Back on the BUG band wagon!

Knowing that I have five weeks to recover and recuperate from a very grueling semester of school is a weird and wonderful thing.  I don't have much of a schedule right now - I don't have anything pressing work or volunteer wise so everything is in my own time.  One thing that's motivating me is all the special events that are coming up in the next couple months... Spring always brings gatherings of family and friends for us and this year is no exception.  We're actually heading on mini-vacations in each April, May, and June as well... so we have a lot to look forward to!

With my new found free time, one of the hot items on my agenda is Lily's Bug Party!  You remember me talking about it in this post, right?  (thanks for all the ideas by the way, you guys are the BEST!)  Well it's coming up quickly (May!) so I'm ready to get crafting!  Here are the inspiration pages I've been keeping over the past couple months as I've come across things in stores and on the web...

Oriental Trading has all kinds of fun bug-themed things that will be perfect goody bag stuffers.  Lily really loves bubbles (bottom right) and her older siblings love to color their own sun catchers (above the bubbles).  I also decided that "Bug Juice" is a MUST for the party!  How fun is that?  I'm not sure where I'll find it, but I'm sure I can make up my own juice with fun labels on it if I need to!

On the bottom here you can see some fabric scraps.  I found these fabrics at Hobby Lobby and plan to sew runners for the tables and make the goody bags from them.  So fun!  The cardstock colors on the right will be used for the invitations and throughout the decor - they are from Stampin' Up's current "Bold Brights" collection, and several of these colors will be retiring this summer, so it's a great chance for me to use them up and enjoy them!

I also plan on taking the kids on a bug hunt during the party, so I'm on the lookout for bug magnifiers and nets, and am thinking perhaps we'll make our own bug catchers AT the party?  What do you think?

I've begun collecting treasures as I've been out and about.  I've got a cardboard box full of trinkets for the goody bags (thank you, Target dollar spot!) but was really excited to find these lovelies from Pier One.  It's hard to tell from the glare, but on the right there are green straws with butterflies attached (perfect to go in the Bug Juice!), there's butterfly table confetti in the middle, and on the left is a package of beautiful butterfly picks.  I'll be honest in saying I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with the picks yet, but they were so perfect I couldn't pass them up!

This weekend Heather and I will be settling into the craft studio to stamp and put together the invitations.  I've been working on some samples, so Stampin' Up's "Bugs & Kisses" stamp set has been out on my worktable for the past couple of days.  Don't you love the cute little bugs?!

This is the first weekend in awhile where we haven't had to drive across the state, attend a work or family function, or keep to any real schedule.  We're looking forward to taking it easy and enjoying some time with friends!  I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend as well, whatever you get up to!  Happy Friday!

Birthdays and Color

Now that my classes are over for the semester (yippeee!) I've been having some fun easing myself back into stamping, and put together some card samples for my Birthday Stamp A Stack later this month.  Here they are!

"Celebrate You" card inspired by Kristen Bryant, using the Sweet Pea stitched felt from the Occasions Mini Catalog

Products used:  Old Olive and Whisper White Cardstock, Olive Oil ink pad, Stitched Pea felt, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon 5/8 inch, Big Shot Die Cut machine and texture plates, A Little Birthday Cheer stamp set.

"Top Note" Birthday Card inspired by Kristen Bryant, using the NEW "Awash With Flowers" stamp set

Products used:  Barely Banana and Whisper White Cardstock, Olive Oil, Bashful Blue and Melon Mambo ink pads, black Stazon Ink Pad, Old Olive satin ribbon 5/8 inch, Big Shot Die Cut machine and Top Note die, Awash With Flowers stamp set.

"Make A Wish" card using the "Animal Stories" stamp set

Products used:  Sahara Sand, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue and Whisper White Cardstock, Sahara Sand ink pad, Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon 1/4 inch, Big Shot Die Cut machine and texture plates, A Little Birthday Cheer and Animal Stories stamp set, 1 3/8 inch circle and scallop edge punch.

"And You Thought I Forgot" birthday card using the "Tart & Tangy" stamp set

Products used:  White Cardstock, Green Galore, Real Red, Only Orange ink pads, Stitched Pea felt, A Little Birthday Cheer and Tart & Tangy stamp sets, 1 3/8 inch circle punch.

