Making Cranberry Muffins

Ok. So, today my son Axel and I were craving some muffins so we looked around the the kitchen looking for some ingredients to make some delicious muffins. So we found everything we needed to make cranberry muffins. Axel really wanted to make them by himself and believe it or not, he pretty much did J! I just helped breaking the eggs and gave him the exact amount of each ingredient we used (of course the kitchen end up a huge mess). 

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cup  flour

3/4 ts salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 ts double-acting baking powder

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter (melted)

3/4 cup milk

1 cup of fresh cranberry

1 ts grated orange rid 

        

Stir dry ingredients together.

 Beat eggs in a separate bowl. Add butter and milk to the eggs.

Combine the liquid and the dry ingredients with a few strokes.

Fold into the batter, before the dry ingredients are completely moist add the cranberries.

        

        

       

Fill well greased muffins pans 2/3 full and bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.

        

ENJOY! 

Halloween History of Witches

One of the more enduring symbols of Halloween, horror and folklore is that of the Witch. Ugly and evil, they are shown flying on their broomsticks, or stirring their cauldrons.


Witches were not always thought of as evil or ugly. In ancient times, witches could be healers or wise women of the community.


A witch is a woman claiming or popularly believed to possess magical powers and practice sorcery.


If you are looking for some super spooky cute witch items, you will find them on this Witches Brew Treasury . You're gonna love them.

 Personalized Halloween Shirt/Onesie - Great Gift Idea

Craft Season

The holidays are right around the corner... and you all know what that means... Lots and lots of craft shows! It's my second year doing craft shows and it has been an awesome experience. I think it'll take a while to get all the stuff I want to display my items the way I want, but you know...I'm working hard at being patient.

So far, I'm doing one every week for the next month of October and then I'll do one for November and one for December, and I wanted to get a little booth display design inspiration. 

Here are a few booths I found online that I am crazy in love with!

How to make a traditional star piñata

Piñatas are found at almost every Mexican celebration. Piñatas were traditionally in the shape of a six-pointed star and were filled with fruit, candy, and small toys. At fiestas, the pinatas are hung in the air and children are blindfolded and take turns swinging at the pinatas with a stick. Eventually, the pinata is hit hard enough and it breaks releasing the candy and toys that it contains.

I’m so excited to show you how to make your own piñata!

Material:

Glue

Scissors

Newspaper/Paper

One balloon

Tissue paper

Glue gun

Tape

Foil paper

Water

Plastic container

Ok. Ready, GO!

First, you are going to cut the newspaper into squares or rectangles.

Blow up a large balloon and tie the end. You’ll need something to put the balloon while you glue the squares of newspaper to the balloon (I used a cup).

Then, put the glue into the plastic bowl and add some water. Wet the paper in the glue/water mixture and carefully place the strips on the balloon until it is covered, leaving a hole at the top.

Set aside and let the balloon dry. Repeat with two or three more layers, making sure you leave the hole at the top and let it dry each time you repeat it. 

When dry, pop and remove the balloon.

 Make cones with construction paper and cover them with tissue paper.

Then, cover the balloon with foil paper. Once you are done, carefully tape the cones to the piñata.

Cut squares of tissue paper. They should be around 5” by 5” (You’ll need close to 200 pieces). When you have all the squares ready, pick one up by the center of the paper and draw it through the forefinger and thumb of your other hand, held in a circle. This will create the ruffles as you see them in the picture.

Start gluing the ruffles around each cone, gluing the center (where you grabbed the paper to make the ruffle) to the base of the cone.

Hang stripes of tissue paper from each cone’s tip

 Punch two small holes in the top near the opening and tie a large piece of cord through the two holes.  Fill your pinata (through the hole you left at the top) with candy and/or toys.

You’re done! Have fun J

You can be very creative with this project. You can design your piñata into any shape  you want (animal, flower, cartoons, etc,). You just need some imagination.

Hope you enjoy making your piñata as much I did. 

Pink KABowtique

I just made a video on animoto.com called Pink KABowtique with a few of my pink items. Check it out!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Celebrating Little Victories

I went to a local Art show last night (Henderson ArtsWalk) and had a lot of fun!  I met some really cool artists and got to show off my lovely creations.  This is my third month participating in the ArtsWalk and I'd never had as much fun as I did last night.

I also sold two of my hair bows!  It's so cool that total strangers came up and thought they were pretty or cute enough to take home with them!  I was a little discouraged because I didn't sell very much, but I talked about it with Devon and I've decided to be happy about it.  While I didn't make very much, I at least earned back what I paid for my spot and got to promote my store and items for 4 hours.  I can't wait for the bigger shows I'm doing this season!

What to do about Copycats?

