Good news reguarding the CPSIA issue...

Check out The Storque for the latest news.

Mmmm Chocolate Chip Cookies....

Here is a really easy chocolate chip cookie recipe...

1/2 cup butter ( 1 stick)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 1/2 cups of flour

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

mix butter and sugars

next add egg and vanilla to the butter mixture

in a separate bowl (or not...I usually do not...I know it's wrong) mix the flour, salt and baking powder

slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture.

add chocolate chips...and whatever else you would like to add

drop tablespoon sized portions of the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet

You can make larger cookies if you like. I have young kids who like the small sized cookies:)

bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes

let cool

eat

enjoy!

Mmmmmm Chocolate Chip Cookies...

CPSIA: Blog-in

Save Handmade!

I read in the Storque today about a blog-in on the CPSIA issue.

If you have not heard about the CPSIA issue, please read more here.Thank you.

Scented Polymer Clay

There was this topic in the Etsy forums where someone was asking if you could color polymer clay with koolaid? It got me thinking...would the koolaid scent the polymer clay too? I have never tried to scent polymer clay, but with all the polymer clay food creations out there, wouldn't it be fun to add a scent to them?

I found some great info on the topic of scenting polymer clay on the glass attic website (one of my very favorite polymer clay information resources) under "SMELL-Y Inclusions".

I think that I will be using ground cinnamon in my first attempt at scenting polymer clay. This is mainly because that is what I have on hand. The cinnamon scented clay would be really great for making gingerbread men, houses, etc... The texture that the cinnamon might add would work well too. I might try the koolaid also. I will let you know how it goes.
Anyone else have any tips? ideas?

Pretty and Prickly

I was able to create a treasury today. I have titled it "pretty and prickly". It is a collection of wonderful cactus inspired creations. Please stop by and take a look if you get a chance.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=35298

Polymer Clay Nail Art?

I had never heard of polymer clay nail art, until a few days ago, when it was written about on Polymer Clay CraftGossip. It is so interesting and quite pretty! You have to check it out. I also googled "polymer clay nail art", and found an interesting blog post from The Polymer Clay Tutor on the subject. Here is another post from the Polymer Clay Tutor on how to make the teeny tiny canes used in nail art.

photo by aya1gou
photo by CatTherien C.A. Therien has a great selection of nail art canes and slices on her website. She also explains how to apply them. Very, very interesting!

Bead Star

It's like the American Idol for beaders...

Here are the Bead Star 2009 Rules.

Deadline to submit designs: Friday, May 1, 2009 (midnight EDT).

logo is from beadingdaily.com There are two categories that I am interested in...seed beads and plastics (polymer clay will be considered a plastic). I have never entered a contest like this before, but it sure looks like fun! Hmmm...I better get my thinking cap on!

Charms for your purse, phone, zipper....

Hi!

I made a bunch of the polymer clay beads in my Etsy shop into charms today.

The charms are so cute on phones, purses and as zipper pulls. They would make a great gift!
You can check them out here.

Another felt doll...

She will be given as a gift...

I made her using wool felt, mohair yarn and cotton embroidery floss. She is hand stitched.

New items in my shops...

Hi!

I wanted to let you know that I added a bunch of new items to my Etsy shop and Lollishop today.

Thanks for looking:)

P.s. I take custom orders...so feel free to contact me (dalghouse@sbcglobal.net) if you would like something that you don't see in my shop.

Cuteable Giveaway!!!

Cuteable is a wonderful blog that promotes "cute stuff for you and your home". It also does a wonderful job of supporting handmade and a lot of wonderful artists out there. They are doing a huge giveaway to celebrate their first year anniversary. You have to check it out!

Have you heard the gossip?

My little love birds were gossiped about on Polymer Clay Craftgossip today! Thank you Julie! You are very tweet:)...and made my day!

You're Tweet...

Here is what I have been working on lately:

I plan on using it to make some Valentine's Day cards:

Fun with silhouettes...

I had fun making these silhouettes of my kids today:

Look at this awesome silhouette collection from Inside a Black Apple . I love how she arranged them too!

Recycling Old Christmas and/or Greeting Cards

I found a really fun blog today called Crafty Goat's Notes. There was this really great post on how to recycle old greeting cards. It got me thinking....so I thought that I would share.

I also found a bunch of greeting card recycling ideas here.

What will you do with your old cards?

Polymer Clay Miniature Cake

I found this really neat polymer clay miniature cake tutorial by Betsy Niederer. Even if you do not create with polymer clay...you should still check it out. It is so amazing all of the steps and detail that go into making this tiny cake. Oh, and the finished product looks so real and yummy!

image is from www.cdhm.org

Beaded Heart Earrings...

Here is a cute beaded heart earring pattern from Rings & Things. These earrings are perfect for Valentine's Day.

image is from www.rings-things.com

January 2009: 5 inch x 7 inch polymer clay artwork

Okay...here is my finished 5"x7" polymer clay art piece for January.

"Cactus Flowers 1" January 2009

I really like the idea of prickly, yet pretty...so I think that I am going to stick with the "Cactus Flowers" theme.

Some new goals for my Etsy shop/ polymer clay artwork...

I am posting these as goals, not resolutions. They are things that I would like to accomplish this year. Other than learning how to knit, as I posted in my last post, I would like to finish a 5"x7" polymer clay piece of art once a month. Something similar to this one that I did:

I might then use scanned images of the artwork to make ACEOs or note cards? I'm not sure yet? I also would love to take all 12 months worth and turn them into a calender. I have been working on this months piece already, and will post a picture of the finished artwork soon.Another thing that I am thinking to do with my Etsy shop is to turn many of my beads into finished jewelry. Maybe then they would appeal to a broader market?Well, now that I have written these goals down...hopefully they will remain fresh in my mind, and I will keep focused on them...

Happy New Year!

Hope that everyone had a fun New Years Eve...and has a great New Year!

Do any of you make resolutions?

I usually don't...but I do have one this year.

I want to learn how to knit! I would love to be able to knit a little baby hat for my baby niece or nephew that will be arriving later this year:)

I already have my knitting needles, and found these really great YouTube video instructions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uw-nUvGrBY

I also found a great blog...with lots of knitted hat patterns:

http://heyjulie.wordpress.com/

I would love to make this set:

picture taken from lyonbrand.com

The free pattern says that the level is easy, but I am not so sure! It doesn't look easy to me!

What are your resolutions?