Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Recipe :: Kale Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing


Well, if you read about my new blog adventure, you saw that I will be sharing more than just crafts - I'll be sharing recipes, book reviews, and more.
Today I am sharing a recipe for a yummy kale salad.
I know many people have never tried kale, and for those who have may have only had it as chips or in a soup (or juiced). I love kale because of it's hearty leaves...you can keep this salad with the dressing on it in the fridge and it won't get all soggy and wilted. (I'm not sure exactly how long...it doesn't last more than 24 hours in my fridge because I take it out and eat it.)

We eat this as a dinner entree...it is surprisingly filling. It would be great with some fresh baked bread, too.
I hope you'll give it a try!
Kale Salad:
10 oz. Kale (large stems removed), chopped into small (bite-size) pieces
8 oz. Organic Dried Cranberries, chopped
1/2 c. - 1 c. toasted pine nuts
1/2 small red onion, chopped very small or minced
2 small Granny Smith apples, chopped small
3 oz. Honey Mustard Dressing (recipe below)
Pepper to taste

Honey Mustard Dressing: {Makes approx. 10 oz.}
Combine:
1/2 c. Grapeseed Oil (or other oil)
1/4 c. Lemon Juice
1/3 c. Honey
1 tbsp. Mustard

Toss all ingredients together, add dressing, and enjoy.

In the salad in the image above I also threw in some chopped raw spinach, diced strawberries, a tiny bit of left over cilantro (chopped), some raw almond slices...and I don't know what else.
It was still yummy. :o)


Friday, February 22, 2013

Polka Dots {The Twinery}

I like a challenge, but I also LOVE freedom to create my way.
It's the best of both worlds with The Twinery's new challenge! 
You get a simple theme to get you started and then have the freedom to create whatever you want within that theme.
Here's the current theme:
I am really excited to share the card I created for this challenge. It is one of those that was fun to dream up and I really love the finished product.
Well - hello there, beautiful!
I used The Twinery's Charcoal twine to complement the papers that I used from Crate Paper's "On Trend" collection.

Be sure to visit The Twinery's blog where you can get all the challenge details and enter your project to win a fabulous prize!

Supplies:
Twine: The Twinery (Charcoal); 

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic White);
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper ("On Trend" 6x6); 

Stickers: Lily Bee Design (ABC Stickers - Buttercup); 
Button: Foof-a-la;
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Round N Round Squeeze Punches); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

PS - I'm linking this up for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Set The Table
Love those natural colors and the layout of the image!

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Play Date Cafe Challenge {The Twinery}


This week over at The Play Date Cafe is a new color challenge sponsored by The Twinery.
This challenge is a perfect excuse to break our your Denim, Stone, and/or Buttercream twine.
I created this quick and easy card using Buttercream twine and papers from Heidi Swapp's "No Limits" collection. 

Thanks for stopping by - and be sure to head on over to The Twinery's blog to see more inspiration for this challenge!

Supplies:
Twine: The Twinery (Buttercream); 

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Soft Stone);
Patterned Paper: Heidi Swapp ("No Limits" 6x6);
Stickers: Lily Bee Design (ABC Stickers - Buttercup);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Heart Squeeze Punch); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Please allow me to introduce myself.

Well hello there!
Please allow me to introduce myself.
You may be stopping by for the first time today or you may have been here often before, but I thought it was time to formally introduce myself.

My name is Tifany.
I am a wife (going on 10 1/2 years now), a 30-something homeschooling mother to three kids (ages 9,7, and 4), and a girl who tries to follow Christ.
Just like the rest of you my life has many components: I make stuff, I eat stuff, I read stuff, I paint stuff, I draw stuff, I think about stuff, I live with {disease} stuff, and sometimes I get a wild hair and go and do stuff.

Why introduce myself now - after blogging for over 5 years? 

Well...I've decided to do a little tidying up around here, starting with a fresh new look for my blog. And with that fresh new look will come some new content - things I haven't really explored on this blog before.
Crafting will still be the main content on my blog...but that is not all that I am involved in so I didn't think it should be all that I blog about.

Some things you might see coming from me in the near future:
recipes, book reviews, homeschooling ideas, encouraging thoughts or quotes, information about lupus and/or fibromyalgia, and whatever else I think might be worth sharing.
I hope you'll stay tuned for all the stuff I'll be sharing. {My plan is to have a post for you every Tuesday and every Friday.}

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Cheer Up

Hello!
I just wanted to share a quick card today created with my houndstooth chevron arrows stamp that was released in Unity Stamp Company's July 2012 SMAK kit.
Wishing you a cheerful day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#, Orange Dotted);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (July 2012 SMAK); Cornish Heritage Farms (Quirky Alphabet);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black); Memento (Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Tangelo);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Friday, February 8, 2013

ValenTWINE Jar {The Twinery}

Hello!
I hope you are joining in on the big Be Our Valentine Blog Celebration over on The Twinery's blog - there are lots of great Valentine ideas being showcased AND some great giveaways!
I still haven't let go of the idea of Christmas/winter (after all our snow did just finally melt away this week) - so for my Valentine decor project I wanted to create something inspired by all the fun snow globes that were popping up for the Christmas season. 

For my "ValenTWINE Jar" I started with some basic crafting supplies:
I started by covering the plain white cardstock in strips of washi tape. Once the cardstock covered enough area, I used a variety of heart shaped Fiskars punches to punch two of each heart.
I punched holes in the lid of my canning jar using my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite and threaded The Twinery's twine through each of the three holes. I used Platinum ShimmerStrawberry, and Blossom twine. I triple-knotted each strand of twine to hold it in place, but I also did add a bit of tape to make sure it would stay. 
{We will be covering up the top of this...so it doesn't matter how it looks right now.}
I adhered each heart (back-to-back, with the washi tape covered side out) to each strand of twine that was hanging below the lid at a length that would work well inside my canning jar. Then I added some plastic "diamonds" in the bottom of my jar and added my lid. 
To finish off the lid I cut a cardstock circle the size of the lid insert and covered it with strips of washi tape. I just placed it on top of the lid and used the outer ring of the lid to hold it in place, but you can also glue it to the lid insert to keep a steady hold.  
I added a bit of washi tape to the outer ring of the lid and topped it with a twine bow and a bit of bling.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop by The Twinery's blog to see today's great giveaway!

Supplies: 
Cardstock: Georgia Pacific (White);
Twine: The Twinery (Platinum ShimmerStrawberry, Blossom); 

Washi Tape: My Craft Channel;
Embellishments: Maya Road (Vintage Bling); eBay ("Diamonds");
Other: Kerr (Mason/Canning Jar);
Tools: Fiskars (Heart Squeeze Punches, Scissors); 

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Follow Your Heart {The Twinery}

Hello!
I hope you are joining in on the big Be Our Valentine Blog Celebration over on The Twinery's blog - there are lots of great Valentine ideas being showcased AND some great giveaways!

Today is "Cards & Pages" day and I am playing along - here's my card:
I used The Twinery's Charcoal twine to jazz up this "Follow Your Heart" card.

Be sure to stop by The Twinery's blog to see today's great giveaway - and please come back on Friday (the 8th) to see a fun Valentine decorating idea using The Twinery's twine.
See you soon!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#, Black Dungaree);
Twine: The Twinery (Charcoal); 

Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Follow Your Heart);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Markers: Copic;

Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);