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Don't you just love these earrings???? I adore them! They were a surprise from happyasaclam and I feel quite like that happy little clam wearing them right now! They are beautiful! Does she know me, or what?! Please, if you have not already, stop by her shop and check out her beautiful designs. The craftsmanship is excellent. They would make a great gift - for yourself ;) Thank you, Ketti! LOVE them!

I made this tunic recently with this sweet dot fabric I found on sale at Sew, Mama, Sew!
The pattern can be found here. You all know how I love Sew Serendipity patterns. This one is from the Juliet Tunic. I used sleeves from my latest sewing book . . . photos and projects to come later.

SALE!

jcarolinecreative.com is discontinuing its fabric selection and has major mark downs on beautiful fabrics. I ordered 10 total yards of the cotton supreme solids (pictured) plus some peacock ribbon. All for just $23. Look how beautiful the colors are! And the fabric feels just beautiful! This is a real bargain. I just got these in the mail today and am so happy with them that I ordered a bit more today. You have to build your stash when the price is right, right? Well, if you are interested there are still a lot of colors and prints and canvas options left.

Spreadable Strawberries

Well, I made my first successful batch of home canned goods all by myself. I went with strawberries, they are my favorite food. I have had a hard time finding a canning pot with a rack in a decent price range. I'm told it is not the season for it. So, I sat with my head in one hand, the basic canning kit my mother-in-law got me for Christmas in the other, feeling a bit discouraged. Then I had this great idea! I have a multi pot (if you don't have one I highly recommend them!) and it has a really deep sitting pasta insert that could easily be used as a rack. Well, it was a bit space constrained for anything larger than these tiny 4 oz. jars. But, I had already bought them, as Adam and I have thrown away so many jars of homemade jelly that was only half eaten because it goes bad before just the two of us can conquer it. I found that it held 5 jars just right. Until I find a better canning pot, this is working swimmingly.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd love to hear. And any cool canning experiences, recipes, or advice you have. I'm just getting started with this domestic self-sufficiency.

This recipe is found here on MarthaStewart.com, and I follow it with the canning instructions. I doubled the recipe and got these twelve 4 oz. jars and a little extra that we ate right away.

Ingredients

Makes 1 3/4 cups

• 1 quart hulled strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. In a food processor, process strawberries until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a large skillet and stir in sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high, stirring frequently, until jam is thickened and bubbles completely cover surface, 9 to 10 minutes.
   
2. Transfer jam into prepared jars (they need to have been sterilized by boiling them and still warm). Leave about 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles if necessary. Wipe rim. Have prepared the sterilized and still warm lids and bands. Center lid onto the jar and screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
3. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and let cool for 24 hours, and store.
   

Panel Napkins

Have you ever noticed those cute book panel fabric prints? I have seen a few and wondered what else I could do with them. My mother's birthday was approaching and I walked the aisles of the quilter's shop looking for inspiration when I noticed a bunch of lovely Beatrix Potter fabrics. My mother loves her stories and artwork. Well, I thought about a few different things I could make, but I needed something that wouldn't take too long because her birthday was just a few days away. These are what I came up with.

I made her these Beatrix Potter napkins. I bought one yard of fabric which completed the panel, there were 12 different scenes from the Beatrix Potter books measuring about 11 x 11. I also bought 1 yard of coordinating Beatrix Potter fabric for the back of the napkins. I layered the 2 fabrics on top of each other, wrong sides together, and cut out each scene with my rotary cutter and set them aside. I also bought 1/2 yard of tiny floral printed fabric for a decorative binding. I cut them into 2" wide strips and made the bias tape. I then proceeded to frame each napkin with the binding. Easy as pie!

What do you do with these adorable and unique prints?

Loving Amy Butler's Love

I finished this dress a while back but I haven't been able to wear it because of the cold and rainy winter we've had. But spring is approaching and its time to whip this baby out!
I bought this fabric from Amy Butler's Love line and thought it would make such a lovely Easter dress. I pulled apart an old dress that has been traveling around with me for 3 years unworn. I made pattern pieces from each piece and came up with this dress. I somehow lucked out and did not have to use a zipper!

The dress is 3 pieces: 1 solid piece for the back and 2 for the front. To make room for my size b's I made the empire waist with two tucks or folds. This helped give it form, and made room so that I could skipp out on the zipper.

I'm working on a top right now that has this dress' same basic form.


Here it is.

To add sleeves, just use a sleeve pattern from another pattern. With this dress I needed to make my own sleeves because I did not have a pattern I could use. I wanted to do a tutorial on how to draft your own sleeve pattern but, honestly, I do not remember how I did it! A little bit of luck, some tape measure, and mostly just going for it and hoping it turns out wearable!

