Christmas wishes

Happy Christmas Eve!!

This is just a short post as I don't want to keep you from your loved ones at this special time of year, but we at a2z Scrapbooking Supplies wanted to wish you all a very safe, wonderful and Merry Christmas.

Even though I'm sure many of you are just waking up or are going about your busy mornings, I (here in Australia) am just about to head off to bed.  Despite definitely NOT being a child any more, I still made my wish to Santa, I love the magic and possibilities that come with this special time of year.  If you can't believe in something unbelievable, then when can you?! Just now as I'm typing this to you, I heard a bump noise on the roof and for an instant my heartbeat quickens and I think "Could it be...?!" I'd prefer to believe than not personally.

Whether this time for you is a religious one or simply a time in which to spend some precious hours with loved ones, I hope you enjoy and are able to be filled (and fill those around you) with the spirit of Christmas--in it's truest form.  Not in the gift giving, but in the smiles of your loved ones, the laughter of children AND adults, the peace that can come if you truly seek it.  I hope your Christmas day's are filled with whatever you hope for.

I only finished this picture a few days ago, it's using all Whiff of Joy Stamps and a few Distress Inks for the backgrounds (and of course, Copic Markers) but I love the sense of serenity it evokes; the joy, the hope.  To be watching over any baby is precious and fills us with a 'something' most can't describe well, but to be watching over this baby--oh my.

I'm not (pardon the phrase) overly religious any more but I think that Christmas is a time to believe. No matter what it's a belief in. This picture (if I may say that of a stamped image) makes me feel belief. There is a relief, an outward sigh, a calmness I feel when I look at it.  I had planned to give it away as a gift but I couldn't let go of the sensation of peace it brings me, so it's now sitting on the wall directly in front of my craft desk. Bringing me that which I wish for you all this Christmas--peace, joy and calm.
                                                                   ---ooOOoo--

We will be back before New Years but in case you don't check your emails or aren't near a computer for the next week or so (as I'm sure will be the case for many of you), please do stay safe over this holiday period and have a truly Happy New Years.

With all our best wishes to you all and your precious people--

Merry Christmas.

Linda and the a2z team xx

Barbi's Apple Praline Pie--Diabetic Friendly!

Hello lovelies!!

How are you all faring in this sometimes-stressful season?? 

I hope you're all able to make even a little time for yourselves, whether that be slipping off to your crafty nook or even just taking a few minutes for a quiet cup of tea/hot chocolate (whatever your favourite is!)

It is RIDICULOUSLY hot here in Perth, it will be...(wait for it)...38 degrees on Christmas day...that's 38 degrees CELCIUS... that is 100.4 F... *don't all rush to buy me a plane ticket to the USA where I can sit in the snow and cool down!!*--actually, feel free to! lol.

Anyway, given that this is a time for family, friends, laughter, love and quite often, a bit of food (or more than a bit! *wink*), I thought I'd share with you the favorite recipe of our good friend Barbi!  I got this recipe from her many MANY weeks ago and I'm sure she thought I forgot about it, but I didn't--I've been saving it!

As I'm sure you all know (but just in case you didn't), we at a2z Scrapbooking Supplies, donate towards Coeliac Disease and Behcet's Disease research--some of our volunteers suffer from, or have family members with these diseases too.  So at this time of year when so many people are being indulgent with their food, people who have Coeliac or Behcet's Disease (which can often lead to diabetes due to the medications required), aren't able to just forgo their normal careful eating.  

Therefore, this recipe is *happily* "diabetes friendly" and I'm sure delicious to boot.  I haven't made it yet, but I will be attempting my FIRST apple pie for my dad in the next day or two :) (wish me luck!)

So, without further ado, here is Barbi's favorite Apple Praline Pie and her (super easy to follow) instructions:

APPLE PRALINE PIE (DIABETIC VERSION)

***crust***

1 box Pillsbury pie crusts

***filling***

6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples

3/4 cup Splenda (regular, not the baking kind)

1/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tbl Smart Balance Low Sodium Butter Spread

***topping***

1/4 cup Smart Balance Low Sodium Butter Spread

1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

2 Tbl Skim Milk

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie, using 9-inch glass pie plate.

