May 2016 – Pure Sugar

Planner Freebie | Banner Event Labels

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

Happy Monday! It’s been a while since I got a planner freebie up here and today I was reworking some of the stickers that I love to use in my own Erin Condren planner, so I thought I would share.

This time of year is always crazy with school concerts, field trips, appointments, and various activities. Add to that my work schedule (I am back to working part time at a local library), and just all the usual everyday things that need tending to and it doesn’t leave much time to decorate my planner. I’ve been relying on my two favorite labels: the colorblock hourly stickers and these banner event stickers. In the hourly planner, they take up approximately an hour’s worth of time. Of course, they would also work in other planners, too! I used colors that coordinate with the current EC hourly and horizontal scheme (though I think it will be slightly different for the 2016-2017 editions).

Download your free printable right here:

FREE Printable Banner Event Stickers for your planner

As usual, my free planner printables are for personal use only and are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Use an electronic cutting machine like a Silhouette Cameo to cut your stickers, print them out on regular printer paper and then cut and paste into your planner using a tape runner, or else print them on full-sheet labels and just hand-cut the stickers.

2017 Erin Condren Life Planner Sneak Peak

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Can you hear me singing, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year?” OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration but I always get excited for the launch of the new line of Erin Condren planners. I have been using an EC since 2011 and over the years there have been many changes and many additions. This year is no exception, so let’s get on with it, shall we?

First of all, I think the biggest change is the addition of a neutral color scheme option. If you work in a professional environment, the blacks and grays will definitely look slick. (But there’s also just that hint of color, so it’s not boring.) Also, this choice is great for people who love to decorate (me!), but don’t always want to match the pre-selected color scheme. For example, in my currently hourly planner the month of July has a green color scheme, but I’m going to want to do red, white, and blue the week of 4th of July, so I’m going to have to cover every bit of green. If I go with a neutral next year, I can do what I want! And what about that handlettered font? This one just might be calling my name…

Neutral Erin Condren colorway

Of course, there is still an option for bright, cheerful colors. I’m not in love with the watercolor splash along the top. I know it is very trendy right now, but it seems a little 80s to me. Probably because I am old enough to remember them, LOL! Also, as you can see in both colorway photos, there are three options for layouts: classic vertical, horizontal, and hourly. Currently I have an hourly planner, but as I have gone “back to basics” I’m once again considering a horizontal. I have plenty of time to decide, though, since my current planner runs through the end of the year.

Bright Erin Condren colorway

Another change this year is you can choose your coil: silver, gold, rose gold, and black. I’m kind of excited about the black coil, but I’m concerned about paint chipping off — this has been an issue for the metallic coils in the past. I am also a curious what the upcharge will be.

Now, let’s talk about covers. There are so many new covers this year, including several new metallics. In addition to these Life Planner covers, there are some new designs from the launch of the Teacher Planner. I have no idea how I’m going to choose! Good thing they are interchangeable so I can pick several!

New Erin Condren Covers for 2017

The new planners will be available for purchase on June 1. If you’d like to save $10 off your purchase, sign up through my referral link and then check your email for the code. I’m not sure what pricing will be this year, but in the past, a basic planner sold for $50. I can’t wait to see what other goodies will be announced!

Some Recent Silhouette Projects

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

Since getting my Silhouette Cameo for Christmas, I have really enjoyed using it to kick up my crafts. There are so many possibilities! It can be overwhelming for a newbie, and I’ve read about people who keep their Silhouette in the box for months (or longer). Well, let me tell you — take out the machine, install the software on your computer, read the manual, and just play around with it! Will you mess up your first project or two? Maybe. Probably. But that’s OK. That’s how you learn. Isn’t that what we tell our kids? It’s totally OK to make mistakes! Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from having fun.

Here’s a picture of the first vinyl project I made. (Yes, I did go back and fix the missing apostrophe!) This was just using the Recollections brand vinyl from Michael’s. I wouldn’t say the vinyl is amazing, but the cup has held up for a few months now, and in a pinch I would buy it again.

After realizing that cutting vinyl wasn’t actually terrifying, I decided to buy the Craft E Vinyl Assortment of glossy permanent vinyl from Amazon. It was easier and faster for me to purchase this instead of tracking down Oracal 651 from a vinyl retailer and I love this stuff! It weeds easily, adheres well, and if you have Amazon Prime in two days you’ll have it in your hot little hands. I used the Craft E Vinyl to create this sign for my dad to hang in his workshop.

