Ingenious Inkling

Thursday Link Love

Another week of blogland discoveries:

• Apple Pie Baked Beans
• Apple Cinnamon Monkey Bread
• Creative ways to give a Gift Card (one shown)
• No-Bake Caramel Apple Delight 
• Short-cut Apple Fritters
• 30 Fun Things to do this Fall
• Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole
• Baked Apple Cider French Toast
• Minimalist Photography
• Apple Butter Snack Cake
• We had a version of these Reuben Pickle Bites at Jail Hill Inn, and they were amazing.
• We also were treated to one of the best muffins I've ever eaten ... so now I'm on the hunt for the best Chocolate Zucchini Muffin (message me if you've got a super-moist masterpiece)
• make your own Peanut Sauce
• Apple Galette

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Orange Falling Stitched Leaves

The Simon Says Monday Challenge is to What's Your Favorite Color? ... mine is Orange and of course it's a great time of year to be creating with Orange.

When I saw that the current Lawn Fawnatics Challenge is Awesome Autumn, I decided leaves were going to be my orange.  I die cut the Lawn Fawn Stitched Leaves from multiple scraps of Orange Gelliprints to start my design.

 

 

I attached my leaves to a light kraft card base using foam tape to attach some of them for a bit of dimension & contrast.  I love how this set has a variety of leaves ... our yard was always filled with maple leaves, while our grandparents had oak trees.

 

 

I finished with a scattering of orange gems & a sentiment from Lawn Fawn Simply Sentiments.

Pre-Fall Getaway - Day 3

We started our day with another amazing three course Jail Hill Inn breakfast.  Steel Cut Oats with fruit & an amazing caramel sauce was the first course.  

 

 

Next was a chocolate almond croissant followed by the most amazing candied bacon, potatoes and a egg vegetable strata.  

 

 

When we headed downtown, we saw chalk writing telling us there was a pottery studio three blocks away, so I convinced Rod to head that direction.  We  walked for what felt like more than three blocks, and Galena had terrible cellular service, so we couldn't search for the address.  Once we gave up and turned around, I finally got the address to come up, so we turned around and finally found it.  On the walk, I saw this piece of gorgeous lace hanging in a window.

 

 

We spent the rest of the day shopping downtown picking-up several gifts.  I loved this fun collection of art.

 

 

We stopped at Miss Kitty's again for drinks and pizza - the CBR (Chicken Bacon Ranch) with Prosciutto.

 

 

We ended the day sitting outside watching a storm rolling in.

 

 

These cocktails were quite delicious, particularly with only 100 calories and no sugar or carbs.

 

Pre-Fall Getaway - Day 2

On our 2nd day in Galena, we started with the three course gourmet breakfast at the Jail Hill Inn.

The starter was yogurt with an amazing mix of fruit & house-made granola.  He also had Chai in the perfect mug for steeping.

 

 

I scarfed down the raspberry Danish before I remembered to photograph & also forgot to photograph the amazing Eggs Benedict until Rod had eaten half.  Seriously, the breakfasts and the evening wine & snacks at the Jail Hill Inn are the best.

 

 

Next, I enjoyed a 90 minute in-room massage while Rod hung out on the deck enjoying a gorgeous morning.  After we finished, we headed to Blaum Bros. Distilling Co. for a Tasting & Tour.

 

 

We learned a lot and found out why we can't by it in Iowa (it is hand-bottled & labeled, which Iowa rejects & issues fines if a single label is slightly off kilter, so they stopped selling there).

 

 

We ended the day with supper at the Log Cabin Steakhouse where I had the whole catfish (typepad is refusing to let me upload the picture for some reason, but trust me it was delicious).

We finished our evening sitting on the deck and enjoying the late season blooms.

 

Pre-Fall Getaway - Day 1

Six months ago I had the foresight to schedule a four day getaway for us in September.  The weather has been absolutely perfect to explore.

