Freshly baked...

There is something magical about bread baking in your home... It doesn't hurt anything when it happens to be baking in that most miraculous of home appliances: the AWESOME bread machine! All that deliciousness and fragrance with hardly any effort! Ahhhh!

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Cami requested that I make my Apple Oat Bread. I'm so glad she did! The smell of apples, cinnamon, AND bread... it just transports you into fantasy land! (Maybe that's just me! *smile*) It's super simple... You're going to arrange all your ingredients in your bread machine like so...

And here's the recipe!

Apple Oat Bread (Bread Machine)

ha! designs (adapted from Zojirushi)

Yield: 2 lb. loaf

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups apple juice

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

2 tablespoon dry milk (baker’s special dry milk)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup oats (old fashioned)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup diced dried apples

Preparation:

Add to your bread machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Add dried apples at your addition time. Separate apples prior to adding. 

NOTE: I LOVE King Arthur Flour and use their flours as much as possible. The baker’s special dry milk is also from King Arthur. 

Easy Print! Click Here!

Enjoy... I hope you're transported to some magical fantasy land while your bread machine does all that work! 

Day 44 : 02-13-12

Day 44 : 02-13-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

There's nothing like the smell of baking bread... I love how the aroma fills the house! Tomorrow I'll post an entry with the recipe. {Posted! Click here for link!}

It was a baking day today. I also made individual Oreo Cheesecakes to have for Valentine's Day dessert. I know that Norm and Cami will love them!

I am so happy and grateful for so many things... Simple things... Like feeling good and having the ability to make things and play in my studio... And big things like my family... my heart fills when I think of them and I know that I couldn't be luckier.

LOVE-ly Inspiration

I was inspired...
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A couple of weeks ago I saw an illuminated LOVE canvas on Pinterest. It captured my imagination and I found myself gathering supplies... I was so excited to make my own version. I HAD to get it done before Valentine's Day! Sooo... on Sunday I got to it! 

Supplies I used:
16 x 20 canvas
K & C Company Specialty Papers (Valentine's Themed) or whatever papers you like!
The Ultimate Glue
Hot Glue Gun
X-Acto Knife
Scissors
1 strand of 35 Rice-Style Lights (I found mine on Amazon, 3 strands - ready for more projects!)
Pencil

I had started formatting my letters and calculating the sizes earlier in the week on my Silhouette Studio software, I was ready to cut! Do you have a Silhouette? If you like how I've made my letters... it's your lucky day! Download all four files and you have a head start! :) All files are in Silhouette Studio format.

File 1 : L for LOVE Project

File 2 : {Heart} for LOVE Project

File 3 : V for LOVE Project

File 4 : E for LOVE Project

(Please do me the little favor of leaving me a comment, if you download... It's that validation thing I have a weakness for! I also want to make sure the file download worked like it should. Enjoy!)

Did I mention I LOOOVVVEE my Silhouette Cameo!!! I haven't even scratched the surface of what it can do! Here's the gorgeous paper loading into the miracle machine.

Once all the letters are cut out, place them as you would like on your canvas. Now trace around the interior light holes. This will make placing your letters back down super easy.

Then glue them down! I initially ran my letters through my Xyron, however they didn't seem to have a permanent bond to the canvas. I ended up having to lift them up and apply the Ultimate Glue. Now they are PERMANENTLY attached! :)

Once your glue has dried, it's time to pull out that X-Acto knife. (I am not responsible for any injuries... so be CAREFUL!) Cut out each of the 35 light holes. I used scissors to cut the last little flap off of the circle. This really made it a lot easier AND safer! You know... there is nothing funny about safety... Oh, I digress... 

Get that light strand out... Now this is where it gets a little tricky. You need to make sure that your lights are going to reach all your little placement holes. If you are using my letters/layout it will work fine... if not make sure you take this into consideration prior to cutting out your light spacers. 

Turn over your canvas and decide where you want your cord end to plug in out of. I wanted mine to be at the "E." I knew where I was going to put it in the house and the plug would be easier to reach from that side of the canvas. I started with the light nearest the plug and the lowest hole in the "E," did a little measuring to make sure the lights would reach easily from hole to hole, then created a dot to dot! I numbered the holes in pencil so that when I started gluing I wouldn't make a mistake and end up having to start over! I went from the "E" up to the "Heart" down to the "L" and up to the "V." Figure out what works best for you! 

