Some Cards & Sourdough Muffins

Hi there everyone...how you all doing this 1st day of the Merry Month of May???? We are still in quarantine till the end of May. I must say....Been doing a lot of baking and cooking of different things. Been really having fun using my sourdough starter. She was in the fridge for a couple of days and I brought her out today to warm her up and then take 1 cup out, gave her another feeding and will probably put her back in the fridge for a couple of days. I will be needing some bread in a couple of days. Still have some buns in the freezer, so that will be good for a couple of days. 

While doing this post, I am in the midst of making "easy sourdough muffins" (okay I am back, another pan of muffins going in the oven). I will give you the recipe at the end of this post.

So these two cards, I made Wednesday night. The top one is going to my brother-in-law down in Illinois. I really like the way it turned out....very manly-man card. It's a die-cut, forget the name of who makes it. I just taped it to white card stock then used copic markers to color in the triangles and squares (guess there are not too many squares)...kinda fun to do, very relaxing. The Happy Birthday is a die-cut also, used sparkly paper, then glued the back to the top of the card.

The Hello card below is done the same way, except in pinks, blues and lavenders. The Hello is a die-cut done in silver. I then added gems to embellish the card. The card is going down to Indiana to a fellow blogger....she has been missing from blogland for a month or so....found out her computer pooped out. Gosh, being in quarantine and not able to be on the computer, that's got to be a double whammy!!!!

So here is what my muffins look like...not quite.....lol!!! Picture looks good though, doesn't it??? I shall have to try one before I end this post and give you a rating!!!

These easy sourdough muffns use up some discard to give your muffins a delicious sourdough taste!

This recipe is for a 10-12 muffins. 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 c whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c liquid fat(oil, or melted butter, shortening, lard or coconut oil) 1/2 c. sourdough discard (make sure you stir down the bubbles before measuring.)

1. Preheat oven 425 degrees, Line a muffin tine with muffin liners or spray with nonstick spray.
2. Mix Dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla, oil and sourdough discard until well combined.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients together, stir with spoon or spatula until well combined. The batter will be lumpy. Do not over-mix or the muffins will become tough. If using, fold in any add-ins.
(blueberries, raisins, chocolate chips, etc.) I topped the muffins with a butter, flour, sugar crumble. (this mixture added to the muffin very nicely. I usually use this crumble for my apple pies)
5. Divide the batter evenly between the 10-12 muffin cups.
6. Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes and then turn the oven heat down to 350 degrees for about 5-7 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.

Okay, these muffins were dangerously delicious, cooled down with a smear of butter....ummmmm....not thinking there are too many calories in these muffins....but they sure were GOOOOOOOD!!

I am rating these muffins from a 1-10??? I think they are a 10

Well hopefully JP will have enough goodies to last him for the week end. Chocolate chip cookies from Schwans, one donut and some soft sourdough cookies from last week.

Well time to close here....did lots of stuff today and I guess I am a little tired....so much to do so little time. Looks like it is time to work outside and do some planting...maybe some radishes and spinach...cold weather stuff that grows better in the early spring.

Keep looking up better days are coming and us prisoners will be set free!!!! Yes, free at last!!! Cheers ~ Louise 

How Ya Doing??

Hi there everyone, how ya all doing??? This Coronavirus has sure taken over our lives.....unbelieveable isn't it?? Hope you are all taking care of yourselves. 

JP has gone back to work, his back is much better, but now I think his company will be shutting down next week. Bills are getting very hard to pay....guess I can only pay what I can pay.

So glad to hear that the IRS will allow us to pay our taxes by July 15th. Just did not know how I was going to pay Uncle Sam by April 15th??? I have been told if I call the IRS, I might be able to get an extention for 120 days if I am still having a problem paying. Was hoping for a refund, but that did not happen this year. Did you know your Social Security checks are taxed. Hard to believe, aren't we taxed once already, then taxed a second time?.......my goodness, that makes no sense to me.

Following are some cards I made for Hospice last month. Pretty simple, but fun to make. The background is an embossed folder and the 'hello' is a die cut. Just added a few gems.

Here again, the background embossed with a cross with the different names of Jesus. Then I added some flowers and gems.....a good one for Easter which is coming up April 12th....gosh time flies.

Did you know....tomorrow is the first day of SPRING???? Surprise!!!!! My crocuses are popping up now. They sure are  pretty and there seems to be more popping up each year.

If the weather stays nice, maybe I will get outside and rake some leaves that I never got raked last fall. Will have to see how the weather goes, if not, I have plenty of things to do in the house. 

Can you believe.....I still have my Christmas village up, thought I would take it down on the 7th, but that did not happen, now it is starting to get old and I did not even turn the village lights on tonight. Oh well, see what happens time wise.

My Chicago Blackhawks have not played since March 11th (I know that is just last week....but it seems like a month ago) because of the virus. All the teams were shut down, that has to be hard on all the players. Especially if the teams were in the top 3 and in the  wild card position. But supposedly Hockey will start up again in July/August. Probably then the Ice will not cooperate....who knows what will happen, every day is a guessing game.

Well time to close here, hope in the next few weeks this coronavirus will be but a bad dream and life is back to normal. So far 2020 has been a TUFF year for many people. Going to have to go out to the store and see if I can find some toilet paper.....just using Kleenex right now (I have maybe 4 boxes, that should last for awhile)

Take care and keep looking up....better days are right around the corner. Cheers ~ Louise  

Some New Cards

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine was interesting. JP had his tooth pulled on Friday at the oral surgeon. We also picked up our income tax papers. We will be getting a refund....Yay for that!!!

Also on Friday, I went shopping for a dryer. As long as JP was home convalescing with his pulled tooth and did not go to work. I. Got. The. Car. for the afternoon. Checked out 3 different stores. I almost bought a New Frigidaire for $400 + delivery, set up and take the old machine. ($490)

A New Speed Queen washer and dryer was priced at $2000.00......out of my budget (but it sure would be nice to have!!!) Off to the second store, a new Amana $420. A new Maytag $422. Off to the third store which was a used appliance store. A Kenmore, $250 including everything. Then there was the Maytag for $220 + delivery and pick up = $300 and from the looks of the condition it was brand new. I like Maytags....they last longer.

So I am excited about getting the dryer, but, have to wait till our refund comes, which might be in a week or so. Then it just might be another week till the dryer is delivered. In the mean time, it's hanging the clothes in the basement. What a chore!! So much easier to put the clothes in a dryer.....spoiled much????

Saturday was spent watching the Chicago Blackhawks lose 5-3 and tonight....they lost again 5-4 oh well....now I understand why my step father got so disgusted with them. Hopefully the 2018-19 season will be better.

In these next couple of pictures are some cards I put together Saturday night. I got the idea at Hobby Lobby. They give card making classes there and always put the sample cards they will be making on the bulletin board. I always check out the bulletin board every time I go in there. I bought my Giraffe stamp a year ago, and finally used it with this idea.

My secret stamper friend sent me the "Hello" image.....it took me awhile to put this idea together, cause when I saw the giraffe sample at Hobby Lobby, the first thing I thought of was using the "Hello" with this giraffe on this card.

I used different colored card stock, which was fun. Some of the "Hello's" were colored in with copic markers depending on if there was contrasting colors. Some I just left plain. I rounded some corners and ruffed up edges on some of the cards.

I made about 20 of these cards, some will be for Hospice and some to just keep, maybe make them into birthday cards or thinking of you cards.

Two cards have been set aside for my secret stamper friend that sent me the "hello" die cut. I still have 12 flower images my stamper friend sent to make cards with, plus the two images I sent to my other secret stamper. I should get all these cards done by this week, as soon as I do, I will post them for you to see the finished products.

So this next week looks pretty quiet NOW....but who knows what will transpire in the next couple of days. Wednesday is "Betty Day" when I go to her house to make cards, I always look forward to that. JP gets his SS check....so I can pay a few bills.....bills, bills bills, never ending!!!

Hey....Spring Begins on the 20th.....it sure has been nice these last couple of days. My crocuses are up and I noticed today the tulips are pushing up. I better cover them so the rabbits don't get to them first. I noticed the crocuses are being eaten up!! Must be the rabbits!!

Well, time to close here, you have a great week and keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Taking a Rest!!!

A Wordless Wednesday kind of day............

Missed my card making day at Betty's today. Kind of sick, coughing, coughing, coughing....uge!!

Think I will make this card, as I have the stamps. Have a great day!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Been Busy Making Cards

Hi there everyone. Well, just as I said in my last post, that I would show you some of the cards I have been making....when the creative juices are flowing, you must go with the flow......or it dries up!!! Lol!!!

Hope you had a nice Saturday. But for some, it was not so good, there were many people in the Baton Rouge area whose homes flooded. Jimmy Swaggart Ministries was flooded and services are cancelled for tomorrow. So we will be seeing last week's service.....I hope there was not a lot of damage.

