May 17, 2010

Blog Posts of the Week II

For some reason, last week's post had my Etsy Mini in between every paragraph. That post should now be fixed. I seem to have been in food/recipe mode this week; I have more recipe blog posts than crafting posts.



Pasta Salad with Lemon and Peas

At some point within the past few years I discovered that although I do not care much for macaroni salad, I love pasta salads. As a result, I'm always looking for new pasta salad ideas. I can't wait to try this one from An Herbal Bedfellow!






Tropical Traditions Flax Seed Giveaway

This post is also from An Herbal Bedfellow. Flax seed is something of a recent discovery for me. I'm always looking for ways to get more fiber. Flax seeds are an easy way to get a little extra fiber. I like to put them in my oatmeal, cream of wheat, and homemade granola. The giveaway for a one pound bag of flax seed ends on Friday, May 21, at midnight.



Motif 1&2

Catherine's Crafting recently returned to blogland. She joined a 25 motif tatting challenge. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her work. Welcome back to blogland!



3 of a kind, but no pair

Yarnplayer dyed some more thread this week. Every time I see one of her skeins, I want to buy it! Or learn how to make my own HDT.



Confetti Egg Salad with Olives, Pimentos, Salami, Scallions, and Parsley

Farmgirl Fare is an awesome blog. My basic pizza sauce recipe came from Susan's blog, and has been tweaked to my family's taste. I was also introduced to Pesto on Farmgirl Fare. If I ever get around to making this recipe, I would probably leave the olives out, or put them on the side. Somehow mixing olives and eggs doesn't appeal to me.



Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen



Chicken and Radish Salad with Avocado Green Goddess Dressing

This recipe is from one of my favorite food blogs: Chocolate and Zucchini. Not only do I like the name, but the recipes are interesting, as well as the background information on strange-to-me ingredients. I've also enjoyed the Edible Idioms series of posts, and the monthly desktop calendar wallpapers. Clotilde has also published a cookbook, Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures In a Parisian Kitchen, available from Amazon.com.



Enjoy this week's posts! I will be sewing and helping Mom with preparations for my Sis's wedding all week - less than 2 weeks now!

May 11, 2010

Blog Posts of the Week I

If you read my gardening blog, you will already know that Google Reader says I have 108 blog subscriptions. In order to better keep up with reading all those blog posts, I'm starting a feature on both of my blogs with the posts I liked best. Both blogs will have recipe posts, but the garden blog will have garden-related posts featured, and this blog will have craft-related posts.

Testing Texture
This is just plain cool. A test swatch of different textures. I could see this turning into a very awesome scarf! Also a great way to decide what texture works best with your yarn, as French Press Knits was doing.

Pretty Posy
Projects as pretty as this make me wish I had more time for tatting. Jon's Thread Escapades is one of my favorite tatting blogs. Jon's work is always lovely, and I enjoy seeing the patterns she designs.

Resurrected
This post falls into the "Will be Useful Information Someday" category. Someday being defined as "Someday, when I've knit a pair of socks that have been worn so much that they now need to be darned". Which is exactly what happened to Knitterella. Her socks have been saved, and she made a great tutorial about how to darn socks.

Clara- Off the Needles
This is another "Someday" post. As in "Someday I will know someone who will appreciate the time and effort put into making a knitted piece and I can make this for their little girl" Or "Someday I'll be married, and hopefully have a little girl I can make this for. Anyway, French Press Knits did a lovely job on this cute little dress.

Shrimp and Feta Orzo
As I mentioned on my other blog, I'm not entirely sure I would enjoy this recipe, but it does intrigue me. If I make it, there will probably be a few tweaks made. Posted by An Herbal Bedfellow.

Hope you enjoy all the posts!!

May 10, 2010

Clearance is Wonderful!

Blog or Facebook?...Facebook or Blog? Blog. If only all the posts I write in my head could somehow find their way to Blogger as drafts. Then I'd just need to add a few pictures and links, and presto, Blog Posts To Go.

This was the deal of the week...two weeks ago. Six packages of Studio by Sculpey polymer clay. JoAnn's clearance isle, .50 apiece. According to their website, this usually sells for $2.99 per package. So, I got 6 packs for (nearly) the price of one. It (almost) always pays to check the clearance isle.
Now that you've seen my deal of the week, you probably want to know why I bought polymer clay, since I've never mentioned it before. The first time I saw clay ornaments and accessories for dollhouses, I was intrigued. At the time, I didn't think I could do it, it would be too expensive, and I really didn't need another hobby. One of the things the kids I babysit enjoy doing with me is modeling polymer clay. The first time I tried it, I knew I was hooked. I was also too broke to buy my own clay. Hence my excitement at finding the clay in the clearance isle. So far I haven't really done much with it. I've been doing a lot of research and planning my first project; a "room box patio" for my dollhouse. If you don't know what a room box is, there is a great tutorial here. Mine will be a bit different; I'll be sure to take pictures and post a step-by-step of how I do it. Due to helping with my Sis's wedding, and making the Wedding Gift, I will not have time to work on my new hobby until June. Stay tuned!