Gnome is where the heart is

Okay so I have to admit ...a lot of my customers from my cookie shop TRULY inspire me... normally with special request cookies though!!
One of my newest local customers actually inspired a card from my new cartridge Freshly Picked.
She initially contacted me inquiring on some gnome cookies and only because she is local am I willing to make these. Their narrow bodies would not ship safe enough.. well they may but I'm scarred... I'll need to take that leap because of the growing popularity with these little guys and the "woodland" themed creatures in general.
So she contacts me through etsy and starts with "HI! I have a growing gnome fetish..." and it's her birthday in March so she wanted to add some more gnome touches which also include the mushrooms in my shop as well.

So I think I originally ordered this cartridge thinking of gnome cookies ..and when I finally got it the other day I was dying to try it out!
THE RESULT....

THE cutest little card!  I may have to make some duplicates for my paper shop, I have a feeling these wont hang out to play for long!

Anyways I wanted to share this with you before I get to prepping dinner :)  P.S. GNOME IS where the heart is!  ...and NOW my gnome fetish is growing!!  Thank you Sally ;)

Valentine's Day Cookie Pops for 1st grade

Okay, okay so I have totally neglected you all! I am soo sorry.. I have been super busy just like you... but I finally snuck away to share some stuff I have been busy with! 

Before I get to my son's and my most recent project can I wish you all a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!?

ANY SPECIAL PLANS? 

My husband and I never make special plans, not because we hate each other or anything, but because we get super busy around the most important times, whether it be because he has come into a ton of work (which we love) or its party time at school.. blah blah blah..  :)

SOO, my son made some very cool Valentines Cookie pops for his classmates and teacher this year. I am so bored with the simple mass produced china made valentines they have at the store, they have no appeal to me anymore...or did they EVER?

SOO I thought why not bring the kids cookies!?

...I have had lollipop sticks hanging around for a long time and I wanted to make some for my little nephew's birthday party but just wasn't able to, SO we made these sweet HEART POPS ;0

With the help of my cricut expression and some simple shapes and cute paper, we also made the "valentines" to attach to these pops.
Now I want to share with you the process, I also want to gloat and share the fact that my son can now follow direction without veering too far =).. with little guidance my son did a GREAT job. He will be turning 7 this month. So if you have any kids this is a fun project.. even if its too late for valentines day, you could make flower cookie pops for Mother's Day... or perhaps some cute springtime Easter cookies... and if your the Irish at heart some green clovers.

ANYHOW enough rambeling ... we started with a fresh sugar cookie dough which we rolled between wax paper straight out of the mixing bowl (this is one of my biggest time savers, no one has time to chill the dough then roll it out with flour and then chill it again!).  Once James rolled the dough we froze it; TIME SAVER! Just look at this little stud rolling that dough! Not too thin james!!

I'll share my recipe and other tips soon enough, please subscribe to make sure you get that information!

NOW, after we froze the dough for about 15-20 minutes we started to cut out the shapes (freezing is another time saver but you could also forget about the cookie dough and still come back to it days later, hello it's frozen; it will last forever...well not forever just enough for you to get to what you need to do).
Once the shapes were cut we placed the lollipop sticks into the ends of the hearts, yes we violated the cookie dough something fierce, but so worth it!
Once they were all probed we slapped them back into the freezer for another 15-20 minutes. Oven is on and heated to temp, we put them into the oven for about 9 minutes. The key to the cookie is they not brown (if I ever refer to a cookie as burned it means I browned them: to a crunchy cookie lover my burned cookies are heaven) I only wish I could sell my browned cookies ;).
Once they have baked for 9 minutes and they no longer glisten in the oven they are done! Mommy removed them from the hot oven while he set up the tent for his Saturday night camp out in the living room, they sat out untill cooled. We had tons of stuff to do that night so we ended up icing them the following morning after Mr. Camper woke up.
So we started with our outline in royal icing colored just right.

Now I had long and short lollipop sticks and I've got more of the short BUT since we wanted to add a tag on the stick I chose to use the longer (I think they are about 6 inches).
So once we added the outlines we were able to use our flood icing and fill them up!

That's my little guy's chubby fingers :)
Here he is with the cookies

I am so proud of him being patient and of having the skills like his mommy :).. and he is VERY PROUD of himself!

hhe loves to show off!
So after we iced them we added our sprinkle of choice and allowed them to dry.
Once they dried I decided to use a small plastic favor bag and close them and tied red and white ribbon.


Here is a list of links on the things I used
Lollipop sticks
Favor bags
Sprinkle 1
sprinkle 2
ribbon
paper of your choice
tape- I used my new ATG gun (I LOVE IT) but a small role of tape or even double sided works!
some heart die cuts, contact me if you would like to purchase
heart button
apple brads
some ink for around the die cuts (makes the pieces pop)
glue dots
..and I think thats it.. oh wait LOVE AND PATIENCE!

I used wild cards cricut cartridge for my heart tags (I used the liner feature for the heart card button and cut them at 6 (I did not use real dial size) so it actually cut at a 3 inch heart...
James picked out an adorable polka dot paper and we cut out 20 something hearts.

we inked Rouge ink around the edges and I printed the "to" and "from" with a zig black ink and added some lines for James to print his class 'mates names on them. On the back I inked a white heart just to add an image since James wanted too :)
I have an adorable heart paper punch that I used to punch (avoiding our writing) holes for the sticks.

When the icing dried we added the favor bags and then tied a bow to hold that cookie inside there.

As you can see from the picture above we slipped the heart valentine on the bottom of the stick.
Then we worked on the teacher's valentine!  I have to say I was worried about his teacher this year since she seemed really strict, BUT it turns out it is just what James needed for 1st grade and we are on the same page with him and our passion to make James successful!  I <3 Mrs. Bauer!
So we had to make her heart pops special, she gets a bouquet!

I used NO template, just cut a long rectangle and swirled it together and taped it where I thought it would look nice ;)   FREE HAND boys and girls! Then I punched a heart in each side, threaded the thick ribbon through, tied a simple knot and taped the ribbon end to the inside of the cone just to make sure it didn't pull too much while my son is carrying it to school and rip out the punches. Oh yeah, then we added a valentine to the back

Stamped the cutest little elephant stamp with white pigment ink and James added his note :). I cut a flower from the accent essentials cartridge in a 1.75 inch and then the patterned paper in a 1.5, inked the outsides to make them pop and taped those together. Used that glue dot to add the button (it will NEVER fall off because of the all mighty glue dot) and then I add some pop dimensional stickers to put it onto the heart. On the back of the heart we put a small apple brad so that Mrs. Bauer could see it poking through the cookie pops and make her smile

..and ON TOP of all that simple crafting :) I cut the tops off a kraft box .. punched heart holes in a pattern and added a ribbon to opposite sides to make a carrying vessel for James' cookie pops :).

Now here it is, this is where I ask  you not to call me Martha because it is NOT a "Good Thing" it is a fantastic thing, and probably something that we will try to outdo every year now :)
I only hope that my son grows up to be a very romantic young man and takes the time to smell the roses and MAKES the time to treat his lady very well! (JUST to clarify he will not have a "lady" until he is 35+, he can't date until then)

Until next time which I hope is very soon, I'll say good day!

XOXO
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!


SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS

Time to move it move it!

Okay I need to quickly package some more cookies this evening even though its almost tomorrow. Also need to get these other paper orders packaged and get them outta here!

Just wanted to say hello and hope you are crafting!  I'm thinking hard about getting a cuttlebug but no one on ebay seems to be giving anyone a break!  OH, and I would also like to mention that I am also dreaming of a Cricut Imagine (isn't she beautiful!?). Its not very cost effective but you can make anything your heart desires... die cuts, print outs... everything on white paper even!   no more expensive card stock booklets!

also the sister in-law and I will be crafting together tomorrow, hopefully I will have some new handmade card listings AND tutorials...

XOXO
'till tomorrow

Working on my blogging techniques....oh and FREE STUFF topic

So I am waiting for some icing to dry on a cookie order to start my new "layer" and I wanted to give my blog a once over to read what I hope you are all reading (all 6 of you).  My WHALEY LOVE YOU "tutorial" is not much of a tutorial is it?  I mean I should have more pictures listed next time for sure. I am more of a visual person myself so I will just dazzle you with pictures from now on!


Tonight I am finally wrapping up my cookies that have taken forever! These sugar cookies are a huge process. Thats why I hope I can teach you a few tricks to save you the time if you should try to make some of these cookies but also save you the money if you want ME to make these cookies for you :0
  They truly take time and patience, you have to let one layer dry in order to start another in hopes the colors don't bleed, they have to completely dry in order to package to send to my lovely customers, yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay enough teasing about cookies, those recipes and tutorials will come soon enough!


A couple other things quickly....In the FREE SUPPLY giveaway I think I will actually pick a sweet valentines card I have put together already and give you all the materials to re create it and then you could give that card to a friend or loved one... I think I will even throw the glue and everything in there to get you started to follow along for crafting to come!
Another thing I wanted to get off my chest was my new DESIRE.  There is a new toy I have wanted for some time now called a cuttlebug and its a pretty penny. BUT the things it does to paper would make you want to cover your little ones' eyes!  Well not really but it does something beautiful! It actually embosses paper depending on the folders you have which adds huge depth to almost any paper... I think it will add even more beauty to all my paper projects, and maybe yours too if you get a free supply set :)

Till next time I bid you goodnight from (for now) sunny California. Think my icing cookie layers  are ready for more loving, plus I want to cut some shapes from my cricut for some crafting I will be doing with my seestur in-law come Thursday!  We were supposed to get together tomorrow but she chose her husband over me!  GOOD GIRL ;) thats the way the boys like it, haha.
I will try to dream sweetly of my future cuttlebug machine and fancy embossing folders!

XOXO

FREE supplies!

Yes, it says FREE.
So a little birdie tells me I might get more people to follow me if I simply give things away for free! I would follow if I thought things would come into the mail for me, and I didnt have to pay for it!
SO here it is, when we hit the first 20 stalkers... excuse me I meant followers I will ask you all to leave a comment, anonymous or not so I can use a random winner site to establish who the lucky guy or gal will be.

"But Jessica, what are you giving away!?" ... I plan to give away supplies to make your very own handmade card for this round, but I would love to share my cookies with you in the near future!
SO please tell your friends, your grandmother, teachers, BFFs, Husbands (although not sure they will want to make cards with us!), physical therapists... anyone you can, share this link and blog and this will give you a chance sooner than you think! If you subscribe you will be made aware of these posts steadily streaming from my fingertips so you will have an opportunity to give a loved one a card you made especially for them! ..and of course I would expect to see some pictures :)
 please leave a comment and tell me what type of card supplies you would like to receive in the mail :)

Please come say hello and become a fan on my CookieXchange facebook page !

Happy crafting! 

Excitement, and my First card tutorial!

So I am truly on an excitement high for all the new things going on right now. Yes I sell cookies and want to share that aspect of how to's...BUT when it comes summer time I won't want to be making them! I work in a space where there is no air conditioning, thats how my house is too! So turning the oven on is NOT an option come mid day during 100 degree temperatures (inside 90).  So do I sacrifice my bedtime (the thing I look forward to all day after running around with my boys....?  I THINK NOT, well the truth is I HAVE..!)?  With my ADD (self diagnosed) this got me thinking as I so often do (not to say they are complete thoughts, but they are thoughts and I don't discriminate), why not use my expensive cricut machine to help me make cards  and sell them on etsy. Sure, why not?!
Well turns out my sister in-law is pretty crafty, also owns a cricut machine.. and I needed some bonding time with her; my loud mouth hasn't exactly made our relationship easy for the both of us! Our wish lists in hand and ideas afoot...nothing but cuteness on it's way.

So with all that random information I am excited to share my very first etsy card from PaperXchange, I call it "Whaley Love You"

I will be adding more detailed tutorial photos next time, I'm WHALEY sorry for the lack of photos in this segment

Now for the recipe:
12 1/2 X 4 1/2 cream cardstock (folded in half)
1 piece of olive textured adhesive mat stack cut at 5"x4"
1 baby blue whale cut from my Life's a Beach cricut cartridge at 3 inches on 60 lb cardstock
white sharpie paint pen - extra fine tip to add stitching
small piece of cream carstock to print phrase "I WHALEY LOVE YOU"
pair of scissors
pop up craft dimensional stickers (in the glue isle)
1 crystal bling for the eyeball
stamp for the sentiment
glue pen (I use the zig 2 way fine tip)
LOVE and patience

So I started out by making sure my husband and boys were fed! THEN I folded the cream card-stock in half and making that fold nice and flat with my bone folder. Cut and then pealed my olive mat stack and added a bit more glue (its "adhesive" but peels off fairly easily) and centered it. Added white stitching around the perimeter to make it look like stitching.
After cutting my piece from my cricut  I added some ink to the sides of the card to make my whale look a bit worn but more importantly he looks more dimensional on the paper. The water spouts I added with dimensional stickers to make those pop as well (also inking up those sides). Used a rhinestone for the whale's eye and added a blow spout with my white pen again. Picked my favorite font for this card on my computer and printed onto a piece of cream card stock the phrase "I WHALEY LOVE YOU" and just cut the cloud free handed...and (you guessed it) inked around the edge. The inking around the edge I think adds so much depth, turns bland into wham...muahaha. (That's the ADD setting in... OKAY FOCUS)
Anyways... once i cut the cloud, I added more dimensional stickers and set that into place. Using the same ink from the edging of my whale and cloud I inked up a "Happy Valentine's Stamp" and stamped that into the inside of the card. Cream on cream crime, I mean stamping.

So that is my card, I added it to my Etsy just the other day, and have been checking the views on CraftCult and there has been a bit of traffic.  Just hoping someone will purchase...

If you have any questions or want to comment please feel free to do so! I want to hear your thoughts!

IM OUT

I'M BACK

Okay so it took about a year, but I think my sister in-law and I are driven for success, we have joined forces and creative brains for what I believe is going to be an amazing 2011! I find myself always needing a partner in crime, I get too "ADD" all by myself if you know what I mean...

That being said... I come back to this blog thing that I tried to concur once before without luck.

In the new attempts to put my stamp on this world I'm driven and inspired by all things paper and sugar.

This past year I have wrestled a site called Etsy, a huge underground secret site for all things handmade.  Well its not secret but it is such an awesome site and plateu for people who want to buy or sell! 

So I get crazy ideas all the time and my cookie shop was one of them, I call it CookieXchange! So much of a crazy idea that I opened the shop thinking "I can make and sell cookies!" without knowing actually how to make or sell cookies!  

I searched high and low for instructional videos or written how to's... but there are only bits and pieces out there, I had to finally come up with my own version of recipes and techniques. 

SO I want to share with you those techniques, give you my money and time saving strategies... whether you want to sell your own cookies, make some for a party or start your own family traditions! I also want to see and hear about your experiences.. share with me pictures of your cookies!

..... can I also tell you that I claim to be crafty in other areas of my life... not just with the kitchen but with PAPER!! Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I have another etsy shop and its all about Paper!  I call it PaperXchange (are you noticing a pattern here?). Nothing too creative in there just yet BUT my sister and I plan to take over the card making industry, one glue stick at a time! I will also be sharing my recipes for those cards! So buckle up, sit back and relax.. I'll try to update this bad boy as much as possible with old photos, new projects and designs... Look out Martha Stewart and eat your heart out Hallmark ... here we come!