Photo Friday

{Love.}

The yummiest homemade salad dressing ever

A friend of mine gave me the recipe for this yummy salad dressing over the summer and I've been hooked ever since. It's delicious and so easy to make. I love it on spring mix with sliced almonds, feta cheese and cranberries. Enjoy!

Salad Dressing with Agave
3 tbsp walnut oil (I got mine from Whole Foods)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or lemon juice (I use balsamic vinegar)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp Agave (got mine from Trader Joe's)
2 crushed garlic cloves
salt & pepper to taste

Be sure to whisk well before serving.

Shrinky dinks

Do you remember shrinky dinks? They were so much fun! When I was a kid (in the 70s), we bought kits with pre-drawn images which we would color. Now you can buy plain shrinky-dink "paper" and draw your own images on it, or use the inkjet paper and print things from your computer. I even found instructions for making your own shrinky dinks with the styrofoam that comes in meat packages. Ew.

When Malayna started preschool last year, she had a very hard time being away from home. Sometimes she would be okay, but mostly she would get upset when I had to leave her at school. I wanted to give her something to make her feel better when she was at school, so I made her a necklace from shrinky dink paper that said, "mommy loves you." She wore it every day that she went to school, up until last week. It broke in half, so she hasn't worn it for a few days. She would come home from school and say, "I don't even care! I felt my neck when I was in school and I didn't feel it there and I didn't even care!" Hmmm. She mentioned it so much that I think she actually did care.

{Playing with shrinky dinks and sharpies last year.}

Yesterday I printed a few designs on the inkjet shrinky dink paper. It took a few trials and errors before I got them to the correct size. It's not as easy as it would seem - sometimes the paper curls in on itself while it's baking and it won't unstick, or the images get printed on the wrong side of the paper (duh), or the colors don't look quite right. Here's what I ended up with:

 

{Loved.}

Photo Friday

We had about two feet of snow fall over the past few days, on top of the other two feet of snow we got last week. That's a lot of snow!

Lola's favorite spot is up on the windowsill, overlooking the porch at the front of the house. This morning she was up there, looking out the window and growling and barking with her fur standing on end. I thought maybe a cat was on the porch, so I went over to see what she was so interested in. Um, it was the birdbath. There's so much snow on top of it that it fell over. Apparently, this is extremely threatening to Lola. She's been barking for the past 25 minutes and counting. Good watchdog.

Snow, snow and more snow

WIP*

Some new 12" clocks are in the works. These will be pretty much like the 10" clocks with a couple of differences: they're 2" bigger (duh), and they're 1/2" thick as opposed to 3/4". Look at that pretty leafy paper! I found that paper before Christmas, but I'm just getting around to trying it out. It's great - looks almost leathery.

We got about two feet of snow this past weekend and we're expecting another foot on Tuesday night. Would someone please stop this madness? Thanks.

{*WIP stands for works-in-progress.}

Top 10 reasons why you should not get a puppy

10. They trash-pick.

9. They eat the plastic things that plants come in.

8. They eat rocks.

7. They dig.

6. They steal magnets off the fridge.

5. They eat more rocks.

4. They rip apart your landscape fabric.

3. They dig some more.

2. They steal plastic bags.

And the #1 reason: This doesn't last long enough.

I nominated milkshake crafts to win a $35k #smallbiz grant on LoveALocalBusiness.com. Help them win!

I nominated milkshake crafts to win a $35k #smallbiz grant on LoveALocalBusiness.com. Help them win!

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I see spring!

Well, maybe not exactly. But when I was in the yard yesterday trying to make sure Lola didn't dig any more holes (I was unsuccessful, by the way), I was noticing buds on lots of the plants out there. I also found some Easter flowers my mom & dad gave me last year. I always intend on planting them, but they never seem to get into the ground. No worries, though - they're growing in the plastic pot they came in!

Spring can't get here soon enough in my opinion. Here in the Philadelphia area, we're expecting a snowstorm this weekend. Forecasters are calling for about 12" of snow. But you know how that goes - they're often wrong!

{Lilac from my aunt's garden.}

{Dogwood tree.}

{Not sure what this bush is. Maybe some type of crabapple.}

{Another lilac.}

{Chives.}

{Hydrangea.}

{Butterfly bush.}

Birds, butterflies, flowers and…?

I love the chickadee image I created back in September to use on my clocks. The butterfly's not too shabby either. The flowers have been very popular, even if someone once told me that they looked like cells. (Cells are cool, right?!) I'd like to create another image, but I'm drawing a blank.

