Creative Cucina

October is our anniversary month. Next week we will celebrate 4 years of marriage. Since we had a fall wedding, I picked the stamp set Season of Friendship to make an anniversary card.

I made 2 versions–one for me (with lots of color and bling) and one for my husband (a little more plain).

The above card uses creamy caramel card stock for the base, layered with dusty durango textured card stock. As for the images, I stamped the tree in chocolate chip ink on whisper white card stock. The leaves are stamped in Dusty Durango, More Mustard, and Old Olive. After I finished stamping the leaves, I looked over and saw my Snow Buddies set on the desk and used the swirl image, stamped in creamy caramel ink, to create a fall breeze. Then, I stamped a few falling leaves in the “breeze”.

Across the bottom of the card, I looped a piece of 5/8″ Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon around the dusty durango/whisper white layer, tying the ends together with Hemp Twine.

The sentiment is my own, printed from my computer, on dusty durango textured card stock and punched out using the Scallop Oval Punch. I also stamped the outline from one of the Oval All stamps in dusty durango ink using the stampamajig to get it perfectly set. To finish off the oval, I punched 3 holes using the cropadile and used Circle Rhinestone Brads in the same colors as the leaves. That was then attached to the card base using dimensionals. Tip: I like to cut the ends of the brad tabs off by using my Craft and Rubber Scissors so they don’t stick out. Then, I put small glue dots over the backs to keep them from spinning.

This is the male version of the anniversary card! For this one, the base is mellow moss, layered with chocolate chip textured card stock and whisper white. I stamped the tree in chocolate chip ink again, and the leaves are all stamped in dusty durango. Everything else is the same except that I wrote the sentiment in chocolate chip marker and then punched it out. No brads, no bling, just the way he would like it 🙂

I made three cards tonight, all using designer series paper and the Ornament Punch. The similarities end there, however! I was going to space them out and post one per day but I can’t wait to show them to you!

First up is the most traditional card of the three. It uses coordinating Christmas Cocoa DSP with various stencil-like flourish patterns. The base is real red textured card stock, layered with the DSP in red and white flourishes. Next, I layered the flocked DSP (it has a raised felt image and it’s sooo beautiful) onto close to cocoa card stock so that it would pop off the background. In the center, I applied a Merry & Bright Rub On to close to cocoa card stock and punched it out using the Ornament Punch. Then, I braided three pieces of Silver Elastic Cord and adhered it to the back of the ornament, wrapping it up behind the close to cocoa panel. The ornament is then attached using dimensionals.

Next is a more retro style card. It uses the Holiday Lounge DSP and some pretty non traditional Christmas colors but it’s still festive. The card base is chocolate chip textured card stock layered with a wide strip of kiwi kiss and Holiday Lounge DSP in a taken with teal color. I then tied a piece of Chocolate Chip Twill Ribbon around the wide panel, and tied a knot to the right side. In the bottom right corner, I stamped the joy ornament from Delightful Decorations in kiwi kiss ink on whisper white card stock and punched it out using the handy dandy Ornament Punch. Then, I added a bright blue Ice Circle Rhinestone Brad to the ornament and tied some Silver Cord around the brad. The ornament is attached to the base using dimensionals.

Finally, we have the modern, clean and simple Christmas card. Although it looks really simple, it does require a bit of work. First, the card base is chocolate chip textured card stock. The DSP is also from Christmas Cocoa and is cut to 4″ x 5 1/4″. Using the Ornament Punch, I punched out the ornament shape from the lower right corner. Next, I broke out my new Shimmer Paint in Platinum and sponged it onto the circle stamp from Delightful Decorations. I stamped the image onto chocolate chip textured card stock and then adhered it to the back of the DSP. Across the top of the card, I stamped the Christmas Greetings stamp in Purely Pomegranate ink. Underneath that, I tied a piece of Purely Pomegranate Satin Ribbon into a big knot. Lastly, I slipped a piece of Silver Elastic Cord under the DSP and behind the ribbon, using small glue dots.

I really love carrot cake. The denser the better. And it has to have coconut–an absolute must. I started to bake this very late last night–just before 11 pm. The next day, I was reading another blog (SeriousEats.com) and came across an article titled “Are You a Night Baker?” and it made me laugh because I have always done my baking late at night. It probably started out as a means of relaxing after doing hours of reading and writing in law school. The house was quiet, my husband (fiancee at the time) was asleep; it really was therapeutic. Our neighbors must have either really loved me or really hated me for filling the air with the smell of brownies, butter cookies, and cake at 2am!

This recipe turned out great. I did use pre-shredded carrots (I know, I know) but I didn’t feel like lugging out the food processor, shredding blade, etc. when I had a bag of them ready to go staring at me in the fridge! I hope you’ll forgive me!

Recipe for Fall’s First Carrot Cake

(See the leaves turning colors outside my window?)

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups shredded carrots (pre-shredded works fine)
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup flaked coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray or grease a 9″ Tube pan. A deep Bundt pan will work also.

1. Mix eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Beat until well combined.

2. In a small bowl, sift all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon) together using a whisk until blended.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet mix and beat until incorporated.

4. Add shredded carrots, crushed pineapple, coconut, and chopped walnuts to the batter. Beat to combine.

5. Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Test with a wooden skewer (moist crumbs are what you’re looking for) and the cake will spring back slightly when touched.

6. Allow to cool in pan for 20 minutes, then remove the outside ring of the tube pan (if using) and let the cake rest on a rack until completely cool.

Enjoy!