Okay all you local readers--don't let me down. I'm teaching a paper flower demo at Lasting Memories this Saturday, March 6th from 11:00am to 1:00pm. Come see me! I know from our meet & greet that there are plenty of you in the Lynnwood/Seattle area. So stop by and make this super cute fan-fold flower for just $1! If you can't come this week, I'll be doing flower demos almost every Saturday for the next two months. Each week will be a different flower Make 'n Take made from common scrapbooking supplies like paper, ribbon, buttons, punches, etc., and each kit will only be $1 or $2! Here's my tutorial for last week's puff ball flowers. I {heart} flowers. They make my heart happy. Hope to see some of my favorite new friends soon! This fan-fold flower is cute as a card or scrapbooking embellishment, or on a stick in a vase. Come learn how to make it on Saturday, March 6th between 11am and 1pm.
The Original Scrapbox has a brand new piece of organizing furniture and you have a chance to win it! Introducing the Office Box...
And we're celebrating the launch of Rachelle J. Christensen's suspense novel, Wrong Number, with a chance to win an autographed copy!
The Office Box was created as an addition to the line of incredible scrapbooking furniture The Original Scrapbox has to offer, such as The Workbox and The EZ View Craft Desk.
Check out the amazing features on The Office Box, available in 4 different colors: Space for a 19" monitor, magazine holder, Totes that act as slide-out drawers, Velcro storage/organizers, Power cord hole in back of box. This folds out to 72" by 48" by 36" and closes up to the sleek space of only 36" wide by 48" high and 21" deep.
You can enter to win this prize package and on March 16th, we'll announce the winner who will then go on for the grand prize drawing of The Office Box and a copy of Wrong Number.The Grand Prize Winner will be drawn on March 19, 2010 at RachelleWrites. She will select a winner from the 25 finalists to receive one Office Box (Value $895.00) in their choice of color and an autographed copy of Wrong Number by Rachelle J. Christensen.
Giveaway open from March 5, 2010- March 15, 2010 at 11:59pm Mountain Standard Time. Open to addresses in the contiguous United States only.
Giveaway Rules: *You can only enter under one name
* It is possible to win more than one preliminary prize, which means it’s possible to be entered into the grand prize drawing more than once.
*All winner’s addresses must be stateside US addresses
*You must complete the required entry to be eligible to win
Here's how to enter:Please leave details in your comment of how you entered with required links. I'll put all entries into a spreadsheet and use Random.org to select the winner.
To receive 15 extra entries, you must do the following 5 things together on your blog post and please leave a link back to your blog post with your comment (only one comment required, but you must leave a link so I can check your post.)
In your blog post link the phrase "The Office Box " to http://theoriginalscrapbox.com/catalog/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=138
Link the phrase "The Original Scrapbox" to http://theoriginalscrapbox.com/catalog/
Link the phrase "Wrong Number" to http://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Number-Rachelle-J-Christensen/dp/1599553643/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1
There are 25 different blogs participating in this giveaway. Each blog is giving away a preliminary prize and a chance to win an entry into the Grand Prize Drawing. Stay tuned for reviews on Wrong Number and author interviews as well!
Doesn't this look heavenly? I hear a little choir singing "ahhhhh" when I look at this sweet treat. We have a lot of special diets in our family so when a friend of mine who suffers from a milk intolerance shared her favorite chocolate cheesecake recipe with me many years ago, I was excited. This yummy cake has the consistency of a chocolate mousse so I changed the name to mousse cake.
Non-Dairy Mousse Cake Ingredients:
*3 boxes of Mori Nu brand firm tofu (I get mine at Safeway) *The same number of ounces of Semi sweet chocolate chips as your tofu. So, if you have 37 ounces of tofu--you will need the same number of ounces of chocolate chips. Do not substitute milk chocolate or the milk intolerant will not be able to eat it. Check your labels first and make sure there is no milk in it. Also, be sure your chocolate is high-quality chocolate. *1 or 2 teaspoons of vanilla--your choice *granola or your favorite gluten and milk free cookie
In your cheesecake/spring form pan, crush the granola or cookie and use a little bit of butter to make a bottom crust. You may need to bake it a little bit so it stiffens up.
Next, put your tofu in a bowl or mixer and mix it up.
Add two teaspoons of vanilla extract to the tofu.
While your tofu is in the mixer, start melting your chocolate. I do this by putting it all in a bowl and microwaving for 30 seconds at a time. Remove it from the microwave, stir it up and put it back in for another 30 seconds. Do this until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Once the chocolate is completely melted, add it to the tofu. Mix on medium speed.
Next, put it in the cheesecake pan with your crust already in it. Place it in the refrigerator for a few hours until set.
To serve this, remove from the refrigerator and take a butter knife all around the edges. Slowly remove the side to the cheesecake/spring form pan. Slice and serve. You may want to put this back in the fridge once everyone has been served. It will get soft if you don't and it is not as easy to cut. Serve with your favorite non dairy topping or just eat it plain.
In the spirit of New Year's resolutions, I've been slowly organizing my craft stash, even down to my little needles. For Christmas I got something I've been wishing for for a long time. "Left-handed pinking shears!" Well, they're not actually left-handed, but my husband says that line every time he sees them out. (You'll know the voice he's using if you're a Simpson's fan.) ANYWAY, I wanted to try them out on my felt stash, so I put together a simple needle book with pinked edges (there are several optional steps that you can cut out to make it even easier). Now I look for reasons to hand-stitch just so I can pull my book out!
