Thursday, March 28, 2024

Hold on to the joy!

 


I managed to rise this morning, but I'm not shining. I woke up with a really painful hip (bursitis?), and now I'm hobbling around the house. Just in time for my long list of jobs to do before the Easter weekend.

But even in pain, I still managed to make my coffee...joy!

This sentiment from Riley and Company really cracks me up.


{Today's Brew: Rise and Shine stamps and dies (CP), Buffalo Check background stamp (CP), CP inks and sequins, MFT stencil, Riley and Co coffee sentiment}


Still having fun with these colors and background papers that I stamped myself.

I'm trying to keep it simple for Easter meal plans...a combination of pre-made (store-bought quiche and bakery cake), along with a few homemade items like Tater Tot casserole, Apple Cashew salad, and French madeleines. 

Do you have any Easter day traditions?

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Robin Season

 


Michigan's state bird is the robin...a herald of spring!

We've been seeing so many robins lately, flocks of them congregating in the crab apple trees, looking for some leftover fruit. You will also see them in flocks on rainy spring days, hunting for worms on the warm grass.

I caught a few on a chilly morning last week!




I think the caption on these photos should be "I left Florida for this?!"


This fun bird is from a Concord and 9th stencil and stamp set that my husband gave me for Christmas. So cute! You can make so many combos of birds, and in any colors you wish.

After ink blending the colors and stamping some details, I went back with a Signo white gel pen and added a bit more.


A fun card for spring birthdays!



Happy Spring, café friends!

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

I Am Not Enough


I am not enough. I am not good. And I know this is not the message of the world.

The world gives us cute slogans meant to boost our egos and make us feel better about our sinful selves. You keep doing you.

No. Me is ugly. Me is a prisoner to my selfishness.

I recently heard a clip from a famous actress who is being treated for cancer. In this clip, she said that she's not afraid to die because she knows she's going to heaven. Why? Because, in her words, she's a good person.

I told my husband when I heard it "That's the funny thing. I know I'm going to heaven because I know that I'm not a good person!"


I can never reconcile my sinful self in front of a holy and perfect God.

That is why I so desperately need Jesus! That is why I need a Savior.

Because of his righteousness, I am righteous. Because he died for my sins, I am set free from bondage. Because he rose from the grave, I too will have new life.

He was perfect because I am not. He was sinless because I am riddled with sin. He took it all for me and nailed it to the cross and said "It is finished."

Hallelujah!


I am not enough. But Jesus is. Praise God!

{Today's Brew: Third Day border die (Taylored Expression), TE sentiments, MFT sun stencil, CP scallop oval frame die, CP Daffodils in Bloom stamps and dies}

Monday, March 25, 2024

"New" Paper, Year of Plenty-style

 


Catherine Pooler came out with new inks and papers. Gingham! Spring colors! I wanted it all! I loaded up my shopping cart...


...and then my Year of Plenty philosophy kicked in. 

Yes, Frosted and Lemon Chiffon and Creamsicle sounds lovely. But is it really so much different than the Apricot, Whipped Honey and Lilac that you already own?

And seriously, I do not need more paper!

So I pulled out my own inks, a CP background stamp (Buffalo Check), and made my own. It took just a few minutes to have a stack of pretty colors to use on future projects.

And here's a fun card I made with these "new" papers and colors.


{Today's Brew: Rise and Shine stamps and dies (CP), Buffalo Check background stamp (CP), CP inks, sequins, doily edge die (CP), coffee sentiment from Riley and Co.}


I did some fun selective inking with the help of my MISTI to give that rooster some colors.

I love this stamp set! It's one of the first I purchased when I started collecting CP products a few years ago.

Will I get the new inks? One day, when I have a little mad money to spend and there's a great sale, I probably will...because I'm a completist. But for now...

How does it feel to have plenty? It feels good...really good.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Pasta Florentine with Pesto Cream Sauce


The sauce is the boss.

It's what makes all those dishes so special when you go out to a fancy restaurant. The mushroom marsala sauce. The balsamic glaze. The gravy. The Asian General Tsao sauce.

My younger self was so intimidated by sauces. If it required a sauce, I had to have the exact recipe, and I followed it like it was the law.

I've gotten much better with sauces. 

There are a few things I rely on now to help me with this.

*If it's a cream sauce, start with a little butter, a little flour, a little cream, and go from there.

*If it's an Asian sauce, you will probably want corn starch as your thickener. 

*A beef broth sauce can always benefit from a little Worcestershire sauce.

*Good stock or broth can make or break a sauce.

*A thin sauce will often thicken if left to simmer a while. Be patient. 

*Reserved pasta water is often a good thickener, too. This works great for tomato based sauces.

Today's recipe was inspired by leftovers in my fridge. I had a little leftover pesto (I love the Aldi brand), a little leftover sundried tomato, some spinach.

Pasta Florentine was born!

Here are the ingredients:

1 pkg. Tomato Basil chicken sausage
Farfalle pasta (I like Jovial Gluten Free)
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1/2-1 c. half and half or heavy cream
1 c. chicken broth
1 T. pesto
1/4 c. chopped sundried tomatoes
2-3 c. fresh spinach
freshly grated parmesan for topping

Cook pasta according to directions. In a separate pan, cook sausage until done. Remove from pan and set aside. In same pan, add butter and flour and cook until bubbly. Add cream and broth, then add pesto and tomatoes. Add sausage slices.  Simmer for a few minutes, then add spinach and cook until wilted.

Drain pasta and top with sausage and cream. Top with freshly grated parmesan and enjoy!

This dish did not need extra seasoning, as the pesto had plenty.


We try to stay on top of our carb consumption, and we typically only eat pasta once or twice a month. This one was a treat. My husband gave it two thumbs up.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. I plan on working in the craft studio today. I have a long To Do list! Should be fun.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Overdue

 


Belated birthday cards are always needed!  This one takes the "overdue library fine" concept and applies it to the belated birthday sentiments.


And here is the inside sentiment:


With a little shimmer spray and ink splatter to make it fun. But something tells me the librarians do not approve of splatter.


Belated. Because life happens!

{Today's Brew: Library card stamp (PTI), PTI paper and card stock, corner rounder punch, Simple stories enamel dots, CP HB sentiments, MFT alpha stamps}

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Garden Dreams

 


I requested some gardening books from the library, and one of them came in this week. The author, Christie Purifoy, has written a series of books with lovely photos from her home and garden in Pennsylvania. The books, published by Harvest House, contain her sweet essays on the Creator and His creation, the gardening process, and the love of flowers. I started reading it yesterday, and I'm already halfway through.

While I was there, I remembered to check out the seed library that our local branch offers.


Open the drawers, and you can peruse from hundreds of seed packets that have been donated by local gardeners. Patrons are encouraged to take up to five packs...for free!






It was hard to decide! I chose something called Strawberry Spinach (intriguing!), along with dill (always hard to find in the garden centers), basil, arugula, and Amish snap peas.


It will be a few weeks before any of these get planted, but it's not too soon to make plans for the garden.



Generally, it is too soon to do any garden clean up. We are encouraged to leave the old growth for as long as possible to help any insects, butterflies, and bees who are overwintering in the stems and dried foliage.

But some things can really use a sprucing up when the timing is important.

Take, for instance, hydrangeas. You have to know if your hydrangea blooms only on old growth (don't prune now!), or old and new growth. My Annabelle hydrangeas bloom on both, and they can take a hard pruning. I typically prune them gently this time of year, removing dead heads and cutting back the stems just up to the new bud, as you can see here.


I had quite a pile of dried blossoms when I was done!


For now, I'm keeping clippings in yard waste bags, loosely bundled. I'm storing them in the back by my potting table. We won't have curbside pickup for a few weeks, and this way any wintering guests can still be safe.

If you enjoy listening to podcasts, author Christie Purifoy has one that she does with her friend and fellow author Lisa Jo Baker called Out of the Ordinary. I've been enjoying listening to them on morning walks as I look for signs of spring.

The sun is shining on this crisp morning. I think I will take one of those walks soon.

Enjoy the sun, friends!