The Power of the Pyramid Compels You!

I've had this pendant since I was little, but only rediscovered it recently and decided to put it on a chain and start wearing it. It came from a store my grandmother and uncle used to run back in the 70s that was all pyramids all the time! This pendant is supposed to carry "the power of the pyramid" and you will receive positive energy wearing it. I just love the pendant either way. I took these photos of it for fun with a possibility of listing it on Etsy at a ridiculous price so that I'd be sure no one would actually buy it. I remember hearing/reading in some Etsy tips that you should have at least one significantly higher priced item in your shop, but for myself that would still only mean under $100. Have any of you tried this technique and seen a result? It's probably not the best idea for my pendant since I'd really want to price it at like $1000, but I wanted to bring up the topic. I'm working on a couple of necklaces now that will eventually be priced a bit higher than the rest of my shop. Anyway, as usual, I'd love to hear what you think!

P.S.

I just visited Print Society for the first time last week and am intrigued. They allow you to upload prints you already have for sale on other sites. You can create a profile, follow other artists, favor prints, etc. I'm still figuring out how it works - I just uploaded my second print today, but it seems like an interesting idea and I'm curious to see if it helps my sales. Let me know what you all think!

I love donuts

It's been quite a while, but I have new jewelry to show you! I found a lot of great mother of pearl recently and am having fun trying different things with it. The long pair in the middle are a take on my 'Kate' earrings - I had been asked to do a purple version for a customer and decided to use amethyst. I hope you like them!

Ma Ma Se Ma Ma Sa Deja Vu

This past weekend Spike Lee threw a block party in honor of what would have been Michael Jackson's 51st Birthday. How could I NOT be there? I had a serious episode of deja vu during the celebration. Picture 1 - Prospect Park August 29th. Picture 2 - Pyramid Club August 6th. Maybe Spike showed up to Grind My Gears last month? If you missed the Birthday/Blackout GMG show here are some highlights!


I also wanted to share a brilliant treasury I was in this weekend. Thank you Elsie!!!

I Should Be In Bed

I recently bought on to a BNR on Etsy and it has been awesome. I highly recommend you fellow Etsy sellers come join us! Since my beginning with this lovely group I have made 20 sales, had some wonderful people to ask for opinions and advice on my projects and shop, and have gained a lot of motivation. Search the forums for the Most Meaningful Gifts BNR and come say hello.

I didn't know Christmas in July was a thing

I've been having some of my photos printed onto greeting cards recently, so I was looking through some Christmas pictures that I thought might work. Can you help me decide? Which one would you want to use as a greeting card? Would you want any writing on the outside? Thanks in advance!

I just took part in an ACEO X-change over at Ulixis' Crafts blog! I don't know which one will be mine yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed making mine! Take a look!

I usually have nervous breakdowns when I sew

But may have FINALLY turned a corner. I made a tote bag! Without anyone standing over me helping! Without breaking my sewing machine! Without punching a wall! I'm serious when I say sewing makes me crazy. My projects normally end with a half finished whatever and a lot of frustration. Yet I keep going back. So, I figured I'd do a practice version tote to hopefully ease some of the pressure. And here it is. For the most part it's exactly what I wanted! I read a ton of tutorials and watched some videos, but the two lessons that I used the most were these - Colorful Creates and Super Eggplant. Thank you so much!!! Oh and also Deslynn from the BNR group I participate in. We shared some "learning to sew without our mommies" stories this weekend. More like how we both were trying REALLY hard not to call said mommies for help with our sewing projects. The motivation worked!
The measurements of the bag are 14" long and 12" wide with a 10" drop on the handles. The only real screw up is that the handles aren't quite equidistant from the sides. Other than that I'm just oh so proud of myself.

Art Cards 1

I tried making ACEOs for the first time this past week and loved it! I took an old print and cut it up to make some collage type designs on the card. I need to find something better to glue them with however. Any suggestions? What do all you collage makers like? But, here they are. Let me know what you think! I have lots of different things I want to try with this, so I'm hoping to have more up soon.

Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff

The winner is Tiny Bird Arts!!!! She will be receiving these double chocolate cookies as I've tried out the almond turtles twice now and am close, but not to perfection yet. They actually tasted delicious on this last try, but I still can't seem to temper the chocolate correctly. AND I put them on wax paper which apparently was a bad idea because they stuck. So, I've ingested some wax paper. It was worth it. Of course, now that I'm close to getting them right, I'll need to make them again. It's a lot of work! I have great respect for all you candy makers!!! Speaking of, this package will also include a sampling from Lollipop Labs ...another candy I really want to attempt one of these days... Anyway, congratulations to Tiny Bird Arts. She's hosting a great giveaway of her own right now, so check it out!
Also, Nicole Tattersall (check out her art - it's fabulous) is hosting her own giveaway for free money to use in my Etsy shop! Enter now!
Oh and that picture above has nothing to do with anything except that I'm having sea urchin later.

Candy, candy, candy I can't let you go...

It's been a while since I've had a giveaway (or written anything on this blog at all) and I've been inspired by several things to have a one now. First, I've just learned about a wonderful new handmade lollipop company that a friend of mine has started up and I wanted to share with you all how great it is! They're called Lollipop Labs and they do some VERY interesting things with lollipops. I really wasn't sure what to expect when I saw the flavors. I simply didn't know what a lavender rose lollipop would taste like! I like it. A lot. Check out the site and let me know what you think! They are also on Etsy.
My other inspiration for the giveaway is a new vendor I discovered on Etsy through a BNR I joined in on last week. Nicole's Handmade Treats has a lot of delicious options. I tried the almond turtle with dark chocolate and am in love. I've always wanted to try my hand at turtles and figured this would be the best way to do it. I'll make a batch this week, see what happens, and if they're up to par I'll make some for the winner of this giveaway! If I fail at the art of turtle making, I'll bake the winner these which I already know are absolutely fantastic. In this winning package there will be a sampling of some pops from Lollipop Labs. As usual, all of my followers are automatically entered, so sign up to follow if you aren't already. An extra entry will be given to anyone that comments on this post or any other post on my blog. Oh and please let me know what your nut of choice would be for the turtles. I'm going to start with almonds, but pecans would be great too I'm sure, so I'd love to hear people's preferences. This giveaway will end on 5/9/09 at midnight.

Joe Six Pack

I recently came across the best thing ever offered by Fresh Direct. If you don't know it, Fresh Direct is a grocery delivery service in New York that I think it pretty great. Great for all those things you don't want to carry up 6 flights of stairs or 3 avenues across. Great for the fact that their prices are better than the stores! And exceptional for what I just found. They call it Joe Six Pack and it's their choice of six mix and match bottles of beer out of their inventory. It's only $4.99! And they gave me good beer! I can't get a six pack of Old English in this city for $4.99! The only unfortunate part is that there's a limit of four.
One more great thing I found is this Zoya nail polish exchange. First of all their nail polish doesn't contain toluene, formaldehyde, DBP (phthalates) and camphor. I've been trying hard lately to find health/beauty product with less chemicals in them, so this is right up my alley. Of course, I'm always skeptical on how well they'll work. Sometimes you just need a chemical to do the job correctly. However, in the case of Zoya's nail polish, you really don't! Went on like a dream and I've gone 4 days so far without a chip. The best part is that they're having a nail polish exchange right now through the end of April. You send them at least 6 bottles of old/used nail polish you don't want and they'll send you the equal amount of Zoya polish back. You pick the colors and send in the form along with $3/bottle that you're ordering/exchanging. $3 bottles of nail polish sans the usual slew of chemicals?! I love it!

"You know what really grinds my gears...?"

Some friends (and bandmates) of mine have decided to do a once monthly multimedia event at a club here in the city. There will always be a performance by Pile of Kittens (they're hosting) but the rest of what happens each month will be determined as it goes along. It's called Grind My Gears and the first one is happening on April 2nd at the Pyramid Club. I, along with other members of my photo a day project mentioned previously on this blog right here, will be exhibiting photos! There will also be several short films and two other bands performing. AND if you feel the need to rant about something into a microphone you can do that too! As long as you start it with "you know what really grinds my gears....". If you're local to NYC come on down!!!!! If you just want to watch us remotely become a fan on facebook!

