Contests and Giveaways

Well, I submitted my bracelet for the semi-precious gemstone contest last night. YEAY!! Wish me luck! I'll find out more around April 17. I think I'm going to put together a tutorial on how to make it, it was pretty fun and easy. Although, before I get carried away, I need to finish my Golden Compass Lyra Hat from this post. I need to keep my promises. I'm also almost done with my PIF...another big YEAY!!! I've been so excited to show it, until I get it to the lucky receiver, it's a top secret project. Here's a sneak peak though...

This isn't my picture, but it's a free pattern from another blog that I took a part of from and created something different. I'll tell all in good time.

On another note...it's looking as if our Etsy shop is dwindling. I'm considering letting all the items expire and posting new and different product. I've been looking into ideas of mine, some are saturated already on Etsy, some have none at all. I'd like to sell something that is desired but not overly sold already. We didn't get many bites, nor sales, with the jewelry and buttons, but they are both areas on Etsy where's there's plenty to look at. It would have helped if we added new product weekly. My mom, aunt and I all work full time and just didn't get to it as often as we should have. We shall see!

Delicious Cake!

The past two nights I've been working on this delicious beast! Today was a birthday party at work and I offered to make the cake. Neopolitan! The bottom layer is from scratch, it's the recipe off the back of the Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa Powder tub, the middle layer is a box white cake and the top layer is an actual strawberry cake!! Oh! It's so moist! Here's the recipe for the strawberry layer...




Strawberry Cake:
1 package Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix
3/4 cup water
1 package (0.14 oz.) strawberry flavored Kool-Aid (or other pink colored flavor, I used cherry)
1 package (10 oz.) frozen sliced strawberries, thawed, undrained
3 eggs
frosting




1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, greese/flour or spray 13x9 or two 9" rounds.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, Kool-Aid powder, thawed strawberries and eggs with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Bake 30-35 minutes for 13x9 or 20-25 minutes for the round pans.
4. Let cool completely before frosting.




I like to layer the two rounds with the confetti frosting in between. Originally the recipe is one I found for a strawberry daiquiri cake, it includes 1 tablespoon grated lime peel and 3/4 teaspoon rum extract. The frosting also called for 2 teaspoons grated lime peel added to a tub of vanilla frosting. I've made it this way too, it's not bad. Either way, it is a really moist and flavorful strawberry cake!




This next pic is my contest piece that I will be entering shortly. I can't decide about the background, black makes the opalite glow, white makes the new jade stand out. I don't know which one I want to accent more. This picture is much better than the one I mentioned two posts ago.


Happy Wednesday!

Second Baby

Today was our 20 week ultrasound, so exciting!! It's so cute too!! It didn't want to turn around and allow for good pics for the technician. It just wanted to stay curled up in it's little ball facing mommy. So precious. It even yawned and rubbed it's eyes.

In the first five minutes of tuning in to where baby was, she found it's hand giving the thumbs up sign. Then when she went back to it, it was giving the peace sign. That was funny, she said you don't see that everyday. I think being an ultrasound technician could be a fun job!

Latest Projects

Well, I finally got around to taking a pic of at least the fabric I used for the nursing covers that I mention is this entry. I've given them to all the area La Leche League leaders to sell at their meetings as a fundraiser. I even sold one this past Sunday at the Baby Fair. So cool! I could sell them on Etsy, but after having done a quick search I saw that this area of the market was already a little saturated. So I'll just stick to the local LLL leaders and their meetings. If you're interested, I sell them for $25.00

I want to enter this gemstone beading contest using the square new jade beads I showed in my Leavenworth post. I've designed a bracelet using 4mm square new jade, 6mm opalite rounds and labradorite rectangular chips with various silver beads and components. I'm not experience enough with clasps and finishing simply strung beads on wire. I bought a crimper and crimp beads to attempt a few ideas, but I'll have to pull out all my magazines to get techniques and ideas. The deadline is March 31, time is running out! I'm pretty excited to enter it though. It will be my second beading contest that I've entered! Maybe I should'nt be showing my design...hhhmmm.....oh but I must!

I just had to show this picture...

One night I was getting ready for bed, my husband was in bed reading, and all I heard was this thump-thump-thump of little feet from the bedroom to the living room over and over and over. When I finally came out of the bathroom and entered the bedroom, this is what I found all across the foot of our bed. My sons Cars stickers, all in a row at our feet! He even put one on my jeans which were hanging off the foot of the bed and were apparently in the way of his line up across the bed. He was so proud of himself it was too cute to pass up the photo op!

AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!!

Two of my favorite blogs that I follow have teamed up to do a giveaway!! I LOVE these necklaces!! I've been eyeballing them since last November. I WANT ONE....any of them!!! YEAY!! Check it out here...Grosgrain: Muntedkowhai Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

You Are Not Alone...

