isewcute resin jewelry has been featured...

I'm tickled to share that some of my spooky handmade resin jewelry has been spotted on a couple of blogs this past week!

First it's never too early for Halloween! ...My son would agree that it's good to have a little Halloween all year round! Creepy Queen Magazine has featured my 'Laughing Jack Says Boo' necklace in a blog post about fun DIY Indie handmade Halloween items! It's a great collection & fun to check it out! Read the article here.





Next is another wonderful feature, this time over at the Etsy Lounge, exposing my green poison skull earrings! The sweet Etsyan who featured me, ArtsyPicks, explained that the lounge is a bit like a permanent treasury from which visitors can link directly to your etsy shop. Is that neat or what?

I love creating treasuries...and always have a poster sketch ready to go, but this blog is like a permanent treasury gallery!


It seems like this is definitely the time of year to start getting those creepy little gems out there! I'm amazed to be featured in 2 places at once!

Keep checking back at my etsy shop this week if you're looking for some cute spooky Halloween resin jewelry, because I have tons of new Halloween & everyday creepy/spooky items to list & will be adding them to the shop all week long!



;o)

Birthday Party UPDATE... was the best fun ever!

The birthday girl was so suprised by her personal kitty photo necklace! She squealed, "Oooh! It's MY kitty in there!"
My heart was so happy it nearly burst from her reaction!
She showed it proudly to everyone & they were all asking me how I made it! I think I may be teaching a local resin class soon!

It was a rock n roll theme birthday party!!! The kids had music & crazy dancing... fun with bubbles & awesome goodie bags with rock n roll star shaped glasses!

There was a Piñata too! ...one of the best parts of the party! Here is a photo of the aftermath!

Each kid got a whack... nobody got hurt, and everyone went home with oodles of candy & plastic trinkets... real treasure!!!

We ate cookies, cake, ice cream & had punch to drink....so much sugar!

The kids played outside with the birthday girl for awhile after the party was over... a good thing to use up some of the energy from their sugar-high!

When we got home, my little girl passed out on the couch almost immediately...& my son refused to take a nap...although I think he needed one pretty badly!

We saw the birthday girl the next day & she was proudly wearing her kitty necklace...so I took a quick photo to share!

Nothing beats having one of my creations loved this much...it's what keeps me crafting...to know I've made something really special to someone!

Zucchini... a couple of sweet recipes by isewcute!

We were lucky enough to be given some fresh vegetables from a friend's garden today!

I immediately thought of making zucchini bread...a childhood favorite of mine. My little one was fascinated by the big green vegetables... & she called them 'big pickles' until I corrected her.

Today I baked 2 loaves of this sweet zucchini bread & I thought I'd share the recipe with you all! It's wicked good...& you can make it with or without the nuts to suit your taste!

Zucchini Bread Recipe

3 beaten eggs

2 c. white sugar

3 c. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. soda

2 cups of finely grated zucchini

1/2 c. walnuts chopped (optional)

mix together dry ingredients in a big bowl

then add egg & fold in zucchini.

Put into 2 well greased & floured loaf pans.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Makes 2 loaves.

Note: Zucchini bread freezes well. :o)

If you'd like to try making some fabulous zucchini muffins, my mom swears these are yummy...but I haven't tried them myself yet. I might save the other zucchini I have for those & I'm sure I could get the kids to eat them...they love any kind of muffin! They're healthier than the bread...using less sugar & adding wheat germ!

Zucchini Muffin Recipe

2 c. flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. oil

1 egg beaten

1/2 c. light brown sugar

3/4 c. wheat germ

1 c. of finely grated zucchini

Mix all dry ingredients together in one large bowl

...& combine all wet ingredients in a small bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry in the big bowl,

then fold in the zucchini.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way up.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 min. until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

If you try either of these recipes, I'd love to hear about your results!

:o)

*oh, and babygirl is wearing a sweet rollerskate shirt by the fabulous shop 'PrettyMe'...on etsy.

Going to a Birthday Party!!!

