikes!!

Dearest Jodi, I hope you had a wonderful, stupendous day today (despite your having been at work until 3...you should've taken the day off or called in sick, LOL!)! I know you already got a fabulous gift from Bryan...have fun learning how to use it! Hope you went out and had a yummy dinner somewhere, followed by cake and ice cream too, mmmmmm! A very happy birthday to you with many, many more to come Jodi!!

Hugs to you!
Summer =)

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday TO you...

Happy BIRTHday dear Peta,

HAPPY BIRTHday TOOOOO YOU!!!

Today my dear friend (and DT member) Peta is celebrating her *!COUGH!*27th *!AHEM!* birthday, right Peta? I may be wrong...it may be her 26th! As usual, I am late with a card and gift. SNIFF. I'm late with the card because I need to make one. I haven't MADE a card in months! SNIFF, SNIFF. I'm late with the gift because I am late with the card that I have not yet made, because I haven't made a card in months. SNIFF, SNIFF, HONK.

Dearest Peta, my birthday wish for you is that you have a joyful, wonderful today (with many more today's like it to come!), surrounded no doubt by the love of your family and the love of your friends, both there and here at Roses on Paper. I hope you enjoy your special day to the maximum, that your birthday wishes come true, and that you'll eat lots of cake and ice cream for me too--chocolate please! Your card & gift will be on their way, soon as I make a card!

Biggest hugs to you Peta!
Summer =)