Fabric Crush Monday #10 - Giveaway

   I fell in love with this fabric even before I started to sew, it was at Walmart more than a year ago. I was wandering in the craft aisle, daydreaming of sewing and all the things I'd make, then I saw the bolt of this fabric; time stood still. LOL I figured that if I was going to start sewing as soon as I bought a sewing machine I'd need fabric, so I bought 3 yards. A couple of weeks later I bought my sewing machine and some time after that, I made a couple of things with it.

   I made this purse with a recessed zipper, courtesy of a tutorial by Projects by Jane.

   I made this wallet and then I fused rhinestones on the outside.

   The inside was solid purple cotton and I learned to install probably one of my first zippers ever and my very first magnetic snap. Both of these items went to the same loving home, the client was super happy and in love with the fabric AND the rhinestones. LOL

   With this fabric I made these:

I really love that suede.

I learned to install heavy duty snaps and they've been my friends ever since.

This zipper clutch was a gift for my mother using a Keyka Lou's pattern. She loved it.

   I bought this fabric at my local fabric shop and I made a dress for my cute cloth doll named Lola.

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Giveaway!

   I'm very happy today because this post is a milestone for me. It's my 100th post and it's also the 10th Fabric Crush Monday so I thought I'd celebrate it with a giveaway. I'll send one fat quarter of each of the fabrics above to the lucky winner. This giveaway is open worldwide.

What do you have to do?

Follow this blog through Google Friend Connect and leave a comment letting me know what would you make with the fabric if you were the winner.

For extra entries: (remember to leave a separate comment for each)

• Follow me on Twitter.
• Tweet about this giveaway.
• Follow me on Pinterest.
• Pin this post on Pinterest.
• Mark my Etsy shop as favorite.

You have until Sunday Dec 4 to comment, I will announce the winner next Monday Dec 5.

Good luck!

Flickr Favorites

1) A couple of extra leaves ...  2) Blom 3) Beautiful turquoise felt  4) Rose Pillow  5) Frivolité  6) Blom van Eloleo  7) Detalhe  8) detalhes...  9) Novidade no Blog!

Post Black Friday - Cyber Monday Discount for My Readers

   Today was Black Friday, today, thousands of people got up extra early for an extra chance at getting those hard-to-find Christmas presents at a good price. I'm sure many of them got back home empty-handed so I decided I'd give all my readers a special discount on my Etsy shop, you can get 25% off every purchase using this code at your checkout: YADIRA25.

   I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones. I spent it with my mother and grandmother in a very unusual dinner at Denny's because nobody felt like cooking; we had an awesome time. I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Fabric Crush Monday #9

Joel Dewberry - Aviary 2 Woodgrain in Bark | Available here

   My love story with this fabric has been long. I think I saw it for the first time on Keyka Lou's Blog and I knew I had to have some. When I finally found it I decided I had to get enough of it to last me a while, so I bought 3 yards.

 
   As soon as it arrived in the mail I felt the need to make something for me, so I made me a wallet, with a leaf flap. I've already had it for 6 months and the love hasn't fade away.

<3 It's still perfect and I love it.

Fabric Blooms

   I've always loved fabric flowers, there is something special about them that always gets my attention. That happened to me yesterday with the tutorial for this flowers, I saw it on Pinterest and had to make them right away.

   The tutorial and pattern were in a cool blog called eloleo which only inconvenience is that the author writes in Dutch. But hey! don't let that take you down, I used Google Translate and with the help of the pictures I understood pretty much everything and was able to make these 2 gorgeous flowers.

   The one in the first picture was my favorite, mainly because of the fabric choice which is a lot more "me", but also because it was easier to make compared to the one with rounded petals. I also think it is a lot bolder and with that size (4.25 in) it could make for a statement accessory depending on the outfit. I have not decided what they will be yet, hair-clips or brooches?

   I found this one really cute but it's more of a casual accessory, something a girl could wear to school and look very pretty. I think I will make a few more and give them to the ladies in my family as Christmas gifts. What do you think?

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In other news...

   I went to my grandma's yesterday and gave her the Vintage Brooches I bought for her. Let me tell you, she fell in love with them, she wouldn't stop staring at them for a long while. Then after a couple hours we found ourselves browsing through her brooch stash looking for a brooch I gave her long ago. Then we found this cute little treasure, I asked her for it and she was happy to give it to me. The bee in this brooch can move from one flower to another. Isn't that cute?

