Chai tea gifties

I discovered the recipe for this wonderful Chai Tea Mix a couple of years back via Posie Gets Cozy.
Since I cannot currently find her original post to link to, I am going to cut and paste from the word document a I created so I wouldn't have to go searching every time I wanted to make this.

These are Alicia's words:

The beauty of this recipe is its flexibility. You can adjust any of the spices to your taste and even eliminate one altogether. I love the genius of adding candied ginger instead of fresh (which obviously won't keep) or powdered (which can make the resulting tea murky.) The red peppercorns are optional because they are quite expensive but I do love to add them for their holiday color, especially when paired up with the green cardamom pods.

The recipe below makes enough Chai to fit into a 1/2 pint canning jar and is easily multiplied out for larger batches. I try to collect jars and old tins throughout the year to fill. You can also use small bags or make your own from scraps of cloth. The possibilities are endless!

Chai Tea Mix Recipe
Makes about 12-16 teabags

12 green cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon whole red peppercorns (optional)
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 4-inch cinnamon stick
3 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
1/2 cup loose black tea

Preheat oven to 350°

With a sharp knife, split the cardamom pods in half. Place in a pie tin along with the peppercorns, fennel, coriander, cloves and cinnamon. Toast in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the spices are fragrant. Remove and cool.

Crush spices lightly with a rolling pin or in a mortar and pestle. You may have to crumble the cinnamon stick with your hands.

In a bowl, toss the spices, candied ginger and tea together until blended.

Spoon into your container of choice (mason jar, cello or parchment or waxed paper bags, vintage tea tin, etc.) Include fillable tea bags and brewing instructions. Alternatively, you can fill each tea bag with approximately 1 tablespoon of the chai mix and tie it loosely to close. (But that's a lot of work if you're making several batches!)

Brewing Instructions
tea for one

1 cup of water
1/2 cup of milk
1 tablespoon of Chai Mix placed into a tea bag
Sugar or honey to taste

Bring the water to a boil and add the teabag. Turn off the heat and let steep for about 5 minutes. Add the milk, turn on the flame and reheat until hot. Remove from heat, discard teabag, sweeten to taste, enjoy!

This recipe is based on one by Maria Helm Sinskey. I've made several changes in the proportions and the brewing instructions, and added the red peppercorns, but the basic concept is hers.

I love how they look all bundled up and ready to gift! When I have time, I add a piece of raw, peeled ginger to the pot when simmering for extra ginger yumminess!
Happy Tea Drinking!

Thanks for visiting!
Shanna :)

Have a...

My youngest son is uber interested in computer programming at the moment. He just turned 11 and asked for programming texts for his birthday!

As such, this card seemed appropriate. I was wracking my brain for a stamp with some sort of computer image when I remembered my "Generation Tech" stack from DCWV. Actually, I am pretty sure last year's card was made with paper from that stack too! (Apparently, that one was a good investment!) lol - he is that kind of kid!

Then I remembered the fun "gobledy goop" stamp in CTMH's "Tech Speak" stamp set and his card was born. I think he liked the "programming bits" I stamped on the inside best!

I would like to share at:
Seize the Birthday 

Thanks for stopping by! Hope your holiday preparations are coming along. I am smack in the middle of trying to get all my holiday cards in the mail! I love it, but there are A LOT of them!

Cheers,
Shanna :)

what I used:
stamps - CTMH From me to you, Tech Speak and Reel Life
paper - DCWV - The Generation Tech Stack

Life is an adventure

 Here is something a little different! This is the card I made for my husband's birthday featuring two of my fave photos from our recent Whistler vacation - more photos later, it was FABULOUS! I can't wait to do more alpine hiking!!!

Zip-lining was crazy and exciting! The first line was more than a kilometer long and spanned an entire mountain valley. We travelled 80-90 kim/hour.

I would like to share in the following challenges:

Shopping Our Stash - no stamping - technically, I stamped on the inside, but my card design did not rely on stamps - the sentiment on the front is a rub-on

Crazy 4 Challenges - O Christmas Tree - include a tree - there are at least a few! :)

Thanks so much for visiting!

Shanna

What I used:

rub-ons - Swatch Book Impress-ons by Marah Johnson

Sentiment stamp & tree - CTMH

40

I have another coffee themed card to share! I seem to be on a roll here with hot drinks this past while!  (and would you believe I have another waiting in the wings?!) This is for one of my Best Girlfriends who recently celebrated the big "40." Green and blue are her favourite colours.

I had been itching to use this fab Angie Girl (Kimmie) from Unity, so I decided to stamp her on the inside along with the matching sentiment.

I would like to share at:

Always Playing with Paper - inspiration challenge



and

Seize the Birthday - anything goes

Hoping your week is off to a fabulous start!
Shanna :)

What I used:
stamps: SU  "Perfect Blend"
             Unity - Kimmie Girl by Angie Blom
             CTMH - Hello Life National Stamping Month sets
misc papers, lace and sequins

You warm my heart

 Well, I went out in search of my mojo yesterday. It took a bit of wandering aimlessly, but I might have found it, if only temporarily! I would like to keep it nearby for a bit as I have a few birthday cards that need doing! Good thing there is a fab theme this week at Jingle Belles and a fantastic sketch at Freshly Made or I would still be wandering lost!

The inside - sorry about the bad lighting, but you get the idea.

 With matching envelope:

I would like to play along at:

Freshly Made Sketches - 


Jingle Belles - Bring us some figgy pudding!
and
Craft Stamper - anything goes as long as there is stamping

Thanks for visiting!

Shanna :)

What I used:
paper - American Crafts - Peppermint Express
SU - perfect blend
CTMH "A Sip" - A1109
MFT Candy Cane Kisses (inside sentiment)
Starbuck's coffee sleeve
machine stitching
sequins, twine & paperclip (thanks Donna)

An Accessible Ski Program!

I would really love your support for a cause that is very close to my heart! Some of you are well aware of my love of the outdoors, snow and skiing in particular. I mentioned a bit about my involvement over the past two winters in an exciting program for children with vision loss in this post.

This year, we are expanding the program! Some of the children who participated last year will be integrated into the regular Jackrabbit Ski program with support as necessary - so exciting! New children will have the opportunity to try cross-country skiing in a five session clinic setting. Running such a program does have costs, especially around having ski equipment available for any child who wishes to participate. There is no rental fee for children in the first year of the program. As we wish to expand the program, we have submitted a grant proposal at TBaytelfor good. The outcome is based, at least in part, on public on-line voting! People can vote once per day everyday. If you have more than one email, you can vote more than once per day.

So, yes, I am campaigning! I am asking if you would be willing to take the time to help us by voting. I promise placing your vote won't take much time. The first time you visit the website, you will need to type in your email address, then go to your email and verify before going back to TBaytel website to place your vote. It is quicker the second time.

Here is the link:
or cut and paste this:

https://www.tbaytelforgood.net/ideas/146

Feel free to read through our submission if you are interested. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. We could really use your help! Others submitted before us and are quite ahead of us in votes. Public votes are worth 30% of our score. So, although there are others quite ahead of us, I believe we still have a chance to win one of three prizes based on our idea and written proposal as long as we have significant public support.

Thank you sincerely for considering taking the time to vote for our program over the next couple of weeks! Remember you can vote every single day (I vote 3x per day since I have three email addresses!) And please feel free to spread the word, we can use all the help we can get! :)

Shanna and all the young participants of the Lappe Para-Nordic Ski Program!

xoxo

Happy Christmas

 Okay, this one was just way too fun and easy to create, I feel like I was cheating! lol
A peek at the inside:

I would like to share at:

Cute Card Thursday - birds/animals

and

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog - stars

Christmas Card Challenges - anything goes

Nice to see you! I hope to be back soon with some photos from my recent Whistler vacation!

