Software Drawing

Hello everyone and happy Thursday! Today I would like to share some exciting news with you! Have you checked out My Memories?? Well, you should! They have a new software that allows you to make scrapbook pages, photo books, cards, videos, PRINTABLES and whatever else you can think of! MyMemories Suite is the #1 rated scrapbook software and the best seller at Amazon. It is affordable and easy to use. And to help get you acquainted with them, I have a coupon code for you! Just go here and add the software to your cart. Use this code STMMMS60946 and receive a $10 discount on the software and a $10 store coupon! What a great deal, right? You can go here and watch a video about the software to see for yourself how great it really is!

Here's another great deal that you definitely won't want to miss out on! I'm going to be giving away a copy of this software for FREE!!! That's right, you heard me. I'm going to pick one lucky person to be the winner of this fun and amazing software! All you have to do is:

* You must be a follower of my blog.
* Go to My Memories and browse around. Let me know in the comment section what your favorite layout or digital paper pack is.
* Let me know what your main purpose is with this software. Are you going to use it to scrapbook? Or maybe you want to make party invitations for your little one's birthday. You say your friend is having a baby shower and you want to make cupcake toppers? This software would be perfect for any of these items.
****Be sure to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact the winner with all the info!****

What's even better is you get 2 chances to win! Browsing their site and letting me know your favorite item is one entry and telling me what you want the software for is another entry! Pretty cool huh?!

Check back in a few days to see what I have created with this new software. Now, go tell your friends, family, blogger friends, Facebook buddies, and Twitter pals to get over here and get registered! Drawing will be Sept 16th at midnight CST. Good luck and don't forget, if you don't win, there is still the $20 worth of savings by using the code posted in this blog entry. Hope everyone has a great day!!

More Toppers

Hey everyone! Well, I have some more cupcake toppers for you today. I am on a cherry kick and can't seem to get off of it. I just love cherries ad each time I am designing toppers, I come up with more ideas. I guess that's good though, right?

Todays toppers are red gingham with a pink background. I'm loving these too!

To print these for free click here. I would love to see some pictures of you using my toppers! Be sure and post them on my Facebook page. You can find the link to it at the top of this page. I would also love to hear some feedback on these. Well, I'm off to try to figure out what I'm going to do next! Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday and I'll see you back here soon!

Cupcake toppers!

Hey everyone and happy Monday! I'm dragging a little today. It is our first day of school around here and we were up and at it early this morning. It's been a while since we have been up early so now I'm feeling like I need a little nap. (As I'm yawning!) My oldest is a freshman and is at her first day of high school, my middle is a 6th grader at her middle school and then my baby is 3 so she and I are just hanging out. (Us hanging out leads me to the cupcake toppers.)

Have you guys seen these adorable party printables floating around?? I'm sure you have but if you haven't you must take a look around. Here are some just to get started. Well, I have been wanting to make some of my own for a while now so since Hannah and I were just hanging out this morning, I decided to make some. Have you noticed how there is a cherry theme going around as well? Yep, me too and I LOVE the cherry cookies, cupcakes, cup towels, bowls, material and well let's just say I love anything with cherries on it!! So then it hit me! I should make some cupcake toppers in a cherry theme. Let me just say, these were so much fun to make!! And, I'm so proud of myself for figuring out how to make them! I'm not sure that I did it the "correct" way BUT I got them made.

I don't know what you think, but I think they turned out pretty darn cute! Guess what? I'm going to share them with you! Just click here and print away! Be sure and let me know what you think because I'm thinking I might make some more. They were lots of fun to make and I love to share so I hope you guys enjoy them. Be sure to share your pictures too! Post away on my FB page. Toodles for now!

Kristy

Hubby's Birthday Cake

Hey all! Hope you guys are having a great day so far! These days are flying by and it won't be long until school starts here and I can't believe how the summer has flown by. I always know the summer is going fast when my hubby's birthday rolls around. This year I wanted to make something special for his birthday. He loves a good cake but his favorite is a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. So there we have it! That's what I set out to do. I wanted to make him the best strawberry cake and the best cream cheese icing I could find.