Time to glue! Yippee! Get that hot glue gun plugged in... (Also, test your light strand BEFORE gluing them in!) Now, you and I both know that when lights are plugged in they can create some warmth... so hot glue alone would not be good for this, you are using the hot glue to hold the light in while you wait for the Ultimate Glue to do it's job and dry and hold the whole thing in place... also if you feel your lights get too warm, don't leave unattended! (I have had mine plugged in for hours and it hasn't been an issue.)

I had a method to my madness here... I would hot glue 5 to 7 lights at a time and then go around them with the Ultimate glue, then move on to the next set. It makes it easier to get a good seal of glue all the way around them. 

Here's what the lights look like from the side:

Finished! It looks great unlit too!

A fun and simply LOVE-ly (couldn't resist!) project!

Day 43 : 02-12-12

Day 43 : 02-12-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Love brightens my life... And living room! It was project pajama Sunday! I spent a lazy afternoon working on making my LOVE canvas. It was a LOVE-ly way to spend an afternoon!

You can read my tutorial on this project... click here!!! :)

Day 42 : 02-11-12

Day 42 : 02-11-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

This year's Valentines complete! Yippee!!

I had so much fun creating these in Photoshop! I attached self adhesive mustaches to the front with temporary adhesive. I hope that all Cami's friends sport their "stashes" on Valentine's Day! (More details to come in a new post.)

Day 41 : 02-10-12

Day 41 : 02-10-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

A fiery sunset...

It was absolutely breathtaking. I had to pull over to the side of the road, after picking up Cami, to take a picture. Amazing! 

I played around on Photoshop today and made Cami's Valentine cards. I really like how they're turning out! Tomorrow I will finish them up and take some photos. It was really satisfying to create something today. 

It's Cami's friend's birthday today, so I dropped her off at her house for a sleep over celebration. Norm and I took the opportunity to go on a little date and went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. It was lovely and the food was delicious!

Day 40 : 02-09-12

Day 40 : 02-09-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

A quick transformation project...

It's one of my dear friend's birthday on Saturday. I made her a batch of her favorite cookies and needed to package them up. I looked through my stash and found a tin that was just the right size. The problem was that it was covered with Christmas candy canes... Not the look I wanted. I needed to transform it! Yippee! A little project! I fired up the computer and my Silhouette Cameo, measured the tin and cut out the papers to cover the tin. I used a gold leaf pen around the "Happy Birthday" phrase, glued it all down and... It's transformed! :)

Wouldn't it be nice if everything could transform so easily?

Day 39 : 02-08-12

Day 39 : 02-08-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The full moon hovers over the hills early this morning... A brief but memorable moment. 

I wish I had thought to run out of the house with my big camera. My phone couldn't quite capture it as well as I know the other camera would have. I took better photos today but none that captured that special moment or feeling in my day as well.  When I look back at this photo of the day in the future, I will recall this beautiful moonset. 

I started designing a new project based on one that inspired me on pinterest. I can't wait to work on it more tomorrow. I am also looking forward to working on the Valentine cards for Cami's friends. They're going to be sooo cute! :)

Day 38 : 02-07-12

Day 38 : 02-07-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The days spin by... 

The windy, stormy day had my whirligig twirling like crazy! I loved watching the kaleidoscope of color.

Day 37 : 02-06-12

Day 37 : 02-06-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The narcissus fragrance demanded attention as Clark and I walked by.... I just wish I could have captured the fragrance as well.

I did something VERY stupid today... Cami and I were at the mall to get her friend a birthday present. We started down the escalator when we realized we needed to stay up. I turned around and started going up the escalator. It was all very good until I took my eyes off the stairs, tripped... and fell... Ouch! It was extremely embarrassing! Luckily no one seemed to be around to notice. It definitely left a few marks on my leg! So.... NEVER go UP a DOWN escalator! It's just NOT safe!! (Surprising, huh?!) 

...I'm off to take some ibuprofen...

Day 36 : 02-05-12

Day 36 : 02-05-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Yummmmmyyyy!!!

