Anniversary Celebration

Hard for me to believe it's been 28 years of wedded bliss with the best man I know. I can't believe I found Matt so early in life and that we were well-suited then and well-suited now, even though we've both changed and grown. This pic is from April, after I just turned 50 and he had turned 50 two months before. 

We were both in the musicals in high school and had mutual friends so we hung out together and then when we were sixteen, I got the idea that he liked me and I thought he was funny and dang hot, so we started dating. Thanks to our mutual friend, Vicki Smith, who encouraged me to date this somewhat intense young man. I figured we'd break up and I'd break his heart...but the joke was on me because we just stayed together!

I'm not sure how we got so lucky, but I'm not questioning it, I'm just thankful. He's a rock-solid, hard-working, dedicated family man who would do anything for me or the kids. He's understanding and he listens and he's kind to old people and children. He also has a zero-tolerance policy for people who are mean or stupid or generally make life harder and more dangerous for the rest of us (I'm talking to you, people who text and drive.) 

Here's the little cake we treated ourselves to for this anniversary and the card I made for him with Pretty Little Studio products.

And this guy is still funny. He says, "you can't spell scrapbooking without the word crap," but he also tells me I do important things for the family by scrapbooking and keeping our memories. So, Happy Anniversary to my honey. Am hoping you have the same kind of luck in love as I do!

And if you need a funny card to celebrate an anniversary, Valentine's Day or just Wednesday, you can click this link to get free cards to print.

Happy Monday!

Chark

German Chocolate Cake Day

Happy German Chocolate Cake Day! Here's a little bit of trivia on the origination of German Chocolate Cake and then some ways to celebrate!

National German Chocolate Cake Day is observed by chocolate lovers annually on June 11.

Although the name may sound like the cake originated in Germany, it did not.   The cake’s roots can be traced back to 1852 when American, Sam German, made a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker’s Chocolate Company.  Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate’s brand was named in honor of Sam German.

Over 100 years later in 1957, a recipe for “German’s Chocolate Cake” appeared as the Recipe of the Day in the Dallas Morning Star.  This recipe, created by Mrs. George Clay, used the Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, and it became quite popular.  During this time, General Foods owned the Baker’s brand and distributed Mrs. Clay’s recipe to other newspapers around the country.  The current name of German Chocolate Cake, as we know it today, came to be as publications started dropping the ‘s.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Celebrate by enjoying a piece of German Chocolate Cake with friends.  Include photos on social media using #GermanChocolateCakeDay.

So here are a couple of recipes for you to try...I included the traditional one with coconut in the frosting and one without because I am no fan of coconut. The flavor's fine, but the little bits that stick around and you end up finding in your teeth later don't thrill me. My husband says that's the fun of coconut...I am not convinced.

This cake recipe is from Taste of Home and I tend to like most of their recipes that I try.

Here's a recipe from All Recipes that makes a German Chocolate Cake Caramel Icing without the coconut if you're like me and just want a yummy cake, no little bits in your teeth. Because I'm a crafter and cardmaker, I've included some fun cake stamps you could purchase, even if they aren't specifically German Chocolate Cake stamps.

These stamps are from Jane's Doodles and are clear stamps.

This set is from Spellbinders and can be found at Scrapbook.com, one of my fave shops online.

And here's a card I made for a2z Scrapbooking, featuring the new digital Sugartree Stamps, available only at a2z. 

Happy Monday!

Chark

Let's Decorate a Cake

So yesterday was Cake Decorating Day and since I love me some cake...we have a post here to celebrate it! First, I love the idea of cake decorating but my ideas and my talent don't always match up. Sure I made a rose or two in Wilton class at Jo Ann Fabrics...and even an icing clown or two, but really, I just have great ideas and then struggle to make them happen.

I love watching the baking and cupcake decorating tv shows, mostly because it awes me. They say what they're going to make and actually pull it off most of the time! This cake for my son (7 years ago) came out pretty much as I imagined it but not as neat as I'd have liked. The judges on the cake shows would say, "delicious cake, just-right colors but it's a little messy on the presentation." At least that's what I imagine they'd say.

I baked a 9" square cake and a 9x13" cake and mini loaf cakes. The head is half the square, the body is the 9x13 and the arms are the loaf cakes. I just cut the top of the head and hands from the leftover cake. I used two mixes for this one. Luckily, my son was happy with it. The eyes and mouth are melted chocolate piped on.

Here's a sandwich cake he wanted a couple of years later. He wanted it to look like a sandwich because one of his video games has a character who says "sandvich" it a lot. It's a white cake with the brown edge trimmed off and lots of different icings and some Starburst candies shaped into tomatoes. The olive is a gumdrop.

Now onto something really good...CakeWrecks. If you've never seen this site, it's a classic actual lol site with "professional" cakes that really miss the mark.

Here's one cake that is supposed to be Halloween and Spongebob together. Click the link here to see her whole post on Halloween cakes. 

And here's some amazing actual cake decorating. I mean, c'mon, these people deserve a prize! I do not think I could cut into this one...how about you?

And lastly, here's a little cake digi stamp that I think I'm gonna have to get...she's soooo cute! And just $4!

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

Happy Easter Fools' Day!

Ok, I know it's past Easter and it's actually April Fools' Day today, but I have an Easter digi I never got to share so here it is in full color. I decided to put a rainbow behind this adorable bunny from 2 Cute Ink and really wore down my Prismacolors doing it! Lots of pressure and a couple of layers and you get this bright, bold rainbow from pencils.

I kept him white with a little gray shading and pink ears and belly so he stands out. Have I said I love 2 Cute stamps? Cuz I do!

Gotta share a couple of April Fools' food pranks we've played (the kids and I) on the hubby in the past. This classic grilled cheese is actually pound cake and icing, grilled in a skillet. This one actually worked!

This spaghetti cake was fun, but didn't fool him...still it was tasty!

And these Cake Fries worked too—we just served them with buttercream thinned icing so we could get the tomato color just right (they use raspberries at this link). You don't even have to crinkle cut to get a good fry look, just make them thin sticks like  you get at McD's.

I  think these are much better food pranks than this one—toothpaste Oreos. Gross and not a fun surprise...don't mess with my Oreos, people!

Hope you have a fun day with no mean pranks...that's my plan!

Happy Friday!

Chark

I Like Cake

I admit, I'm a cake person, specifically a cupcake person. Because the ratio of icing to cake is so much better in a cupcake version, am I right? I found this adorable cake digi stamp at A Day For Daisies, and when I won their contest, I got to choose some things from the store. This was one of the stamps I picked. Who doesn't like fairies and cake? No one, that's who!

Here are two versions I colored. The girl on the left has Stickles applied and I used no glitter on the girl on the right. I like the ombre cake well enough, but the pink glitter cake is my fave. 

I think I'll give her a floor to stand on too. Here are the close-ups and you can see the glitter on the pink cake a little better. You can't tell, but I Stickled her wings and the lights too. This image is $4.00, so if you use it just twice on cards, you're already saving money compared to buying them at the store! And if you enter their contest here, with the free image provided, you might just win too and get your own stamps!

Happy Monday!

Chark