Shanna :)

What I used:

CTMH Picture My Life

CTMH B1493 Festive Trees

CTMH B1489 Joyful Garland

CTMH woodgrain embossing folder

Happy Halloween

Well, I have managed to miss posting this before Halloween - oh well, what ya gonna do? I was still trying to figure out where September went and, bam, it's November...WHAT???

I would like to share at:
Little Red Wagon - Ghosts or Goblins (or other Halloween creatures)

I had been looking forward to using this adorable CTMH witch set and finally got around to it. So much fun, is she not adorable?

Hope to be back soon to share some photos of what I was up to last week - it was so Fabulous!

Thanks for stopping by!
Shanna :)

Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas for the Cure

Hello!

Though I try to play along often, I NEVER like to miss Jingle Belles' annual Pink Christmas for the Cure Challenge! Lauren and Steph each donate $2 for every card posted that includes pink! Fun stuff!
Here is my card:

I pulled this together late last night when I should have been in bed. Yep, I'm that stubborn, lol! I was very short on time, but I was able to play along because I very quickly found a couple of papers that could be combined to make a quick and easy card that featured some pink. I am a bit disappointed in my photo, the card really does look better in real life, but no time for mucking about today. In case you can't see it, the sentiment along the bottom was printed on the paper and says "Merry Christmas" several times.

It happens that there is a tiny quote printed on this beautiful tree paper, so I let it become part of the design. Granted, it is tiny and hard to read!
It says:
"Now we must go to bed and shut our eyes and wish very hard for Christmas. Then, when we're asleep, Santa will come. And when we wake up - why, it will be Christmas!"

This card is officially number 52 for the Christmas stash - mostly thanks to Jingle Belles! That is cause for celebration! Thanks ladies for the ongoing inspiration!

Thanks for visiting! Hoping your week is off to a fantastic start!
Shanna :)

What I used:
ribbon - SU
paper - Bo Bunny - Candy Cane Lane

Sweet Surprises

What can I say, life has been busy! Our weekends have been full, full, full. We've done some fantastic hikes this fall! Last weekend, I flew down to Southern Ontario and teamed-up with my sister to help my parents pack up their home and start moving - they have been there for about 30 years, so there is a lot to pack and move. So with all this exciting stuff going on, not much time for crafting over the past few weeks, but I do have a card to share from awhile back. The tag on this card was a make n' take I did at Scrapbook and Cards Today Crop and Create in September with none other than Angie Blom who designs for Unity! Love the idea of watercolour on tags! I love how it turned out, so I had to put it on a card. I love that it all came together with a feeling of fall!

I combined some papers from Authentique (Playful) and Simple Stories (Harvest Lane), added some bits and bobs including hearts cut from coffee sleeves and voila!

Thanks for visiting! Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! We are being rebels this year - it's just us and we decided we didn't feel like fussing with a turkey, so we are having seafood pasta instead! lol We will probably roast the turkey that is still in my freezer in a couple of weeks when the rest of the country not longer has any interest in turkey after all the leftovers. :)

Shanna :)

Merry Christmas

 Good morning! I have a couple more Christmas cards completed for my stash. The count is now 54! Getting there!

I love this retired CTMH stamp!

I would like to share at:
Winter Wonderland - Traditional Christmas
and
Christmas Card Challenges - anything goes

Thanks for visiting!
Shanna :)

Joy to the World

Well, Autumn has officially arrived! We have had a very mild September and got quite a lot of wear out of our summer wardrobes. However, with the change of the season comes the cooler temps and some rain. Even with the rain, I do love autumn! Happy first day of fall!

Here is another card for my Christmas Card stash!

I would like to share at:
Make My Monday - nature

Thanks for visiting!
Shanna

What I used:
background stamp - MFT
patterned paper and Picture My Life card - CTMH
Birch Barck embellishments

Saturated Canary Warmest Wishes

Well, Hello! Long time no blog eh? I've been plenty busy, just not in the craft room until this weekend when I attended a Scapbook and Cards today "Crop and Create" event! Those ladies sure know how to put on a crop! Fun, friends and time to get crafty! I took a fabulous "Texture Play" class with the one and only Vicki Boutin - she is such a blast!

This is one of the four Christmas cards I created while cropping. I also made a Christmas layout, an engagement card and learned several new techniques in Vicki's class!

Here is a peek at the inside, because I always finish the innards! 

It has been TOO long since I played along over at Jingle Belles and Shopping Our Stash, so I am going to share at both today since they are having a joint challenge. All you need to do is use something on your winter/holiday card that is more than one year old. 

Everything used on this one is more than a year old, except maybe for the sentiment on the inside. In fact, I will even admit that I coloured the image long ago and forgot about it. I found it when packing for the crop and decided that it needed to make it onto a card pronto!

I would also like to share at:
Christmas Card Challenges where there is a photo inspiration this week - hence the {hard to see in the photo} - Stickles applied to my snowflakes.
Christmas Stamping all year long - lots of textures or layers

Thanks for stopping in!
Shanna :)

What I used:
image - Saturated Canary
copics
papers - We R Memory Keepers "Winter Frost"
blue embossed paper - CTMH
sentiment on front CTMH
embroidery floss, edge distresser
Unity sentiment (inside) from "Like a Snowflake"

S is for Smile

 I LOVE using CTMH's Picture My Life cards to make quick cards. I had some fun with the colours - not a colour combo that I would often turn to, but so much fun!

I was inspired by the sketch at JUGS 

Thank you for visiting!

Shanna :)

What I used:
 CTMH - D1653 Happy Everything
Picture My Life - Childhood Scrapbooking program
gypsy and crystal blue CS
CTMH embossing folder
ribbon - CTMH Level 2 Assortment - Wings
misc bling and paperclip

The Simple Life

My youngest brother celebrated his birthday this week and this is his card. He and his wife recently moved to an old farm that had belonged to family friends. They have been very busy renovating and now they are building a barn! So, this CTMH stamp seemed very suitable for this year's card. I used a page from an old dictionary for the background.

If you look closely, you might see that the word "farm" is defined on this page. I just LOVE using upcycled stuff on my cards and projects.

I played around with my Tim Holtz Distress stains for the background of this one. I swiped them onto watercolour page, misted, then blended with my finger.

A shot with the envelope I made to match:

I would like to share at:

Seize the Birthday - weather

and

Shopping Our Stash - use a wet medium (Distress Stains + water for me)

Thanks for visiting!

Shanna

What I used:

CMTH D1543 Country Born

B1461 Happy Mail

and B1442 Belated Birthday

Tim Holtz Distress Inks - spiced marmalade, crushed olive & forest moss

burlap style "ribbon" from Winner's

Bella Bling

life is like riding a bicycle

Good day! I would like to share today's card at Unity Friends with Flair.

 The quote on the outside of my card is not Unity, but the bicycle on the inside (which is from Unity) was essential to the overall completion of this card. :)

Thanks for your visit!

Shanna :)

What I used:
Quote - Stamping Bella
bicycle inside - Unity "Enjoy this day"

sentiments inside - CTMH
CTMH Pixie ink
sequins
papers - Maggie Holmes Style Board for Crate Paper (6x6)

P is for Party

Here is a quick card I made using some of the same papers as in my last post. Still loving the sequins!

and here is the inside

I would like to share at:

Crazy 4 Challenges - Ride the Wind

and

Seize the Birthday - anything that flies

Thanks for visiting!

Shanna :)

Happy Birthday to you!

Hello!

I have a fun birthday card to share today.

I would like to share at:

Pile it On - Bright colours

Seize the Birthday - optional challenge is anything that flies (I guess the banners on the inside of my card fly)

Crafting by Designs - 3plus layers

and

As you like it - favourite embellishment and why - twine and sequins - twine because it's so very versatile and sequins because they are my newest embellishment to use & I have been having lots of fun with them - yes indeed, I am behind with the trends!

Here is the inside:

Thanks so much for your visit!

Shanna :)

What I used:
Simple Stories - Happy Day 6x6
baker's twine and birthday candles
sequins
boarder punch

JOY

It's about the hottest day of the year here in NW Ontario, and I am posting a Christmas card, lol. 

This one is for a couple of challenges:

JUGS - black, red and grey

and

Winter Wonderland - carols/songs

and here is the inside, oops, my photography is a bit wonky.

Thanks so much for visting!

Shanna :)

What I used:
JOY - CTMH "Winter Joy"
music heart - MFT "IB Music"
MFT Stitched Square STAX die-namics
patterned paper - Little Yellow Bicycle "Wonder & Wishes - Christmas text"
ruby and black CTMH ink
seam binding

For You

Things have been quiet here on my blog this last bit. Summer is very short here, so we've been making it a priority to enjoy the outdoors. I promise to share some fun photos soon from spelunking at Warsaw caves. We plan to try out a new hike tomorrow. Packing a picnic and heading out first thing in the morning since we are in the middle of a Heat Wave!

Anyhow, it's high time I played along at Unity's Friends with Flair challenge. It has been several weeks since I've been able to join.

I had this floral image stamped on this shipping tag for some time before I figured out how to work in into a design. At long last, I turned it into a card.

And here is the inside:

I look forward to seeing what everyone else has been creating.

Thanks for visiting!

Shanna :)

What I used:
Unity - Jan 2014 Kit of the Month and "Take Care of You"
CTMH sentiment - D1247 From Me to You
Tim Holtz Distress markers
CTMH Vineyard Berry ink
seam binding, trim
SU washi tape
shipping tag

An enlightening conversation

A quick Smash page I made quite sometime ago and forgot about. That's what I love about smashing - it can be so impromptu, little if any planning and bam you have a quote, a conversation or a memory in the book. There may be a photo or maybe not, but it's already in there. I may still add a photo to this page, not sure. If I do, I will look back thru photos from the timeframe when the conversation took place, print one and glue it in. Done.

Yikes, things have been busy enough that I haven't gotten around to posting things I've already made. Oh well, that's life. :)
Shanna :)

Paw Patrol Birthday Party

I am sharing a number of photos from my nephew's "Paw Patrol" birthday party this past Saturday. He turned three! The only thing I can take credit for here is the card at the end of the post and the paw prints painted on the walkway - you might say I like to leave an "impression" - last year, I painted train tracks that didn't wear off until spring, lol! (just realized I haven't posted pics from that party, will have to work on that!)
Other than that, I was simply her assistant or partner in crime - my sis and I work really well together on stuff like this and have such fun doing it! :) Oh, and Nanny created the doggie bone cookies - sans cookie cutter -  READ she cut them all out with a knife! - I said she was loco, but she did it anyhow and they were a big hit! Yay for Nanny's who don't care how long it takes! :)

 The Birthday boy waking from his nap to find his home full of partygoers!

Here is Ryder with the fire hydrant my sister made out of recyclables. Too cute!

Nanny is also responsible for creating the dog house!

 Here is Graham following the popular mantra "Eat Dessert First!) He loved the giant dog bone cookie Nanny made for him with his name on it.

 My attempt at the family photo shoot...

 The hats were our photo props since one of the Paw Patrol characters is a Firedog named Marshall!

 individual cake - the rest were cupcakes for easy serving.

And here is the card I created with the party theme in mind.

 and the inside:

I would like to share at:

Heart to Heart - Birthday - cards, decor, thank yous etc.

and

Crazy 4 Challenges - use the word "Happy"

and

Seize the Birthday - embossing

Thanks for visiting! It has been quiet around here since I was on holiday this last week or so. I do have a few things to share though so plan to be back soon.

Shanna :)

What I used:

sentiment - CTMH "Happy Birthday" 
Simon Says Stamp"Pawprints on our hearts"
Spellbinders
dog image inside: CTMH "Ice Cream Dream" S1506
sentiment inside - SU "Bring on the cake"