Cornflake Flan

Recently on my Facebook timeline I have seen posts regarding a pudding served at school lunch time. I don't recall this pudding but my Hubby does, so I decided to have a go making it.

This flan is made of a pastry base, jam and a cornflake top which is coated with a syrupy mix. In school it was as served with custard. The verdict on this recipe bus that "it's quite nice". It was too sweet for me.

I used pre-made shortcrust pastry. I lined a quiche/flan dish with the pastry, pricking the surface with a fork. I then covered in foil and placed baking beans onto the foil surface (this allows more even baking and stops the pastry from shrinking from the edge. I then baked in a pre-heated oven at 200 for 15 minutes. I then removed the foil & beans and popped the dish back in the oven for a further five minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan I melted  55g of butter, 25g of dark brown sugar and 115g of golden syrup, adding a pinch of salt too.  Once the sugar has disolved in the mixture, add 85g of cornflakes and mix till coated in the sugary mixture.

Remove the flan base from the oven and spread about 100g of strawberry jam over the base.

Place the cornflake mixture on top of the jam flan, levelling the surface and then pop in the oven for five minutes.

I found it best to let it totally cool before cutting into the pudding ( this ensures that everything is set). 

Let It Snow Christmas Cards

Somebody pointed out to me that there are only sixteen weeks till Christmas, which spurred me on to make a few more cards.

I don't recall where I hit the stamp from, other than knowing it is part of a set.

Flying Balloon Tag

Today I had a very quick play with stamping and made this tag with a shaded Panpastel background.  (I don't recall who made the balloon stamp, but the hexagon script is by Creative Expressions).

Seed Head Card & Tag

I found myself back in the craft room and started playing with some stamps. This originally started as a Panpastel background tag but went a little wrong, so I cropped the area I could use and mounted it as a topper for a card which has worked out quite well,  I don't recall who made the stamps as I've had them for some time.  The ferns were coloured with two Promarkers.

I also made this tag

Peace Wreath Card

I have been absent from life the past few days as I've been full of cold and feeling pretty miserable.  

Today was the first day I ventured into my crafting haven. Although I wasn't feeling creative, I did put together a few die cuts (Stampin' Up) and embossed a piece of card using the Stampin' Up "Cable Knit" embossing folder which I love.

Christmas Production of Cards

So today I have made a token gesture to Christmas by making this card.

I created this card by using a Sizzix diecut, mounting it on a dark background of card stock.

Being There For Me - Shabby Chic Style Card

Today I have played with the Shabby Chic style on a card. 

I started be giving an aged edge, using Panpastels to the blank card, a doily and a stamped Stampin' Up sentiment (Happy Happenings stamp set) I had die cut.

I then raided my box of flowers, I ended up using Prima blooms. I then die cut an assortment of foliage.

I raised the central flower by using a button to elevate it slightly.

Ornamental Shell Notelets

I've been delving into the depths of drawers and rediscovering stamps long forgotten.  This pack of wood mounted Hero Arts (LL732) Ornamental Shells set was one of my finds.

While watching TV last night I had a stamping session.  I like the clean & simple style of card and these notelets with a classic image and minimal sentiment mean they can be used in many ways.  

The sentiments used on these cards are from three separate Stampin' Up collections (Petit Pairs, Endless Birthday Wishes & Good Greetings).

Happy Beach Day Card

This card evolved from the flip-flop stamp which I've had for years and never used. So I decided to work with it.

I found an off-cut of patterned paper on a beach theme. The banner uses Stampin' Up "Banner Framelits Die" and words from their "Endless Birthday Wishes" stamp set.

The flip-flop image is the Rubbadubbadoo "British Sumertime" set, shaded with a Promarker.

Panpastel Sequin Love Tag

Tidying up my work space I had a mishap with some sequins, scattering them across my desk. Surely this was a sign that I needed to use them, so I made this tag, using bits 'n' bobs around me.

The swirl and love word are both Stampin' Up. The honeycomb is a Memory Box die.  

I love the way these sequins give a watery shimmer to projects.

Bicycle Ride For Two, Grunge Style Tag

My Tim Holtz stamps were still at my work desk when I sat down at it today, so I decided to have another go at grunge with this tag - note they there is still no brown. 

I used a Panpastel shaded background, stamped & masked assorted images. I then added shades of ink to the edges to highlight the central image.  I also coloured the bicycle image with coloured pencils to give it a washed look.

Frog Grunge Card

I find it very difficult to make a grunge style card, it generally turns out more pretty than it should, which is fine with me as I don't do brown!

The frog is a free stamp from Simply Cards and Papercraft magazine (issue 153) the background texture are Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Collection.

The yellow shading a Promarker. The purple/green is using Pan Pastel, then I've inked areas of the edges for a more grunge look.

The Daisy Card

Another night of minimal sleep, so I got up and made this card.

I used the free embossing folder from issue 153 of "Simply Cards and Papercraft".   I've had the daisy stamp for a while, which I stamped into white card. I then die cut the image to provide the stitched edge detail.

I coloured the image using Promarkers and then mounted it onto matching card stock. I added some shiny flowers to the middle of the daisy for dimension.

A Time To Celebrate Card

This card uses a mix of stamps some from my stash but the flower stamp was one of the freebies from the "Simply Cards And Papercrafts" issue 153 magazine.

