LaLaLaLa...Cards, Cards, Everywhere!

Oops. I knew I was forgetting to do something. I've been totally meaning to post, I promise! I kept telling myself, "take a picture of this to put on your blog" and then it totally slips my mind. (Especially when I'm baking something that ends up being completely yummy. XD)

Anyways, I made 15 sets of cards for our church mini bazaar that was last month (after my mom told them that I'd make cards to sell and I would have felt bad backing out). They were originally supposed to be sets of 5 cards, but I ended up making sets of 3 cards in hopes that they'd sell at a lower price. I spazzed again and didn't even think of taking pictures of the cards as I finished them so I could show you guys, but I was able to snap a quick picture when we put them all out before the bazaar started.
The majority of the cards had one of the Sister Stamps images (because they were so easy to just stamp a bunch of them, color them, and cut them out and because it was a Buddhist church bazaar...why not use an Asian image?) and a few had just some simple things that I cut out of printed cardstock. (And there's also that one renegade set of dinosaur cards that I cut using my Cricut before the blade died.)
In the end, all of them sold except for the two that I gave my neighbor's little girl for helping us that day. The majority of them sold within the first hour and I was really surprised because to me they were a little plain looking. But I guess sometimes plain is good.
I was glad I was able to help the church out with something besides cake pops and chichi mochi.

That's pretty much all I wanted to post. I have to get to work on Christmas gift tags for the Ben Franklin Craft Fair the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. I bought Christmas 12x12 paper today using my 40% off coupon so I guess I should actually start making the tags. No excuse. (Especially since I got a new blade for my Cricut.) I also have to make 15 sets of cards for my mom to give away in her Christmas baskets and her friend wants an undefined number of cards to give as gifts. It's going to be a busy month and a half before Christmas. Maybe this time I'll remember to take pictures. LoL.

See you later!!

~Jeni

Are you sure it's already October?

I could have sworn we just started September. But since it's already October, it means that I need to get my butt in gear and start finishing up the 5 sets of cards that I'm donating as door prizes for my dad's fishing club banquet on the 15th. Then I have 15 - 20 sets that I need to donate to my church for their mini bazaar at the end of the month. I haven't even started on that last one yet. Oy. Procrastination is obviously a strong point of mine. XD

Anyway, for the banquet, my mom suggested I not put any wording or anything on the cards so they can be used for anything. I was originally going to make two thank you cards, two birthday, and two just because but I guess she's right. 

So these are two of the different cards I made. They're not completely done. They still look unfinished to me. I have to figure out something else to put where I was going to put the wording. But my mom's friend said I need to make them really simple since a lot of the ladies that are going to be there don't like fussy cards. LoL. So I just colored in a couple of stamped images from my cute little Sister Stamp stamps and glued them onto the card. Simple enough? XD

I have a set with one more Sister Stamp but that's not going to be finished until more than likely tomorrow so I'll show you that when I finish coloring them all in. 

I have to get to work. It's going to be a long day. I work until 5 and then we have a store meeting and then I have another meeting. Plus I still need to do my test for one of my classes by 1155 tonight! Oh boy. 

See you later!!

Shirley Temple Cupcakes!

Today I was just checking my Blogger Dashboard to see if there were any new posts on any of the blogs I follow and something caught my eye:  Shirley Temple Cupcakes! I clicked and clicked and finally got to the recipe and saw that I had the majority of the ingredients already in my kitchen! Yay! There were just a couple more things that I needed to pick up since I wasn't quite sure my mom would be too happy if I used up the rest of hers.

A little while ago the first batch came out of the oven, I tossed one in the freezer to cool so I could eat it, slapped some frosting on it and TA-DA!!! Of course, they're totally not as pretty as the ones that were on the site I got the recipe from but they taste super yummy! (And yes, I do say that about most cupcakes. XD) The only problem I had was that they didn't taste enough like cherries. *sigh* Oh well.

You can find the recipe for these cute cupcakes here. Hope you give them a try!

See you soon!!

~Jeni

AHHHH! Going Back to School!!!

