Icy Snowman Bookmark

I recently learned the technique of Dazzling Diamond Dust. Taking that and turning it a different way, I made this "Icy" Snowman Bookmark. You can see the "icy" part best in the last image.

Here is what you need: Ink, Versamark, Blender pen or watercolor pencils, clear embossing powder, white cardstock cut to 1 3/4" x 6 1/4", and blue background cardstock cut to 2" x 6 1/2".
Start by stamping your background snowflakes in Bliss Blue, then your accent stamp and snowman in Ballet Blue (or use your other favorite colors instead).

Using your blender pen and your accent colors, watercolor in the details you want to highlight.

Turn your versamark ink pad over your paper and ink ENTIRE image. You don't want to miss a spot. Double check. It will look funny when you are all done. Trust me.

Sprinkle embossing powder over entire bookmark, shaking off the excess and heat emboss. Let cool. I had to let my paper sit under a book for a while until the image would lay flat.

Mount your masterpiece onto the blue background, and embellish with ribbon or whatever you like and you are done!

Happy Stamping!

Pumpkin Cookies

Fall is here! And that means it's pumpkin season! Yea! Can you tell we like pumpkin here? So in honor of this wonderful time, let's bake pumpkin cookies! These are my favorite. I made oodles of them yesterday for a baby shower we're attending today. They're really good, especially if you ice them with buttercream icing with a 1/2 tsp of maple extract...

Pumpkin Cookies
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add egg, mix well. Add flour, baking soda and spices; add pumpkin and then vanilla. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet a 375 for 10 minutes. Ice when cool.

Happy baking!

Decorated Composition Notebooks

You know those little composition notebooks with the black and white mottled covers? They are super cheap, but pretty ugly. But they are SO EASY to dress up and they make great gifts! I had a couple sitting around so I used some Stampin Up paper kits I had sitting around for quite a while to personalize them. I just traced the notebook, cut the paper to fit, and glued the paper down. I stamped the letter of two first names on the tag, and used some of the stickers from the paper pack for the embellishments and the side border (they were sticky). I'd love to see other ideas using these notebooks if anyone has any?