Fun Cards From Etsy!

photocredit: boygirlparty

RKP recently gifted me these so cute recipe cards from boygirlparty's amazing Etsy shop. Their stuff is quirky, whimsical and reasonable. These would make great hostess or aunt (or sister) gifts.

Recommended?
Yes!

Negative bits
The only negative bit is that the recipe cards (I don't know about the other products) are printed on heavy, glossy cardstock. Although this makes a beautiful image, it also means you can only write with ballpoint pen (other ink smears). As we all know, ballpoint pen is a horrible thing to use because it quickly deteriorates and easily fades. This librarian/archivist says thumbs-down to ballpoint.

Miss Rumphius (inaugural book review!)

Miss Rumphius - Cooney
Originally uploaded by hmrlibrary

RKP makes beautiful shoes, but the things I tend to make are often more functional (things like bread or book cradles). Part of this is because I'm in graduate school right now and busy studying to be a librarian (RKP is in school too, but she finds a way to make it all happen!)...so even though I can't often make amazing and beautiful crafts, I can tell you about amazing and beautiful books.

And is it possible that there is a more beautiful book than Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney? You probably have read it already, but if not, here's why you should:

The story
Miss Rumphius is a little girl who can't wait to grow up so that she can live by the sea and travel to faraway places. Her grandfather thinks both of these are splendid ideas, but adds that there is a third thing she must do: find a way to make the world more beautiful. This book is the story of how Miss Rumphius does that "third, most difficult thing."

Best quote(s)
(while traveling in the South Seas) "Before she left, the Bapa Raja gave her a mother-of-pearl shell on which he had painted a bird of paradise and the words, 'You will always remain in my heart.' 'You will always remain in mine too,' said Miss Rumphius."

Scary bits
Unless you are afraid of riding camels, this book is not scary.

Wedding Cont.

Here are the bridesmaid shoes in progress:

pretty heels:

all lined up and ready to go:

and now for bride:


These were such fun to do! I hope I get to do more weddings!

Shoes for a Wedding!

I got to do my first wedding party order of shoes and it was so fun!

The bride sent me a list of her specifications and a picture of the bridesmaid dresses.


She wanted gold sandals with ruffles and flowers. I did some sleuthing and found these great shoes on sale as Rack Room shoes:Then I ordered ruffles from fellow etsy seller Dream Spun Kids in lavender and ivory, got rhinestones (I like the self-adhesive kind) and little flowers from Michael's. I also had a vintage bracelet that I thought would be perfect. Here is the assembly of my supplies:


Coming up next... 4 pairs of bridesmaid sandals and the bride's shoes!

Hamantaschen

My mom really likes the traditional Jewish dessert Hamantaschen that is usually made at Purim (in early spring). I've made it for her a couple times, but for Mother's Day this year I bought a can of the poppy seed filling and used the recipe inside the can and I think it was the best batch I've made so far!


The only thing I did differently was to add extra orange peel and it made the cookie part really moist and tasty. Mom likes the poppy seed filling the best, but you can also put preserves or jam inside the cookies. These make a great tea cookie, just leave enough time for chilling the dough (since that's what takes the longest).

Getting Crafty at Work

Sometimes you do crafts at work. And you make book cradles.

Fun Shoes

I think part of the reason that I like making fun shoes is because sometimes I see the ones that are in the little girls section of the shoe store and I don't think it's fair that they don't have them in my size.

For my most recent project, I decided to make some flats... my supply list is:
- Vintage lace and bias tape from a rummage sale at the Methodist church near campus
- Cream velvet rosettes from fellow Etsy seller ScreamingMonkeys
- Little pearls from Michael's
- Flats from Target
- My trusty low-heat glue gun (I always touch it)


I like to do my crafting while watching Doctor Who, this is my nice relaxing time when I'm done with homework.

And here is the finished product:

Soon to be posted in my Etsy shop.

Also, I see there was a guest appearance by NIS in the kneading of the bread below.

Making Bread

Not that there's anything wrong with Pepperidge Farm. They do some fine work and really haven't let me down. But this morning I thought I'd make some bread, because I'm domestic like that.

Ingredients at the ready: whole wheat & all-purpose flour, egg, honey, water, salt, yeast, butter

Kneading it thoroughly. For a long time.

After rising for two hours on the screen porch (a very good place in the summer)

It turned out scrumptious. Maybe try some with butter and whipped honey?

Recipe:

1/4 cup warm water

I package yeast

(together in a bowl until the yeast is dissolved)

then add:

1 egg, beaten

2 and 1/2 cups warm water

1/4 to 1/2 cup honey, sugar or maple syrup

1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 stick butter

then:

4 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups all-purpose flour

knead for 10-20 minutes, lightly pushing away the dough with the heel of your hand and folding it over. Once it is smooth, elastic and satiny, let it rise in a greased bowl in a warm spot for an hour (covered with a clean cloth). After an hour, punch down the dough, separate into 3 portions, let rest for 10 minutes under a clean cloth. Then shape as desired, put into greased pans and let rise for 45 minutes (again with the clean cloth - just in case you were tempted to put a dirty cloth over your nice bread dough). Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.