Fun at the Suns game with Pamela

Pamela is my friend from Iowa. She and I have been friends since college, but lost touch in 1991 when she moved back to Iowa from Arizona. Thanks to Facebook, we reconnected a few years ago and her son moved here in Jan 2012. We have seen each other 3 different times since she has come out here. It's so great being reconnected with good friends and people. We got tickets from Preston to go to the Suns game. That was really fun. We couldn't really see a whole lot, but still a fun night out. It was a Suns game so always fun...and the game came down to the last second...literally. We lost in that crazy last second.

My AZ Christmas Cards for 2012

This is what my Christmas cards looked like this year. I paper pieced everything except Santa's sunglasses, his skin, and his flip flops. The bulbs on the tree are Stickles. I was going to add a rhinestone for each bulb but liked the Stickles idea more. I probably have an hour (or possibly more in each card). For my family in Iowa, I thought this AZ Santa would brighten the drab winter days. This would have been just a little bit more complete had I been able to find mini Pepsi cans or mini fruity drinks. I ended up not really liking these cards but was too far into it not to finish them. And to think, I made the snowman card (below) and didn't like it so made the comment that I wish someone had a Santa in swim trunks because I wanted to use the Santa suit hanging on the line stamp. Laurel happened to have this old Stampin' Up! set (well, she had two of them in fact). On the snowman card, I would have added an orange nose and bling on the snowflakes had I finished it. I did cut enough to make 6 cards...and scrapped the idea when I realized I didn't like it.

Sisters wall hanging

I made this wall hanging for my friend and coworker Jeannie. She is expecting a second daughter any time now. I asked her what color the baby's room was going to be. She said lavendar and white. I will admit, I was extremely gun shy about making a lavendar page. I do like how it turned out however. Jeannie was very tickled when she saw it. She was rushing back from a doctor appointment and I had it sitting on her desk when she got back. She signed in late to a meeting and I could tell she was pleased. She thanked me so many times after the call and gave me lots of hugs. I saw the layout design on Pinterest. I will find it and link to the appropriate person to give them credit later. I apologize for the poor picture. This was taken at work before I gave it to her as I couldn't get a good picture/lighting from home the night before.

Pinterest - layout used

 

Supplies: Bazzill, DCWV, purple glitter paper, rhinestones, Cricut, Don Juan cartridge, Elegant Edges cardridge, SU large scallop punch, SU scallop border punch, Sixxix border, Cuttlebug, circle punches, $1 stamps, SU perfect plum craft ink.

Monkey caramel bread - Shannon's way

I have been craving this for a while now. I finally made what have somehow been named Monkey balls in my house. They are so easy and yummy. I made them in a single layer and it worked perfectly. If you make them in a different kind of pan, you can't add too many layers of dough balls or they will fly out of the pan when they start to bake. I made them in an angel food pan 12/31/1999 for New Year's Day breakfast at my friend Wendy and Vance's house. That was a funny site. Once the dough was warm and baking in the oven, the dough balls were literally flying out of the pan. This time, everything cooked as it should.

Recipe:
Frozen dinner rolls or bread
1 cup heavy whipping cream (availabe in dairy section, do not use cool whip)
1 cup brown sugar
Sugar
Cinnamon

Mix the heavy whipping cream and the brown sugar together in the bottom of your pan. I made a double batch so I used a pint of whipping cream and probably two cups of brown sugar. My pan is 10x15. A normal batch will fit a 9x13 pan well. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the caramel mixture. Cut the dinner rolls into quarters. Mine were still a little frozen but the Pampered Chef kitchen shears go through just about anything. Roll each quarter in sugar and cinnamon. Add each quarter to the caramel mixture. Let sit covered overnight so the dough rises. Bake about 20 minutes on 350. The dough will absorb the caramel on the bottom. You can use the caramel from the bottom of the pan on the rest of the ball when you pull the bread out.

You can also make your own caramel sauce by using brown sugar, butter, and karo syrup instead of the whipping cream and brown sugar. Both taste almost the same and whipping cream mixture is easier. If I do make my own sauce, I roll the dough balls in butter