One of the traditions I always enjoy with my downline is our monthly card swap.  We take turns hosting it, and we stamp to a different theme every month.  This month, instead of doing cards, our hostess, Susan, suggested a recipe swap – in a 6 x 6 format so they can be collected into one of our bragbooks.  What a GREAT idea for Christmas gifts!

Well I’m not exactly known for my kitchen talents, but I do have a small handful of favorite recipes, so I entered the swap in both categories Susan offered – and here’s what I came up with.  I can’t WAIT to receive a pile of other favorite recipes in exchange!

The colors used on this are Hunter Green and the new Cranberry Crisp – on Kraft cardstock.  The Jumbo wheel, "Woodcut Holly" provides the background, and "Circle of Friendship" is featured on the medallion.  I’m absolutely in LOVE with this ribbon – found in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  It’s so much prettier in real life than it shows in the catalog!  This holiday treat has been a Christmas favorite in my family for as far back as I can remember.

The blackberry cobbler recipe is from a friend.  Actually, she told me this makes a great cobbler with any type of berry, but around here blackberries are free, so that’s what I use.  It was a bit of a challenge to stamp a blackberry when we don’t have one in the catalog, but applying a marker to only the top section of a bunch of grapes ("Watercolor Garden") solved the problem!  (Credit goes to my clever downline, Becca, for THAT idea!)  And I decided that the leaves from "Serene Sunflower" provide a reasonable facsimile of blackberry leaves.  This one was particularly fun – blending Ruby Red and Elegant Eggplant markers to arrive at the different shades of berry colors.