Valentine's giveaway & more..

I just finished up doing some cards for the American Crafts blog , and the theme for February was of course, Valentine's Day. My hubby and I don't really celebrate it, save for a card ( mine is made, his bought, although sometimes he does try his hand at scrapping one) and maybe dinner made by him ( he is a chef, after all) and a good bottle of wine. I love to make cards, and using this line of Valentine themed stuff was really fun. :) So please check it out if you have a second, there's some super cute stuff posted there, if you need a jumpstart for making your own!

I'll have some more Valentine's stuff to share here in the next while, as I do enjoy making cute crafty things for the kids.

Anyhoo, I have some yummy American Crafts goodies to give away today, because seriously folks, I just can't use all of it. So I'm sharing the love. :) Nice, no?

I'm willing to ship it to anywhere in the world, but I can't promise you that it will make it there in time for the 14th! Just leave me a comment here, and tell me what gift you would love to receive from you beloved this year- fantasy or real. My 'fantasy' gift , if I could choose one, would be my own laptop, ( it gets very tiring having to fight for computer time between 4 people, let me tell ya) and not just any laptop, but a MacBook Air. That's my kind of candy. Actually, it's a toss up between that and a dishwasher.. ;p Not sure if I've mentioned it here before or not, but I don't own one, and I know I'm probably the last person on earth who doesn't. I dream about it, I really do.

Here's a few things I've been doing the past while. I haven't been scrapping all that much but more than usual, so it's a start, right? This is a layout I did for a 2Peas challenge to lift a layout from a past issue of Simple Scrapbooks. It's actually a lift of Elizabeth Dillow, from her awesome book, 'the Scrapbooker's Almanac'. If you don't have this book, you need it. It's lovely.

My layout totally pales in comparison to her beautiful page ,and I'm not too thrilled with the outcome, but I'm moving on and calling it done. I'm going to re-do this challenge with something from the magazine, and hope I'll be more satisfied with the results.

A few cards, done for AC...

and a simple layout about the dog, who I don't scrap about very often, but I couldn't resist this woe-is-me face...

Don't forget to leave a comment if you'd like some AC goodness. I'll pick a winner sometime next week. Good luck!

PS.- Stupid blogger. I keep trying to edit the post to make it look less 'scrunched up' and nothing... anyone know how to fix that?? And the fact that you have to scroll forever to leave a comment? Sorry! It drives me nutso.

eta: thank you Ruth! I never knew what that 'compose' button was for. ;p

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bloggerific I am not..

I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow with a real update, I promise. :)

Right now, I needed to change the dog banner I had on here that has worn out it's welcome. I know it's not February for a few days, but there's white ( as in snow white) as far as my eye can see, and I figure I don't really need to be reminded of it while I'm on here- I need a little boost of colour! Spring fever in January is not cool when you live in Quebec, and still have 2 months of cold and snow left to go. Let's hope Punxatawney Phil does us right this year...
See you in a bit!

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playing tag.

I've been tagged by Leanne to do this:

Go to where you store you pictures on your computer. Go to the SIXTH folder and pick the SIXTH picture.Post that picture on your blog along with a short story about it.Tag SIX people and leave a comment on their blog or email them letting them know you chose them.

As you may remember, I lost a ton of photos earlier this year ( still working on getting those back with a web master friend of ours) so I don't have a lot of folders like I used to. :(
My sixth folder holds my December Daily photos, ( also woefully unfinished. I know. Pathetic, isn't it?) and this was the 6th photo in that folder, taken on December 6th, naturally. ;) It's one of Noah playing Legos in his room on a Saturday am. He likes to lounge around in his pyjamas on weekend mornings, and I'm happy to oblige him, since he's rushed out the door for school 5 days/week at 8am, poor kid. And who doesn't love pyjama days, right?



I won't tag anyone since I hate to put pressure on people, so if you feel like joining in, by all means do, and let me know so I can see your 6th pic. :)
I'll be back in the am ( actually more like a few hours from now) with some layouts and cards.

Good night, or good morning, depending on where you live!

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Guaranteed to put a smile on your face

Those Brits have it over us for sure.. who thought waiting for the metro/tube/subway could be so cool?

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Change is always hard

and this is definitely a tough one to swallow. As you probably already know, Simple Scrapbooks is ceasing publication with the May/June issue. Here is the official announcement, made this afternoon. I'm heartbroken about it. I scrap the way I do because I happened to pick up a copy of the magazine at a drugstore one day about 5 years ago, and it forever changed the way I thought scrapping was supposed to be. I remember being in total awe over every layout I saw in that issue, and feeling so giddy, because I'd finally found my happy place. :)

It has been a huge honour and privilege for me to be a small part of this magazine the past year, and I'm just incredibly sad that it had to come down to this.
Thanks Simple, for your passion and commitment. You will be dearly missed.

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Quick Friday five..

