Another Winner

Congratulations (and thank you) to Juli.  I guess I warned everyone away from the Plastic Spoon Rose Pin but Julie who shared her “Epic Fail” about a dress she was sewing in the wee hours that she managed to sew half backwards and had to spend a lot of energy and time with a seam ripper correcting her mistake. Sewing and I never got along and this sounds like something I would do if I tried to tackle it.  Bravo to Juli for fixing the mistake and wearing the finished dress.

I say thank you because Juli is the only one who entered.  I’m hoping my next giveaway will get a little more interest. Coming soon: Glass Tile Pendants giveaway.

Thanks for stopping by.

Another Giveaway!

This white rose pin is made from plastic spoons! It was created during 30 Days of Creativity and…it’s kind of funky.  I wore it to work once and though I received a few compliments on it, it’s really not something I’m going to wear again.  But for someone out there (you?) it’s just THE thing you want.  It’s fun for me to give stuff away and I just put the notebook in the mail yesterday from my last giveaway.

Look at it – there is a hole in one of the petals.  It is kind of clunky and needs to be pinned to sturdy fabric because it will tend to pull forward.  I want to be sure you know what you are getting.  Still interested?

This is how you enter the giveaway: In the comments section of this post, post about a crafting fail or challenge:   Whatever, just put it in your comment.  One entry per person, please.  My recent attempt involving balloons and melted chocolate (I know, sounds crazy, but I was trying to make cute little chocolate bowls) ended up with me splattered in chocolate.

Chocolate in my hair, on my glasses, down both arms, on my shirt and shorts.  Oh, and all over the kitchen too.  So – maybe you haven’t baptized YOUR kitchen in chocolate but we want to hear what didn’t work or at least what was a crafting challenge.

You have until Sunday, August 19 to enter.  To pick the winner, I will number the comments (omitting my responses and anyone who either doesn’t want the rose or doesn’t follow the rules) and randomly pick a number with this nifty free random number generator.  I’ll send an email to the winner and they will have three days to respond.  If they don’t respond, I’ll pick another number. Once I have my winner, I will get their shipping address via email and send them the rose pin!  Feel free to share this with your friends.

I’ll be giving away a few more of my 30DoC creations ( Button Rings, Macrame Bracelet, Glass Tile Pendants)  so keep an eye out and don’t forget to enter with your comment in the comments section.  There were only 12 entries in the Notebook Giveaway so don’t hesitate to enter if you want this Plastic Spoon Rose.   Also – winning one item does not block you from entering in a future giveaway.

Feel free to share this.

Thanks for stopping by (and good luck!)

Giveaway!

From Day 28 of my 2012 30 Days of Creativity project this is a Marbleized Paper Covered Notebook.  The notebook was part of my collaborative effort with Rem for a contest put on by the folks at 30DoC and Moleskine.  Our project was one of those picked and we won some little Postal Notebooks from Moleskine.  I’m giving away our creation, and you could win it!

Here is how you enter the giveaway: In the comments section of this post, tell me the latest thing you made: have you been doing any crafting?  Maybe you made a sandwich for your lunch?  Did you make the bed?  Whatever, just put it in your comment.  One entry per person, please.

You have until Friday, August 10 to enter.  To pick the winner, I will number the comments (omitting my responses and anyone who either doesn’t want the notebook or doesn’t follow the rules) and randomly pick a number with this nifty free random number generator.  I’ll send an email to the winner and they will have three days to respond.  If they don’t respond, I’ll pick another number. Once I have my winner, I will get their shipping address via email and send them the necklace!  Feel free to share this with your friends.

8/10 Update: We have a winner!  Congrats to Ericka – the notebook will be heading your way soon.

I’ll be giving away a few more of my 30DoC creations in the upcoming weeks (Plastic Spoon Rose pin, Button Rings, Macrame Bracelet, Glass Tile Pendants)  so keep an eye out and don’t forget to enter with your comment in the comments section.  I don’t usually have that many people competing so your odds are probably pretty good.  Also – winning one item does not block you from entering in a future giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by and good luck.

Baked Falafel Pitas

Late in June while I was neck-deep in the 30 Days of Creativity project I made these Baked Falafel Pitas for dinner.  I found the recipe, posted by ThreeManyCooks, on the Tasty Kitchen website (an offshoot of The Pioneer Woman).  I really love falafel but have never fixed it at home because they’re usually fried and I don’t eat much fried food.  I was happy to see this recipe and really love how it turned out.

I increased the fresh herbs in the recipe and didn’t use as much feta cheese as a topping.  In fact, next time I make them I will probably use regular-size pitas so I have room for more lettuce, tomato and cucumber.  I also decreased the garlic. These have loads of flavor with 2 cloves of garlic, herbs and spices.

Baked Falafel Pitas

4 to 6 servings

2 cans (15 oz. size) garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas)

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley or any of the following or a combination of all three: parsley, cilantro and mint

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon chili powder

Toppings:

4 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 whole tomatoes, diced

3 small cucumbers, diced

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

lettuce

avocado (optional)

12 small pitas or 6 regular pitas

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine garbanzo beans, flour, parsley (or combination of parsley, cilantro and mint), garlic and spices in a food processor and pulse until well blended.

Form 24 small patties out of the mixture about 1.5 inches wide and an inch thick.

For easy clean-up, cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with nonstick spray.  You can use a baking sheet without the parchment paper, sprayed with nonstick spray.  Place patties on baking sheet and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, turning once half-way through the baking time.  (You don’t really have to turn them but they’ll brown more evenly if you do.)

While falafel patties are baking, mix together tahini and lemon juice and arrange  other toppings on a serving platter.  We used feta, tomato, cucumber, lettuce and some store bought hummus.  Avocado would be  is a nice addition.

Serve warm patties in pita bread with toppings.  The pita at the top of the post is a full-sized whole wheat pita bread.  The one below is a mini-pita.

Writing this out reminds me of how good this was…I’m going to add the ingredients to my grocery list.

UPDATE: We had Baked Falafel Pitas for dinner and went with full-sized whole wheat pitas and added avocado to the toppings.  The larger size pita works well if you like to put a lot of veggies in with your falafel.

Thanks for the visit!

Coming soon: I’ll be giving away some of the items I made during 30 Days of Creativity!

Two Friends, Three Projects

I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see the craft-seeds I plant in my blog, bloom with someone else’s creative input!  Ariel and Emma were at Sea Ranch with my sister Kathleen.  Kathleen stocked up on supplies and and in between walks on the beach, cooking, swimming, pulling weeds, and reading they did crafting.  Their Bleach Pen T-shirts worked out great!

They also whipped up some Wrap Bracelets, some Macrame Bracelets and even a macrame anklet!

Kathleen said they tried the Buttermilk Lace Pancakes too but the tip of the squeeze bottle kept getting clogged.  At least it is still a delicious pancake even if it wasn’t the lacy design they had hoped for.

I was truly delighted to get these pictures and see how well their projects turned out.  Please send any pictures of projects  from my posts that you’ve tried so I can share them here.

Thanks, Kathleen, for sharing the pictures and providing the supplies and guidance, and thanks to Emma  and Ariel for putting your creative energy into my projects and making them your own.

Scorecard for 30DoC

I’ve been thinking about all those things I created during the 30 Days of Creativity (30DoC) project, and I decided to review and rate them in several areas:

Was it fun to make?  Did I like the results?  Would I suggest it to others? Would I do it again? Do I consider it a winner?

I’m using a scale of 1 to 10 with 1= No Way! and 10= Definitely!

Project	Fun?	Like?	Suggest to Others?	Repeat?	Winner?
Day 1: Washi Tape B-day Card	8	9	8	8	8
Day 2: DIY Cake Stand	7	10	10	5	8
Day 3: Icebox Cupcakes	6	9	10	6	8
Day 4: Double Sponged Card	10	10	10	10	10
Day 5: Tape Dispenser	6	10	8	4	7
Day 6: Shrinky Dink Rings – Fail	5	0	0	0	1
Day 7: Lemon Ice Cream	7	10	10	10	9
Day 8: Cardamom Cookies	5	6	7	7	6
Day 9: Glass Tile Pendants	9	9	10	10	9
Day 10: Veg Potato Salad	5	8	8	8	7
Day 11: Button Rings	9	8	10	7	8
Day 12: String Jar	7	10	10	5	8
Day 13: Vegcycle	10	10	4	0	6
Day 14: Business Cards	10	10	10	10	10
Day 15: Lined Envelopes	7	9	10	6	8
Day 16: Carved Rubber Stamp	10	7	7	10	8
Day 17: Chocolate Bowl	8	0	0	0	2
Day 18: Banana Message	10	8	10	7	9
Day 19: Wrap Bracelet	9	10	10	10	10
Day 20: Chewy Granola Bars	8	10	10	8	9
Day 21: Bleach Pen T-Shirt	9	10	10	10	10
Day 22: Water Marbled Nails	6	4	5	0	4
Day 23: Crepe Paper Flower	6	8	8	9	8
Day 24: Lace Pancakes	8	10	10	10	10
Day 25: DIY Blue Glass Jars	7	9	9	5	7
Day 26: Recycled Gift Bow	6	9	10	5	7
Day 27: Image Journal	10	10	10	10	10
Day 28: Marbleized Notebook	5	8	10	3	6
Day 29: Plastic Spoon Rose	5	6	7	0	4
Day 30: Macramé Bracelet	8	10	10	10	10

Some projects didn’t really work in the end, but were fun to make.  I have to say the Chocolate Bowl project that ended up splattering melted chocolate all over me was fun.

Would I suggest it to someone else? No.   The final score isn’t always mathematically correct.  I rounded up for some and rounded down for others just depending on my own gut response.

I have a total of 7 projects that I gave the full score of 10 in the Winner Category.  Does that mean they’ll work for you or that you’ll love them?  Nope.  But those are the projects I will go back and do again, in fact, I’ve already completed another wrap bracelet and I did a batch of Sponged and Embossed Cards.  I want to make another batch of business cards because I so enjoyed making them and because I want to have business cards with my blog site on hand to give away.

The recipe for the Lacy Buttermilk pancakes made delicious pancakes even in a traditional but boring round shape.  I’ve made another batch of those but I loved the lace ones too and I’m sure I’ll make them again.

I don’t know how soon I’ll do a Bleach Pen T-Shirt but I’m completely delighted with the one I made and I am happy to put it on every time I wear it.

I’ve had my Image Journal for years but it had been gathering dust lately.  It was such a pleasure working on a layout that I plan to continue doing pages.

My final project, Macrame Bracelets, has been keeping me busy in recent days.  Some friends at work wanted a closer look so I  organized a crafting session at lunch.   I love it when I can combine crafting, eating, talking and laughing with friends!  I’ve made a few more macrame bracelets and I keep going back to the bead store for more supplies so I’m not finished with this project yet.

What were your favorite projects?  Are there any you’ve tried or plan to try?

Thanks for the visit.

Day 30: Macrame Bracelet

If you learned to macrame in the late ’60′s or early 70′s you probably picture heavy cord or fuzzy hemp plant holders and hangings in natural colors with wooden beads.  Hello, Red Hill Junior High and Ted Allen’s art class! These slender macrame bracelets made with bead cord in pretty colors and centered around metal charms or connectors have a completely different feel.

The good news is, if you did it back then, you can surely do it now.  If you didn’t, these bracelets that I saw on Honestly WTF, use a basic square knot and some easy jewelry findings you can find at a craft store or online.  Erica shows  a sliding knot closure on Honestly WTF but I thought it had more of a hippy feeling like those early macrame projects and I like the more polished look of the clasp.

My first try was using C-Lon beading cord that I had  from the Wrap Bracelet I made on Day 19, from another great tutorial on Honestly WTF.  The C-Lon is a little stiff and bouncy so sometimes I felt like I was fighting it.  I finished my first bracelet and could see mistakes so started my second. What is important is remembering which side you are knotting from so that the macrame stays flat and even.

You can see that the top one isn’t as even and neat as the bottom one.  In fact, you can make a twisted macrame strand by starting your knots from the same side each time.  I wasn’t doing that on purpose and was much happier with my second attempt.

Then I made a trip to the Baubles and Beads, my local bead store, and got the Chinese Knotting Cord mentioned on Honestly WTF and started my third bracelet of the day.  This stuff is lovely to work with, or at least it is for this project.  It is smooth, silky and flexible.  I wasn’t struggling to make it lie flat.  They sell it for 35 cents a yard so it is pretty economical for a bracelet.

This is a project I am looking forward to doing more of. But right now I’m just glad I made it to the end of the 30 Days of Creativity!  What I’m really looking forward to now is not being up at 11:00 PM or midnight finishing a post. I’ll be taking a bit of a craft break while I attend to other stuff around the apartment and in my life.  I’ll be writing a little review of the projects and I’ve got other projects and ideas that didn’t happen during 30DoC still to come.

Macrame Bracelet

Supplies

4 yards Chinese Knotting Cord (0.5mm) or C-Lon Bead Cord

Charm or Connector

Crimp-On Cord Ends (2)

Jump Rings (you want ones that open, not those that are soldered closed) (2)

Lobster Clasp (1)

Flat Nose Pliers

Scissors

Tape (I used Washi) to hold macrame to your work table

Aleene’s All Purpose Tacky Glue or E6000 Adhesive (optional)

Directions:

The exact length of cord you will need is a little tricky to tell because it depends both on the size of the charm or connector you use and the size of your wrist.

Cut your cord into four 1-yard pieces. Fold each one so one third or 12 inches is on one side and two thirds or 24 inches on the other.  When you attach the cord to the charm, you want the shorter ends to be in the middle and the longer ends on each side.  Take the fold and loop it through your charm, fold it over and pull the ends through the loop.  Repeat with the second piece of cord.

Turn the charm around and do the other two pieces of cord the same way on the other side.

The inner two strands on each side don’t get knotted, they just lie there and the outside strands are knotted over them.  That is why you can make the inner cords shorter – the outer ones get shorter as you go along. The following isn’t a great picture but it shows two inner cords that are shorter than the two outer ones.

Tape your piece to the table or desk where you’ll be working .

Starting with the strand on the right, bend it over the two inside strands like a letter P and under the outside cord on the left.

Bring the left side strand under the two center strands and up through the loop on the right.  Pull tight.

Now do the same on the left.  Instead of a P, you will form a small q when working from the left side. (I actually think of it like a number 4). The strand on the left is now bent over the two inside strands and under the strand on the right.

The strand on the far right goes under the two center strands and up through the loop.  Put it tight.

You have now created a square knot!  Keep on knotting.  I found I was easily distracted and would forget if I’d knotted from the left or right unless I kept saying “right, right, right” in my head until I finished that side, than my chant becomes “left , left, left”.  Once you have one side knotted, turn it around, tape it down and start knotting the other side.

Measure the cord ends, jump loops and the clasp so you know how much to factor in for size.  Also allow a little give – you don’t want this to be too tight.  I added a bit more so that when I attach the cord ends I actually crimp it on just over the end of the macrame knots, not just over the loose ends of the cord.

The little cord end I got folds down  – I use a little glue inside the cord ends for extra insurance.  Kelly at Baubles and Beads was very helpful directing me to the right thing.  There is also a tiny little spike inside the cord end at the end opposite the loop.  Press down on the end of your macrame onto that micro-spike.

Use pliers to fold first one side of the connector down and then the other.

You can either trim the ends after attaching the crimping cord end or trim the ends and then add the cord end.  I did both and prefer trimming before attaching the cord end, although these pictures show the ends left on and trimmed after crimping.

Add a jump ring to the loop at the end of the cord end finding.  Add the cord end and jump right to the other end of the bracelet and put the lobster clasp on with the jump ring at one end.

There you have it!  Now go forth and make multiple macrame bracelets! (Look here for pictures of great bracelets by readers).

UPDATE: The Bead Den did just that: here is a link to where she reposted this post.  Scroll to the end to see what she made!

My final 30 Days of Creativity post in 2011 Honey Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel Sauce.  Delicious.

I know I’ve been loading your in-boxes with email.  Thanks for your patience and support through all thirty days!

Day 29: Plastic Spoon Rose

I made a white rose today and it’s got a pin on the back so I can wear it.  Only…I don’t think I will!  It also has a hole in one of the petals. Mostly I just wanted to make it!

I thought I bought a small box of spoons when I was getting ready for 30DoC but I can’ t find them.  I scrounged around and came with a few less spoons than the directions call for, but close enough.  I’m sure I’ll find the box of spoons in the next day or so.

Rem and I went to the DeYoung Museum today and I’d love to say these flower pins from their gift shop inspired me.

But I’d already seen these roses at Can’t Stop Making Things. (Check it out for inspiration).

I’m sorry but I’m not going to post directions.  It involves a candle and garden clippers (I used some strong little nippers as well). I couldn’t do it quite as posted, so instead of melting the petals together I used a hot glue gun.

I glued a small circle of felt on the back and then glued a pin back to the felt.

What do you think?

Last year on Day 29 I was also thinking unique roses: check out the Vegetable Printed Wrapping Paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Day 28: Collaborate! Marbleized Paper Covered Notebook (with Video!)

I was going to take it easy today and just coast.  I’m working longer days at work in the summer and I’m staying up too late every night creating things.  I have Jazzercise class tonight.  I’m tired.  Whine, whine whine.  But then the #30DoC folks created a challenge!  I just couldn’t pass it up without giving it a shot.

The rules:

Pair up with any other Twitter user to make a collaborative piece for Day 28′s notebook day. We’ll pin your creation to our board, where all creators will be able to vote for their favorites. At 3:00 on Day 29, the top 25 creations’ teams with the most Pinterest likes will receive a gift from Moleskine.

~from the folks at 30 Days of Creativity

Well, I happen to have a Twitter user right in the apartment with me and he was amenable to collaborating on a creation for Day 28 (and the chance to win swag from Moleskine).  Thanks, Rem.

I did a post about this method of marbleizing paper before here.  It’s a great project and lots of fun.  I suggested making marbleized paper to cover our notebook and Rem agreed.  He worked hard and made this  awesome video to show how to create the marbleized paper and one of his photos is the one at the top of the post.

The supplies for the whole project include shaving cream (I prefer a citrus one but can’t always find it), ink refills to drip on the shaving cream…

Card stock (not shown), cookie sheets to use as a work surface (I show a glass casserole in the picture but found it wasn’t large enough to fit my sheet of paper), a squeegee, a plastic spoon a chopstick, and paper towels.

Once the paper is done: a composition book to cover, Mod Podge and a brush, Washi tape, a bone folder, scissors, an Exacto knife and an elastic hairband as a finishing touch on your new notebook.

First you make the marbleized paper according to the post here or the video here.

Once it is done, you cover the composition book with the paper.  Draw around the notebook with a pencil and cut your paper almost to size, allowing a little extra.  When you try to glue the paper and book together it’s easier to work with if you have  a margin of paper. I’ve found that the paper doesn’t always stick well once it has been marbleized because the shaving cream is coating the paper.

You may have to try several things until you get one that works for you – it really depends on both the paper and the shaving cream.  For this project I used Mod Podge.  A bone folder helps to smooth and press the paper onto the notebook.  A glue stick usually works too.

Use scissors or an Exacto knife to trim off the excess paper. Do the back cover the same way.

Some binder clips along the binding will help really hold the paper in place until the Mod Podge holds it.

Cover the binding with Washi tape and trim the ends with small scissors or the Exacto knife. I used two strips.

For a finishing touch, an elastic hairband makes a great belly band for the notebook.

Last year on Day 28, I made these cool Bottle Cap Necklaces.

That is it, our best effort for Day 28. By the way, I never made it to Jazzercise.

All the best to other teams.  Moleskine Notebooks for everyone!  Thanks for stopping by.

Day 27: Image Journal

This is a two page spread I did tonight in my image journal.  I’ve been keeping it for years though I don’t sit down with it as often as I’d like.  My sister also keeps one and very occasionally we’ll sit down together for a relaxing afternoon or evening of journaling.

Tonight I reorganized all the pictures or images that I collect for the journal.  If I see something in a magazine or want to save a greeting card, bookmark, postcard or other visual piece, I tuck it into a translucent plastic box.  When I’m ready to spend some time working on a page or two, I pull out the box.

Quite simply the only thing it is for is my own pleasure.  It has no deadline and the only theme is things that I like.  When I sort through the torn pages from magazines  I’ve saved, I put like things together.  Than I paste them in the book.

Following are close ups of the two pages I put together tonight.  I used some Washi tape, a first for my Image Journal.

Creativity isn’t far away.

On Day 27 last year, I created Photo Cards.

Thanks for stopping by.