Monday with Mom

Oh, my! Mom made the most adorable card using the Sweet N Sassy Woof You clear stamp set. I really love how she colored this little guy. On top of the great coloring, she used the tutorial over at Stamptv to create a flocked background on the card. It turned out just fabulous, but see for yourself.

The striped background paper was made using flock and score tape. I haven't tried this technique yet but Mom said it was really fun and I do need to use up some of my flock supply. This is a great little stamp set to work with. Hmmm! May need to get this one back from Mom.
Okay, I've really wanted to try the flocking technique but I've been trying to get some projects done and I didn't want to experiment just in case it turned into a disaster. So... let me show you what I did create. One of my coworkers had a birthday on Friday the 13th and I overlooked it (talk about bad luck). To make up for my oversight, I created a cake in a can for her complete with some icing in a baggie and a candle.

I've had few questions about how I create these and though I've shared this before on my blog, I thought it might be time to repeat it. First of all, I got my recipe for this from Jackie Gannaway. I discovered Jackie years ago at a Country Peddler show and have been a huge fan ever since. I still have the very first cookbook I ever bought from her, signed and everything. You can find Jackie's cookbooks and gift ideas here. This recipe is found in the Crafty Cans from the Kitchen book. Jackie doesn't actually cook up the cakes for the recipient. Her recipes call for creating and giving the mix in the decorated can. My way of thinking is that I don't want to cook up anything on my birthday, so I go ahead and bake the cake for the recipient in one can and while it's baking, I decorate a clean can. That way I can put the cooled cake in the decorated can with a little bit of glaze mix or icing in a zippered baggie.
Basically, you mix a small pudding mix with a store bought cake mix. You use 3/4 of a cup of the mixture per can. For each can, you'll add one egg, 1 T of water, and 1 T oil. Mix that together and pour into a buttered (not sprayed) can and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  The cookbook will give you lots of ideas for different combinations for cakes, but there are other recipes in there including several bread recipes, too.
I just think this makes a nice, simple gift to give a coworker or neighbor without creating a whole cake.
Did you see those flowers on my can?

 I spent a large part of yesterday playing with flowers. I watched some videos and then got busy converting some primas and punching some patterned paper to create these gorgeous flowers. First, I stopped here and got the original inspiration. Then, went here to watch the video.
If you managed to get through this whole post, you've had quite a read. I'm not normally this chatty on a Monday morning, but I had lots of ground to cover today. Hope you found it enjoyable, helpful, or inspirational.
Cheers!