My little girls keep me busy, but I always find time to sneak away to the craft room. I am dabbling in many mediums to find my true calling (but I have an inkling it will always involve fabric)...

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  • Crafty Avenue A gathering place to learn, shop, and share your love for crafting!
  • Rags-n-Tags Handmade primitives, patterns, and supplies.

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Congratulations Penelope!!!

I’m so excited for my 8 year old daughter Penelope… she put up a painting in a collaborative art show in Hartford a few weeks ago (which in itself is exciting – her first art show!) and SHE SOLD HER PAINTING!!! Her 5×5 chunky canvas of a crab using acrylics, oil pastels, and charcoal sold for $40. I’m so proud! he he

Penelope's Art Show(Sorry I don’t have a better pic of the crab painting right now!)

Even before we found out she sold her painting, she was asking me to build a website for her to sell her paintings. Now I have to! lol Her website will be at www.SweetPeaArt.com . Please visit and sign up for her newsletter to be notified of the grand opening. :0)

penelopepaint

I signed up for a small craft fair this November, and she has decided to help. So far she has made some really cute button bracelets and earrings, three paintings, and adorable little angel ornaments. She has more to sell than I do right now… I better get my butt moving! lol

Totally 80’s

We went to an 80’s themed birthday party over the weekend… it was so much fun! They even hired some break dancers for entertainment. I thought you might get a kick out of some of these photos…

dan2 dance2 group me3 sean jim2

White Chocolate Raspberry Slices

Mmmmmm…. these raspberry slices were sooo  yummy!

Raspberry Slices

They were gone in a matter of 2 hours at my AVON party! lol I found the recipe in an old magazine I’ve had. I was so surprised at how easy they were to make… I can’t wait to make more! I promised to share the recipe, so here it is:

White Chocolate Raspberry Slices
Prep and cook time: about 45 minutes

Makes: 27 cookies

1 stick of butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup raspberry jam (I used Polaner All Fruit seedless raspberry)
about 2 ounces white chocolate, chopped

1. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium spped, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the flour, then beat until dough comes together.

2. Divide dough into thirds. On a floured surface, with the palms of your hands, roll each portion into a 9-inch-long rope about 1-inch thick. Place ropes 3 inches apart on a buttered baking sheet. Press your finger into dough to make 1/2-inch-wide indentations at 1-inch intervals along each rope. Spoon 1/4 teaspoon jam into each indentation.

3. Bake ropes in a preheated 350 degree oven until edges are lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet.

4. Place white chocolate in a plastic sandwich bag, pushing to one corner; secure bag just above chocolate with a twist-tie or knot. Immerse corner of bag in a cup of hot water until chocolate is melted. Dry bag, then, with scissors, cut off the tip of the corner. Squeeze bag to drizzle white chocolate decoratively across ropes. Chill until chocolate is firm to the touch, then cut each rope diagonally into 12 slices.

Here is a photo of my ropes uncooked:

raspberrybars1

When they say to “press your finger into dough” I was thinking to press my entire finger into the dough making a diagonal line across the rope… but it didn’t work too well because when I baked them, all the jelly fell out! lol So next time, I will try to make more of a “well” instead so that it doesn’t fall out the sides.

Also, be sure not to let it brown too much. When finished, they will look a bit white and uncooked, but that’s how they’re supposed to be. When my hubby first saw them on a plate, he started making fun of them saying they were too white… “I dunno…” he said; but after he tried them, he changed his mind! lol

As for the chocolate… I had my doubts about melting it in the hot water as described, but I was surprised it worked in only a few seconds! Just be sure to cut a TINY hole in the corner to get nice thin decorative lines on your cookies. Mine was cut a bit too large, and I kept getting blobs of chocolate here and there. Then, I chilled them as it said to – the recipe says to chill for about an hour, which I did - and when I took them out of the fridge, they looked ruined! You definitely don’t need to leave them in the fridge that long for the chocolate to cool, especially if you make nice thin lines. Luckily when mine returned to room temperature, they were fine again… and Sooooo delicious!! :0)

I hope you give this recipe a try, they’re definately worth it! Yum Yum!!

Fun with AVON!

Well, it was either get a job with crappy hours, or give AVON a try… so I went for it! I am now officially an AVON  representative, and so far I’m loving it! Although, I do have to be real careful not to spend all my $$ on goodies for myself! LOL

They came out with a new minerals makeup line called Smooth Minerals, and I am totally hooked. When I saw the demos for these products, I just had to give them a try. I ordered the starter kit which is only $25 (it includes 2 foundations, 1 transparent glow, 1 blush, and a kabuki brush) and I also got a few other items. Let me tell you… I’ve never worn make up on my face – only on extra special occasions… but this stuff is so light and makes my skin look so beautiful, I have been wearing it everyday since I got it in the mail! lol I’ve gotten so many compliments already on how great my skin looks. I’ve never tried Bare Minerals before, but I’ve heard people complain that it doesn’t cover enough; I don’t find that true for the Smooth Minerals. You can layer it on to get the coverage you need, whether it be a light cover or full cover. The lipstick is great too… I usually cannot wear any type of lipstick or gloss because my lips just start peeling away and get all irritated; but I was so excited when that didn’t happen with the smooth minerals lipstick! I finally found a color that I can wear without my lips fighting it off! Yay! :0)

Anywho, I had a whole ton of new makeup and goodies to play with, so I decided to invite a few friends and family over to come play with me on Friday night. We had a blast! We were up until  like 2am chatting and doing each other’s faces, it was so much fun! Mel decided to do one eye with a smokey look, and the other eye with an every day look. I couldn’t stop cracking up every time I looked at her! ;0) Thanks to all of you girlies for making it a fun night! xoxo

PS I tried out a new recipe for white chocolate raspberry slices for the party that were to die for! They all got eaten up! I’ll post the recipe soon.