I'm not huge into politics, but I am huge on my freedom and living a happy life. Since I've become an adult, I've learned more and more about politics, especially with this past presidential election, which to me for the first time was very frustrating. My adult life has also opened my eyes to world history, war and fighting, how some things came to be, religion, greed, etc. All this information has led to adult nightmares, not like the simple running from the monsters of my childhood or aliens coming from above, but the invasion of our city, of our country, of America. I've had dreams of running from foreign invading soldiers and hiding in my basement, of airplanes coming to drop bombs and tanks rolling through the streets, and fearing for my childrens future. I've had some scary dreams being a military wife with a husband who was once in Iraq and with children in our lives, a whole new set of bad dreams. But these dreams are scarier than all of those dreams I ever had because they threaten my freedom. Not to be glum on Friday the 13th....moving on...


I'm also a Glenn Beck listener and I do agree with many things he discusses, a lot of which tends to be politically related. In a few more hours he will be discussing his We Surround Them - The Unveiling which will discuss how we as Americans can UNITE and FIGHT the helpless feeling that is occurring more and more frequently among us. He will be discussing 9 principles and 12 values and more. I will not be able to watch it live, which is 5 eastern time, and 2pm here, but I will see it later. I encourage every one to learn more about this and participate. Here's a map of the USA so that you can find one in your area.


Happy Friday!!

Another Tuesday

Well the weather has taken a turn for the worse! We got three inches of snow yesterday and the temp has dropped to the teens again....BLEAH! The high 30's were feeling SO GOOD.


I was checking out the latest on Wilcox Wizard Wears blog to see what she's been up to lately. She's attending school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and participates in a lot of Harry Potter related craft swaps (my personal favorite stuff to check out, maybe someday I will start in on the swaps too). She got a new yarn that is JUST GEORGEOUS! I don't know if it is okay to copy pics of her blog, so here's the link to it...I would love, Love, LOVE a skein of this yarn!! However, my stash being now 3 large tubs of yarn, I really should complete many things prior to adding to it....but how do you resist!! A knitter/crocheter needs a yarn stash to choose from, a beader needs a bead stash, a quilter needs a fabric stash and a scrapbooker needs a paper & embellishment stash.......AND I HAVE ALL OF THEM! My husband is not too thrilled about me taking up half the upstairs with my crafting. So what I'm really trying to say is, not only is my stash of yarn up to 3 large tubs of yarn, it's also 6 large tubs of fabric (not to mention two boxes worth of just patterns), two medium size organizers of beads (one being just the seed beads, so many colors!), one upright roller cart and one travel case of scrapbook paper & supplies, and piles and piles of miscellaneous craft stuff crammed in between it all! This whole confession is really making me want to create something with what I already have...


...WAIT! I am!! Last night I dug out many yard pieces of fabric, D-rings and boning. Odd combination?? I'm making several nursing covers for this weekends Baby Fair that I'm assisting my local La Leche League chapter with. We'll be selling the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, raffle tickets for an adorable baby basket we've assembled and the nursing covers made by me! All as a fundraiser for LLL and to inform the public about who we are and what we do. As soon as I finish them I'll take a pic and add to this post. I have so much in my stash that I didn't have to buy any materials for this project...it really felt good!


Happy Tuesday!

Grosgrain: Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Yet again I was browsing my usual blogs, and Grosgrain is one of them. She makes the coolest and cutest clothes for both her girls and herself! Her current giveaway Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!! Is SO CUTE!! She used the funnest fabric! I actually have one similar that I bought years ago that I meant to make a nightgown out of, but me and my lack of.......well, energy perhaps,....the fabric is still sitting in my fabric stash.

Catching Up

YEAY!! My husband is home!! He's been gone for three weeks for military training (he was the instructor) and now he's back! It's so nice to have him home. It's also the reason I haven't had a computer to download pics. Now to catch up...

I received my PIF from YarniGras the first week my honey was gone, a baby hat and blanket. Isn't the hat adorable! It has inspired me to make a bunch for myself and 5 other of my pregnant friends. It is SO SOFT too!

The view from our room from last weekends Leavenworth craft retreat with my mom, aunt and grandma. So beautiful!

In Leavenworth, I bought this Misti Alpaca 100% baby alpaca yarn made in Peru that I want to make a baby blanket with for the next baby (cross your fingers that the pink is appropriate, we still don't know). Unfortunately it will only make about a 14" square knitted, at least that's what the sales lady said, and I can only gently hand wash the completed item (am I a glutton for punishment or what?). I guess I'll find out. I'm thinking I will start with a knitted square, buy more, then maybe crochet an edge. I just found a book at the library that combines knitting and crocheting. Very encouraging, inspiring and FULL of ideas!

And of course, ALL the beading that I did on our Leavenworth craft retreat. My two beaded beads, my fan-fare necklace component, the anomone bracelet and the New Jade and silver incomplete bracelet.

Gotta go! We're heading to the grandparents now!