A vist back to summertime

Today I have an absolutely adorable old Woody album from Pinecone Press. I bought this back in August at the Scrapbook Expo...well first I bought 2 cute bus albums for my grandbabies (one not yet born but was due any day) even though they aren't even in school yet (yep I am a planner and some would say a bit of a hoarder) because they were like nothing I had seen before and lets face it they were just too darn cute to pass up. These kits are way cool. I desperately wanted to buy this Woody album but really didn't have any pictures and I was trying to be logical about it when I mentioned it to my son as it would be perfect for his room and he told me he was heading over to the beach the next day, perfect..he took pictures and I bought the album. And now that all my other scrapbooking chores have been met I finally was able to dedicate some time to completing this. Now what you see is a kit that Pinecone Press sells you and I just embellished it here and there from my ample supplies of stuff.

Hard to tell but there is a small acrylic page where the surfboards are.

As you can see I dug out some sand and shells that I had saved from way back when.



Here is some Magic Scraps glitter mesh that I just unpackaged for the first time to use on this page. Sometimes I love that I hang on to stuff I figure I will never use again, because it always seems to come in handy. And those cute little Jolee Crab stickers never go out of style.



A combination of die cut star fish, real shells and a fish sticker really help to add dimension to the details. 





And my son did love this. You just never know with boys whether you should or you shouldn't especially mine because what's cool one day is out the next. Glad I asked before I bought the album because it sure was hard to resist. I think they sell these albums on line if you are up to completing one or even some of the other great products they have.

Back To Business

So I went to Oregon for Christmas, but we don't officially celebrate Christmas until this Saturday. Mostly our trip is to visit with my in-laws and my hubby's family. Basically on Christmas Day we have a visit fest as everyone comes by to have my father-in-laws breakfast (Waffles with Strawberries and Whipped Cream) and catch up by visiting with everyone. It's a bit hectic sometimes but always so nice to visit with everyone since we only get up there twice a year. So when we get home I do a second Christmas which is with my kids and grandkids. This is probably the normal Christmas that most people celebrate with their families. But it's a good thing because it gave me a few days to finish up some crafty gifts. One of which was these hearts.

If you remember I have been making these 3 hearts for my dd. The first one was of my oldest grandson (First Heart,) the second one I can't show you because PaperCrafts picked it up for publication but this is the last one of my youngest grandson, Marshall. I was hoping to get a better picture of him but decided this really captures him perfectly. Mr. Smiley..always so happy and content so it will have to do.

I did show my dd the one heart that was being sent off for publication but she doesn't know (unless she checks in here) what the other two will look like until she opens her Christmas gift.

Off To Oregon For Christmas

Wishing all of you and your family a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year! Sharing a few photos taken from Oregon over the years. Sometimes there is snow and sometimes there is not, but this year..there will be tons! Always nice to visit but always glad I am not there when it all starts to melt. 

My First Layout of my newest grandson

Yippie, I am finally getting a layout done of the littlest add on to our family. His name is Marshall and is now just barely 4 months old, so I can't believe I actually got a layout done. Usually it takes almost a year before I get to them (i.e. Zack's Christmas layout from last year..LOL). I am using some way old products for the page like scenic route pp, the American Crafts velvet thickers and Heidi Swapp die cut letters along with some K&Co heart stickers.

Last Day of Holiday Treats + A Christmas Layout

Ok you foodies, I was going to post photos and recipes for the last two items Pinwheels and Lemon Pound Cake but I will just point you to the links of my recipes (King Arthur Flour). I will tell you the Pinwheels call for Cinnamon Oil. I didn't have any so skipped it but this recipe really needs more cinnamon in it so if you don't have the oil it calls for it does use 1 T of Cinnamon, but I would push that to 1-1/2 or 2 T

The batch I made was ok but it really needed more cinnamon flavor and also I would suggest a little icing drizzled on top. Personally for me, this was the first year I used this recipe and I just thought it was a lot of work for not much flavor. The second recipe is the Lemon Pound cake..and OMG is this cake wonderful. I added 1 T dried Orange Zest and 1 C chopped fresh cranberries to the recipe..if you want the cranberries I suggest 1-1/2 or even 2 C..there were only a scant few in my slices. The glaze is what sends this cake over the top so be sure to make it, but don't worry about the sugar it calls for..you can use regular sugar as I did and it turned out fine, otherwise you can run regular sugar in your Cuisinart chopper and pulse a few times to get the superfine sugar they call out in the recipe. Happy Baking

Lemon Glazed Pound Cake

Cinnamon Bun Pinwheels

And now for a bit of eye candy. I made this layout of my middle grandson, Zack. He is turning into such a cutie and I can't wait for this years Christmas photos. He is almost 2 now. This layout was from pictures I took last year. PP was from Echo Park's Christmas line and a few older items, like Scenic Route rubons (I sure miss that company), K&CO puffy stickers, and  Jenni Bowlin Diecut journal spot (It originally said Wednesday but I took care of that with my trusty little dynamo maker)

Holiday Treats - Day 7

Today for your pleasure I am posting a recipe for Cherry Almond cookies and Divinity (bottom of the post and alas not photo since I didn't plan on sharing and gulp these are long gone)



I first made this cookie last year and decided (just for me) I needed to add this to my usual cookie list. I like the tart dried cherry paired with the crunch of the almonds..and of course a little bit of sweet icing for the top doesn't hurt either.

Ingredients
Cookies
1/2 C (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 Large Egg
1-1/4 C All-Purpose Flour
3/4 C Chopped dried cherries
1/2 C Slivered blanched almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Icing
1-1/3 C Powder Sugar, sifted
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1-1/2 tsp Water (plus extra if needed)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar, extracts, cinnamon and salt until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes then beat in egg. Add the flour and beat on the lowest speed until just blended. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the dried cherries and almonds.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 12 inches long and 1-1/2 inches in diameter. (I shape the dough using the wrap otherwise the dough tends to stick to your hands) Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Dough can be made up to 3 days in advance)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper

Cut the log into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Don't worry if they are not perfectly round..they do tend to expand when baking..but if they are oval well they won't turn out round they just need to be sorta round to begin with. Transfer the dough to prepared cookie sheets spacing about 1 inches apart. bake the cookies are golden around the edges about and puffed, about 15 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before icing, about 30 minutes.


For the Icing:
Put the powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the vanilla extract and water, adding more water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the mixture becomes a drizzling consistency. I placed my icing in a plastic sandwich baggie, snipped off the corner and drizzled the icing that way, you can also use a spoon.

Divinity
4 cups sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

3/4 cup cold water

3 egg whites

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

2 cups chopped pecans

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir only until sugar has dissolved. Do not stir after this point. Cook syrup mixture until it reaches 250 degrees F on a candy thermometer, bringing it to a hard ball stage.

While the syrup is cooking, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once the sugar mixture reaches 250 degrees F, carefully pour a slow steady stream of syrup into the stiffly beaten egg whites, beating constantly at high speed. Add the vanilla and continue to beat until mixture holds its shape, approximately 3- 5 minutes. (I have done this recipe twice, once at 5 minutes and they were too dry and once at 3 minutes...a little too soft so 4 minutes should be about right) Stir in pecans.

Using 2 spoons, drop the divinity onto waxed paper, using 1 spoon to push the candy off the other. This may take a little practice because the technique is to twirl the pushing spoon, making the candy look like the top of a soft serve ice cream. If the candy becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water. You will need to work fast when making this type of candy. After you spoon the cooked sugar and nuts onto the waxed paper, you're done. Cool the candies on racks completely. You can store them in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks

Back To Holiday Treats - Day 6

So with Christmas around the corner and having requests for more recipes I will try to put in two recipes per post to get them all to you in time. First up is Rugelach and later in the post Almond Bark (sorry no photo). Now I have two recipes and while these are the fig date in the photo I don't think it's the best filling so am going to give you my other filling recipe because it's that yummy.

