Wednesday, February 27, 2008

snapfu!

(i know, i am just full of terribly silly puns these days.)

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so i tried dyeing white resin snaps with coffee to no avail. i thought i remembered someone doing it successfully, but i can't remember who or in which group. i heated them, i added vinegar, i covered them in grains, and not a THING happened.

oh well, i'll try again soon - after i get some more info.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

the happy dyeing tree :P

I had not dyed in a looong time! A friend inspired me to do so, I won't say why or she'll know what I'm up to. I also decided to make her son my multi-color adventure dyeing guinea subject.... but i'm hoping he & she will be pleased.
I can't wait to re-hank!

The other one is a neon orange I had from the longies adventure, and it was ridiculously bright. So I soaked it a bit on the Brazil nut color I had and it ended up rust. Yay!!! But the results were mostly unexpected. Where you see red, should have been a deep rust. Which oddly enough began by being there, but as I heated it through (and it actually never came out clear, but I was using very old procion-mx dyes with wool) it became a bright red.

I also tried my hand at some tie-dyeing on organic merino wool jersey. Kind of weird colors, and where I wanted haloed circles, I received amorphous spots. :P But I still liked them a lot, even if they also somewhat reminded me of cammo - of which I am usually not fond. I'll post soon with the end result!

The colors are odd, but I think in the end, I am very happy with them. :D

Friday, February 22, 2008

no doubt children...

make my jaw drop -in more ways than one.

this morning, it was emma after 'something' (it wasn't people - birds, etc?) on t.v. was getting married and she repeated to me that 'something' was getting married.

me: emma, what does it mean to get married?
emma: you get married when you love yourself, mommy.

* happiest of mommy's sighs *


Sunday, February 17, 2008

Quesadillas!

Here's a really easy thing to make and for whatever reason, people ask me how to make them a lot. They are the easiest thing ever. Use it as a quick snack or it can almost be a meal in itself depending on what all you put in and adjacent to it! :)

My kids like them a lot! Then again, people tell me I have 'weird' kids and they eat it just about anything (and yes, I am grateful for such"oddities").
  • Tortillas - Flour or corn* - your choice! i figure if they're available in my podunk town, they're available everywhere! *Tip: if corn is your choice, add a few drops of oil to the pan and wet your hands to rub the leftover water on the tortillas, before placing on the pan)
  • Heat pan to med-high.
  • Slap that baby on :)
  • Cheese - Get your favorite cheese (shredded or sliced is always nice & easy) and put it right on top of the tortilla. I like a bit stronger cheese, so the "Mexican" blends work fairly well for me, so long as there is no Colby or any other yellow cheese. We Mexicans do not eat yellow cheese in general, unless it's a nice extra sharp cheddar with a little wine. :P Anyway, I'm sure there are a lot of Mexican folks eating yellow cheese and I just don't know it. I, personally, am not that picky, and if I can't find the 'white' Mexican blend, I'll take the orange one. :) The white blend usually consists of Asadero, Quesadilla (not sure really what this is, must be a Manchego type cheese?), and I'm drawing a blank on what other type they add.
  • Lower heat to low-med
  • Watch it melt in deliciousness (but not too long or it will never melt -like the water that won't boil- or it shall over-melt: read burn!)
  • Fold it in half
  • Enjoy!
Variations: add ANY vegetable in it. grilled onions and mushrooms are awesome, as are any of the good ol' green/yellow/red peppers. Spike it with some spinach leaves or cilantro -the kids won't even notice! :P or hopefully they will in a good way, lol.

Not feeling the veggies? Fine, add some deli meat or shredded chicken sautéed with onions (oh, oops, there's a veggie! :P), or hot-dogs (i don't like hot dogs all that much, but hey, you might?), sausage, chorizo, main dish leftovers, etc.

For the dipping-child (or in you): ranch, sweet celery seed dressing, ketchup (hey, Max likes it, and who am i to judge!? :P), honey mustard, sour cream, hummus, guacamole, etc. But yeah, I am 'sauce-woman,' no doubt!

Anyway, the world is your quesadilla! :D (oh i am so bad.)


Saturday, February 16, 2008

idso: daycamp &/or gd childcare in Orlando, FL

Hi all! :)

If all goes well, I shall find myself in Montepulciano this summer! Dates are between: May 16 and June 23 for 2-3 weeks.

I am hoping to find a day camp for ages 3 and up, ideally, bilingual or arts. I will also happily 'settle' for childcare known for their gentle discipline practice. Bonus: anywhere between MetroWest and the Florida Mall would just be amazing!

OK, now the silly desperate story, if you're interested! :P

This trip has been 4 years in the making (well, truly about 15-20 years!)

My hubby will be teaching in Italy this summer. He's gone abroad to teach 3 times, each of those I was either very pregnant or our kids were too little for me to leave comfortably. Sooooo, this time, not preggy and at a point where i feel both my kids could be happy and safe with Grandma, I am looking forward to joining dh there for 2-3 weeks out of the 5 he'll be there!

So, I get my long-time-dreamed-of 'backpacking'-Europe-trip at age 30 freaking 6!!! :D

Kids will stay with Grandma in Orlando, but she also works. This is why I need such activities during that time.

Thanks all for any help one of you might provide! :) I mean, c'mon, look at them! :P (i know, what is mama hen going to say?)



