Wishing you a Lovely Day

Hi everyone.  ... And I am wishing you all a lovely day!! :)  Here is a card to honor Mary Marsh.  Mary is the Featured Stamper at Splitcoast Stampers this week (FS315 - MaryR197) ... congrats Mary!!  I love Mary's style and found many cards in her gallery that I would like to CASE (copy and share everything).  But when I saw this card, I knew I wanted to get out my brayer ... it is such a beauty!

My plan was to use Mary's card for inspiration, but in the end, it is almost a complete CASE, just changing up the pine tree stamp.  I did some second generation stamping with the two smaller trees (ink stamp, stamp off once and then stamp) to create trees in the background, but I found it hard to do that with black ink and they don't look much lighter in color.  I should have inked the background stamps with gray ink instead.  At least I learned something ... which I do most times I make a card ... always learning, but not necessarily retaining that knowledge :)

I have had fun the past two days, spending time in my studio, creating cards - my favorite hobby!  I took a couple of days off from hospital visits.  I'm finding that my energy is low right now, so staying home for a couple of days has really helped to rejuvenate me.  Today (as with most Sunday's), my kids are coming for dinner.  Gord and I really love that we have this time together with them.  Tonight's menu:  Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Roasted Potatoes, Steamed carrots, Zucchini with Parmesan ... and Coconut Cake for dessert.  The recipe for the coconut cake is under the "Baking with Loll" tab above ... and if you love coconut, give this cake a try - it's easy to make and delicious!

Speaking of recipes, I'm going to include a few recipes from our Valentine's Day dinner (I had a few requests).  They will be at the bottom of this post.

On to the card details ...

Stamps:  Large Pine Tree (Stampscapes); Be Happy Sentiments (Amy R)
Paper:  Whisper White (SU!)
Ink:  Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Basic Black
Accessories & Tools:  Speedball Rubber Brayer, scrap paper for masking mountains, sponges, Stamp-a-ma-jig, and adhesives

I brayered the sky in this order ... Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Not Quite Navy.  I ripped a mask from scrap paper and sponged the tops of the mountain range.  I sponged Old Olive ink at the bottom, followed by a little Basic Black at the edge of the bottom.  I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to position my trees.  The two largest are stamped in Basic Black.  The two smallest are also stamped in Basic Black, but after they were stamped off once (tried to create the look of trees in the background).  I stamped one tree on the inside of the card for interest.

I'm having a bit of trouble with the light these days ... my pictures are not turning out very clear (could also be my camera - it's really old).  Anyways, I took a couple of extra shots from different angles so you can hopefully see it better.


Here's more photos:

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Here's a quick run down on how Gord makes Cedar-Plank Salmon ...

Marinate your salmon fillets for up to 4 hours if possible (6-8 oz. per person).  Marinade is a mix of lots of Thick Teriyaki sauce (we use Golden Dragon brand), with a little soy sauce and a pinch of garlic salt.  About 1 hour before you want to BBQ, soak a cedar plank in water (make sure to weigh it down so it is immersed in the water).  You can get cedar planks from your lumber store (cedar fence boards), just make sure at least one side is smooth (not rough cut).  Heat your BBQ to 350 degrees, place the wet cedar plank in the BBQ until you start seeing smoke (approx. 5-10 mins).  Remove salmon from marinade and place skin side down on smooth side of cedar plank.  Close lid and BBQ until desired doneness - don't open lid!  We like ours well done so cook it for approx. 40 minutes.  Remove salmon from cedar plank and remove skin before serving (lots of time the skin sticks to the cedar).  Enjoy!!

Fruit and Nut salad:

Mixed baby greens or chopped Romaine hearts, fruit of choice (I used sliced strawberries for Valentine's Day, but sliced apples, pears or halved grapes also work well), toasted nuts of choice (I used pine nuts, but sliced almonds or pecans work well too), sweet vinaigrette (recipe follows).  Also really good if you add a few ounces of chopped unripened (soft) goat cheese.

My Favorite Sweet Vinaigrette: (shake well to combine)
Equal parts:
Sugar (or to taste)
Grapeseed Oil
White Balsamic Vinegar

plus pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper

Variations:  add chives, minced red onion or mustard to the vinaigrette to bump up the flavor