I made mini banana bread loaves as favors for my sister’s baby shower a couple weeks ago. The recipe was very easy and very tasty–I highly recommend it! (See below). I’ll have more detailed pictures of the favors posted soon.

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup mashed overripe bananas
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9″x5″ loaf pan or 5 mini loaf pans. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs to combine.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and combine. Add mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes for loaf pan, 35-40 minutes for mini loaves. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool.

The paper mini loaf pans were from www.target.com, see them here.

I needed 57 favors for the shower, it took me about 9 batches to get there. I made double batches each time, baking them 2 trays at a time. All told, it took about 3 hours to bake all the mini loaves! That does not include wrapping and decorating them. My kitchen was a disaster for a while there!

This was literally a 10 minute card. It would be great to do at a workshop because it’s not too much stamping, it uses rub-ons, and punches–all great for upselling.

For the base, I started out with Riding Hood Red card stock. Next, I took a piece of Chocolate Chip and using the Corner Rounder, clipped the top corners. On the chocolate chip layer, I also adhered 3 Riding Hood Red circles below the image using the 1 1/4″ Circle Punch. The image was stamped on Whisper White card stock using Good Friend. The bird is stamped in Kiwi Kiss, with Tangerine Tango beak, and Chocolate Chip legs. The way I stamped the legs was to make a mask of the bird, then stamped the legs slightly overlapping the mask so that the feet wouldn’t get cut off. That bird sure has some LONG legs! The “love” is a rub-on from Bright Delights. Finally, I used the Corner Rounder again to clip the top 2 corners of the Whisper White so that it would layer nicely with the Chocolate Chip. Really simple, modern, and the colors POP!

This card started out with such promise, but then I hit a couple snags and it didn’t turn out the way I envisioned it. But I took the time to make it, and I will post it anyway. It might give someone else an idea or serve as a jumping off point for a great card later on.

For the card base I used Tempting Turquoise layered with Kiwi Kiss. The Whisper White layer was clipped with the Ticket Corner Punch and then 4 red brads went in each corner. Chocolate Chip Craft ink colored the chipboard branch, which is from On Board So Tweet. The branch was then embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. I adhered the branch to the white cardstock and used more rub-ons from Bright Delight to complete the card–the two owls out on a limb and the dots along the bottom of the card are rub-ons. The sentiment is from the Level 3 hostess set Goody Goody Gumdrops stamped in Riding Hood Red ink. Since the little owl went “out on a limb” for the big owl, I thought this sentiment would be cute.

For someone who hates birds (really just ones that are flying close to my head) I seem to be making a lot of cards featuring them, aren’t I? Well it’s SU’s fault for making all these cute bird stamps.

This card doesn’t use a bird stamp per se, but a chipboard owl from the On Board So Tweet collection. I covered him in Hawaii Papaya DSP. Really, that’s only partially true. I inked the owl with Old Olive Craft ink first but messed him up while trying to apply a rub-on (the ink was still wet). Plan B was to cover him in this paper. Cute anyway! The beak is done in Tangerine Tango, the eyes in White Craft. For the eyeballs, I inked a pencil eraser with Chocolate Chip Craft ink and stamped the bottom of the hearts. As for the flower he’s holding, that is a rub-on from Bright Delights. The flower “stem” is actually the stem from the pear rub-on (also from Bright Delights).

The card base is Kiwi Kiss, with a layer of Chocolate Chip and the Hawaii Papaya patterned DSP. The Tangerine Tango oval is from the Scallop Oval Bigz die. I stamped the oval with Tangerine Tango using the Good Friend sunburst stamp.

As for the sentiment piece, it’s a lot going on for such a small space. The polka dots are a rub-on from Bright Delights on an oval Canvas Cut. I trimmed the excess canvas away after adhering the rub-on. The sentiment, “You’ve got a friend in me” is a rub-on from Bright Delights on Very Vanilla cardstock that I cut out and then attached to the Canvas Cut with a Corduroy Kiwi Kiss brad. The Chocolate Chip oval was cut using the Coluzzle and paper pierced. The Canvas Cut is attached to the Chocolate Chip oval with dimensionals and the entire piece is adhered to the card base with dimensionals also.

I made some improvements to my previous project, the Easter basket card. Mainly, I decided to mat the embossed So Saffron layer onto Baja Breeze cardbase. Second, I took a little more time and care watercoloring the eggs, adding glitter to some.

My thoughts on this project in terms of class projects or workshops:

• This is a time consuming project. It could be modified to save some time by not cutting out each egg and using an oval punch instead. DSP would look great and require no stamping.
• Also, watercoloring can take a lot of time. 4 eggs per basket looks good. If you plan on making more than 1 card per person remember, it’s 4 eggs times X number of baskets to watercolor! I did 11 cards for this swap, so that was 44 eggs!!
• It’s a great project to showcase the Big Shot Basket die, the Texturz plates, and any other dies you use to decorate the basket or the eggs.

More Pictures

I made this card for my upline. She’s participating in a swap and wanted some ideas using A Good Egg. I borrowed her stamp set and her Big Shot and this is what I came up with. I read on Splitcoast that someone likes to use the Blooms & Baskets die to make cards with just half the basket. I’ve been wanting to try this out and I thought “Easter Basket” Duh!

The card base is a piece of So Saffron, the front of which I ran through the Big Shot using the Texturz Plate for a nice flowery effect. Then, I used the Baskets & Blooms die with Baja Breeze card stock to make the Easter Basket. Note: I trimmed the sides of the basket and re-scored them to fit the card better. I stamped the basket with A Good Egg in Whisper White Craft ink and White Embossing poweder. For added sparkle I used the 2-way glue pen and Fine Cosmo Glitter in Green, Purple, and Pink. Using sticky tape, I adhered the basket to the card front.

The eggs were stamped on Whisper White and watercolored with the Watercolor Crayons. Then I cut out the eggs and put them inside the basket using dimensionals. The ribbon on the handle is So Saffron 5/8″ grosgrain which was part of the Sale-a-bration ribbon bundle.

More pics:

This looks Yummy! I just got this For the Bride set which includes this cake image and a bride with a paisley pattern dress like this. I want to experiment with this more, but it screamed “emboss me” when I saw it so I tried that first.

I started out on a Chocolate Chip base, then Very Vanilla card stock stamped with En Francais background. I wasn’t going for full coverage so I didn’t push all that hard. The Pink Pirouette scallop was made using the Oval Scallop Bigz die for the Big Shot. I paper pierced the scallop as well and added 2 pink rhinestone brads at the sides. The cake is stamped in Chocolate Chip Craft Ink on Pink Pirouette cardstcok and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I wrapped some pretty in pink grosgrain ribbon around the “layers” of the cake. Retired Chocolate Chip satin ribbon runs across the back and both the cake and scallop oval are popped up on dimensionals. I may add a sentiment when I use the card, depending on the occasion.

Interesting layout, no? I know it kind of looks like a bra but I figured I’ll just keep going with it and maybe it will turn out nice in the end. LOL!

Using Good Friend, a great retro set–plus that bird is very addicting–this is the third card I’ve made featuring my feathered friend.  I stamped the bird in Old Olive craft ink and used clear embossing powder on him. The beak is stamped in Tangerine Tango and the legs are chocolate chip. I also stamped that flower/sunburst in Tangerine Tango and another in So Saffron above the bird. On the other side, I used Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango for the flowers and the sentiment in Chocolate chip.

The scalloped ovals were cut from Tangerine Tango cardstock using the Bigz Die and the Big Shot. I paper pierced them and popped them up on dimensionals. To finish off the card, and give it another pop of color, I tied a piece of striped Kiwi Kiss ribbon around the frame.

This card was inspired by a card I saw on Splitcoast today. You can view it here. I got the new Scallop Oval Bigz Die for the Big Shot and wanted to try it out. While I must confess I don’t own the Big Shot myself (I’m borrowing my upline’s) I do have the Cuttlebug. The Bigz Dies fit the cuttlebug but some of the larger ones do not. This card also uses the Texture Plates for the Big Shot (shown on the white oval).

I started out with Pacific Point cardstock (I never use this color so I’m trying to branch out). I stamped it with the flower from Good Friend and then sponged Pacific Point ink all over it to tone down the flowers and give it a little texture. The scalloped oval was cut from Tempting Turquoise and Whisper white. I stamped the bird in Baja Breeze, the beak in Tangerine Tango, and the legs in Chocolate chip. Then I ran the stamped oval through the Big Shot using the swirly Texturz Plate.

The scalloped oval frame was paper pierced and popped up on dimensionals. The white oval is adhered directly to the card front. A piece of striped Kiwi Kiss 5/8″ ribbon tied around the frame finishes it off.

I still love the Upsy Daisy set. And I think I got it on sale so that makes me like it even more! This first card actually came from a mistake. When I stamped the image in chocolate chip ink and it didn’t come out clearly (see that large flower left of center) I was going to throw it away and start again. But I had an idea to stamp on top of it in Baja Breeze and I loved the results! I might try 2-step stamping this set more often now.

As for the rest of the card, the base is Whisper White, with a layer of Baja Breeze (ran through the Big Shot with polka dot Texturz Plate) and a piece of Urban Garden DSP. The image is stamped on Whisper White layered on a piece of Baja Breeze and Basic Gray Cardstock. Lastly, I punched out a Basic Gray “sun” and wrapped it around the right corner of the top layer.  To do this, I take my 1 3/8″ circle punch and punch a piece of cardstock. Then I take the scallop circle punch and center it over the hole I just made. Punch, and you have a scalloped ring!

The above card was CASED from one I saw on Splitcoast a couple of weeks ago. I can’t find it again but I wanted to credit whoever it was that did it. Originally, the image was stamped on three rectangular pieces separated, like you see here. I was trying to use the Big Shot so I decided to pull out the Top Note Bigz Die and try the same technique. All stamps are from Upsy Daisy.

Technique: This is the way I did it: First, I cut out 3 separate die cuts with the Top Note die using Riding hood red, kiwi kiss, and pink pirouette cardstock. Next, I cut them each into 3 pieces. Then, I took a left side piece of Red, a middle piece of Kiwi, and a right side piece of Pink and adhered them to a sheet of scrap paper using Tombow Temporary snail adhesive (All 3 pieces were butted up against each other).  I inked my stamp with White Craft ink and stamped the image on the tri-color Top Note cut out. Then I used white embossing powder and my heat gun to give it a raised, shiny effect. Lastly, I removed each piece from the scrap paper and permanently adhered them to the card base (chocolate chip).  As for the sentiment, I used the chocolate chip marker to ink up just the “Thank You” and stamped it on whisper white. I paper pierced underneath the words and added 2 rhinestone brads. The whole sentiment layer is popped up on dimensionals.