WOOHOO! Happy Friday! And that means that it's time for a new challenge over at Wags 'n Whiskers! This week, the challenge is brought to us by the lovely and very talented Michele (You've GOT to check out her hand made flowers!!) Michele's challenge is vintage/shabby chic. For my card, I chose to use this adorable fairy called Hannah. She's colored with ProMarkers and then cut out and popped up. The flourishes and doily are Doohickey dies by Magnolia from Magnolia-licious. Bow is made from May Arts silk ribbon.  Please be sure and visit the rest of my sister Divas to see their gorgeous creations, and then we'd love it if you'd join us in the challenge. But remember, you must use a Wags 'n Whiskers image to win!


Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon!  Hugs!

How 'bout THEM apples?!?

I volunteered to make cookies for a teacher appreciate dinner last week and since it was September, and the beginning of the school year, I had apples on the brain.

These apples are inspired by my friend, Jennifer, a FABULOUS cookie decorator who makes cookies for Frost Bake Shoppe.  This summer, she made these cute little sun cookies...aren't they darling?!?  Well, I thought my apples needed smiles as well.


{One note on these...the dots are just a lighter red, but next time I make them, I'll make the dots a bit darker....I think the eyes blend in a little too much with them. And wouldn't green apples be fun, too?}

To make them, you'll need:
 
    Using a #3 tip, outline the cookie (apple & leaf) in black icing (I STRONGLY recommend AmeriColor Super Black).  Pipe the stem.

    Because of the black outline, you may want to let the outline set for a bit longer than normal.  One hour should be fine.

    Thin the red and light red icings with water, a bit at a time, until it is the consistency of thick syrup.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit several minutes.

    Stir gently with a rubber spatula and transfer both icings to squeeze bottles.

    Working 6-8 cookies at a time, fill in the apples in red, using a toothpick to guide to edges.

    Go back over the same 6-8 cookies and drop dots of the lighter red icing.
    Let stand at least one hour.

    With the #4 tip, pipe eyes on the apples with white icing.

    Using a #2 tip, add the pupils to the eyes and a smile. :)

    With another #2 tip, fill in the leaf.

    Let dry overnight.

    You know what they say...
    "An Apple a Day Keeps the Skinny Jeans Away." 
    Or something like that.

    Tidy Mom I'm Lovin It Fridays

    Deborah and Clarel ...Wedding Weekend Festivities, Tennis Hall of Fame and The Arabella

    Posted by Mariah, Photos by Mariah:

    Lucky me! I spent the day after Clarel and Deborah's wedding with the gang, who ended up feeling like old friends by the end of the night. First, I met up with them at the Tennis Hall of Fame for the "Nuptial Cup." A fitting activity considering Deborah and Clarel found each other through their love of tennis. What a beautiful day to be at the Tennis Hall of Fame, which a gorgeous place! C + D were able to play for ten minutes on the grass court in the horse shoe piazza, such a treat!
    As if that wasn't enough fun, we finished off the day with a sunset sail on the Arabella with family and friends. A perfect ending to a perfect weekend.



















    

    Delightful Challenges - purple, green, and black color challenge!


    Hi everyone! It's almost Friday! YAY! And since it's Thursday, that means it's time for a new challenge from Delightful Challenges!  We are sponsored this week by Kut 4 U.  Our challenge is to use the colors purple, green, and black. I threw a few other colors in there, but for the majority of the card, those are definitely my main colors. I used Frankie Ridley along with the haunted house from the Halloween Accessory Set.

    The fence is cut with my Cricut Expression from the Paper Dolls cartridge. I honestly can't remember if it was Everyday or Dress Up. See what happens when you use the Gypsy and don't have to dig out all those cartridges anymore? LOL! Anyway, I curved the fence out from the card, so they're attached to the card on both sides, and then curved out through the center of the fence.  Please be sure to visit Delightful Challenges to see what the rest of my talented DT sisters came up with for this challenge. And don't forget to hop over HERE to see the Digital Delights DT have come up with for today as well. Thanks for stopping by to see me today and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!

    CEiMB - Almond French Toast Bake



    Craving Ellie in My Belly is packed full of all things fresh and wonderful. This week Heide of Chez Zero hosted and my husband and I enjoyed every bite of the Blueberry Almond French Toast bake.



    I actually baked the breakfast treat for dinner with Breakfast sausage links.





    I used 1 1/2 multi-grain whole wheat baguettes. 1 was not enough to cover the bottom of my 9 x 13 dish.


    I made several other changes according to several people commenting on the recipe at the Food Network Site (you can find the recipe by clicking on Food Network.)
    To keep this from being too moist, I used 6 large eggs and 6 egg whites, cut the milk down to 1 1/2 cups and added 1/2 cup of maple syrup. I also omitted ALL the dark brown sugar; by accident. I was hurrying and totally spaced!


    Thank you Heide for another great Ellie recipe choice! I just know Heide will have the recipe posted on her site as well. Go check it out! =)

    Deborah and Clarel at Blithewold ... Part One

    Posted by Mariah, Photos by Mariah and Trish:

    I have coined a new phrase to describe Deborah and Clarel, "Charis-magnets". It's hard to describe these two, but I think charismagnets comes pretty close. You are drawn to them, it just makes you feel good being around them. It's like a nice big warm hug... It was rough going on Monday morning after spending the weekend with these two, the withdrawl was brutal! But, I am just grateful for my little time in the glow of the sunny place that was Clarel and Deborah's wedding. I'm sure all the wedding guests felt the same as they seemed to be basking in the charismagnet rays too.
    Deborah met Clarel while Deborah was fundraising for WGBH. They fell in love through their mutual love of tennis and soon discovered they were a perfect fit in life and perfect partners on the dance floor as well as the tennis court. Seriously, every girl at the wedding wanted to be Deborah floating around the dance floor in her dreamy twirly dress with her equally dreamy husband.
     Am I gushing?....




































    
    The vendors who made it happen:
    Florist: Toni Chandler
    Bride's Gown: Pronovias

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