Thursday, April 29, 2010

The big 1-0-0-0 has happened!

Yippee - I have officially hit the 4 digit sales on etsy as of today.

Many thanks to you all!

Oh happy day.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Little Word Egg Tutorial



So a friend showed me a picture of these sweet little eggs with words on them.....I thought they were very cute & she wanted to make some for herself - so here's a how-to just for you Kelly!



Materials needed-
Clay - I used white polymer, you could use air dry or colored clay if you'd like
Paint - acrylic, I used burnt sienna & a light green & Paint brush
Rubber Stamps - alphabet

These are really, really easy to do - I promise.

Preheat your oven to the temp from the package.

Knead your clay until soft - then roll into a ball & pinch the end slightly to get an egg shape.

Take your stamps & stamp the middle letters first - it's a little trick so the word is even.

Bake according to the directions, my clay said bake 15 minutes for every 1/4" thick, so I baked them for a 1/2 hour.


I wish I could tell you I did something great while they baked, but really I cleaned my bathroom. If that is your idea of fun though, please come over & clean it anytime!

Once they are baked & cooled put a little of your dark paint on a brush & swirl it over the letters, then take a damp cloth & wipe the excess off.

You can leave it the clay color or paint the egg a different color - I decided to lightly paint a very light minty green over the top.

I then grabbed a little filler from a gift basket we received & made a little nest - viola! You're done! How cute are these? You can put names on them, or MOM for Mother's Day coming up. If you are making one with a longer word or name, just make your egg a little bigger.

Lord Of The Flies




So - it's lake-fly time again - YIPPEE! I just love the swarms of big nasty, noisy bugs that cover your house, die & pile up on the sidewalks, swarm over your head, fly into your face & up your nose.....Did I mention how awesome they are for little kids too? The girls LOVE going outside when the flies are covering their toys, when every step they take there are flies zinging them in the face.


When I left the house yesterday there were a few flies - this is what I came home to - seriously. This picture is out my kitchen window. The only good thing is they only live for about a day, but they keep hatching, so there are more everyday. Usually we get them in the beginning of May - they are early this year

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Madison Show - This Weekend!


The Craftacular is this weekend! I am so excited. It is from 10-4 Saturday April 24th at the High Noon on Washington St in Madison, WI.
I will be there so will about 20 other local crafters - for a full listing of vendors check out
The first 25 customers will also get a fun swag-bag full of goodies. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Vanilla Mousse Cheesecake



40 Nilla wafers - crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
3 Tbs melted butter
4 pkg (8 oz size) cream cheese, softened - divided
1 c sugar, divided
1 Tbs & 1 tsp vanilla, divided
3 eggs
1 tub (8 oz) cool whip

Preheat oven to 325f.
Mix the Nilla crumbs & melted butter - press into bottom of 9" spring form pan
Beat 3 pkgs of cream cheese, 3/4c sugar & 1 Tbs vanilla until well blended. Add eggs to mix 1 at a time, mix on low after each until just blended, pour over Nilla crust
Bake 50 - 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan & let cool completely in pan.
Beat the last pkg of cream cheese, 1/4 sugar, 1 tsp vanilla until well blended. Whisk in the cool whip, spread over cheesecake. Refrigerate at least 4 hours - I like to make cheesecakes the night before - to really let the flavors mingle & ferment :)




Sunday, April 18, 2010

New cuff bracelets







So I have been working on new cuff bracelets & I just love them! I have them in silver tone (aluminum) and in copper too. They will be making their debut at the Craftacular this coming Saturday. Hope to see you there.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Just 13 more to go....


Until I hit 1000 sales on Etsy! That's pretty exciting for me. I have really had a great time selling on that site! I feel very fortunate to have that outlet for my goodies....

In celebration I will offer a 10% discount online if you put "1000" in the notes to seller. There will also be a treat in the package of my 1000 sale!
Many thanks to all of you who have made it possible for me to do this!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Mini-Vacation Weekend



So this weekend was my Uncle Gerry's 60th birthday....my Aunt decided to throw him a surprise party. It was great & he didn't know it was coming! It was at a hotel with a little water park so all the kids (okay me too) had a great time playing.....I'll share more photos of the party later (I have to wait for people to email them to me - yes, I left my camera in my purse!)
-and no, you are not hallucinating. I did put a picture of myself in a swimsuit online!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

EAA Fly In Rental Oshkosh

So, we live in Oshkosh WI and each summer they have a EAA Fly-In....which is a TON of planes & plane enthusiasts from around the globe come to our little airport & have a week long event. People fly planes they've made, antique planes, fighter planes put on crazy air shows & there are all sorts of planes to look at & see the inner workings of....

This year our apartment will be vacant so we are planning on renting it to someone for the week. A lot of people in the area do that - rent out extra rooms or flats if they can. The hotels jack their rates & fill up FAST......

We are asking $125 a night & it will be lightly furnished too (TV, bed, love seat, table, chairs, cookware)....any one out there ever done this? If so any tips/ideas! Thanks!!

Monday, April 5, 2010

The Hunt....


This year for Easter we spent Saturday evening at our Aunts house for dinner & visiting and then Sunday we went to my moms house for lunch & an Easter Egg hunt. The girls had a blast so did we! I made a yummy cheesecake (hey mom - can you take a picture of a piece before it's gone?) and will post that delish recipe later this week. I will leave you with a photo of the girls finding eggs. Happy Monday to you all!
-this weeks "to-do" - finish all my headbands - wish me luck!