Norm barbecued some delicious burgers! It was nice to have our very own Super Bowl BBQ... The weather was perfect in the mid 70's. We spent the afternoon outside and then came in to watch the last quarter of the game. It was exciting and fun!

slowwww dowwwnnnn

It’s Saturday morning... Time to fix a nice breakfast for the family! I LOVE weekend breakfasts! It’s a chance for us to take our time and prepare a wonderful meal... not the rush of the weekday morning breakfasts! This morning I was thinking of the great meal my sister, Heather, prepared for our family when we visited them over the holidays. I decided I would make my own variation with items I had in the fridge and pantry. (Today I actually used a package of dehydrated potatoes I have from Costco... these are the best! Once rehydrated (10 minutes) it’s set to go! These are pretty handy to have on hand!) You could make so many terrific variations of this meal... it’s as endless as what’s in your fridge/pantry or imagination! 

Here’s how I fixed it today: 

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Weekend Breakfast Casserole  

ha! designs (inspired by Heather Cox)

Yield: 6 to 9 servings

Ingredients:

3 cups hash brown potatoes (use frozen, or rehydrated, or layer hash brown patties)

2 cups shredded cheese

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled into 1/2” slices

1 or 2 chicken sausages, sliced into bite size pieces

1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup green onions, sliced

4 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

pinch chipotle pepper

pinch garlic powder

pinch black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 8 x 8 baking dish with cooking spray or butter/grease dish. Place hash browns in a single layer and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Sprinkle with cheese, meats, jalapeño, and green onions. In a bowl beat; eggs, milk, salt, mustard, chipotle, garlic, and black pepper. Pour over layers. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Uncover; bake 15 minutes longer or until edges are golden brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. 

NOTE: Use whatever left over meat you have... steak, etc. This is a great way to liven up any leftovers... Basically whatever you like in an omelette will be delicious here! Add more veggies: spinach, sautéed mushrooms, leeks, etc., if you like! 

Easy Print... Click Here!

You'll love how you have a complete breakfast in an easy to prepare, easy to serve, casserole. It's fantastic served with some nice seasonal fresh fruit! Double it for that nice spring brunch or big family gathering... or simply prepare it with your family when you slowww downnn and enjoy the weekend and the time you have together with loved ones.

Day 35 : 02-04-12

Day 35 : 02-04-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Warmth sparks into the cool night...

I did lots of baking today. I made my oatmeal cookies to take to Jerry's birthday party. (They were a BIG hit! Yippee!!) I also made lemon bars to take to Pete's Super Bowl party tomorrow. (That party is now canceled as Pete's wife went into labor tonight and they had a darling baby girl!) Now those lemon bars will go to good use at Norm's sales meeting on Monday! :)

We had a great time at Jerry's tonight. We sat out in the cool evening and enjoyed the fire. It was nice to spend time with them... It's been a long time since we've had the chance to get together.

I am also very proud of Cami... She has a very level head on her shoulders and she gave one of her friends some very good advice.

Day 34 : 02-03-12

Day 34 : 02-03-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Best friends... Walter & Clark nap together. 

I had already decided on a different picture for today's photo when I saw my babies snuggling. I took the shot to see if it was going to work... Most of the time they move when they sense the camera! This time no movement... It was perfect!

Day 33 : 02-02-12

Day 33 : 02-02-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Cami & Clark... A pas de deux! Clark has to learn some ballet too!

Cami got exciting news today... She was accepted to Joffrey West summer intensive! Mia Michaels is one of the master instructors! She has now been accepted to 7 different programs... It's going to be a tough decision!

smells of home...

My house smelled like a home today... A delightful mix of home baked Orange Cranberry Bread and Spicy Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup. Deliciously fragrant AND simple to make!

So let’s get to it and share these recipes! 

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Orange Cranberry Bread (Bread Machine)

ha! designs (adapted from Zojirushi)

Yield: 2 lb. loaf

Ingredients:

1 1/8 cups milk

1 large egg, beaten

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 cups bread flour

4 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon dry milk (baker’s special dry milk)

2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon orange peel

1/8 scant teaspoon fiori di sicilia (citrus vanilla flavoring)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 cup dried cranberries

Preparation:

Add to your bread machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Add dried cranberries at your addition time. Separate cranberries prior to adding. 

