Stacy's Paper Crafts

More Sept. CFK projects

I can't believe it's the last day of September. Between my son & I being sick, I just didn't get a chance to create much with my kit this month, but I did manage to squeak out another card and a few tags yesterday.

Although my kit did not have winter theme, I was able to make it work for these cute snowflake gift tags.

Hopefully things will be calmer & healthier for us, and I'll be able to share more during the month of October. Thanks for stopping by!

BOO

We're already more than half way through the month of September, and that means Halloween is right around the corner!

I used a patterned paper from Basic Grey's Eerie Collection, a super cute $1 stamp that I picked up from Michael's, and a mini rhinestone to create this card.

I also used a clear Wink of Stella Glitter brush tip marker to outline the spider web. It adds the perfect amount of shimmer, it's very subtle.

Thanks for looking!

 

Pillsbury Gluten Free Pizza Dough Review

Hi! I'm back today with a review on Pillsbury's Gluten Free Pizza Dough.  This is not a review for which I have been compensated for. It's my own personal review. I've been following a gluten free diet since 2010. Since then many of my friends, or friends of friends have also had to change the way they were eating due to Celiac Disease, wheat allergy, or gluten intolerance. They often ask me about my favorite products so I thought I'd tell you about a new product my son and I enjoy. 

Pillsbury recently introduced three new refridgerated gluten free products, one of which is a thin crust pizza dough. I normally make my own dough, and it's good, but more importantly it's a lot less expensive, and it tastes better than some of the commercial doughs we've tried. But I always try to have a few "heat-em ups" as we call them in our house for those moments when we're short on time or not feeling up to cooking. So I picked up a tub of dough for DS to try. Cheeseburger Pizza

The raw dough is kind of a grayish color, which might throw you off if you are expecting a wheat dough when you open up the tub. After it cooks it has a nice color consistent with pizza dough. I divided the dough in half and made two large individual sized pizzas.

Mushrooms & Black Olives

Pros:

• Good flavor. The dough is kinda sweet, but it doesn't have a strange after taste like some commercial gluten free products tend to have and it actually has flavor!
  
• It's large enough to make two individual sized pizzas, hearty enough for a teen boy :)
• Even after purchasing cheese, sauce, & toppings, the price you end up spending is comparable to what you'd spend for good take out pizza. I had some left over ground beef and veggies so I didn't calculate that into the cost but the dough is under $5 regular price. I'd estimate a pepperoni pizza would cost somewhere between $7-$10.
  

Cons:

• This dough is for a thin crust pizza. If you don't roll it out thin enough it has a doughy texture, but not in a good way. Be sure to pierce the dough with a fork repeatedly all over the surface so that it doesn't puff up.
  
• The bottom of the crust doesn't get crispy, however there might be a way to correct that, I just haven't figured it out yet.
• The suggested cooking times were really off for me. I pre-baked the crust for 10 minutes for the cheeseburger pizza, and baked it for another 11 minutes after adding the toppings. I think it cooked too long. For the veggie pizza I allowed it to cook for 8 minutes, and then cooked it for an additional 10 minutes after adding the toppings to melt the cheese and warm the veggies and it was perfect! It could just be my oven, but just watch your time and adjust accordingly.
  

I would definitely buy this dough again. It was good, and required minimal effort to make, even while feeling under the weather so it's a winner. You can also find coupons all over the web for it so that's a bonus! GF products are so expensive so any little savings makes a difference.

We haven't tried the pie crust or cookie dough yet. I'm not sure I will purchase those only because I have a great pie crust & cookie recipe that I love. If I change my mind I'll be sure to share a review.

Do you follow a gluten or wheat free diet? What are your favorite GF or wheat free foods?

Back to School Sickies...

My son brought them home. He likes to share. Normally he's pretty immune to these bugs, but this one got him... and me! He was home from school Friday & Monday. He went to school today, he looked so tired when he got home, but he's not coughing so that's a good thing. He'll probably just needs another night of good sleep and then he should be feeling 100%.  My husband never seems to get sick. I think I've seen him sick maybe two or three times in the 15 years that I've known him. Lucky guy huh?

I on the other hand am exhausted! The coughing and body aches are gone but the fatigue is lingering... the story of my life! I mustered up enough energy to go grocery shopping over the weekend and made my husband some brownies for his birthday but that was about it. I slept today. All. Day. I'm still tired! LOL I'm checking my e-mail & blog hopping while dinner cooks and then I'm going back to bed.

