Fall

I love this week's sketch by Kerys Sharrock for the Scrapbook Steals challenge.  I purchased this Simple Stories Harvest Lane collection several weeks ago, but was afraid to cut into it because I loved it so much.   I finally took the plunge and was very happy with how quickly it all came together.  These papers are totally "my style" and just make me happy. 

Here's the original sketch:

Out on a limb

This week's sketch challenge at Scrapbook Steals was perfect for some photos from our summer adventures.  I combined some of my favorite papers from American Crafts and Imaginisce and added a journaling spot from Simple Stories.

These pictures were taken during one of our camping trips.  We were on a family hike when the boys saw a big tree that had recently fallen in a storm.  The boys wanted to walk out on the fallen tree that extended out over a drop-off.  Against my better judgement, I told them they could, but cautioned them to be careful.  Jacob was doing great until it was time to turn around and walk back.  In what seemed like slow motion, we watched him lose his footing and fall to the ground 5-6 feet below.  Caleb immediately burst into tears, thinking his brother was seriously hurt. I immediately regretted letting Jacob go out on the log, but was relieved to see him pop right up and proclaim "That was awesome!"  He landed on his rump and somehow managed to avoid all of the other logs and brush that were on the ground. 

This is the sketch by Brittany Allred that inspired my layout:

Trick or Treat

Halloween is over, and these photos are over a year old, but I decided they worked wonderfully with this week's sketch at Scrapbook Steals.  I was happy to get back in the swing of things after having a week without a challenge.  It really does inspire me when I know I have to get in the craft room weekly.  Here's my layout from last year's Halloween:

Scrapbook Steals Design Team feature

I'm featured today at Scrapbook Steals, where you can find the best deals and discounts on amazing products!  Here's a little sneak peek at what I created using the Sasparilla collection from October Afternoon. 

I simply loved these fun cowboy themed prints and couldn't stop crafting.  To see the rest of my projects, head on over to the Scrapbook Steals blog!  I love being part of this amazing design team!

Summer Memories

As we're in the middle of fall, I decided to do a layout featuring fun summer memories. 

One of my favorite go-to collections is Summer Fresh by Simple Stories.  The bold primary colors are perfect for my photos, and I love the way everything comes together so quickly.  I had to modify the original sketch by Karina Wetzel, but I started with this for inspiration:

by birthday request

For the past two years, my oldest son has opted for a homemade dessert instead of our standard birthday cake from the bakery.  He loves to scroll thru Pinterest with me and starts narrowing down his choices a full month ahead of time.  Last year he chose the famous cinnamon roll cake, and it was a huge hit.  This year he decided for the peanut butter brownie trifle originally seen HERE.  His birthday isn't for a couple more days, but we celebrated this weekend with a sleepover and he opted to have his special dessert when his friend was here. 

I followed the original recipe for the peanut butter filling, but in an effort to save time, I substituted cool whip for real whipped cream.  I also added reese's pieces in addition to the Reese's peanut butter cups.  Here's all you need to get started:

 

 

I baked two batches of brownies (1 batch is never enough and 2 batches are too many, but you can always find a good home for your leftover brownies) in 9x9 pans.  I made one box of instant Jello chocolate pudding according to directions on the box, and the peanut butter filling which is essentially the same as the filling of a peanut butter pie (8 oz. cream cheese softened, 1 c. peanut butter, 1 c. powdered sugar, 2 T. milk, and 1 c. whipped topping).  Additional ingredients included one package of Reese's minis and 1-2 cups of Reese's pieces.  I started by cutting the brownies into chunks and arranging them on the bottom of my trifle bowl (it doesn't seem to matter what you layer in a bowl like this, it always looks pretty!) cutting smaller chunks of brownie to fill in the gaps.  Next I added about 1/2 of the peanut butter mixture, followed by a handfull of the reese's minis.  I tried to keep the peanut butter layer from squishing up against the side of the bowl just to keep it all pretty. 

 

Then I added 1/2 of the chocolate pudding for the next layer, followed by a layer of whipped topping and a handful of Reese's pieces. 

 

If you wanted to make this recipe in a smaller serving bowl, you technically could stop right here and it would still taste fine.  But because I think bigger is better, and because I love making desserts to impress, I recommend going through this exact same sequence of layers again (brownie, peanut butter, reese's minis, choc. pudding, cool whip, reese's pieces, and reese's minis again).  The end result was beautiful and delicious!  I had to hide it in the garage fridge just to make sure no one was tempted to stick a finger in before the birthday boy's sleepover.

 

If you're looking for portion control or don't have a trifle bowl, you could just as easily prepare individual servings of this dessert by layering the ingredients in parfait glasses or cheap plastic cups.  It doesn't really matter how it is presented, as long as it is eaten and enjoyed! 





Time for a random giveaway!!!

Because I promised to do a random drawing last month...
because I want to share some love with my faithful followers....
because it is officially the month of gratitude.....
because I have stuff in my stash that I don't need....
because my parents taught me to share...
and because I still think it is better to give than to receive....
I have compiled a random list of my 65 cherished followers and picked out one name to win an assortment of goodies from my stash. 

And the lucky winner is......Jen McD!

Jen, please email your address to jkkoets@aol.com and I'll get some wonderful goodies in the mail to you.