"...you don't even have to go to Europe any more... just go to Pittsburgh."

Congratulations to Expressions By Devin a.k.a Devin Prather for winning the giveaway!   She chose Andy 2 out of the three and I will be sending it shortly.  

Also, I was just featured in a gorgeous treasury by wintergarden!  Check it out!

Feeling So Wrong and Right Man

As an ongoing theme I think I'll continue to share photos from my 365/photo a day project. I've already started to get lazy and it's only March, so I'm trying to make up for it. Since I want to make an all photo calendar i.e. all the text and numbers are from photographs I take, whenever I miss a day of taking a picture, I will photograph whatever number day that happens to be, for the calendar. Once I run out of dates I can move on to spelling days of the week, but hopefully it won't come to that. Anyway, here are a few of my favorites from the last month or so. I've just listed all three on Etsy as well. Let me know what you think! Everyone who does (leaves a comment here - please include which photo you'd want) will be granted one entry into winning one of the three photos - you pick which one. If you already follow me you have one entry to start off with. If you just now sign up to follow that counts as one too. Leave comments on any other posts and I'll give you another entry! Thanks for looking! Giveaway ends midnight 3/9.

King George

Well I think it's appropriate that I haven't blogged until it was time for Oscar voodoo again.  I really only choose who I think should win.  Usually it's a VERY obvious choice (for me at least).  This year I thought Che might be nominated and I'd have a dilemma, but alas, it wasn't (see rant) so I stuck to my original choice for Heath Ledger Joker cake.  What a cake to make!  I felt I had plenty of room for mess on this one and I took it. 

More importantly I was just half paying attention to the Oscars as I type this and noticed that King George from Coffy died!  I just discovered this movie probably about a year ago and love it!  I got the soundtrack on vinyl for Christmas.   

I was also featured in a treasury this weekend!  Check it out!    Thank you TickledPinkKnits! 

More on voodoo baking

So here's a rundown of my voodoo cakes since their beginning back in March of 2006. The original was Philip Seymour Hoffman as Capote. Please keep in mind that I do not draw. This was all on a whim and done with a knife and small metal skewers because I'm too cheap to buy proper utensils. I've learned some things along the way though. It's called gel food coloring. I make my icing from scratch and love the recipe. So, when I started making these cakes and needed strong color, I wound up ruing the taste or consistency when I had to add so much liquid food coloring which was the only kind I had ever known. Luckily I found a pretty extensive cake decorating store not too far from where I live and quickly experienced the beauty of powder and gel food colorings.

My second was Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin in 'The Last King of Scotland'. I had not seen this movie before the baking, but loved Forrest as Ghost Dog and figured he had to be good. Also, I just liked him better than the other nominees. ALSO, his picture would be the most interesting on cake. Once I saw the movie I adored it. If you haven't, please do. It's a little rough, but worth it.

In March of 2007 I made a cake in order to cinch a win for the Florida Gators and Ohio State University in the March Madness games being played that night. Both did. I still didn't win the office pool though that year.

I have also given the Celtics their 2008 championship as well as the Red Sox their 2007 World Series.

In March of 2008 I went out to see 'There Will Be Blood' on the day of the Oscars. It was FANTASTIC. I made a Plainview cake that night and have watched that winning performance many, many times!!!!

I made sure that Hillary won on Super Tuesday. And I made sure Barack won the country. I need to do these for something like money. I know Heath is a lock, but the minute that movie came out I knew he would make for the perfect cake. He's such a messy Joker. Just like my technique! So, I'll do him and then maybe move on to stock ticker symbols.



