Monday, April 4, 2016

Textural Grays

Hello there!  I've missed you!  I'd like to share a story about a project I recently worked on, and at the same time show you a card. Hang in 'til the end of this post for info on the card, plus a recipe for Jewish Apple Cake. 


Life has been very busy, to say the least. :-D 
What little time I've had for crafting has been spent not on cards, but on a birthday gift for my husband.  For the last two weeks, I've been sneakily putting together a scrapbook for him, but there aren't too many photos in it.  

Instead, I took a cue from my clever sister-in-law and did the following: 

I asked friends and family -- including old neighbors -- to share memories/anecdotes of my husband, or to give advice on turning a "big number", or to just say what comes to mind when they hear my hubby's name.  I received the loveliest assortment of endearing and sometimes funny words from many folks.  


Then I copied-and-pasted these memories into a Word document, changed up the font for each submission, printed on heavier-weight cardstock, trimmed and placed on sheets of 8x8 patterned paper.


A few folks did send me photos, so I included those, as well.  My husband was very touched by this special scrapbook. :-D


A few words about today's card:  I love gray.  I managed to squeeze in quite a few shades of it on this project. The patterned damask paper has two tones of gray, and the focal point cluster offers a few more. The velvet rectangle, complete with stitching, is from a sweater of mine. Looks great on a card, doesn't feel so good against the bare skin of my neck. It itched me. I like it better here. :-) 

The fabric rose is another bit from a sweater, but this one is from my daughter's.  The edge of her {brand new} sweater sleeve ripped off one day (sigh), so I cut the other sleeve to match, called it a "new look", and decided to make a rose from the cast-off piece. It's pretty uncomplicated; I just rolled it and rolled it until it looked like something. ;-)  And -- one more touch of gray -- under the "for you" sentiment circle, there's a small rectangle piece of mirrored cardstock.  Hard to capture it in a photo!

Paulette asked for the Jewish Apple Cake recipe my husband made for my birthday.  Happy to share!

Jewish Apple Cake
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder 
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 large apples, preferably Granny Smith, pared and diced (add sugar and cinnamon to taste)
Put eggs, oil, orange juice and vanilla in large bowl and beat.  Add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar -- beat slowly.

Grease tube pan - put half batter in pan, then lay most of apples on batter.  Add remaining batter and top with remaining apple mixture. 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 1/2 hours - 1 hour 45 minutes. Use cake tester in center of cake to make sure it comes out clean.

Note:  my husband used one of the four apples to decorate the top of the cake.  Instead of dicing that fourth apple, he sliced it, and arranged the slices on the top of the cake.

 
As I said before, this is my FAVORITE birthday cake!

Thanks for coming by! 




Stamps: Tiny Tags - Papertrey Ink Paper: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla - Stampin' Up!; gray damask - Recollections; silver mirror cardstock - WorldWin Fibers: green felt - JoAnn; velvet tag from a sweater; light gray sweater material (rose) Accessories & Tools: Sparkling Clear sequins - Pretty Pink Posh; circle punch - Stampin' Up!; velvet tag from sweater; Modern Leaves die - Avery Elle

10 comments:

Lin said...

What an interesting post today, Colleen! I enjoyed your description of how you went about making the scrapbook, and I love your card - wonderful textures! And saving this recipe to try down the road.....looks delish!

Unknown said...

Hi Colleen what a great card and the design is wonderful I love the idea with the rose and the cake looks gorgeous.
Debs xxx
{Debs Cards}

Lisa Elton said...

How sweet and thoughtful of you to create something so special for your hubby!! Marvelous card today too. Love the rose and velvet together!!

Unknown said...

I think that including special memories in a scrapbook is the icing on the cake! Speaking of cake, thanks for the special mention and cake recipe. Apple slices on top is such a clever touch, smart hubby! Thanks for sharing.

Karen McAlpine said...

Sounds like a great scrapbook. Love how you re-purposed the sweaters on your card!

Leslie Miller said...

What an interesting idea for the scrapbook, and a treasure to him, I know! Love your very textural card with the velvet scrap and knit rose. You clever girl! The grays are very soft and lovely. Also, the cake sounds delish and I know my hubby would like it, too. He loves apple cake and this one is a bit different from my usual recipe. I would love to give it a try. Thanks!

Marisa said...

What a wonderful idea for a bday scrapbook!! Love it and noting it for future use :) Gorgeous card and well done with the "sweater rose" :) Happy bday to hubby!!

Four11Lady said...

Everything sounds fantastic! The scrapbook, the cake, the card done so creatively............Wonderful post......thanks for sharing!

Crafty Lein* - enjoy creativity said...

I love this story you told. So clever to make a beautiful book with stories of people who care. I think this would be a nice idea to do for my husband to.
It's been a long time, I've been so so so busy. But I am happy to be back online and to be inspirated by your beatiful post. Your card looks amazing and the cake must be so yummy.

Have a nice Day!
Love from The Netherlands,
Leintje*

LeAnne said...

What a lovely card, and a great way to recycle that sweater! Yummy cake too...my mouth is watering, just looking at it!

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