Not much time to post today.. here's a short list of things of things I'm thinking about:


1. I'm pretty sure I have a case of the January blues. I've been in real funk this week ( due partly to -20 C temps, and a crapload of snow), so I'm going to partake in a bit of retail therapy at this store on the weekend. Have you been there? It's FAB. Really cool stuff. I might even attempt to do some yoga this weekend to try out my new pants. It's been forever. Did you know I used to be a yoga fanatic? Headstands and all, folks. What happened to that?



2. Thinking of my good friend Melissa, and waiting to hear if she's had the baby. Good luck Mel, I can't wait to meet your new babe!



3.I'm taking the Christmas tree down today- it's a job I dread. I know you're probably all gasping that it's still up, but we always leave it up for Epiphany, and since that was a few days ago in the middle of the week, I had to wait until my next day off. I love my tree, but it's always nice to have it down finally, and see all that empty space once again. I think a trip to Ikea will soon be in order to fill up said empty space. ;p



4. Really want to see this movie as soon as it's out. I love Kate Winslet a ton, and same goes for Leonardo D. I think they're both amazing actors, and I just read the review this morning in the newspaper. 4 stars people!!



5. My hubs made it home from his business trip in Florida last night, and regaled us with stories about how hot it was there, while I regaled him about how fun it was to drive home from work in the blizzard/snowstorm we had on Wednesday. Grrr. He did bring back some very thoughtful gifts for all of us, ( thanks hon!! ) but Noah's was the coolest- a NASA astronaut suit. You have NO idea how happy this made him- he's always adored dress-up since he was a little dude, and he still does! Hmm, I foresee a layout about this in the near future... ;p






Have a great weekend all!





xo

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not quite for post-Christmas diets, but a keeper for next year.

Here's the recipe for the torte I made on New Year's day. It was a definite hit with everyone who tasted it, so I'm sharing it with you. It's rich, not too sweet, and super easy to make. The kind of thing you should make if you need a 'wow' factor dessert for a dinner party. Seriously, your guests will think you spent big bucks at the local French patisserie. ;) I'm including my own metric conversions ( I checked them online, so it should be ok I hope!) for my overseas pals who read this blog, and who probably won't be able to decipher the ancient Imperial measurements.

Two Chocolate Almond Torte

Top:

1/4 cup (62.5 ml) whipping cream

4 oz. (114 g) good bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup (125 g) sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Torte:

6 oz.( 120.1 g) white chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup(170.5 g) butter

4 eggs

1 pkg. ( 200 g) marzipan

1 1/2 cups (341 g) finely ground almonds

2 tsp. grated orange rind

1/4 cup (60ml) orange juice

Preheat oven to 350F. (175C)

Grease sides of a 9 inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Melt the white chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of hot water. Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree eggs with marzipan until smooth. Add almonds, orange rind, and juice, and white chocolate mixture. ( I let it cool slightly). Pulse until all is blended. Pour into pan. Bake for about 35 minutes. ( Cake will test clean with a toothpick, but will be slightly jiggly, this is perfect!). Cool in pan on a rack and then invert ( use a knife to loosen sides first) onto a serving plate.

In a saucepan, bring cream to a boil. Pour over bittersweet chocolate in a bowl and whisk until melted and smooth. Spread over top of cake. Garnish with toasted almond slices. Refrigerate until serving.

Et voila ...

(not the greatest photo. Food photography+ evening light= ugh!)

What else?

Not much went on today.. we're still on holiday mode, and it's great. :) Here's a few photos of my kiddo & dh skating tonight at the outdoor rink down the street... it was cold, dark and then the camera froze up, so these kinda crappy pics are all I got..

So typically Canadian, eh? :)

He loves to play hockey. He loves to be outdoors, period!

And I had this nice surprise this morning:

I've never had the honour of having a featured layout on 2 Peas, so it was kind of fun to see. :)

Let me know if you have questions about the cake, ok? And if you make it, please let me know how it turned out!

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ringing in 2009...

Our first day of the New Year has been pretty relaxed so far today. One really nice thing about having older children now is that they actually do sleep in, so we all got up at around 11am- I guess keeping them awake until midnight to see the ball drop in Times Square had something to do with that! I just only got out of my pj's an hour ago, and am soon going to set to work on making this cake (actually a variation of it, but I can't find my recipe online anywhere, this is similar though) for our New Year's supper later tonight. On the menu is shish-taouk chicken, ( from an amazing grocery store here called Adonis) rice and salad, and my cake for dessert, if I can actually get it made in time. I'll post a photo of it tomorrow if it does indeed turn out, but sadly, my food photography skills are not up to Pioneer Woman level. I do bake alot though, ( and pretty well, if I do say so myself) and have often wanted to share here, but for some reason I can't fathom having to stop and take photos of every step. I'm kind of lazy like that. ;p

I'll leave you with my last layout of 2008, using my favorite manufacturer's schtuff. :) I'm really going to try to scrap and blog more in the new year, so let's hope this blog entry will be the 1st of many this year. And while I'm on the subject, thanks so much for your always kind comments and stopping by here to visit. It means a lot to me, really!

May 2009 be a fantastic year for all of you... Wishing you health, peace, creativity, and above all, much love and happiness.

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