Please be aware the recipe does call for the dough to be refrigerated overnight. I did but I imagine a good 4-6 hours would work or just 15 min in the freezer. Its soft and more delicate than a pie dough so thus the extra chilling time..when you roll it and cut it, it can tear more easily.

For the Dough

Whisk together in a separate bowl
2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C powder sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together in a mixing bowl
2 sticks (1 C) unsalted softened butter
1 pkg (8 oz) softened cream cheese
Minced zest of 1 lemon

Once mixture is combined add in Flour mixture from above. Shape dough into 3 8oz portions, flatten into disks, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

For the Filling
3/4 C toasted hazelnuts
1 C Apricot preserves
2/3 Golden Raisins
1/4 tsp salt

In a food processor Chop the nuts' then add in the preserves, raisins and salt. Puree until smooth. If you don't have a food processor. Chop the nuts finely, mince the raisins and mix with preserves and salt.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper

Roll dough into 12" circles about 1/8" thick. (If it's not perfect don't worry)
Carefully spread filling over the dough leaving a 1/2" - 1" on the sides. Using a Pizza wheel or knife cut the round into 16 wedges; then roll each wedge into a crescent starting at the wide end and rolling to the point. Place crescents, point down on baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart.

Whisk together in a small bowl
1 egg
1 tsp water

Brush each crescent with egg wash and sprinkle with Turbinado (Sugar in the Raw) sugar. Bake crescents 20-30 min or until golden brown.


Almond Bark

This is a simple enough recipe and whatever you do don't let them refrigerate past the time in the recipe because you will discolor the chocolate and melt the salt . My hubby could not stop eating these. I could not find Marcona Almonds so plain unsalted, dry almonds work fine but would recommend giving them a few chops so they are not whole. Just will make for easier eating.

You will need

1/2 C Sugar
2 T water
1 T unsalted butter
1-1/2 C Marcona Almonds (reg almonds will do but make sure they do not contain oil)
1 lb (16 oz) Good quality chocolate (62%-70% cacao), finely chopped
Coarse Sea Salt for sprinkling

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat (or if your like me and don't own one, aluminum foil) Combine sugar with 2 Tsp water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush, until caramel is a dark amber about 5 minutes (don't worry if your sugar looks all dry and hard, with will eventually turn to liquid about 2 minutes before it starts to turn amber). Remove from heat, immediately add butter. Whisk until melted. Add almonds stir until well coated. Transfer to baking sheet, spreading out to separate nuts into one layer. Let cool. Break up any large clumps of nuts and set aside 1/4 of nuts for finishing. Stir chocolate in a medium bowl set over a sauce pan of simmering water until melted. Remove from heat, add nuts from baking sheet and stir quickly to combine. Spread chocolate mixture on same baking sheet keeping nuts in a single layer. Top with the reserved nuts and sprinkle with salt. Chill until chocolate is set, about 3 hours.

Break bark into pieces and store between layers of parchment or waxed paper.

Page 33

Yep that's where you'll find my card in the newest release of  PaperCrafts. Every once in awhile I have time to attempt my luck at getting published and every once in awhile I actually get picked up. Which in itself is a joy. I remember the very first time I submitted and I actually made the cover. Of course I had to share with my extended family (i.e. not my kids and hubby) and of course they just look at me like I am insane..scrapbooking what's that....oh well at least I know I did something pretty cool. Anyways here is my latest publication, which was for valentines day. Hope you like it.

Holiday Treats - Day 5

This recipe is by far the most requested and first to be thought of whenever the hint of Christmas baking is heard. From the first time I made it I realized, this needs to be doubled. So I double it and bake it in a 8-1/2 x 11 inch pan. It's really pretty easy to make but people think you are a master baker because it is THE most heavenly cookie you will ever taste. (Assuming you like chocolate and toffee flavors)

Toffee Bars

Lightly grease an 8-inch square pan

Using a wire whisk, thoroughly stir together
2/3 C all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp salt

Cut into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, knives, fingertips or in food processor (pulsing until mixture resembles coarse meal, be careful not to over process)
1/4 C unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Sprinkle the mixture with
2-3 tsp milk

Lightly stir to mix. Knead until the milk is distributed and the particles hold together when squeezed (like pie crust) but is not too wet. Add more milk if needed

Firmly press the dough into the pan to form a smooth even layer. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the chilled dough on the middle oven rack for 10 minutes; set aside to cool slightly but keep your oven on

For the toffee layer
Spread in a baking pan and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally for about 5 to 8 minutes.