In large bowl, mix apples, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt; toss lightly. Spoon mixture into crust-lined pie plate. Dot with 1 tablespoon butter. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Cover edge of crust with strips of foil after 15 to 20 minutes of bake time to prevent excessive browning.

In 1-quart saucepan, melt 1/4 cup butter; stir in brown sugar and half-and-half. Slowly heat to boiling; remove from heat. Stir in pecans; spread over top of pie. Place pie on cookie sheet.

Bake 5 minutes longer or until topping bubbles. Cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Here is a little bit about Barbi for you to read while the apple pie cools *if you can wait that long*

ABOUT ME:

My name is Barbi and I love to cook, unfortunately I love to eat too. Since being diagnosed with Type II Diabetes I have attempted to live a healthier lifestyle and a big part of that is food. My husband and I love to try new recipes. We love down home cooking and all the comfort foods you remember as a child. I started my blog to feature our attempts to make these recipes, whether they be my own tried and true ones or new ones we find along the way, healthier in some way. Though not every recipe on this blog is Diabetic friendly the majority of them are yet they can be easily adapted for those not looking for Diabetic related dishes.

ABOUT THIS RECIPE
I saw this recipe for Apple Praline Pie on the Pillsbury website and thought it looked so good but being Diabetic I really have to watch my sugar so I decided to try and make this as carb friendly as I could without losing its taste. Since my dear husband is the dessert maker in this house I asked him if he would make it for me but with a few substitutions which he was happy to do.

It came out delicious and was enjoyed by all even though I am the only one watching my sugar intake. If you want the full sugar version you can find it on the Pillsbury website.
                              
                                                                         ---ooOOOoo---

Anyhoo, hope you enjoyed!! I thought it might be a nice addition to your Christmas dessert menu (or give you something to bake if you didn't have any ideas yet!!)

Talk to you soon sweets!! (we have a VERY exciting competition on the way too *cough* Copic Markers *Cough Cough*

Linda xx

We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Demo & more!

Hey!!!

So I know I promised more of the goodies from the Hero Arts 2011 Catalog the next time we 'spoke' but we've been dealing with some major technical difficulties due to some *EXTREME* weather in Indiana--which has been causing havoc with our Internet (and thus being able to get things loaded into the store!!)

However, we're VERY hopeful it will be rectified soon and everything will be up and running perfectly and we'll be able to get the rest of the goodies on the store site asap. For now there are a few VERY gorgeous items in the new 2011 Catalog category HERE.  As soon as the rest of the catalog is available on the store, we will be hosting a VERY nice little contest...I can't wait to share it with you all.

Until then, I thought I'd show you something VERY cool that we now have in store!!

How amazing does this look?!

You can find the entire range HERE.

There is definitely one of each of these on my wishlist to Santa *wink*

Next I want to show you a sweet card that one of our gorgeous customers Nancy made and entered into a competition. Here is her darling card:

For the other cards that were entered into the competition, you can go HERE. (But of course, we know you'll help a fellow a2z Scrapbooker and crafter and vote for Nancy, just like we did :))

And how about this beauty made by the lovely Ioanna?!

 Now apparently Ioanna is just new to Copic Coloring--but I'm thinking she's a bit of an artist at heart. How amazing is the coloring?!

 Loving the dimension of this gorgeous card.

 

And look at the inside!! I can't decide which is prettier the inside or the outside!!

here is the list of what she used (get ready--it's a long one!)

Spellbinders Nestabilities - Blossom Two

Spellbinders Nestabilities - Blossom

Spellbinders Shapeabilities - Butterflies

Spellbinders Nestabilities - Beaded Ovals

Bazzill Basics Paper Bling - Strawberry Daiquiri

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Walnut Stain

Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Aged Mahogany

Martha Stewart - Quilted Edge

Martha Stewart - Quilted Corner Punch

Martha Stewart Deep Edger - Doily Lace

Martha Stewart - Punch & Stamp Butterfly

Martha Stewart - Flower Shower

Inkssentials - Glossy Accents

We R Memory Keepers - Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper

*phew* That's a LOT of links!!

Anyhoo, if you've got a project you'd like to share with us, please do. We love seeing what you get up to with the products you buy from the store! 

Talk to you again soon my lovelies--hope you're all staying warm!