My New Camera - Polaroid Automatic Land Camera 210

   When I bought my first land camera I decided that they were way too cool to have only one, so I started my hunt for a new one. I spent some time bidding on them on eBay until I won this one for a very low price. It came with its hilarious instruction manual and a battery upgrade, I think I scored big on this one. It's a Polaroid Automatic Land Camera 210 and I'm in love with it; it's a bit smaller than the 215 and way cuter. <3

Interesting facts : This camera was manufactured between 1967 and 1969 which makes it 42-44 years old and is in excellent condition. This is one of the most common models because it was the first color-capable Polaroid camera to retail under $50. This made them very popular and to fulfill the demand Polaroid manufactured more than a million of them which is a lot compared to the 215 of which only around 300,000 were made.

   The film for the land cameras is being manufactured by Fujifilm, and is actually very affordable. If you want to buy film for this camera you should look first in places like eBay and Amazon for really good deals. The films you need to look for would be fp 100-c for color and fp 3000b or fp 100-b for black and white.

   In this picture you can compare the sizes, the 215 is maybe half an inch to the front but I think you can appreciate that the 210 is smaller. Oh! I think I forgot to say the last time that the 215 model was manufactured between 1968 and 1970.

   This would be the manual, very user friendly and with many hilarious photos. Some of them:

My First (partially) Successful Doodle Ever

   Lately, I've been feeling inspired to draw thanks to the many awesome artists in the blogosphere. One of my biggest inspirations is Rachele from The Nearsighted Owl. The inspiration was so powerful that I felt the need to dust my tablet and put it to good use. I normally don't use it much because, contrary to its purpose, it makes me feel very rigid and not loose enough to draw like if it was paper. When I made this drawing, the experience was completely different. I wasn't paying much attention; it basically created itself (that explains the title). This was supposed to be a self-portrait but it's not quite perfect, so I don't dare to call it that. I like it though, what do you think?

Fabric Crush Monday #8

Animals in the Park | Available here

    How cute is this? I think you've already noticed that I love kawaii prints. This one is particularly cute because it's kind of like a kid's drawing, complete with trees, apples, flowers, birds and sun with added super cute animals. I love it!

The First Pattern in My Etsy Shop

   A while ago I blogged about my first embroidery pattern, remember it? I didn't list it in the shop then because I was waiting for my grand reopening. Now it's up and available for anyone who feels like embroidering a cute owl. If you are interested you can click here to see the listing. I hope everyone likes it.

Woodland Owl Embroidery Pattern | Available here

Vintage Brooches for My Grandma + Polaroid Pictures

   I often remember my grandmother's habit of wearing a brooch with pretty much every outfit. She even tried to convince me to take the same habit when I was little and she almost did, I loved wearing her shiny brooches, but since I was too little she would only let me use the plastic kiddie ones. As you might have noticed, I'm into vintage, antiques, thrifty finds etc. so for a while I've been interested in getting a couple nice brooches for her, so she can remember me while looking pretty stylish. :D

   I searched sites such as Etsy and eBay trying to find something that would look cute, fit her style and my budget. These 2 met my requirements, I found them in a cute little Etsy shop called Beca Runs, she has great prices and ships fast. The blue enamel flower is from the 50's and the starburst is from the 30's, I think they both are gorgeous in their own special way. I can't wait to be able to visit my grandma and give her these awesome presents, I hope she loves them as much as I do. Let me tell you, if I didn't love her the way I do I'd keep these for me, but Shhhh! don't tell her I said that.

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In other news...

   I forgot to show you these 2 Polaroid pictures that I snapped at Miss Lou's Halloween Party. They were all that was left from my 600 film pack from Impossible Project. As you can see the quality didn't improve much through the film pack and as if that wasn't enough, all of the pictures I shot with that film are turning green. I've read that if you keep them in the fridge the aging process slows down but I refuse to keep my Polaroid album in there forever. Don't get me wrong, I think that if these had not had the blot they would have been cute, Miss Lou's picture even looks black and white or sepia.

Miss Lou from eLousions | Marisol from Curioux Disorder

Fabric Crush Monday #7

Embroidered Batik | Available here

   I fell in love with embroidered batik several months ago when I started to sew. I went to the fabric store one day to get more fabrics and a gorgeous colorful embroidered fabric appeared. I had NO IDEA what it was but it was so lovely I bought a yard and brought it home to make clutches. The one I got had a purple background instead of the blue one in the photo above and to date I've made 2 clutches out of it.

  The clutch above was made using a Keyka Lou Pattern which I love, the Pocket Clutch. The one below was made using my own pattern which I might make available for purchase one day. Would you be interested in that?

Zucche Misteriose (Mysterious Pumpkins) - Recipe

   This Halloween treat is a variation of a Cheese Puff video-recipe by GialloZafferano, a culinary channel in Youtube by Italian cook Sonia Peronaci. This recipe was part of their special Halloween lineup. I found this recipe the day before Miss Lou's Halloween party and decided that I had to make them. Then I made them in the middle of all the hurry with the costume and make-up for the party. I'm sure that if made with a little bit more of time you could create a gorgeous masterpiece.

   One fair warning: These are not sweet! That's the first impression most people (myself included) get. They are salty treats with a very strong cheese flavor that somehow remind me of Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish Crackers. The best part is that if you change the food colors you can make treats for any kind of holiday, or simply leave out the colors for a golden brown treat that could make its appearance any time of the year.

   There are several steps, but the recipe is very easy to follow. If you want to try it, I recommend you watch the video first to get a general idea of what you'll need to do. I translated the recipe and converted the measurements for your convenience but I did change some of the ingredients.

I strongly recommend them, they are to die for. :P

Ingredients

Cheese Puff
   -100ml water (3.4oz)
   -6 tbs flour
   -3 tbs butter
   -a pinch of salt
   -2 eggs
   -1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
   -red and yellow food coloring

Filling
   -4.25 oz can of deviled ham
   -8 oz cream cheese
   -1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Garnish
   -4 tbs cream cheese
   -green food coloring

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring the water,butter and salt to a boil.
2. Add the flour and remove the saucepan from the heat.
3. Mix vigorously until the ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Return the saucepan to the stove and mix over low heat until a white residue appears on the bottom of the saucepan.
5. Let the dough cool.
6. Once the dough has cooled, add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
7. Mix in the Parmesan cheese.
8. Color the dough using red and yellow food coloring to obtain a bright orange color (I used approximately 23 drops of yellow and 4 of red McCormick food coloring).
9. Fill a piping bag with the colored mixture and pipe small mounds (aprox. 1 inch each) of the mix onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
10. Bake 15 minutes at 425F.
11. After the first 15 minutes lower the temperature to 370F and bake for 10 more minutes.
12. Turn of the oven and let the puffs cool with the door partially open.
13. While the cheese puffs cool, mix the ingredients for the filling and transfer it to a piping bag.
14. Once the cheese puffs have cooled, use the back of a spoon to make a small hole in the bottom of each.
15. Fill the cheese puffs with the deviled ham mixture.
16. Combine 4 tbs of cream cheese with enough green food coloring to obtain a bright green color.
17. Fill a piping bag with the colored cream cheese and use it to garnish the cheese puffs.
18. Store in the fridge before serving.

Enjoy!
If you have any question feel free to ask. Remember, if you make them, please share a picture. I'd love to see. :D

Miss Lou's Halloween Party

   This is little bit hard for me because this is the first time ever that I write a post with my picture in it (there is another in the About Me section). But since this is a Halloween themed post and that is me in the picture with my Halloween costume I thought it was necessary. Last Saturday I was invited to go to Miss Lou's Halloween Party and I knew I'd have a lot of fun so I didn't even stop to think about it. As you can see I was a mouse, I had tail and everything. I had a picture of me taken before all the makeup melted in the Caribbean heat.

   These would be the hosts, Miss Lou and her boyfriend dressed as a grayscale couple. I thought it was hilarious and a bit creepy because when you looked at them you went into the Black and White picture mood but then you'd look at the decoration and other people's costumes and you might have thought that your eyes were tricking you.

   These were some of Miss Lou's guests, I think I don't need to explain their costumes, they're pretty straightforward.

........ and the food, I don't even have words, LOL. I brought the little orange things, they were cheese puffs which I'll tell you about next time, I'll share the recipe so stay tuned. They were gone as soon as I got there. Someone else brought cupcakes but I was completely in love with those little cake pop eyes that Miss Lou made, they were scrumptious. I don't know if they just tasted that yummy to me because of my diet but I think I'll have to ask Miss Lou to make them for me once a month. I decided I'd cheat on my low-carb diet once a month to keep my interest in the diet and my sanity. I cheated really bad on it last Saturday, I had white bread for breakfast, then went to the mall and ate Godiva's chocolate and when I went to the party I indulged in all the sweets and fritters that were on the table. I don't complain at all, I've lost 17lbs already and I'm still very focused.

   About the party I'll just say that it was super awesome, I had tons of fun. We talked, we laughed, we ate and we even got a little bit tipsy. Thank you Miss Lou for hosting a super cool party.