1-1/2 C chopped pecans (reserve 2 T of toasted nuts for topping)

Set aside to cool.

Combine in a heavy medium sauce pan
1/3 C unsalted butter
1/3 C packed light brown sugar
2 T clover or other mild honey
1 T milk
1/8 tsp salt

Stirring frequently, bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Boil the mixture for 3 minutes; remove from the heat and stir in the toasted pecans and:

1 tsp vanilla

Spread the mixture evenly over the baked layer. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly, golden brown, and just slightly darker at the edges. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool until warm. Sprinkle the top with

1/2 C semisweet chocolate morsels

Let stand several minutes until the morsels partially melt, then smooth across the surface with an offset spatula or table knife to partially spread the chocolate (don't worry if it doesn't completely cover) and sprinkle with reserved 2T of the toasted nuts. Allow to cool, cut into bars and try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting

Holiday Treats - Day 4

Here is another highly requested cookie, The Snickerdoodle (presented in two ways). Now I have tried other recipes but the Joy of Cooking recipe still holds a soft spot for me so that's the one I use. These cookies should be eaten in 1-2 days because they are thin they will dry out quickly. I keep mine in a very well sealed container.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease

Sift together in a separate bowl

2 C all -purpose flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

In a mixing bowl, cream together until light and fluffy

1 C softened unsalted butter

1-1/2 C sugar

Beat in until well blended

2 eggs

Add in the flour mixture until smoothly incorporated. Pull off pieces of dough and roll in the palms of you hands to form a generous 1-1/4 inch balls.

Roll dough balls in

1/4 C sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

Space about 2-3/4 inches apart on cookie sheets and bake 1 pan at a time in the upper third of the oven for 8 to 11 minutes or until cookies are light golden brown. Transfer to wire racks and let cookies stand for a few minutes (the will be puffy when you remove them from the oven and collapse when slightly cooled) IF your cookies spread to thin during baking let your pans cool between batches.

Now if you want to be adventurous try a twist on these beauties..Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1-3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of Salt

1/2  C softened unsalted butter (1 stick)

1-1/2 C sugar

2 ounces melted and cooled unsweetened chocolate

1 large egg

1 tsp cinnamon

In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a mixing bowl beat the butter with 1 C sugar until creamy. Add the melted chocolate and the egg; beat until smooth. Add in flour mixture until incorporated

In a shallow bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 C sugar with the cinnamon. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the cinnamon sugar. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten to 2 inch rounds (you can lay piece of parchment paper onto of balls and flatten with the bottom of a measuring cup or glass. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until the cookies are puffed and cracked. Transfer to racks and let cool.

Add in the flour mixture until smoothly incorporated. Pull off pieces of dough and roll in the palms of you hands to form a generous 1-1/4 inch balls.

Roll dough balls in

1/4 C sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

Holiday Treats - Day 3

So for today I thought I would share these "Tart Cherry Streusel Bars." And I will hold my comments/thoughts/tips until the end and just share the recipe first off which was a new one for me this year. My family enjoyed this and surprisingly my youngest ds who doesn't even like cherries thought they were tasty so you know they have to be good to get a non cherry eater to like them.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9" square pan with non stick spray

First the base or crust portion
1-1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C (1 stick) of cold unsalted butter (sliced into 1/2" squares)
1/3 C almond (Marzipan) Paste
1/4 tsp almond extract

Streusel Mixture
1 C reserved base mixture
1/2 C sliced almonds

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. (This will make both the base and streusal)
Cut in butter, almond paste and extract with a pastry blender (or your hands) or two knives or pulse in a Cusinart until mixture becomes sandy in texture. Reserve 1 C for the streusel and sprinkle the remaining mixture into a 9" baking pan. Press or tamp down the mixture to form an even layer (you can use a measuring cup or glass bottom to help with this or just use your hands as I did). Bake 15-18 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to turn brown. Remove from the oven (keep your oven on).

