Venezuelan food is back in Bournemouth

Sandra Sardan with Bar Zuka owner Majid Razi (photos by Maria Isabel Antonini Fernandez)

Lovers of Venezuelan and Latin American food in the UK will be pleased to know that Venezuelan entrepreneur and cook Sandra Sardan is back in the British seaside resort of Bournemouth at a new venue serving up all the old favourites from her previous place at Munchies: arepas stuffed with shredded beef

Digi Monday with Paper Playtime

It is Digi Monday over at Paper Playtime! We have some amzing inspiration and wonderful sponsors with week, with LOTS of prizes to be won, so be sure to come and play with us. Here is what I came up with for today's challenge:



This beautiful Iris is from Doodle Pantry. I decided to use the precolored image, which I thought was stunning, and I also (for the first time ever) used digi paper, which matches this set. Isn't it beautiful? The stamps is from Stampin Up and the paper is just from my scrap box. The ribbon is from Michaels.

I must say, I LOVED using the pre-colored image. It was so easy and so beautiful, and still allowed me to be creative with the card. It was so fun to use. I will definately be using the pre-colored images again!

So come over to Paper Playtime, see what all the other Queens came up with, and play along with us, for the chance to win lots of great prizes :)

Some challenges -
Bee Crafty - spring floral digi
Totally Gorjuss - spring has sprung
Card Mad Fairy - use a digi - back to nature
Mami Doodles - celebrate spring
Polka Doodle - spring has sprung
Sassy Studio - bloomin beautiful
By the Cute and Girlie - springtime
Creative Cottage - spring has sprung
Fairy Fun Friday - spring themed
Sew Many Cards - spring fling
Verve Stamps - color me spring
Stamp Something - something spring
Stampin with the Dragon - bring on spring
Wags 'n Whiskers - spring creations
Paper Pretties - spring

A la prochaine...

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A comer! World's biggest arepa made in Venezuela

To mark its 70th anniversary and 50 years producing Venezuela's first and most popular pre-cooked maize flour, food and drinks firm Empresas Polar has made it into the Guinness Book of Records by cooking the world's largest arepa.

The monster maize bun was created from scratch on Wednesday, 23 March, by a large host of Polar employees at the company's headquarters in Los Cortijos, Caracas, who

Pink, White and Green

If you are looking for my Cooking with Cricut project, click HERE.

Spring is in the air! The weather in Nova Scotia is slowly turning away from winter - though it is trying to hang on. Over at Cricut Cardz Challenge we have a color challenge celebrating spring's arrival. Make a card, using any cartridge, and use white, pink and green only. Here is what I came up with:



I have not cut much from Rock Princess, but I saw this rose, and decided to give it a try, it seemed very springy! I cut it at 3 inches, though looking at the finished card, I wish I have cut it a bit bigger. The stamp is from SU and the paper is also mostly SU, though the green background is from my stash. I used my Threading Waters Fiskars punch and the pink pearls are from my stash.

Hop on over to CCC, see what DT#2 came up with, and play along with us.

Some challenges:
Die Cutting Divas - spring is on the way
Papertake Weekly - It's a mom thing
Kreative Kraft Friends - spring
Die Cut Dreams - mother's day
Oooh La La Creations - mothers day
Stamping with the Dragon - bring on spring
Stampin for the Weekend - mother's day
The Stamp Man - mother's day
Crafty Catz - mother's day
Aly's Sunday Challenge - spring
I did it Creations - spring
Craft Your Days Away - for mom
ECP Challenges - for mum
Little Claire Designs - pink and green

A la prochaine...

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In Like a Lion...

And out like a lamb. March is coming to an end, finally! The challenge today at Cooking with Cricut is to create a project with either a lion or a lamb - or both. Here is what I came up with:



Hmm... I will have to fix the crooked ribbon on this :) The lamb is from Create a Critter, cut at 2.5 inches. The stamp is from Scrappy Moms Amusing Animals set. The paper is all Close to my Heart, except the base, which is SU. I actually made 4 of these, I need to start building up my stash, and making some card sets for teacher and baby sitter gifts.

Come play with us at CWC I would love to see what you all come up with!

Some Challenges:
2 Sisters - furry friends
Wee Memories - cute and cuddly
Card Makin' Mamas - animals
Crafty Sentiments - animals

A la prochaine...

Winner!

Sorry I am so late posting this, somehow I lost a day :) Here is the winner of the Stamp Set from the Blog Hop last weekend...

Tara said...
I love the frame project! It will make wonderful addition to your home decor!
Tara

Congrats Tara! Send me your info to purplemonkeymoments (at) yahoo (dot) ca and I will get it in the mail to you :)

I hope you all come back tomorrow, I will have 2 projects for you.