I hopped over to Pretty Pink Posh to check out the next color combination for this week's 10 Minute Craft Dash. If you "like" Pretty Pink Posh on Facebook, you can view the color combo for the upcoming challenge a day early. I was thrilled to see that my card for the previous challenge was chosen as a favorite :)

I am loving those feathers! There were lot's of great entries for the challenge, I hope you had a chance to check them out 10 Minute Craft Dash #25. Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with something crafty to share, if not I'll share a review on a new gluten free product I used to prepare dinner tonight. I think it's going to be a winner!

Another Layout!

Well I surprised myself and was able to whip up another layout using my Counterfeit Kit. It's an 8x8 very clean & simple layout... but it's a layout and it counts! LOL

I pulled out my Dymo lable maker to add the "hello" sentiment, and used my Quickutz Jacqueline font dies to create the "Atlanta" portion of the title using white cardstock; and then I added a little shading to them using a little bit of kraft ink. I added a journaling tag  and tucked it behind the photo.

Over the summer we drove from Maryland to Montgomery, AL for a funeral for my husband's Uncle. This photo was taken as we passed through Atlanta,GA. I drove! Which is crazy, because the last time we drove through Atlanta all I could do is close my eyes and pray... from the back seat! LOL It just seemed like there were SO MANY CARS and they seem to be driving at least 90 MPH! This time around traffic was relatively light, and most people seemed to drive very leisurely. It was a bit strange. It happened to be a beautiful day, so maybe people were just enjoying the sunny drive? I'm not sure, but I'm thankful I got through Atlanta unscathed! LOL 

I hope your week is off to a great start, thanks for looking!

Summit Lake

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend.

Today I'm sharing a layout I created using my Counterfeit Kit.

In the county I live in, 6th graders in public school participate in "Outdoor Education," where they get a chance to go camping a few days with their classmates, teachers, school administrators, and parent volunteers. It's curriculum based, but the kids have a lot of fun.

I sent my son with great reservations. All of a sudden he's developed asthma, and a host of other allergies. We moved to a different county and region here in Maryland about four years ago so that may have something to do with it. I'm not exactly sure.

Anyway, right before he was supposed to go to camp, his allergy test results came back. Basically he's allergic to everything outside except for grass. Summit Lake Camp, where Outdoor Education was held, just so happened be surrounded by nearly everything the poor kid was allergic to!

After talking with his Pediatrician we agreed that we'd let him go, packed with an arsenal of medication & a nebulizer, and if he was absolutely miserable, or if the conditions triggered an asthma attack, I'd just go and pick him up. It's only about an hour and a half from our home.

So he went and had an AWESOME time despite three days of constant itchiness, swollen & bloodshot eyes, and being asked 50 million times if he was ok by friends, other campers, & teachers!

Whenever he looks at the photos he took, he asks if we can go camping there again. He took the photos that are featured here on this layout, including the "self pic" :) with a disposable camera, and without any editing too! Disposable cameras have come a long way!

If you asked him, he'd tell you that he isn't an "outdoorsy" kind of guy, but almost every photo he took at camp were of the camp grounds! LOL He kept telling me how beautiful and peaceful it is there.

BTW, Tim's doing just fine now. His asthma seems to be well controlled now thank God :)

So that's my layout & story. The Alphabet font I used was not included in my kit, and I hated to cheat! LOL But I remembered that I purchased those alphas specifically for this layout so I went ahead and used them. Everything thing else used was included in my original kit.

Thanks so much for looking!

10-Minute Craft Dash #25

Hi all!

I'm working with my Counterfeit Kit today. When I saw sneak peeks from WPlus 9 Designs' Fanciful Feathers release I knew I needed this stamp set. Feathers are pretty trendy right now, and up until I saw this stamp set I really didn't think much about them.

I didn't need any feather stamps or embellishments... but you know how it is with crafters! LOL After you see an amazing project you just HAVE to have the supplies or products the designer used so that you can create something too. So I was sold! I plan to create some patterned papers with these stamps to use in my scrapbooks, but today I created a stamped background for a card using Paulina's 10-Minute Craft Dash Challenge as my inspiration. 

This color combo is perfect! It just so happens that the contents of my Counterfeit Kit are comprised of this color palette, although I did sneak in a brown cardstock base & yellow ink.  I just squeaked by, finishing my card at 9 minutes and 57 seconds! 

I added three buttons threaded with scrappers floss, and popped up the sentiment strip using foam tape.

Love these feathers :) Thanks for stopping by today!

CAS(E) this Sketch!

Hi again,

I created a quick card for this week's CAS(E) this sketch challenge. I used some patterned paper that I had left over from another card I made this week, along with some die cut leaves using Lawn Fawns Stitches Leaves dies. LOVE.THESE.DIES. I would love it even more if Lawn Fawn designed an enlarged version of these leaf dies. I would never need another leaf die again! LOL

Here's my card. I've been creating a lof of fall themed projects, how could you not with these detailed leaves?

