ICP Featured Artist: UrbanGypZ

Our featured Indie Craft Parade artist of the week is UrbanGypZ Artisan Yarn!

UrbanGypZ Artisan Yarn is one of a kind fiber art. Stacey is a former art director, now painting yarn and spinning full-time. She offers yarn that is ready to knit or or crochet, as well as beautifully painted fibers that you can spin yourself. I am in awe of the all the lovely colors, such perfect combinations! I will definitely have to be adding to my yarn stash.

In addition to her own fibers, UrbanGypZ also carries "Helping a Sister Out," a line of yarns and fibers  that come from a fair trade collective in Nepal. "These women hand spin from recycled fibers. Sales of their beautiful yarns and fibers help them earn a livable wage and supports their community."

Check out UrbanGypZ 's shop here, and read Stacey's blog here. Don't forget to save your pennies for Indie Craft Parade!

I'll be featuring an artist from Indie Craft Parade each week until the festival is held this September.

Weekend Glimpse

birthday cupcakes. 2 am.

picnic party

Cooling off with Annie and Marshall.

Not pictured:

- impromptu dinner + movie

- plastering downtown with ICP posters

- rainy Saturday

- sleeping in when I should have gotten up early

- attending this fantastic art show

- homemade pizza. yum.

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade

This punch was served at the baby shower, and it was a smashing success. Light, refreshing, not too sweet, and sooooo pretty!

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade

1 gallon pink lemonade
2 two-liter bottles of Schweppes Raspberry Ginger Ale
1 small package frozen raspberries (optional)
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 lemon

Puree the frozen raspberries in a food processor until smooth. In a punch bowl, combine pureed raspberries, pink lemonade and ginger ale. Stir to combine. Slice lemon into thin rounds. Float lemon rounds and fresh raspberries in the punch. Serve and enjoy!

Notes:

The photo was taken before pureed raspberries were added (sorry! we were waiting for the food processor to arrive.) They did add a delicious real fruit flavor, but you can leave them out if you desire.

Don't forget to refrigerate your ingredients beforehand, that way you won't have to dilute the punch with ice.

I prefer punch without ice cream. So foamy! So Sweet! So messy! So impossible to eat the ice cream out of the bottom of a cup! But, if that sort of thing makes you happy, feel free to add a pint of vanilla ice cream or raspberry sherbet.

The recipe multiplies very easily. This amount serves 12-16 people.

I just kind of threw this recipe together, obviously it would be simple to switch ingredients out and change up the flavor... Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade...Sparkling Limeade...Sparkling Lemonade... etc.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

Chocolate. Cheesecake. Cupcakes. How can you go wrong? Annie, who is a cupcake connoisseur, said that these were the best cupcakes she has ever eaten. I will not argue with that award.

Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix (I prefer Pillsbury's Devil's Food)
1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding
3 T. cocoa powder (did you know that this is the world's best cocoa powder?)
1 egg + the eggs called for on box, room temperature 
Water, as called for on box
Oil,  as called for on box
2/3 c. milk
1 eight oz. pkg. softened cream cheese
1/3 c. sugar
1 c. mini chocolate chips

Fold together cake mix, pudding, cocoa powder. Add eggs as called for on box (reserving 1 extra egg), water, oil, milk. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, set aside.

In small bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar. Beat in the reserved 1 egg. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with cake batter. Drop 1 rounded teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in each. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cake tests done. 

Yield: 2 dozen cupcakes

Once cooled, top with your favorite buttercream frosting. Mine is Best Buttercream.

If you want to be extra fancy, garnish with chocolate curls. See how to make them!

Baby Shower Recap

Here's an overview of the baby shower I hosted for my BFF, Heather.

