Merry Xmas / Feliz Navidad!

from our Family to yours!  / de nuestra familia a la tuya~!

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies / Galletas de Azucar con queso crema

Hi ladies!

I am baking cookies and since I am not too crazy w/ the sugar cookies I decided that I was going to start this year researching sugar cookies recipe.  Here in US the norm is you leave sugar cookies for Santa…. so the search began and I found this recipe… I am a cream cheese fanatic.  You spread cream cheese to something I’ll EAT it.  So we tried it and OMG… this is the best sugar cookie recipe I have tasted EVER!!!  So I wanted to share it w/ you ladies. It is easy, it seems like a long list of ingredients but it is easy to make.  I’ll tell you, that I found it to be too soft of a batter to make shaped cookies so I just rolled balls and flatten them w/ my fingers.  I may have left the dough mix too much since I was dealing w/ the dogs and Bianca and the cookies all at the same time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of butter or margarine softened
• 1 pkg (3oz) cream cheese softened
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• colored sugar or decorating icing if desired

STEPS:

1. In large bowl, beat all ingredients except flour and colored sugar until light and fluffy.  Add flour; mix well.  Shape dough into 3 disks. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hr for easier handling.
2. Heat oven to 375F.  On floured work surface, roll out 1 disk of dough at a time to 1/8 inch thickness.  (Keep remaining dough refrigerated.)  Cut with lightly floured 2 1/2 inch round or desired shape cookie cutters.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Decorate w/ colored sugar.
3. Bake 6 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.  If desired, frost and decorate plain cookies.

TAKEN from the Pillsbury Holiday Baking book.  It has some awesome recipes!

My Crop Stop Challenge / Mi desafio para Crop Stop

Ladies,

I want you to emboss your title!  I love how the cuttlebug embossing folders are such an easy way to add texture to your die cuts.  On my sample I cut out part of my title and after that inserted all the letters into one of the Cuttlebug’s embossing folders and then dragged (very so lightly) a ink pad and voila’  an interesting title!

Chicas,

Quiero que emboss al relieve tu titulo!  Me encanta como las plantillas de hacer relieve al seco son tan faciles de usar y añaden una texturs a tus cortes.  En mi ejemplo yo corte las letras primero y despues las inserte dentro de la plantilla para hacer relieve en seco (embossing) de Cuttlebug, para darle el toque final pase una tinta sobre el relieve.

DEC 2 Gals scrappin’ kit.  Ribbon provided by SNS, this are only a tiny part of one of the new DEC ribbon kits!

 kit de diciembre de 2 Gals Scrappin’.  Cintas proveidas por SNS, estas son parte de uno de los kits de diciembre!

GOD’s lil’ miracles…

when OLW chose “miracle” as their word I was so excited… of course I knew I was going to make a LO about my beautiful 2 year old miracle, but out of no where I saw this picture and was w/o words.  I love berries!  Berries of any type, I love them, I drool over them at the super market and these ones in this LO made me happy every single day in late Summer/ early Fall.  Just seeing from my computer room and listening to the gorgeous lil’ birds it brought to my window was all a miracle.

cuando OLW escogio la palabra “milagro” para su desafio esta semana estaba toda emocionada… de seguro  me imagine haciendo una pagina de mi adorado milagro de 2 añitos que se pasa corriendo por todad la casa… pero de sorpresa vi esta foto y me quede sin palabras.  Yo tengo una adoracion con las berries!  Berries de cualquier tipo, las amo a todas, hasta baboseo cuando estoy en el mercado… y estas berries de mi pagina son extra especiales, estas me hicieron feliz desde verano hasta otoño.  Verlas desde mi cuarto del computador y escuchar los bellisimos pajarillos que venian a mi ventana gracias a ellas era todo un milagro.

Ribbon provided by SNS, this are only a tiny part of one of the new DEC ribbon kits!

Cintas proveidas por SNS, estas son parte de uno de los kits de diciembre!

A few things to blog about/ unas cuantas cosas para escribir

• 1st of all Tim Holtz it’s doing it again…. 12 Tags of christmas!!!! 
• Primero que nada Tim Holtz lo esta haciendo otra vez… 12 Tags Navideños!!! 
• We kit U not BLOG has December’s challenge up!!!!  Go check it out!!!!
• El blog de We kit U not ha colgado el desafio de diciembre en su blog!!!  Ve y chequealo!
• A LO using the December 2GalsScrappin’ kit and for the Gutter Girlz Challenge!!!
• Una pagina usando el kit de diciembre de 2Gals Scrappin’ kit y para el desafio de Las chicas en el “gutter”.

XMAS is almost here… so decorations are up!

well at least the decorations inside the house are up!  here is the tree:

Las Navidades estan casi aqui, asi que las decoraciones estan puestas, bueno por lo menos la de adentro de la casa.  Aqui esta el arbol:

and my two favorites ornaments:

y mis adornos favoritos: