September | 2013 | Sunshine in my pocket

Archive | September, 2013

The Handmade Nest — A Glimpse

By KariV on September 15, 2013 in Favorite Things, Uncategorized

Have you heard about the Handmade Nest? I had the opportunity to go to the first ever GNO put on by the Handmade Nest last weekend. It was fabulous!

The Handmade Nest is an opportunity for bloggers and non-bloggers in Arizona to get together and craft! It was held at the Power Ranch Barn, and let me just say it was the PERFECT venue for this event. There was plenty of room for all the tables, and I did not feel crowded, squished, or claustrophobic at all. 🙂

It was dark when I got there (it started at 7 p.m.) so I didn’t get a picture of the outside of the barn, but take a look at a portion of the inside:

This is only about half the room; there were a number of additional tables set up to the left that aren’t pictured here. Also, I have to mention, there was a nice & big bathroom located on the east side of the room. (I know it’s funny to mention a bathroom, but when you have that many women gathered for an evening…it’s nice to have that close by!)

When I first got there, I had to check out the giveaway table:

Just look at all that loot! They had amazing sponsors like Riley Blake Fabric (love them!), Downeast Basics, My Minds Eye, The Ribbon Retreat, DecoArt, Wood Connection, Vintage Rose Wraps, Petite Party Studio, Rod Works, and so many more awesome companies! And you may not believe this, but I WON something:

A gift card to Downeast!! I was so excited…I may have screamed out loud. 🙂

Then I was drawn to an amazing display on the north side of the room….the CAKE BAR!

Petite Party Studio and Inspired Sugar have done it again…a FEAST for our eyes!! Those cakes are amazing…and I love the logo made out of fondant on the middle cake. It looks perfect! Those fondant flowers on the other cakes are so cute. And look at that amazing burlap runner with ruffles to match the theme.

I just love all the banners on the cakes, too. See the sticks used behind the cakes as a backdrop? Perfect for the “Nest” theme. They had many flavors of cakes at the party…like pumpkin chocolate chip and vanilla with raspberry filling. Yum.

When they started the evening, we got instruction and got to crafting! I chose to make the “Nest” boards. There were 4 equally amazing crafts you could pre-order to make. My husband asked what we were going to do with “Nest” boards…and I said, “imagine how cute these would be with an Easter vignette…” and he said, “Well, I guess we could re-arrange the letters to say TENS or SENT…” Yeah, I’m pretty sure they will be re-arranged every time I walk by them! 🙂

While my boards were drying, I took a break for cake. I had the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cake and it was SO good. I’ve tasted a lot of cake in my decades of living…and this one just MIGHT be in my top 10! Really…it was that good. (Thank you, Inspired Sugar) I heard the other flavors were delicious, too. In the interest of fair reporting, I just may have to taste all the flavors next time and share my findings with you. 😉

I met some fun new people. I think one of the perks of going to these types of events alone is that you are kinda forced to meet new people. Even though I am sometimes a little shy, one of my goals for the night was to meet another blogger or two.

Here’s Melanie from Reasons to Skip the Housework and Valerie from Occasionally Crafty. (Sorry, Kaitlyn, only a part of your shoulder made it in this picture!) I was lucky enough to sit by them! And they made these cute signs…which was one of my top choices for the night. (BUT since my husband was recently in a bicycle accident I decided against this one) Now that I see how cute they turned out, I’m wishing I opted for this craft as well!

Thanks to all the brilliance of the event coordinators:

Rebecca from The Crafted Sparrow

Kelli from Lolly Jane

Katie from Sweet Rose Studios

Kristy from The Diary of Dave’s Wife

All the crafts were too cute and it was so difficult to choose!

Take a look at what we got in our swag bags! A necklace from The Crafted Sparrow (fantastic Rebecca!) and a Vintage Rose Wrap (beautiful, Katie!)

If you missed it this year, think about going next year! It was completely awesome. I’ll meet you there?