NOTE: I LOVE King Arthur Flour and use their flours as much as possible. The baker’s special dry milk and fiori di sicilia flavoring is also from King Arthur. You can click on them to take you right to the product page. Both are FANTASTIC!

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Spicy Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

ha! designs (adapted from Cooking Light, December 2008)

Ingredients:

4 cups water

3 cups fresh spinach leaves

1/2 pound snow peas, trimmed and cut in half crosswise

1 (5 3/4 ounce) package pad thai noodles (wide rice stick noodles)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/4 cups thinly sliced shallots

2 teaspoons red curry paste

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 cups, fat free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 (13.5 ounce) can light coconut milk

2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2” strips

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can straw mushrooms, (drained and rinsed)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 serrano chile, seeded and chopped, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 red jalapeño, seeded and chopped

Lime wedges

Preparation:

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add spinach and peas to pan; cook for 30 seconds. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large serving bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook 3 minutes. Drain; add noodles to spinach mixture in bowl. 

1. Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and the next 5 ingredients (through garlic) to pan; saute 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken, green onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2 minutes. Pour chicken mixture over noodle mixture in bowl. Stir in cilantro and chiles. Serve with lime wedges.

Print Here!

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I hope you enjoy these recipes and that your house also ends up smelling like a home...

Day 32 : 02-01-12

Mmmmm... The smell of home cooked bread and a comforting soup! I made an Orange Cranberry Bread. It smelled so delicious as it baked! The soup I made is a Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup that was scrumptious! See my blog entry here for ALL the details!

Day 31 : 01-31-12

Day 31 : 01-31-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

The bird watches over paradise... 

It's truly amazing how many things are blooming! Today when I walked Clark I probably took over 25 pictures of pretty flowers along the way... I had to choose the stunning bird of paradise as my photo today, it's lines are just fascinating.

Cami had her first rehearsal for Noah's Ark. She is very excited to be in this production. It's pretty special, it's an original ballet with original music. This is the encore performance of the first time it was presented in 2010. This year there is "interest" in it by other production companies and it may be purchased. This meant that they reduced the cast... Cami was so happy that she was cast in it! I went and bought tickets today also so that we would be up front and center! You can check out the promo for this ballet here!

Day 30 : 01-30-12

Day 30 : 01-30-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

Let the day begin...

The sunrise was gorgeous this morning. I dropped the girls off at school and then had to stop to capture this stunning start to the day.

Day 29 : 01-29-12

Day 29 : 01-29-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

My girl... talkin' 'bout my girl...

This winter has really NOT been a winter! Cami relaxed and worked on homework outside... and then we all got in the jacuzzi... ahhhh... soooo relaxing! It was great! We definitely needed a down day, it's been a very busy January!

Perspective...

It's interesting... How I look at things a little bit differently since I began my Project 365 (plus 1). I have to take a photo a day. It sounds simple and it is... It's just how you start going about your life a little bit differently that changes. I started to notice little things that I might have overlooked before.

Things like shadows...

and details...

and favorite things viewed from another angle...

and every day items that surround me...

It's a fascinating journey and I'm so glad I'm taking it...

Day 28 : 01-28-12

Day 28 : 01-28-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

My sweet little boy basks in the sun and watches me.

Day 27 : 01-27-12

Day 27 : 01-27-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

This gorgeous, old, stately oak tree stands majestically awaiting the night.

The Princess Card AND...

Oh my... it's been an awfully long time since I've played here... I am BACK! Ahhhh.... home. I definitely have some catching up to do with projects I've made and not posted. Oh well... A step at a time! :)

I have had the most fun the last couple of days working on a card project. I am the lucky aunt of many darling nieces that LOVE princess things. I had to create something that would be good for their birthdays this year! (Of course, I've already missed a couple of the princess nieces birthday's this year and sent them store bought *gasp* cards... I will most likely have to make up for that!)

This is what I came up with:

I can't think of many little girls who wouldn't LOVE getting a card like this! And the kicker is... after they read the pop-up "Happy Birthday" inside and my little personal message they get to WEAR IT LIKE A CROWN!!!! If you have seen any of my other cards you already know of my obsession of making cards that are "2 in 1!"

OK... Hold me back... Isn't that just adorable?!!! (Mainly because my beautiful and oh so patient daughter is modeling!) I am so excited with how it all turned out! Yippee!