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Thursday, February 14, 2008

Featured Etsy Artist of the Week: Sproutonline!!! :D

Ok, I still have 45 minutes before my Thursday deadline. Oh so worth the wait. Just look at this jewelry!!!!!!!

I.AM.IN.LOVE.



And more unexpected are the incredibly reasonable prices on Krista's pieces. Please stop by her shop, I promise it will be hard to leave! (And at the very least, you'll have found a gift for someone you like!)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Paypal? No thanks, if I can manage it!

Another online friend, passed this on. so I'll 'pay it forward.'

RevolutionMoneyExchange (RME) is what the system is called. Apparently, lots of wahms on Hyena Cart & Etsy are now using it, because it doesn't charge you fees (at least nowhere near what paypal does)!

Anyway, b/c they're on beta they're giving you a sign up bonus of $25. If you use me as your referral, I get $10 - of which I'll be happy to send $5 right back to you! :) (lmk and i can send an invite).

Sorry, kinda spammy, but I didn't think anyone would mind free $25-30 to spend? Truly, I really don't care if you use me or not, but I think no fees and free $25 sound damn good, even if it's just amongst our friends & family - to whom I end up selling a lot of my stuff, rofl.

Friday, February 08, 2008

not for the vegetarian or dairy-free

i made pseudo-home-made pizza tonight. it was pretty yummy!! i found some 'personal-sized' pizza crusts (no preservatives, etc. soooo cheap at the BL)

the sauce consisted of:

  • sour cream and alfredo sauce powder mix (the one product with preservatives!)
  • following the cream, a mix of spinach leaves with a good drizzle of E.V. olive oil, Cotija cheese, and some 'fiesta' cheese mix (asadero, quesadilla, colby, and monterrey?), salt and pepper.
  • i sautéed fresh onions and garlic...
  • added to the above one medium, fresh chopped tomato, roasted red peppers, about a third of a cup of tomato sauce -and yes, *i used a can which i normally try to stay away from, but organic tom. sauce and garbanzo beans were on sale this week! couldn't pass them up, but i still consider it 'processed'. something about the can lining, blah blah blah), dash of pepper, dash of seasoned salt, dash of powdered chicken bouillon, about a tbsp of sugar (the sauce got kinda tangy/bitter, so that took it right off).
  • Later I added garbanzo beans (*from a can, see above :P* or 'berries' as Emma called them. her first request was - mommy, can we have pizza with leaves?? YEAH! she could eat a bowl-ful of spinach leaves 0r any other leaves including - but not limited to - clovers, epazote, cilantro, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, you name it; this time, 'we' added 'berries' ;) and she ate them up happily),
  • finally, i added [frozen, ugh] shrimp, and lots of finely chopped cilantro along with dashes of lemon-pepper salt. oh, i might have dashed celery salt as well.
  • did i mention i sautéed this all in the oil of the bacon i cut into pieces with scissors until crispy, then added all the rest.
i forgot to add mushrooms, but would have been great! oh well, next time. the kids ate it right up! good enough sign for me :)

wilted the spinach mix a little before adding the sauce...
here's the sauce ready to go!

(why do my food pictures look like bowlfuls of doggie food - to put it lightly?)

added it to the spinach mountain...

and finally added lots of cheese on top!

mmm-mmmmmm! hope you enjoy! :)
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

favorite etsian of the week: happykimono! :)

Hi all,

I know, there went the Thursday, weekly thing. But here it is today! :) I loved this person's prints and stationary. Check them out! :D I hope you enjoy!


about wahm hosting and carts

Hi all!

So as my hosting package comes to an end, I must choose whether to renew with Siteground (which has been just fine), but somehow implement a different cart OR go with a WAHM hosting company, take my domain, and hopefully set up a more functional and friendly design. I've liked Cube Cart and all, but I find right now it's like re-inventing the wheel to get the code I want!

Thankfully, because of these new wheels (to me!) I've learned a lot of HTML and CSS. But I wouldn't mind an easier-to-work-with cart than Cube. Yet, I'd like something where I could play with the existing code all the same! :P Do you think I can find it?? I've googled and swam the ocean-full of wahm companies and it is BIG. The ultimate bonus would be to have an eco-friendly company, though I realize that will cost more. Man, who is it that would have my three c's?? :P Cheap, Chic, and [socio-eco] Conscious!?

LOL, I can dream and keep looking! But if you know of such great hosting and e-cart, I'd love to hear it! :D

Have a lovely rest of the week! I know I have to catch up, but such is my life!

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Please feel free to shoot them at me! :)
i.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

upcoming etsy listings

hi all,

just wanted to give you a sneak preview of the jewelry that will be posted on etsy by this weekend. this jewelry is made by my very own mom!!! and i am more than proud to present to you her beautiful work! :)

what a contrast, huh? turquoise & coral!



the healing properties of unakite in a lovely design



hope you like them! :)

on another related note, i think i'll be posting all her jewelry to etsy and that shall give me time to paint! :D lol

also, i've taken the e-shop down for a while. i'll be upgrading carts and design, hopefully to reopen in the spring. :)

please, by all means, leave me comments, suggestions, random thoughts, or whatever you fancy. it's always great to hear from people (as opposed to...???:P)!!