Easter Cookie Ideas . . . hop to it!

I'm working tonight on some *new* Easter cookies, but here are some blasts from the past for a little Easter cookie decorating inspiration. {Click the links for the full posts.}

Good Eggs...personalized or not, these are always a hit!

Basket Case...I made these for the first time last year. My favorite part? The Easter grass peeking out! :)

"Fluffy" chicks...so simple and so sweet! I *heart* these! This would be a good one for decorating with the kids.

{They look really cute with the baskets.}

And, finally, which to *you* eat first? The Ears or the Tails? These are really easy to make...click here and I'll show you how.

{Re-name these"Twilight bunnies" and make the bite out of the neck! ;)}

Are you making Easter cookies this year?

Paisley Purse Cut, BBTB2 Blog Hop, and Special Blog Candy

Happy Monday and welcome to the BBTB2 Monthly Blog Hop!  If you are following the blog hop you probably arrived here from Carole's blog (isn't she a sweetie??).  I will keep you for just a few minutes, then you can be on your way.  This week the Design Team was challenged to use any one of the three purses on the PAISLEY cartridge in our projects.  I chose the cut apple front purse, then I substituted cherries, also on Paisley, for the apples.

I used the fabulous Fashionista paper by Graphic 45, a line I have LOVED, to create my card.  The card front features bright cherries POPPED out on a frame of oval nesties.  At the bottom edge of the card I used a border punch on yellow cardstock to create a edge trim.  At the top of the front section I added a yellow bow with a Prima flower trimmed with tiny cherries.

The surprise factor in my card is the opening design; I welded a front piece to the shadow back of the purse to create a flip down opening.  Inside I used more of the Fashionista cherry paper as well as a smooth cream cardstock on which to write my message.  The smooth cardstock is embellished with cherries.  The image below shows the card fully opened.

I mentioned in the title that I have special Blog Candy this week.  One of my favorite scrap e-stores, SCRAP YOUR TRIP, is sponsing my blog hope this month and has given me a $20.00 gift certificate to give away!!!  How awesome is that?  Scrap Your Trip is owned by Julie Swatek, a lovely woman "My Friend Kathy" and I met a few years ago at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Charlotte. Julie is so nice and her store has just the greatest selection of travel, sports, music, military, etc., etc. scrapping products.  All you have to do is leave a comment in the comment section below to be included in the drawing for the gift certificate.  I will select a random winner on Thursday.

After you register for my blog candy I know you will want to hop along to the next BBTB2 site.  Your next stop is at the blog of Krista.  Krista is such a sweet woman with amazing talent I just know she will have something wonderful to share!!!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your hopping!

Win $100.00 worth of scrapbooking supplies!!!

Hi everyone! Wanted to throw out a reminder that time is running out for entering the contest over at Peggy Loves Vintage to win about $100.00 worth of scrapbooking products!! Just pop over HERE, and make any project with the adorable bunny! Follow the instructions on Peggy's blog, and you'll be entered to win $100.00 worth of fun scrapbooking supplies!! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Totally NOT Papercraft Related: Michigan State University Moves to the Final Four!!

Happy Dance!! Happy dance!!!  My Michigan State Spartans are on their way to the final four!!  I just had to share - Donna Mundinger and I are both celebrating tonight.... We MSU Alumni take our basketball seriously - as does Sparty - just look at the photo above.

Sparty is quite the guy!  Look at him rallying the team during a game!!  I love Sparty... but then he is the ULTIMATE Spartan! 

Too funny - I just checked Donna's blog to copy the link to her site - and she too has a MSU post.  We Spartans take our team seriously!!!!

Tilda with presents with The Cutting Cafe'

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you're enjoying the weekend! The weather is beautiful here in sunny Reno today! This card was so quick and easy to put together! I was really quite surprised at just how quick and easy it was. I used one of the brand new Tilda stamps I received from Diana at Magnolia-licious. She's #249 Tilda with Gifts and is available for preorder right now! Please remember - do NOT purchase pre-order stamps with in stock stamps!!

The cute background paper is from The Cutting Cafe'! Isn't is so colorful and fun??!! It's from the Assorted Colored Birthday Celebration background stamp and I love it!!! I just printed it up and matted it with my different colored Bazzill cardstock. Easy Peasy!!!

I used my Nestabilites to mount Tilda on after I colored her with Copic markers and cut her out. She' mounted with dimensional tape and so is the scalloped mat that she's on. Added some pretty little flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, some gorgeous silk ribbon from Stamp and Create made with my Bow Easy, and some leaves from my Martha Stewart frond punch, and this one was done! I used another sheet from The Cutting Cafe' inside the card as well.

That's it for me today. Thanks so much for stopping by to see me, and hope to see you back again soon! Hugs!!

♥ Mexican Beef Tacos~~ ♥

♥

hi hi hii^^
hufft it's been a week since I posted or even blogwalking around. :(
I guess I missed a lot this week.. hahaa.
I've been busy with uni's & tasks.. etcetera~~ boring stuffs!

sooo the only fun thing I did this recent week was probaby the time when I'm cooking~~
I love eating & I love cooking^^ !!
well, I'm still in a process of learning, not a skillful master chef yet. lol.
most of the food I cook are Indonesian Food, but I'd loveee to learn other recipes as well such japanese food, korean food, mexican food, italian food, etc. yumm yuumm~~


so this week I attempt to cook some mexican tacos^^ hahaa.
I figured it should be easy for a beginner like me.
here's the attempt..

 

- stir-fry the mince meat & onions in approriate portions

- stir-fry them until the mince meat slightly cooked

 

- drained off the oils, then stir-fry them again. this time add 1/4 cup of water

- add the taco spice mix powder, salts, cutted chillies & stir-fry until they cooked and the water reduces

- prepare them on the plate. this is the finish result of the mince meat^^

----

- prepared the taco shell. the left pic is the soft shell, the right one is the crispy shell. I prefer the soft one though

- heat them with the microwave or oven. heat for 5 minutes or until hot, but not browned

- prepared the fillings & the dip

* sliced tomatoes

* sliced lettuce

* sliced fresh onions

* cheese

*salsa

* sour cream dip

* guacamole dip

& then add the beef and style them with your own taste^^

this is my taco style.. hehee~ fresh veggies, lots of fresh onions, more dips, & beef!!

stay tuned for more of my cooking attempt^^

love.love ♥♥

Guest Post from Sweetopia : Marbling Cookies

I have *such* a treat for you guys today! This is the very first guest post on Bake at 350 and I am so, so happy to introduce you to Marian. Marian's blog is called Sweetopia and I'm not exaggerating when I say it is a cookie wonderland! I literally cried the first time I saw it. You'll love it, too! {Just WAIT until you see the little owl below!}

Thank you, Marian, for guest posting today! We are so lucky to have you here!

Hi! I'm Marian.

I'm really thrilled and honored to be here as a guest contributor for Bridget's website! Every time I visit I'm inspired by her eye-candy cookies and baked goods of all kinds! Hopefully you'll like the sweets I'm sharing today.

If you've tried cookies like these before you know how simple they are to make, and if you haven't, you're about to find out just how easy they are to create.

It's called marbling or swirling, which is basically when one or more colors of icing are applied to a base coat of icing, and then a toothpick, cake tester, pin or skewer is dragged through the icing to create a marbled or swirly effect.

Each combination of colors creates another look.

Just by changing the way you set up your lines and drag the toothpick, completely different designs emerge.

You can incorporate the swirled icing into your design, like these feathered cookie friends:

If you'd like to try the swirling effect, the most important thing for your success is the consistency of the icing. Bridget has some great points about that here, and my cookie decorating tutorial goes over some tips and the 10-second rule here.

Once you have your cookies baked and icing made, it's time to begin by piping your outline. I like to use a piping bag fitted with a coupler and #2 tip.

Fill or flood your cookie with royal icing right away. You could leave the outline to set to create a solid dam, but you'll be able to see the border when the icing dries.

Once you've filled the whole cookie in, shake it gently left to right on your work surface, to help smooth the icing out.

Add your second (or more), layers or colors of icing. Work as quickly as you can before the icing sets.

Take a toothpick, pin, skewer or dough tester (hey, whatever works!), and drag it through the icing. In this case I drew S-like shapes. The image below shows which direction I dragged the toothpick in.

Finish off the edges with dots or another design of your choice and you're done!

The hearts are made by piping dots and dragging the toothpick through the center of each dot.

Let your cookies dry, package and ribbon.

Simple, easy, fun and impressive!

If you have any questions or comments come visit me over at Sweetopia for more information or to contact me directly.

A big thanks to Bridget, cookie decorator extraordinaire, for having me as her guest blogger!

Happy marbling!

xo,

Marian