Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter enjoying the beautiful spring weather, spending time with family and friends, and celebrating a risen savior!

I enjoyed a wonderful time spent with the hubby and his family. My mother-in-law and I spent several hours last night doing some preparations for today's dinner. I made the nest-inspired chocolate cake above. It didn't turn out as well as I was hoping. I had to use two 4 oz. Hershey's chocolate bars instead of the huge 16 oz. bar the recipe called for, so the chocolate for my nest was a little more rustic looking than the perfectly chopped chocolate from the Martha Stewart inspiration. It was still pretty cute though, and quite yummy!

I also made modified versions of Ina Garten's Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic and Parmesan Smashed Potatoes. We also had some amazing ham, rolls, corn and broccoli. Homemade beer cheese and deviled eggs served as appetizers while we finished cooking this afternoon. My mother-in-law also got the brilliant idea to turn an almond Jello recipe she loves into egg-shaped Jello Jigglers. I wish I would have snapped a photo (I was too full at that point to even think about photographs), because they were perfect! They were opaque white and looked exactly like hard-boiled eggs. I insisted that they become a tradition because they were too cute! She also prepared Rice Krispies Treats to make Peep Sushi but we were all too full and folks had to part ways before we could get around to making our sushi--so sad!

We had a wonderful time and I'm already thinking ahead to the cute treats I want to try out for next Easter. There are still a few spring-themed treats that I want to try in the next month, including some adorable petit fours which I had originally planned to make for today but ran out of time. I am hoping to make them next weekend. I am going to relax a bit this evening, probably spend some time in the studio (because hardly a day goes by where I don't work at little) and hang out with my adorable hubby.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Featured on the FRONT PAGE of Etsy!

{Please click to view larger.}

This morning at 8am while I was preoccupied in dreamland, my Butterfly Stud Earrings were featured on the front page of Etsy.com!

According to the stats from CraftCult, the treasury which featured my earrings appeared on the front page this morning at 8am. Fortunately/unfortunately the earrings sold at 8:23am, so they didn't receive as much front page glory as possible. I have gained quite a few new shop and item hearts from the experience! This is so exciting as I've been hoping and waiting to see one of my items on the front page for years. It's a real honor!

Friday, April 2, 2010

In the Studio

I thought I'd share another version of the In the Garden Necklace which I shared in my last post. I love the soft femininity of the pale pink rose paired with the white freshwater pearls. It's so sweet and romantic.

I've been insanely busy building stock for boutiques, Mayfest and my Etsy shop (which is utterly neglected these days). My studio is an insane mess and it's driving me a bit bonkers.

{It actually looks worse since I've taken this photo. Oh dear!}

This is what my main work table looks like right now. My mind gets all foggy and I get cranky when things are messy, so this is a real problem. I have so many pieces in progress and others that are finished and waiting to be carded and/or labeled. I need to take 15-30 minutes to go through and put away any stray materials and get things a bit organized. I know I'll feel much more calm after a little organizing.

I've been so preoccupied with work lately--often I'm in the studio until 2 or 3am--that I haven't gotten to dive into any cute Easter baking. I was planning to make some flower topped petit fours and individual versions of this cake for Easter dinner, but it looks like I may only have time for the cakes. Maybe I'll be naughty and make time for both on Saturday.

...But maybe not. This weekend, in addition to everything else, I'm actually working on some pieces to send off to Kentucky Bride magazine for them to potentially use in a photo shoot for the upcoming issue. I actually had the joy and honor of being included in their Fall 2009 issue. I'll be sure to share if any of my pieces make it into the upcoming issue!
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