We started by stopping for lunch at Copper Kettle in Dubuque, Iowa.  When I see Onion Rings on a menu, I almost always have to order them.  This were a bit big for my liking (I prefer thin onion rings), but they were still tasty.

 

 

I had steak bites and Rod enjoyed the daily special - Pulled Pork Kimchi Tacos.  We discussed how we could add Kimchi (which we always have in our refrigerator) to chicken tacos at home.

 

 

On our way to Illinois, we stopped at Family Beer & Liquor as recommended by some friends.  Oh my, the selection.  It was funny because apparently you can open any package and just take one out to buy.  We found lots of things we wanted to try as well as some old favorites like DiSoronno Cream that we’ve been unable to locate in Iowa.

 

 

We arrived too early for check-in at our B&B, so we found a Miss Kitty’s Grape Escape and enjoyed some afternoon drinks.  I had iced chai with Vanilla Vodka, and it was a game changer.  I think I’ll try it with Whipped Cream Vodka when we get home (although that has been harder to find lately).

 

 

We rested in our room for a while, and then we ventured out for our reservation at Fritz & Frites.  I was able to get the chef to give me some tips on my purple cabbage recipe (add apple juice & shredded apple).   We started with a plate of Pomme Frites with Curry Aoili.

 

 

Rod enjoyed the Sausage Plate (I stole a few bites), and I had Escargot with a baguette to sop up all of those delicious juices.

 

 

We ended our evening back at Miss Kitty’s for live music an nightcaps - a cucumber mule that was so cucumbery (is that a word) and a Raspberry Chocolate Martini that went down soooo smoothly … yum.

 

 

A great start to our little adventure.

It's beginning to look a lot like SKETCH-mas

We're still getting SKETCH-y this week at Jingle Belles.

 

 

This week I die cut stitched shapes from three different Mintay White Christmas papers, using a fourth for the card base (aren't they gorgeous).

 

 

The sentiment is a Simon Says Stamp Christmas Sentiment Strip, and I finished with PinkFresh Studio Champagne Glitter Drops (which literally coordinate with everything).

Fall Color Birthday

I'm thrilled to be the Surprise Party Guest at Seize the Birthday for the next two months.

 

 

The first Birthday Party theme is to create with Fall Colors.

 

 

I pulled out lots of fall color Gelli Prints from my drawer and used them to Die Cut foliage using AlteNew Leaf Essentials.

 

 

I combined a collection of the leaves for my Fall Color Birthday card on a kraft card base adding a brown twine bow.

 

 

The happy birthday sentiment is from AlteNew Sincere Greetings.

Thursday Link Love

Another week of skipping through blogland:

• 50 Short Rules for a Better Life
• Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Fall Cleaning Checklist
• Maple Brown Sugar Blondies
• When I visited my friend Beverly, she had us watch an episode of a Feel Good Show before we went to bed (we chose Abbott Elementary).
• French Bread Pizza
• Hyper-realistic Murals
• Shepherd's Pie Baked Potatoes
• What will you Romanticize today? (for me it's sipping a hot drink that stays at the perfect warm temperature and then taking a bath that does the same).
• Sweet Corn Risotto
• Celebrity Chef Hacks
• Extreme Interestingness

Have a tremendous Thursday!

Garden Florals Sympathy

The September Pinkfresh Studio Challenge is to Layer It Up!

 

 

 

First I layered on inks with the Garden Florals Layering Stencils using my version of the inspiration color palette.

 

Next I added 7 layers of frames and a sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio Forever in our Hearts.

Shake it Up, Shake it Up!

Shake It Up, Shake it Up! is the newest challenge theme at Shopping Our Stash - create a card with a Shaker element.

 

 

I chose to feature a Fruit Cocktail Shaker-Pop from Doodlebug Design for my card, pairing it with papers from Doodlebug Design Seaside Summer.

 

 

I finished with some clusters of Pinkfresh Studio Sunshine Gems.