Handmade University....Second Semester

I am so excited to be traveling to Omaha, NE again this spring. I will be staying in the little town of Gretna at the Minglewood Lodge for the Second Semester of Handmade U hosted by the lovely....and newly wed Rachel (velder) McGough. My travel buddy is the lovely Stephanie Oyler of Crowns & Pearls and we can't wait.

This is Minglewood Lodge....or the giant living & work space at the lodge. It is awesome and is actually a quilting retreat. Check out the little typewriter on the coffee table...I have been trying to buy one since last year. All the girls had such fun with it typing little notes for their journals. It was a blast from the past since that is the kind of typewriter we all learned to type on. When I graduated from high school....I got an electric typewriter and you would have thought my grandmother hung the moon when she gave me that gift. That is Stephanie, Me, Michelle Geller, & Pam Keravuouri. Michelle was our teacher last year, Pam just a student....but we all begged her to graduate and become a teacher for this semester....she is just so talented. She is teaching this year!!

This is the journal that Michelle of Hold Dear will teach us to make. Her journals are just so immensely awesome. The class is called Stitched and Stashed so my guess is that this journal will have tons of little places to hide treasures and cool stuff. It is a one-needle Coptic binding technique and then we will have the afternoon to decorate the pages using papers and ephemera from her stash and stuff that we have brought. Her stuff is way over the top....I can't wait to see what she brings. Last year Stephanie & I fell in LOVE with the Wasi tape. Her Japanese masking tape. I think we bought every color that she brought. It is so neat.

This is the class that Pam Keravuouri will teach call Doodle Ink. Pam sat right in front of us last year and Stephanie & I begged for tidbits on her techniques on doodling. Not that we thought we could learn it....but then Pam said there were definite techniques. NOW.....we are just so excited she is going to teach....because Pam is just the bomb. I love to just listen to her talk. I think I even said I wished she was my mother....(sorry Mom...if you are reading this.....but that is how cooooooool Pam is!!! and I just love her to death) So....I guess what I am trying to say....Pam is awesome....and I am happy she is a teacher at Handmade U this semester.

Just look at her doodles.....aren't they just so cheerful??? She is the artist that does all the cute stuff for Amy Powers in her ezine Inspired Ideas. I just can't wait for her tips & technique. We are going to create a mini practice journal so we can create some wonderful doodles of our own! Well that will remain to be seen....but I am optimistic!!???

Then....Rachel will instruct us on making a prize ribbon. I am all about prize ribbons. I collect vintage horse show ribbons. I love to make ribbons.....and I am really excited to make ribbons taught by Rachel because she traveled to France....and we get to use ribbon she purchased there. Hey....I thought I bought it all??? She must have stashed some away...because I bought the most gorgeous velvet ribbons from Rachel last year & I have been using them in my new felted cuffs! The ribbon is just yummy! So I am really excited to make all the awesome projects at Handmade U this semester. I can't wait to see all the returning students. I hope we get to have Jerry's Cream Can dinner again. It's just a really fun weekend. Very restful. Very creative. Very intimate. I really like the atmosphere at Handmade U. So....are you going to any art retreats soon....if so let me know....I would love to hear about them. Do you like a big retreat or a more intimate gathering? Please let me know your thoughts....and blessings for an artfully creative day!

Pink & Green Felted Cuff....

Oh my goodness I have been having so much fun with my wool stash! Ever since Stephanie of Crowns & Pearls came over a couple of weeks ago I can't stop cutting out the flowers & sewing them together. The color combinations are just endless.

I guess you could call me a forever Preppy! I can't get the pink & green out of my system. The colors look a little garish here but rest assured they are much more muted....all though they are still HOT! This is a fun cuff....and it is a little gift for a sweet hostess.

Oh....if you could just see the sweet buttons that I used in their full glory! They are vintage rhinestone lucite buttons. They are so pretty & sparkly. Truly....I have been so inspired in the craft room these last few days. I feel so blessed to be able to be joined here with my blog friends...my facebook friends....& now my pinterest friends. I truly believe the world wide web to be a gift...it truly inspires me each day. I hope I am able to inspire just a handful of you the way that I have been inspired. Blessings for an artfully creative weekend.

