Sneak Peak #2!

In my last post I mentioned that for the Scrap for Survival coming up on Saturday, March 20th, I was teaching two classes. I shared the first class project with you, the accordion file folder album. Now I want to show you what I have planned using that awesome "Golden Rule" vintage photo from my friend Julie. I am totally in love with that picture and have been wanting to do something with it for a long time. I enjoy making little art canvases and I absolutely love to go garage sale-ing and antique hunting for vintage treasures to add to my projects. So, for this class I thought it would be fun to incorporate some vintage finds along with some great new products to create an adorable piece to hang in your house or studio space. Without further ado, here it is:



I wanted to make sure and cover some techniques that many people don't often use. I love to get messy, so of course we had to paint and use paper mod podge! And crackle medium is one of my all time favorite supplies for getting the vintage look.

I lucked out at an estate sale when I scored a whole tube full of these milk caps. It is a lot of fun to make the accordion flower to highlight their great colors and graphic!



Hopefully this will be a big hit with the participants! It was a lot of fun for me! Well, I'm off to go prep about 40 canvases for this project...wish me luck!

It's been a long time coming...

I know it's been a long time since I last posted, but things have been getting pretty busy around here! We are gearing up for our Scrap for Survival to benefit the Duluth Affiliate of the Young Survival Coalition. It is an awesome 15 hour crop full of prizes, page challenges, classes, free meals, beautiful scrapping space, scrapbook valet service, a silent auction overflowing with fabulous donations, and more. Each participant receives all of this plus an awesome goody bag stuffed with great scrapping supplies. Seats are still open, and we would LOVE to have you! It is all for a fabulous cause: the only non-profit organization that focuses on the unique issues facing young women with breast cancer. If you're interested in learning more, stop by our Crop blog and check it out!

I am sharing a sneak peak of one of the classes I will be teaching at the event. It is a file folder album and uses some of my absolutely favorite things: Cosmo Cricket paper, office supplies :), Unity rubber stamps, and punches. It's easy, fun, and I think would make a great gift that you could whip up very quickly! Participants are going to get a choice of using one of two paper lines for their projects. Here's a peak at both:



Here's a little peak at the inside to see what's in store! I LOVE tags, the bigger the better. They are great for so many things. My friends laughed at me when I ordered a box of 1000 of these huge tags and now they can't keep their hands off them :)



Check back and see what I have planned for class #2 that I am teaching. (It's "da bomb" if I do say so myself!) I am going vintage-y and re-purposed with this one. Just try to guess what I am planning to do with this photo:



This pic is a huge favorite of mine; It's my friend Julie's Great Grandpa. Isn't it just awesome? Stay tuned for what I have in store! I also want to mention that Class #3 is being taught by the incredibly talented designer, Heather Nichols, from Papertrey Ink. Heather taught at our crop last year and the class was fabulous. I have to work hard to look good next to her! Check out her amazing talent on her blog here!

To make up for my absence from posting, I am fulfilling a request: I am sharing my chocolate cake recipe that I mentioned in an earlier post. Seriously, it's delish-eee-oooh-soh! I am personally feeling like I need a dose of chocolate heaven right now!

Guard this with your lives! Here it is:

Mom's Chocolate Cake (yes, that's what it's called!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together in a large bowl:
2 Cups flour
2 Cups sugar
3/4 Cup cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder

In a separate bowl, beat:
1/2 Cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Cup brewed coffee
1 Cup milk

Incrementally add dry ingredients to wet, mixing well. When batter is mixed, add in as many chocolate chips as you feel is socially acceptable ;)

Spray 2 round cake pans with Pam baking spray or coat with shortening and flour.
Evenly distribute batter into pans.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake tester comes out clean. Cool pans on wire racks for ten minutes. Invert pans and release cake layers onto wire racks to cool.

I usually frost my cake with Chocolate Butter frosting. (Yes, use butter, and make extra! Yum!)

Enjoy!!! Let me know what you think!