Felt Needle Book Tutorial Supplies: *Felt for the cover *Matching felt piece for button tab *Coordinating felt for pages (1 or 2, depending on how many needles you have) *Rotary cutter or scissors, pinking shears (optional) *Button *Matching thread and sewing machine *Additional felt for embellishing cover *Fabric glue for embellishments
1. Cut a piece of felt 8" x 4" for the cover. Cut 1-2 pieces 7.5" x 3.5" for the pages. I cut mine with pinking shears, but that's optional, of course.
2. Cut a matching piece of felt for the button tab 1" x 1.5". This part is really optional, too. You don't have to have a button closure. I rounded one edge with scissors for extra cuteness. If you don't dare cut it free-hand, trace half of a soda bottle lid.
3. Pin the tab to the short, right side of your cover. Stitch around the entire cover piece, attaching the tab and creating a cute decorative edge.
4. Lay your pages in the middle of the inside your cover. Using a ruler, measure to the middle draw a line with chalk or a fabric pen.
5. Pin the pages to the cover and stitch down the middle to secure.
6. If you have any blunt-edge needles (for yarn), you can create a little pocket to hold them in as well. Cut a piece of felt 1.5" x 2" and pin near the bottom edge of one of the pages.
7. Stitch around three edges, then stitch parallel vertical lines about 1/4" apart. Slip blunt-edge needles inside.
8. If you decide to do a tab closure, wrap it around to the front and lay your button where you want it. Mark it with a fabric pen. Using scissors, snip it open. Be sure to make it snug so it stays buttoned.
9. Stitch your button in place on the front of the cover directly beneath the buttonhole.
10. You could call it good now, but if you're like me, you love to play with felt! So let's add a little felt embellishment to the front cover.
I had just cut a little butterfly out with my Slice machine, so I used the negative of the die cut to trace a butterfly on my coordinating felt. Then I hand-stitched it in place with a little embroidery thread. You could also glue it with fabric glue.
For the red book I cut two felt flowers, layered them, and attached them together with a fancy brad. I also hand-cut leaves and added a little stitching, then glued the flowers and leaves on the cover with fabric glue.
That's it! Now get organized by sticking your needles in the felt pages. Don't they look cute all lined up?
We love parties and we love chocolate so we decided to combine the two and throw a chocolate party. This was a perfect excuse to make some chocolate recipes we've been bookmarking. We gathered some dear friends and asked them to bring their favorite chocolate dish/dessert and planned a major chocolate feast. It was a fun and filling way to get creative on a Saturday afternoon.
To help kick off the chocolate party, we all took a tour of our local Theo Chocolate factory. Have you heard of them? Well, if not you are in for a yummy surprise. Theo makes the most delish chocolate concoctions. With flavors like Chai Chocolate, Coconut Curry Chocolate, Bread and Butter Chocolate, etc. Theo Chocolates never ceases to amaze us--and tickle our taste buds!
We learned how they made their chocolate and got to taste test all along the way.
Here are bins and bins of cacao nibs. This is chocolate in its purest form just waiting to be roasted in the big roaster. A little too bitter for our tastes but the healthiest form of cacao. These little nibs are stuffed full of antioxidants. We like it much more after TONS of sugar is added.
Aren't we cute? We had to wear them because hair in your chocolate-yuck! Also, for all you gardeners out there in the Seattle area--Theo's sells their cacao shells for your garden. It is a nice organic way to deter slugs and snails. Just note that it is not recommended for households with dogs. It can make them sick!
After our eye opening tour we were so full, but we had to head back to our party destination to devour all the yummy chocolate treats we created. Cupcakes and doughnuts and candies, Oh My! Was it ever a feast!
It's only February, so I can't give up on my resolution to get organized yet! So we continue with the craft closet makeover. I recently beefed up my button supply with a Papertrey Ink order. I LOVE their vintage button collections--the colors are amazing, and so are the prices! I love being able to see what I have in my stash, so I had to find something to show them all off.
I found these little jars for $1 each at Michael's. Seriously? $1? I know. I nearly cleaned out my Lynnwood store location. Don't they look pretty? You could easily dress up a jar like this for a cute and inexpensive gift for your crafty friends. I love these buttons for sewing and paper crafts. I am a button addict!
Need a little more room in your closet? Try one of these hanger space savers. This ribbon space saver allows you to get a few more items in your closet without taking up more rack or bar space.
Ribbon Space-Saver Hanger Tutorial *Ribbon or belting - You will need ribbon if you are making a closet space saver for baby, children, or lightweight clothing. Use strong belting/webbing if you are making this to hold heavier clothing items. I used a ribbon that was 25 inches long. My loops were pretty big, so I may use a shorter ribbon next time. *D-Rings-we used 1 1/4" *Sewing machine and thread
First, sew a loop in the top of your ribbon with a D-ring inside. I folded it over twice for clean edges. You will use the D-ring to hang on the first hanger.
Next, sew loops evenly down your ribbon. Make sure you stitch each loop down with a couple of lines or go back over your work. Only one sewn line will rip through. You will want to make sure it is fully reinforced.
For your final loop, make a circle and sew it down. This way you will not have any exposed ribbon edges.
This is what your hanger space saver should look like from the back.
And here's the hanger space saver from the front.
Hang the D-ring on your first hanger, then slip additional hangers through all the loops on your space saver. No more clothes on the floor--yea!
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