Paper Bag Album

Today we'll be making a paper bag album. It is REALLY simple and fun. You can whip one up in a jiffy!

1. Take 2 paper bags (you can do more if you would like more pages) and lay them on top of each other alternating the ends.
2. Fold them in half to create a book. Notice how the two open ends each form a pocket. Punch three holes along the spine. Set an eyelet in each hole & thread a couple of ribbon in each hole and tie off.

3. Decorate your album as desire. I just LOVE Let's Get Together Paper Packet from Close To My Heart so that is what I decorated my paper bag album with!
Front Cover with two tags for the pockets:

1st & 2nd page

3rd & 4th page

5th & 6th page



For my paper bag album I used:
2 white paper lunch bags I got at a local store
Close To My Heart Let’s Get Together Level 2 Paper Packet (X7083B)(Retired) :o(
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Buttercup Stamp Pad (Z2110)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Cranberry Stamp Pad (Z2116)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Garden Green Stamp Pad (Z2120)
Close To My Heart My Acrylix Stamp Card Commentary (C1281)
Close To My Heart My Acrylix Stamp Gratitude (C1322)
Close To My Heart Clear Sparkles (Z1104)
Close To My Heart Cranberry Grosgrain Ribbon (Z1103)
Close To My Heart Colonial White Grosgrain Ribbon (Z1102)
Close To My Heart Garden Green Grosgrain Ribbon




(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)


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Be the talk of the town by…..

…putting some PIZZAZZ in displaying your recipe cards! My family got together and did an ABC recipe book (a recipe for every letter) & a recipe for each month another time, all 7 of us. We have a REALLY nice recipe book and everyone that sees it LOVES IT! This is just a fun way to display your recipes. Here are two recipe cards that I did for a Close To My Heart Swap that I hosted. These cards are 6 x 6 recipe cards. But I prefer to do 8 x 8 recipe cards because you can scrap a little more then what you can do on a 6 x 6 card.

Recipe Card #1

Recipe Card #2

After seeing this go ahead and get a group of friends together and scrapbook your own recipes! You guys will have a LOT of FUN & be the talk of the town with your really AWESOME recipe book!


Recipe Card #1
Close To My Heart Aspen Level 2 Paper Packet (X7103B)
Close To My Heart Colonial White Cardstock (1388)
Close To My Heart Colonial White Grosgrain (Z1102)
Close To My Heart Metal Brad Assortments (Z1217)
Close To My Heart Twilight Cardstock (X5666)

Recipe Card #2
Close To My Heart Colonial White Cardstock (1388)
Close To My Heart Colonial White Grosgrain (Z1102)
Close To My Heart Enchanted Level 2 Paper Packet (X7087B)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Ink Garden Green Stamp Pad (Z2120)



(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)


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Canned Salsa

Today my mom & I canned salsa for the first time. I just wanted to share the recipe that we used. It is VERY simple & not that many ingredients!

Canning Chili Salsa

5 lbs tomatoes, peeled, chopped
2 lbs chili peppers, peeled, chopped
1 lb onions, chopped
1 cup vinegar
3 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Combine prepared tomatoes, peppers, onions, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large saucepan. (See Mexican tomato sauce for information on peeling chili peppers.) Heat to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Fill jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Close jars and process. Caution! Wear rubber gloves while handling chilies or wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face.
Process at 10 lbs (PSI) in a pressure canner only. Process pints for 20 minutes (0-8000 feet elevation) Process pints for 25 minutes (8001-10,000 feet elevation) Dial gauge: 10 lb + 1/2 lb/1,000 ft.; weighted gauge: 15 lb at 1,000-10,000 ft.

Note: For a milder sauce, use substitute poblano peppers (or use fewer chili peppers).

Yields 6 to 8 pints.

This recipe is from Colorado State University Cooperative Extension

To make my salsa tag I used:
Close To My Heart Cranberry 3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (Z1103)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Cranberry Stamp Pad (Z2116)
Close To My Heart My Stickease from Perfect Day Level 1 Kit (X7100A)
Close To My Heart Juniper Cardstock (X5752)
Close To My Heart My Acrylix The Works Alphabet Stamp (D1195)


(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)


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Tip Of The Day: Changing Brad Colors

If you don't have the right color of brad for your project use StazOn Ink Pad. Just rub the top on the pad and now you have a color that you can use!


I didn't have any black brads so I used Black StazOn Ink Pad (Z888) to make my Close To My Heart Colonial White brad (Z1219) black! This is a recipe card that I did for a Close To My Heart Recipes Swap that I hosted.

Close up of the brad that I turned black.


Items that I used:
Close To My Heart Black Cradstock (1386)
Close To My Heart Sunkiss Yellow Cardstock (1240)
Close To My Heart Sunkiss Yellow Exclusive Stamp Pad (Z2151)
Close To My Heart White Daisy Cardstock (1385)
Close To My Heart Essential Brad Assortments (Z1219)
StazOn Ink Pad (Z888)

(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)


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Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Halloween is almost here and that means curving pumpkins! This is the pumpkin that my daughter & I carved. After we carved the pumpkin we toasted the pumpkin seeds. Below is the recipe that we used.


Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients
One medium sized pumpkin
Salt
Olive oil

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a half tablespoon of salt for every cup of water (more if you like your seeds saltier). Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown, 10-20 minutes. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.

This is the Toasted Pumpkin Seeds that we made. YUMMY!



(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)


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CTMH TV - Art & Soul®: New! Fall Surprises Episode Online Now!

Would you like to learn how to do two-color heat embossing? Are you looking for ways to mix and match your kits? And are you ready to make adding and removing pages from your album a snap? If you answered yes, you're in the right place. We’ll show you how to do just that and much more!




Check out the NEW Fall Surprises CTMH TV episode online today by clicking on the Art & Soul logo above!


(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)

Merry Monsters Card

I just received this stamp yesterday and I was sooo excited to get it because I fell in love with this stamp when I first saw it! I looked through the Close To My Heart Originals Card Confidence Program (9032) to see what card I can make that will go good with the stamp. This is what I came up with!



1. Cut Close To My (CTMH) Heart White Daisy Cardstock (1385) 2” x 1 ½” & stamp CTMH Merry Monsters Stamp (B1333) by using CTMH Black Stamp Pad (Z2105).

2. Color the monster with CTMH Tulip Marker (Z2366), CTMH Dutch Blue Marker (Z2319), & CTMH Sunflower Marker (Z2350). Then add CTMH Liquid Glass (Z679) to the eyes of the monster. This is for making the eyes look glassy.


3. Distress by using CTMH Edge Distresser (Z1297) & then rub CTMH Clover Meadow Marker (Z2313) on the edge to give it more color.


4. Cut CTMH White Daisy Cardstock (1385) 5” x 3 ½”. Fold in half to make a 3 ½” x 2 ½” card base.


5. Cut CTMH Creative Basics Animal Cookies paper (X5807) 3 ½” x 1 ½”.


6. Attach CTMH Creative Basics Animal Cookies paper (X5807) 3 ½” x 1 ½” to the CTMH White Daisy Cardstock (1385) 3 ½” x 2 ½” card base.


7. Attach the colored CTMH Merry Monster to the card front, placing it ½” from the top and centered from side to side. Rub CTMH Clover Meadow Marker (Z2313) on the outer edge of the card to give it more color & stamp “Have a frightening fun Halloween.” from the CTMH Merry Monsters Stamp (B1333).



The card is complete! What do you think?



Items I used:
Close To My Heart White Daisy Cardstock (1385)
Close To My Heart Merry Monsters My Acrylix Stamp (B1333)
Close To My Heart Black Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2105)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Tulip Marker (Z2366)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Dutch Blue Marker (Z2319)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Sunflower Marker (Z2350)
Close To My Heart Exclusive Inks Clover Meadow Marker (Z2313)
Close To My Heart Edge Distresser (Z1297)
Close To My Heart Liquid Glass (Z679)
Close To My Heart Creative Basics Animal Cookies paper (X5807)
Close To My Heart Originals Card Confidence Program (9032)


(`'·.¸(`'·.¸ ♥ ¸.·'´ )¸. ·'´)
«´¨`·.. ♥Angela ♥..·´¨`»
( ¸.·'´(¸.·'´ ♥ `'· .¸)`'·.¸)


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