Invitations
The invitations were made using the wonderful downloadandprint.com. I used the "Birch Trees" design, which is intended to be a wedding invitation. The site instructs you to enter your text in Word, but as the editing possibilities are very limited there, I used Photoshop instead. First I took a screen capture of the design parts, and then put them back together at the size and placement I wanted. Then the trees were changed from a gray to a robin's egg blue, and some little bird silhouettes were added in a bright pink. I added the text, and ta-da, done! I took the file to my local copy shop and had it printed on a heavy cardstock. (Note that all the PS work was done with some help from my resident expert, Cory.)

Menu
Drinks:
- Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade
- Ice Water

Sweet:
- Cookie Dough Truffles
- Sugar Cookie Doves
- Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes
- Lemon Berry Trifles

Savory:
- Baby BLT's
- Spinach and Artichoke Dip
- Cheese Tarts

I'll be back with a couple recipes later this week. The food preparation was shared with my lovely co-hosts, but even with all that help, the cheese tarts fell by the wayside and didn't make an appearance. I ruined my puff pastry (long story) and didn't have time to improvise. In the end, it was fine, nobody missed them, and we had plenty of food.

   Who better to set the mood for a baby shower than these sweet little muffins.

Heather received some gorgeous gifts, including this owl that my mom knitted.

I made some onesies using this fantastic set of iron-transfers. Pros: I love that they actually transfer the ink, not a plastic-y decal. Cons: the colors came out a lot brighter than the transfers appeared. I preferred them more subdued.

The gorgeous guest of honor!

ICP Featured Artist: Involution Design!

Our featured Indie Craft Parade artist of the week is Involution Design!

Involution Design is run by Jessica, who is "a seamstress, wool felter, and jewelry maker, and loves continually exploring new ways to combine these arts into well-crafted, original pieces that are made to be loved for a long time." These gorgeous jewelry designs feature felted wool, delicate stitchery, and hand-forged sterling silver. I love that Jessica creates every aspect herself, it shows a great devotion to her craft. Each piece is so unique and wonderful, I can't decide which is my favorite!

Check out Involution Design's shop here, and don't forget to save your pennies for Indie Craft Parade!

I'll be featuring an artist from Indie Craft Parade each week until the festival is held this September.

Weekend Glimpse

This weekend was Heather's baby shower, among several other things, and it was a whirlwind of fun.

Shower preparations...

Farmer's market flowers waiting to be arranged, 

the remains of frantic baking, 

sugar cookie doves with gold-encrusted wings,

and my second attempt at blush pink frosting.

Little golden shoes for the baby, and countless other lovely things.

Still only Saturday, we attend a marvelous kid art show.

Cory purchases this piece, "Odysseus and the Sea Monster"

See video here.

Sunday night, spoils from a spontaneous Charlotte run with friends.

I scored some sweet Anthro clearance items and behaved myself at Ikea.

Still enjoying the flowers. 

The cockscomb is enthralling.

Not pictured:

- no sleep for me on Friday night

- no balloons at the dollar store

- 2 magnificent co-hosts that saved me from going completely crazy

- making new friends

- post-party crash & fashion show 

& watching YouTube videos that make us cry

- running into my almost sister, Dani Faye, who I miss every day. 

So glad to see her face.

- girl talk

- still haven't finished all the dishes

100

This is my one hundredth post... so crazy! In the few short months I've been blogging, I've already had so many great opportunities and gotten to know so many lovely people. I just wanted to thank you all for hanging around as I'm figuring the whole thing out!

Here is a sneak peek of one of my new designs that I've worked up for Indie Craft Parade. These butter yellow rose earrings are my new favorite, and I hope you like them too.

GIVEAWAY

In celebration of my one hundredth post, the first person who comments will win these earrings!

Please leave your email address so I may contact you.

Work Day

Today was a work day, spent on the Frazee Dream Center project. Here's a few shots of our progress, as demonstrated by my wonderful helpers...

Cory putting on the second coat of gorgeous paint

Amy & Lisa painting the cubby system

Brittani organizing mountains of books

She drove all the way from Charlotte to spend the day working with us!

It's coming along splendidly!

Peach Blueberry Crumble

A treat for the office was long overdue, and I had some succulent peaches on hand, so I came up with this Peach Blueberry Crumble. And it was good.

