Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Absolutely no mojo....

it stinks, to say the least. I so want to scrap, but nothing... nada.... absolutely zilch.

Oh well... I will show you a travel journal I made a week, no make that two weeks ago, for the Savvy'n Sassy online crop. I love how it turned out and I am hoping to fill it with exciting stuff this summer.



Oh, and I did make a card for a neighbor's confirmation this past Saturday. I had fun playing around with alcohol inks.


Other than that... Trouble #1 and #2 are on a school trip for three days and I am using this time for my annual "dung out the kids' rooms" event. One room down, one to go. And my garbage can is overflowing. Good thing tomorrow is pick up day.

With that said, have a good one.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Don't be cruel.....



that's what I am thinking right now. See... you recall.... I made my Elvis Cupcakes. And they were good. REALLY good. But, I was trying to be a good girl and gave away 4 to the neighbor, and three to the other neighbor, and 6 to my buddies at the wine store across teh street, and 4 to my kids. I ate two. Yes, I admit to that. But, I didn't want to eat anymore, so I took the last 5 with me into the city last night to my friend Nat.

And now I have a major craving for Elvis Cupcakes. Life is, indeed, cruel. But my hips are thankful. And... well, Elvis should have been as strong as me and not had those PB&banana sandwiches, at least not by the dozen. Wasn't he lovely?

Have a good one.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Elvis cupcakes

what do you think?


Apparently Elvis loved grilled Peanutbutter & Banana sandwiches. So much so, that he would eat a dozen or so in one sitting. I think he would have liked my sandwich inspired cupcakes.

The cupcake part is a fried banana, chunky peanutbutter cupcake. Denser than a regular cupcake, but lighter than banana bread. The frosting is a super light peanut butter buttercream, with a drizzle of dark chocolate.

I tried one. I had to lock away the rest, so I wouldn't do like Elvis. My hips (and new jeans) do not need a dozen of these cupcakes.

Have a good one.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Cupcakes.... first flavor combo....

I have been baking and mixing and whipping and such yesterday and today. And... cupcakes are done and decorated. No pictures yet, but a hint:

Elvis' favorite sandwich..... mmmmhhhh, makes good cupcakes, too.

More tomorrow.

Now I have to go to bed to recover from a day of baking, and outlet shopping and shopping at the art store. Oh, it was a good day
Have a good one.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Things sticking out

from the pages.... Lately I have been scrapping a lot with danyeela pattern paper. Love that stuff. But, until recently, she only had A4 papers. Total change for me... but once I got the hang of this different format, I loved it. But, as the title of this posts states... no matter what, there is always somthing sticking out from my pages. I guess A4 is just a tad too small for this die hard 12x12 scrapper. There are a few LOs I cannot show quite yet, but here are a few others. And, if you are just as blown away (not by my obvious artistic talent... LOL) but by the papers, you can order them here shortly.





If you want to see more of my pages with "stuff sticking out" just go back a month or two. There are a few more LOs.

Oh, and related to my cupcake posts over the last few days.... Elvis is not dead. More in a few days.

Have a good one.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

See...

now that's what I am talking about. I guess I had to post my cupcake cookbook to inspire you all to share your ideas. LOL

So... sofar we have (other than the ones mentioned in the last post):
Bounty (or for you Americans... Mounds)-pineapple... Bounty is my all-time favorite candy bar. LOVE IT, will have to try it.
Peanutbutter pretzel chocolate... sounds intriguing.
Nutella Walnut Caramel.... three of my favorite things... how can it be wrong?
Vanilla Yoghurt Caramel.... mmmmhhh, not sure on that one....sounds so.... healthy. LOL
Coconut-Strawberry.... interesting combination. Will require some thought.
Something Savory i.e. Asparagus Rucola (rocket?). Now... I don't usually consider Savory for a cupcake, because I cannot slather it with buttercream. But then... why not make a savory buttercream, or cheesecream? I am totally digging the asparagus rucola combination. Maybe with some ham....
Negerkuss.... yes, that would have to be a classic German flavor combo.
Lemon chocolate.... yes, Amanda, I can tell you've got cravings. I don't usually like the combination of lemon and chocolate. Now, orange chocolate I like. I will have to think on how I am going to do this....
Caramel Mudcake... I think we have a thing for Caramel going, don't you? The recipe sounds sinfully good.

And Barbara, yes, only cupcakes, but who says I cannot turn other recipes into cupcakes? So, yes, please do share youre recipes for Lemon Glazed poundcake and
Whoopie Pies and I will see if I can come up with something.

So.... I will have to tell you that over the past 3 months or so I have lost about 15 pounds. And yesterday I receive a package from my MIL with two new pairs of jeans, a size smaller than what I have been wearing the past 5+ years. I will be damned if I have to go back to my old jeans. What I am trying to say is, that there is no way that I ma going to figure out all these recipes anytime soon. Give me a bit of time to work on these.

Anyway... thinking cap on...

Have a good one.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Don't be shy!

I know there are more of you reading my blog. And I am pretty sure there are more of you with ideas on cupcake flavors. So, don't be shy.... I have great plans. Okay, I don't know how great, but I sure plan on trying these flavors out.

So far we have:
Rhubarb Cinnamon.... mmmhhh, interesting. I will have to see how to incorporate the rhubarb without the cake part getting soggy.
Rote Grütze.... typical northern (?) German dessert. Love it. I already have some ideas on how to do this.
Jaffa.... YES, I love Jaffa cookies. I love chocolate with orange.
Snickers... mmmhhhh, love snickers. Could be interesting, with the peanuts and the caramel and chocolate.
Black bottom...I have made those. I wasn't too fond of them, but my neighbor loved them.