So here are some of the cards I have been working on these past few days and weeks. This lovely maiden is my most recent card. She is a digital and I paid $4 for her. There are two more digital maiden's that I want to get.....but I don't have enough in my paypal account to buy them yet.

I copied this one to my computer and ran her off on card stock. I can do just about anything I want with her and even color her dress different colors.....I think my two nieces will be getting this card for their birthday this year and next.

I put her in my Etsy store tonight for $3.50 + postage $2.50... I know, it's the postage that kills the sales but I can't very well give my cards away.....can I???? I do add a bonus card to my sales though, hope that compensates for the high postage.

"Happy Birthday Bluebirds of Happiness in Orange" I stamped and embossed the birds and flowers a couple of years ago and just recently turned it into a card. Smudged some gold paste on the card, it added a little depth $3.50 + postage.

"A Pink Flamingo Thank You" I love this Flamingo....so elegant. Colored with Copic markers and Wink of Stella and of course some gold paste to add depth. $3.50 + postage.

A Purple Violet Hello Greeting" Sometimes I don't know what to do with a card and then something pops as I put the card together....that is what happened here. Colored the flower with copic markers and outlined with a gel pen. I had a bunch of these Hello tags made and just added it to the pansy with a bunch of purple sequins for pazazzzzzz!!! (oh I know, spell checker says...no such word!!! But in my world, there is pazazzzzzzz)

"Live Laugh Love Thinking of You" This is another one of those "adult color" stamps that I picked up. Have you tried your hand at adult coloring, it is amazing how relaxing this is. I am so glad I have the creative juices to turn these works of art into a card.

Happy Birthday Bluebird of Happiness in Turquoise" Same as the orange card up above.

"The Frogs Have It Birthday Card" This is a print of a frog. I liked the idea of the background and frame and made lots of these cards....I need to put a few more cards like this up.

"Adult Coloring Birds and Flowers Thinking of You" These two cards actually go with the two cards in my banner. This is a set of 4 cards for $10 + postage.

So there you have it....a taste of some of the cards I have been working on. A lot of these cards will be going to Hospice and then there are some that I made a couple years ago that will end up in the Hospice box.....yeah, I have a LOT of cards. Probably more then I will ever use. I can't remember the last time I bought a card.

Well, time to close.....I need to go to my favorite place.....the basement to make some more cards. Have a great rest of the weekend and keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

A Few Cards for Hospice and a Mini Misti

Hi there everyone...how was your day today. It was a little bit warm today...weatherman said it would be in the 90's....uge, too warm for me. We did not start working in the yard till about 5:00. Actually that is my usual time when JP is working....my energy level does not raise till about then and I can get loads done in those few hours before it gets dark and the mosquito's start biting.

Well, this past week I was working on cards for the Hospice meeting yesterday. The cards below were cards made for 4th of July. I made 22 cards for this event. I may use the same design for Veterans day cards in October. These were fun to make.....and a few ladies asked how I made them using the embossing folder and strips of red, white, and blue papers.

So in this picture is the Mini Misti that I won....it sure has come in handy and so much fun to use. I saw a tutorial on YouTube where they showed "10 ways to use the Misti". I shall have to write them down, as Betty wants me to do a short "show and tell" about the misti at her house at next card meeting.

In this picture of the 6 flowers and the one above, I used the Misti. It's a layered technique, the stamp has 3 layers, using different colors for each layer and then the stem and saying are stamped also.

This is a quick card I made....ran the pink and yellow paper through the crimper, then punched a butterfly....negative and positive....with a Happy Birthday and Thank You for the saying. This could be my "go to" card when I need a fast card to make.

These are my scenic picture cards.....I made a bunch of these cards up, different scenes for Birthday and Thinking of you.

Just one of these cards in the collection....I did make two, but held back on one because I want one for a sample to make some more.

My stained glass sail boat stamp. There are so many ways to color this....reminds me of the Adult coloring books....makes for a nice card, and I added a "thanks" die cut.

So, there you have it....just some cards I made for Hospice. We have a two month vacation from Hospice and back together again in September. Then we have to have Veterans and Halloween cards made. I am not much of a Halloween fan....so there will be very few in my collection....maybe mostly Fall cards for this girl.

Time to close, I want to go downstairs where it is cool and make some cards. So talk to you later and have a great weekend. Keep looking up, cause better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise