Friday, December 13, 2013

Chocolate - FFFC #104

Good morning everyone...it is Friday!!! Yay!!! OMG, can you believe this year is almost over? I just can't believe how fast time goes by! And talking about time, it is time for another fabulous challenge at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenges, this will be the last FFFC challenge for this year and it will run for four weeks. The theme for this challenge is Chocolate and it is hosted by the lovely Wendy.  The challenge is sponsored by Fresh Brewed Designs and they have a fabulous prize for one lucky winner, 3 digi's of your choice along with a fun candy prize, a stamp case filled with goodies!!  Sounds great to me!! Do you need some inspiration? Not a problem, click here to take a look at all the gorgeous projects my teammates have created for you, we have interpreted the theme in so many different ways, I am sure you will get a lot of inspiration and ideas!
 
And here is my project for the challenge, I created a milk carton box and guess what? It is filled with milk chocolate.  The cute image is from Mo Manning and the beautiful papers are from Maja Designs, I just looove them!  Enjoy!
 
Front view:
View from the back:
Closer look at the image:
View from the side:
View from the top:
Inside:
My card ingredients are:
Image: Mo Manning - Chocolate Smile
Papers: Maja Designs - Walking in the Forest
Dies: Spellbinders, MS Doily Lace Punch
Ribbons and brads are from my stash
 
One last view:
I am entering my project in the following challenges:
Crafty Ribbons - #73 Anything Goes with Ribbons
4Crafty Chicks - #172 Food and Drink
7 Kids College Fund - #88 Anything Goes
Creative Belly - #184 Candy
Divas by Design - Anything Goes
The Male Room - Food and Drink
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes (Dec 10-16)
Craft-Dee BowZ - Anything Goes/include a handmade bow
Crafting from the Heart - #2 Anything Goes
Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Hugs, Ivonne

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Christmas in Puerto Rico

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all having a great weekend.  Have you ever wonder how is Christmas celebrated in other countries?  If you have, you have to visit the bastel-traum blog because they are having a X-mas Special project, where each day, from December 1 thru December 24, people from different countries will share with us their Christmas traditions. And guess what? Today is my turn. Yay!! I am sharing with you how Christmas is celebrated in Puerto Rico.  So what are you waiting for? Click here and enjoy Christmas around the world!

 Here is my project:
 
 
 
Christmas in Puerto Rico               
 
Some people say we have the longest Christmas in the world and I really believe it is true. As Christians, we observe the advent calendar, preparing ourselves to celebrate the birth of our savior, Jesus. But the popular celebration begins right after Thanksgiving, which is the fourth Thursday of November, and it ends up around the third week of January. 

For us Puerto Ricans, Christmas is all about sharing with family and friends. We decorate our houses with a Christmas tree and a lot of lights and I mean a LOT. We decorate everything and you can hear music everywhere. The Puerto Rican culture has influence from Spain, Africa and USA, so our celebration is a very peculiar one. On December 24th, we celebrate Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), families gather together to have dinner, dance and sing. The children go to sleep early that night, because if they are not asleep Santa Clause will not leave their gifts under the tree. December 25th is Navidad (Christmas), family and friends gather together again and keep celebrating, eating and drinking. On New Year’s Eve, December 31st, family and friends meet again to welcome the New Year and the party goes on sometimes until dawn. The celebration does not end on New Year, January 1st, because on January 6th, we celebrate the Tres Reyes Magos (Three Wise men) Holiday and as the Three Wise Men, Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar, brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus, they bring gifts for the children and adults. After that, we celebrate the Octavitas and the Octavones, which are sixteen more days of celebration. For most Puerto Ricans, Christmas ends up with Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastian, which is a carnival celebrated in the streets of Old San Juan.


Our typical Christmas food is arroz con gandures, pasteles y lechon, simply delicious. And for dessert, arroz con dulce. The favorite drink is Coquito, prepared with coconut milk. I am including pictures and the recipes below.
 

Arroz con gandures recipe (Rice with pigeon peas)
Pasteles recipe

Arroz con dulce recipe (Candied coconut rice)

Coquito drink recipe (Puerto Rican rum eggnog)





One of my favorites Christmas traditions is the parranda. It is when a group of friends surprises another friend in the middle of the night with music. It is like the Puerto Rican version of Christmas caroling. Sometimes you let your friend know you are bringing them a parranda, sometimes you don’t. During the parranda people play the guitar, cuatro, marracas, güiros and other instruments, and everyone sings. The home owner invites them inside for refreshments and finger food, and they stay in the house about 30 minutes. The group of people goes from one house to another, usually the house owner joins the parranda and the group keeps getting bigger and bigger. The parranda can keep going until dawn, when it usually ends with an asopao de pollo, something similar to chicken soup.

Take a look at this YouTube video, to get a taste of the music played at the parrandas and listen to the exquisite sound of the cuatro, an instrument similar to the guitar, but smaller.
 
 


Feliz Navidad!
Big hug and Happy Holidays!!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Cream and Brown - FFFC #102

Good morning everyone! Yes, It's me again. It is Friday and it's time for a new challenge at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenges. The theme for this fortnight is Cream and Brown and it is hosted by the fabulous Nathalie. If you want to get inspired, visit the Fussy and Fancy blog and take a look at the fabulous creations my DT teammates have created for you. After that, come and join the fun with one of your gorgeous projects!

For this card, I tried the cracked picture technique using UTEE and I am so happy with the results.  If you want to try it yourself, here is a link to the tutorial I used. And now, lets take a look at my card. I hope you enjoy it!

