Interview with an elf...

or so Deborah thought! I cracked up when I read her blog post HERE. Deborah is a former Hero Hostess with Hero Arts who recently contacted me for an interview. So sweet! Please check out the interview and her other "Wednesday Wonders", a great feature where she interviews and features the work of some amazing papercrafters.
The interview also references my favorite recipe ever, Crockpot Lasagna. I got this recipe from my friend Shelley Dodge. It's awesome! Here's the recipe:

Crockpot Lasagna
8-9 "no-boil" lasagna noodles
26 oz. jar pasta sauce (any flavor)
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 lb. ground beef
16 oz. jar alfredo sauce
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1. Spray large oval crockpot with nonstick spray. Spread about 1/2 c. pasta sauce in bottom of crockpot. 2. Cook ground beef in large skillet until no longer pink; drain. Stir in remaining pasta sauce and 8 oz. tomato sauce. 3. Layer 3 lasagna noodles over pasta sauce in crockpot, breaking as needed to fit. 4. Top with 1/3 of the alfredo sauce, 1 c. mozzarella, and 1/3 of the ground beef mixture. 5. Repeat layers twice more: noodles, alfredo, mozzarella, ground beef; noodles, alfredo, mozzarella, ground beef. 6. Sprinkle 1/4 c. parmesan cheese over top of last layer. 7. Cover and cook on LOW for 3.5 - 4 hours.

Stamp Kissing, Pumpkin Scones and Prom

First I want to share a simple little "hello" card I made for my husband's Aunt Lois. I saw her last weekend-such a sweet lady and an incredible cook. She made yummy Lemon Biscotti. I told her about an easy and yummy Pumpkin Scone recipe. She asked for it, so I am sending it out to her in this card. (The recipe is listed further down in this post, if you want to try it, too. I believe it was originally in Quick Cooking magazine.)

For my card, I wanted to try playing around with background stamps again. (It is this week's challenge over on the Hero Arts blog.) I first inked my Meadow Petals stamp with Ice Blue chalk ink. Then I "kissed" an uninked stamp (a flourish from the Artistic Windows set) to the image before stamping it onto white cardstock. This removed some of the ink, creating a swirled flourish pattern on the stamped image. Then I just stamped the coordinating flower (A Real Violet) over the background image using Blue Iris and Olive Green chalk inks. I distressed the edges of both the white cardstock and the blue mat with my fingernail, creating kind of a watercolor paper look. I thought this was a nice touch, since the "kissing" technique created a watercolor effect as well.

On another note, there is excitment in our house today: my dd is going to her first prom! Her eighth-grade prom (how crazy is that?) is tonight. I'll be taking tons of pictures to share!

Pumpkin Scones: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 7 Tbsp. sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. ginger, and 1/4 tsp. baking soda. Cut in 4 Tbsp. cold butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, combine 1 egg, lightly beaten, 1/4 cup canned pumpkin, and 1/4 cup sour cream; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a floured surface; knead 10 times. Pat into an 8-inch circle. cut into eight wedges. Separate wedges and place on a greased baking sheet. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter; brush over dough. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Enjoy!