If you're a Michigander, here's the Stamp A Stack sign up info:

Join me for a Birthday Card Stamp A Stack!  We'll be creating four unique birthday cards (above) using Stampin' Up! products.

Friday April 16, 2010 from 7-10pm at my home in Grand Rapids.

Create 8 cards for $10, 12 cards for $15 or 16 cards for $20.

Bring a friend who has never stamped with me before and you both receive 1/2 off the class fee.

This is a great opportunity to stock up on birthday cards, and learn about all of the latest and greatest Stampin' Up! products.

And as if that's not enough - we'll have a SNEAK PEAK of one of the new stamp sets from the not-yet-released 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog!

Sure hope you can join me! Class is limited to 10 participants - register soon to reserve your spot in class, and don't forget to let me know how many cards you'll be making!

E-Mail me at joanneroehm@yahoo.com to get registered.

In other Stampin' Up! news, the company announced its "Color Renovation" yesterday!

Beginning in July 2010, we're reorganizing our color families.  We'll be saying goodbye to some of our old colors, be bringing back some old favorites, and even keeping some of our current 2009-10 limited edition "In Color" colors for good!

Each of our four new color groups:  Brights, Subtles, Regals, and Neutrals, will contain 10 colors each for a total of 40 colors.  You can see below the colors we're bidding a fond farewell to, and the brand spankin' new color families and all they have to offer.

And more good news!  The "In Color" series, which has previously been a set of six colors that were new each year and had a lifespan of just that year will now be a set of 5 new colors each year, with a lifespan of TWO years.  That means that after this year, every year we'll have a total of 10 "In Color" selections to play with in addition to our 40 regular colors.  So fun!

Fond Farewell Colors US 0310

This may seem confusing right now - but believe me, it's a wonderful and exciting thing!  I will be keeping you updated as I find out more - and will be sure to share all of the new colors and tools with you as I test them!  If you have any questions, be sure to drop me an e-mail at joanneroehm@yahoo.com

So, tell me, what's your favorite color in Stampin' Up's new color groups below ?  I'm loving Melon Mambo (SO glad it's sticking around!) and Wild Wasabi!

New Colors US 0310

Guest Post: Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

I constantly find myself in awe of the wonderfully talented people I encounter daily - especially here in the land of blogging.  I share links to some of the fabulous projects I come across each weekend in my Week in Review posts, and now on (most) Wednesday's... at least for a awhile... I'm going to be going a step further and inviting one of those creative folks to guest blog here at Ready, Set, Craft! 

Please give a big warm welcome to today's guest blogger, Abby from Steinway Street...
 
I love reading Joanne's blogs, so I was thrilled when she asked me to share a springtime recipe with her lovely readers! I'm not sure about your town, but strawberries are readily available (and cheap) in NYC right now. So when I walked past my local green grocer the other day and saw their display of ruby fruits, I immediately knew which recipe I wanted to share with you: Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake! To make this delicious dessert, you'll need the following ingredients: I bet you have most of these items in your pantry already, which makes this recipe a great addition to your book. You'll begin by adding your dry ingredients to a large bowl, starting with flour... Sugar... Baking powder... And salt. Next, you'll need shortening (although this can be replaced with butter if you prefer). Using a pastry mixer, blend the ingredients... You should continue mixing until the dough has the consistency of peas or oatmeal... like this: Once everything is incorporated, in a separate container beat an egg... And add that, along with some cream, to the dry ingredients. As you work, you should be careful not to over-mix the dough. Once things start coming together (and pulling from the sides of the bowl), you can stop. At this point, you should turn your dough onto a flour-covered work surface. ( You're probably wondering about that shaker in the photo above. A friend shared this trick: fill a shaker with flour, and use it to dust your surfaces when baking. Isn't that a great tip?)
But back to the dough! Once you've rolled it out to your desired consistency, cut out your biscuits. You can use a cookie cutter, but depending on what size you want your shortcake, you can also use a glass or mug! Once the biscuits are cut out, just lay them on a baking sheet and toss them in the oven for a bit. While they're baking, I would recommend you take a moment to hull and slice your strawberries. If they're fresh, you can sometimes get away with serving them plain- though I often prefer to sprinkle a little sugar over them, just to taste. When the biscuits are slightly golden on top, you can remove them from the oven and set them on a rack to cool slightly. I prefer not to let the biscuits cool too much (because I'm usually pretty anxious to eat dessert). Whenever you're ready to eat, slice your biscuit and place it inside a bowl. I sometimes butter my biscuit, depending on what mood I'm in... you can't go wrong with extra butter! Then you should add as many berries between your biscuit slices as possible. And while that looks pretty good, you're not done yet! Go ahead an add a dollop of whip cream on top! (I didn't have any pre-made in the fridge, so I used an immersion blender to whip up some heavy cream.) Doesn't that look just perfect? This is such an easy, yet scrumptious dessert! I think it's especially fun if you lay everything out in a self-serve style, so that your family/dinner guests can make their own version of this tasty treat for themselves. If you'd like to try this baking this, here's the recipe:

Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients: 2 cups flour 2 Tbsp sugar 3 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup shortening (or butter) 1 beaten egg 1/2 cup light cream Mix ingredients and bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

In Review...

Did you have a lovely Easter?  We had a nice, albiet busy weekend.  We visited with my inlaws and ate waaaay too much delicious food.

I don't know about you - but I'm utterly bewildered at how it came to be April 6 already.  It's one of those times of the year where everything seems to be going in fast forward - it's a bit of a hectic dash to the finish line and I'm having a hard time keeping up!

The weather here in Michigan is sunny one day, cold the next, thunder-storming the day after that... we have holidays and birthdays and parties to plan and concerts to go to and trips to embark on in the next couple of months... coupled with a house in need of a good spring clean, yard-work waiting to be done, and a pile of laundry that's frankly too embarrassing to talk about.

I'm just craving for some creative time and am hoping to squeeze in a little stamping today.  You see, I'm working on cranking out my FINAL paper and presentation of the semester which I'll present tomorrow evening, and then I will enjoy a FIVE WEEK break from school.  Aaahh... so close yet so far away!

I assure you that after Wednesday my days will be filled with equal parts napping and crafting, with a little housework thrown in for good measure.  I can't wait!

While we wait for me to catch up, I thought we'd do a little Ready, Set, Craft! recap of the month of March.  Enjoy!

(left to right, top to bottom)

1.  Secret Card Project  2.  Flower Clips @ Maiden Jane  3.  Last Minute St. Pat's Day Treats  4.  Easter Cards 5.  Tart & Tangy Cards  6.  March Cupkins:  Double Chocolate Irish Creme Cupcakes
7.  Guest Post:  A Knitters Bag of Tricks  8.  Bulletin Board Center @ Dollar Store Crafts   9.  Guest Post:  Oversized Beach Bag  10.  Guest Post:  Creepy Crawly Fun  11.  Guest Post:  Recycled Notebooks  12.  Craft Studio Reveal  13.  St. Patrick's Day Card  14.  Flower Card
15.  Postcard Project  16.  Easter Crafts for Kids

April Cupkins - Spring Swirl Cupcakes

It's the first Monday of the month!  Welcome to the April edition of CUPKINS, a collaboration between Meg at Mega•Crafty and I.  Each month, Meg shares a muffin recipe and I share a cupcake recipe with the same theme.  This month's theme is SPRING!

Spring Swirl Cupcakes
These are more of a technique than a recipe - I'm swamped this month!  These swirled cupcakes are as much fun to make as they are to eat though - and kids are amazed by them!  

How to:   

Using a vanilla cupcakes recipe, make cupcake batter then divide the batter into two seperate bowls.  Add food coloring of your choice to each bowl.  I used pink and yellow.  When filling your cupcake liners, add one color first, then the other, using a spoon or small measuring cup.  Continue to alternate
colors until your liners are 2/3 full.
 

Bake per cupcake recipe directions and allow to fully cool.  Look how pretty they are inside!

To Decorate:

Keep it simple.  Swirl on some frosting using a ziploc bag instead of a piping bag.  Cut the tip off a corner of the bag to use to pipe.  I used plain white frosting for this part.

With smaller ziploc bags of each pink and yellow frosting, cut a very small tip off one corner of the bags - as small as you can.  Pipe pink circles to make the flower petals, and yellow circles to make the center of the flowers.

These would be perfect for Mother's Day, too!  The swirl technique can be used in many color combination's for different holidays and events.  Check out examples here and here.

Now hop on over to Meg's place to see her Daffodil Lemon Muffins... they are absolutely AMAZING!