Well, I found an amazing recipe in one of my cookbooks and thought it was going to work perfectly until....let me just say he works for the railroad and can be called out and has to go, right then. Needless to say, it came down to a box cake lol. I ran out of time and he had to go to work. I did however make the cream cheese icing! And it was AMAZING!

I also wanted to do something out of the ordinary and fun. The good thing about him is that he didn't care if it was very manly or not just as long as it tastes good. With that being said, I was in for some fun decorating! Here's how it turned out.

Now, I know your saying, "I thought she said it was a strawberry cake?" Well, I did say it was strawberry but when I got the cake all decorated I decided it looked to plain and needed something on top. I started looking through the fridge and do you think I had one single strawberry in there?? Of course not! BUT I did have some cherries! I think they served the purpose just fine! I call it improvising lol. Did the cake taste good you ask? It was....AMAZING!!! Derek loved it and that's all that really mattered, right?

I will definitely be making this again and I can't wait to try the awesome icing on something else! I'm thinking maybe a chocolate cake next. Who knows?! All I know is the cake is all gone and I want more!!

Well, that's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by. I love comments so don't be shy! Hope everyone has a great Tuesday and see you back here soon!

Kristy

1st Time Brushed Embroidery

Hey everyone and happy Wednesday! Today I'm sharing my cookies that I made this weekend. I have been wanting to try the brushed embroidery technique for a while now but have been being a chicken. So I finally broke down and gave it a try! Here's how it went.

I started out just making the square cookies.Once I felt comfortable with those I moved on to a round cookie. I found that with doing the round cookie your design doesn't have to be perfect. (Really neither do but more so with the round.) Once I finished this plate I was addicted!

I really like the colors that I chose. The only bad thing was doing the flowers in the black icing. You really can't see brush strokes so it looks like you just wiped it on there. (That's why they aren't pictured. I didn't want to show the ugly ones :)) I do have to say that for some reason I had problems with the leaves. Something so easy was really giving me some problems. Oh well, that's why you practice, right?!

I really would like to try these in a different color scheme next time. Maybe some pastels! Maybe in my favorite color, pink. All I think about when I see these colors is Twilight. Maybe that's why I added the zebra material for the pictures. Hoping to get rid of the Twilight thoughts.

If any of out there have tried this technique, do you have any tips that you would like to share? What kind of brush do you use? Do you use a thick or thinned icing? I would love to hear all about your experiences with brushed embroidery cookies.

Thanks for stopping by today and hope everyone has a great day! More cookies to come. Until next time!
Kristy

Cookies from the past.

Good morning and happy Saturday! I hope everyone is enjoying their Independence Day weekend! I know that mine will be very busy. We are getting things ready to go to Odessa, TX (about 4 hours south of Amarillo) for Zoey's softball all-start tournament. She is so excited and we are too! There will be over 100 teams there to play but the downfall is that it will probably be over 100 degrees the whole time we are there. Since she is catcher and has all the gear to wear, I have been making neck coolers. I'm feeling sorry for the whole team so I'm making all the girls one.

This is why I haven't gotten any 4th of July cookies made! So with that being said, I'm just going to show cookies that I have made in the past. Hope you like them!

These are just a few pictures of what I have been working on lately. Hopefully, I will have more here soon to share. As soon as softball slows down I will be back to making cookies again! Have a happy and safe weekend!

Kristy

Cookies for Zoey's team.

Good morning and happy Monday! Today is going to be a HOT Monday here. We are supposed to reach 105 degrees BUT good news! Tomorrow we are supposed to have a cold front come through and it's supposed to cool off to 100!! Yay! (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

Today, I would like to share some cookies that I made for my daughter's softball team. The design came off of her jersey and then I added each girls number to the cookie as well.

I don't have a Kopy Kake but my sweet hubby built me his version of the Kopy Kake and it works for now. Eventually, I would love to have the Kopy Kake.  I also made some gloves, bats and softballs but for some reason I don't have a picture of them. Needless to say, the cookies didn't last long once the team saw them!

Sorry I don't have much today but I'm running short on time. I hope everyone has a great Monday! Happy Baking!
Kristy

End of year teacher gifts.

Hi everyone and happy Friday! I hope you all are enjoying your summer! I know ours has been very busy and it's only been 2 weeks since school got out. I wanted to share some cookie jars that I made for all of my girls' teachers. I got the idea from my favorite cookier, Sweet Sugarbelle. I must say that she is my FAVORITE cookier around! Don't get me wrong, I have LOTS of favorite cookie makers BUT she is at the top of my list. Not to mention, we live within 2 hours of each other.

I used regular canning jars and filled them with my cookies. I made A, B, C, 1, 2, 3, apples, crayons, pencils, scissors and glue bottles. For my ribbon, I just found some at Walmart that I liked and tied it around the jars.

I can't tell you how much fun these were to make and let me tell you, I made a lot! Enough to fill 24 jars. The teachers had a fit about them! Some of the teachers didn't want to eat them because they said they were too pretty to eat. (What sweet ladies!!) Other teachers ate them before they left the school.

I must say, I think that the glue bottles were probably my favorite! I mean, I LOVED them all but there's just something about the glue bottles. Next would be the pencils and crayons.

I'm so glad that the teachers loved the jars and thanks to Sugarbelle for being kind enough to share her ideas with all of us cookiers.

Well, that's all I have for today. Check back in a few days for some cookies that I made for Zoey's softball team. Until then I hope everyone has an awesome Friday! Happy baking!
Kristy

Bunny Faces and Carrots

Morning everyone! Sorry I haven't been around. My Mom had some surgery and then my Grandmother had a heart attack so I have been busy helping with them.

I did finally get to make some Easter cookies the other day! Yay! I saw some very cute bunny faces over at Sugarbelle's so I thought I would try them first। They turned out so cute! They were lots of fun to do too!

I thought I needed to do some carrots with them and so I pulled out my carrot cutter that I have never used! Why I haven't used it is beyond me but let me just say I love that little cutter!

I had a lot of fun with these bunnies and carrots! Mostly the bunnies. Sugarbelle had a great idea when she made these! (Ofcourse her ideas are always wonderful!)

Needless to say, these cookies didn't last long around my house. Between 3 girls and my husband they were gone! Oh well. It gives me a good excuse to make more! Check back for more Easter cookies. Hope you guys have a great weekend! Happy baking!
Kristy

Donuts!!

Ahhhhh it's Wednesday! We are almost there. To another weekend, that is! If you have read some of my blog, you might have read where I grew up working (and eating) in my parents bakery. We owned.....a donut shop! I remember going and getting a hot chocolate frosted donut before school. YUMMM!!! Nothin better!

After I graduated I decided to stay and manage the store. Talk about long hours lol. It was like the Dunkin Donuts commercial where you see the guy getting up in the middle of the night and he says, "It's time to make the donuts!" We used to start making donuts at midnight. Midnight I say lol! Then our store opened a 4 a.m.! Yes people are out at those hours. On a typical Saturday we would sell about 150 dozen donuts, rolls, apple fritters, donut holes, etc.

In 2000 we decided to sell the store. My mom and I were worn out and felt like we were ready for a change.  3 years later we opened another store but this time it was a full service restaraunt. We kept it for a few years and sold it. I loved owning the stores and learned so much from them.  After a while you do get tired of food. Especially when you go home smelling like it. I do however have cravings from time to time for one of our donuts so I decided to make some!

These are actully cake donuts. Buttermilk cake to be exact!!