Comments { 7 }

We Must Ketchup Card

By KariV on September 14, 2013 in Paper Crafting

If you got this card in the mail, would you laugh out loud?! I think I would. I am just loving the Paper Smooches Vegtastic stamp set. And that chevron embossing folder (Lifestyle Crafts) is adorable, too.

I did a color wash on those tomatoes with watercolor and then used some pop dots to give dimension to the card (see that in this side view pict). After I was taking some pictures, I thought it could use a bit more of the green color, so I added some unfaceted gems to the sentiment flag:

They are difficult to see in the pictures, but they’re a nice light green to match the tomato tops! That sentiment is fantastic…and it really pops with the white heat embossing.

I tied the red twine to the top, and I think it sorta resembles a tomato splat…can you visualize it?! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed this happy card today!

Joining up with the Paper Smooches Challenge here and the Simon Says Stamp Challenge here.

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Mini Pumpkin Pies

By KariV on September 10, 2013 in Dessert, Halloween, Recipes, Thanksgiving

I usually don’t start making pumpkin treats until October or November, but here it is early September and I’ve already made my favorite mini pumpkin pies. But I have a good reason! My daughter is pregnant and she was craving pumpkin pie. How can I say no to that?

These are so fun to make, and even more fun to eat! But they are dangerous…you can pop a whole pan of these into your mouth before you even realize it. (don’t ask me how I know this)

But of course, I did take the majority of them to my daughter, who is in the hospital with complications. She NEEDED them!

I bought pre-made dough to hurry this process along, and used a 2″ circle biscuit cutter to make the perfect sized dough circles for the mini muffin pan. (Don’t mind my saran wrap on the dough plunger…I’m a little conscientious that way…ha!)

I used two pie crusts, but I could have used more since I was a little short and had PLENTY of pie filling. This is my grandmother’s pie recipe that I grew up on and just LOVE.

Use a Tablespoon to spoon just the right amount of filling into each mini pie crust.

They come out looking all delicious like this! Try to remain calm as you wait for them to fully cool before adding a bit of whipped cream. But, really…they are still good with melted whipped cream on top, but they don’t LOOK as pretty! (Use the real cream here and whip it up with a little sugar. It’s SO much better!)

Then a little sprinkle of nutmeg (or cinnamon) on top adds just the right amount of yum!

Oh these are so good! But be prepared…this recipe makes about 100 mini pies. Which is perfect for a party, or a girls lunch, but not so good if you are just at home waiting for the rain to pass. (Remind me to go for a walk later…)

Aren’t they so cute? If you are looking for the recipe, come back by end of the day…~~I just have to go dig it out to share with you!~~ It’s live now! Here it is:

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So now I am completely ready for fall. And Halloween. And Thanksgiving. 🙂

And if you like pecan pie, you’ll love these Pecan Tassies!

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Wishing You Lots of Happy Card

By KariV on September 10, 2013 in Paper Crafting

Lately I have been making lots of cards. I love to put them together and I love to send them to people I care about. I also love to enter them into challenges! The latest challenge from Simon Says Stamp is called “Animal Antics” with Lawn Fawn stamps.

So I whipped out my FAVORITE stamp set from Lawn Fawn and another FAVORITE stamp set from Simon Says Stamp and put together this cutie:

I just love those puppies in the “Critters at the Dog Park” set. And this “Happy” set from SSS is perfect for this scene, don’t you think?

That red twine is fun and fuzzy and reminded me of tennis balls…so I thought it would fit right in.

I used some pop dots to give those tennis balls dimension, and also used them on puppy pups there. I like how the dog bones at the top seem to jump right off of the card.

A little Christmas red Stickles on that heart adds the right amount of sparkle. That paper reminded me of wallpaper — I love it!

Wish me luck! I hope your day is HAPPY!

Comments { 4 }

Dose of Sunshine Monday — It’s gonna be a great day!

By KariV on September 9, 2013 in Inspiration

Today I am sharing an oldie, but a goodie! I created this sign to remind myself to enjoy the days, to focus on good things and practice faith and hope! Enjoy YOUR day (and week)! I’ll be back to share some fun fall ideas later this week.