This Weekend April 29, 2009

Flint City Handmade Spring Market is this weekend!

I will be vending, along with all of these lovelies:

beautiful JUNK
Made With Luv
Stick Nymph
Gizmodgery
Amanda’s Creations
Rug Wear
Always the Forest
Lunch Lady Land
Sandra Fielder
International Robot
Jewelry Storm/Radically Random
Aisle 3
Wei’s Open Secret
The Yarntoad Collective
ZAKARANAS
Becklesbobbles
The Living Thread
Ms.Christa’s Accessories
SEEDS Studio
Barrel of Monkeys
Creative Alliance
UGHB
Motown Bound
Whimsical Works by Jen Sikora
art by amandaNsimons.com
Art by Gary Sierdarski
It’s A Scream Productions
FIRED UP!
Cradle of Critters
relishdress
Alexandria’s Soap Garden
Crochet Science
Stone Sheep
fourchamberforge, LLC
CLKcreative
Empress Wears…
Wistful Fancy
Otra Vez
Tilt Creations
Chicaloo Photography & More
Runaway Fashion House
Kenny Corbin
TheHeatherMonsterCreations

Also, there is an awesome raffle table with items donated from all the vendors.

Hope you can make it!

Jiffy Mix April 16, 2009

Once in a while, I get in a baking mood, and I have to make something. Last week, while I was off, I decided on making some muffins for breakfast. I always keep on hand, a couple different varieties of Jiffy Mix. Not only do they make yummy mixes which are 58 cents a box (crazy!), it’s a Michigan based company. I remember touring the production plant when I was in the fourth grade, donned with a paper “chef’s hat”, shoe protectors (like doctors wear in the OR) and a hair net!

I decided on baking Raspberry muffins, mmm…

Muffins are fairly easy to make in general, but the mix is fool proof!
Even if you lack skill in the baking department, these are easy to make. I couldn’t wait until they cooled down to eat them.

Also, with every box of Jiffy Mix, they include another recipe on the box for another use for the mix. The muffin mix had a recipe for Raspberry Bars, which I made for an Easter brunch with my family, and they were AWESOME! Here is the recipe:

1 package Jiffy Raspberry Muffin Mix
5 Tbsp. margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup of quick oats
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup of raspberry jam or preserves (filling)
Makes 12-16 bars

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch square pan. Combine first four ingredients. Mix with a fork until crumbly. Reserve and set aside 1/4 cup of crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture on bottom of pan. Spread 1/2 cup of filling on top of crumb mixture to 1/2 inch from the edge of the pan. Bake 24-28 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool and cut.

I used almost an entire pint sized jar of my mom’s homemade raspberry jam in mine (more than a 1/2 cup), and baked mine for 22 minutes.

Yum! Hope you give the recipe a try.

New For Spring March 29, 2009

Spring is about new beginnings, so I thought I would post about a few!

Handmade Detroit has a new swanky website. User friendly and jam-packed with tips, links, and local shows. Check it out!

Gazelle’s House of Handmades now has an online shop, just in case you want to shop in your PJs. This is my favorite room at Gazelle’s- The Pink Room!

I have lots of new items in my Etsy Shop. I have spring fever when it comes to crafting lately.

What are your new things for spring?

Tiny Turtle Contest Winners March 8, 2009

First place goes to Lola, who created a whole scene to make Tiny a scurvy pirate, complete with paper parrot!

2nd place goes to Mooran, who made two different sizes and sent me a whole day of adventures worth of photos- this one was my favorite though!

Last Day to Enter! March 6, 2009

The deadline to enter the Tiny Turtle Photo Contest is today! I will accept email submissions and Flickr submissions up to midnight tonight (12:00am EST). I will post the winners tomorrow here and by email.

You can email me your pictures enamor_etsy@yahoo.com or you can tag your photo on Flickr with tinyturtlephotocontest

I also have listed a couple new painting in my shop

In the Meadow

Whale Migration

Still Time to Enter February 18, 2009

Have you printed your Tiny Turtle yet? Don’t worry, there is still time to enter your creative photos in my contest.

You can email me your photos at enamor_etsy@yahoo.com, just make sure and put, “Tiny Turtle” in the subject line.

Or, if you have a Flickr account, you can upload your photos and tag them with tinyturtlephotocontest.

Deadline is March 5th. I will announce the winners here and by email on March 6th.

Tiny Turtle Paper Toy and contest February 12, 2009

Just in time for Valentines Day, I created a new paper toy you can print, assemble, and give to your friends! His name’s Tiny, and he’s a very loving turtle.

You can download the printable pattern here. You can print him any size you want with your printer’s program, but he will print on a standard piece of paper or cardstock.

Tiny is very easy to make. All you need is a printer, scissors, craft knife, and a glue stick. Cut around on the solid lines. Fold along the dotted lines. He forms into a simple box shape. There are tabs on each side which fold in and glue to the front of the body and side of the head. His legs will stick out away from the body and require the use of a craft knife to cut them. The bottom will be light green.

I’m holding a special contest for you! Print Tiny, fold him up, and take a creative photo of him and email it to me at enamor_etsy@yahoo.com. The top three photos will win these prizes:

1st place: A limited edition print of my Love Tree artwork and a 15% off coupon to use in my Etsy shop

2nd place: A Hankie Lady greeting card and a 10% off coupon

3rd place: A set of Norm the Gnome gift tags

Deadline to email me photos is March 5th. Good luck!

Hitter’s Edge Mural Project January 16, 2009

Hey all! Wonder what I’ve been up to lately (perhaps the lack of posts)?

Well I’ve been traveling back and forth on my days off to Sturgis, Michigan, home of Hitter’s Edge Baseball Academy. My friend Kevin instructs at the facility and is co-owner with Mike. They hired me to do a one-of-a-kind mural to really make their facility stand out. Of course, I was happy to take on the task!

Their team colors are navy blue and white, which also happen to be the main colors inside the facility as well. The wall itself is pretty big, about 15ft tall. I took a photo of the wall and went home and made a digital mock-up of the art I would do. I really wanted to emphasize motion with the art because baseball is such an exciting sport both for the players and to watch.

It was a lot of work prepping the wall, putting on a coat of white paint (with a HUGE paint roller), and drawing on the players in sections while on a ladder. This past Thursday, I finally got the first coat of blue on the baseman- because we had record cold temperature this week, the paint was not drying as fast as I would have liked, so I didn’t get to finish him.

Hopefully next week I will get it done!

Facebook December 30, 2008

Hey! I finally caved and joined facebook. Add me if you have an account!
Click my profile yo!

Merry Christmas! December 23, 2008

Hope you have a blessed holiday.

See you all in 2009!