For St. Patrick’s Day, Laura needed to wear green to school (obviously!). I still had not ventured very far into the world of HTV (heat transfer vinyl), and all I had was a sheet of metallic gold Cricut vinyl I bought on sale at Joann’s. But it did the job and my little leprechaun made it through the day without being pinched! For this design, I simply found the shamrock wreath online, brought it into the Silhouette Design Studio, traced the image, added my text, and was ready to go. (When cutting vinyl to iron on to clothing, don’t forget to mirror it – I made that mistake!)

Next is a travel mug I made for Drew’s birthday gift. After Christmas, Target had 2-packs of Contigo brand travel mugs on clearance, so I scooped up a package. My husband is a huge fan of G.I. Joe comics (and even has a Cobra Commander Halloween costume), so this was a no-brainer. I love how it looks, even thought it was incredibly simple!

After deciding that I was going to want to delve a little futher into making custom creations that used HTV, I placed an order for some better quality supplies. First order of business was to make myself this shirt. Yes, I do think I am very punny!

And last I’ll share the Mother’s Day gift I made for my mom. Glass cutting boards were all the rage in the FB groups, so I picked one up at Dollar Tree and made this design from scratch. As you can imagine, it’s not that easy finding anything that says “Babci” on it, so I think she was happy with it. This was another project that required flipping the image before cuting it because you actually stick the vinyl on the underside of the cutting board (that way it is still functional).

There are so many other project ideas in my head! I’ve also used it quite a bit to cut complicated shapes out of paper (that’s how I did my son’s Confirmation invitations). And I also use it to cut out envelope templates. Again, it’s just faster and easier than doing it by hand. I look forward to sharing more ideas soon!

Recipe | Savory Tomato Pie

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Those who have stuck with my blog for a long time may remember that for a while I attempted to keep my recipes in a separate blog I called “Sugar & Spice.” I just never really kept it up, finding it preferable to keep them here instead. Several months ago I finally decided to delete it from my domain, so of course I downloaded all the content. I’ve been going through all the recipes on there, and realized that many of them I have not made in years! One of those recipes is for Tomato Pie.

Well, Jake made his Confirmation on Friday and with family and friends coming to celebrate I wanted to make a meal that would be tasty, but didn’t need to be hot (the Mass was at 5:30 and I knew we wouldn’t be home until close to 7, at which point everyone would be starving). I settled on a menu that couple be prepared ahead of time: London Broil, green bean and feta salad, pasta salad, and I decided to make this tomato pie after remembering that I made pretty much the same meal for his Baptism!

I made three of these pies for 12 people (8 slices per pie), and only 2 slices were leftover! Yes, it was a huge hit and everyone was asking me for the recipe. The best part? It’s very easy, especially if you cheat on the pie crusts like I do. This would be awesome late in the summer when your tomato plants are going crazy – it’s the perfect side dish and you can change up the herbs however you want.

Savory Tomato Pie

1 frozen pie crust, thawed
2 large tomatoes cut into 1/4″ slices
Kosher salt for sprinkling
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2-3 slices deli Swiss cheese
2-3 slices deli Provolone cheese
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Additional salt and pepper to taste.
Freshly-grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Spread the tomato slices evenly on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels or a clean dish towel and sprinkle liberally with salt. Allow the salted tomatoes to set for about 20 min. Meanwhile, bake empty pie crust according to package directions, and remove from oven.

Turn the oven temperature up to 400 degrees. Spread the mustard over the bottom of the baked pie crust (add more if you need to). Layer the Swiss slices on top of the mustard, than layer the Provolone on top of the Swiss. Layer the tomatoes on top and bake until the pie crust is golden brown and the tomatoes are very soft. (Approx. 35-40 min.)

In a small bowl, combine the minced garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and olive oil. When you remove the pie from the oven, sprinkle thhis mixture over the top and carefully spread it out using either a pastry brush or the back of a spoon. Top with just a little bit of freshly-grated Romano (my preferance) or Parmesan cheese.

Allow the pie to cool, and serve barely warm or at room temperature.

One pie would be enough for 4-5 people, but just to be safe I’d make two pies because you’re going to want an extra slice or two (plus, the freezer pie crusts always comes 2/pack, so it just makes sense, right?).