The Cats Meow

This is just a quick post today, lots going on! It has been raining like crazy, and I have been scrapbooking like crazy, trying to design an abundance of pages for my All About You Album class.

I just wanted to share a quick something with you.

A few years ago, I made my daughter one of those 12 x 12 Memory Box frames with pictures of our pets. She loved it! Acted (at the time) like it was the best gift ever. Now I only get that reaction from giving her cash and pop star magazines.

I digress!

Two of our beloved pets have since passed on, and we have replaced them with two others. Cats of course. One of them is my buddy Harvey, the other is her "best friend" Angel. These two have a connection that is so wonderful. This cat truly is her confidant, her friend, her companion and her sunshine. My girlie has been bugging me to make another frame for her, of just Angel. So last weekend I took some time to do just that, and I wanted to share it with you. I love the way the pictures of her turned out!

What do you think of it?

This is a great gift idea, if that special someone has a beloved pet!

I have alot of people who have given me feedback about not being able to sign up to follow my blog or not know how to "subscribe" by e mail, so I created a Facebook Page that will update with each post I do. Could you please make your way over to my Facebook Page here, A Pinch of Creativity, "like" it, and share it with your crafty friends? If there is anything you would like to see me post, please let me know!

Happy Crafting, and thanks for stopping by!

Tannis

Cinnamon Crunchies

Here is a perfect recipe for the Victoria Day Long weekend. I really hope you will try it out, it's a very simple recipe! Be sure to start with a very clean counter.

Cinnamon Crunchies

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

Mix all dry ingredients together. With a beater, mix in the butter, egg and milk, until crumbly. Use a spatula to mix until moistened.

Flour your counter and your rolling pin well, dump out the mix onto the counter and roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Now you will need some more butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Spread a thin layer of butter on the rolled out dough, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll this up into a log, and cut into either 6 large pieces, or 12 small ones! Place in greased muffin tins.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 20 minutes.

Don't over think this recipe, it is simple, and if it is sticky, add more flour. If it's falling apart, mush it together and put it in the muffin tins.

The most difficult part is the clean up of the counter!

A variation on this recipe that I sometimes use, is to finely chop an apple and sprinkle that on top of the brown sugar before you roll it up. If you want, when they are cool, you can mix some icing sugar and milk until a smooth consistency and drizzle over top. This adds a bit of extra sweetness if you want. Have fun, and enjoy!

This will taste so yummy with morning coffee, outside in the sunshine. I can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by.

Tannis

Great Bran Muffin Recipe

Check out this amazing Bran Muffin Recipe, try it, you will like it!

Bran Muffins

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup raisins

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 cup bran

1/3 cup oil
3 tbsp molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp vanilla

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and raisins. Stir well. Push up the sides of bowl making well in center.

In another bowl stir buttermilk and bran. Let stand  minutes.

Add remaining ingredients to bran mixture in order given. Beat with spoon until mixed. Pour into well. Stir just to moisten. The batter will be lumpy. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees. for 20  minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Note: to make sour milk, add 1 tsp vinegar to measure 1 cup.

So in true Tannis fashion, I do deviate from this recipe! I don't like raisins in my baking so I don't include them. If you make a double batch, you can also substitute half of the oil with apple sauce! I top my muffins with some sunflower seeds as well, just for that little something special!

Enjoy!

Tannis

Scrapbooking with Creative Memories Black and White Paper

I have two scrapbooking groups that are working on an album that I was inspired to help others to do. It's an ``All About You`` memory book. This is an album that we are working on, mostly for ourselves. When we are done, I wonder, will we share our albums with each other? Will we show our kids (they are the ones we ultimately want to share our story with). Will we keep it somewhere private until we are ready to share?
Perhaps you are wondering why we would not put it on display, bursting with pride for all the work we have done. Well, let me explain.
Have you ever looked through your parents old black and white photos, and been totally mesmerized by someones beauty back in the day? Have you looked at all those people and wondered who they were, what was the connection, what was the story? Who was moms first love, Dad`s half brother? What did your Grandmas handwriting look like? Well, my hope is that through this album, our kids won't have those questions!
In taking a writing course, I realized, that more than just my writing, I wanted to combine my love of pictures and working with paper, and have a visual story for my daughter to look back on. I wanted her to know what I looked like as a baby, what my parents looked like, who my childhood pets were.  I also wanted her to read the poems I wrote when I was a teenager, as I learned about love, about deception, and living life! I wanted her to know that I had a first love and a broken heart (yes I still have all of his love letters to me, so I will pull them out one day when she needs to know and she will see, that yes, I was a teenage girl once, who thought I could not live without that one special boy!) I want my daughter to read, in my writing and my words, the tragedy that crushed my world as a young girl, taking away my trust and for a while, my hope. I want her to know my strength, my resilience. I want to showcase my favorite recipes, my favorite photos, my life, seen through my eyes, for her to know!

So I chose a black and white paper palette, with pops of color! We have been having so much fun creating this album. I have found it a bit difficult to work quickly through it, as I take a long time to mull over most decisions I make, and figuring out what pictures to include, what stories to write, I see, that I need way more pages than I thought! Here is a peak at some of the pages we have worked on so far!

 I sure hope that my scrapbooking ladies are enjoying this journey with me, because I am having so much fun creating these pages for them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tannis

Photo Books

I started making photo books for my daughter when she began her own love of sharing our photos. She always wanted to take our scrapbooks to school to show her friends and teachers. Anyone who has this hobby, knows, it is not a cheap one to have! So I started to make her very own photo books that she could carry around.

As everything, once I started I could not stop! Being Mother's Day soon, I thought that I would make some up for that special day. Here is a peak at some of them!

And of course a Mother's Day card!

I also had some great paper left over from some journals that I made, so I created a few photo books from that! I think I may keep one of these for myself!

All that is needed is to cut some photos and add them! Easy peasy!

The weather is beginning to change, and I know that I will feel that natural shift to craft less and garden and write more! How is it that somehow, there is just not enough time for it all!

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping by.

Tannis