This was a fairly simple project, after figuring out what I was going to do... Now that I have everything like I want, the next ones should go a little faster. 

The Details & Supplies:

Silhouette Cameo (I LOVE this machine!!)

Card Stock - I used two colors

Xyron Sticker Maker

Fiskars Cutting Board & Martha Stewart Scoring Board  (Great Tool!)

Scissors

Turbo Tacky Glue

Gold Pen-touch Marker

Assorted "Jewels"

Tiny Hole Punch

Elastic Cord

I am a relative newbie to the Silhouette Cameo... I have had it long enough to TOTALLY love it however! I have created some of my own designs and I have altered many designs to what I wanted... I have total creative reign! Ahhhh... the power.... :) It truly is amazing!

I used two shape designs for this project:

Crown Card by Samantha Walker

Happy Birthday Phrase by Samantha Walker

I opened up the Crown Card shape in the Silhouette software and I resized both elements so that the card shape would completely fill my 12" x 12" paper. I then opened the "Happy Birthday" phrase on a new document. I selected those elements and adjusted the size to what I thought would be perfect for my pop-up element. I copied these and pasted them on to the same document as the crown/card. I did it this way because I plan on making multiples of this card so I will cut out all the elements in two different card stock colors. Then mix and match the pieces for 2 cards. If you want to make one card only then you will need to separate your card elements by colors on separate documents or deselect elements to cut. Now... let that lovely Silhouette Cameo cut out your elements! 

I used my trusty Gold Pen-Touch Marker to outline the filigree part of the crown. Ran it and the phrase (top word piece only) through my Xyron. Of course plain old glue works great here too! Just a little trickier on the tiny script. (Another option is to use the fabulous sticker card stock from the Silhouette store! Sometimes I make my own sticker paper before cutting... It works great!) Place the sticky pieces on their mates. 

Now.... Here's where the Pop-Up element begins! I ADORE pop-up cards and I use lots of different techniques. This time I used the "floating layer technique." This is one of my favorite! (OK... I admit it... They are ALL my favorites!) I love how the floating layers technique makes the design appear to "float" in mid-air! 

Here's how I did it for this card. First you begin by making the supports. Using scraps from the card base colored card stock I cut a piece 4 1/2" x 1". Scored down the length of this 1/4" from each edge. 

I then cut the long strip into 3 @ 1 1/2" lengths. Turned the strips over and scored across the width in half at 3/4". (My photos show these dimensions... I may adjust them to make the supports a little smaller for my subsequent cards.) 

Take each strip and make a small cut up the mid crease of each strip, to separate the hem and create the support "feet." 

Apply glue to one half of the inner face only (not feet) of each support. Close the support and press the two faces together. This completes the support form.

Carefully glue the base of one support EXACTLY over the gutter crease on the card. Glue the other two (one on each side of the center) down in line with the center. This is a small design so the support feet will be touching each other.  

Crease your "Happy Birthday" phrase down the middle. Apply glue ONLY to the central support and carefully join the central crease of the layer to the central crease of the support. 

Apply glue to the other supports... Flatten all three to the left (careful not to let the glue touch the underside of the floating layer yet!) Once all three supports are flattened to the left carefully lower the phrase layer onto the glued supports so that the whole structure lays flat. Make sure the glue adheres and then carefully pull the structure upright. 

Yippee! A POP-UP!!

Here's what the card looks like at this point...

Now for the fun decorating! Glue all the jewels you like onto the front of the card. Ahhhh.... ssoooo sparrrkkklllyy! 

What about making it a crown?! Use a small hole punch and make a hole on each side of the back piece of the card only. About an inch up from the bottom or so. Thread the elastic cord through, tie a knot... I also punched out a larger circle of matching card stock to glue over the ends of the elastic cord to tidy it up and hopefully make it a little stronger. 

That's all there is to it! Enjoy!

I'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment...

Day 26 : 01-26-12

Day 26 : 01-26-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

It was a lovely warm day today. While walking Clark I noticed that the poppies were already blooming... The orange blossom was so bright and vibrant against the blue sky as it stretched toward the sun.

Day 25 : 01-25-12

Day 25 : 01-25-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

I finished up yesterday's card... I made it convertible! A card AND a crown! (smile)