Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Happy Halloween


Happy Halloween, cafe friends!

You may not have clued in to this (based on the lack of Halloween crafts I make!), but I've never been a big fan of Halloween, even as a child. I've always felt a bit more like Charlie Brown ("I got a rock") than Linus with his Great Pumpkin excitement.

I love to see the little ones in their costumes, but I hate to see when adults co-op this sweet holiday and turn it into something silly, horrific, or just plain nasty.

So when it comes to decor, I decorate for autumn, but not Halloween.


That doesn't stop my step mom-in-law from gifting me with Halloween items, though. So I reserve them for the week of Halloween only, and take them down promptly thereafter.


Take, for example, this wreath. Oh. My. Word.


When I took this out of its gift box for the first time, my son, Luke, looked at it and said "What is that thing? Oh my gosh. It's got legs."

Yes, indeed it does.


I made the front porch a little more festive this weekend with some lights.



I'm going to make some pumpkin cookies for the women at my Bible study this morning. I think I will call them Reformation cookies today. :)


Blessings, cafe friends!

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

A Lawn Fawn Get Well


I needed to send a Get Well card to a friend from church who is having surgery this week. Hooray for my card stash! I made quite a few Get Well cards at the craft retreat this month.


This little turtle from Lawn Fawn is always a favorite!


{Today's Brew: stamps and papers from Lawn Fawn, Prisma markers}


It's a chilly, overcast day here. Looks like just the right weather for snuggling indoors!

Sunday, October 28, 2018

A Good Day For Soup...and Projects!


Don't you love Saturdays? A great day for getting things done!

Honestly, we have been gone every weekend for the month of October. I finally had to put my foot down and say "Enough! We have stuff that needs to get done at home!"

Case in point: Our messy garage was out of control!

When we downsized to the cottage, we also downsized the square footage in our garage. Two mid-size SUVs, some bikes, garbage and recycling containers, garden and sports equipment. There was barely enough room to park our cars! In the Midwestern winters, that becomes a necessity!

So when my husband asked what I wanted to get accomplished this weekend, I knew the answer: Let's organize the garage!


We took some measurements, wrote out a list, and went shopping at our local Ace hardware. We love our Ace in Saline! Always well stocked, and well staffed, too. Everyone is so helpful and friendly.

I saw the weekly ad that showed garage shelving on  sale, and I knew that would go a long way in helping us organize. We bought two units, and split them between three spaces. Now everything is clean, off the floor, and easily accessible.


And look! Jemma approves!

Another thing that had to be done: this ginormous shop vac took up way too much valuable real estate. We are giving this one a new home.


And look! We found a nice small wet/dry vac that also functions as a blower. Perfect! I can finally get the porch and deck blown clean!


The bike got stored for the season, too.


While Ed finished the clean up, I went indoors and made a hearty soup for a cold autumn day. White Chicken Chili! I had some leftover rotisserie chicken that made this soup fast and easy and oh so yummy!


I discovered Bush's White Chili Beans this week. So good! This soup was mild, but if you want to add some kick, I would suggest the addition of chopped green chilies. You can also use diced tomatoes with green chilies in the can. I didn't have any on hand, so I added the red pepper flakes and a bit more cumin.

Here's my recipe!

White Chicken Chili

2-3 T.olive oil
1 med. onion diced
2 ribs celery diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup corn
2 c. cooked rotisserie chicken breast, chopped and shredded
2 cans Bush's chili beans
2-3 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper
cumin to taste
red pepper flakes to taste

Saute onion, celery and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add tomatoes and corn, then chicken. Next, add beans, broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then simmer low for about thirty minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or Greek non-fat plain yogurt and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Enjoy!


Blessings on your soup season, cafe friends!

Saturday, October 27, 2018

A Sweet Treat For Autumn


My nephew, James, had his twentieth birthday yesterday. James is an awesome guy. His nickname these days is Thor because, yes, is tall with longish blonde hair and a big muscular build, thanks to Crossfit. A good looking guy! He provided a lot of muscle for us when we moved in to the cottage last summer.

For many years, I've made this candy mix for James for his birthday, and he still requests it. It's one of those compelling snack mixes that you cannot stop eating.

Today I am sharing with you this very complicated recipe. Ready for it?


Dry roasted peanuts, M and Ms, and candy corn. Yep, that's it! Something about the mix of peanuts and candy corn tastes a lot like a Babe Ruth candy bar. I added M and Ms because who doesn't love chocolate, right?

I decided to make a topper for this gift in a jar. I typically have a LOT more paper than I do fabric, so I decided to use a cute fall print from Stampn' Up.

I found a plate and used it as my circle pattern, drawing it with a pencil and cutting with scissors.


Next, I turned to jar upside down and centered it on the circle. Then, I slowly folded up some sides, making pleats or folds like you would a curtain.


Then I turned the jar right side up and secured everything with a length of stitched ribbon.


And there it is! A sweet treat! I was going to use some rick rack scissors to cut off some of the excess paper around the edges, but guess what? I sold all of those annoying scissors at one of my infamous garage sales. Ha ha!


