Sunshine in my pocket

Batty For You card

By KariV on November 1, 2013 in Paper Crafting

I know it’s just after Halloween, but I had to get one more card in there for the holiday! Today I’m participating in The Alley Way Stamp Challenge.

Here’s the inspiration photo:

I was inspired by the siding on the house, and those slats became the background to my card.

I’ve never used The Alley Way Stamps before, but just look at that cute little bat and sentiment!

I used charcoal watercolor on that bat and gave him some orange glitter polka dots with Stickles. I popped him up with foam squares.

I added some polka-dot and striped pumpkins. And that dark tree branch to mimic the decoration on the door. Check out the challenge here. I hope you had a great Halloween!!

Also linking up to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge – Anything Goes (Monday), and Anything Goes (Wednesday).

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Peach Week Wrap Up

By KariV on October 30, 2013 in Peaches, Recipes

If you missed any of the great peach recipes, here’s a quick wrap-up! Mmmmm….I LOVE all these peach treats!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Peach Mango Salsa (for salad or chicken or tacos!)

Fresh Peach Muffins (with Brown Sugar Streusel)

Homemade Peach Jam

Peach Freezing Tips

Grilled Peach Salad

I loved having Peach Week! I think we’ll do this again next year….do you have some peach recipes you’d share?

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Happy Halloween card

By KariV on October 30, 2013 in Paper Crafting

Can you believe that tomorrow is Halloween? I really can’t.

But today I have a quick Halloween card to share. I played with some distress inks for this one to (try) to mimic a sunset…

I used Kristina Werner’s adorable cat in a pumpkin and sentiment for this one. Love them! I heat embossed them both with black, then watercolored that little cat and pumpkin. I’m loving my watercolors right now. 🙂

See those bats…they are made with Shrink Paper! So cool. And the paper (used for the hill) is from an amazing Fall Paper Stack from DCWV.

I stitched around the whole card in order to attach the Halloween sentiment flag.

A very Happy Halloween to YOU!

Linking to the Simon Says Stamp Challenge here.

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Taste Test Tuesday — Starbucks vs. Dutch Brothers Hot Chocolate

By KariV on October 29, 2013 in Taste Test Tuesday

Welcome to our Taste Test Tuesday Hot Chocolate Throwdown! Today, we are highlighting two powerhouses in hot chocolate: Starbucks vs. Dutch Brothers. We wanted to include Seattle’s Best (because I LOVE their hot chocolate…they even serve it up with a little chocolate swizzle stick); unfortunately, there aren’t any Seattle’s Best near us anymore. 🙁 They all closed.

But we DO have a Starbucks (actually 2) within 1 mile and a Dutch Brothers just down the street. It’s about time we held a blind taste test between the two. And, since the weather is cooling off just a bit, now seemed the perfect time to hold this throwdown!

We ordered 2 plain hot chocolates. Nothing fancy, no peppermint or gingerbread, no vanilla or hazelnut. Just. Plain. Chocolate.

The Starbucks hot chocolate cost us $3.25
The Dutch Brothers cost $2.50

Both came with whipped cream on top.

I was surprised to see more whipped cream on the Starbucks (on the left), since we purchased that one first before running to Dutch Brothers (on the right). I thought it would have all melted in by the time we got to it.

Since this was a “blind” taste test, I marked the tasting cups with an “A” and a “B” and poured the chocolate in before handing them over to the judges in the other room.
The Dutch Brothers was significantly lighter in color than the Starbucks. And the Starbucks tasted much richer, and like a dark chocolate.

And when the judges cast their votes, it was UNANIMOUS!

The Winner {Drumroll please…}
By a landslide, the winning Hot Chocolate maker is: Dutch Brothers!!! (Crowd goes wild)….Congratulations to Dutch Brothers!!

Final Notes
After the votes were tallied and the winner was announced, one of our judges declared that the absolute BEST way to drink them, was to mix them together to get just the right balance of chocolate flavor. So, if you are in the mood to give it a try…order up one of each and mix them up. 🙂

I love hot chocolate in the fall!

Next Taste Test Tuesday will be a PART II to this taste test: Homemade Hot Chocolate. Yes, we will be searching all grocery stores and specialty stores for the BEST hot chocolate mix that you make at HOME.

So, what’s your favorite…leave me a comment below and we’ll include it in our next Taste Test Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by.

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Dose of Sunshine Monday: Happiness is…

By KariV on October 28, 2013 in Halloween, Inspiration

“Happiness is not so much in having as in sharing.”

I agree with that statement. Do you?

I had such a great time handing out my Halloween Treat Sacks to my neighbor kids and my nephews over the weekend. In no time flat, they had those things torn apart and the candy devoured! But it was all worth it because I had a great time and I sure do love those kids. 🙂

For this Monday, ponder on that statement and see if sharing something DOES make you happy.

Tonight, I’m off to share some {Halloween} Peach jam! See you next time.

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