November SOTM Blog Hop - Cherish the Day

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring the November SOTM Cherish the Day, a set of 44 stamps! If you have come here from Kristine's blog, you are on the right path. The Blog Hop is a great big circle so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here.

This time around we have over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the November Stamp of the Month and other great CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!

I'm part of a Stamp of the Month Swap, and each member has been assigned a specific paper packet for each month. For November I was given the Wonderland packet which features Crystal Blue, Twilight, Chocolate, and Grey Flannel. These colors make me think of January, so I decided to make a New Year's card.

Here is my supply list:

X7146B Wonderland Level 2 Paper Packet
S1111 Cherish the Day
D1482 Love Life
Z1353 4 1/2" White Daisy Circle Cards
Z2111 Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z2117 Crystal Blue Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z2160 Twilight Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z1385 Designer Ribbon Blue Collection
Z1104 Clear Sparkles
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
Sponge

Here are all the cards made by my swap group. The talented ladies who made them are top row: Vicki Price, Krista Staton, and Angie Petersen. Bottom row: LeAnne Dudley, Bertha MacMillan, and Kimberly Deines.

Now "Hop" on over to Kathleen's blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant's blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Remember, this exclusive stamp set is only available until November 30th!

Happy Halloween!

I'm so excited! My favorite holiday is here! I made this banner last year, but I love it so much that I had to post it again. It's truly one of the best things I've ever made. Those little Hooligans monsters were so adorable, and this project wouldn't have been the same without them.

I'm looking forward to dressing up later to pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. It's something I do every year. Generally I wear my renaissance costume, but I thought I'd do something different today. I spent a small amount of money to get a fun wig, a witch's hat, and some false eyelashes. I'm going to pull some things from my closet and be my own kind of witch. Who cares if I look like a traditional witch as long as I get to be someone else for a few hours?

I will share pictures from today's festivities later in the week. Happy Halloween!

My Favorite Fall Soup

I know thousands of people - probably millions - are happy fall is here. I, however, am not one of them. I am a summer girl! I'm not saying I like it when it's in the triple digits, but I do like it to be around 80. I also love all the sunshine. I find it totally depressing when the sun isn't up when I drag myself out of bed and it's down long before dinnertime... Okay, before I start going off on a tangent, let me get to the soup part of my title. I do love soup, and I love it any day of the year. I make it often, and mostly in the slow cooker. Last year I discovered a pumpkin soup recipe in a Halloween magazine that I fell in love with, and today I decided to make it for lunch. I haven't had it for at least six months, and it was delicious. I thought it was even more delicious than any of the times I've made it before. Because I enjoyed it so much and I love to share my favorite recipes, I thought I'd post it here.


The recipe and photo are from Taste of Home. You can link to it here. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Corn Soup


Prep: 20 min.          Cook: 25 min.


Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups fresh or frozen corn, thawed
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) vegetable broth
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 
  
• Directions
• In a large saucepan, saute onion and red pepper in butter until almost tender. Add the corn, jalapeno, garlic and chili powder; saute 2 minutes longer. (I had a fresh zucchini from our garden and decided to add it. I sauted it with the onion and red pepper.)
• 
  
• Stir in the broth, pumpkin, salt and cayenne until blended. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Yield: 7 servings.
• 
  
• Editor's Note: Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face.

Nutrition Facts: 1 cup equals 120 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 9 mg cholesterol, 714 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fat.

Pumpkin Corn Soup published in Light & Tasty October/November 2007, p50

Cute Christmas Trees!

Fellow Close to My Heart consultant Mandy Leahy posted a tutorial on how to make cute paper Christmas trees using the Art Philosophy cartridge and a Cricut machine. Thanks, Mandy, for allowing me to share this with my readers! Click here to go to her blog and see the tutorial.

Happy Blogtoberfest!

What, you ask, is Blogtoberfest? The answer is simple. Blogtoberfest is a celebration of blogs and blogging. The wonderful and talented Tresa Black came up with the idea, and she has been kind enough to encourage others to join her in the celebration. The best part is that everyone gets to celebrate in their own way! Some may celebrate by posting more photos, videos or tutorials, while others may do so by changing the look of their blog or setting specific goals for the month.


I've decided to be part of the "more" crowd - more posts, which means more artwork! I need to create, create, create!


If you click on Tresa's Blog Dog logo in the top left of my page, it will take you to a list of all participants so you can see how they're celebrating. You can also use the link to get it on the fun!

October Constant Campaign

Have you ever thought about becoming a Close to My Heart consultant? If so, October is a great month to sign up!


New Consultants who enroll with Close To My Heart between October 1–31, 2011, will receive one FREE* New Consultant Kit add-on collection! Each of our three add-on collections is priced at $40 and has a retail value of $80–$130, so this is an incredible deal! (The cost of the Consultant Kit/enrollment fee is $99.)

*Shipping/handling is free on add-on collections. US tax will be charged on the retail price of $40.