Cherry Blossoms and Goldfinches Triptych

I got a commission to do a cherry blossom and goldfinch triptych based on a similar watercolor painting from my etsy shop. The client, happyasaclam, has her own shop where she uses recycled sterling silver, among other things, to design and create beautiful jewelry. You should definitely take a look at her shop. Each piece is unique and sophisticated.

Last night, at 3:30 am I could not sleep because I had all these ideas for the painting and I just had to work on it. By 8:30 I was happy with what I had done, and could declare it complete. :)
I wanted to share the finished product with you all. They're each 11 x 14 and will be framed above her bed, individually.

Above is a picture showing you how each connects to each other.

I must say that the pictures really flatten out the color, and I believe they look a lot better in real life. The cherry blossoms are based on photos I took of the cherry trees in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris.
I hope she, and you, enjoys them!

Homemade Book Plates

I found this really great blog: The Graphics Fairy.
It is a blog dedicated to providing beautiful, vintage, free clip art with ideas for using them. There are so many images that I love. One in particular was a set of vintage images that she made into bookplates. Which I used above. I bought label paper from Online Labels. This is a great site where you can buy MANY different types and sizes of label paper, and in a variety of colors. It is also great because you can buy them in bulk, or just buy exactly as many as you need. I used a piece of light blue label paper, the label being the entire sheet so I could cut them according to their different sizes. I wrote in my email address and name with a pen.

Baby Birthday

We celebrated my daughter's first birthday over the weekend. I did two tiny crafty-ish things for her party that I thought I'd share.

She has a stuffed bear that she's had since she was 4 months old, from our camping trip in Yellowstone. She loves this bear. Sleeps with it, talks to it, snuggles it. It's her lovey. I made her a little bear cake for her party by baking a cake in two 9-inch pans and cutting the snout and ears out of one of the rounds and frosting them onto the other round. I realize there are much better bear cakes out there, but this was my little attempt.



I also made a photo banner for a decoration. I took pictures of her from the day she was born and one for each month of her first twelve months and sewed them all together with a zig-zag stitch, leaving 3-4 inches in between each one. I made two strands, since they wouldn't all fit into one in the space I wanted to use. It was really simple and cute and easy and a nice way for guests to see how she's grown in the past year.

Making your own stamp - **Update

Kallan came over the other day and, so generously, with all of these supplies to show me how to make your own stamp! I couldn't believe she did that for me! She got me started on this stamp and I have to say it was SOO fun! All sorts of ideas were coming as we made this: making your own stamp to print your own fabric with was my favorite. I have wanted to make my own printed fabric for a while and learning this was the shot in the arm that relationship needed!! ;)

thanks kallan

this was so easy, I think all of you scrapbookers out there should give this a try.

Candied Pecans

I've tried a few recipes for candied pecans and this one is my favorite. They come out nice and shiny and the sugar isn't too overpowering. Put them on salads, ice cream, or just eat them plain! Make one batch and you can snack on them for the next two weeks.

2 1/2 cups pecan halves
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar (I usually use less because they lose their pecan flavor)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
candy thermometer (optional)
wax paper

Mix pecans and oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees. The pecans need to be cool before you can do anything with them. In a saucepan, stir sugar, cinnamon, salt, and water over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Using a candy thermometer or the Soft Ball Test to boil the mixture to 236 degrees. Then turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla, and stir in the pecans until well coated. Using a slotted spoon or fork, transfer pecans to wax paper and separate them (a lot will be stuck together). Let them dry and then enjoy!

Soft Ball Test: After the sugar mixture boils for a few minutes, drop a small amount of it into a glass of ice cold water. If it forms a ball and is soft enough to roll around with your fingers, it is the right temperature.

Everything Tote

I ADORE Heather Ross - her fabric, her tan, and her book:

There are so many practical, cute, and unintimidating patterns and projects in this book. I think it is a book that I can really see myself using every pattern that is in it. I have already made some good headway - my most recent project: the Everything Tote:

I should have taken a picture holding it so you can see how big this thing is. It is HUGE. But it is also unintruding. I thought at first it would just be used as a weekend bag, but the way it slouches as you wear it make the size hardly noticeable. It is so lightweight and easy to carry, while it carries everything :)

I made one for my sister as well that I made into a diaper bag. I added a lot more pockets and made them deeper. I also added a key ring. It was really cute, but I sent it home with her without taking pictures for you to see.

Old Pattern, New Skirt

I have really gotten a lot of use out of this skirt pattern. The first skirt I made from it turned out really well and it was a great use for the Kaffe Fassett material I bought at the Houston Quilt Show. The next skirt I made was also a great way to utilize some beautiful material, but I had a few issues with that darn invisible zipper. After a bit of a struggle and some not very nice words on my part we are friends now.

Last week I found this material particularly striking at Sew Crafty and purchased a nice little bundle, brought
it home, and for the third time pulled out this reliable pattern. I finished this skirt in no time. It is probably my best invisible zipper, thanks to this VERY detailed tutorial.

