Sweets from my Childhood

I was in an Art Journaling class last week when one of the girls was talking about a Candy store in South Florida called To the Moon.  Apparently this store is a treat for the eyes as well as the taste buds.  They have over 13000 items in stock, their main focus is hard to find candies and chocolates from the early years and also a large number of international treats and they also sell some kitschy fun gift items.

While we were talking I suddenly remembered a candy bar from my childhood growing up in England called Caramac.  When I used to visit England regularly a few years ago I  used to treat myself to one but they were always a little harder to find.

My Aunt used to own a Sweet Shop on the High Street in a small town in Shropshire and I used to love getting a small bag of pear drops or a couple of parma violets when I visited as a very young child but I don’t remember if she carried Caramac.

Anyway someone asked me what it tasted like and I couldn’t describe it other than to say it was a distinctive flavor, so I googled it to find out how others describe it and came up with this:

A Caramel flavored “Chocolate” bar.  (there is no cocoa in it)

788px-Caramac

I looked up the definition and Wikipedia says:  The bar is a pale yellow colour, and is manufactured using sweetened condensed milk, butter, various flavourings, and sugar

aah. and I realized the reason I love it must be from the condensed milk!!

Now I remember the candy very well but not the wrapper, I wonder if they had a different one when I was a child. . . . but more importantly I will have to find out if this candy store carries it.

Cards using paint and reinkers

I like to make cards that have interesting backgrounds.  Here are two cards that I made recently using Paint and Archival Ink reinkers.

First the card made with Adirondack Paint Dabbers

Card ranger adirondack paint dabber

I placed Sunset Orange and Sunshine Yellow paint onto my craft mat and spritzed with water.  I dragged my cardstock through the paint mixture.  I then spritzed the card with more water allowing the paint colors to mix.  I dried the paint and then repeated the steps till I was happy with the look.  The paint “glows” on the background and looks really rich and saturated with color.

Ranger adirondack paint dabber

I stamped using Dylusions Love Struck Lucy stamps and Black Archival Ink on the card.  I used a Black Pitt Pen to connect the hearts and circles . . . .and then I used Glossy Accents to highlight the stamped images.

Here is another view.  The paint looks washed out in this view but I wanted to show a close up of the texture.

ranger adirondack paint dabberNext is a card I made using Rangers Archival Ink and Reinkers.  I also used Tim Holtz Stamps and Idea-ology findings to accent the card

Ranger Archival Reinkers Shaving Cream Ranger Archival Reinkers Shaving Cream Tim HoltzThe background was made using Shaving Foam with the reinkers drizzled on top.

The randomness of what you get makes this card fun to make and would make a perfect masculine card

Ranger Archival Reinkers Shaving Cream Tim Holtz

The card front was popped up on top of a coordinations cardstock that had been embossed using an embossing folder and then sanded to reveal the kraft core.

Ranger Archival Reinkers Shaving Cream Tim HoltzI love how the card smells as well.