Billy Bars

Billy Bars (also known as Belly Bars) for obvious reasons are a welcome addition to any square platter.
I recently made these for a special friend who really enjoys them and was an excellent hostess to me during a weekend stay at her vacation property. I felt it was the least I could do to repay her for her hospitality.

These would best be enjoyed with a cup of coffee or tea as they are quite rich but delectable all the same.

Billy Bars
Crust
2 cups All Purpose flour
2 cups Oatmeal (I used Quik Oats)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, melted

Topping
1 300g pkg Chipits, milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
1 cup slivered almonds
1 225g pkg Chipits Skor bits
1 1/3 cups caramel sundae sauce
1/3 cup All Purpose flour

Crust- Combine first 4 ingredients in mixing bowl. Add melted butter, Mix well. Reserve 1 1/4 cups of the mixture for topping. Press remainder into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes.
Topping- Combine baking chips, almonds and toffee bits. Sprinkle evenly over base. Mix together sundae sauce and flour until smooth. Pour evenly over crust. Sprinkle reserved oat mixture on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes longer, or until golden. Cool completely, then cut into squares.

Flowers

I was at a baby shower on the weekend and I won this beautiful arrangement put together by my talented cousin, Beth. So bright and cheerful. I loved the sunflower, mums, freesia etc and her clever use of greenery from around the home. She used some hosta leaves and wound a couple spider plant leaves around the inside of the bowl to hide the stems. I managed to snag a second arrangement and passed it along to brighten up someone else's day. I know where I'm going for decor help for the next Fundraising Crop.

August Stamp of the Month

Well, it's down to the wire yet again because I was away last week doing this...

and yes, it was probably the worst weather week of the summer, hence the tarp. Barely saw the sun but I did get home in time to complete my 8th stamp of the month in a row. Yeah, me!

I wanted to use this intricate snowflake die from Memory Box and I'm not going to lie. It was a pain. Usually they go through the machine and cut very well but this particular one had some issues. The little snowman is glamour dusted and I popped my birdie up. Its a fun card and I like the purple tones.
Here's the image I was given for FREE...

I am linking up to the Stamp of the Month Challenge at From the Heart Stamps. If you like snowmen, Faith is doing a 100 snowman challenge and for a time her digital images are just $1.

Donation to Kismutt Animal Rescue

I was able to make a trip over to Kismutt Rescue, St. Marys to drop off the donations from the Fundraiser as well as a few other items that I had collected. Kim was very appreciative of the donations that came in, especially the bleach and other household items. The kennel is always kept impeccably and it requires much diligence and they go through the supplies very quickly. Especially with Mill dogs who are not house trained and have spent most of their lives in cages.

We had so many items that we needed to use a wagon and make several trips.

Kismutt had just saved a couple of sweet pugs from a life of confinement. After only a couple of days, they were happy to have some cuddles and pets before we had to go on our way.

It is so nice to see first hand, how much appreciated the donations are and that they are being put to good use. Thanks to our amazing Fundraising Crop, we were also able to give a cash donation to this Rescue. Makes all the hard work worth it.

Another Dog card

I have a lot of dog dies and this batch seemed really similar but I had seen this card on the Internet and it is so quick and easy to put together and you could stamp any sentiment so I broke down and picked it up and almost immediately made the card with it. I love when that happens, you actually USE the items that you HAVE to have!  I'm resisting purchasing all the pierced shapes but I love the look so I had to do it the old fashioned way and pierce the edge myself. I'm sure I'll use this set a lot as I'm gearing up to make cards for The Farley Foundation fundraiser at my Vets.

Kitty cards

Wow! Where does the time go? I haven't got around to very much scrapping this summer. The weather has been so nice, I like to spend my time outdoors and of course, there is always the endless TO DO list to take care of. Fortunately, I was able to book a day away with a few of my peeps and finally had some time for some new card creations.

I've been wanting to do a kitty in the window card for some time and even though it was a little fussy, it was fun to put together. I used the Tim Holtz brick wall embossing folder and a Memory Box window diecut along with some punches and diecut kitty.  I especially love the curtain.

I would have chosen different greenery but it was the only die I had with me and it looks ok.

I also card-lifted the cat silhouette card from the Internet. I love putting these together and I stamped the sentiment so really any message could go in the middle box.

and the inside..

Everyone thinks because I'm such a dog lover, that I don't like cats but the reality is, I love them too but I already have enough pet fur in my house. 

Lindor is 7!

My pesky, smart,  licky chocolate girl turned 7 today, hard to believe. She still has her moments of youthful exuberance but the white hairs on her chin are multiplying at a rapid rate. After having 2 litters of pups herself, her daughter Eden is now the mother of 2 litters, the A's and the J's.

Beautiful Eden

A chocolate from Eden's first litter... she looks exactly like her Grandma Lindor.

 

Amira

And the newest batch... another sweet chocolate....

Java

I'm proud of my Lindor, she's not the perfect dog but she's PERFECT to me!