Would you help me out a little? What other images would you like to see on my clocks? I'd really appreciate it if you would fill out the poll below (click on "view survey"). Pretty please?

Can't wait to see what you come up with! Thank you! {Click the link below to take the survey. You don't need to sign in or give your email address. It's totally anonymous, though I wouldn't mind if you signed your name!)

Don't forget!

{Chickadee wall clock in yellow.}

It's February! Can you believe it? My four-year anniversary sale is still going on until the end of this month. Visit milkshake, place your order for good stuff, and when you're checking out enter code four years to receive free Priority Mail shipping and a little thank you gift from me :)

In other news, I'm still working on my fun project. I've painted, printed, collaged, transferred and painted some more. But now I'm stuck. Or just waiting for the final bit of inspiration. The piece still needs something, but I'm not sure what that something is. I've placed the piece in a spot that I pass several times a day, thinking that if I keep seeing it, the answer will come to me. Of course I'll post it here when it's finally finished.

Have a good Monday!

Makeshift studio

This is my temporary studio (aka the dining room), until magical elves come over and puppy-proof my real studio.

Sneek peek

I've been having fun working on a new project the past few days (in between taking Lola for what seems like 5 walks a day, letting her out 20 times a day, and distracting her from biting my knees while I sit). It's not something I'm going to sell on my site, just a piece I had in my head that needed to get out! Here's a sneak peek:

Difficult conversations

How much do you tell a small child (a 6-year-old, for example) about the bad stuff that's happening in the world? Malayna's school is collecting items to send to Haiti, so I know she's heard about it there. We talked about it very briefly here at home - just telling her that there was an earthquake and that people lost their homes. She didn't ask any more about it, so we didn't tell her more than that. But is that keeping her in a bubble? I want her to know about things that happen outside of her little part of the world, but I do not want to scare her. Her school has assigned each grade an item to donate, and kindergarten has been asked to donate powdered baby formula. Giving that to her to take to school will probably bring up all kinds of questions. Questions that I'm not sure how to answer. There are babies and kids in Haiti with no mom and dad, no home, and no one to take care of them. Is that too much for a 6-year-old to handle? Or am I not giving her enough credit? I'm all for being honest, but how much does she need to know? What are you telling your kids?

{PS: Thank you all SO much for the comments the other day. I'll have something to show in a few days!}

Moving past the fear

Sometimes I don't try new things because I'm afraid of failing. I build it up in my mind to something huge - something I can't possibly accomplish. I expect to fail, and instead of believing in myself I think about all the things that could go wrong. There's a list in my head of everything I don't know about this particular project. That list needs to be replaced with a list of the things I DO know.

I bought a bunch of canvases yesterday. I even have a project in mind. I have all the supplies. I have the time. The girl is in school and the puppy is sleeping. Yet here I sit.

I know exactly what's holding me back from starting this particular project. I don't know how to create an interesting background with paint. I'm not a painter. Just writing that makes me annoyed with myself. Who cares?! Who's even going to see what I make? I don't have to show it to anyone. I could even throw it away if I don't like it.

Writing this post did just what I'd hoped it would do - it made me want to get up off the couch and start that project. Maybe I'll even post the results.

Imitation

…is the sincerest form of flattery when it comes from your daughter.

Four year anniversary

milkshake is four years old this month! I've learned so much these past four years, like how to start a business from scratch, market the business, create products that sell (that I also enjoy making), how to set up a successful booth at a craft show, how to work my schedule around my child's (and then a puppy's!) and so much more. I'm grateful to all my friends, family and customers for supporting me and I want to thank you for making this past year my most successful yet.

Thanks to everyone who came to a show, visited the website, and purchased my work. I appreciate every bit of kindness you've shown me!

To show my appreciation, when you purchase something from milkshake from now until the end of February, you'll receive a free gift AND free shipping! (Enter code four years when checking out.)

After all that holiday shopping, don't you deserve a little gift for yourself?!

help!

2009 in pictures

Bye-bye 2009, hello 2010!

{January: Printsource in New York.}

{February: My last birthday in my 30s.}

{March: Snowstorm!}

{April: Showers.}

{May: Saying goodbye to a friend.}

{June: Vacation.}

{July: Lots of beach trips.}

{August: Watching fireworks on the Wildwood boardwalk.}

{September: First day of kindergarten!}

{October: Halloween.}

{November: Welcome Lola!}

{December: Happy birthday to my sweet 6-year-old!}