For the Cherry Filling
1-1/2 C frozen tart cherries (12 oz)
1/4 C sugar
3 T water
2 T cornstarch
1 T fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon)
1 T unsalted butter
Pinch of salt

Simmer all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Cook until the mixture thickens and turns translucent, about 8 minutes. Spread filling over the baked base from above.

Sprinkle with the reserved 1 C base mixture and sliced almonds. Bake until filling is bubbly and streusel is lightly browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely and drizzle with icing (optional) then cut into bars.

Icing
1/3 C powdered sugar
2 T heavy cream
1/4 tsp almond extract

Whisk all ingredients together. If need be add more sugar or cream to get desired consistency for drizzling.

So now for my comments. I could not for the life of me find frozen tart cherries and in hindsight I don't know why they had to be frozen? I actually used frozen bing cherries and added some tart cherry concentrate that I bought from King Arthur and if I had to do this over again I wouldn't use the bing cherries. Not because of the flavor but because bing cherries are bigger than a pie cherry and when layered on the base they were a bit messy to cut and eat. So IMO you could easily use a can of cherries if you can't find the frozen ones and for that matter if you wanted to short cut this recipe why not just use pie filling other than I would rather have everything homemade but there is no reason you have to. So there you have it. Happy Baking and enjoy.

Holiday Treats - Day 2

Okay lets go for some fudge shall we, and while I make plain fudge and those recipes are a dime a dozen, I also make a Rocky Road Fudge. Now fudge always sounds so time consuming and my hubby tells me I am cheating since I don't slave over a stove stirring for hours like grandma used to do. But believe you me this fudge is pretty much foolproof since using a microwave (or stove top if you prefer) and a can of condensed milk. I also love that this makes a huge batch so I don't have to double it.

Since chocolate is the highlight of this dish it's best to use a high quality chocolate. Personally I am a fan of Guittards and if I see it go on sale will buy bags of it.

18 oz Chocolate Chips (preferably at least 62% cacao)
14 oz Can of Condensed Milk
10.5 oz Bag of Mini Marshmallows
2 C Dry Roasted Peanuts
2 T Butter cut into 4 pieces

Either in a heavy saucepan, over low heat melt the chips with the condensed milk - OR - In a microwave safe bowl melt chips (1 minute, stir then another ~20 seconds) then stir in the condensed milk. Once chips and milk have been combined stir in butter until it melts, add in peanuts and marshmallows (I put the peanuts and marshmallows in a second bowl and add the chocolate.)

Line a 8.5 x 11 pan with parchment, wax or plastic wrap and spread mixture into pan so it lays evenly. Chill until firm. (~2 hours) Turn fudge out onto cutting board and cut into pieces.

If you like this recipe you can also make regular fudge

18 oz Chocolate Chips (preferably at least 62% cacao)
14 oz Can of Condensed Milk
2 T Butter
2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 C - 1 C chopped nuts (if desired)
Generous pinch of salt

Again melt chocolate add in condensed milk, stir in butter until melted then add vanilla, salt and nuts. Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment, wax or plastic wrap and spread mixture into pan so it lays evenly. Chill until firm. (~2 hours) Turn fudge out onto cutting board and cut into pieces

How easy is that. I will say the fudge is always the first to disappear when I take a tray of goodies into work. It's soft and luscious

Holiday Treats - Day 1

So this past week, my family asked me when I was going to start my holiday baking. And I don't know about you but when I bake it's a two day event especially when you ask a 20 year old boy what he would like you to make this year...big mistake. I had to cut his list off as I am only one person. So this past Friday and Saturday I was stuck in a kitchen only taking a break to help with some outside decorating that my son took upon himself to do (bless him) and luckily on Sunday I ventured to the city to watch the Lion King musical with my mom.

