In My World

When my kids were little I often made hot chocolate using a homemade mix. As the kids got older and life got busier it was just one of the lovely things that went by the wayside, replaced by the convenient. The other day I had a craving for chocolate but it was really humid out and I just didn't crave it bad enough to make me want to walk to the store. Then I remembered the tin of cocoa in the cupboard. I had forgotten just how delicious homemade hot chocolate is. Here's the recipe I used . . . Serves 2 2 tbsp and 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder 1/4 cup and 2 tbsp white sugar 1/2 pinch salt 2 tbsp and 2 tsp boiling water 1-3/4 cups milk 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup half-and-half cream Combine the cocoa, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla....

Organizing your stickers, die cuts and rub-ons is the challenge for Week 5 Stickers, diecuts, and rub-ons are some of the hardest things to organize because the different sizes and shapes pose many challenges. Rub-ons present their own challenges because if they aren't stored properly, they stick to each other, damaging precious supplies. SORT: time to be ruthless. Consider if you are really going to use these items. If you bought a whole sheet of die cut just to use one or two tags, why are you hanging on to the whole sheet? Those stickers you bought in 1999 were adorable then, but definitely not your style now, are they? So, sort into piles: TRASH, SELL, DONATE, TO KEEP PURGE: Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up, and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile and put them directly into the garage sale box. Make immediate arrangements to rid yourself of the DONATE items. ASSIGN: The KEEP items need to be divided into categories that make sense to you: by col...

Christmas Candles 4" x 4" $3.00 BUY Piecings may not be exactly as shown.  Each is individually made.

Chimney Santa 4" x 8" $6.50 BUY  Piecings may not be exactly as shown.  Each is individually made.

It's Week 4 of the Get Organized Challenge . . . Tools & Adhesives Gather together all of your tools and adhesives into the Big Box, and let's start S.P.A.C.E.ing them! Sort : one by one, put each item into piles: FAVOURITES, TRASH, TO SELL, STORE, DONATE. Purge : For the SELL pile: bag up and assign a price and your initials to tools/adhesives that you don't love/use anymore and put them in your garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Arrange pick-up or drop-off of the DONATE pile. Assign : Store your most used items in a basket or box or other system right on your desk, within easy reach. Divide the STORE items into categories that make sense to you: cutting tools, pens, punches, templates, etc.  Containerize : This is the time to tidy up your tools. Tools need regular maintenance to keep them efficiently working. As you put your tools away in whatever container (drawers, shelves, boxes, baskets - always ensuring the container is clearly labelled) give them ...

Week 3: Organize your photos . . . So, your paper is beautifully organized, your scraps carefully stashed or purged, and your desk is gleaming! Doesn't it make you feel creative? Don't you want to get cropping? Well, you CAN'T scrapbook without PHOTOS! Our third challenge is to organize our photos. Here are a few articles to get you thinking about how to organize those precious photos before we S.P.A.C.E. them: http://www.scrapjazz.com/topics/Organization/Photographs/113.php (this is an excellent article) Another great article, especially when dealing with old photos . . .  http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/07/17/organizing-and-preserving-a-family-photo-collection/ SORT: Gather together all of your photos, and sort them into categories that make sense: TRASH (it's okay to throw out photos with bad colour, expression, composition. Why keep them? You're not going to scrapbook them) TO SCRAPBOOK (the shots you know you are going to use) TO STORE (...

Child in Snowsuit with Broom 4" x 5" $4.00 BUY   May not be exactly as shown.  Each piecing is individually made.

Celestial Santa 6" x 6" $3.50 BUY  Piecings may not be exactly as shown.  Each one is individually made.

Bee with Merry Christmas 3.25" x 4.5" $5.00 BUY May not be exactly as shown because each piecing is individually made.

Anyone see the video on how to make Apple Chips on Facebook or other social media platforms?  I saw it on Facebook.  Don't they look yummy? Here's the link:   http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/smart-choices/how-to-make-spiced-apple-chips-video?xid=social_facebook+ Anyway, I had some apples that were starting to get soft so I thought this might be a good idea.  I watched the video and scribbled down the instructions.  (I found out later that there was a link to the recipe . . . sigh.) I used my brand new Epicure mandolin to cut the apples and I mixed the spices.  I laid out the slices on cookie sheets just like the recipe required.  I baked them in the oven for 1-1/2 hours. And then I pulled the pan out of the oven to flip the chips.  Yeah, apparently I was so busy scribbling down the recipe that I failed to note the parchment paper. The ones I managed to get off the sheet were quite tasty.  I'm still trying to figure ...

How did you make out with last week's challenge? Did you find your work table?  Quite a few people sent me photos over Facebook and email.  Thanks so much!  I'm glad you are all enjoying playing along. Here's this week's challenge: Week #2 Challenge: Paper . . . and I mean ALL of your paper . Your challenge this week is to S.P.A.C.E. your paper - - and I mean ALL of your paper: cardstock, patterned paper, specialty papers, and all those SCRAPS! Step 1 SORT: Bring all of your paper to one area. Sort it all into piles: KEEP, SELL, DONATE, TRASH. Step 2 PURGE: bag up, and assign a price to paper bundles that you want to SELL at a garage sale or online, and put the bags in the garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up the DONATE pile and immediately make arrangements for drop-off/pick-up or put in your vehicle. Step 3 ASSIGN: separate your paper into categories that make sense to you. For example, you may want to divide it simply into cardstock and patterned ...

Mystery Knit-along Dishcloth

Bee with Candy Cane 2.5" x 3.5" $3.50 Bee with Holly 3" x 4.25" $3.00 Bee with Merry Christmas 3.25" x 4.5" $5.00 BUY

How many of you made New Year's Eve Resolutions on January 1st?  Can I see a show of hands . . . LOL. I actually planned my resolutions in advance.  Some in fact are just continuations of last year's resolutions.  The resolution I'm most excited about is doing  The Happiness Project  with some friends.  And this project leads to some of my other resolutions which included sticking to my menu more consistently and continuing to declutter my apartment.   These are not huge resolutions.  But they make me happy. So what are your New Year's Resolutions?

To see the whole challenge, just click on this LINK .

Week 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I know everyone is anxious to get their craft space in order, and as a result get more accomplished and get more enjoyment out of their scrapbooking goodies. If you aren't a scrapper but enjoy other crafts, many of the suggestions in this challenge will be helpful to you as well. So - what I want you to do, right NOW is take a photo of your scrap zone - no, leave the dirty coffee cup where it is....yes, I know you let your cat sleep on your keyboard.....do not touch ANYTHING - go take a photo and upload it. Post a link to your photos in the comments section of this post. Come on!! You can do it!! No shame here - just hope. If I can get MY MESS fixed, ANYONE can follow the ten challenges to organization. The first challenge of the GET ORGANIZED CHALLENGE is to clear off your scrapping workspace. Before you get started, take a "before" photo, post it somewhere we can go see it and share the link with us in the comment section. We wanna see just how...