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What the CHE??? - voodoo cakes explained

I REALLY don't care about the Oscars, but a few years ago I was attending an Oscar party and decided to make a cake with my Oscar winner choice drawn on in icing. It has become a tradition and turned into a hobby I like to call voodoo cake baking. Other than the Oscars, I've used this power with sporting events and the presidential election (see previous post). I am currently 0 for 6. I did have one loss I am not counting because it was a screw up with the recipe and not my voodoo. Actually, it was quite crazy. I had made it for a couple of March Madness games last year. My rule is that you don't cut open and eat the cake until the winner is clear. So, as I'm watching the games and watching the two teams lose, I'm wondering what went wrong?? Once the games ended I cut open the cake and find that it's completely INEDIBLE!! I had noticed while it was baking that it didn't rise as high as it usually does, but didn't think it was going to be so bad I couldn't eat it! Amazing. Anyway, my original plan for this year was to make a Joker cake - not only was Heath fabulous in this role, but what a fabulous cake it would make! THEN I saw 'Che' at a premier this past December. Not only is Benicio Del Toro my favorite actor, but he's playing Che Guevara! The story was great. The film was beautiful. Benicio was impeccable!! Yet, no Oscar nomination!!!!! THIS is why I don't care about Oscars. How do you ignore a movie this brilliant? Because it isn't the standard 1.5 hours long? Because it's actual ART and not b.s. Hollywood movie dumbed down for a mass audience? Oh, I'm sorry, you had to read some subtitles. And concentrate on something for more than 15 minutes. And actually LEARN something. I apologize for the rant, but it made me quite angry that I won't be able to portray Che in icing this year. If you haven't seen this movie I recommend you do so immediately!

Pepe Silvia

This year I started a 365 photo project with some friends as an experiment. The point is to take at least one photo every single day of the year. I do think I shoot pretty regularly, but it definitely wasn't every single day. I enjoy having a mission and, being forever the procrastinator, this project is really helping to break that habit. Here are a few new prints I'm offering on Etsy and Artfire. Click on the individual photos to see their full listings on Etsy. As usual, I'd love to hear opinions!

My subject relates to nothing again, so here's the video...

"Expert lover, my baby...

U ever had a crystal ball?" Yeah it's a stretch, but these new earrings I just made look almost like crystal balls so I'm quoting the only thing I know that relates. PRINCE. (That link goes to the song if you're in the mood)
I fell in love with these turquoise glass beads a while back and knew I needed chain and another bead at the very bottom. Finding the bottom beads, which are black czech crystals, was a harder decision, but I really like how they came out. I had made a demo pair for myself over a month ago, but with a slight variation of black beads at the bottom, and I can attest to how fun - and "glamorous" to quote a friend - they are to wear. All the chain, wire, and components are sterling silver and, as with any other sterling silver jewelry I offer, you will receive a polishing cloth along with the purchase. They measure a little over 3" from the top of the earwire to the bottom beads. I'd love to hear what you all think of these!

On another note I was recently featured on luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com! She chooses themes for the day and finds Etsy items to match. How great!!! She found a LOT of cool items for this pink and black category. Check it out!

Obamarama

Ahhh, another fabulous Etsy seller. I got mine in holiday red and unfortunately it's in the hands of my mother and not me, so above is a picture of a similar cup that Fleanine is selling. He does really beautiful work. This cup has the design sandblasted on and it will never disappear. AND it's dishwasher safe. If you still need something to toast with on the 20th go here!

"I go-go dance for a living but I’m in a cage. It’s totally different."

Here's a shot of another trial run of these chocolate snowcaps I did last night (before going into the oven). Tonight I will be making a new batch for YARNCOTURE who is the winner of this giveaway!!!!
Usually when I bake something new I do it as the recipe calls for first, so I don't necessarily start off with all organic ingredients. Because of this I've found that organic ingredients can definitely change the taste and/or consistency of some recipes. You know how you sometimes get that "organicy" flavor? Anyway, it is NOT the case with these snowcaps. They still come out delicious and I honestly can't tell the difference between the semi-organic version I did at Christmas and the all organic versions I've done in the last week. Now, on to trying them with whole wheat flour (after yarncoture's batch of course)! I find that with really chocolatey cookie recipes you can totally get away with whole wheat flour and not notice a difference, but with regular chocolate chip cookies, it's harder to pull off. Just a little tip if anyone is interested! Thanks everyone for entering!! I'll do another one soon!
Also, this blog title comes from Rock of Love Bus - did anyone watch? It's horrendous! And I'll be taping every episode.