Fresh Brewed Designs Blog Hop is today!

Happy Friday everyone, and welcome to a blog hop for Fresh Brewed Designs! I was fortunate enough to meet Heather this month while she was a guest designer for Papertake Weekly. I found out that Heather creates some awesome digi stamps, and purchased one. (remember the candy corn bat?) Heather asked me if I'd participate in a blog hop she was having today to release these new adorable stamps. Aren't they soooooo precious??!!! I was honored she asked, and ever so happy to play along! I had a hard time choosing which angel to use from the four that Heather sent me, so I ended up having to make two! LOL! I love them all.

Now if you arrived here from the talented Carolyn's blog, then you're on the right track! Be sure you visit all the blogs along the hop (there are six of us) and leave a comment on each blog. Heather will pick a winner from each blog to receive a free digi stamp, and there will also be a grand prize winner! So to maximize your chances of winning, be sure and leave a comment on each blog.

From here, you want to go to Mary's blog to see what fabulous creation she came up with for the hop. Again, please make sure you visit all six blogs! Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! Have a wonderful day! HUGS!

card recipe: circle card

Papers - Bazzill digi, and cryogen white; ink - memento, copic, atyou spica; ribbon -Offray; Tools - Nestabilities Stamps : angel - Fresh Brewed Designs sentimento - Studio G

card recipe for 6" square card

Papers - Bazzil, Basic Grey, Cryogen White; inks: Memento, Copic; Flowers: unknown and Prima rose; ribbon - stash; Tools: Fiskars border punch, Martha Stewart frond punch; Misc: safety pin

A Day of Sadness

My heart and prayers go out to the soldiers, families, and friends touched by the tragedy at Ft. Hood today.

via Delightful and Delovely

Caramel Brownies, step-by-step

Last year, I posted about caramel brownies and I think it's time to visit them again.

These babies are really one of my favorite desserts, EVER. You need them in your life.

{And on your hips.}

Caramel Brownies

2/3 c. evaporated milk, divided

14 oz. pkg. caramels

3/4 c. butter, melted

1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Melt caramels with 1/3 c. evaporated milk over low heat. (Unwrapping the caramels is the most tedious part of this recipe.) :)

Combine the melted butter, remaining 1/3 c. evaporated milk and cake mix.

Spread 1/2 the batter into an ungreased 13 X 9" pan. It will be a thin layer. (An offset spatula really helps with this, but you could use the back of a spoon, too.) Bake for 6 to 8 minutes.


{This is how it will look after the first layer has cooked.}

Sprinkle the top with the chocolate chips and pecans.


Spread melted caramels over the chips and nuts.


Drop remaining cake batter on top. (Do not worry...it's supposed to look like this. The batter will spread a little AND you want little rivers of lava flowing through the top.)

Bake an additional 15-20 minutes.

{See...it spread!}


{Hellooooo, brownies. Come to Mama...}


One more tip on these...don't overbake them. Better to underbake in my opinion. Gooey is good here. :)

One question for all of you...how to YOU say "caramel?" I say car-mul. Do you say car-a-mul, or care-a-mel? Curious. It's an ongoing debate in our house.

Related posts:

• toffee blondies
• kitchen must-have: offset spatula
• turtle ice cream pie

Peggy Loves Vintage

Here's a really quick card I put together with items from Peggy Loves Vintage. Isn't she the most precious thing you've ever seen? I just love her! And Peggy has some big plans for the future, so be sure and keep an eye out! I just printed this adorable image from one of her sheets of cutouts, mounted it on a scalloped rectangle cut with the Cricut Expression and the Storybook cartridge, and added some Prima flowers. The only other thing I added was a Martha Stewart punched border where the two papers meet. I think the only way it would get easier is to walk into a card shop and buy one!! You can shop with Peggy just about any way you prefer. She has an etsy shop, an ebay shop, and a web shop! She's also offering up an adorable FREE winter image on her blog! Such fun!! So be sure and head over there to check it out. She has the most amazing Christmas images I've ever seen! You'll be seeing me use quite of few of them for my Christmas cards, that's for sure. Thanks so much for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! HUGS!!

Opposing Team Fire Starters

Have you been by Custom Crops this week and checked out the new projects and products?  I have one new project which posted on Monday, Opposing Team Fire Starters.  This cute project was created for my husband's 50th birthday party. 

Like all football fans Doug has a favorite team.  And like most fans he has a least favorite team.  In his case, the least favorite team is the Atlanta Falcons.  Through a suggestion made by my younger son and some brainstroming, the football fire starters were born!

The cut file and complete assembly instructions are available at Custom Crops.  Just click on the blinkie on the left and you will see the project on my list of projects.

My friend Kathy pointed out that the men at Doug's party reacted to these football players with more enthusiasm that she had ever seen them respond to any paper crafting project.  She said it was as if they finally found a reason to appreciate the cricut!!!

Ace Style

You don't need a pilot's license to sport the fashion of a flier-- it's easy to draw inspiration from the classic style choices attributed to the aviation field.

Yelena Yemchuk

Time-honored aviator sunglasses, cozy aviator hats, and aviation-inspired outerware, especially bomber jackets, offer up a major dose of ace style.

L: Silence & Noise- Urban Outfitters. R: Members Only- Urban Outfitters.

L: Delia's. R: Frenchi at Nordstrom.

A little yummy for your tummy for Diana

Diana had a special request of the design team to make her a card with red, white, and black. I did one for her last month that had a refridgerator and #391 Chef Tilda sitting on the table. You can see the card HERE. So I made this one to try and match up with it. I used Oops Tilda (she's so danged CUTE!!) and #628 Kitchen. The tag is made with oval Nestabilities and #722 A little yummy for your tummy sentiment.

The stove was cut using the Cricut Expression and the From My Kitchen cartridge. The DP is by PJK Designs. I colored the stamps with Copic markers. So I hope you like it Diana! Thanks for stopping by to see me today, and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!!