Front view:
View from both sides:

Details: 


Closer look at the image:
View from the top:
I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Crafty Ribbons - #70 Anything goes with ribbon
7 Kids College Fund - #86 Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps and More - #71 Anything Goes
Baffies Kreativladen - #26 Anything Goes
by Lori Designs - #59 Ribbon & Bows
Paper Shelter - #137 For Someone Special
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Embossing
Loves Rubberstamps - Black and White or Sepia
Bunny Zoe's - Shabby Chic/Vintage
Hugs!

X-Mas at BT

Good morning my dear friends! I have a very special post today. Back in July, one of my cards won the Gold Award at bastel-traum.ch blog. I also won a Guest Designer spot. I want to thank the lovely Ute for letting me share my card with her fabulous followers. The theme for this new challenge is Christmas, which I am sure will be pretty easy for all of you, so go ahead and get crafty and join the fun at bastel-traum.ch.
 
Lets take a look at my card:
Front view:
Front view and tag:
View from both sides:

Details:

Closer look at the image:
View from the top:
I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Magnolia-licious and Wee Stamp - Winter Themed
Bearly Mine - Christmas in Pink
Crimbo Crackers - #54 Christmas Words
ABC Christmas Challenges - W for Winter Wishes
Crafting by Design - Anything Goes with a Christmas Twist
4-Crafty Chicks - #168 Snowflakes
Creative Knockouts - #11 Make it Sparkle
Hanna & Friends - #184 Glitter
Happy Campers - #24 Glitter It
Fashionista - Christmas Bling
Big warm hug!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Celebration - FFFC #100

Good morning everyone! It is Friday, woohoo, and it is time for a new challenge at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenges. Our hostess for this fortnight is the lovely Sazzle and the theme is Celebration. Yes, this is an easy one, because there are so many reasons to celebrate, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Christmas, OMG, I can go on and on. Do you need some inspiration? Not a problem, visit the Fussy and Fancy blog and take a look at the fabulous creations my DT teammates have created for you. After you get inspired, come and join the fun with one of your gorgeous projects!

And now, lets take a look at my card. For this challenge, I created a birthday card using My Besties' Patchwork Patti image, I love these images and I had so much fun coloring her. I hope you enjoy it!

Front view:
View from both sides:
 
Closer look at the image:
Details: 
 
View from the top:
My card ingredients are:
Image: My Besties' Patchwork Patti
Papers: BoBunny - Little Miss Collection
Dies: Doohickeys Vintage Flowers and Leaves, Vintage Tag, Doily Flower,  Dragonflies, Tilda's Lace Border
Ribbons and bottle are from my stash

Now my lovely friends, it is your turn to get crafty and join the fun.  I can't wait to see your amazing creations.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Marker Pop - #32 Anything Goes with Copics or ShinHan
7 Kids College Fund - #84 Anything Goes
Lady Anne's - #12 Stamp Anything Goes
Nutcrafters - #54 Lots of Layers!
Card and Scrap - #63 Anniversaries, baptisms, weddings, birthdays, etc.
The Crafting Cafe - Anything Goes
Bearly Mine - #108 Anything Goes
Creative Craft - #21 Anything Goes Blogaversary
LEJ Designs - #75 Celebrate
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Hugs, Ivonne

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been missing in action. So many things have been happening (on a personal level), but I am trying to stay positive with prayer. I made this card for the mother of my wonderful husband on her birthday. It's got a surprise inside. I tried to use her favorite colors (pink and blue) and for the theme I chose vintage, which she seems to really like. Enjoy!

Front view:
 Partially opened view:
 View of sentiment:
Fully opened view: 
 
Fully opened with gift card: 
 
 This card was created using DP: Pink Paislee "London Market - Kensington"; Die cut accents and pearls: Colorbok "Victorian Parlour"' Stickers: K&C Company "Happy Birthday" and Sticko "Happy Birthday Cupcake Candle"; Crown charm embellishment purchased at my local scrapbook store.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
A Creative Romance: Pink
Sister Act Card Challenge: Challenge #28 - Anything Goes
Penny's Paper-Crafty Challenge Blog: Challenge 149 - Anything Goes
Use it Tuesday: Challenge #65-Scraps, Pieces, Odds & Ends
Crafty Creations Challenges: Challenge #244-Let's See You Sparkle & Shine
 
Hugs, Kathya

Friday, September 20, 2013

Punches and Dies - FFFC #98

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone is doing great! It is Friday, and it is time for a new challenge at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenges. The theme for this fortnight is Punches and Dies and our hostess is the lovely Elin. Well, this one should be pretty easy, because we all love to use a lot of fabulous punches and dies to embellish our gorgeous cards.
 
For my card today, I used Saturated Canary Honey image and combined it with some gorgeous Maja Designs papers.  I also use a few punches and dies. Take a look at the card.
 
Front View:
View from both sides:

View of the hidden tag:
Closer look at the image:
Details:
 

View from the top:
My card ingredients are:
Image: Saturated Canary - Honey
Papers: Maja Designs
Punch: Martha Stewart Doily Lace Punch
Dies: Go Kreate Frilly #9, Doohickeys Vintage Flowers and Leaves, So Wrapped Swirly Folded Tag, Sizzix 3-D Flowers 
Ribbons, doily and brads are from my stash
 
Now my friends, it is your turn, visit the Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge blog and take a look at the fabulous creations the talented DTs have created for you and then join the fun with one of you gorgeous projects. I can't wait to see what you are going to create!
 
One last look at the card:
I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Saturated Canary - #52 Shabby Chic
Divas by Design - Anything Goes
Creative Cards Challenges 2 - #19 Use Ribbon
Just Inspirational - Die Cuts or Punched Shapes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Top Tip Tuesday - #110 Get in Shape
MarkerPop - #30 Anything Goes
Tammy Scrappin Corner - #80 Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant - #217 Digital Images or Digital Papers
Ladybug Crafts - Anything Goes
Hugs, Ivonne