A la prochaine...

I'm so Lucky Blog Hop

Welcome to the "I'm So Lucky" bloghop hosted by the wonderful Jennifer of Honeybean Creations. I am so happy to be a part of it, so thanks Jennifer for inviting me! If you arrived here from Sharon at MeeMees Creations then you are in the right spot. If you just stumbled on my blog, please go back to Jennifer's Blog, and see what all the talented crafters she invited have come up with.

We were asked to create two projects that showcased our blessingS. I have been blessed in so many ways, here is what I came up with.



My family is my biggest blessing! I am grateful every day for my husband and my babies, who aren't really babies any more - sigh... I found this frame at Walmart, and liked the shape and design. I had some great pictures of my babies, and wanted to showcase them in a special way, this frame seemed perfect. I used my Lyrical Letters, Opposites Attract and Storybook cartridges, to create some simple embellishments, to make this frame the perfect gift for my DH. He loves it :)

So, on to project number two. My family has a special spot that we love to visit called White Point Beach. We have gone many times over the years, and go every year for Thanksgiving. My Mum and Dad come with us, we bring our dogs and enjoy 3 days and nights of peace and serenity on the ocean.

It may seem an odd choice for this blog hop, but let me explain how this showcases my blessings. White Point reminds me about the power and strength of the ocean, and nature. To hear the Atlantic crashing on rocks outside you door each morning brings you as close to God's majesty as I think you can be. I am there with my family, my greatest blessing - my parents who put up with me through my dark and difficult years, and with whom I am now very close. My husband who shows me every day how much he loves me and my children who are the lights of my life. We enjoy a peaceful break from our hectic and chaotic lives, and are lucky to have good jobs that allow us to indulge in this amazing weekend, with fabulous food, and great companionship. Every one of those, a blessing.







This layout is all made with Close to My Heart papers, I inked the paper and embellishments. I cut the title on my Cricut from my Home Accents cartridge, and used one of the CTMH sketch books as my inspiration.

I am offering some blog candy today. I picked up a couple of these cute stamp sets at Michaels a month or so ago and am offering one today. How can you win this cute set? It's easy:
1) Become a follower of my blog if you aren't already.
2) Leave me a comment on this post.
3) Come back on Monday the 21st and see if you've won this cute stamp set.



There is also a grand prize to be won on Jennifer's blog, all you have to do to have the chance to win that is leave a comment on each participants blog.

I am the last stop on the hop, so be sure to go back to Jen's blog to play along with our challenge.

In case you get lost along the way, here is the entire hop list:

Jen H. at HONEYBEAN CREATIONS

Beth at SCRAPPY JAVA GIRL

Paula at RASPBERRY AND LIME DESIGNS

Gigi at THE CRICUT BUG

Jen C. at THE PURPLE SCRAPBOOKER

Vivi at VIVI EN PAPEL

Cheryl at PINK AND PAPER

Sharon at MEEMEE’S CREATIONS

Michelle at PURPLE MONKEY MOMENTS YOU ARE HERE

A la prochaine...

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The Green Scene

It is challenge day at Cooking With Cricut. Todays challenge is to create a green scene using at least two different shades of green. In some way this gave me too much freedom :) It took me time to decide what to create. Here is what I came up with:





Isn't it cute?? My son is going to a birthday party this weekend, and he wanted a fun card to give him. I think this fits the bill! The frog and the fly are both from Boys Will be Boys. I was trying to come up with something to hold the card open with, as it is an easel card, and the fly struck me as funny. The stamp is from Simply Sweet Stamps, and the inside says "Hoppy Birthday" from the same stamps set. The paper is mostly Stampin Up, but some is from my scrap box. The ribbon is from Michaels.

Please hop over to CWC, see what the design team came up with, and play along with us.

Some challenges:

Incy Wincy Designs - for the boys
Stamp Fairy - green
Card Cupids - green
ECP challenges - green
Wee Memories - green
Card Makin Mamas - green
Delicious Doodles - use green
Pattie's Creations - go green
Shelly's Images - something green
StampInsanity - holy guacamole - something green
Charisma Cards - easel card
Paper Play - shades of green
Really Reasonable Ribbon - for the boys
AI Factory - lucky green
Creative Card Crew - green

A la prochaine...