Hope your weekend is sweet, cafe friends!

Friday, October 26, 2018

Split Front Birthday Card


Happy Friday, cafe friends!

Today, I have a fun new layout to show you. This is a split front birthday card. The key to making this card is that you need a big mat shape (in this case, it's the tree rings from Concord and 9th) to serve as the anchor for the top and bottom, as you can see in the next photo.


Isn't that fun? Another thing to keep in mind when making this card is that your inside sentiment needs to be smaller than that outside mat shape so that it hides underneath when the card is closed.


As you can see here, my birthday sentiment hides nicely under that tree ring stamp image.

Pretty cool, huh?

I've been loving the stamps from Concord and 9th lately! I recently got a few new to me sets from the Destash forums, and I am loving the images. They seem to make really simple, classic cards without a lot of fuss. I like that!

{Today's Brew: Tree Ring stamp (Concord and 9th), Lawn Fawn leaves and hello die cuts, Lawn Fawn papers, PTI card stock and ink, Rustic Button twine}

Tell me...what stamp companies have you been crushing on lately?

Thursday, October 25, 2018

Let Your Light Shine


I want to do a better job of being an encourager. The world has plenty of discouragers, doesn't it? But sometimes, we need to tell a friend or family member "You can do it! I believe in you! God loves you!"

This week, I mailed out some cards of encouragement. I even sent a box of happy to a friend who is going through a rough patch lately.

This card was inspired by the autumn leaves. Can you see my big maple tree in the background? It's finally starting to put on it's autumn colors!

I used an MFT sun stencil to give some light in the background of this card front. Then, I used Papertrey Ink's die cut and Birch background stamp to make the wooded foreground. By the way, stencils are 20% off today at the MFT shop!


{Today's Brew: Little Lift Me Ups (PTI), Birch (PTI), Tree coverplate (PTI), Twig Wreath die leaves (PTI), PTI inks and card stock, MFT sun rays stencil}

Blessings, cafe friends!

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

A Brighter Birthday


As long as I had the stamps and dies out already, I decided to make another card with Songbirds. This time, I knew I wanted to use the musical patterned paper from PTI as the background. I got this lovely pack of 8 by 8 papers for $2. What a deal!


{Today's Brew: Songbirds stamps and dies (PTI), PTI ink and card stock, PTI musical paper, enamel dots}

Just a bright fun card to send to a sweet lady on her birthday.

Blessings, cafe friends!

Monday, October 22, 2018

FLASH SALE!

Hello, cafe friends! Time to De-stash! Prices include shipping (US only), Paypal. Feel free to email me at: maryrosescafe@gmail.com


Lawn Fawn Winter Penguin $3:


WPlus9 Label Layers and dies $8:


WPlus9 Mother's Day Bouquet $3:




Poppy Stamps Pinecone collage die $5:



Papertrey Ink (retired) Simply Jane stamps and dies $20


PTI (retired) Tweet Talk stamps and dies $20


PTI (retired) Love Lives here stamps and dies $10


Simple Stories Huge Carpe Diem Planner lot, $40 with priority shipping included:




SU Timelesss Treasures $5




Thanks for looking!

A Softer Birthday


I've been perusing Pinterest for card ideas recently. One thing I've noticed is that I really love a card with a softer color palette.  This card is a nod to the softer side.


{Today's Brew: Songbirds stamps and dies (PTI), PTI tag die, PTI card stock, rustic button twine, sequins}

Life has been kind of harried and hectic lately, filled to the brim with activity. Sometimes, it's nice to have a little quiet and calm. This card is all about that.

Blessings on your Monday, cafe friends!

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Stocking Up On Birthday Cards


Last weekend I attended a craft retreat with a goal in mind: make more cards for birthdays, get well, and sympathy to have on hand.

Here's a birthday card I made last weekend using Stitching Garden stamps from Papertrey Ink.


{Today's Brew: Stitching Garden stamps and dies (PTI), PTI inks and card stock, SU seam binding ribbon, SU embossing folder}

Joyce, our sweet Stampin' Up demo, attended retreat, too. And God bless her, she gave me the new holiday catalog and the new Idea Book and catalog. There are some really, really lovely things in both! Lately, I'm obsessed with embossing folders. I think I now have a list of about ten from SU that I'd like to order.

Do you like embossing folders? What are some of your favorites?

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Create Along With Us October 2018


Good morning, cafe friends!

It's time for the Create Along With Us challenge at Papertrey Ink. This month, I was inspired by that new Shape Shifter die. Yes, I already own the Mix and Mat Plaid die which is very similar, but you know I'm loving that square shape, too!

Heather's card here was just lovely!


So I pulled out this die at my crafting retreat weekend, and everyone ooohed and aaahed, and then went to their ipads and ordered. I think I sold eight Mix and Mat Plaid dies this weekend. You're welcome, PTI! LOL!

Here's one of the cards I made:


{Today's Brew: Mix and Mat Plaid die, Birch background stamp, Year of Psalms, Twig Leaf dies, card stock, all supplies PTI}


Thanks for visiting the cafe today!