This card started off as something else and as so often happens ends as something totally different.  I stamped the flowers & the butterfly onto white cardstock and coloured them using water colour pencils.  I gave a hint of gold (pen) to add a little extra interest. 

I embossed a piece of cardstock using a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then played with positions and background colours before sticking anything down.  Once I was happy I glued, I gave a feeling of dimension by layering the flowers in a decoupage style.

I then looked for a suitable sentiment.  I have a lot of stamps but sometimes it is very hard to find the right one.  I seem to think that this one came free with a magazine many years ago. I stamped the image and then die cut it into a circle.    The butterfly was then glued and positioned.

Inside the card, there is also a stamped and coloured image of the flower used on the front of the card.

Sweet Potato, Carrot & Red Lentil Soup

It's another hottie outside so I'm staying in.  I like to batch cook and the last couple of days i've had a craving for home made soup, so I've made a huge batch of Sweet Potato, Carrot and Red Lentil Soup.  (If you're on Slimming World, this is ideal as it's free).

When I make a soup like this, I don't weigh & measure my ingredients, I just throw them in and see what I get.  So the recipe below is quite loose.

Onions, Celery and garlic chopped/crushed and fried using Frylite.
Chop the sweet potato and the carrots and add to a pan of boiling water with a chicken or beef stock cube in it.  Then add the fried onion, celery & garlic mix.  I usually add a squirt of tomato puree and mixed herbs and season.  Then add about half a bag of red lentils.  Bring to the boil then turn down to simmer.  

I make a large batch and then freeze it in portion sizes.

Sam x

A Little Thanks Card

This frog stamp was one in the free set from Simply Cards & Papercraft (issue 153) magazine. The sentiment is from a Stampin' Up set called "One Big Meaning".

I used Faber Castell pastels for colour and highlighted ares with a subtle gold colour using a Sakura Gelly Roll Pen.

Magazine Freebies

I purchased a copy of "Simply Cards & Papercraft" (issue 153) magazine. It seems to be packed full of things that I find interesting and also an embossing folder and stamps as freebies. As it's hot, hot, hot out side, I'm going to find a cool corner to have a read. 

A day in the kitchen

After doing the usual a of walking the dog, washing and other household things I spent the rest of the day faffing in the kitchen. Here are my makes: lemon cakes, rocky road, flapjacks and sausage rolls - all will be rehomed tomorrow when we visit family.

Love Card

Today I made this card using Stampin' Up "Detailed Floral Thinlits" and "Expressions" Thinlit die for the sentiment.

Nesting Birds Card

I tend to make cards in a very similar style, so this afternoon I decided to stretch myself.

My creative session started off with preparing Panpastel backgrounds.  I like to make a few at a time as I get a bit messy doing them.

Flicking through my stamp folder I came across a couple of stamps that I've not used for ages, so decided to put them to use.  I first stamped the bird/egg image and then used the remaining ink on the stamp to repeat the image on a scrap piece of paper.  I used repo Herma to position it over the stamped image (creating a type of mask).  I was then able to stamp the script image without going on the bird/egg area.  I then removed the mask to reveal the finished stamped area.

I then embossed a sheet of grey cardstock.  I routed through some of my dies and embellishments and positioned them in a pleasing arrangement before sticking anything down.

The chipboard bird shape has been inked and then coated in a Stickles glitter glue.

This foliage is cut using an assortment of dies.

I have to say I do like the finished card although it took me ages to get it to this stage.  I think I need to stretch myself more often  perhaps go grungy next time!

Happiness, Love & Joy Card

Awake early again today, so I made this card using dies from two Stampin' Up sets - Botanical Builder Framelits and Swirly Scribbles Thinlits.

Hello Card

Today I've been playing with a new stamp & die set from Stampin' Up, called Botanical Blooms/Framelits.  When I say new, it's not a new release, but it is new to me.

I think I'm going to enjoy using this set. The embossed background was achieved by using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Sympathy Cards

Today we heard the sad news that a close relative of our friend had passed away in the night. So this morning I have made two cards.

I started off by making a background. Firstly, I used the tree canopy from the Stampin' Up, Beautiful Branches set in a pale green to create an all over leaf pattern. Then, from the same set I stamped a small leafy branch in a darker shade.

Once I had done this I made two cards, one using the sentiment from Stampin' Up "Heartfelt Sympathy" stamp set. (I don't recall who made the "Deepest Sympathy" stamp on the other card).

Thank You Card

Here's a card I made today. A Sizzix floral die (I don't recall who made the foliage die). The sentiment is from Stampin' Up "One Big Meaning" stamp set.

Rocky Road Bars

Today I made a batch of Rocky Road chocolate bars. 

I tweaked the recipe, by adding part milk chocolate and I used digestive biscuits instead of Rich Tea biscuits as that was what I had.  In hindsightt, I should have stuck to the recipe as the combination made it a bit greasy.  Here's the link to the recipe I used
.

Thinking Of You (Beautiful Branches) Card

I made this card with the remains of other cards I have made. 

The tree uses the Stampin' Up "Beautiful Branches" die set.  The senitment is from the "Sheltering Tree" stamp set.  The background is embossed using the "Seaside" embossing file.

Hello My Friend Card

I love the CAS (clean and simple) look. This card made using the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration "Hello" stamp set fits nicely into that category.

I don't recall the manufacturer or the name of the dies I've used for this card.