Christmas Berry Card & Blogger Up Date

Hello again blog-land. For those two hermits out there that were not aware, Google Blogger has been down for the last two days.  It "ate" comments and scheduled future posts, in addition to locking out the blog owners.  For those of us who are far too involved in our on-line lives (can you say, Get a life, Susan?), this was very stressful!  And worst of all - It interrupted my Berry Week!  I guess you will get yesterday's berry project at some point in the future.

Today's berry card is "Christmas Berries".  And no, this is not a real plant.  I took one of the Christmas berry cuts from the Christmas Noel cartridge (which can be referred to as Christmas or Christmas Solutions) and crossed it with a pine stamp, creating a hybrid Christmas berry branch!  I then topped the branch with this sweet little red bird (wonder if he ate too many red berries?).

I went back to the Preserves cartridge and found this great shaped matting.  I cut the shape in dark brown cardstock and white with green print cardstock.  On top of that I added two oval mat cut with George .  I stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment with a Stampin' Up stamp and SU ink.  I tied a red Christmas tree ribbon around the card topper before attaching it to the cream colored base card.

Inside the card I used another Stampin' Up Christmas stamp to add a message.  There is still plenty of space to sign the card and add a personal message.

The base card was cut in speckled cream cardstock and red, green and cream stripes.  I used mono adhesive and attached the stripes to the cardstock BEFORE cutting the base card.  I then positioned the cardstock on the mat so that 3/4 of an inch of the stripes would cut with the card.  The base card was cut using Christmas Cheer.

I am hopeful that blogger continues to function properly and that this post does not get lost.  If there are no service interruptions I should be back tomorrow with another new project!!

Bonjour Raspberry Card

Bonjour!  This is day three of "Berry Week" here at Busy with the Cricky.  Today's card is going to make all of you non-Cricut Circle members wish that you too had joined the Circle!   I used two cartridges to create this card, Preserves for the raspberries, and French Manor, the first Cricut Circle exclusive cartridge, for the base card and lattice cuts.

French Manor has a lot of lovely European decor cuts, but also a wonderful selection of cards.  I really liked the lattice cut (above in medium pink) and was thrilled to discover that there is a lattice cut card!  I cut the base card in black and gray diamond print cardstock.  I then cut the lattice in medium pink and the lattice border in a pink print.  Using glue, I layered the pieces together.

As I stated above, the raspberries were cut using Preserves (which is perfect for Berry Week).  I cut the base layer in a hot pink cardstock, then used Copic markers to color the stems.  I cut the leaves in a lime green and again used Copics to add detail to the leaves.  And the berry tops were cut in this great pink-on-pink print.  I used a cat's eye ink around the edges of the berries before placing them on the card with pop dots.

The bonjour tag was created by layering an adhesive backed cardstock sticker to a circle of printed cardstock.  I used a hole punch and added ribbon to finish the tag.

I thought you might like to see the side view of the card.  I lined the inside of the card with white cardstock.  If I were to make this same card again, I would probably choose a light pink to line the inside of the card.

I hope you will be back tomorrow for another berry project!

Blueberries - Card and Fabulous Scone Recipe

Welcome to day two of Berry Week here at Busy with the Cricky. Today's card was made using nine different colors/prints of cardstock, but only one cartridge - Preserves. Here at my house we love blueberries - my three bushes usually keep in blueberries for a few weeks midsummer. I have decided that I may need to add another bush or two so that I have enough berries to share and to freeze.

This blueberry card would be perfect for sharing a blueberry recipe with a friend, or as a general note card. As I said above, the whole card was cut with just one cartridge, Preserves. I really like the shape of the base card. I welded this shape together twice to create the shaped card. I also really like the berries. I used to top layer cuts to give my berries more of a 3D effect. The leaves were cut with two different colors of green cardstock - one highly textured and the other embossed.

I added the word blueberry to the bottom of the card, along with a blue ribbon and bow. I finished the card with blue and white flowers and some doodles.

Before I close I thought I should share our favorite Blueberry Scone recipe. I made these several times last summer and my husband can hardly wait for our blueberries to ripen this year!!



Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen whole
1½ cups (7½ oz.) fresh blueberries
½ cup whole milk
½ cup sour cream
2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
½ cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Adjust an oven rack to middle position and preheat to 425˚ F. Grate the frozen butter on the holes of a large box grater. (I like to use my food processor for this – fast and easy.) Place the blueberries in the freezer until needed.

Whisk together the milk and sour cream in a medium bowl; refrigerate until needed. Combine the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.

Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula just until combined. Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour, and knead with well floured hands, 6-8 times, just until the dough holds together in a ragged ball. Add small amounts of flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Roll the dough into a 12-inch square. Fold the dough into thirds like a business letter (a dough scraper really helps with these steps). Fold the short ends of the dough into the center in thirds, to form an approximate 4-inch square. Transfer the dough to a plate lightly dusted with flour and chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Return the dough to the floured work surface and roll into an approximately 12-inch square again. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the surface of the dough, and gently press down so that they are slightly embedded in the dough surface. Using a dough scraper, roll the dough up to form a tight log. Lay the log seam side down and press the the log into a 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Using a sharp, floured knife, cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Brush the tops of the scones with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake until the tops and bottoms are golden brown, 18-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

These scones are fabulous and I confess, I do not always chill everything as called for in the recipe

Preschool Flash Cards for BBTB2

Happy Monday!  Today is going to be a day filled with news reports and waving American flags.  The President's late night announcement that U.S. Special Forces took out Osama Bin Laden in his headquarters in Pakistan is going to be headlining every news show today.  And well it should.   Normally I try to avoid politics on my blog, but I feel like this is an American moment/a westernized world moment/a tribute to freedom moment, not so much a political moment. 

Wow - how do I follow up this news with a normally Monday blog post?  I guess I just jump in!  Our wonderful Bitten by the Bug 2 blog and design team leader, Heather, selected this week's challenge cut.  Heather chose the eaten apple from the Preserves cartridge.  I will admit that this was a true challenge for me.  Finally I decided to work on some preschool flash cards.  My daughter is majoring in Early Childhood Education so these cut cards will be wonderful for her.

In addition to Preserves, I also used Kate's ABC's for the "A" cut above as well as the phrase "is for apple".  I used the A Child's Year to cut the basic card shape as well as the two matting pieces.  

Before I close, I want to share how I made this cute little corner embellishment.  I took a cardstock sticker and attached it to the corner of my "A" cut.  I used a 1/4 inch hole punch to enlarge the existing hole in the sticker as well as create a hole though the "A" cardstock.  I then took a four inch strip of apple ribbon, tied a simple knot in the middle of the ribbon, and then I pulled the ends through the hole.  I pulled the ends until the knot reached the hole, then I spread the ribbon out to be visible under the leaves. 

I am actually a bit ahead of schedule in crafting this week.  My next several projects are ready to share with you so be sure to drop by again tomorrow!!  I promise more paper crafting, less news!!