White Rose

Busy day ... I'm trialing some new ideas for an upcoming High Tea I'm hosting on May 5th.  I just joined Pinterest a few days ago ... I can't believe all the fabulous pictures and ideas.  I have been collecting pins for the past few days on two of my hobbies ... cards and food.  More on the food from today lower down in this post.

On to the card for today.  I'm happy with how this card looks in real life ... unfortunately, the picture just doesn't do it justice.  I tried several times and this was the best picture I could come up with ...

This combines the challenge from today "Ways To Use It" (WT372 - monochromatic masterpieces - one color and a neutral) and last week's CAS challenge, which I missed because I was away (CAS166 - fabulous sketch by stampercamper).  Hope you like.

"White Rose"

Stamp:  On the Grow (SU!)
Paper:  Whisper White, Wild Wasabi DP, Garden Green (SU!)
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Amana Circle die-cut (Memory Box), Rolling Rose die-cut (C.C. Designs), Leaves die-cut (C.C. Designs), 1/4" Garden Green grosgrain ribbon, white embossing powder, heat tool, stickles, corner rounder, adhesives, glue dots, tombow glue, sticky strips, and dimensionals

With my Big Shot, I cut out a whisper white amana circle and rolled rose ... as well as two stems of leaves from garden green cardstock.

I rolled up the rose and secured it in place with Tombow glue.  I added clear stickles around the outside of each petal and left it to dry (can't see them in the picture but they add some sparkle).

I rounded the right corners of the card base (Garden Green cardstock), card front (Whisper White cardstock) and background (Wild Wasabi striped DP).  I stamped the sentiment onto the striped DP in Versamark and embossed in white.  I mounted the Garden Green ribbon in place, securing it with sticky strips.  I mounted the background paper onto the Whisper White card front. and then added the die-cut circle using glue dots.

I used glue dots to add leaves in-behind the rose, curling the leaves upwards to give them depth.  I secured the rose and leaves to the middle of the Amana Circle, popping it up with a dimensional to add more depth.

I mounted the card front onto a card base of Garden Green (for stability).

For the inside, I added a Whisper White panel with the right corners rounded and a 1 1/4" strip of the striped Wild Wasabi DP at the bottom of the white panel (again, rounding the bottom right corner).

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More on my day in the kitchen ... I wanted to trial Spanakopita rolls - an idea I saw from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa).  I didn't use her filling recipe because I'm happy with the one I already have - but I did use her idea to make a long roll and score at 1" intervals before baking and then cutting all the way through once they were baked.  So much faster and easier than the traditional triangles which I find take so long to make.   I'm happy with how they turned out and will definitely be adding them to the menu for next week.  I'm thinking that I might sit them on end (like the closest one in the picture) and then add a small dollop of tzatziki sauce on top and sprinkle with some chopped dill.  Yep, this is a keeper - here's the picture ...

Next I tried making Bite-Sized Banana Cream Pies ... this is something I saw on Pinterest and thought they were so adorable.  Mine look a lot different than the picture I saw, but I'm still happy with them and will make them next week for the High Tea.  I used my "cheater" banana cream pie recipe (Jello Instant Vanilla pudding powder, mixed with part milk and part whipped cream - so easy!!).  My recipe is on this blog - click the "Baking" tab.  Today I used less whipped cream in the custard mix because I wanted the filling to be quite stiff and be able to hold it's own ... 1 pkg vanilla pudding mix, 1 c. milk, 1/2 c. whipped cream.

The plan was to make scalloped squares of pastry to go under the cream filling, banana slice and whipped cream topping, but I didn't have a cookie cutter that was the right size, so I made small "pie-crusts" using my mini muffin pan (plus I did make some very small flat scalloped circles that were way, way too small).  I must admit that the flat circle bottoms look better than the pastry cups, but the cups are so much easier to eat with your hands, so I'm sticking with them.  And I found the color a little boring, so added some shaved chocolate for looks.  Here's the picture ...