A Splash of Joy Card and Sweet Saturday

Happy Saturday, friends! I hope you're enjoying a weekend of sunshine and scrumptious treats. :o)

You already know my love for Cooking With Cricut, but now that love has deepened because they made me play with my Create a Critter again. Their challenge this week is to use your favorite Cricut cartridge and color, so I had no choice but to bring another animal to life. :o) I absolutely adore this cartridge and the color blue.

The destination of this card is my dentist office! They are the most incredible bunch of ladies I've ever encountered in a professional environment. Every single team member is so caring and their sweetness makes me miss them between cleanings. (How incredible is that? I'm so blessed.) I went to school with one of them, so at least I get to see her more than a couple times a year. :o) I had an appointment a few days ago and they were sweet as ever, so I decided now is the perfect time to make them a card.

The inspiration behind this sentiment is that a splash of joy can make someone bloom, which is why I made the hippo splashing the flower. They bring me such happiness and serve as a reminder that all it takes is a simple act of kindness to sparklify a heart. :o) I wanted their card to contain touches of both whimsy and elegance to suit each personality. It was a bit of trial and error in some regards, but I rather like this.

As I did previously, I wanted my animal to have some personality so I tried my best to draw another Peachy Keen face stamp. Henrietta needed a cute face. ;)

I had a doozy of a time photographing this. Not clearly apparent is the DCWV blue glitter paper for the water, hippo, and the Splash part of the sentiment. I used Glossy Accents to make tiny bubbly droplets and to fully coat the splashes. I pop-dotted the hippo, front grass element, and the sentiment tag for some dimension. Lastly, I couldn't resist making the grass a little sparkly. ;)

Now it's time for another Sweet Saturday! A whimsical explosion of color... you just can't go wrong with rainbow sprinkles:

I wasn't able to bake anything this week (the horror), so I dug into my recipe box and photo album for a good stand-by recipe to post. Rest assured there are lots of extra special goodies on the horizon! But this week I give you Funfetti Cupcakes and an easy Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. They're good staples to have, especially the homemade funfetti if you have kids in your life (or are a woman-child like I am).

Side Notes: I'm not a huge fan of plain, regular buttercream. It's just too buttery for my liking. (I'm yearning for more of this Chocolate Frosting, however!) But everyone else loves this frosting, so it remains my main buttercream base recipe due to continued rave reviews from my peeps. Also, the cake is the original recipe as written for a birthday cake. To make it into cupcakes, simply divide the batter into a lined cupcake pan and decrease baking time to 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Thank you as always for visiting. You brighten my days! Have a blessed weekend. :o)

Funfetti Cake

Ingredients:

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

¼ tsp. almond extract

½ cup milk

¼ cup rainbow sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Grease and flour the sides of two 5-inch round cake pans. Line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg whites to the bowl and beat until combined. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts and mix until incorporated. Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until incorporated. Gently fold in the sprinkles with a spatula. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, approximately 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Frost cooled cakes as desired.

Source: Annie's Eats

Easy Vanilla Buttercream

Ingredients:

20 tbsp. (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1⁄8 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tbsp. heavy cream

Directions:

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds. Scrape bowl, add the vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice.

Source: Annie's Eats

Key Card Recipe Components:

 * Cricut cartridge: Create a Critter

 * Cuttlebug Flowers embossing folder (came in the box)

 * Paper: DCWV, Core'dinations

 * Ribbon: American Crafts

 * Flower: Prima

 * Miscellaneous: iRock, Glossy Accents, Studio G glitter glue