Here they are frying up. Wow, did they smell good!! Brought back lots of memories!


There are a couple that are done. I couldn't decide what flavors I wanted to dip them in. I had made chocolate (of course!), cherry, buttercream, plain glaze and cinnamon sugar. Yummmo!


Here they are all finished and ready to eat!!! I took some to our neighbors and she later told me that they didn't last long! They didn't at my house either! Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing a little about my past. That's all I have for today. I think I'm going to go get started on some St. Patty Day cookies. After all, it is March!!! (Did March sneek up on you too???) Hope everyone has a wonderful day!! Thanks for stopping by!

Kristy

Candy Cookies

Hello everyone! I have been baking for the past 2 days! Making cookies, cake pops and mini cupcakes. My favorite of all this were the cookies! One of my friends called me and asked me to make some cookies for her daughter's birthday party which was going to have a candy theme. Naturally I said yes!! I have been wanting to do some candy cookies after seeing some that Glorious Treats had done. They just looked like so much fun! The only problem was she called me on Thursday and needed them for Saturday and I didn't have a candy cutter. What to do??? I went immediately to Karen's Cookies and found she had the cutter but could I get it here before Saturday?? Then my husband comes in and asks me what I'm in a panic about lol. I explained to him what was going on and he said that he could probably help me out! What? He said that he would just make me the cutters I wanted. Seriously? (My hubby is pretty crafty! One of the reasons I married him lol.) So he went and bought the tin and started making them! A couple of hours later I had 5 new candy cookie cutters! He made 3 large ones (circle, square and rectangel) and then 2 mini cutters ( circle and rectangle).

So you wanna see how they turned out??

Then lastly I wanted to try something else that I had seen. The Decorated Cookie has a tutorial if you would like to see. There's one problem with these though. When the icing and cotton candy mix it breaks the cotton candy down and it melts. I have learned that there are different brands of cotton candy that work differently and break down faster than others. Another thing is they must be made and eaten in the same day. These for instance had broken down and melted within about an hour. :(  Cute idea from The Decorated Cookie but I just wish I could figure out a way to make it work for longer.

All in all I think the cookies turned out pretty good! Now I have to think about what I'm going to make next! You guys have a wonderful Sunday and I'll see you back here next time! Happy baking!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hi everyone and Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that you guys are having a wonderful day. I am done with all of my Valentine cookies and happy and sad at the same time lol. I have been working on lots of heart cookies but I didn't get to do all the ones I wanted. Darn it lol! Here are some that I made for a friend. There's nothing really special about them but they are kinda cute.

Part of my problem is that I have so many ideas floating around in my head about cookies that I want to make that I can't get them all done! Do you guys ever have that problem?? Now it's time to start working on Easter ideas. I have a pretty good idea about what I want to do but I like to practice on them to work out the kinks so to speak. Of course that doesn't mean that I won't have any mishaps for sure! I know that some little snag will appear somewhere lol. It always does lol!

So, I have a question for all you readers (if anyone is reading lol). How do you like your cookies?? I used to make them thin but I didn't like how the edges turned brown so I started making them thicker. I like them so much better this way! I haven't had any complaints about them being thick yet so I guess that's a good sign. They also are much more durable. Especially when you ship them. So how do you like your cookies?? Thick, thin, crunchy or soft??

Another day maybe we can talk about icing. I know everyone has their favorites but I'm interested in hearing what they are. For now I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's day! See you back here real soon!


Kristy

Dino-mite!

Good morning everyone! Today I have some more Valentine cookies to share with you. My cousin has two little boys and she asked me to do some cookies for their school parties. Next I tried to think what I was going to do! They are boys so I'm sure they would not like anything girly like pretty little pink hearts lol. Since I have 3 girls coming up with boy stuff is always hard for me sooo... here's what I came up with!

Little green monsters lol! I think they are pretty cute and they boys went wild over them! Yay!!! Not too bad for a girly momma lol. The funny thing is that after I got them made, Hannah (my 2 yr old) was eyeing them with a big smile. I guess dinosaurs aren't just for boys lol.

I must say that I got this ideas from Sugarbelle. She did a different dinosaur and I already had this cutter so voila! They are yummy yummy! Let me just say that I have had lots of fun with cookies this Valentine's but I am really excited to get started on other ones as well. Check back tomorrow to see what I made next! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Kristy

Valentine Corsets

Happy Saturday everyone! Today I have some Valentine Corsets to show you. I made these for my cousin along with the boxershorts and lovebugs. I think they turned out pretty cute! I definitely would do some things a little different next time.

I made some thicker icing and put it in bags and tried doing my outlining and some of the trim at the top of the corsets. Not real sure that I like the bags. It could be because I have gotten used to using the bottles. I just really like doing it all with the bottles lol. I also don't like how when you are using the bags, the icing seems to crack and break off easier. I may not be doing it right but that's what happened a few times with these.

For the most part, I'm pretty happy with how these turned out and they are pretty yummy too! I do know that I am addicted to making these little hearts lol! I just love making them and then adding little dots to it.
So what are your favorite ways to decorate cookies? Do you like using the bottles or bags? I'm just curious to hear what other people do and what their favorite techniques are.

Well, I guess I better go get busy doing my chores for the day. We are off to the Monster Truck Jam later and the kids are so excited! I hope you guys have a relaxing Saturday!

Kristy

Lovebugs anyone?

Goooood morning!! Holy canoli it's cold here! We are at -28 degrees right now! Wish I didn't have to get out today lol but oh well. Today I have some Lovebugs to show you. I was really surprised at how easy these were to do. They really turned out cute but there are some things that I will definitely do different next time.

So what did I learn you say? What will I do differently? Well, let me tell ya. I will start with the black spots. Next time I will make them flush with the red instead of raised. It's just a personal preference but I think it would look better. Second, very important note to self. Self, don't forget the antenna's lol.

Here is a close up so you can see the antenna's. I think that if I did the dots differently, the antenna's would look differently as well. I'm not really liking the fact that I'm showing you my mistakes but that's how we learn right? These are of course all personal preference but you will just have to try it to find out what works for you and what you like.

The main thing is that I'm having fun and that's what is important right? I'm not quite sure what kind of cookies I will be doing today but I can't wait to get started!! I hope everyone has a wonderful day and if it's cold where you are, stay warm! Brrrrrrrr!!!!

Kristy

My Favorite!

Good morning everyone! Brrrrrr is it cold here today! Glad I am able to stay at home and bake all day! Today I have a cookie to show you that I think is adorable! Now let me tell you, I can't take credit for these. I first saw them over on my friend Terri's blog and I knew that I had to give them a try. Wow! I am so happy with the way they turned out! So stinkin cute!!

The little heart tatoo just adds to them even more! I think that Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays because I LOVE the colors! My favorite color is pink but I love these colors put together. Sometimes when your decorating cookies, do you find yourself looking for ways to get creative but your stuck? It's really hard to get past that but when you finally break through, your on a roll. I felt lik I was doing the same thing over and over here and wanted to add some creativity to these little cutties but I was stuck. Once I ran out of cookies, my mind was flooded with ideas. Of course it was! Isn't that how it always happens??? Oh well, next time because I'm sure it won't be my last time to make these!

Well, that's all I have for you today! I'm off to bake more cookies today so I hope to have some to show you tomorrow.

Kristy

Boxers!

Good morning everyone! Are you as happy as I am that today is Friday?? Wooo hoooo!!! Wait! That means it is house cleaning day! Darn it BUT if I hurry I can start playing with cookies! Now that's what I'm talkin about! :)

Today I have some boxer shorts that I did for Valentine's Day. It will be here before we know it so I figured I had better get in gear and get ready. I really love how these turned out! I can't take credit for these though. I first saw them over at Fresh Cut Flours. Terry is very creative and I just love the cookies she comes up with! She's also a very sweet person and I really enjoy talking with her through email.

