Just The Right Tag

12/20/2015

In some ways it's been a little harder to feel the Christmas spirit this year.  Probably due to the grim news and blustery politics of late.  On the other hand, I am feeling warm and fuzzy about having my son home for Christmas...it's been a very long time since he's celebrated with us.  His birthday is just two days before Christmas, so it has always been a "twofer" holiday for our family.  He's been enjoying cooking for our little family and is plotting the main dish (Chicken Jardiniere) for his birthday dinner.  We've also been making batches of Chez Noel cookies, one of my mom's delicious, old timey recipes. (You can find it at the end of the blog post). As the holiday draws near, nothing helps to get me in the mood like dragging out the wrapping paper rolls, ribbon spools, scotch tape and scissors!  I put on my favorite Christmas tunes and I am off and running. I am one of those types that loves to wrap presents.  I even volunteer to wrap other people's presents!  However, my downfall are those tedious Christmas tags.  For some reason, after wrapping everything I dread scrounging about for an appropriate tag.  This year, all I had left were the mismatched, leftover, weird and wonky ones.  So...what's a crafty person to do?  Devote 3 hours to making a big batch of tags (36 in fact!) and I didn't cut into a single new sheet of paper, just used snippets and scraps from the "red & green" bag.  I put all of my favorite Pink Ink Itty Bitty stamps and old scalloped punches to work, reeled out several yards of pretty twisty colored twine and voila!  Tags.  Plenty of them.  Pretty ones.  That match.    Stringing tags by my favorite window, listening to The Eddie Higgins Trio Here's a close up of some of my favorites And here is the whole batch! So now I'm done with the tags and the cookies and the wrappings and am ready for our birthday/Christmas dinner...finally feeling the "spirit" that had eluded me.   And this is my wish for you, that you are able to connect with whatever small and simple things that bring you peace and joy at Christmastime.     And now... Lois Johnson's Chez Noel Cookies                                      Oven Temp. 350 degrees Shortbread Base Layer: 3/4 cup butter at room temp. 1 1/2 cups sifted flower 3 Tbsp. sugar Mix and press into 15 1/2 x 10 1/2" sheet pan.  Bake 15 - 20 minutes Pecan Topping: 1 lb. box dark brown sugar 3 egg whites 1 cup chopped pecans 1/2 tsp. vanilla Beat egg whites until still and fold into mixture of remaining ingredients.  Spread on top of first baked mixture.  Bake until brown - about 15 - 20 minutes more. Enjoy!

Scraps & Snippets

06/11/2015 Part of what makes Pink Ink Stamps special are the hand made sample cards that we send out with our orders.  They help show customers how to use the stamps and that in turn helps sell the stamps.  It also gives Pink Ink a nice presence in the store and helps us to reinforce our little brand.   All this leads me to "scraps & snippets" of paper.  Admit it...we all have them.  Me probably more than most because I have the "excuse" of running a business, but don't kid yourself, I love paper!  One of the best ways for me to use up the pieces I accumulate is by creating sample cards.  I make a lot, so I try to keep the formats simple and to emphasize the stamped images, since that is what I'm selling.  It makes sense, and it also makes a great looking card! Here are some of the basic formats I use with repeated success. They also just happen to be terrific ways to use up smaller, odd ball sized paper strips...the "scraps and snippets".    This is an example of a recent card batch ~ "Graceful Orchids" no. 2212, Prisma colored, then coordinated with lime green and hot pink papers.   I pick the papers up in the lovely stores around the country that I teach in.  I get my pretty base color cards along with those teensy ginghams from Memory Box (a shout out to Dave Brethauer...a really nice guy).  So, this is what happens when a hobby becomes a business...the fun just never stops!  P.S. Don't even get me started on ribbon!