My kiddos are at the age where they're beginning to be invited to birthday parties of their friends. This is an exciting time for them...and a little different from our family parties & gatherings.

The dilema I've come up against is the present! I had no idea that accepting an invitation to fun n games & cake would bring about stress for me due to not knowing what to take as a gift! How much should I spend is the least of my worries... because I have no idea what toys or games the birthday child already has...not to mention the fear of someone else showing up with the exact same gift as us! How awful would a child feel if their gift wasn't the only special one of a kind item they thought it would be?


My solution for this is to either make something myself...or buy something handmade for them! I decided to make something personal for the birthday girl! She's quite the girly-girl and loves anything pink, sparkly, rainbows, & kittens! During one of our play dates, I took a cute photo of her kitty, Tigger. Inspiration struck me like lightning & this is what I came up with!





I hope she loves it! My kiddos are so excited to give it to her that my girl isn't even sad about giving away one of mama's 'sparklies'! I'm thinking it might be a good idea to offer personalizable pendants with custom photos in my etsy shop. Custom orders are my favorite to work on...so I might just do it!

:o)

I'll report back on what the birthday girl thinks of her new gift after her party this afternoon!

I'm Looking Over Some 4 Leaf Clovers... how to find a four leaf clover?

I find four leaf clovers wherever I go... so long as there's grass.

When I was younger I thought I'd try for the Guinness Book world record on clover finding...& after finding a few hundred...gave up that goal once I realized how many the winner at the time had found. I didn't want to put that much time into searching for them!

If you've never found one yourself, I have a few clover finding tips for you that just might help!

Now I can't guarantee you'll find one, but I figure it can't hurt & so far it's worked for me.

The human eye is attracted to things that are symmetrical, so we have that in our favor. Rather than looking closely at every single clover, which takes a lot of time, just 'scan' the ground for them instead.

When I'm outside playing with the kids....I'll find a nice big patch of clover in our lawn & just kneel down & scan the area for them. When I find one, it's like my eye is just drawn to a four leaf clover because of the symmetry.

I've found more 4 leaf clovers within 'patches' of clover...rather than by them self growing up in the grass... so no need to check every square inch of lawn for them. Cut to the chase & find a nice big fat patch of clover to get started.

Try to look for 4 leaf clovers on an overcast day. It's so much easier to actually see them when you don't have to squint & there aren't any hard shadows.

I find four leaf clovers more often after I've mowed the lawn too... because if the grass is short...they just seem to stand out more. When the grass is tall, I have to brush the grass out of the way with my hand to see the clover better.

After you find one you'll probably want to press it for safekeeping. You'll need to press it pretty quickly, as they start to wilt within 15 min. or so. I use my phone book...because it's thick & heavy. If I'm outside looking for a bunch, I'll take a small paperback book with me to press them as I find them...so the leaves don't get all curled up...and that saves me time running back into the house to press them in the phone book. Sometimes if I have a bunch of clovers drying in the phone book at once, I will put something heavy on top to weigh it down.

When you press your clover, be sure to spread out the leaves so they aren't overlapping each other too much.

When I find 4 leaf clovers 'away from home' I press the clover between two credit cards & stick them in my wallet for safekeeping until I get home.

I hope these tips help you & also maybe your kids to find four leaf clovers more easily. Once you find one...you might be hooked on finding more!

You might like to try crafting with resin...to preserve your clover. Check out my easy to follow resin tutorial with pictures on how to get started...simply replace the tatted butterfly with your clover! Pressed clovers hold up very well in resin. Just be sure they're completely dry. I don't use clovers that haven't dried for less than a week to ensure no moisture is left in the clover. If the idea of working with resin due to the cost to get started...or the fumes intimidates you, there are other crafts you can use your clovers in such as laminating them to turn them into a nifty bookmark...or put them in a bottle cap & use some diamond glaze to give them that glassy look & add a magnet to the back! You can add pressed clovers to your scrap booking pages too!