With the opening of my new store KABowtique, I've had the chance to experiment with new designs and have had several come out very well!  I'm so excited to be able to present them.

With that, I started seeing other people copying one of my designs, the Lion Hair Barrette.  At first, I was more than a little concerned and angry, but then, after thinking about it, it's not a big deal.  I look at other people's designs for inspiration, too.  I talked about it with Devon, my husband, quite a bit last night.  He says that I should ask them to credit me, but I'm not sure.  It's really not a big deal to me, and I'm flattered that my design was good enough to copy. 

First Sale for KABowtique!

I just celebrated my first sale in my new store, KABowtique!  It's so exciting to be selling the things I make.  I hope to have many more sales.

Sales are slow, all around, but I'm working hard to promote my stores and I've got several craft shows that I'm attending in the next couple months.  Hopefully, that will serve to get my name out there and also to bring some more sales.  I'm really working hard on my stores and it's really hard work!  But I love making my items.  And I love seeing people enjoy them!

Item Fiction

I am (Devon) into fiction and the fantastic.  I love science fiction and, to a lesser degree, fantasy stories.  Awhile back, I was creating names for each piece of jewelry and a short story to go along with it, describing the supposed special powers that piece contained.  While it was fun and entertaining for me, it didn't seem to increase views, sales or any kind of reaction to the items.

So, my question, or my discussion topic, is this:  Do buyers appreciate those little bits added to the items?  Or is it merely a way to spend time amusing myself?  I'd really love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Etsy Showcase

The idea behind the Etsy Showcase is a wonderful one.  I really like it, I do.

Having said that, I don't know if it works!  Karla has purchased three Showcase slots and has generated exactly zero sales from it.  It's frustrating, knowing that you're spending money on advertising that's not working.  It could be because she hasn't gotten a slot on the Main Showcase.  We decided to try that one, next, but it's hard to get a slot.  They get snapped up so very fast!

Has any of our readers had any success on any Showcases that weren't the main one?  We'd really like to hear about your experience and how you maximized your Showcase slot.

We're having a Halloween giveaway contest!

We're having a Halloween giveaway contest:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=245227&id=127950039247

Minnie Mouse

Some of the greatest inventions of all time have come about when people mix two things that don't obviously go together.  I'll save exposing you to my ignorance by not making a list.  But the principle is true.

Karla did something interesting, something I've never seen before.  It turned out to be one of the cutest hair barrettes she's made up until now.  She combined quilling with ribbon, and created an awesome Minnie Mouse hair barrette!  I have got to say, it's very cool.

She's planning on using the same technique to make some more interesting and unique products in the future.  Stay tuned, and I'm sure you'll be amazed!

Part of a Team

Because it's been so long since I've maintained this blog, I forget that things have happened that the readers aren't aware of!  Like the fact that KelleyAccents is now a proud member of the Handmade in Vegas Etsy Team!

It's been an overall good experience for Karla.  The moment she joined she was a member of a wonderful community that has been very helpful.  It's also been the key to her attending the craft shows that she has/is attending this year.  It's been a great time and we're both looking forward to watching and helping the team grow.

If you're a Vegas local crafter and are looking for a good group, check us out!  If you're not local and still want a group to support you, check around.  There are tons of teams and I'm sure you could find at least one that would fit you.  If not, maybe you could start your own! 

Treasuries

Karla has been exploring Etsy and all the wonderful things it can do, and she's discovered Treasuries.  She's been making quite a few, and it's sparked some discussion between us.

If you're not familiar with Treasuries on Etsy, let me see if I can put it in a nutshell for you.  The Curator (organizer of the Treasury) chooses a list of several items from across Etsy that they like and fit whatever theme they've chosen.  Then, they give it a title and a quick little blurb to explain it, and post it for the world to see!  The interesting bit is that you can't include items from your own store.

Obviously, when you make a Treasury, you want it seen by other people.  You want people to comment on your selections.  And Karla's been asking me how to make a good Treasury for others to see.  Well, the Treasury doesn't do a whole lot to promote her store.  The way I see it, it's a way to share her mood and her artistic tastes in a way that promotes other sellers on Etsy.  Which is way cool, to be honest.  And, it does get her name out there some more.

But that's the only way I see it.  It's not something to strive to be the "best" at.  It's another way for you to express yourself, your mood and your tastes and share with the world.  That's it.

Thoughts?

Getting Serious

We've ramped up for big business, now!  Karla's busy working at her store, creating new items every day.  I try to get online and list something, at least one thing, on Etsy every day.  Karla has gone to a couple small craft shows locally and is prepping for a few larger ones as the Holiday season gets closer.