But then I was unsure about that ruffle on the bottom. Is that too childish? I go back and forth about it. I can't decide if I should loose the bottom trim and ruffle altogether or just leave it. Your thoughts? I get caught up with how fun it is to make this skirt and add things like ruffles and forget about what is "cool." :)

Anyway, I think this pattern is TOTALLY worth the $11. It is a great basic skirt pattern to go off of and make so many different variations with. Let your creative curiosities loose and make a skirt for yourself! I am already planning my next one!

Making your own Stamp

I had the idea of using parts of the very pretty and probably very expensive wedding invitations I receive and making a wedding card out of it. I couldn't justify just throwing all that pretty paper and ribbon away. So there it is:



But mainly this post is about stamping and making your own stamp. I've been wanting to make one to stamp on the back of the cards I've made that says "Made Especially for You" or "Uniquely yours" or something like that. I bought the tools for $16 at Hobby Lobby, which I'm sure you could find cheaper, but I was just ready to have them. I printed out the image I wanted to cut out and traced it with pencil. Then I immediately put the paper face down and rubbed the pencil off onto the surface of the rubber block (at Hobby Lobby for only $1.99). Now is the fun part. Using all the different tips of the Lino cutter, cut away around the lines of pencil marks leaving the pencil marks raised. This takes some practice so start with big, thick lines and work your way to smaller ones. Then you have your very own, unique stamp!




**EDIT**

So I made that stamp to put on the back of the cards I make. Also, here's a better picture of how to do it. I printed out the letters "Made Just For You" and traced them with pencil and transferred it onto the stamp by placing it traced side down and rubbing the words off. Same with the flourish design (which was surprisingly easier than the text).


You can tell it's not perfect, but practice makes perfect.

My favorite place to get prints.

50% Off 8x10 Prints! This week save 50% on your 8x10 prints! 8x10 E-surface prints are just 99¢ each. 8x10 Metallic and True B&W prints are just $1.24 each! Simply enter promo code 8x10sale at checkout. The promotion runs from now until Saturday at midnight CST, February 27th. IMPORTANT • Promo code 8x10sale must be entered at checkout to receive the 50% discount. • Mpix promo codes do not appy to orders placed through ROES.

Artisan Bread

Here's a recipe for the bread that I absolutely love. I recently mentioned it in another cooking post on my personal blog here. This bread is SO EASY. Requires no kneading, no special attention. It makes 4 loaves but you don't have to make them all at once. And the bread itself is crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. Great for dipping in olive oil, for soaking up sauce or gravy, or for spreading with butter just for the heck of it. Try it. You won't be disappointed.


1 1/2 tbsp yeast (about 2 packets)
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
6 1/2 cups flour
cornmeal, water

In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups warm water. Let it sit for a minute or two. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover but not with airtight lid. Let dough rise at room tempeature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours). In our house, which is cold in the wintertime, I usually let it rise 3-5 hours.

Get ready to bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as 2 weeks.

When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

Dust loaves with flour. Slash top with sharp knife 2 or 3 times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam (this is what will give the bread it's crusty yummy exterior). Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool.

Yeild 4 loaves.

Notes:
- If you don't have a pizza stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.
- If the dough is refrigerated, it will need a little longer to warm up before you bake it. Maybe an hour, maybe 90 minutes depending on the temp of your house. Ours is cold, so it takes awhile.
- This dough will keep in your fridge for up to 2 weeks, so you don't have to make it all at once if you don't want to.
- I wish I could find the link for this recipe. There was an article about it in the New York times a couple years ago and our friend referred it to us.

Seashells

Andy and I were down at the beach in California a few weeks ago and collected many different shells. He really wanted to do a craft with them and I was a little weary of doing a seashell craft seeing as how I relate them to cheesy beach houses decorated in the 90's. But my smart little Andy came up with the idea of making them into magnets. It was all his idea so I give him all of the credit. We just filled them with plaster of paris and let them set for about 15 minutes. We then dropped a magnet on top of the plaster and waited for them to set completely. Aaannd that's it! It was so easy and I thought they turned out really cute. Another seashell craft I loved is found here on Martha Stewart.com. That'll be our next project.

Gnocci with Summer Vegetables

I got this recipe from Martha Stewart. It is surprisingly delicious! Adam and I thought it sounded good enough to try sometime and after we made it once, it became a regular in our house. It is a great way to use a lot of basil leaves from your plant. It only takes like 15 minutes to make. & just look at all those colors! It is a very healthy and hearty meal. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as we do.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 zucchini or summer squash, or one of each (about 2 pounds total), quartered and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 package (15 to 16 ounces) frozen gnocchi
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add squash and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi according to package instructions. Reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid, drain gnocchi and transfer to skillet. Toss gnocchi, adding enough cooking liquid to create a sauce. Remove from heat and stir in basil, cheese, butter, and lemon juice. Serve!