Here is a close up pic of them. They are so yummy!!

Well, I'm outta here for now but I'll be back with more cookies soon. I hope yall have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Margaritaville!

Good morning everyone! Today's cookies are soooo...stinkin cute! I love Margarita's so when I saw these cookies, I just had to make some! They were so much fun to make too! My girl's were really amazed with the salt (sugar) around the rim of the glasses lol. The limes were just as much fun to make and are just adorable!

I think that next time I'm going to add some lime flavoring to the icing! Yummm! I'm also loving the decorating bottles that I purchased from Karen's Cookies! Have you used them? They are wonderful and easy to use! You don't have to fill them as often as those messy bags. Ugh those bags are so frustrating to me! Love love the bottles and I will definitely be purchasing more! I also bought me some new food coloring. In the past I have always used Wilton food coloring but I find that if you don't use it, it turns gummy. Also, it's hard to achieve the same color if you have to mix more icing. I have heard lots of good things about AmeriColor and I'm soooo excited that my Hobby Lobby has started carrying it! Yay! I will be trying it for the first time today!

Here's one more pic of the cookies.

Well, that's it for me today! It's time to start getting busy and work on some cookies! I hope everyone has a wonderful day today! See you back here a little later. Toodles!

Kristy

Cookie Time!

Good morning everyone! Today I have something fun to share with you! If you have been cruising around on my blog you would know that I also love to do baking from time to time. I have always done decorated cookies since I owned a cookie bouquet shop and donut shop with my parent's when I was younger. Well, I have been messing around with cookies again and let me say, I am having so much fun!!

I first found this blog through a stamping friend, Karolyn. She had posted on her blog about a friend that was doing cookies so I headed on over there and OH MY! They were so cool! No, they were amazing! You may have already visited her blog at Fresh Cut Flours. (Be sure and check her out!) After emailing her and chatting for a while, we have now become friends and thanks Terri for answering all of my questions!

She also posted how she made this awesome cookie stand and I knew that I HAD to have one! Next thing I know, Sadie and I are headed to the Goodwill store to look for plates, cups and bowls. Can you believe that Sadie wasn't as excited about this adventure as I was?? What's with that?? Kids these days lol. Here is what I came up with!

After taking her advice, I did some shopping at Karen's Cookies. Wow! I got this amazing rolling pin, decorating bottles (lots of them) and all kinds of cookie cutters! She even has her recipes on her site! How cool is that??? If you like to bake, I highly recommend her site and her prices are good too. Oh and her shipping is a lightning speed lol.

Karen also has a new blog so I definitely wanted to check it out which is how I ended up at this next blog. Sweet Sugarbelle is Amazing!! I am really blown away with her talent and I was so happy to find out she only lives 2 hours from me! How funny! ( I thought it was funny!) She has pictures of her cookies on Flickr and let me tell you, this girl's got some talent! I wanna be like her when I grow up!!

Soooo...yesterday I ventured off and tried some new age cookie decorating! I got my cookies baked and then made my icing, which makes me so nervous! ( I know that sounds stupid.) This however, is very important! If you don't have the right consistency, it won't work. Oh the pressure but I got it almost right! Here's some of what I came up with.

These were my first ones so they aren't real great but not bad for a start! Did you notice my single cookie stand? I made it with left over plates and bowls. Here are some more cookies that I made for the girls.

It was VERY hard to keep the girls and Derek out of them until they dried! Once they did dry, they didn't last long lol! Well, sorry for the long post but I was very excited to tell you what I have been doing! I'm making more today and I can't wait to get started!! Thanks to Terri and Sugarbelle for their cookie advice and thanks to my hubby, Derek, for his help making the cookie stands! I hope everyone has a "sweet" day! (I know I know! That was corny lol!)

Kristy