Peach Blueberry Crumble

1 c. flour
3/4 c. rolled oats
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. melted butter
4 c. sliced peaches
1 c. blueberries
1/2 c. white sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add melted butter, mix together with a fork to form crumbles. Press half of the mixture in the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover with the peaches and blueberries. In a saucepan, stir together the white sugar, cornstarch, ginger, and nutmeg. Add water and vanilla, cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thickened and clear (about 10 minutes). Pour over the fruit. Top with the other half of the crumb mixture. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until crumbs brown slightly. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Note: This recipe was adapted from an apple crisp recipe. You can use any type or combination of fruit.. try cherries, blackberries, apples! Add some nuts or chopped ginger! You may need to extend the baking time 5-10 minutes to allow firmer fruits to soften.

ICP Featured Artist: Sweeteeth!

Our Indie Craft Parade featured artist of the week is the marvelously-mouth-watering Sweeteeth!

"Sweeteeth makes handcrafted chocolate bars and truffles by combining single-origin Colombian chocolate with bits of goodness and addictive fillings." Are you drooling yet? Combining gorgeous design, fresh seasonal ingredients, and tantalizing flavors, Sweeteeth doesn't hold back. The Charleston-based chocolatiers are "devoted to the production of finely crafted truffles and chocolate bars, with an emphasis on high-quality chocolate couverture, innovative flavor pairings and fine craftsmanship."

Check out Sweeteeth's website, and view their sweets. Don't forget to save your pennies for Indie Craft Parade!

P.S. If you're looking for me at 6 pm on Friday, September 10, I'll be standing in line at Sweeteeth's booth, waiting to get my hands on a "Sea is for Caramel" bar. Mmmmmm.

I'll be featuring an artist from Indie Craft Parade each week until the festival is held this September.

Weekend Glimpse

Monday always comes in a whirlwind of busyness. Then it's almost gone, before I've hardly realized it.

It was a nice weekend, some good wholesome work and some good wholesome play.

Prepping peaches. I wanted to kiss every one of them, they were so perfect!

Recipe to come on Wednesday.

The remains of crafting, planning, snipping, and tying.

Hosting a baby shower on Saturday! You will hear all about it soon.

Yummy cookies in harsh lighting.

Welcome home presents for some boys who had been hiking for the past couple weeks.

Not pictured:

- tending to our neglected yard, the bushes had not been trimmed in 400 years

- finally moving that pile of topsoil

- me almost passing out from the heat and Cory bravely rescuing me from the hedge trimmer

- a perfect soak in the neighbor's pool

- fresh salsa for almost every meal

- trying to rid myself of this lingering sinus cold

- planning and scheming baby shower plans with 2 wonderful co-hosts

- fluffing little tiny tissue poufs, all strung together

Before Photos and Style Board

I think I have solved my design dilemma, I had an epiphany earlier today that was quite helpful. This project I'm working on is with Belle magazine, they've assigned 3 decorators in the area to work with 3 different charities and given us a budget of $100 to redo one of the charity's rooms. I was assigned to work with the Frazee Dream Center, a fantastic group doing long-term education assistance in one of Greenville's most under-resourced neighborhoods. I'm redoing "Kory's Room," which is used for the kindergarten-2nd grade group. Here are the before pictures...

As you can see, it's a good-sized room...plenty of work to be done! They asked for a better storage solution and bright, cheerful colors. So here is the style board I came up with...

Note: there is a decent amount of pink in the board, which is due to the images I could find and the level I was able to manipulate them. There will be zero to minimal pink in the actual room.

The first thing is to liven up the walls with a bright sea glass blue. All the large furniture pieces I've shown here are just to get the idea across, they have built the desks and storage system already.

1. Whiteboard... they requested a laminated poster board, but I've got a nifty little scheme to make a nice whiteboard.

2. Chairs... existing chairs will have the seat cushions reupholstered.

3. Storage Totes... I found white plastic dishpans that are just the right size, and in my budget! They will work perfectly for storing toys and supplies.