Apparently, this is another non-crafty post. LoL. Well, it's kinda crafty. Creative anyway. You'll see why later.
Ever since January, I've been attempting to pay back my student loans that resulted with me earning two bachelors degrees from UH-Hilo. I've quickly learned, however, that if you have credit card debt that you're trying to pay off at the same time and only have a part time job, this not exactly the best situation to be in. So, I made the decision to go back to school. I've always wanted to learn more anyway. Since I used up all my financial aid eligibility at the university, I applied at Hawaii Community College and was accepted in May. The next step was financial aid. Due to some missteps I took about 10 years ago, I've had to jump through hoops to get them to approve my award. It still hasn't been finalized but it's looking good...I think.
My initial major was Hospitality, but I'm not sure that's the best course for me because I'm not planning on working at a hotel, so when I met with an academic counselor yesterday, we went over my options and the one that we decided on (because I refused to accept her suggestion of not going back to school at all) is that I change my major if financial aid allows it to....Digital Media Arts on the Graphics Track. So that means I'll be working on computer graphics and stuff. It sounds totally interesting and something that I think I might be able to do. We'll see.
I'm really really exciting about this and I'm hoping things will work out. As for crafting, well...I'm sure I'll be able to find time to work on new things. This weekend may be a good time to go rearrange the craft room. And maybe get distracted a little and work on some projects. :D

See you soon!

Ocean-Themed Baby Shower!

Okay, so I'm FINALLY getting the pictures from the baby shower up. I know it only took me like, months. But the shower was last weekend and I finally figured out how to transfer the pictures from my phone to my computer without having to e-mail them to myself one by one, so here we go! (These are in no particular order because blogger is being a pain and not letting me move pictures around tonight.)

Love My Create A Critter Cartridge!

When I first got my Cricut, I knew I HAD to get the Create a Critter cartridge. I knew it had the same sea creatures that I had used on the invitations for the baby shower and there were just so many cute animals that I needed it.
Well, it's been put to good use so far. Here's a sneak peek at the creatures that I put together for the guest book for the shower:

I colored the eyes and smiles in with black Stickles because it was becoming a pain in the neck to punch out all the little pieces. The actual pages will be posted after the shower. I don't want the parents to be accidentally wandering onto here and seeing it before then. I think they've been hunting for clues for everything. LoL.

I also used the Doodlecuts cartridge to cut out some really cute ducks. Or chicks. Whatever they are, they're really cute.

Tonight's project is freezer paper stenciling. OMG. So easy and so much fun. Pictures to come soon. The only picture I have is on my phone and my phone is in the kitchen on the other side of the house. No room in my craft room for stenciling so I have to do it in the kitchen. Can't wait for you to see it!

Long time no blog! LoL. I've been meaning to post, but there's just been so much going on that when I finally get a day to just do nothing, I do exactly that...nothing. XD

I've been meaning to post the invitation to the baby shower I've been planning with my mom, but recently found out that someone copied my design and started selling it on etsy. It wasn't the exact design but it was definitely close enough that I had to contact the seller and ask nicely that she take it down because it's covered by an intellectual copyright. Normally, I wouldn't care if someone copied my design for their own personal use, but this person was selling it. To me, that made it different. I will post it up soon, though. I think next week, after the shower, I'll just do one long post with pictures of everything, from the decorations to the favors. I've pretty much had my glue-stick-covered fingers in everything. My poor Cricut is getting a workout right from the box.

No pictures in today's post, but lots of other stuff to share with all of you. Besides prepping for the baby shower, I've also been prepping for Hilo Ben Franklin's Paper Party & Family Fun Day tomorrow. I was asked to take over the cupcake decorating table (since the associate who was taking care of it moved last month) and also to do a cake pop make n take. Of course, me, being the procrastinator that I am, waited until today to actually start anything so I just finished baking two batches of cupcakes (if we run out, oh well too bad. That's all I was told to make) and one 9x13 cake. I still have to crumble the cake, mix it with frosting and make the cake balls for the cake pops and tomorrow morning I guess I'll make the frosting for the cupcakes. I also have a list of stuff that I need to take with me tomorrow and I still need to start getting that all together. Hopefully it'll go off relatively without a hitch because a lot of people have told me they're coming for the cake pop make n take. Oh dear. No pressure, right?
One exciting thing, though, is that Hilo finally got a Target. It opened the other day and I've already been there four times. LoL. The dollar section is awesome and I found a ton of stickers, paper, and embellishments there. There were even these little card kits. I bought a whole bunch of stuff and wanted to buy more today, but decided to limit myself since I don't know when I'll get around to actually using everything.

