Don't Give Me A Sentiment Builder...

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As my parents knew early in my life, I, like my Irish ancestors, had an ability to express myself pretty well from a pretty young age. There have not been many occasions that I haven't made myself clear. 

Cardmaking is no exception. 

This is why you cannot give me a sentiment builder option if you do not want me to build some sentiments. Because I will be building some sentiments!

So with all the apologies to my friend Greg, who I'm SURE had a different concept in mind when these products were designed, I give you all my thoughts from 2020 today. 

First - and I think we're all feeling this - I paired the pre-made die sentiment in this amazing alphabet and letter bundle that I will be using in wily ways for the rest of my time on earth with the included alphabet dies to just express what we are all screaming inside our heads daily. (It also would make great all year cards in a normal year.)

I'm willing to take a risk on this second card and say this is my favorite turnabout everrrrrrr! 

It's so bold and beautiful - so perfect for color combos! I went with Dove, Aqua Sky, Sprout and Marmalade - my four favorite colors in their ink line and look how pretty they are together! This is what I love about their inks - the intentional choices they made that make the combinations easy! I don't know how someone goes about that, but they did it very, very well.

Then I took the alphabet dies and went rogue again, because they opened the door with the because from this beautiful bundle that I'll make normal cards with later. THEY BAITED THE TRAP - I just walked in. I cut the letters twice out of white and black and glued them together for a drop shadow. When I just did white they sort of got lost.

And finally, because I'm just exhausted by all the online hate and misinformation and noise, and am craving some digital silence, I just brought out this die set again and completely cracked myself up. The paper is this rainbow paper pad. I wish I hadn't lived most of my life in decades when people knew that not every fleeting thought needed to be shouted out to strangers, because it makes the loss of that etiquette that much more painful now. So I thought I'd deliver good old fashioned Southern HUSH. If I'd had room I'd have said HUSH UP Y'ALL. I literally snorted laughing over this to myself!

Mail is crazy right now so I didn't get to play with the beautiful Christmas things, but they are coming, and you can see them all here. It's a HUGE release filled with beautiful things, including this amazing DIY 2021 calendar bundle with gorgeous scripty month dies - just think - this year is almost behind us!

You can buy the whole bundle at a discount and look what the free with purchase is - EEK!

I did want to share this from the last release though. I love the Joy trifold die and how the card unfolds. I used a Gel Press print for the panel behind the folded closure, and then I watercolored the sprig and berries and put them on the dimensionals. They gently hold the card closed! This might have to be Greg's Christmas card for putting up with my sassy cards. 

The bottom of the joy word has a score line from the die - you attach it to the back of your card and it just becomes an overlay that folds out, and then you open the card normally. I hope they have more of these coming!

So here are all the supplies I used today. 

Come back for a new recipe for an absolutely perfect roast chicken!

October Full Release Bundle [ C&9 ] All the Letters & Numbers [ C&9 ] On the Diagonal Turnabout [ C&9 ] 2021 Calendar Bundle [ C&9 ] Painted Sentiments Bundle [ C&9 ] Buds & Blossoms Bundle [ C&9 ] All the Merrys Bundle [ C&9 ] JJ's Rainbows Paper Pad [ WFF ] Full of Joy Trifold Dies - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Dove Ink Pad - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Aqua Sky Ink Pad - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Marmalade Ink Pad - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Sprout Ink Pad - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] My Sweet Petunia [ MSP ] Pre-Cut & Scored Cardstock [ CTC ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Crafter's Companion GEMINI... [ SSS ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ] Disney - Nightmare Before Christmas -... [ TRV ] Social Distancing USA [ TRV ]

I finally cracked the code to a perfectly cooked chicken every single time, and so I've stopped buying rotisserie chickens. Yes, they are convenient, but about a third of the time, ours was not all the way cooked, and I also feel like they add oil to them, and oil is the most highly processed food and is often made with hexane, and I try to avoid it. In general I try not to eat things with the letter x in them. :)

So here's what you do.

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Note the precise weight of the chicken. Pat the chicken completely dry with paper towels. What I do is line my Le Creuset casserole dish with paper towels, put the chicken on top of them to help dry the bottom, then pat it all over till dry, flip it over to be breast side up and toss the paper towels. Rub Crystal Kosher salt all over the outside of the bird. Tie the legs together and the wings if needed - I can usually tuck the wings under without tying. Place the unocovered dish into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Cook for EXACTLY 20 minutes per pound - so if it's 2.86 pounds, cook it for EXACTLY 57.2 minutes. You can check the temp with a probe like we do, but 100% of the time it's perfect! Let it rest for a bit before serving. So, so yummy.

I got my latest Tervis Tumblers - I love these! They are made in the USA and they're awesome. I don't buy any metal tumblers because they are all made in China and nothing that touches food or drink in my house comes from China. You can always tell when something's made in China because it doesn't say where it's made - instead, it says "sustainably sourced." It's the new code. So stick with these clear ones made in Florida instead - they have so many cool ones - I prefer the ones with the lids after Splotchy knocked my iced coffee all over my keyboard last year. But this Nightmare before Christmas one is perfect for October - or heck - 2020! And they have a social distancing one LOL.

Loveyameanitbye.

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