Linda x

Hero Arts Catalog is here!!!!!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I'm so excited!!! (so much so, in fact that I can't even bear to write my usual greeting to you all *teehee*)

The new 2011 Hero Arts Catalog has just gone live and we have BRAND SPANKIN' NEW PRODUCTS IN STORE NOW!!!!!!!!
(can you tell I'm excited?!)

Over the next few days we'll be introducing you to more and more new products, but for today, let's start with these beauties:

Hero Arts Floral Memento Dual Tip Hues Markers

Hero Arts Blush Memento Dual Tip Hues Markers

Hero Arts Sunshine Memento Dual Tip Hues Markers

Hero Arts Foliage Memento Dual Tip Hues Markers

Hero Arts Sea Memento Dual Tip Hues Markers

Hero Arts Earth Memento Dual Tip Hues Markers

These are Memento Markers that are just so brilliant for making amazing things and producing awesome results.  You can use them for 'standard' coloring (similar to Copics), they dont smear or smudge or bleed BUT...you can also color right onto the stamp itself for really detailed amazing coloring on your stamped images.

Look at this amazing card by Jennifer McGuire, Hero Arts Director of Education (and uber-talented stamping genius!)

*sigh* happy place :)

Like I said, this is just a quick post with picturey goodness, but there will be more products we'll be sharing with you VERY soon, so stay posted! (Or better yet, sign up for our updates to come straight into your email inbox!!)

Right--I'm off to place my order for some of these babies.

Talk to you soon darlings!

Take care

Linda x

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

Hello dear friends!!

This will just be a short post, but a goodie!

You simply MUST check out Tim Holtz in all his genius with his 12 Tags of Christmas.

You can see his blog HERE.

Check these out:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

He has made some truly amazing creations. SO INSPIRING!!

Of course, we've got everything you'll need in the store, so make sure after you've compiled your 'must-have' list of goodies, you click over to the store, or click HERE to go directly to our Tim Holtz selection.

*sigh*...I'm off to get inky :)

Don't forget to share your creations on our flickr site!! We'd love to see what you make with all this inspiration floating around in your head!

PS The photo titles ('day1' for example) is a link to that day's blog update on Tim's site :)

Talk to you soon sweets!

Linda

Winners!!

Hello!

Has everyone recovered from all that turkey and potatoes??

I'm sure you burnt it all back of with all that fantastic bargain hunting in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend sales! I hope so :)

come on, admit it, this was you, stalking the a2z store site right!?

Today's post is a quickie and a goodie--it's the announcement of the winners of last weeks contests!!

The Sign up/Followers Contest

Thanks to randomgenerator.org (who wont let me copy and paste the little window into this blog update) but DID help me find a winner chose:

Number 4!! That's Barb!!! WOOHOO!! Congrats Barb!

You've won a Huge Hero Arts prize pack worth over $50!! 

You'll be receiving these stamp sets in the mail very soon:

WOW! What a loot!

The next contest was the Word Scramble. We only had 3 entries, but thank you ladies for taking the time to unscramble the words and email me your answers!! You were all correct and we'd love to give all of you a prize, but this time, we only have the 1 to give away (maybe next time though eh?!)

The winner is : PATTY YANG!!!  Congrats Patty!

Your prize is the Tim Holtx Snow Flurries Embossing Folder (a favorite of mine!)

There were 2 more contests running last week, but no-one purchased our mystery prize from the ribbon category (which we'll keep a secret in case we decide to have another contest in the future).

The other contest was a chance to win a Tim Holtz Townscape Die or Seasonal Stickers by spending $25 or more on any Tim Holtz products, but we're still finalising all the orders taken over that weekend-and week following it-and we'll get back to you VERY soon with the winner of that prize. (Please remember that our staff are all volunteer and some suffer from Behcet's Disease-which can be completely debilitating at times-this is a VERY busy time of year for us, but we are doing our best to have all orders processed and shipped as quickly as is possible. We know you understand and thank you for your patience :))

Congrats to the two winners announced today! Barb and Patty, if you can please email me at lindatrace@a2zScrapbookingSupplies.com with your address, we'll get your prizes out to you asap!

Thanks everyone!! Have a great week :)

Linda xx