This is a crazy, crazy business!  Being a craft artist is hard work and takes a lot of dedication.  But, it's very satisfying when a piece sells.  Which, to be honest, sales have been sparse of late.  It's rough, putting your whole heart into a piece and then seeing it sit in your store month after month. 

Etsy is a wonderful platform, but we haven't gotten very much exposure there.  I'm scouring the 'net, searching for ideas and ways to promote.  If you have a method that's worked for you, let me know!

New Ideas

I've been experimenting with a couple things this past week.  Or couple weeks.  I took a picture of the three bracelets I've done.  On my left arm is a hemp and wooden bead bracelet.  There is also a square knot bracelet made from strips of an old t-shirt.  On my right arm, is an anodized steel bracelet.  I once again discovered my joy of working with metal!

I love how the dark steel wire looks, but I'll need to figure out how to treat it.  Since it's anodized, it can be dirty.  I wore it while doing some service at church and my sweat pulled the oxidation off it and got my wrist dirty.  Hmm...  time for some more research and experimentation!

Let me know what you think about these.

Walmart Photo Printing Kiosk

Wow, Karla has fallen in LOVE with those things! 

If you're not familiar with them, it's and instant gratification item that's absolutely AWESOME and very well put together!  You can load your media onto the kiosk via just about any data card, CD or even scan them in.  You can even transfer them from your phone via bluetooth, or hook your camera up to it with the USB cable!  Once your pics are on the machine, you can print individual photos, add borders, create collages...  *sigh*

Needless to say, we've spent quite a bit of money there and have several new photo collages around the house.  It's a very, very cool toy and the results are just gorgeous.  Once you pick what you want, it prints your claim ticket and all you have to do is go to the photo printer and scan your claim ticket in 3-4 minutes and there are your pictures!  And the price is extremely reasonable for what you get.  $0.28 for a single 4x6 print.  You pay that even if you add a border. 

This is not to trump up Walmart.  Personally, I avoid shopping there if I can.  But this is a deal that we just can't pass up.

Photo Management

I received in our email an article from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads.  The article is here and is titled, "Pixel Perfect".

It has a lot of advice on how to maintain and manage your photo files of your jewelry pieces.  Or of any photos you take with the plan of using them in different media.  I intend to implement this today, if I have time to take some photos.  (I really need to!)

In our case, we may be small and unknown now, but someday we'll have a design worthy of appearing in a magazine or such, and we'll need to have high quality images for printing.  Or, we'll want to make our own printed newsletter.  In that case, we'll need high quality images for the printed version and lower ones for an online version. 

Up until now, I've only been keeping the photos that we use to put on Etsy.  And they are only a 1000px square; Sadly inadequate for any kind of physical printed format.

I hope someone finds this article useful, as I did. 

Dark Shimmers

"A flash in the Dark.  A glimmer of color in the gray night.  A bright glimpse of light, flashes... then disappears.  Dark Shimmers.  Appearing on a throat near you!"

There's my movie trailer for this latest piece that I've called "Dark Shimmers".  The stone is really dark, but has beautiful shimmers of green and blue with maybe a hint of red streaks.  The pearls brighten it up, but don't overpower the beauty of the pendant.

This one was a true collaboration.  We both contributed to the design and the work to get it done.  It's very satisfying to complete a piece like this, especially when it's so loved by the person who commissioned it.  Here's a photos of the completed piece:

Spices

My spaghetti is one of our favorite meals.  I learned how to make the sauce from my mother and Karla really liked it, especially after I made some little changes to it, to fit the flavor I wanted it to have.

But, today, it was not to be.  The stars aligned against me; the gods weren't smiling down.  Apparently, they were sneezing.

I went to throw some cumin into the sauce, but instead, grabbed the pumpkin pie spice.  I was rushing, as I got a late start and wanted to have it done before our little boy woke up from his nap, so when I popped the lid and started to shake it in, I thought, "Wow, that cumin is really brown."  But I paid my conscience no attention.  Then, after I added the basil and started to stir a bit more, I started to realize that it smelled funny.  I started wafting the steam to my face and trying to figure out what the matter was.  Then, I got a hint of cinnamon.  Cinnamon!  From my sauce! 

Immediately, I knew something was wrong and grabbed the spice containers from the bar behind me.  Sure enough, the one I thought was cumin wasn't.  I thought I could cover it up with extra cumin and basil and garlic powder, but after shaking some more in and letting it cook for a couple minutes, I realized that there was no help for it.  Let me tell you, a mix of basil, cumin and garlic with pumpkin pie spice is not appetizing.  At all.

I already had put the pasta in the water, so I saved lunch by whipping up a white sauce and grilling some chicken.  So, we still had pasta.  It was just white, instead of red.