4. Storage... existing cubby system will be painted charcoal gray (currently raw plywood).

5. Birds... an installation of paper birds will be placed over the desk area in shades of red with a few accent pops.

6. Curtains... breezy white curtains will let in plenty of light.

7. Pom Cluster... a cluster of red poms will be hung over the bookshelves to create a cozy nook.

8. Red Trim... sewn along the bottom hem of the curtains.

9. Books... need to be organized.

10. Desks... existing desk system will be painted charcoal gray (currently raw plywood).


So that's the idea, I hope I can stretch the money far enough to accomplish all this. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Announcement!

I will be painting the room on Thursday, August 12 from 9 am-2 pm. I could definitely use some help, so if you're interested, please let me know!

My Design Dilemma + AHeirloom Cutting Boards

I'm knee deep in a major design dilemma... I'm working on a charity project where I'm making over one of their rooms. The problem is the room is quite large and needs some serious help...and the budget is $100. Fresh paint and reorganization will help, but beyond that I'm in need of some divine inspiration!

While I stare blankly at my computer, check out these gorgeous cutting boards by AHeirloom. I'll be back tomorrow with some before pictures of this project and hopefully a plan of attack!

New York, California, and Michigan.

Aren't they just fantastic? What a great gift idea. Check out AHeirloom's shop, and enter to win one of these beauties at Moonface!

Shop Help from Going Home to Roost

Going Home to Roost is one of my favorite daily reads. Bonnie's posts are always helpful, interesting, and beautiful, whether she's gushing over her sweet baby chicks or sharing how to organize your craft room. I have a total blog-crush on her and can't wait to meet her at Indie Craft Parade!

Bonnie's series of Shop Help posts are great for anyone who has a store, either brick-and-mortar or online. Remember how I opened a shop? And then promptly abandoned it? As soon as I get past Indie Craft Parade I'll be working on it some more, and I will have a booth at the event as well.  She has just announced that she'll be offering a new e-class on this very subject, and if you know what's good for you, you'll sign up for it right now! If I wasn't already completely booked during the class dates, I would be all over it. Read her post about the class, check out the class details, and download her free e-book! The e-book alone is incredibly helpful, I can only imagine how great the class is going to be!

Featured Artist: Chris Koelle

Our featured Indie Craft Parade artist for this week is ever-so-talented Chris Koelle!

Christopher Koelle is an illustrator and fine artist, and a darned good one too (and I'm not just saying that because I know him). Chris has the corner on cycling related art, with his acclaimed Sweet Ride zine and Bike Snob work,  but also dabbles in botanicals, vintage cameras, and icon-influenced imagery.

Check out the Koelle Art blog, or visit Chris' shops here and here.  Don't forget to save your pennies for Indie Craft Parade!

I'll be featuring an artist from Indie Craft Parade each week until the festival is held this September.

Weekend Glimpse

A sad picture for a sad weekend. It's almost laughable how many things went wrong this weekend. It should have been a simple trip to Myrtle Beach, but then a 4 hour drive turns into 7 hours, Google Maps decides to play games with us, and we end up in a hotel that looked like it was in a 20/20 murder documentary (after I spend 1.5 hours talking to the front desk and Expedia). Picture someone's brother's dorm room attached to a Waffle House bathroom.... Apparently at Expedia, that's a "3 star resort." After waking up to a torrential thunderstorm at 6 am, we called it quits, jumped back in the car, and came home.

And had a very pleasant evening. And decided never to go back.

Not pictured:
- Jim Gaffigan, who was the whole reason for the trip. He was fantastic, but didn't quite make up for all the mishaps.
- an overweight NASCAR fan with a high-pitched laugh who decided to share half my seat
- Cory and I carrying our luggage cart up the stairs. No elevator. Why offer us luggage carts?! It was like something from Candid Camera.
- a wistful glance at the beach