My contacts are making my eyes all dry. I think it's time to go take them out and go finish prepping for tomorrow. If I finish that early enough, I may have time to go back down to my craft room and work on some stuff before bedtime. If I can stay awake that long.

I promise I'll post again soon. Maybe I'll have pictures next time. LoL.

~Jeni

HARRY POTTER!!!

And it is over. And I am sad. But the movie was EPIC! I can't believe it's been over 11 years since I read the first book. And now we have come to the end of the journey. No more books. No more movies.
I'll write a more coherent post tomorrow after work. This is just kind of rambling because I'm not sleepy yet. LoL. Bed time.

Blogging from My Phone!

I got the blogger app downloaded onto my phone and I figured I should try to see if I can blog. I don't think I can add any pictures or anything but we'll see what happens. I'm going on vacation without my computer in a few weeks so this might be a good way I can keep blogging without it.
Oh wait! I found the picture button! Yay! Hold on...let's see what I can find to upload.

It's supposed to be a picture of flowers. Did it work? It may be at the top of the post. I don't know. Oh well.

Time to go back to work. Catch you later!

Just Testing...

I'm just testing to see if I really can create a post to have it go live on a certain day or time. I've volunteered to blog for the Hilo Ben Franklin store and after the first post I did, I found out that there was one little thing I wasn't told. I can only post on Saturday. :/ Seriously? I don't have time at work on Saturdays to blog. And I'm not sure I want to blog from home.
But anyway, I'm going to set this for Thursday at 11 a.m. the same time I start work. So when I get home I can see if it really did post. LoL.
I'll post something more substantial soon, but until then...thanks for stopping by!

Red Velvet Cupcakes Part 2!

No picture this time. LoL. The cupcakes are still cooling and my phone is in my room.

Sorry for no update for a while. There hasn't been anything really interesting to write about. I've been working on an invitation for my mom's close friend's daughter's baby shower in July (not a paper craft, though. Digital art if anything. I don't have time to cut out little sea creatures for 50+ invitations.) I'll show a preview in another post. The wording isn't done yet, but the design is. I also have to get started on 35 favors for our family reunion next month and a little omiyage-type gift for some friends that I'm going to go karaoke with when I head to Oahu for the reunion. Then once the reunion trip is over, then it's time to work on the favors, decorations, and centerpieces for the baby shower. Busy summer!

Anyway, the purpose of this post! Sorry, I get distracted easily. I attempted the red velvet cupcake recipe that I posted about before for the second time today. This time I added in a small container of sour cream because the last time it was a little too dry for my tastes after the cupcakes had cooled and had been sitting for a little while. (I know I said in the initial post that they weren't dry, but after tasting a few of them, I realized that they were a little dry. Not cool.) OMG. The sour cream made all the difference. Although the cupcakes were not as chocolate-y this time, they were super duper soft and light. There was a distinct tanginess because of the sour cream and the buttermilk, but my mom said that she preferred this recipe. I think I do too. Maybe in a few weeks after we've eaten all of these I'll attempt it again with a little less sour cream. Who knows?

Why all this cupcake baking? My mom and I have tentatively decided to do the Ben Franklin Crafts Thanksgiving Craft Fair in November. We did the fair last year and sold cookies, party mix, and chichi mochi, but this year we want to attempt cupcakes. No one around here sells them so I want to. I'm working on the standards first (vanilla, (which I haven't posted about but will once I make them again) red velvet, chocolate (which is the next on my list)) and then over the summer I'll start experimenting with other flavors. I want to try strawberry, peanut butter, and possibly nutella. A friend asked me to attempt this cherry cola cupcake she had on the mainland, but I'm not sure I'm that adventurous and don't know if there's really a market for something like that. I think I may also do cake pops for the fair, depending on whether or not I can get the candy melts online for a reasonable price.

Okie dokie. Time for me to jet. I'm going to go watch some Glee. Mentally preparing myself for the season finale tomorrow. Once it's over, what am I going to look forward to every week?!

Lei Workshop at Hilo Ben Franklin Crafts!

I know this is last minute, but if anyone in Hilo is interested, Ben Franklin is having free lei workshops this month! All you have to do is buy the supplies for the workshop. No additional fees for the class. Please pass this on to anyone you think may be interested!

Cake Pops!

