A Few Of My Favorite Things

And no, I'm not talking about the stamp company!

First, I'll share my card for today. My husband and I visited the next town over to do a little shopping today and I noticed a ton of cars in the new Michael's store parking lot. It turned out today was their grand opening. Woot! Hubby TOTALLY didn't believe that I didn't know that when I said I wanted to go up there, but it was true! Anyhow, the place was PACKED with people. I did manage to beat a few of them back to score this Santa stamp that I am absolutely in love with. I think this is going to be one of my Christmas card designs for this year.

It's a very simple design (my favorite kind), but it still packs a nice punch. It's hard to see in the photo, but I used my 2-way glue pen to follow some of the lines of his beard and then sprinkled it with dazzling diamonds. It gives just the right amount of sparkle. I love it!



The sentiment is from Warm Words. I wish one of those word stamps said "believe", but sadly it does not. I thought about using the "Holiday Greetings" stamp from Sincere Salutations, but I try realllly hard to keep the words "Happy" and "Holiday(s)" off of my Christmas cards. It is a major pet peeve of mine that so many companies will no longer say, "Merry Christmas" when they answer the phone mid-December. Instead they have to say, "Happy Holidays". And we no longer have a Christmas parade in town. Now it is in November, and it is the holiday parade. *grumble* I could say more, but I won't. I'll just leave it at that! My point though, was that I'm not 100% sold on that sentiment, but it's my favorite of the options I had available!

Second, I have to share a picture of another of my favorite things... Cherry Cheesecake! I made this tonight for a cookout we are having tomorrow evening at my Mom's house. This is hands down one of my favorite recipes of all time. It's soooo easy to make, and is to. die. for. TASTY! YUM! I could honestly polish off this little 8x8 pan all on my own, but that would just be wrong. lol!

Here's a tip for you too. You know how you put toothpicks in something like this before you put tin foil (etc.) over the top to transport it? Well, you know those little plastic do-hickeys they put in the center of a Pizza Hut pizza to stop the box from collapsing? The next 3-4 times you get a pizza from there, save those and wash them and use them in place of your toothpicks. They won't poke through the foil, and they sit nicely on top of the desserts. I think my grandma thought of that one. ;o)

No Bake Cherry Cheesecake

2 c. Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Stick Butter (Melted)
8 oz. Cream Cheese
8 oz. Cool Whip
1 c. Sugar
1 can Cherry Pie Filling

Mix graham cracker crumbs with butter, and press into bottom of 8x8 pan. Whip cream cheese, cool whip, and sugar with beater and spread over graham cracker base. Cover with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate overnight to set.

Card Details:
Stamps: Warm Words (Stampin' Up!), Santa (Michaels)
Ink: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgandy
Paper: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgandy, Very Vanilla
Other: Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder