Yadira's Crafty Adventures

11 Things Meme

2012-02-25T00:10:00.003-05:00

I've been a little absent this week, it was due to some issues I had with my internet connection; they're already fixed. Now onto the post of the day.

I was tagged last week by Suki from The Owl Club in the 11 things meme. I think it's very interesting because you get to know your favorite bloggers a little more. So here goes my contribution:

I'll tag: Angel, Bean, Diane, Jamie, Jenna, Marla Rae, Mewtop, Miss Lou, Rachele, Skooks and Zoe.

The Rules of the Game:

You must post these rules.
Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
No tag backs and you legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 facts about me:

It's always super hard for me to come up with these.

I follow 177 blogs only through GFC, I also follow a couple through Feedly; sometimes I can't keep up with everyone, sorry.
I love to watch Brazilian soap operas.
I sometimes watch Lazy Town :S and I catch myself singing their songs without noticing. Actually, I watch more TV for kids than any other kind.
I have a tattoo of a hippie Volkswagen on the left side of my chest. I love tattoos and plan on getting a whole lot more. I also have my ears stretched to 2g.
I LOVE Doctor Who.
I hate artificial banana flavor but I love bananas and anything made with actual bananas.
I usually need to take my shoes off to drive and sew and to press any kind of pedal.
When I was 16 my first work was in a bakery. I worked there for a couple of years and I loved the experience so much that I still think about applying for a job in a bakery.
I actually believe in fairies and other creatures... seriously.
I'm a night owl. I prefer to sleep by day and work/live by night.
I tend to remember entire dialogues of movies and I repeat them in the most appropriate circumstances. :D

11 Q's from Suki:

1. Do you have a favourite item of clothing for any reason?

I love my black flats, they are super comfortable and go well with most of my clothes.

2. How do you get back to sleep if you wake up in the night?
I tire my eyes by playing any random game in my cellphone.

3. What do you most love about your body?
I love my eyes, they are very expressive. This sometimes is bad because they usually speak louder than my voice and people who know me well can tell how I feel way too easily. I also love my hair and the fact that I'm shapely even though I'm very chubby.

4. If could receive one present of a craft or art material/supply what would it be?
Right now I'm very much into leather (I only use remnants BTW) so any leather tool would be AWESOME!

5. When did you last lie outside, looking up at the night sky?
I think it must have been last year with my brother and best friend; there was a meteor shower.

6. When did you last swim in the sea/ocean?
This is going to sound unreal due to the fact that I live in a tiny island and the closest beach is 5 minutes away but I think it was for the Noche de San Juan (St. John's Eve) 3 or 4 years ago.

7. What's your morning wake-up essential?
Sadly... a pill. I need to take it every day 1 hour before eating anything, so I take my pill and then do anything else that needs to be done while I wait for that hour to pass.

8. Who were you in a former life?
Erm... I don't really know. I've always had a feeling that I was previously a girl living in a cottage in the forests of North UK, maybe Scotland and I lived a very quiet, simple and happy life.

9. What's your porn star name (name of first pet + name of first street where you lived - I'm Ameliaranne Sharon Minster by the way!)?
Brownie Alejandrino LOL.

10. What do you have a collection of?
Fabric / all kinds of craft supplies and Sanrio stuff.

11. What is your ultimate comfort food?
Arepas Venezolanas. I'll publish the recipe I use soon. They're SUPER easy to make and oh so yummy!

My 11 Q's for you:

Do you have any favorite recipe? Which one?
How many blogs do you follow? I want to know if I'm too weird.
If you could be any character in a book or movie who would you be?
What's your dream travel destination?
Do you have pets? Do you talk to them?
If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
Is there any food that you wouldn't eat no matter what?
3 items you would take with you if you were left alone in a deserted island. I know... classic.
Have you ever pretended to be someone else?
What's your dream item to find in a thrift store?
Food: Mexican, Italian or Japanese

Fabric Crush Monday #20

2012-02-20T21:00:00.000-05:00

Alexander Henry Ojo De Dios in Turquoise | Available here

Don't you think that this print is gorgeous? To me it looks like Mexican handwoven fabric. It's from a collection called Folklorico. It's like an explosion of color. Click through the picture or the link below it to go straight to the listing! ;)

Legend of the Tortoiseshell Cat

2012-02-18T19:32:00.000-05:00

When I blogged about my new kittens I mentioned a legend I read about tortoiseshell cats (or gatas carey in Spanish) that made me want to keep the tortoiseshell kitten from the litter. I saw a little bit of interest from the readers plus I think this legend is too awesome to only be available in Spanish so I decided to translate it for your enjoyment.

These cat's are very special because they're almost always females. Due to the way their genes are arranged to produce their coat colors it's very unlikely that the product would be a male kitten. If you want further information on that you can read it here.

Via

Leyenda de las Gatas Carey
Loosely translated from the Spanish version.

   Legend says that many centuries ago the Sun begged the Moon to cover him for a while so that he could have the chance to leave the heavens and wander freely around Earth. The Sun no longer wanted to be the center of the universe and wanted to be able to go unnoticed among all the living creatures.

   The Sun insisted so much that on a bright June morning the Moon slowly started moving towards him until she covered its light. The movement was slow, so that the creatures below wouldn't be surprised by the sudden darkness.

   As soon as the Sun could step down from its place, it headed towards Earth. To avoid calling attention to itself, the Sun took the body of the fastest and most discreet creature around; a black cat.

   The Moon quickly grew tired of covering for the Sun and, without warning, started to recede. The Sun noticed this and in its haste to return to its place left behind thousands of rays in its mortal host.

   To this day, the cats we call tortoiseshell are the descendants of that black cat that long ago hosted the sun during its visit to Earth. Today we can still see hints of the sun in the patches of red, yellow and orange that cover their coats. The split face on some of these cats is further evidence of their dual nature; half cat, half heavenly star.

   Some folks say that their solar origin grants these special cats magical properties, they are said to bring good luck and attract positive energy. Also, these cats are very loved and appreciated in Oriental countries; it's common knowledge that whoever possesses one should cherish and treasure her.

The picture above shows a few tortoiseshell cats, I'll provide a little bit of information for each of them so you can get to know them and maybe even visit their cyber homes.

1) Bigger Picture: My 1 week old litter of kittens, one of them is a tortoiseshell. That picture was taken today.

2) Fafi, she is the lucky cat of the girl behind The Owl Club.

3) She doesn't have a name :( she is Magia's mom and a stray cat that a lovely young couple feed.

4) Sandy; one of Rachele's babies. Rachele is the girl behind The Nearsighted Owl and she is hosting a giveaway of one of my clutches, you sure don't want to miss that so click here to be part of it.

Have an awesome weekend!

Chocolate Macaroon Pie - Review

2012-02-18T01:24:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Macaroon Pie | Recipe here

Yay, food! It's been a few months since I last shared a recipe or recipe review here but a couple of weeks ago I was scrolling through my reader and saw this spectacular pie. I decided I'd make it because it used very few ingredients and seemed easy to make. I was right!

It was part of a pie party that Monica from Lick The Bowl Good hosted for her family and friends. My love for chocolate said that there was no way I could go wrong with this pie. I made it and at first I thought it was a bit too much (I know...) so I topped it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and it was heaven. I definitely recommend it.

Embroidered Portrait of My Cats

2012-02-15T21:38:00.000-05:00

This is the surprise from the last Sneak Peek post.

   I've been trying to take cute pictures of my two cats interacting, but they refuse to pose for me. The solution? I decided to embroider a portrait of my cats that shows them in a very typical scene. The tabby in the foreground is Mia. In the background, you see Magia getting ready to pounce and scare Mia.

   I embroidered most of the portrait and then thought of painting it somehow to get more color and make the details of their coats more noticeable. I thought of using acrylic paint, then fabric markers and then it hit me, why not use crayons? I researched a little bit about fabric crayons but didn't find anything conclusive so I decided to give it a try with regular crayons. I used Crayola and I love how it turned out. Would anyone like to see a tutorial of how I did this?

   I originally thought of making these custom for anyone interested and available for sale at my shop but it's been hard to find the supplies I need locally. I also wanted to get some feedback before I attempt to sell them, so... What do you think?

Fabric Crush Monday #19

2012-02-13T16:00:00.000-05:00

Hedgehog Heaven in Gold by Michael Miller | Available here

Today I wanted to feature a fabric that would fit the St. Valentine's theme but that wasn't too much. You know, because I'm not much of a fan of this holiday. Don't you just LOVE hedgehogs? I sure love them.

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I shared this post on Someday Crafts. Click the link to find more awesome crafty blogs.

Mia's Pregnancy Journal 3 :: I'm a granny!

2012-02-12T21:32:00.000-05:00

I'm SO excited to announce that I'm now the proud granny of 4 cute little kittens. My cat Mia delivered her babies yesterday during the morning. When I woke up, there was only one baby with her and I was worried because her belly was big enough for 2 or 3 kittens. It seems like the baby had just been born and she was still in labor. Of course she had to go to the most uncomfortable place of the house for me to keep an eye on her instead of using the basket I prepared for her weeks ago. When I realized what was going on, I brought the basket into the room in which she decided to deliver the babies and she jumped right in. I even had to grab the newborn kitten and put it close to her so she could start nursing it as soon as possible.

After that, everything was a piece of cake. Every time I popped over to see how she was doing, I'd see a new kitten. I seriously started to worry about finding homes for all of them, but I decided I'd keep one. Two others found a home as soon as I published the picture above on Facebook, so I only need to find a home for one... AND it was only hours after they were born. I'M SO HAPPY!!!

The calico is acting as pillow in this picture in case you can't tell. :D

I'm in love with these babies, as you can see on the picture above they're all different. There's a black one, a gray tabby (just as its momma), a tortoiseshell and a calico. I read an awesome legend about tortoiseshell cats which made me fall in love with my tortie, so I think I'll keep it but I'm not sure yet. I want to see how their characters and attitudes develop. Wish me luck on this new adventure!

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I shared this post on Chef in Training and Someday Crafts. Click the links to find more awesome crafty blogs.

A Sneak Peek

2012-02-10T20:07:00.002-05:00

I've been working on something very special to me, but I'm not ready to show full pictures yet. I'm SO excited!

I received an award!

2012-02-08T11:13:00.001-05:00

It seems like the lovely author behind Live.Love.Random by Erica liked my blog; she awarded it with the Liebster Blog Award. Yay!

About the Liebster Blog Award:

Liebster is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. The idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers in the hopes that it will bring many new friends/followers. So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to other bloggers. Stop by and visit them!

The Rules are:
1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your picks for the award and let them know.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.
5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

Here are my picks:

Fabric Crush Monday #18

2012-02-06T15:00:00.000-05:00

Kawaii Animals in Green by Asia Queen | Available here

Kawaii prints never get old to me. I've been in love with this fabric for quite a while but something happens every time I'm about to buy it and I end up postponing the purchase until I forget about it. Maybe I should just get it right now before I forget about it again. What do you think?

Cute Monster?

2012-02-03T13:22:00.000-05:00

I'm on a super hurry today but I really wanted to share this little monster I made last week. I was asked to make a cute and creepy monster and I came up with this in approximately 1 hour and a half. What do you think? Is it cute and creepy or just creepy? LOL

Oh and if you are interested in making your own just let me know so I can make a proper tutorial and upload the templates. I definitely recommend it, it was crazy easy.

Fabric Crush Monday #17

2012-01-30T21:02:00.000-05:00

Monaluna for Birch Fabrics Organic, Next Stop, Captured
Will be available in March at Fabricworm

OMG! To be honest I had another fabric picked out for today, but right before I wrote this I went to Pinterest and found this super cool fabric pinned by Keyka Lou, it was instant love. I specially love the fact that this will be printed on organic cotton. Stay tuned! You'll find it at Fabricworm as soon as it comes out in March.

If I had this, I'd make clutches and purses.
The interesting question now is: "What would you do?".

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I shared this post on Debbiedoo's, Homemaker on a Dime and Chef in Training. Click the links to find more awesome crafty blogs.

Mia's Pregnancy Journal - 2

2012-01-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

Taken last week

I just wanted to do a short update on Mia's pregnancy.

She is now sleeping most of the time and eating less than last week. She is actually bigger and rounder this week but it's been hard to take more pictures as she is always sleeping in the darkest places of the house. The picture above was taken with my cell phone last week one day that she fell asleep on my bed and didn't move at all even when the flash went off many times. At this point this should be her 7th or 8th week, but there's no way to know for sure. I'll have to count the days back when she delivers her kittens to have an idea on when were they conceived.

Have a nice day/night/afternoon wherever you are.

Fabric Crush Monday #16 + Inspiration

2012-01-24T00:03:00.003-05:00

Basic Natural Linen by White Linen Breeze | Available here

Natural linen! Don't you love it? I sure do! I wanted to talk a little bit about it today because I'm feeling particularly inspired. I've been sewing for a little longer than 1 year now and I've never used natural linen for sewing before, mostly because it's super rare and expensive to find here. I only have 2 kinds of linen in my stash and I can't seem to get the appropriate inspiration from them: 1 is solid turquoise and the other is white handkerchief linen, they are lovely but don't give the aesthetic that I love. How can I love natural linen so much then? Well, have you ever visited an awesome blog that makes you want to stay with a cup of coffee and click through every picture and link available? I've seen a few but there are 2 of them that are particularly dear to me because no matter what these ladies make I simply love it and... they use A LOT of natural linen.

All the items above were mady by Amy from NanaCompany who is also the photographer.

One of them is Amy from NanaCompany, she uses a lot of colorful patchwork, hand quilting, hexagons and linen in her creations. They turn out simply awesome. Don't you think?

Zakka Inspired Rabbit Bag by Kat from Zakka Inspired | Click here for the tutorial

The other lady that I wanted to tell you about is Kat from Zakka Inspired. She makes all kind of items inspired in Japanese books and Zakka aesthetic. She continues to inspire and awe me with every one of her creations. I really think you should go to these ladies' blogs and follow them, thank me when you see their awesome creations making their appearance in your reader.

Oh! and if you want to make awesome things like these ladies using natural linen you can buy your own using the link below the first picture.

Have a nice day and Happy Chinese New Year for those of you who are celebrating it. This is the year of the dragon and I was born in a dragon year so I hope that's a good sign.

Etsy Shop Review: The Teal Duck Too

2012-01-22T04:35:00.003-05:00

Vintage bed sheet fabric from The Teal Duck Too

I just wanted to do a short review here for this awesome shop. Remember when I told you about this fabrics? Well, they arrived SUPER fast (after all they were shipped within 5 hours of purchase), in GREAT condition and even tied with a little piece of lace. I love this seller and I'm already planning my next purchase. I really think you should go take a look at her awesome vintage goodies. I recommend her. <3

**I have not been paid/compensated to write this. I just wanted to share my own awesome experience for you to take note on an awesome seller.

Fabric Crush Monday #15

2012-01-16T20:55:00.002-05:00

10 Liberty Fat Eighths Heavenly Rainbow Selection 101 | Available here

This is a very thoughtful pick of Liberty of London's cutest prints. Don't you agree?

I thought I'd share these from my recent finds to cheer up your wintery night. These prints say summery dress to me. What do they say to you?

Friday The 13th: Black Cat + Unexpected Suprise

2012-01-13T21:07:00.004-05:00

I had the idea for this post when I read through my reader early this afternoon and found a post by Zoe from A Giraffe in a Scarf talking a little bit about black cats. The end of the post was left open for you to tell your own stories about your own black cat. I thought it was appropriate to talk about my cats in my blog so I would not leave a whole essay as a comment. ;) Hi Zoe!

Hi! My name is Magia and I swear I'm not evil. >:)

A couple of weeks ago I took my little Magia to the veterinary to see what was her health status. As soon as they finished the check-up they told me that we were going to treat her severe case of lices before anything else. So I did everything as directed by the vet and that included her first bath ever...

Look deep into my eyes... >:D

Until that bath I thought I had a super cute and misunderstood little kitty. I couldn't even think of a logical reason why people in ancient times (and very recent ones too) would hurt such a cute little thing. But two things are making me think that my black cat is evil and I kind of agree with some medieval superstitions. Thing number one would be her reaction when the first drop of water touched her skin, OMG! she almost flew off my hands. Nothing like a normal cat. Thing number two would be the presence of a considerable amount of human blood on the floor at the end of the task.

LOL! I'm kidding about everything of course (but the human blood!) and I'm falling deeply in love with my little Magia. <3 She makes the cutest sounds and she is the tiniest 6 m/o cat many people have seen. I can't wait until she understands that I will not ever hurt her and that those scary things she has been through are just for her well-being.

See? I look completely innocent. >:)

Now onto more serious mom talk. I can't explain the feeling; it's like I just became a mommy to my feline babies about a month ago (wait, that's actually the amount of time I've had my babies) and I'm already going to be a granny.

Taken last week. Do you think I'm getting fat?

   Oh! and before you think that I'm a bad momma for not spaying her before, let me tell you the whole story.

   She has been in my house for exactly a month today, when her previous guardians gave her to me, they said that she hadn't been spayed because she was still lactating her most recent litter. Since I got Magia and Mia the same day and Mia had been checked-up recently by a vet I decided to bring Magia (who was previously a stray) to the vet first. We all know that vets aren't cheap, so considering that my cats are indoors' I thought that Mia's spaying could wait a couple of weeks.

   About 2 weeks ago I started to see an increase in her appetite and a little bit of a hanging belly. I went crazy thinking about how could it be possible for my cat to be so pregnant in such a short amount of time. Considering that she hasn't been out of the house by any means, and there's no way for a tom to get into my house I figured that she was already pregnant when I brought her! So she has to be about 6 or 7 weeks into her pregnancy; she is huge and getting bigger every day.

   So after the initial shock, I thought it would be cute to make a pregnancy journal for those of you interested in following her progress until she gives birth to her little kittens. This would be entry number 1!

Look how happy I am...

Momma loves you!

Please pray for Zoe's babies. They're too cute to be going through such a hard time.

Blog Makeover!

2012-01-10T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm super excited and happy because I finally finished designing the new look for the blog. I'd been working on it for a few weeks and I really wanted to have it done for January 1st, but everything was too crazy here to make any progress. The first things to be ready were the little doodles from the header. They've been sitting in my computer for at least two weeks but last night I finally had enough concentration in my mind to finish it and make it public for my readers. In case you don't come here often or don't remember what it looked like you can see it here:

Changes I made:

I've been wanting to have scalloped borders for a while so I went for an eyelet lace look for my background.
I love colors so I obviously had to include all my favorites.
Instead of my Halloween Picture I'm using my cartoon portrait by Rachele from The Nearsighted Owl that I think goes perfect with the design.
I don't have any idea where the chair idea came from but I love how it turned out and of course I had to include my kitties (more about them soon).
I took off the vertical separator lines from the design and the little frame around the images.
I also made some changes in the columns.

What do you think?

Fabric Crush Monday #14

2012-01-09T18:22:00.003-05:00

Scrap Grab Bag by Keyka Lou | Available here

How pretty are Keyka Lou's pattern samples? I bet that in order to achieve such cuteness she goes through an extensive search of the prettiest fabrics available to combine with her awesome patterns. We all know she succeeds. So why don't give this scrap pack a chance? From the picture I think there are gorgeous and rare prints that can be yours for an awesome price. Go check it out!

Portrait by Rachele from The Nearsighted Owl

2012-01-06T20:21:00.000-05:00

By Rachele

When I found out about this portrait I stayed looking at it and smiled for a long time. I mean, it is super cute plus it was very unexpected and it seems to be inspired on the picture from my About Me. It was part of Rachele's latest giveaway, a very cute game that she came up with called Guess the Sponsor. To participate you had to leave a comment with your guess of who were the sponsors showcased in the portraits; beside the awesome portraits she provided a little bit of information about the sponsors and links to their respective blogs. I feel very lucky to have been part of this giveaway and one of The Nearsighted Owl's sponsors. What are you waiting for? Go see her awesome blog.

My New Colorful Hair!

2012-01-04T21:31:00.001-05:00

Before

This last two weeks have been so crazy in my life that I hadn't even had the time or the mood to blog. One of the things that happened in this period of time is that I went to a hair salon and got my hair cut and dyed colors in some areas. I'm SO in love with my hair right now it's not even funny. There are colors to choose from, pink, purple, blue, green and the colors that are getting mixed up from washing and fading. I know that some people do this kind of things themselves but my hair is too black and I have to get it bleached professionally, so I finally decided to do it and here are the results.

After

What you see here is just a sample of the colors, there are some hues that are hard to capture in photos.

Some Cute Clutches!

2011-12-29T21:08:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share with you these clutches that I made last week. They were made with cotton fabrics and poly-resin snaps.

I have to say that I'm super happy, these babies sold like we say here in Puerto Rico: "Como pan caliente con mantequilla" = Like hot bread with butter. I only have one left, the one with bears. I used a Japanese cotton-linen blend fabric for that one, it has the right weight for these clutches and I love it.

Fabric Crush Monday #13

2011-12-26T19:07:00.000-05:00

Vintage Fabric Fat Quarter - Gold and Yellow Daisies - Reclaimed Sheet | Available here

I already bought the sofa that I told you about in the last post (pictures coming soon), it is brown so I started to buy things to go with the new decoration for the living room. Turns out that everything started coming together perfectly for a 70's inspired decor, I'll use brown, orange yellow and avocado green. I bought these vintage sheet fat quarters to make cushions for the sofa. I'm still not sure if I'll make a patchwork or if I'll just make plain regular cushions. What do you think?

Remember to click through the links in the captions in case you are interested to buy from this seller. I must say that I recommend her so far, my order was shipped withing 5 hours of purchase. That doesn't happen everyday. I'll keep you updated with the condition of the fabrics when they arrive.

Vintage Fabric Fat Quarter - Gold and Yellow Daisies - Reclaimed Sheet | Available here

Home Improvement - Living Room Inspiration

2011-12-23T11:21:00.002-05:00

I'm very happy because I'm finally going to be able to make a few improvements to my house. I'm starting with the living room and today I'll go pick a sofa and a love seat. I'm leaning towards brown so I thought I'd search a little bit of inspiration to have an appealing aesthetic in mind when I choose my new furniture. Then I thought I'd share it with you in case you are in a similar situation and needing inspiration.

Via

I'll be taking pictures of the progress and sharing it here too, but don't hold your breath, I still have no idea when I'm going to be finished.

Via

Wish me luck and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Special Request - Yay!

2011-12-21T10:21:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I last received a special request. The girl who gave me my cat Magia has kept contact with me to know about her progress. Somehow we ended up talking about the things we make. She makes swimwear and paintings and I make accessories and bags. I showed her my Facebook profile and she fell in love with a couple of things including this tote and requested that I make it for her niece. It was kind of unexpected but I was really happy and she loved it. Have you had any special request lately? I'd love to see!

Fabric Crush Monday #12

2011-12-19T21:11:00.001-05:00

Campervan Toy | Available here

Along with the Doctor Who's fabric I bought this print at Spoonflower. I fell in love with it due to my deep love for hippie vans. I love the fact that this fabric is kind of a pattern and tutorial by itself. With a fat quarter you can make a softie of a camper, go to the designer's blog for further information.

Via

I can't wait to make it. :D

Monkey Trouble

2011-12-17T18:41:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago one of my partner's coworkers started stalking me. It seems that she went to the store with her little sister who was here for vacations and picked the kit for a Reindeer Sock Monkey. They tried to make it together but felt overwhelmed with the instructions and forgot about it for a while. This girl's little sister went back to the states with her parents but kept her interest on the monkey and have been stalking her sister ever since. This is where I come into the story, she somehow learned that I know how to sew and she was pretty sure that I could tackle the task. She gave me her monkey kit and asked me for help.

I made it last night, it took me about 5 hours to finish it, some of the parts were already cut and were not the required size so I had to improvise, but I'm happy with the results and I really enjoyed making it. Trouble solved ;).

I'm Back - Now With Cats

2011-12-15T22:11:00.000-05:00

I've been gone from the blog for 10 days, I have no idea if you noticed my absence but I'm still going to tell you why. I'd been taking care of my mom who had surgery. I stayed at her house without internet connection but I used her phone to read my emails. The bright side is that everything went as hoped and she is recovering favorably. Yay mom!

In other news, remember when I told you that I wanted to adopt a cat. Well, they never called me back, it seems like they lost my application or something because even though I went to inquire a couple of times after I originally applied they have no idea what happened. So I took care of the situation and started to check out my local classified ads page. That's were I found my cats, yes plural.

I want you all to meet Mia, to be honest I don't like that name at all but she recognizes it so I think I'll have to keep it. The ad said that she needed a forever home because her previous guardians couldn't keep her. They told me that they were going to turn her in to their local shelter but they said she probably wouldn't find a home and would be euthanized due to her age, she is 7 months old. So I went and picked her up on Monday, she was so lovely, cute and well behaved I couldn't believe it. When I brought her to my house she was very scared and hiding anywhere but she is warming up to her new house very fast. She probably is napping on my bed again and she spent all the night meowing non-stop (I guess it's a good thing that I'm a night person), she is so cute.

Now greet Magia, I picked her name so I really like it, it's Spanish for magic. She was found in the classified ads too but her story is a little different. I was telling my partner last Wednesday that I'd love to have a black kittie with orange eyes. I woke up early the next day and felt like checking the ads again in my mom's phone just because I was too bored. There she was, the first on the list of cats to adopt which means she was the most recently listed. I called the number and she was still available, it was meant to be. She used to be a stray that a young couple fed and groomed. They told me that her mother (who gave birth in their porch) belonged to a neighbor that seems to hoard cats she doesn't even have a way to feed. So they told her that they were going to find a home for the newborn kittens and she agreed. Magia is no longer a newborn, she is around 5 months and she is probably too tiny for her age. I brought her home on Monday as well but she is still hidden and wouldn't let me get close. Let's hope she understands that this is her home very soon.

They are in separate rooms since I have no idea if Magia has any kind of disease or fleas she could contagiate to Mia who is up to date with everything. I'm taking both my girls to the vet as soon as possible, I want them to be fine and happy. BTW, both these pictures were taken by the previous guardians of my kitties I really hope they trust me soon so I can take better pictures for you to enjoy.

Wish me luck!

Fabric Crush Monday #11 + Giveaway Winner

2011-12-05T20:47:00.000-05:00

(Small) Eleven Traveling Doctors and Blue Phone Boxes | Available here

When I saw this fabric on Spoonflower I couldn't believe my eyes. Have you met Doctor Who? If you haven't, you should definitely go meet him. It's the most awesome series in the whole wide world, made in UK. If you have, I feel the need to share that my favorite doctor is Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor), it's a shame that he was in the series for such a short time. David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) is my second favorite, he is the perfect doctor and he would have definitely be my favorite if I hadn't met Christopher before. Anyways, when I saw this fabric I had to get me some of it. I bought a yard of linen-cotton canvas and it's the perfect weight for bags, i just love it.

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Fabric Giveaway Winner

One fat quarter of each of the fabrics above = 3/4 yd.

And the winner is...

Which means: Kyatarin

Hi Kyatarin, I hope you enjoy the fabric, I'll be shipping as soon as possible.

If you didn't win, don't be sad at all. I'll be making more fabric giveaways in the near future and you'll have another chance to get some cute fabric.

Ouna's Closet Vintage Boutique - Swapatorio

2011-12-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

2 weeks ago I went to a very cool event at the cutest vintage boutique ever, Ouna's Closet run by Angela. It is called "Swapatorio" and it is an awesome concept. Everybody brings their stuff they don't want anymore, clothes, accessories, etc... ; they're laid on tables where you can go "shopping" a couple of hours later. The remaining stuff is donated to churches and shelters. It is super cool and they will make it 2 more times in December; I look forward to them.

Angela, the lovely girl behind Ouna's Closet.

While you wait patiently for the "shopping" frenzy to start, you can browse around the boutique; you'll find the cutest treasures ever, I promise:

Miss Lou, from eLousions.

...and I bought these for me, a pitcher and a bow. I couldn't help it, that pitcher has been calling me for a while. I saw it for the first time in a picture from their facebook profile. Oh! and they also have an Etsy shop if you can't wait to shop through their gorgeous findings. Have an awesome week!

Blooming Flower Pillow - Finished

2011-12-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

Yay! I finally finished my Blooming Flower Pillow. It took me way longer than I thought it would, mainly because I kept forgetting to buy poly-fill; forgetful me. I really love how it turned out, so colorful and cheery. As soon as I finished it I placed it on this antique chair in my craft room and I just love it.

Don't you just love all those colorful layers of petals?

I also crocheted the back of the pillow, since I'm a purple lover I decided to use purple yarn and a last row of brown petals. I joined the 2 crocheted parts with a row of slip stitches like in the original tutorial. It turned out super rounded, almost like a ball, a super cute and lively ball nonetheless. I definitely recommend this tutorial, it's easy to follow and very rewarding. I look forward to see your creations.

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In other news...

I'm trying to adopt a cat. It seems like in the Adoption Agency they are a little picky with who they give a cat in adoption and I'm waiting for the process to be finished. Wish me luck!

Via

Fabric Crush Monday #10 - Giveaway

2011-11-28T20:21:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-27T17:57:00.001-05:00

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

2011-11-25T19:44:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-21T20:20:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-20T17:24:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-19T12:49:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-17T17:28:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-14T17:19:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-12T07:32:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-10T18:47:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-07T08:24:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-05T16:03:00.001-04:00

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

In a small saucepan, bring the water,butter and salt to a boil.
Add the flour and remove the saucepan from the heat.
Mix vigorously until the ingredients are well incorporated.
Return the saucepan to the stove and mix over low heat until a white residue appears on the bottom of the saucepan.
Let the dough cool.
Once the dough has cooled, add the eggs one at a time and mix well.
Mix in the Parmesan cheese.
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).
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.
Bake 15 minutes at 425F.
After the first 15 minutes lower the temperature to 370F and bake for 10 more minutes.
Turn of the oven and let the puffs cool with the door partially open.
While the cheese puffs cool, mix the ingredients for the filling and transfer it to a piping bag.
Once the cheese puffs have cooled, use the back of a spoon to make a small hole in the bottom of each.
Fill the cheese puffs with the deviled ham mixture.
Combine 4 tbs of cream cheese with enough green food coloring to obtain a bright green color.
Fill a piping bag with the colored cream cheese and use it to garnish the cheese puffs.
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

2011-11-02T07:00:00.002-04:00

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.

Fabric Crush Monday #6

2011-10-31T22:28:00.003-04:00

Alexander Henry Sebastian Ghastly | Available here

Happy Halloween to everyone! Next time, I will show you pictures of how I spent my Halloween in a really cool party, but today is Fabric Crush Monday. I wanted to show you something halloweenish that would look good all year long and I think this fabric covers that. To me, this is the perfect example of how a fabric could go all year long without looking out of place. Black cats on a grey background, for all the crafty cat ladies in blogland. <3

My New Camera - Polaroid Automatic Land Camera 215

2011-10-26T20:27:00.001-04:00

Remember when I told you about my 80's Polaroid? It is guilty of an instant camera craze that took place in my house. My partner and I became obsessed with Polaroid and instant photography. Then we found Michael Raso and learned about his Film Photography Project, his goal is to "put a Polaroid Pack camera in the hands of every film-curious shooter!". That convinced us that we should invest in a Polaroid Automatic Land Camera. Mainly because of how easy their film is to find and how affordable to buy, not to mention how AWESOME they look. Here it is, in all its glory the 215 model.

This one has a plastic body and lens, which means that it's one of the lightest models compared to its metal body and glass lens siblings. This picture was taken on top of my cupboard and you can see my mushroom canisters in the background. I love this picture <3.

It came with its cover and was in excellent condition. The battery was upgraded so I can use a CR 123 battery (still available from many stores) and they sent me a DVD with any instructions and information I might need for my camera model or any other.

Since the film was so easy to find and comfortably priced we decided to get at least one film pack a few days after we bought the camera, and here is my second attempt at shooting a picture with it. The first attempt was a fail because of the lighting setting. I'm not showing it here because there's nothing to see, it was almost black. To take this picture I increased the light setting and it's much better than the other. I think you'll be seeing many more pictures from this camera here in the blog because we recently won an auction on eBay and got 5 more boxes of film. I'm SO happy! Not to mention I have another camera model on its way!!!!!! I'll tell you more about it as soon as it arrives.

What about you? Is there any new camera in your life? I'd love to see it.

Fabric Crush Monday #5

2011-10-24T21:16:00.002-04:00

Hello Kitty and Friends on a Train | Available here

You will think that I'm a little childish with this week's fabric selection, but I will proudly admit that my 8 y/o self is still alive in my heart. I LOVE everything from Sanrio and Hello Kitty and this week I've been browsing the net to find some of the items I used to have. I was so focused on that, that I almost forgot to write this post, sorry. In part I succeeded, I found a seller that for a reasonable price sells many things from the old characters and the best part is that she ships from Texas :D

I can't wait for my new toys to get here, so I was thinking about sewing a little pouch for all my new items, what fabric would be better than this?

Thrifty Finds - The 80's Sequin Tops [Guest Post @ eLousions]

2011-10-22T17:23:00.000-04:00

Today I have a guest post over at eLousions. If you want to know the story of how I got these sequin tops you can read it over there. I must say these are not my size but I plan on wearing them some day when I lose all the weight I need to. Wish me luck!

Want to see more thrifty finds? Visit Coastal Charm.

Fabric Crush Monday #4

2011-10-17T20:05:00.001-04:00

MoMo's Wonderland Tweedle Dee in Sugar for Moda | Available here

Ok, I know this fabric has been around forever, but ever since I started to sew last year I've been in love with it. When I started to buy fabrics online I saw this fabric somewhere in blogland and started to search about it. Information about this fabric is as hard to find as the fabric itself. The only data I found for this post is that this collection was designed by MoMo, a Japan based designer and that it was printed by Moda around March 2009. It sold out so fast that Moda decided to reprint some of the designs around January 2010. When I started to sew in October 2010 it was already gone. The thing is, I fell in love with the Freebird collection by MoMo (I already bought yardage of some of the prints :D) so I remembered my love for Wonderland. I can say now that I made one of my fabric dreams come true since I bough a Yard of Tweedle Dee in Sugar and half a yard of Tweedle Dum in Jam. I love Tweedle Dee in Pistachio but that one is VERY RARE and EXPENSIVE. If you are interested in a fat quarter of the print above, there is a link in the caption of the picture that will take you there. For any of the other prints I suggest you search very intensively and carefully because it was a bit hard to find the ones I got.

Have you made any of your fabric dreams come true?

Franciscan Starburst Cup and Saucer Set = Belated Birthday Present

2011-10-14T20:54:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that I'm still giving baby steps with my vintage knowledge. The first time I ever saw the Franciscan Starburst design I loved it but I had no idea where it was from. It was on Betty Crafter's blog background, I thought it looked like something from the Jetsons, and I LOVE them, so I kept it in mind. I know I might sound hilarious but that's what I thought :D. I really had no idea what it was until I read this blog post by Betty Crafter. Everything was clearer, the design had a name and there were items with it that were manufactured in the early 1950's. How awesome is that?

I started searching about it and found many items made with the design, it was love. I then started to tell all my friends and my partner about it and my wish came true. My partner bought this cup and saucer set for me before my birthday so I could have it as a birthday present but it didn't arrive until this week.

It came sturdily packaged and it was PERFECT in every way. When I finally had it in my hands I thought it was too perfect for a mid-century item. It was glossy and there were no chips or cracks -at all-. It looked like an item I could have picked new from the store yesterday.

What about you, have you received something you really loved recently? I'd love to hear everything about it.

Fabric Crush Monday #3

2011-10-10T19:06:00.000-04:00

Little Apples by Aneela Hooey - available for purchase here

I've spent the whole week looking at Aneela Hooey's fabrics. A few weeks ago I fell madly in love with Little Apples Collection. I love the little kids playing in the Rounds and Rounds print and I think my favorite is the Outfits print with all those little cute clothes. These fabrics are very cute but at the same time so colorful, pretty and elegant that they could be used for anything you can think of, there's a print for every taste. And If this was not enough, Moda is about to release another collection by Aneela Hooey. A Walk in the Woods will be available for yardage in March and I LOVE what I see.

Flea Market Finds - Mushroom Canisters + Porcelain Cat Bonus

2011-10-09T20:40:00.001-04:00

Three years ago I moved from my hometown and I haven't explored much my new neighborhood. I definitely had no idea there was a flea market here in Carolina. It was my friend Miss Lou who told me and we had to go there right away.

There was a little bit of everything, resellers, crafters and people selling their things, like clothes, electronics, decorations etc.. Those are the ones that I look forward the most. You know, because someone's trash is someone else's treasure.

The first thing I found that captivated me was this Mushroom Canister set. I spotted it from a distance and almost flew to its seller's table so no one else would try and get it instead of me. I know the set comes with four canisters but I don't really have much space for display so I only got the tallest and the smallest canisters and paid $5. When I got home I regretted not buying the whole set and tried to stalk the seller the next weekend but I had no luck. I seriously need to take a picture of how cute they look on top of my craft room's cupboard.

My friend and I walked a while around the flea market and ate nutella flan, it was so YUMMY that I forgot to take a picture. Then spotted a lady selling many nice things, she had Miss Lou's yellow camera, many records, cassettes, clothes and porcelain. Among all the porcelain she had this super cute money box or piggy bank or whatever you call it :D. Miss Lou spotted it first but she had a little talk with the seller who was confused about the price and my friend didn't want to go further with the transaction.

Then I saw it, as I always do I turned it upside down to see if there was any information from the factory, distributor, date or anything. I saw its cute little label, I read Japan and I was sold, I got it for $1.

Have you had any awesome finds lately?

Crustless Quiche Lorraine - Recipe

2011-10-06T18:22:00.001-04:00

I remember when I blogged about this quiche pan as a garage sale find. I said I wanted to share with you a delicious quiche recipe that I loved. The thing is, health issues are pushing me to loose a lot of weight and I just started to count my carbs. Yes, I'm on Atkins and so far I've lost 8 lbs. I'm on the right track and very happy because this is the first diet that ever worked for me. But enough with the diet talk, I just wanted to explain why my quiche Lorraine doesn't have a crust. In this recipe I used chives instead of the green onions the original recipe called for. Enjoy!

Ingredients

   -8 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces, around 1/2 inch
   -1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
   -2 cups shredded Swiss Cheese, divided
   -6 Eggs, beaten
   -1 cup heavy whipping cream
   -1/2 teaspoon salt
   -1/4 teaspoon pepper
   -1/4 teaspoon paprika or ground red pepper
   -1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease quiche dish with butter.
2. Fry bacon and chives together until bacon is done.
3. Sprinkle cooked bacon and chives in the bottom of the greased quiche dish.
4. Top with 1 cup of the Swiss cheese.
5. In a bowl, stir together the beaten eggs, cream, salt, pepper, paprika, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg. Pour into the quiche dish; try not to dislodge the bacon.
6. Top with the remaining 1 cup of Swiss cheese. Sprinkle with nutmeg.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 35 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Original Source: http://homeschoolforms.com/cookbook/eggche/Quiche-Lorraine-bacon-no-crust.htm

Enjoy!

If you make it, please take a picture and share. :D

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Would you like to see other tasty treats? Visit Make Ahead Meals and Chef in Training.

Fabric Crush Monday #2

2011-10-03T19:55:00.001-04:00

I fell in love with this polka dot print. Don't you think there is something special about cotton/linen blended fabrics?, I do. The softness and sturdiness of it just makes me want to be able to make a blouse, out of every one of the colorways shown in this picture. I obviously think that the seller did her work with this photograph. Don't you want to just grab the whole stack and take it home?, You can find it here: UniqueShiny.

Finally! My Etsy Shop is Open

2011-10-02T20:06:00.000-04:00

It's been a couple of months since I started to prepare the re-opening of my shop. Finally, I had enough items made and photographed to start again. I started listing the items a few days ago and I think there are enough to start telling everyone to go see. My shop's name used to be Too Cute Design but since I have this blog which I love, I decided to use a name that would be easily associated with it; Yadira's Adventures.

I'm showing a couple of the pictures I shot for the shop here so you can get a feel of what the shop is like. These flowers can be set as a brooch or hair clip depending on the client's taste. The materials used for my flowers are upcycled vhs, satin ribbon, novelty yarn and/or embroidery floss. I love to use buttons, beads, rhinestones and sequins to decorate its centers. But I must let you know these are not the only items that I make and that will be available in the shop.

I also wanted to let you know that I made a couple of small changes to my template to make place for my shop's links and widget. Now you can find a link to my shop and a more detailed "About Me" in the upper area of the blog, right below the banner. There is a picture of me in the About Me section in case you are wondering what I look like.

Have an awesome week!

Day Trip to Cataño, Puerto Rico

2011-09-30T14:59:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday I had a day trip with my partner, we went to Cataño, Puerto Rico. I had the idea because I really wanted to go to their Salvation Army Store. When we got there we felt comfortable enough to stay and spend a few hours walking around the square in the center of the town.

The store was nice but didn't have much variety, I only brought home one item which I'll tell you about in another post.

We sat for a while in one of those benches next to the Monument to the Taíno Culture. What you see across the bay is Old San Juan, the colonial area of San Juan our Capital. There is a ferry that for a small fee comes and goes through the bay to the other side.

We saw a couple of houses that were so cute we had to take pictures. These might even be antique, I'd dare to say that both houses were built in the early 20th century.

This one had this gorgeous pink tree that we spotted as soon as we got there.

We were there for a few hours, so when we got hungry we browsed around for our trusted street food that never disappoints. We found a cart selling hot dogs, hamburgers and a puertorican favorite; tripletas. Tripletas are one of the most loved street treats in Puerto Rico so we couldn't let them pass.

It is a sandwich made of a sweet and soft bread ("pan sobao") with 3 different types of meat; the most common are pork, beef and ham. They are chopped in small pieces and thrown together to a grill, when they are almost done a generous amount of mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard are added. When the meat is ready they cut the bun open and add a slice of Swiss cheese, shoestring potatoes and pickles, then they put the meats inside of the bun. Normally when you buy a tripleta they serve it tightly wrapped in foil paper so you don't spill the goodness. I must warn you, it is a little bit difficult to eat this without making a mess of your hands, face and clothes. It is a professional art to eat one and keep your dignity throughout the task. But know for sure that I recommend it wholeheartedly, it is DELICIOUS.

When we were heading back home, we spotted this Volkswagen Van. I LOVE these kind of vans, so much that I have one tattoed on my chest. I need to take a good picture so I can show it to you.

What about you? Have you had a day trip recently? I'd love to hear everything about it.

Blooming Flower Pillow - Progress #2 + Happy Birthday to me!

2011-09-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

I have too many things to show you in the upcoming days. There's a little bit of everything, thrifty finds, day trips, you name it, but today is my birthday and I'm going to celebrate. So you get another progress picture of my Blooming Flower Pillow. The original plan was to stop at 30 cm; I'm way beyond that.

If you are interested in making your own Blooming Flower Pillow you can find the free tutorial here.

Fabric Crush Monday #1

2011-09-26T15:08:00.001-04:00

I think it was a matter of time before I developed my first post series. Fabric Crush Monday will be posted every week. I decided to do this because I think it is very cool to know the tastes in materials and notions of other crafters. So here I present my first Fabric Crush Monday post.

Sophie by Chez Moi for Moda - Nosegay Blue Fiesta

I love the color combination in this fabric and the soft rounded lines of the design. I'd love to make a big rounded bag with this as the focus fabric with a red contrasting band at the top and yellow lining :D. I fell in love with it the first time I ever saw it, on Keyka Lou's Blog. You can find it here: CottonBlossomFarm.

Garage Sale Find - The 80's Polaroid

2011-09-23T19:39:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I discovered another Garage Sale close to my house that is being held by 3 nice ladies. I saw it a few times before I decided to go take a look at what they had. They had clothes, shoes, plates, cups and many other things. Plus they had this SUPER CUTE Polaroid Instant Camera that I spotted when I was selecting other items.

As soon as I picked it from the table the lady that was selling it told me that it still worked. So I opened it and discovered its gorgeous color combination. Then pressed the shutter to find out if everything sounded right and the flash was still working. I brought it home, cleaned it and started to research about it and its film. I found out, among other things, that this particular model was produced in 1988 and that Polaroid discontinued the production of the film around 2008. As I kept on searching I found out that there was another company producing 600 film for Polaroid instant cameras; Impossible Project.

I was thrilled when I found out about Impossible Project until I saw their prices. A pack with 8 exposures was almost $30 with shipping.

I decided I would buy the film anyways because I REALLY wanted to see if the camera was working and I was very curious about how the pictures would turn out, here is the result.

I enjoyed taking these pictures, they brought back those times when my grandma would bring all the family together for a Polaroid Picture. My favorite is the one in the middle, it has the soft colors and focus that is characteristic of Polaroid and is at a nice exposure level. I think the other 2 pictures are overexposed, even though I shot them all in the same way. I must say that, even though I liked my pictures, I'm a little disappointed with the quality of the film. I thought that for more than $3 a picture they would have taken better care in the production. I'm aware that they make the film very sensitive so you can manipulate lighting and colors, but some of the pictures show a hideous blot in their upper area that doesn't seem to be part of its charm.

Finding this treasure brought back memories of when I had my first instant camera, a Polaroid JoyCam. Since my interest in instant photography was renewed I started to research about other cameras for which film is easily available and found a really good one, but that's another post.

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Do you like reading about thrifty finds? Visit Coastal Charm! You'll find links to this and many other thrifty finds on their Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Linky Party.

Low Quality Photos, High Quality Taste

2011-09-21T13:55:00.000-04:00

In the past few weeks I've cooked many new recipes. The thing is, I'm a night owl, so most of the good food I make is long gone by dawn. The biggest downside of this fact is that I don't have the resources to take good pictures due to the lack of natural light. I sometimes take a couple of pictures with the best lighting I can get in order to document the existence of those dishes. I decided to share them with you because even though they don't look pretty in the pictures, I still think these foods were delicious.

Clockwise:

Breaded Chicken Breast with Hasselback Potatoes and Avocado.
Marbled Bundt Cake
Sorullitos de Maíz (Cornmeal Fritters) with MayoKetchup.
Monkey Bread baked in a loaf pan.

The links above point to the recipes that inspired me. You will notice that in most cases my finished results are very different from what the original cook did. Sometimes I make variations on purpose, but other times I'm forced to improvise because halfway through the recipe I notice that I'm missing some of the ingredients.

"Inherited" Stash (kind of)

2011-09-16T20:08:00.000-04:00

This week something unexpected and sad happened. My great grandmother died almost certainly because of natural reasons, I don't know for sure, no one told me, but she was 90 years old.

It was not her stash which I inherited, but it was because of her funeral that I visited my ex step grandmother (is that a valid relationship?) who has always sewn, a lot. My step sister, who lives in her house, told her a few times that I was learning to sew and making many things. I went there to wait for my step sister to get ready for the funeral. While I was waiting, her grandmother started to browse her stash for unwanted stuff, things she is not going to use because she is not sewing as much as she used to. She gave me a bag full of notions. There is a LOT of lace, fabric, ribbons, zippers and velcro. Now I'm searching for crafts to make with scraps of lace. Do you have any ideas?

Garage Sale Find for a Blogger Friend

2011-09-12T20:24:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I went to a Garage Sale that is held in a store close by and got a couple of cute items. The lady that runs it gave me her phone number so I could call her whenever I wanted to go see the other things she had at her house, so I called her on Friday. I found out that besides the little store she has 2 houses and a storage space full of Garage Sale material. I know many of you would be happy to find such a treasure but I must say I was not thrilled. Everything was too cluttered and dark in the first house so I couldn't really see much and what I saw was kind of overpriced.

Then I spotted this treasure in the second house, an 80's like blouse (it even had shoulder pads) that I knew my friend Miss Lou would like. She is a very cool person and we are "real life" friends from before we had blogs. When I gave her the blouse she styled it very quickly so I could snap this picture before sunset. If you are interested you can find her daily updates in her awesome blog Elousions.

Don't you just love that blue hue peeking from her hair? If you do you should go follow her NOW. She is a very colorful lady who loves to make changes to her hair. She also blogs about photography, lomography, thrifty finds, inspiration and if she gets inspired enough she also blogs about diy crafts and tutorials.

Crochet Inspiration from Flickr

2011-09-10T06:45:00.000-04:00

These last few weeks I've been retaking my crochet hook and with it finding a lot of new inspiration. In this mosaic I show you a small pick from my most recent muses.

1. Crochet Shoulder Bag 2. crochet bag - hexagons 3. Multicoloured Crocheted Bag 4. Blooming Flower cushion WIP 5. crochet granny bag 6. Japanese Flower Scarf 7. çiçekli yelekler 8. crochet pillows and quilted blanket... 9. Bag

I also wanted to let you know that we are expecting another tropical storm (Maria) tonight. As always I don't know what will be the results tomorrow morning. Electricity could be off for a couple of days again, since this one is a little weaker than Irene I hope nothing major happens. Have a nice day!

Blooming Flower Pillow - Progress

2011-09-08T21:10:00.001-04:00

I've been making progress on my dream pillow. I'm so happy and excited I couldn't wait any longer to show you.

I'm using as many different colors as I can successfully coordinate so it brings life to any room. Until now I've only repeated the purple from the center but I think this is as far as my stash gets. From here I'll be repeating some of the colors in no particular order and wait until it reaches a good size. I want it to be big as I'm going to be making the pillow insert anyways. I'm using 100% acrylic yarn with a size G (4.25mm) hook.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake - Review

2011-09-05T19:57:00.000-04:00

I made this delicious cake a couple of weeks ago and wanted to tell you about it. I won't show the recipe here because I used exactly the same recipe that JULIEVR posted on Babble's Family Kitchen. I just halved it because I didn't want to have 2 of these babies hanging around. I must tell you how dense, rich and moist this cake was, REALLY! This thing is scrumptious, very full of flavor and so dense that you could grab a slice and feel satisfied, but who said satisfaction was the goal? I just want to eat the whole cake myself. I recommend you try this, Oh! and don't tell your kids that there's one cup of vegetable in it.

You're welcome!

Crochet Pillows - Inspiration

2011-09-03T18:14:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I was scrolling down my reader and I spotted one of the cutest pictures ever. Besides the awesomely gorgeous wall art there was a nice sofa with 3 round pillows, 2 of them were velvet and the other was a crochet one. It was a picutre from Danielle Thompson's Blog, when she wrote about the curtains she wanted to buy for her living room.

By Danielle T.

I think I don't need to tell you that I fell instantly in love with said pillow. I started to search about crochet round pillows because I realized that its roundness was one of the main things that contributed to the cuteness. I saw many ideas and patterns, then I found Royal Sister's Blog. They have awesome patterns and inspiration

By Loving The Vintage

Isn't that stunning? I thought that my dream pillow could come to life and was super happy, but then I found out that their shop is on vacation, so I kept searching. I saw a few hundred more ideas until I stumbled upon Attic 24's Blog.

By Attic 24

Too cute and the pattern/tutorial was free, super score! I already started to crochet this beauty. It took me a while to understand the UK terms but everything is fine now and I have a few rows of my dream pillow that I'll show you soon. :D

Garage Sale Finds

2011-08-31T21:10:00.000-04:00

I found these gorgeous items a few weeks ago on a garage sale. These things were very cheap, I think I didn't even spend $10 total. Look at how cute this quiche pan is! I can't wait to bake and show you an awesome quiche recipe we love. That will be very soon so if you are enjoying the recipes, stay tuned.

These glasses were a bit more expensive than the pan. There was an antiquarian helping with the sale and she told us that these were hand-painted Italian vintage glasses. Who knows? I mean, they were like $1.15 each and I fell in love with them so I bought all 6.

Do you like reading about thrifty finds? Visit Coastal Charm! You'll find links to these and many other thrifty finds on their Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Linky Party.

Delicious Dutch Baby - Recipe

2011-08-27T19:51:00.005-04:00

These last days we tried a few new recipes, one of them was the super yummy Dutch Baby that we found through Foodgawker on Sarah's Sweet and Savory Blog. Don't worry, we are not cannibals, that's just another name for German Pancake, a recipe originally made by German-Americans based in Seattle. This thing was so good and easy we had to make it the next day too. They say it is similar to Yorkshire Pudding but I've never tried that. I'd describe it as a lighter omelette, it's almost like preparing the batter for french toast on a pan without bread. I think it's a little hard to explain its texture and taste. The only thing I know for sure is that this is a delicious food that is going to be making regular appearances on my breakfast from now on.

Ingredients

   -3 eggs
   -1/2 cup milk
   -1/2 cup flour
   -1/4 teaspoon salt
   -1 tablespoon butter

Topping - If desired

   -lemon
   -powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425°F
Add the butter to a 8x8 baking dish with at least 2" sides. Place into the oven. Once the butter has melted, remove the baking dish from the oven. Run butter all over the pan bottom and up the sides. Set aside.
Beat eggs with a wire whip until well aerated. Add milk and whip again. Add salt and flour and stir with a fork, until just blended.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the sides have peaked and browned.
To serve, drizzle with lemon and powdered sugar. As an alternative you might top it with your favorite fruit or fruit preserves.

Enjoy!
If you make it, please take a picture and share.

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-24T19:52:00.000-04:00

I forgot to tell you on the last post (Sunday) that we were under hurricane warning waiting for Irene to strike. It was supposed to be a storm but when it passed through Puerto Rico it became a category 1 hurricane. It was a lot tougher on us than we thought, after all we hadn't had something as strong hit us since Hurricane George in 1998. I recorded a few seconds through my window for all of you who haven't seen how a Hurricane looks like live. I recommend you lower the volume of your computers, otherwise you might wake up the entire family.

This was taken while we still had electricity. After recording this, electrical power went off until last night. The worse part of the storm started after it left because the land was saturated and there were floods everywhere. Some dams had to let water escape to avoid a worse situation, there was chaos everywhere. This is what the hurricane looked like on the radars at 3am on monday. Scary right? Well get prepared because it's headed to the states.

Cell Phone Charms

2011-08-21T20:01:00.000-04:00

I've been making more things for my shop update, my latest creation were these cell phone charms. I love to make them, they're so colorful. <3

"Homegrown" Tomato Pincushion

2011-08-18T19:31:00.001-04:00

I've been browsing through Pinterest a lot, I find so many cool things there that it's inevitable. The other day I stumbled upon a pin for a Martha Stewart tutorial about these tomato pincushions. They reminded me about those days when I couldn't see the top of my grandmother's sewing table. She would stop sewing, then would take all of her pins off her tomato pincushion and give it to me to play with. I know they sell them in fabric shops but somehow I wasn't so attracted to those. Martha's pincushion tutorial was all I needed to revive such awesome days.

I had the tab with the tutorial open for a couple of days and my partner finally told me last night that I should make one. I decided I didn't want solid red fabric so I chose this one with white polka dots and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Doesn't it looks juicy?

3 Ingredients Nutella Cuppy Cakes - Recipe

2011-08-16T18:53:00.001-04:00

I've been making more items for my shop update but you've seen many of those. Dessert is very necessary for me, so I have another dessert recipe that I discovered a few weeks ago. Nutella Cuppy Cakes, the original recipe calls for 1 more ingredient, that being chopped hazelnuts. We wanted soft texture, so we left those out. Also, the original recipe states that these are Nutella brownies, but they're not like brownies to me, the texture is more like moist cake. Don't get me wrong, these things are yummy and TOO easy to make. We have made them a few times and we never had to store any leftovers until last night. I saved one so I could take a picture and share it on the blog. The texture changed a lot, it wasn't that moist this morning, I'd say they were completely cake like. I think they are at their best when they're still warm from the oven.

Ingredients:

   -1/2 cup Nutella spread
   -1 large egg
   -5 tablespoons all purpose flour

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup mini muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
Put the Nutella and egg in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. Add the flour and whisk until blended.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins (about 3/4 full).
Bake until a pick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, 11 to 12 minutes. Let them cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Enjoy!

If you make them, please take a picture and share.

Budae Jjigae Inspired Ramen

2011-08-13T14:34:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you, but I have a Tumblr account which I love. It's a place where people share what they like and if you have tastes in common you can follow them and see their posts on your dashboard. That's how I found budae jjigae, (Korean for army base stew) on an Asian food blog called Mochi Desu. They call it like that because after the Korean War meat was very scarce and they would use what was left in army bases, like canned ham, hot dog and SPAM. They added their own touch to the soup and that's how budae jjigae was born.

We saw it and felt the need to make it because it looked easy and yummy. We added some western ingredients combined with the essentials of budae jjigae, to a normal ramen soup. It might not look pretty but it was delicious.

My Mommy's Birthday Gift

2011-08-12T18:37:00.001-04:00

Last week was my mother's birthday. I will see her tomorrow because I couldn't go last week. I didn't want to go empty handed so I bought her a few make-up items, which I'm sure she will love. Then made her a super cute Zip Clutch to carry everything together. I bought this pattern a few months ago but since I've not been sewing much lately it had to wait until now. The fabric has been in my stash for a long time, I got it from my local fabric shop and the lining is solid purple.

I loved the process, it was VERY easy but at the same time I learned a few new tricks. That's one of the best things about Keyka Lou's patterns.

As soon as I started to pick fabrics and zipper I noticed that I seriously need to buy more zippers. This baby pink was the closest match :S. I also added purple ribbon to the zipper pull after I took this pictures.

These would be the make-up items that I'm going to give my mom as a birthday present, glittery nail-polish, super hardcore mascara and a lipstick.

Cream Cheese Rippled Banana Bread - Recipe

2011-08-11T18:16:00.002-04:00

At home there's always someone craving for dessert so we have turned into amateur bakers for the sake of health and economy. One of those desserts that appear often in our fridge is this AWESOME banana bread. This bread has been our friend for more than a year and has suffered many changes in the way. The most noticeable would be the cream cheese ripple which the original recipe didn't have; it was added in our most recent batch of the recipe. Another change would be some of the methods. Since we don't have any mixing equipment, we use our arm power to shake, mix, fluff and smooth everything out. This yummy bread can be served hot just after finished, warm or cold from the fridge. After this last step it would turn into a delicious bread pudding texture and it can be stored in the fridge or freezer in case you have leftovers.

Ingredients:

    Cream Cheese Filling
    -4 ounces (114g) of cream cheese at room temperature
    -1/4 cup granulated white sugar
    -1 large egg
    -2 1/4 teaspoons all purpose flour

    Banana Bread
    -1/2 cup butter
    -1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
    -3/4 cup white sugar
    -2 eggs, beaten'
    -1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
    -1 cup all purpose flour
    -1 cup quick cooking oats
    -1 teaspoon baking soda
    -1/2 teaspoon salt
    -1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    -1 1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas
    -1/4 cup milk

    Cinnamon Sugar Garnish
    -1 tablespoon granulated white sugar mixed with 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle the bottom and sides of the pan with some of the cinnamon sugar garnish. Set aside.
2. To prepare the cream cheese filling mix the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the egg, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the flour. Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Beat until fluffy.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
5. Add the wet ingredients, the bananas and the milk to the flour mixture. Mix until blended.
6. Pour half the batter into the greased pan.
7. Add the cream cheese filling and smooth using the back of a spoon.
8. Add the rest of the batter and smooth it as before.
9. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar garnish on top of the batter.
10. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and cover with a wet paper towel for 10 minutes.

Note: It's very important to not overprocess the cream cheese filling. If you do, it will liquefy and will be absorbed into the batter. This won't ruin your banana bread, but you won't see the cream cheese layer.

Enjoy! If you take any pictures I'd love to see!

Secret Project Revealed! - Woodland Owl Embroidery Pattern

2011-08-08T16:34:00.002-04:00

I don't think I can tell with words how excited I am today :D. I finished my secret project last night and couldn't wait any longer to blog about it. I wanted all my readers to be the first to know the big news. Remember when I told you I was thinking of selling embroidery patterns in my shop? Well I finished the first one and I love how it turned out!

I present you Woodland Owl, my first PDF embroidery pattern for sale. This will be available in the shop in a couple of weeks but I wanted to give my readers the chance to buy him first. The pattern includes standard and reversed template of the owl and a color and stitch guide provided in case you need a little reference or want to make yours similar to mine. It took me many hours to develop this pattern and make it just the way I wanted it to be. If you're interested in purchasing a copy of this pattern, please visit my Etsy shop.

Assorted Ice Cream Flavors

2011-08-07T19:07:00.000-04:00

I'm still making things for the shop. Last thing I finished was these ice cream cones that are going to be hair clips or brooches, I have yet to decide. Don't they look delicious?

Don't despair, I know I'd been tickling your brains with pictures of that project I hadn't show. I can assure you I'm working on it right now. ;D Hopefully and with no further problems it should be ready by tomorrow or Tuesday. Wish me luck!

Another Sneak Peek

2011-08-05T14:54:00.000-04:00

I've been very busy creating new items for my shop's HUGE update. I decided to keep tickling your brains with more sneak peek pictures of one of my new projects. Here you go:

I can't wait to be done with this so I can show you full pictures. :D

A Sneak Peek

2011-08-02T20:03:00.001-04:00

This is a sneak peek of something I've been working on these last days.

I hope I can come back soon since we are under a tropical storm warning, electrical power could be off for a couple of days in the worst case scenario. Wish luck for us Caribbeans.

Garage Sale Finds

2011-08-01T19:32:00.004-04:00

One minute away from my house there is a place with a Garage Sale sign. I'd never found it open until yesterday. I almost crash my car when I saw these cute little eyes sitting on a table outside. I had to go see everything they had.

I know this one is not particularly in mint condition but it is exactly the kind of figurines I've been looking for and was SUPER cheap. It was marked as antique. I hope a good bath does the trick though. I also found this cute little chest, there were others but this one really caught my attention. I don't know, it could be the flowers, the dark wood, the lock or the metallic trim with decorative nails. I don't know.

Do you like reading about thrifty finds? Visit Coastal Charm! You'll find links to these and many other thrifty finds on their Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Linky Party.

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In other news...

I was playing with my new Ipod and downloaded an application that reads QR Codes. It was a lot of fun, so I searched a little bit about those codes and found out that I could make my own. I made one using this blog url. If you scan this image with that application your device will redirect you to the mobile version of this blog. Isn't that awesome?

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-07-31T18:43:00.000-04:00

I don't know if this belongs in a crafty blog, but these cookies were so good I had to write about them in a post of their own. We made these following this recipe and I don't regret not changing anything from it. They have chocolate chips, peanut butter, oatmeal and brown sugar. They were made 2 days ago and they are still soft and delicious. If you think you should make this, stop thinking about it and go make yourself some yummy cookies.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Things About Me

2011-07-30T20:25:00.003-04:00

I've seen this little interview in a couple of blogs. It started as a profile interview on Craft. I decided to do it because I'm kind of new to blogging and I'd like all my readers to know more about me. I find very interesting to read about my favorite bloggers so I hope you find this interesting too. Here I go:

My name is Yadira, I'm a 22 y/o lady from Puerto Rico. My first language is Spanish and it sometimes takes me a while to write a post because I'm actually thinking in Spanish, then translating to English. I have a Bachelors degree in Tourism that I just finished (I haven't even had my graduation yet). I decided to try to make a living from my crafts because I REALLY love to create things all the time. I know from experience that if I'm not creating I'm not a happy person. I've always been inclined toward arts but it was when I found crochet around 2 years ago that I started to be the crafty person that I am now. I know how to crochet, sew and I'm practicing my embroidery stitches, about knitting... I only know how to cast on. LOL

One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of:

That would have to be Lola, my first cloth doll. I made the pattern myself and after a few failed attempts I got her. I really like how she turned out and she has a special spot in my craft room.

Two Mistakes You've Made in the Past:
   * The worst and most embarrassing mistake I've ever made was 2 years ago. I was running and designing a tattoo magazine. I had a meeting with a few models and I wrote a text message to one of my friends talking about one of the models. I mistakenly sent it to the exact model I was talking about and it was horrible. She read the message and started to cry and her friend started to insult me. I'm very sorry and ashamed but I can't go back in time, so I'll have to live with that forever. :S
   * Wanting everything to be perfect before I even attempt to do it. Like when I'm designing a purse, I want it to be perfect without even making it. Or when making garments... Those garments I haven't made because I want to have EVERYTHING I need before I start.

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique:
   * Upcycling VHS Tape: I incorporate old VHS movies into my hair clips that would otherwise end up in the landfills.
   * Bright colors: I don't know if it's good or bad but I always try to incorporate bright colors in my creations.
   * Lots of pre-planning: A great amount of thinking goes into everything I make. I sometimes doodle in a notebook, think about what are the best materials to bring it to life, think about how useful the item would be. Many, MANY things happen in my mind before I create anything new.

Four Tools You Love to Use:
   * I love my camera, a Canon SD780 IS. Nothing fancy but it does the work if you treat it with love.
   * My printer, a Canon iP4700. I love it a lot since if you use it right you get to print BEAUTIFUL pictures and pretty much anything. I use it for my business cards and the stickers I use to seal packaging etc...
   * My sewing machine, a Brother CE-5500PRW. It has never failed me.
   * My crochet hooks.

**Via Electric Alice

Five Inspirations:
   * My mom: She is always doing something new. Every time I visit her she has a different set of tools for the new craft she is attempting to teach herself. She always finds the way to use those crafts and incorporate them to her already long list of things tried.
   * Materials: I can have the worst crafter's block and I take out my ribbons, floss, cabochons, buttons or fabric and they tell me what to make.
   * Total strangers: Sometimes I am shopping in the mall or driving around and I see someone with a particular style/look and then I try to create accessories that would complement that style.
   * I hate to admit this, but Japanese street fashion inspires me a lot. I follow some blogs related to those styles and they end up showing in my creations even if I don't notice. ** ^ On top of this text: To the left a sweet lolita and to the right a girl wearing mori girl fashion.
   * Last but not least, the online crafty community: I follow MANY blogs and many Flickr users. These people have become my teachers and if I'm stuck with something I know who to ask or where to find the answer.They share their creations and even if I don't make anything that day I always have the satisfaction to see what my fellow crafters have made.

Free Embroidery Pattern!

2011-07-29T14:49:00.003-04:00

For the last few weeks I've been thinking about including embroidery patterns in my shop, along with the massive update I have in mind for the upcoming weeks. You might remember my 2nd Embroidery Post. Well, after receiving such nice feedback I decided I'd give it a try and started to digitize the drawing I used. I loved the results and I want to share it with all my readers for free. I called it Spring Scene because I think it's the best fitting name for this image. Consider it a thanks for reading all my ramblings and being so kind to me in the comments and through e-mail.

What you see here is the PDF file embedded into the post for your convenience and ease of access. You can print directly or download and print through Adobe Reader. This may not be visible on mobile devices. Use your favorite transfer method and start embroidering right away. :D The image measures about 4" tall if you print it actual size. If you use it, PLEASE share the pictures. I'd love to see what you make.

*Remember the pattern is for personal use only. ;)

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In other news...

I've kept on making more stuff for my shop. I wanted to show you this since I'm so proud of how it turned out. Isn't it pretty?

A Yummy Post

2011-07-27T19:14:00.004-04:00

It all started with the ice cream headbands that I made last week.

I've been feeling inspired to make more things and these days I indulged. I made more headbands and started to prepare for a HUGE update I want to make to my shop. I have been saving many cool ideas for quite long and this time I have a good feeling.

These are basically my trademark: Upcycled VHS Tape Flowers. I wanted to share a little bit about this, since yesterday Sara from The Split Stitch wrote a post about Eco-Crafting with which I felt identified. She left an open question on the end of her post: "What about you, what are the ways you try and be an eco-crafter?" Sara, if you read this, this is one of the ways I try to be an eco-crafter.

Then, the other day Mollie from Wild Olive wrote about her new idea of tagging twitter updates with the color you are feeling like in embroidery floss colors! Then she came up with this cool idea about weaving embroidery floss on chain to be able to wear the color she is feeling like. I loved the idea! it inspired me to create this super sparkling bracelet. The picture doesn't make this one justice. Mollie, if you read this, the floss color is DMC E718. I knitted the floss into a cord and then weaved and wrapped chain around it.

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In other news...

Today we had a SUPER CUTE adventure. My inner child had been wanting to visit Sanrio for a while now. Sadly, we had to postpone it for a couple of weeks, but today there was no way to stop me. Erm...wait!, do you know about Sanrio? Let my 8 y/o self refresh your memory.

Yes, it is the shop that sells all kind of Hello Kitty items. Yes, I bought all the items in the pictures :D. My closest friends know about how alive my inner child is so they will not be surprised when they come to my house and find a Hello Kitty wall clock on my craft room wall. When I entered in the shop I traveled automatically to 1996 and spent a wonderful time.

Lastly, thanks to my friend Miss Lou from Elousions who posted about a meet-up she had with a fellow blogger. We knew that it was worth to visit Little Cupcake Shop (a few steps away from Sanrio). We bought these 4 little fellas. The flavors clockwise: Nutella, Dulce de Leche, Not So Red Velvet Cake and Tres Leches. They were YUMMY!!!

Inspired to Create

2011-07-22T18:09:00.001-04:00

Several weeks ago I blogged about the Other Things I Do. Besides sewing and more recently embroidery, I also crochet and I used to crochet A LOT. I used to live off the local sales of my accessories so I was crocheting day and night and on weekends I'd be buying more materials or searching for new trends. I did this for about a year non-stop so I started to feel like I was abusing my mojo and things wouldn't go so easily. I got to the point where I had my materials and tools in front of me and wouldn't know what to do with them, seriously. But don't get me wrong, I loved it, its just that I wasn't able anymore to create with love. So I decided to take a break and its been a few months since I stopped making crochet accessories for sale. I even have an Etsy shop that hadn't been active for months and last night something happened: a sale!. I was shocked at first and then I was scared that I wouldn't be able to deliver as I used to. I started right away to make the item that sold and got inspired to make 2 more. How cool is that?

I'm so happy with the results :D. I would make more today but I SERIOUSLY need to go buy more materials. I think its time to start selling my creations again and I'll probably be listing these in the shop pretty soon. Stay tuned!

Pretty Glass Jars

2011-07-20T10:00:00.004-04:00

These past weeks I've been gathering glass jars to use in my craft room. I considered buying mason jars but then I thought about it and realized that MANY of the things I buy in the grocery store come in useful glass jars. I've gathered four until now, but there are more waiting to be cleaned. Being the crafter that I am I knew I wanted to make them cuter and I wanted them to look like a set so I spray painted all the lids with purple paint. Here is the result:

I've seen many craft rooms with cute little jars full with colorful things. I have yet to decide what I'm going to put in mine but I think I'll use a few as banks and make cute labels to organize my savings. Like the girl behind Dainty Squid did.

2nd Embroidery

2011-07-16T09:00:00.011-04:00

When I got home with my new supplies I knew I wanted to do something right away. I started searching for reference on flowers and nature. I wanted to do something simple but cute so I decided I wanted a flower and a butterfly. This is what I came up with.

I drew this on white linen, then I selected a few floss colors, some were DMC and some were Prism. Then I proceeded to embroider in a organic way, I just let the lines of the drawing tell me what stitches should be used.

This is how it turned out after I damped the fabric to take off the water erasable pen. I loved doing this a lot so get ready to see more embroidery in this blog. The outer fabric is tucked below the hoop that's why you can see shadows on the fabric.

A close-up of the most interesting area of the embroidery.

New Supplies!

2011-07-13T09:20:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking a lot on my first embroidery try; I loved it. I wanted to share with you the new supplies I got to keep the flame burning.

I got new hoops in different sizes, some DMC floss in new colors and plastic bobbins to wind floss. I also got double sided iron-on interfacing as the girl behind Design Crafty suggested in my last post so I can incorporate some embroidery appliques in my purses. The basket is now home to my fabric scraps and the measure tape was bought because it is 120 inches. How cool is that?

1st Embroidery

2011-07-10T21:45:00.005-04:00

The other day I was browsing around Pinterest and found a link to this AWESOME blog, which is really a huge tutorial on embroidery. It was the kick I needed to finally start giving some baby steps on my embroidery adventure. So after many hours that went by too fast, sore fingers, a scrap of floral fabric and many yards of floss:

This was done in a 6" hoop. I cut a piece of fabric, framed it in the hoop and started reading the blog trying to find stitches that would suit the shapes of the flowers. I tried to use as many stitches that would look good together so I could practice.

There you can see some of the detail. How do you think I did? What do you think I should fix/improve? Don't be shy, I really want to know. :D

That would be the fabric that I used for the embroidery, I wanted to use printed fabric because I wanted to have a pattern to follow until I learn to draw my own patterns. It is upholstery fabric that I found in my local fabric shop. I love the large scale print and the flowers. I thought it would be the perfect fabric for my first embroidery.

I'm really happy I tried it, now I'm in love.

A Sneak Peek

2011-07-06T19:20:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know I'm back on track with my sewing projects. The first thing I finished is part of something I promised to a friend. I'll show you full pictures when I finish the set.

Flickr Favorites

2011-07-04T17:59:00.003-04:00

1. honestly... 2. Hippy Spirit 3. Welcome to my village! 4. pretty petal clutch - Explored 5. Flower Garden Cross-Body Bag 6. Chegou!!!!!! Organizador de Bolsa Selma Behrens ! Uma preciosidade 7. Colette Patterns Violet in Black Gingham 8. Scrappy Stack Mug Rug 9. Let Them Eat Cake - for Jenny

Fantastic Food + Fabric

2011-07-02T15:19:00.002-04:00

Lately, I've had some delicious food, so delicious that I felt the need of sharing the pictures of what I ate this week. I'll start with the 1st food of which I have photo. That would be the oatmeal pancakes with banana and strawberry marmalade topping that my partner cooked for me as breakfast.

They were so good that I asked for them the next morning too. On Wednesday we were craving sushi so we went to a Japanese restaurant that some people recommended. They said that they were kind of sweet and that the portions were big. We were like, Why not?

So we ordered 3 rolls, this was the first. It was Surf -n- Turf, which had shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado topped with filet mignon.

This was the second and the most delicious roll I've ever tasted. The Midori Roll, which had shrimp tempura, cream cheese and avocado topped with king crab, seaweed and a delicious Midori sauce.

And last but not least, this was the 3rd. This was a Crazy Roll, it had shrimp and cream cheese, (believe it or not I just realized that all of this day's rolls had shrimp and cream cheese) it was covered in tempura and deep fried, this process made the nori (the seaweed that wraps the roll) very tasty and crunchy. The topping sauces are sweetened soy and spicy mayo.

Then today we wanted to have a delicious dessert, so we made these brownie cups with different fillings like, nutella, peanut butter and marshmallow. We found the recipe here a few days ago and thought it was a super delicious idea that we had to try ourselves. Ours turned out different mainly because we didn't want to put chips on them. Let me tell you that they were DELICIOUS, my favorites were the ones with marshmallow. The only issue we had is that our batter turned out to be more than enough for making 48 cups, and now we don't know what to do with the rest of them. I guess that my partner is going to have to give them away at work.

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Last week I bought these fabrics, the purple one is gauze and the turquoise is linen. I bought them mainly because they were at a really good price and because I really want to add a different color to my blouse when I make it. These are the 2 options I have. What do you think?

*This blog post is part of the Weekend Bloggy Reading Party at Serenity Now.

Colette Patterns

2011-06-30T20:50:00.001-04:00

Via Colette Patterns

Have you ever seen Colette Patterns?

I think they are by far, the cutest vintage inspired patterns for garments. This is the Violet Blouse which is my personal favorite. I love the peter pan collar, back yoke and mid-length sleeves that gather with elastic at the bottom.

Via Colette Patterns

I also love the button-front and I even like the fabric they used for the sample. There's nothing I don't love about this blouse. If this came in plus sizes this would be the first garment I'd try to make. But someday I'll learn how to grade patterns and this will be one of my firsts victims. Buahahaha...

KAM Brand Polyresin Snaps

2011-06-27T20:00:00.001-04:00

I'm in love with these colorful snaps. I always use the heavyduty ones which are very practical but not as pretty. I sure will purchase a set when I have the money. This one comes with all the tools and enough pieces to make 200 snaps.

Via fabricbuttonsupplies

New Look for the Blog + Embroidery Inspiration

2011-06-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to make a change to the blog since day one. I found the previous design to be kind of overwhelming, so I gave it a fresh look with only the right amount of cuteness. What do you think?

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Embroidery is lately catching my attention a lot more than ever. I even bought the basic materials and I've been searching a lot for inspiration. These are some of those things that are currently inspiring me to learn to embroider.

Via doro k.

Via bekahjan

Via twinfibers

Via mellow_stuff

Aren't they cuper cute?

1st Craft Room Post! YAY!

2011-06-23T22:42:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now. I really wanted to tell you a little bit of how I'm doing with the craft room. I painted it purple, something between lilac and magenta on the light side, this picture doesn't show the true color. There's not much to show about the room yet, but as I told you in the last post I made the cupboard an important part of it.

I don't know if you can tell but I took care of the weathered wood with some wood oils and dyes. It looks stunning! The closure had some minor issues which I fixed with epoxy and I cleaned it very carefully inside and out. I'd like to hang something from the closure, maybe tassels or pom poms but I'm not sure. I have to give it some thought.

Yay! You can see all my fabric there, the first space is still random, there is a book and some notions. The second is holding my 5 yds of black gauze that I'll use for my blouse. The third has all the small cuts of super cute fabrics, you know fat quarters and scraps. I want a cute basket for the scraps but I haven't found the perfect one yet. The fourth is holding all the imported fabrics; the ones I buy from Etsy and such. They're also my favorites, you know cotton-linen blends, japanese imports, Michael Miller etc. The fifth has all the fabrics I purchase locally, Walmart, Capri and some smaller fabric shops. There's more fabric there because I take advantage of the sales, when they have $1 a yard and prices like that I like to buy 3 or 4 yards. The drawer that is pulled out has some random notions like: poly and cotton webbing, purse handles, trims, all of my cardboard patterns and all my solid colored fabrics. The bottom drawer that is closed has all the interfacing.

As I was folding and placing my fabrics there I found out that I'm not a hoarder, not much I think. I've seen people with so much fabric, they have no more space to stuff it. I'll have to fix that... :-D

Garage Sale Treasure

2011-06-21T21:06:00.001-04:00

I couldn't wait any longer to tell you about my first ever successful garage sale experience. The week before this happened I went treasure hunting to an antique store. When I went to ask for some help in the counter I found a flyer with the information of the garage sale. My expectations were not high, I thought I'd find super expensive stuff that wouldn't be worth the price. I was very surprised to find a house full of very interesting and curious things for a decent price. It was the house of an old lady that was going to be auctioned, so they needed to empty it ASAP. Among a couple glasses and mugs that I purchased for a super low price I found this jewel.

I thought it needed a little bit of love because the wood looked weathered but I knew that could be done for a very low price with the right wood care products.

Can you spot the antique portrait behind the cupboard? I loved it so much I even thought of purchasing it too but I quickly realized that it was probably the father of the person running the Garage Sale and I regretted it very fast. I also purchased this chair, they gave me a really good deal for purchasing it with the cupboard. I think it would look really good after a good revamp.

Safety first right? As you can see it was a little bit tricky to transport it but I even buckled it up. The story with the cupboard was a little different, I had to pay the move guys to bring it home. But it doesn't matter because I was SO in love I couldn't part with it.

I really wanted to use the cupboard in my new sewing room and so I did. I'll let you know more about it in another post. Stay tuned!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T18:17:00.000-04:00

A quick note, because I wanted to wish all fathers in the world a happy day before I go see my grandpa and uncle.

I bought the fabric!

2011-06-18T18:00:00.010-04:00

Yay! After spending over a week without internet, I'm finally back. Not that my situation has been solved; I'm still using a neighbor's connection. For about a month my internet provider has been working mysterious magic with my account that seems to be reserved for superior eyes.

I need to share with you that I'm nearly finished with the manatee task. There's still a few that are not assembled but that's the easy part, I hope I can be done by next Wednesday with all the papers filled and everything clear.

Ok, now to the fun part. I'm really happy because I already purchased 5 yards of black gauze for my Easy Yoke Blouse. The pattern asked for around 4 but I wanted to make sure I had enough fabric to make up for any inconvenience, this being the first time I make a garment and use a pattern.

I also wanted to tell everybody about this book, I find it very interesting and informative. It is very helpful for me now that I'm starting to make clothes and I think it would be to any plus sized seamstress.

Sewing For Plus Sizes by Barbara Deckert

It is not a new book but it sure has timeless tips and tricks, I think I'm learning a lot from it and I hope I can use all these things in the future.

Do you have a favorite sewing book that you'd like to share?

The pattern is here!

2011-06-07T17:46:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note to let you know that the pattern for my Easy Yoke Blouse was in my mailbox yesterday. I opened it and skimmed through the instructions, they look clear. I have yet to see if they help me turn those tissue papers into a blouse.

I think I'll be making View B, I always use sleeves and it looks long enough to use with leggins. At some point this week I'll be purchasing the fabric that I'm going to use. I think it will be gauze if I can find enough fabric. Also, I would like to know if you think there's any tool I'll need to make this. Please let me know so I can get it when I go fabric shopping.

Yay! Wish me luck!