This post was actually supposed to come before the cupcake post, but I forgot to upload these pictures from my phone. 

A couple of weeks ago I made cake pops for my neighbors' twins' first birthday party. I was originally planning to make the cake from scratch but then the two older kids wanted to "help" so I ended up using box cake mix because if I needed to make more I could always crack open another box. They got to decorate after I dipped the cake pops. 

I think I ended up making a little over 100 cake pops and about 10 cake balls (for some reason they just would not stay on the stick.) The white ones are vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and vanilla chocolate and the chocolate ones are...well...all milk chocolate. I figured by keeping like flavors together it would make things easier. 

One big suggestion if you're going to be making cake pops...make sure you have all your supplies well in advance. If I had actually thought ahead for once, I would have realized that ordering the lollipop sticks, bags to wrap the pops in, and the chocolate online would have been a lot cheaper. I ended up spending almost $40 on just those things alone! It didn't help that the party was Easter weekend and of course the $3 melting chocolate was all gone so I had to buy the $7 melting chocolate instead. But oh well. Such is life. 

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below!!

~Jeni

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

I've been searching for a good red velvet cupcake recipe for a while now and happened to come across this recipe on a blog called Cupcakes. At first I thought it was too good to be true because the comments below the post made the cake sound super yummy, but then I decided to try it. Of course, I don't have buttermilk at my house, or even butter for that matter, so I headed to Safeway (even if I knew the price was going to more than likely be more expensive than other places...) and picked up the necessary additional ingredients.  Stuff like cocoa powder and red food coloring (I mean, come on! Two bottles of food coloring?!) are stuff I really do need to start keeping around.
Anyway, after putting out everything that needed to be brought to room temperature, I went to go watch the end of Rachael Ray and the whole hour of Jeopardy and then I went to bake. The recipe was super simple, but a little time consuming. By the time I took the last pan of cupcakes out it was almost 7 o'clock! And Glee was going to come on at 7! I needed to clean up fast!! The humbug part was getting all the red off of everything. Let's face it, I'm not the neatest person when I bake...or when I do anything for that matter...and I ended up getting batter everywhere. Don't ask me how.
I did, however, sneak a cupcake with me into my room when I finally went to go watch Glee. The cake was super soft and fluffy. Much better than some of the other recipes I had tried. It wasn't an overwhelming cocoa flavor. And, the best part, was that it wasn't oily!
Because I'm giving some of the cupcakes away, I didn't want to use cream cheese frosting because you're supposed to refrigerate it, so I decided to use buttercream instead. I got the recipe from the same site and made it this morning. It was really good! Made way more than  I thought it was going to, but since I'm going to make another batch of cupcakes probably this week or next week, I figure I may be able to use it.

Just a couple of last things about this recipe:
*You don't need to use 2 bottles of food coloring like it calls for. I used about one and 1/3 because that's how much was left in the open bottle in the cabinet and it made the cake a super pretty red color. (Although it showed up darker in the pictures...)
*Use a rounded teaspoon of baking powder instead of a level one. This may have made all the difference.

If you're looking for a great red velvet cake recipe, check this one out. I think it's one of my new go-to recipes. <3

See you later!!

Hello!

I've been thinking about starting this blog for a while now but just never got around to it. I guess the first post is always the hardest. I never know what to write about, especially since my friends told me that I basically need to introduce myself. Hmmm...

My name is Jen. I live in Hilo, Hawaii and work at Ben Franklin Crafts. University of Hawaii at Hilo graduate (2 times, once with a BA in English and another with a BA in Communication.) But I'm not going to be posting too much personal stuff on here so that's pretty much all you need to know.

But I am going to be posting a lot of other stuff. I have a lot of different interests and a lot of different things that I tend to stick my fingers into so there may be a lot of random posts. :D Here's some of the stuff that I may be posting about:

*Crafting (mainly whatever I end up with when I'm experimenting with different things. I'm not an expert at anything by any means, so don't expect anything spectacular. Let's just say I have unusual tastes. LoL)
*Nail Art (my newest interest. I'm currently in the process of playing around with acrylic and learning to make Fimo canes.)
*Baking (I love to make cupcakes and cake pops. And that's pretty much all I can make. Oh, and cookies too.)

Hope you have an awesome night and I'll see you all soon! Thanks for coming to visit!