Giraffe Neck?

it's here it's here!! got my february etsy purchase!
it's super cute!

i bought it from PrettyRaccoon Clothing. she has alot of really amazing designs! and very well made.
i am so so happy with this top!! can't wait to show it off monday! yay!

Berry Berry Yummy

so as part of my artist's way journey, i've decided to try to bake more. i just love baking!
tonight i made the neiman marcus cookies from 500 Cookies. and i have to say i am absolutely thrilled with how well they turned out! first off, here's the picture from the book...

now, i'm not a big fan of flat cookies. but i've been curious about these since i've heard of them before so i wasn't gonna let the picture stop me.
i decided to do one of their variations which called for dried blueberries and cranberries. after mixing in the chocolate chips, the batter was really thick! after the blueberries and cranberries....i knew these weren't gonna be like the picture.
take a gander....

mmmmm....they turned out wonderful!! i was extremely excited to see how nice and thick they were. and not cakey at all. just perfect!
here's the recipe if you'd like to give 'em a try.

Neiman Marcus Cookies
makes 2 dozen

1/2 cup (1 stick) sweet butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups (8 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup dired cranberries

Preheat the oven to 375.

Beat the butter and sugar together, and add the egg and vanilla.

Sift together the remaining dry ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix in chocolate chips, blueberries and cranberries.

Roll into balls. Use your fingers to flatten onto a non-stick baking sheet (i didn't do this which is probably part of the reason why mine came out so big) 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes.

Store in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days.

Progress Is Good

i finished something! how cool is that?!
i see an etsy store opening in my near future.


so this tile has been sitting in my windowsill for months now. it's air dry clay since i don't have a kiln, and i just wasn't sure how i wanted to decorate or paint it. and then this weekend i just randomly grabbed it and started painting. and now...it's my first happy little tile! the size is about 3.5 x 3.5 inches. yay!
now i need to come up with a name for my store. maybe i'll just keep the name of my blog. that would make sense. hey if anyone has any suggestions, i'm all ears.
i also made my etsy february purchase today. can't wait to show it off once it arrives!

Falling

i love her! she can drive me crazy at times but still manages to keep me sane. her personality always amazes me. and she loves me unconditionally.

Unfinished Business

well i should post a bit about my progress so far with the artist's way. i had a bit of a rough start. that's not good! it's the first week and already i'm struggling! i didn't do the morning pages. actually today is the first day i did them. i just forgot! bad girl. but here i am. really doing it now. it feels good though! well, not my hand. that feels like it's about to fall off! i mean, you have to write 3 pages! that's alot! i did do my artist date. which was really silly but fun! one thing i used to do when i was little was i would sit down with my grandma's catalogs and i would give myself $1,000,000 to spend! of course i never spent anywhere near that. i would get tired of doing it after an hour or so. but it was fun. just to go through those pages and "buy" everything i always wanted. and i felt so good afterwards! so i decided to do that. i sat down for an hour, picked a website (i went with the curiosity shoppe this time), and i gave myself an hour to "shop". i filled my basket with all of the things i've been wanting. and wound up "spending" $650. so much fun! then after that, i worked on a few projects for the rest of the day. i've been debating on whether to post pictures of the projects yet, since they aren't close to being done. but i'm really excited. and i have nothing to show other than that. so here's the prototype of my first little hatchling (unfinished):

that's all you get though. i'm not telling you my plans for him until he's completely finished. let me just say that there's alot of work still left to do but i'm very excited about it!
i'm also working on a bottle i'm altering. again, another unfinished project with much to do but i feel like i need to show something for the lack of posts!

so with all of that unfinished business i guess i should get back to work!

It makes me happy

Well, I received my January etsy purchase! I actually got it about a week ago but I've just been lazy. But I really am super excited about it! I had it shipped to my office and immediately had to show it off to everyone.



Isn't it lovely!! I've been needing a new purse for a long time. Especially since my darn cat can't seem to keep his claws out of my leather one. I wasn't hugely picky. I just wanted something with some fun fabric and that had plenty of room. I can't leave home without my sketchbook and my ds. So after browsing the bags on etsy I found Madison Gre. This girl has some serious talent. And what an eye for color! I went back to her shop to show some of my coworkers her bags and found that she had posted a ton more!! Seriously. You have to get one! Her bags are so well made. The sewing is so precise. The fabrics are just gorgeous. I just can't gush enough. Maybe some time down the line I'll buy another one.....just 'cus.