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Pretty in Pink

Where oh where has my mojo gone, oh where oh where can it be?? Since getting over my flu, my mojo has left me - not just my crafting mojo, but my cooking, cleaning etc I seem to want to do absolutely nothing!! Hopefully it will all come back to me soon - I certainly miss my creative mojo, and my family misses the rest of it :)

It is challenge day over at Paper Playtime. This week we get to "Pick our own challenge". Here are the challenge choices:
Challenge Choice #1:
Use GREEN and PURPLE as your MAIN colors (in honor of Mardis Gras)
Challenge Choice #2:
Use Pink & Glitter
Challenge Choice #3:
Use a Critter & a Rhyme (in honor of Dr. Suess' birthday)

I chose pink and glitter. I ended up using a little bit of green, because the butterfly had the same green, and I felt the card needed it. Here it is:



The butterfly is from Create a Critter, the stamp from my Simply Sweet Stamps. I glittered up her wings with my Stickles, and used some glittery paper from a DCWV paper pack. It is a gatefold card.

There are 2 sponsors for today's challenge: April Showers Cricut Cartridge Sponsored by: Cravin Scrappin and Time for Cake clear stamp set Proudly sponsored by: http://www.paperpretties.net/store/. So be sure to pop on over to Paper Playtime, see what the rest of the Queens came up with and play along with us for the chance to win.

Some Challenges:
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - is it spring yet?
Wags'n'Whiskers - more than one fold
Crafty Purple Frog - thing with wings
Craft Us Crazy - nature
Delightful Challenges - butterflies
Paper Crafting Journey - things with wings
For Fun Challenges - spring

A la prochaine...

A Tall Card

It is challenge day over at Cricut Cardz Challenge. The challenge today was to make a tall card (4" x 9") using any color, theme or cartridge. I was a not feeling especially creative this week, still tired from being sick, and I still have sick kids at home, so this was a tough one for me. I decided to make a card for my sister. She has been having a rough go of things lately, and I wanted to remind her how strong and special she is. Once I decided who the card was for, it made sense to use one of the beautiful women from Forever Young. Here is what I came up with:



I cut her at 7.5" and ran the bottom piece through my Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder. I was not able to find a piece of patterned paper I liked, so I eneded up inking the embossed paper to create my own piece of "patterned paper". I love how perfectly the paper matched with her dress!



Here is the inside of the card. The saying is from Paisley and the flower from Forever Young. I am going to mail it out to my sister this week. I hope it reminds her how amazing she is :)

Hope on over to Cricut Cardz Challenge, see what the rest of the DT came up woth, and play along with us! I can't wait to see your creations :)

A la prochaine...

Shall We Dance?

Good morning everyone! I finally got back in my craft room, it only took 10 days of feeling icky :( But, I am almost feeling back to normal, and Flaunt It Friday seemed the perfect challenge to dive back in! Todays challenge is to use a cut from Twinkle Toes. As much as I wish I had this cartridge, I don't. So i did some hunting around, and chose a different dancing girl. Here is what I came up with:



I have been missing scrapbooking alot. I used to get such pleasure out of it, and have decided it is time I get back into it. I'm not sure I could have made a simpler page, but I am happy with it.



All of the cuts are from Once Upon a Princess. I forgot there was a ballerina on that cartridge - I always want the new cartridges, and am disappointed when I can't afford them all. I want to try and explore more on the cartridges I have, because they have so many treasures on them that I have yet to discover.



All the paper is from an old stack I bought when Michaels first opened in our city nearly 4 years ago. I am embarassed to say that I have barely used them.



Aren't these little ballet girls the cutest? I used my Peachy Keen Princess faces on them, and did some doodling with my Gel pen, and gave them some blush to make them look adorable!



Simple as this page is, I am really excited to add some pictures of my daughter to it. I have some sweet ones of her at a ballet class when she was three, wearing a tutu and pink and black leotards sitting in a folder on my computer - I am going to print them this week and finish up this layout.

So hop on over to Flaunt It Fridays, see what the design team came up with, and play along with us:)

Some Challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks - real or faux stitching
Craft Your Passion - girly
Ooh La La Creations - pink, pink and more pink
Stamps R Us - for the girls
The ABC Challenge Blog - pink


A la prochaine...

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Down for the Count...

Sorry everyone, I have been really sick for the past week and a half. I haven't seen my craftroom in over a week, and have missed lots of work :( Apologies to all my design teams, I have missed a number of commitments this week and I thank them all for their patience and understanding.

I am finally starting to feel better, and hope to be back to crafting really soon - Friday is challenge day over at Flaunt it friday, and I am hoping to design my DT project on my Gypsy girl later today :) And March is looking like a big Blog Hop month too - 3 I think. Yay! Who doesn't love a blog hop?? Hope to see you all soon.

A la prochaine...

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