Twelve Days Of Christmas Swap....

It was with slight apprehension that I even signed up for Alanna George's 12 Day's of Christmas Swap....only because the due date was for March 20th & I thought it would be difficult for me to wrap my creative brain around a Christmas Swap in the glorious spring-time. But some of us gals have been swapping together for about 3 years now since we met at Silver Bella. My task was Five Golden Rings & I had so much fun making these ornaments. I am giving you a sneak peak.....I don't think many of my gal pals from the swap read my blog so this is a little un-veiling.I am getting mine mailed out early as we leave for our Spring Break junking trip next week. Get this....my son....15 year old Lincoln wants to go on a 'picking' trip!!!! Hey.....I'm up for it....we will head to warmer weather....drive in the RV....read books.....play games.....ANTIQUE & JUNK!!! So I hope my little sneak peak has inspired you.....I know these swaps really do fuel my creative energy. Have a gloriously inspired day. Blessings!

Grey Felted Bracelet & Headband...

It was a day that Stephanie Oyler (Crown's & Pearls) & I had planned to get together & make a little mini book we had seen in a new scrap book store here in town. The store offered classes on Saturdays....& that just didn't fit our current 'mom' schedules & our new found FIJI & ADPi schedules. We breezed right on through the book & moved on to plan 'B'. Making these cute felted & velvet bracelets with a matching headband. We made a total of 3 bracelets & one headband. We are giving the headband & one bracelet to our friend Julie for her birthday on Thursday.....it's okay....our Bloomington friends think we are crazy for this blog thing...so Julie won't get a sneak peak before the big salad luncheon at Stephanie's.

Stephanie kind of just 'shopped' my craft room for things she thought she might want to do. I just started throwing out suggestions. I had wanted to show her my new Sizzix for months. I am in LOVE with it. That's what we used to cut out the flowers. So the project just evolved. We both had on grey sweaters.....surprise...surprise.....so I just reached for the pile of grey wool sweaters. My craft room was UBER organized which made it a breeze to pull supplies from. After she left, I started making a few others in some different shades. I am making one now for Lindsey's sorority benefit in early March. I think it will be cute. It always leaves me feeling so inspired after a day of creating with a friend. Your ideas just bounce off each other.

Of course....craft day wouldn't be craft day without sustenance. I had to provide a nice healthy lunch for us. I made this awesome soup that my sister snagged the recipe for and tweaked at her home. I will provide our improvised recipe below if you want to try it. We didn't exactly get the recipe....ummmm because you know real Chefs don't use recipes....they just cook. Plus....it's really too easy for a real recipe. I also made my now famous Aunt Hope sandwich. Made famous because my nieces request this sandwich on the first day of school every year. It is a bagel sandwich, toasted whole wheat with smoked turkey, cucumbers, dill, & cream cheese. I love it and every one else seems to love it too......and I served some Babba ganoosh and bake pita chips. I love Babba ganoosh.....which is roasted eggplant dip and I am fortunate to have a Kroger store that carries it fresh on one of their gourmet bars. I know that Pioneer Woman has a recipe for it. It is a healthier dip if a dip can be healthy. I for one...am a dipper and this one is garlicky and yummy so just google Rae if you want a home made recipe. Here is the recipe for my soup if you are interested.

Roasted Sweet Poblamo & Sweet Potato Soup

2 medium sweet potatoes

3 poblamo peppers

2 large sweet onions

Drizzle Olive Oil

1 head garlic

1 T + 1 tsp. Cumin

2 boxes Organic Chicken Stock

Salt & Pepper

Wash & peel sweet potatoes. Slice & cut into thin pieces a little thinner that 1/4" slices. Cut onion the same way. Cut pepper in half and take out seeds. Take papers off the garlic. Put above vegetables in a large roasting pan and drizzle generously with olive oil. Toss well to coat. Salt & pepper the vegetables. Roast them for one hour at 450 degrees tossing well every 15 minutes. The vegetables will start to darken & caramelize. Transfer roasted vegetables to a large stock pot and add stock & cumin. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook vegetables about 20 minutes and then puree with a hand held wand. I like to serve the soup the next day to let the soups flavors blend.

See how simple the recipe is??? Stephanie said she loved the soup. I like to add some turkey sausage or some smoked chicken to it for a little heartier fare but with a sandwich this is nice. So all in all the day was fantastic. Just what I needed to get over the last bit of winter. A craft day is so inspiring & fun. I hope you are able to get together with a friend & create till your hearts content. If so....share your special day....I would love to hear about it. Blessings for an artfully uplifting day.

Home Made Egg Noodles.....Heavenly

I have been on this comfort food kick lately. I can't even begin to tell you. When you dream of mashed potatoes is there something wrong with you? The great thing is....I joined Weight Watchers the end of September and I can eat this kind of food and still loose weight. It's a little tricky when you are making a conglomerate of food like say....home made egg noodles....but Weight Watchers is a tool about teaching you to use portion control & about making healthy food choices. I must say, I have consistently lost weight each week, through each major holiday (I do have that monthly gain that I can't seem to shake) and have not eaten 'diet food'. I eat a wide array of foods from all the food groups and that has been such a huge positive in my life. Let me mention these gorgeous eggs in the photo.....these are from my new hens. I have a brown egg in the picture to give you a contrast.....but the eggs are blue. Aren't they gorgeous, and I used them to make my famous home made egg noodles.

Here they are all rolled out. They are just so easy to make I really can't even tell you. Seriously, almost as easy as driving to the store and buying a package and boiling. Plus, you get that added bonus of making something totally from scratch.....and don't forget....there is a workout involved. It is hard work rolling out the dough. Also, I used half whole wheat flour & half white flour. Next time I am going to use all whole wheat flour. This was the first time that I have used whole wheat flour because I was scared they wouldn't be light enough....let me just tell you the texture of these noodle was terrific....the best ever in my opinion. See my cool noodle cutter??? I got it in my brother-in-laws trash!!! You will hear about him later in this post. Can you believe he got rid of this cool tool? I haven't completely mastered it because I like my noodles thin....but I make a first pass....then I cut them again....and I can't do it straight....twice!!! I am getting there. I must add....I am not buying a pasta machine. That would take all the JOY of noodle making away from me.

Here are my UN-EVEN-LY cut noodles. But I think they are quite charming. They are heavenly I can surely attest to that. Here is the great thing. I made them into chicken-n-noodles for pennies on the dollar. I can't tell you how much celery, onions, & carrots I put in & my son Lincoln says 'Mom....you could even add more next time!!!' More veggies from a 15 year old???? Wow. My husband Jeff said....'can you make some peas with this tomorrow?' What planet did he fall from? They are asking me for vegetables??? I served mine with a big can of salt free green beans & my daughter said 'oh that's a good idea!!!' So....we sure did get a lot of healthy mileage out of this batch of chicken-n-noodles. I saw a little road side sign the other day that read 'Noodles for sale'....one thing for sure....that sign will not be posted in my front yard when I am a little old lady.....if so I might be buying that pasta machine.

Remember I mentioned I would be talking about my brother-in-law? Well Andy is the greatest. I have known him most of my life. He is my best friends brother & he married my sister.....go figure. He is a chef & we are competitive. Each year for the past 3 years at Thanksgiving, we have been having noodle competition. My noodles vary with the changing of flavors of stocks....his noodles vary with I don't know what. I get my votes by consistency....he gets his votes by well ummmm his daughters. No one ever really wins.....we use the same noodle recipe. This year I used duck eggs from my flock....he said I was cheating because he didn't have any female ducks. We even have the same pan....because I had to have the same noodle pan. It's not even a 'noodle' pan....but all the kids call it the 'noodle' pan. It's those little traditions that keep families going. I hope you have enjoyed my home made noodles enough to want to roll out a few of your own. They really are easy...and you will feel so accomplished. Here's the recipe. Give it a try. Blessings.

Egg Noodles

1 1/2 Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 White Flour

1 1/2 baking powder

3 T. butter

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

5 T. milk

Mix Flours, baking powder, butter, & salt in Cuisinart fitted with a blade until combined. Add eggs one at a time until mixed into a dough. Add in milk until combined. Take out dough ball and wrap in saran wrap. Let rest on counter for 30 minutes. Take out 1 cup sections and roll into rectangles 1/8" thick on floured counter. Cut into 1/4 " strips or those of desired width. Lay between waxed paper lined sections on baking sheet & sprinkle with flour. Can make night before or morning before. Rest in refrigerator or on counter. Boil in hot boiling broth 4-10 minutes until desired tenderness.

Chandelier Crystal Necklaces....Yummy

I took in these dreamy necklaces to Lola Rue the other day. I will have them additionally up on my new Etsy shop 'Hope Ellington Designs' shortly. Oh are they yummy. The center one is my favorite....I guess because that particular chandelier crystal I just haven't seen that many of. I bought them on a recent hockey weekend....Okay the truth comes out....I am a hockey mom because I get to Antique & Junk...I admit it. I hem hawed around and couldn't decide on how many to buy....and my little buddy.... 11 year old Isabelle one of the hockey sisters said....'Why don't you just buy them all...they are so pretty?' Out of the mouths of babes???? So I did....and I am so happy I did because they are awesome!!!

I'll tell you what....I feel rejuventated & inspired. I had wanted to join Pinterest for several weeks....I know I am behind the times. I didn't even know what it was really. I kept asking Pinterest for an invite & they kept telling me they would process my request & that I could just browse the boards while I waited....& waited....waited....waited. So....I just mentioned to my friend Laurie Jackson of Indulge Your Shelf (I know...I don't remember how to link) & she just granted me my Pinterest wish.....so all you people out there wanting to be on Pinterest....and judgeing by the looks of the boards I was one of the few that wasn't on let me know and I will send you a personal email invite....like Laurie did for me

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I earned major GOLD stars with these srumptuous muffins & boy were they a one bowl wonder. I love one bowl recipes! I hate the recipes when it says sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl & cream the liquid ingredients in a medium bowl & the outcome is the above....a banana chocolate chip muffin! That's what I love about Stephanie of Crowns & Pearls....sorry I have forgotten how to link....just right to the point.... ease.... of preparation....and she gets it done!!! These muffins are pretty healthy too....with just 1/2 cup of sugar! I can feel good about serving these to Lincoln. They are a nice dense muffin that keeps you full because I used whole wheat flour....shhhhhh!!!! Don't tell Lincoln he always says "Don't use that whole wheat flour mom!!" Well it isn't even discernable!! Let me let you in on a little secret too....I buy King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour. It is the best! So, let me share this fabulous little gem of a recipe....you will want to try it today!

Stephanie's Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 really ripe bananas

1/3 Cup butter, melted

1/2 Cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 Cup King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 bag mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas, add vanilla, & melted butter. Mix in sugar, egg, & vanilla. Sprinkle in baking soda, salt, & add flour. Mix & stir. Add in mini chocolate chips. Pour into lined muffin tins & bake for 20-25 minutes until a wooden pick comes out crumb free. This batter will yield 12 muffins.

*Stephanie & I both agreed that we might additionally add a few peanut butter morsels to the next batch for an added taste sensation.

I hope you will try this great recipe! The texture is really remarkable, & really, if you have any left over, they were actually better the next day. Making a double batch might just be in your best interest! Let me know what you think....I'd love to know what you think.

Here in the mid-west it has been dreary and wet. Rainy...cold and kind of depressing really. I have really just wanted to curl up with a blanket actually. So comfort food has been my drug ummmm....food of choice. Today I am making home made chicken & noodles. I made our family egg noodle recipe. I will post the recipe later....so be waiting for that shortly!!! I hope your day is filled with art....love....blessings....& creativity! All my love!