Anything else? Like I said... don't be shy.

Oh, and maybe this will inspire you comment. I made this little album for my cupcake recipes. There is space for pictures and little pockets for the recipes. Isn't it too fun?




Finally the weather around these parts is turning spring like. It is gorgeous outside. I might just have to do some gardening.

Have a good one.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Flavors.... flavors... oh, the choices!

So, I am looking for new cupcake flavor combinations. Except... I am coming up with nothing. Big, fat nothing. That's where you come in: tell me about your favorite flavor combinations. They don't have to be "typical" cupcake flavor combinations, but something I might have to try and work on for a bit to figure out.

Like... Trouble #1 loves PB&J sandwiches. Grape jelly is hard, if not impossible, to find here in Germany, so we have Nana bring some every time she comes. Anyway, we are waiting on a fresh supply of grape jelly and then I am going to work on a PB&J cupcake.

Like... I love S'mores...Still have to find the perfect S'mores cupcake recipe. Finding Graham Crackers here in Germany... about as impossible as the grape jelly.

Like....

Tell me. And I might just give it a shot.

Have a good one.

Things that make me happy....

still too stressed, to0 worried, too just not myself... so I am still baking. And I feel better for a while. This time I made Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes.

They looks so simple, so plain, but ohhhhh, are they good! And just because I couldn't help myself, I added just a wee bit of raspberry filling.



The weather is getting better. There is the promise of spring in the air... sunny outside. Hopefully my spell of "blahhhh" will be over by the time this weekend is over.

Have a good one.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

An American Classic...

if you know me at all, you know that I start baking when I am stressed. And bake I did. Nothing fancy, because quite frankly, there wasn't much to bake with (see next paragraph), but bake I did. An American Classic. Snickerdoodles. Nothing like baking comfort food. I am hopefull that it will do the trick. The house does smell deliciously like cinnamon. If it doesn't work, I might have to move on to peanutbutter cookies. How much more classic American can you get?



I don't know what it is right now, but nothing seems to get done and it is bugging the heck out of me. I didn't even get to the grocery store like I had planned (and looking inside my fridge... NEED to). So, I know there are quite a few people waiting for mail from me.... shame on me, I haven't even been able to get to the post office to get those envelopes mailed. So sorry about the delay. Give me a couple more days....

Anyway, just thought I'd update.
Have a good one.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Sort of scrappy related...

one of the make'n takes at the Savvy'n Sassy online crop was this cute little project.



It is just the right size to keep a few pictures in it.

Have a good one.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Sorry, still no slide show...

yes, I admit, I am an idiot when it comes to this thing, but be patient... I'll get it figured out.

In the meantime, here's another tag I made. You can't really see it too well in the picture, but there it lots of glitz. I am liking all the glitz...



Oh, and a while ago I made some cards using the Stampin'Up scrapbook papers. I love, love, love those papers. Frauke, these are going your way.


And, with that I am off to parent/teacher night at school. Don't ask me how I feel about that....

Have a good one.

My Circle Journal Part II

well... this is where I was going to show you the slide show that I made in photobucket. But... I am a total idiot when it comes to html... yeah, I know, I should remember from school, but heck, I took the class twice and still only remember the basics..., so if someone could tell me how I insert the slideshow in blogger, I would greatly appreciate it.

Off to finish some cards, get things ready for tomorrow's online crop at Savvy'n Sassy and the class at Scrapbook-King tomorrow night, and whatever else the day may bring.

Have a good one.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

My Circle Journal

made its trip around Europe and across the Atlantic (several times) and, after more than a year "on the road", arrived back home. If I remember correctly, there were 2 Americans, 3 Germans, 3 Dutch (though one moved to Canada) and two Swedes (though one is actually Brazilian).

I haven't had time yet to look at all the entries in depth, but it is so cool to see what everyone came up with. I will take pictures and post later.

The topic of my Journal is "Soundtrack of my Life". So.... if your life was going to be made into a movie, what would the Soundtrack be like?

Have a good one.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

I just couldn't stop....

and did another tag. This one followed these instructions.



And since I needed to figure out what to do with my tags.... this is what I came up with. It is now hanging in my hallway. I like it!



Have a good one.

Tim Holtz April Technique Challenge

I don't really get into the whole tag making thing, but I do like the technique challenges on Tim Holtz's blog. So... here's the April Tag. It was a lot of fun.



That's it for today.
Have a good one.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

This, my friends.....

is happiness in a cup!

Okay, more in a cocktail glass, because that's what I like to photograph my cupcakes in, but you KWIM.

It is a blackforest cupcake. It is chocolate cake, cherries, and whipped cream. It is heaven.

And you will like it even more, because unlike me, you won't gain 10 pounds....



Have a good one.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

RAK update

Sorry, it took me a little longer to get the names drawn for the RAK... somehow the kids just weren't cooperating. But, without further ado, here are the 7 recipients:

Manu (Miss Marple)
Tonya
Marion
Strahli
Pinky
Wally
Sarale

Would you please send me your adresses so I can get these RAKs out to you?

Have a good one.

Three more layouts

for the Scrapmuse online crop.

I have to tell you... I loved it. I even dug out some old pictures to use. Fun, fun, fun.


Danyeela pattern paper, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, Queen & Co (?) letters, Tim Holtz/Heidi Swapp stamp, Stampin'Up ink


Bazzill CS, acrylic paint, Fancy Pants felt, misc. alpha stickers, 7gypsies tag


Bazzill CS, acrylic paint, Rouge de Garance pp, HS flowers, American Crafts Thickers, misc. chipboard letters, ribbon


I will post the winners of the RAK later tonight.

Have a good one.