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Friday, April 30, 2010

Unity Friends With Flair Blog Hop!!!!

There is so much excitement going on over at Unity this week with their 2 year anniversary party and new releases to go along with the celebration! And today is the weekly Friends with Flair blog hop, so thanks for stopping by! Make sure to check out the Unity blog to see a list of all the participants! Without any further ado, here is my card for the hop using stamps from April's Kit of the Month, inspired by Nina's FWF22 card HERE.
Happy Friday!
xx, Nora Anne


****And make sure to check out the {ippity} blog for sneak peeks of the new release on May 13th, sneak peeks will be starting soon!!!) Want some of your very own {ippity}?! Visit my blog for a sale on the current sets! ****

Now HOP ON OVER TO Heather's Blog for the next stop on the hop! ! !

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Rainbow Cake

I came across this today while blog hopping and I just had to share! It is SO pretty and I don't think I would ever be able to cut it~LOL! I have the next two pages of my Tell Your Story journal to share but haven't photographed them yet,so in the meantime, enjoy some yumminess in the form of cake!



Here is the source I "blog lifted" this beautiful cake and recipe from :) Thoughts of Creativity Bubbling Over, a blog that I follow and am inspired by regularly!

Rainbow Cake
White Cake
2 sticks (226 g) butter, room temp
2 1/3 c (466 g) sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 c (375 g) flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/2 c (355 g) milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave to bring to room temp
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple GEL food coloring. Liquid will not be vibrant enough!

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Oil and line how ever many 9” cake pans you have (I have three and I just reused them).

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the sugar and butter, then add the egg whites (I cracked them all into one bowl) and add them a little at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts.

Divide the batter amongst 6 bowls (I did it by weight. Weigh your mixing bowl before you begin adding ingredients and then subtract the weight of the bowl from the final measurement after the batter is completed. Divide that number by six and add that weight of batter to each bowl), and then whisk a fair amount of the appropriate food color into each bowl. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each.

When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes. Then flip, cover, and stash them in the fridge to cool quickly.
Lemony Swiss Meringue Buttercream

To fill and crumb coat:
9 egg whites
1 ¾ c (350 g) sugar
4 sticks (532 g) of butter, room temp
2 tsp lemon extract

To frost:
5 egg whites
1 c (200 g) sugar
2 sticks (226 g) butter, room temp
1 tsp lemon extract

Cook the egg whites and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar is completely dissolved (test by rubbing some between your fingers. If it's completely smooth, it's done). Pour into another bowl (a stand mixer is preferable) and whip on high speed until room temp. Then, on a medium-slow speed, add the butter, waiting until each piece is completely incorporated before adding the next. After all the butter has been added, turn the mixer back to high speed and whip until it has come together, about five minutes. Add the extract, beat briefly and then use.

If the buttercream seems soupy after all of the butter is added and does not come together after whipping, refrigerate for 5 to 7 minutes and continue whipping until it becomes fluffy and workable.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

With Sympathy

I got this adorable Amuse cloud paper today at One Little Spark. I came home and remembered I hadn't checked the mail yesterday. So there was my April Kit of the Month from Unity. I needed a sympathy card for a co-worker and decided to make it a little cheerier than a typical sympathy card.It's plain and simple, but I like the way it turned out.



Supplies used: Unity Stamps, A Muse Cloud paper, Neenah Cardstock, Memento Ink, Original Copics B00,
B05, YG95, R35, W4, Spica Pens, Pop Dots

Friday, April 23, 2010

Saturday Night Challenge

My friend Pat over at One Little Spark has been hosting the Saturday Night Challenge for as long as I remember now! I always have good intentions of participating but the week always flies by and before I know it, I've missed the deadline.
So this week, I finally completed the challenge on time and I am even getting in under the deadline!
The challenge was to make a card featuring a cutout. I kept it very simple as you can see! I used my circle punch to cut a sun out of a Memory Box 6 x 6 paper from One Little Spark.
The sailboat and seashells stamp was my newest purchase from Pat's shop. I just love this stamp and when I saw the card Pat made with it, I had to have it!
I punched the edge of the patterned paper that I used for the "water", which is another Memory Box 6 x 6 paper that I bought at One Little Spark, along with the Copic Markers I used to color the image. I finished off with a little bit of stickles from Paper Wings on the sailboat and the shells.
I had fun with this challenge and hopefully I will make it next week too! (don't hold your breath, LOL!)

Don't forget to check out my {ippity} blog for a sale on the Fall and Winter releases! I am making room for the Spring 2010 release that is set to debut on May 13, 2010!

See you soon! Have a lovely weekend!
xx, Nora Anne


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Weight Watchers, Tell Your Story & Ippity Sale!


Yesterday was my first Weight Watchers weigh in since starting the program last Monday. I am happy to say I lost 3.8 pounds, but for some reason I am feeling SO unmotivated this week. Weird, since I was SUPER motivated last week and did okay at weigh-in. I think I just feel discouraged because I have a long road ahead of me, I would like to lose at least 40 pounds and that is so much compared to 3.8 lbs. However unmotivated I feel right now I am going to keep chugging along! I have to for the good of my health! LOL!
If I was brave I would post a "before" picture, but I don't want to scare away any readers that happen to stop by!!!!

I did my first two bonus pages for the Tell Your Story art journal class I am taking with Elsie and Rachel. Waiting patiently for the class to officially start! There is lots of great inspiration in the Red Velvet Art Flickr Group, check it out HERE!




Last to share today is a sale I am having on my {ippity} blog. Each set is $2.00 off AND free shipping! How can you beat that?!?! I am making room for the new release coming up on May 13th! Just email me noraanne@verizon.net and I will send you a PayPal invoice with the correct price reflecting the sale! Sale runs until the end of April!
CHECK OUT AVAILABLE {ippity} sets HERE!



Have a happy week!
xx, Nora Anne

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Tell Your Story

I took the plunge and signed up for the art journal class with Elsie and Rachel starting on April 26th.
I've never done an art journal, so I am pretty excited to learn something new and create outside of my comfort zone. Hopefully I will stick with it since I am famous for "unfinished projects". Call it busy, call it lazy, call it crafty A.D.D., whatever it may be I hope it doesn't strike this time! I really want to finish this one!
I have been wanting to jump on board the new trend of Japanese Masking tape, so I ordered some from our pal, Tak at Love My Tapes. I'm looking forward to receiving it and starting my two bonus pages of my art journal before the official start of the class on the 26th.


*Photo from RVA Website*