In Memorium

Honey, our purebred Somali

Born December 25, 2000

Died December 13, 2013

 

 

Christmas Boxes for my peeps!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good BITE!  Of Intoxicating Truffles, that is!  My crew received their Christmas boxes already this year - I'm so bad at waiting. 

These were so fun to make.  I used the pyramid box from the Pazzles Projects for the main body and the hot air balloon for the head.  Then I just had to decorate them.

The boxes all have a secret opening in the back.  I created a tray for my delectable Intoxicating Truffles.

This is the second time I've made truffles for gifts - hence Intoxicating Truffles Two.

 

This year's flavors include, pictured above, from the upper left clockwise - Choco Chai, Nutty Salted Caramel, Coco Loco and Tiramisu.  Cherry Covered Chocolate is not pictured.

 

Choco Chai Truffles

 2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 ounces Kahlua Cinnamon Spice
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Place chocolate chips in large glass bowl.  Microwave on high 60 to 90 seconds, remove from microwave and stir until all the chips have melted.  Add 1t cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg to cream and simmer until very warm.  Add to chocolate along with the Kahlua and stir with a spoon to incorporate.  It takes quite a bit of stirring.  Refrigerate chocolate for 2 to 4 hours until chocolate is firm.  Mix powdered sugar with 1t cinnamon.  Scoop chocolate into balls with a 1 ounce disher (small ice cream scoop with sweep).  Drop into powdered sugar mix and roll around until coated.  Place in small muffin papers.  Chill before serving.  Makes 25 to 30 truffles

Nutty Salted Caramel Truffles
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
2 ounces Amaretto
1 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts

Place chocolate chips in large glass bowl.  Microwave on high 60 to 90 seconds, remove from microwave and stir until all the chips have melted.  Add warmed cream and Amaretto, stir until well incorporated.  Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours until firm.  Scoop chocolate with 1 ounce disher.  Drop into shallow dish with chopped peanuts and roll to coat.  Chill before serving.  Makes 25 to 30 truffles.

Coco Loco Truffles
1 cups chocolate chips
1 cup canned coconut milk
2 ounces Crème de Coconut
1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut

Place chocolate chips in large glass bowl.  Microwave on high 60 to 90 seconds, remove from microwave and stir until all the chips have melted.  Add warmed cream and Crème de Coconut, stir until well incorporated.  Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours until firm.  Scoop chocolate with 1 ounce disher.  Drop into shallow dish with flaked coconut and roll to coat.  Chill before serving.  Makes 25 to 30 truffles.

Tiramisu Truffles
1 cups chocolate chips
8 ounces softened cream cheese
2 ounces Amaretto
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Place chocolate chips in large glass bowl.  Microwave on high 60 to 90 seconds, remove from microwave and stir until all the chips have melted.  Add warmed cream cheese and Amaretto, stir until well incorporated.  Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours until firm.  Mix espresso powder, cocoa, cinnamon and sugar in a shallow dish.  Scoop chocolate with 1 ounce disher.  Drop into shallow dish and roll to coat.  Chill before serving.  Makes 25 to 30 truffles.

Cherry Covered Chocolate Truffles
1 cups chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 ounces Cherry Brandy
2 cups dried cherries, chopped

Place chocolate chips in large glass bowl.  Microwave on high 60 to 90 seconds, remove from microwave and stir until all the chips have melted.  Add warmed cream and cherry brandy, stir until well incorporated.  Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours until firm.  Place cherries in microwave safe dish with a little extra cherry brandy and nuke for 30 to 60 seconds.  Scoop chocolate with 1 ounce disher.  Top with a dollop of chopped cherries.  Chill before serving.  Makes 25 to 30 truffles.

If you're lucky, the Truffles will last in the refrigerator 2 to 3 weeks, so you can make them ahead.  You might want to disguise them as liver spread or some other disgusting foodstuff to prevent thievery!   Enjoy and happy crafting!

Layered Landscapes Design Revealed

I've finally found the time to create this tutorial on how to make your own Layered Landscape in the Pazzles Inspiration software.  The previous post tells you how to assemble the pieces once you have them cut.

Start with a template of 3 panels like this:

 

 

My dimensions for the outside cutting lines are 5.25" wide x 4.25" high so that the finished card is 5-1/2 x 4-1/4.  The inside box is 4.25" wide x 3.75" high.  The kiss cut lines are .25" from each side.

 

Select your elements next.  I chose some animal silhouettes, a Christmas tree and a house.  Fit them inside the black box in the first panel in the template.  I usually move it off to the side so I don't mess up the other lines.  I keep in mind when I'm laying out the elements that there will be 3 layers and try to plan accordingly.

 

You now need to copy this box will all the elements twice.

Decide which box is which layer and remove all the elements except the ones you want for this panel, like this:

Above, the top panel is my back, the bottom left is middle and bottom right is the front panel.  You next need to connect these to the box.  To keep it simple, all 3 panels will be connected to the bottom of the box.  In the front panel, I added a piece at the bottom that overlaps all 3 elements as well as the bottom of the box and part of the sides.

Select all your elements and fill with black and change all lines to black.  Fill the box with white and send it to the back.  Then create another box that will encompass all the elements including the box.  Fill it with black and send it to the back.  It should look like the image below:

You're now ready to use WYSIWYG, which stands for What You See Is What You Get.  Select all the elements and both boxes.  Click on Shape, then WYSiWYG Cutting Transformation.  You can use the low setting. 

 

When the process is done, this is what you'll see.  They look identical, don't they?  Here's how they look in Wire Frame:

The image on the left is what you started with and the image on the right is the transformation.  You can delete the left image now.  Select everything in the right image and make the pen color black and remove the fill.  If you remove the fill first, you will not be able to see it.

 

Delete the outside box.  You can now move the remaining cutting lines back into the template panel.  You want the upper line to leave a 1/4" margin at the top and you want it centered in the panel.  Also watch for any small bits, like the space between the rabbit's foot and body.  This is so small it will probably not cut, so you can delete it.  This panel is done and we can move on to the second one.

 

We'll repeat the same steps as used for the first panel.

 

Create a base for the tree and fawn making sure that it overlaps both elements and the bottom of the box.  In this case, I also wanted part of the sides as well to make it more stable.  Change all pen lines to black, fill the box with white and send it to the back.  Create a box to surround all the elements, fill it with black and send it to the back.  Select all parts, then click on Shape, then WYSiWYG Cutting Transformation.

 

Delete the left image, select the right image, change the pen lines to black and take out the fill.

Select all the pieces (3 in this case) and move it inside the next template panel, centering as needed.  Look closely for any small parts that won't cut well or sharp angles that may need smoothing.

The third panel needs a base.  Change all the lines to black. 

 Select all the parts for WYSiWYG, delete the left image, select the right image, change the lines to black and remove the fill.

Move all the elements into the last empty template panel.  This panel is done!

 

Here's all 3 panels:

At this point, if you can't visualize how the card will look, group each panel separately, then overlay them.  Change the line color to make it easier to see, if needed.  Then undo until you reverted back to the 3 separate panels.

 

I hope you'll give this technique a try.  It's very versatile and limited only by your imagination.  You can add layers, change the size or use colored cardstock to vary the look.  The Pazzles WYSIWYG tool makes the whole design process SO easy!

 

And here's how the card turned out!

 

 

Layered Landscapes Tutorial

There still seems to be interest in how to assemble my Layered Landscape cards, so here's the tutorial.  I'm using the Colt Landscape card as the example.  Several of my Landscapes are available in the Cutting Files to members of the Pazzles Craftroom, including the sailboat, mountain lion, owl, deer, creek, bear, wolf and duck. 

These cards all have several things in common.  There are 4 pieces, not including the envelope.  The colored card base is 11 inches wide by 5-1/2 inches tall.  And the base are 3 kiss cut lines at 4.75 inches, 5.5 inches and 10.25 inches, measuring from the left side. 

The other 3 pieces are the layers, called panels - front, middle and back.  In this example, the rearing colt is the front panel, the fence is the middle panel and the cowboy riding the bucking bronco and the barn are in the back panel.  Each panel is 5.25 inches wide by 4.25 inches tall.  There is a kiss cut line on both sides of the panel 1/4 inch from the edge.

 

 

The back panel is attached first. 





 

The 1/4 inch edge on the right side of the panel is glued to the card base so that the farthest right edge is aligned on the second kiss cut line of the card base.  Note that the picture shows the reverse of the back panel.

Fold the back panel along the kiss cut line and lay it flat to the card base.  Glue the middle panel so the farthest right edge abuts the back panel.



Fold the middle panel along the kiss cut line and lay it flat to the back panel and card base.  Glue the front panel to the edge remaining, aligning the kiss cut line to the outer right edge of the card base. 

Now it's time to secure the left side of each panel to the card base.  Pick up all the panels and fold the card base at the kiss cut line on the farthest right side.  This will align the left side of the panels for gluing.  Fold the kiss cut line on the left side of the back panel to form a right angle.  It's easier to do this next part upside down.  Glue the back panel to the card base aligning the far left side of panel to the kiss cut line on the card base. 

Repeat gluing the left edges of the middle and front panel to the card base, aligning the edges right next to the previous layer's kiss cut line.  The panels should look like the above picture when done.  To get the 3D effect, pull on the right piece of the card base.

Here's the view from above.  You can see that each panel is 1/4 inch apart.  And yet, when closed, the card is flat and fits in a standard envelope, perfect for mailing.  I hope you'll give it a try!  Next I'll show how to create the panels in the Pazzles Inspiration software.



 

 

 

Lottery Scratch Ticket Birthday Card

My Dad's birthday is coming up next week and he LOVES lottery scratch tickets.  I decided I wanted to try to make him one for his birthday card.

Here's how it was created.  First, I made the card with my Pazzles Inspiration.  It's a standard size - 4-1/4 x 5-1/2.  I perforated a tear-off piece 1/4-inch around the whole card.  I added my sentiment inside along with his "instant winnings", making sure to stay inside the 1/4-inch perforation.

 
Then I glued the front to the back along the perforation lines.  To make the "scratch off" panel, I tried several things.  First, I penned the winning dollar amounts onto slick paper with my pen tool on the PI and cut it out.

I taped off the edges and painted the piece with 1 part dishwashing soap and 2 parts silver craft paint.

  Gotta watch for bubbles - they dry as bubbles.  And since the paint has soap in it, bubbles are everywhere!  I let this dry completely and scratched it off.  Guess what - the numbers penned on the paper scratched off too!  This did not work.  I tried it with printed numbers on both plain untextured cardstock and more glossy paper.  Nothing worked - it scratched off everything.  So here's my solution:

I printed the number on plain paper and glued them to the glossy cardstock.  Then I painted a piece of acetate with the same soap and paint combo.  Again, bubbles are a pain!

I then glued the number piece to the card and taped the painted acetate with double sided tape to the card.  Now I'm just hoping that the motion it will endure in the mail will not rub off any of the paint.  I really hope he likes it! 

The possibilities in this type of card are endless.  I can think of several off the top of my head - date night, movie night out, chores, back rubs, etc.  Such fun to think about!