I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of these little leaves. Thanks so much for looking!

Fabric & Mod Podge Die Cuts

Hi all! I'm back today to share another card using the same technique I used for this card. I had to stop myself from grabbing all of the scraps from my fabric stash!

This card just makes me happy. I used PTI's Flower Fusion #3 flower die &  Medium Scallop Border die to cut my fabric. I also added a layer of vellum between the patterned paper and the stamped panel, and adhered the stamped panel using foam tape. I distressed the edges of the vellum using an edge distresser and kraft ink. The vellum helps to soften the area around the stamped panel, allowing the patterned paper to accent the card, while keeping the stamped panel front & center. 

PTI Supplies used: Stamps: Fillable Frames  #7, Fillable Frames #9, Flower Fusion #9, Dies: Floral Fusion #3 & Medium Scallop Border Die, Ink: Ripe Avocado & Kraft

Thanks for looking!

I hope my card inspires you to create something today.

 

Fabric & Mod Podge

After creating those little burlap flowers the other day I had to go back to see if fabric would hold up well if I applied Mod Podge... and it did! I was so excited. I have various fabric scraps from past sewing failures... and I do mean failures! LOL But I kept some of the scraps because I figured I'd use them for something. I'm so glad I did.

I think that using Mod Podge on fabric is perfect for cards, layouts, or mixed media projects. If you would like to make decorative bags, tea towels, or something similar that you may want to launder after usage, you might want to stick with using Heat N Bond or a similar fabric stabilizer.

If your fabric frays or doesn't cut all the way through, it means you didn't apply enough Mod Podge. Your fabric should feel heavier, almost like cardstock once it dries. You can always apply a second coat of Mod Podge after the first one dries to be on the safe side.

I grabbed some orange floral fabric scraps from my stash and applied a very liberal amount of Mod Podge to the back side of the fabric using a brayer. I set it aside to dry for several hours and then used my circle Nestabilities to cut a frame for this card. I added a sheet of cardstock to use as a shim to ensure my fabric would cut all the way through and it did perfectly!

The sentiment is stamped on vellum using Jumbo Java Versamagic chalk Ink, which worked out beautifully. Chalk ink has a great texture that makes it easy to get a crisp stamped image when stamping on items like vellum.

PTI Supplies Used: Stamps: Think Big Favorites #2, Die: Flower Fusion #3

I also added a few of the burlap flowers that I cut the other day. I have another card I'm going to share featuring this same fabric die cut in a different way. If I don't get a chance to photograph it today, please stop by tomorrow to check it out. 

Thanks for looking!

 

Make It Monday

The other week I made a card featuring a flower made with burlap and I commented on how it frayed when I cut it. Well this week's Make It Monday Challenge showcases the perfect solution... Heat N Bond. I've never used it before, and I couldn't run to the store to pick some up. The laziness got the best of me! LOL But I decided to see if I could use another fabric stabilizer that would give me crisp clean die cuts.

Mod Podge isn't exactly a fabric stabilizer but it works extremely well with burlap. The burlap I used this time is a much more tightly woven material, so I think that helped also. I just drizzled the Mod Podge on the back of my burlap, and spread it around using a brayer. I set it aside to dry for several hours before cutting.

 

I used PTI's Flower Fusion #3 floral die to cut my flower. I ran it through my Cuttlebug & added a cardstock shim to insure it would cut all the way through, & it worked like a charm! I cut a few extra flowers that I'm going to use on another project so stay tuned.

Papertrey Ink Products used:

Stamps: Fillable Frames #7, Background Basics Text Style II, Background Basics Houndstooth, Dies: Flower Fusion #3, Fillable Frames #7, Paper: Kraft, Ink: Kraft

 

September Counterfeit Kit

Happy Labor Day!

Doing anything fun today? I'm moving kind of slow today. I'm having my morning coffee at 3:30pm :) I don't think I'm going to do much of anything the rest of the afternoon other than laundry & cook dinner. I put together my kit for September's Counterfeit Kit Challenge. I'm going to sit down and create some things after DS goes to bed.

It's a little bit smaller than my kit from last month, but fun nonetheless. This color palette is a little softer than what I normally work with, especially for scrapbooking but I have at least one idea for a layout using it. I'll have to dig through my photos to see what else I can come up with, but I think that I'll be creating a lot of cards using this month's kit.

 

The kit selections are from July's Citrus Twist Kits. I chose products for my kit from my stash based on their Project Life kit.

Other than the products shown in the photo, I may pull out some stencils, additional stamps, coloring medium(s), glitter, and dies to create shapes and/or alphas using cardstock in my kit. That's my plan & I'm sticking to it :)