Front:
Back:
When they come I'll show you the real deal.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Business Cards!
One of the printing companies I use was having a sale the other day and I ordered my business cards! Never again will I be unprepared when I come across a potential client (which has happened about 3 times - the shame!). Now I will have these little lovelies to give them.
Front:
Back:
When they come I'll show you the real deal.
Front:
Back:
When they come I'll show you the real deal.
Eric's Party
The party we had for my stepdad was a huge success and a blast! The weather was perfect, thankfully. We rented tables for our back patio, and I made all of the decorations. I did wine bottle and cork with flowers for centerpieces, as well as letter banners, a cigar bar, and a dessert bar.
Here's some of the centerpieces, for flowers we bought a bouquet from Costco and I separated it. It's really easy! I'll have a whole post featuring them next week sometime.
And I printed out free paper old fashioned lemonade decorations for drinks from one of the blogs I follow. I also had letter banners that I cut.
We had a dessert bar, a regular bar, and a cigar bar.
Here's some of the centerpieces, for flowers we bought a bouquet from Costco and I separated it. It's really easy! I'll have a whole post featuring them next week sometime.
And I printed out free paper old fashioned lemonade decorations for drinks from one of the blogs I follow. I also had letter banners that I cut.
We had a dessert bar, a regular bar, and a cigar bar.
Friday, August 20, 2010
New camera lens!
A few weeks ago I decided to get myself the Cannon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens and I am in absolute love with it! I've spent more time outside exploring the world from behind the lens than on the computer working on new designs! Enough chatter, let's see what this baby can do!
First things first, this is the lens I bought and my camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T2i (aka 550D):
Flowers:
Centerpieces from the 50th party (DIY feature for this is in the works):
My cat, Queen Suzy:
And the first shot I took when I opened the lens - I lucked out because this little beauty was hanging out on my back deck!
First things first, this is the lens I bought and my camera, a Canon EOS Rebel T2i (aka 550D):
Flowers:
Centerpieces from the 50th party (DIY feature for this is in the works):
My cat, Queen Suzy:
And the first shot I took when I opened the lens - I lucked out because this little beauty was hanging out on my back deck!
Monday, August 16, 2010
DIY: Homemade Jam
I love jam! I love it on toast, on scones, in greek yogurt, on biscuits, and anything I can put the gooey goodness onto! But I've never tried to make any homemade jam before, and I decided to try it out at work the other day (I'm a nanny in the summer). And it turned out great!
There are a ton of great recipes all over the net for making your own jam. My favorite has been from one of my favorite blogs, 100 Layer Cake.
Here's my recipe that I made:
For the sugar I decided to substitute pure sugar with Splenda Sugar Blend (half sugar, half splenda). Apparently you can even substitute honey for sugar. Fruit pectin is usually sold in any grocery store near the jello and baking sections. In my grocery store it was near the mason jars, which I didn’t even know was sold there!
First things first, you need to decide what kind of jam you want to make. I live in southern New Jersey and it is berry season here! I decided to stop by one of the local farmer’s markets and I bought 3 cartons of blackberries and 3 cartons of raspberries to make enough jam to fill a dozen 4oz jars. I suggest that if you don’t have access to a farmer’s or produce market that you try buying frozen berries and thawing them out, I have had success in the past making a raspberry dip this way when the fruit was out of season.
Once you have your berries and other ingredients, rinse them off and begin to mash them in a large bowl. It’s easier to mash a small amount of berries at a time. Once your berries are crushed put them in a sauce pot on the stove and set the heat to medium-high. Add the fresh lemon juice. If you are making spiced jam, add the spices you want to add as well. TIP: Before cutting the lemon open roll it on a cutting board or hard countertop to maximize the amount of juice you squeeze from the lemon!
Measure out your sugar and set it aside, then add the fruit pectin. Stir the berry mixture until it comes to a boil. When the mixture is at a full boil add the sugar. Stir constantly for 1-2 minutes at a full boil, then remove from heat. Now you can start pouring jam into your jars!
After you have poured the jam into all of the jars, cover the jars with their seals and screw-tops then set in boiling water for 5 minutes (I used 2 large sauteing pans). This processes the jam and seals the jars. After 5 minutes, remove jars from water and set aside to cool. Now to get creative!
The jam will take a couple of hours to cool off, mine took about 8 hours. While I was waiting for the jam to cool off I hopped onto Adobe Illustrator and quickly made up some 1″ x 1″ circle labels for my jam jars. I printed them out and put them through my Xyron create-a-sticker maker (a nifty gadget found at my local JoAnns - it applies sticker adhesive to jsut about anything!). I cut them out by hand with scissors, but I would suggest using an exact-o knife or hole punch for a more professional finish. I also cut out fabric squares from some floral patterned fabric I picked up at JoAnns. I found it in the remnants section.
When the jam was cool I unscrewed the cap and laid out my fabric square, then re-screwed the cap back on. I put the sticker on the jar, and I also tied some twine around the lid. I love how they turned out! And everyone I gave jam to is raving over how good it turned out. I can’t wait to make some more! Next time I'll make some spiced peach for the fall!
There are a ton of great recipes all over the net for making your own jam. My favorite has been from one of my favorite blogs, 100 Layer Cake.
Here's my recipe that I made:
Ingredients
- 5 c. raspberries, 5 c. blackberries (or 10 c. of whichever fruit you pick) *Note: It's ok if you have a little less than exactly 10 c. of fruit
- 4-5 c. sugar or 2.5 c. Splenda Blend
- 1.5 pkg fruit pectin (Certo or SureJell)
- 1 lemon, fresh
- Optional: Spices to spice your jam, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, ginger, or nutmeg
For the sugar I decided to substitute pure sugar with Splenda Sugar Blend (half sugar, half splenda). Apparently you can even substitute honey for sugar. Fruit pectin is usually sold in any grocery store near the jello and baking sections. In my grocery store it was near the mason jars, which I didn’t even know was sold there!
First things first, you need to decide what kind of jam you want to make. I live in southern New Jersey and it is berry season here! I decided to stop by one of the local farmer’s markets and I bought 3 cartons of blackberries and 3 cartons of raspberries to make enough jam to fill a dozen 4oz jars. I suggest that if you don’t have access to a farmer’s or produce market that you try buying frozen berries and thawing them out, I have had success in the past making a raspberry dip this way when the fruit was out of season.
Once you have your berries and other ingredients, rinse them off and begin to mash them in a large bowl. It’s easier to mash a small amount of berries at a time. Once your berries are crushed put them in a sauce pot on the stove and set the heat to medium-high. Add the fresh lemon juice. If you are making spiced jam, add the spices you want to add as well. TIP: Before cutting the lemon open roll it on a cutting board or hard countertop to maximize the amount of juice you squeeze from the lemon!
Measure out your sugar and set it aside, then add the fruit pectin. Stir the berry mixture until it comes to a boil. When the mixture is at a full boil add the sugar. Stir constantly for 1-2 minutes at a full boil, then remove from heat. Now you can start pouring jam into your jars!
After you have poured the jam into all of the jars, cover the jars with their seals and screw-tops then set in boiling water for 5 minutes (I used 2 large sauteing pans). This processes the jam and seals the jars. After 5 minutes, remove jars from water and set aside to cool. Now to get creative!
The jam will take a couple of hours to cool off, mine took about 8 hours. While I was waiting for the jam to cool off I hopped onto Adobe Illustrator and quickly made up some 1″ x 1″ circle labels for my jam jars. I printed them out and put them through my Xyron create-a-sticker maker (a nifty gadget found at my local JoAnns - it applies sticker adhesive to jsut about anything!). I cut them out by hand with scissors, but I would suggest using an exact-o knife or hole punch for a more professional finish. I also cut out fabric squares from some floral patterned fabric I picked up at JoAnns. I found it in the remnants section.
When the jam was cool I unscrewed the cap and laid out my fabric square, then re-screwed the cap back on. I put the sticker on the jar, and I also tied some twine around the lid. I love how they turned out! And everyone I gave jam to is raving over how good it turned out. I can’t wait to make some more! Next time I'll make some spiced peach for the fall!
Photography: Summertime and Popsicles
As summer draws to an end I've been looking back on the last few weeks. I loved this summer - there was bbqs, picnics, antique adventures, and much more. Possibly the most important - there was popsicles. Homemade popsicles. What do you think of when you think of summertime? I loved visiting the antique-filled town of Mullica Hill with my boyfriend for our 6 month anniversary. He surprised me with a drive when we got up in the morning after I'd surprised him the night before with a picnic. And just this passed weekend my friend hosted a pool party bbq that lasted all day with friends laughing and chatting away. It was so great to get to see everyone before we all go off in our separate ways for school when the semester starts.
It's still hot out, but I can feel the breeze creeping into the days as they get shorter. My knitting needles are itching to have some mittens and warm hats on them! I picked out several mitten patterns today that I'm dying to make.
Also, some of the quilting books I ordered came. I'm doing it. I'm going to quilt.
Here's how my summer's been. Apologies in advance for a toooonnn of pictures.
Picnics
Antique Shops
Popsicles
Parties
It's still hot out, but I can feel the breeze creeping into the days as they get shorter. My knitting needles are itching to have some mittens and warm hats on them! I picked out several mitten patterns today that I'm dying to make.
Also, some of the quilting books I ordered came. I'm doing it. I'm going to quilt.
Here's how my summer's been. Apologies in advance for a toooonnn of pictures.
Picnics
Antique Shops
Popsicles
Parties
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