Can you find the 4 leaf clovers in these photos? :o)

I love it when I find a mini-bouquet of 4 leaf clovers!

Here are some freshly pressed clovers ready to be made into fabulous one of a kind jewelry!

I love the variety ...so many sizes with different shaped leaves & subtle changes in color!

If you would like one of my clover creations, I have some available in my etsy & love to do fabulous custom orders if you'd prefer I make something for you that you don't see available at the moment. I can make jewelry, key rings, zipper pulls, or cell phone charms.

I'll be listing many new clover items over the next few weeks, so check back often for something unique. Happy clover hunting & good luck!

:o)

Getting my stitch on...

I love the old Aunt Martha's embroidery patterns... simply because I can feel like I'm accomplishing something without the pressure of having to do all the work that goes into creating the pattern for myself.
The other day I worked on getting my Ohio sales taxes paid & really needed to unwind with a fun craft I could do in a few hours. From start to finish this took about 3 hours. It would've been less if I had stitched it a la 'redwork' or 'blackwork' without having to do all the color changes...but you know me... I love color!!!
This piece may be the start of a baby quilt for my new niece... we'll see if I can get the other blocks done in such a timely manner!

Comments & critiques & suggestions are all welcome!

Thanks for visiting my blog & 'Happy Friday' ... be creative!

So Facebook is allowing 3rd party advertisers to use your posted images...

Isn't that special? I think it would be nice if they asked first at least! Before getting my knickers in a twist, a friend of mine shared how to 'opt out' of this.

Click on SETTINGS up at the top where you see the log out link. Select PRIVACY. Then select NEWS FEED & WALL. Next select the tab that reads FACEBOOK ADS. There is a drop down box, select NO ONE. Then save your changes. Pass it on to your facebook friends...so they can protect their images as well.

I've been keeping my facebook page private...for only friends & family ...so I don't feel comfortable sharing everything...especially if it's used in third party advertising... How tacky?

I'd be interested in hearing from y'all what you think of this facebook feature...and whether or not you think it's a good thing.

:o)

If you want homebaked goodies...but don't have the time...

...how about checking out 'Tea and Sweets' Etsy shop for some wonderful yummy goodness?

In reading Carrie's shop announcement...you know she's making great stuff that's going to taste as good as your grandma's & also be much healthier for you than prepackaged stuff from the local grocery store!

"No artificial flavors

No artificial trans fats

No artificial dyes

No high-fructose corn syrup

Just tastes better, And better for you...."

Her profile shares her inspiration, education, & experience...as well as showing that she puts her heart into her food craft.

She is a wife...we all know that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach!

She is a mom... all I can think is what a lucky kid to have a mom who bakes goodies like these!
She is a nurse with a background in food science/nutrition!

These are some of the photos of Carrie's creations which make me drool like Pavlov's dog...

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies:

slice of pink...cherry dessert bars:

snickerdoodle muffins:

Sugared Pumpkin Muffins:

"I have put my heart and passion into these desserts, using only the finest ingredients, never skimping on quality."

You are surely guaranteed a quality product you're going to thoroughly enjoy when you purchase something from Tea and Sweets!

:o)

Giving Away Cupcakes...

I made 3 batches of these last night for our church's annual bazaar/yard sale. If you're in Germantown, Ohio... swing on by the State Road United Methodist church & grab one before they run out!
I have a few leftover for the hubby & kids...because it wouldn't be fair to them to give them all away! The kids are behaving like total angels for me too...knowing there is a cupcake in their future!
I'm not above bribery for good behavior! ...whatever works!

:o)

Sunny Days on the Farm... wheeee! Pony!

The other day was a storybook perfect summer day with sunshine, puffy clouds, and a warm gentle breeze.
I couldn't resist taking photos of the neighbor's baby ponies frolicking in the pasture. This one stopped to check me out...probably looking for a sugar cube or something sweet. Next time I won't go empty handed!
I'll be using my sweet pony photos in new resin pieces for this fall...so if you love horses or know of a horse lover, come back in August to check them out!

:o)