What does this mean for you readers, it means I will share some recipes of our favorite cookies along with pictures of course. So what did I make you ask well here is the long list. (and please note I won't show pictures and recipes of all of it but just a few things in general as some of these items are probably common to your own cookie recipe stash, but if you need a recipe for anything listed below that I didn't share feel free to ask.)

This year my baking included
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Rugelach with a fig and date filling
Caramel popcorn Brownies (two desserts in one)
Cinnamon Pinwheel Cookies
Cherry Almond Cookies
Snickerdoodle Cookies
Peanut Blossoms Cookies
Toffee Bars
Tart Cherry Bars
Fudge
Rocky Road Fudge
Divinity
Almond Bark
Lemon Pound cake with fresh cranberries

First up, Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies . Now I think these are by far the best cookie you can gift give. They are easy to make, they transport easily, they package easily and they not only taste delicious but they speak holiday with cranberries and white chocolate. I first made these cookies 4 years ago and they became a fast favorite in our house. If you haven't started your baking you might want to add these to your list or just make them during they year.

Oatmeal - Cranberry Cookies

Makes ~ 4 dozen Cookies

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper

Whisk Together in a separate bowl

2 C all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together in a separate mixing bowl until light and fluffy
2 sticks (1 C) unsalted butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar (l use dark but light is fine)
2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Stir in Flour mixture (above) until just mixed in then

Fold in
3 C (not instant) Oatmeal
1 C dried cranberries
6 oz Ghiradelli White Chocolate Chips (or chopped white chocolate, good quality)

Drop cookies in 3 T mounds ( I used a # 40 cookie scoop or a jumbo scoop) onto the parchment lined paper and 2inches apart. Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden but still a little moist. Let cookies cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Then wrap em up for gift giving (I did this for a cookie exchange one year)

KK Contest

So here we have another contest for Kraftin Kimmie and their theme this week was Baby It's Cold Outside. Unfortunately all of my KK stamps aren't really geared for that theme so I had to do a little background magic which I tried to photo so you could see. I stamped snowflakes using Brilliance Platinum ink. I also embossed the background DCWV shimmer paper with a Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and of course added some snowflake bling to the entire card.

TGF Contest

Thought I would break out the copics and do a non Christmas card. This weeks challenge over at The Greeting Farm was a Party theme. I wanted to try something different so die cut windows into the layers and stamped the image inside the card. Added some very old product from Heidi Swapp (yep those heart rubons) and viola I have a ready to go birthday card. I was half tempted to emboss the top layer and might try that next time but for now I just kept it simple. I apologize for the image quality. It's pretty dismal looking outside so had to use a flash .

A Few Holiday Disney Picts

Thought I would share a few photos that I had taken from my Disney trip. I went with my mother and we took 2 tours, the Holiday tour and a Walk in Waltz Footsteps. I highly recommend both, especially the Holiday tour. Towards the end you exit from It's A Small World Ride and the entire Small World Plaza lights up right as you exit the boat. I am told it's planned this way. Then they walk you over to pick up a mug of Hot Chocolate and a very yummy Gingerbread cookie and then march you over to VIP seating to watch the Holiday Parade, and while you are waiting for the parade sipping on your cocoa and eating your very delicious cookie they hand you a souvenir pin.

For the other parade, Walk in Waltz Footsteps they do take you in to the lobby of Club 33 (very very small lobby) and into his apartment (wasn't allowed to take photos) and also give you a souvenir pin and lunch from Jolly Holiday Bakery.

Either way just being at Disney during the holiday certainly is a nice way to kick off the season. I loved Carsland with all the decorations and the Christmas music being played it really does set the tone. If you haven't been to Disneyland during their holiday season I would definitely go and to avoid crowds wait till after Thanksgiving and before school lets out. Our wait times for most rides was 5-10 min, with the new Radiator Springs as an exception. That ride was 60 min and fast passes were gone after the first two hours that the park opened.